10 Star Trek: Voyager Episodes That Were Almost Completely Different
5. Lifesigns
This second season entry went through some large rewrites during production, including a complete change of the ending. The introduction of Danara Pel offered a love interest for the Doctor, though her consciousness was not suited to a permanent holographic interface.
This meant that the ending of the episode could go in one of two ways, something that executive producer Jeri Taylor felt passionately about. She advocated for the ending that was shot, rather than the initial idea.
Pel would have originally opted to remain in her beautiful holographic body, despite the death sentence that it carried. She would have lived a few more days, and died, spending that time with the Doctor. Taylor felt that her choice to die, rather to live in a diseased body, was an irresponsible message to put out to the audience. In her opinion, it suggested that people with diseases were less deserving of consideration, or respect.
She pushed for the ending that was ultimately filmed - Pel returns to her body, aided as much as possible by the Doctor. This is the superior ending, in this writer's opinion, as it displays a resolve to keep fighting the illness and never let it win. It also had the unintended side-effect of leaving the door open for Pel to return in the later episode Resolutions.