Star Trek: 10 Biggest Takeaways From Open A Channel: A Woman's Trek
2. No Communication
It would be easy to believe that every creative decision is explained to the cast before being implemented. This was certainly not the case when Seven Of Nine was created for Star Trek: Voyager. As Visitor highlights in the book, the difficulties that Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan faced for years are well documented, but Open A Channel discusses another aspect of this issue.
The lack of communication with the cast resulted in Jeri Ryan being labelled a bombshell, hired to boost ratings. While there is an aspect of truth to this, Brannon Braga revealed that he had planned to introduce a Borg character earlier than the fourth season, though he had to wait for Star Trek: First Contact to release so as not to 'steal the Borg Queen's thunder'.
According to him, Rick Berman pressed the idea that this Borg character be sexy, with skintight jumpsuits. Costume designer Bob Blackman was delighted with Ryan's frame to work with, though her costumes went through several variations.
Nothing of the prior plans to introduce a Borg character had been communicated to the cast. Mulgrew, despite working for years against the stereotype that any show with a leading woman required low-cut tops with skintight dresses, was suddenly presented with a co-star who seemingly encapsulated all of that. With nothing else to go on, this assumption was left firmly in place.