Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Ro Laren
4. Pre-emptive Strike Was A Last Ditch Effort To Get Ro Back - Despite Having No Story
As the seventh season of The Next Generation was coming to a close, the writers felt that there was one thread still dangling - that of what was going to happen to Ro Laren. Despite repeated attempts to get her on Deep Space Nine, none of these had come to fruition, and this was actually driving a wedge between her agents and the producers.
Forbes herself was keen to appear, even if it was only once more, so she asked her agent to organise a meeting between her and the producers directly. Thankfully, they jumped at the chance to get her back, and a deal was signed on the spot.
That deal was signed without any kind of story in place.
However, the groundwork that had been laid by Ro's earlier appearances, in addition to the continued story of the Bajorans fighting the Cardassians on Deep Space Nine, allowed them to quickly build the episode Preemptive Strike. In what was, for many years, the final appearance of Ro Laren, there exists an episode steeped in love, betrayal, and the cost of following one's own beliefs.