Star Trek: 20 Supporting Characters That Deserved More
4. Ro Laren
Our first Bajoran officer may well have had more screen time than most of the others on this list, but we can never get enough Ro Laren.
Ro arrived in The Next Generation already embroiled in a covert mission. Cool, gritty and just the right amount of surly, how were we not supposed to think she was awesome? She was given a hard time from the moment she appeared thanks to a scandalous court-martial in her past, with Riker even demanding she remove her religious Bajoran earring. But apparently Worf wearing his baldric was fine...we see how it is, Riker...
As she opened up about her harrowing past as a child of Cardassian occupation, we only learned to love her more for all she'd endured and overcome. That's why her fate was equal parts tragic and inevitable when Starfleet used her to infiltrate the Maquis.
We have to question whoever thought it was a good idea to assign a young Bajoran with so much Cardassian-related trauma to that mission. It was entirely understandable when she switched sides to join the resistance group. And frankly, despite Picard's disappointment, it may well have been the right decision given her past and the Federation's murky actions regarding the Maquis plight.
And so, fans the world over cheered when Ro returned in Star Trek: Picard...only to be left furious when she was unceremoniously fridged.
And yes, fridged is a word that can be overused these days, but when a fan favourite character returns just long enough to soothe the male lead's regrets and then is immediately killed...with little purpose to the overall story arc beyond tugging on his (and our) heartstrings? That's as ice-cold as any fridge gets.
Thank goodness we're due to receive at least one more adventure with Ro in the upcoming video game Star Trek: Shadow Frontier. Otherwise, leaving a beloved character with such a bitter end would be unforgivable.