Kes (Jennifer Lien) could have been an awesomeStar Trek: Voyagercharacter if Jennifer Lien hadn’t left the show in season 4. True, Kes has a reputation as an underwhelming character whose 9-year lifespan trappedVoyagerwriters in a narrative corner, but there are hints inVoyager’s early seasons that there was more to Kes than what we saw. And what we saw wasn’t all bad, either: Kes was kind, curious, and eager to spend her short life exploring the galaxy with theUSS Voyager crew. Most interestingly, Kes' burgeoning telepathic ability promised a darker side to the young Ocampa.
Unfortunately, we never got to see any of Kes' teased storylines play out, becauseJennifer Lien left theStar Trek: Voyagercastjust a few years into the show’s run. At the time, Lien’s departure was framed as a problem with the character not working out, and making room for Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine to boost ratings. More recently, Jennifer Lien’s struggles with mental health have come to light, making it clear that Kes staying onVoyagerwas never really an option. That said, someStar Trek: Voyagerepisodes hint at Kes' future character development, had Lien been able to stay.
5Star Trek: Voyager Season 1, Episode 5 - “Phage”
Kes' Baseline Optimism Could Have Been Challenged Throughout Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyagerseason 1, episode 5, “Phage”, establishes indiscriminate kindness as the baseline for Kes' character. Thefriendship between Kes and the Doctor(Robert Picardo) starts here becauseKes is the only one aboard the USS Voyager—so far—who treats the Doctor like a person, and believes that he’s capable of learning. Even when the Doctor treats himself like he doesn’t matter, Kes doesn’t think twice about being kind to him. Kes is also eager to give up her own lungs to Neelix (Ethan Phillips) after the Vidiians stole them.
Kes shows the difference between kind and nice inVoyagerseason 2, episode 9, “Tattoo”, when the Doctor develops a case of holographic flu to better empathize with his patients, and Kes won’t tell the Doctor when she’s programmed his illness to end.
“Phage” suggests Kes' series-long challenge would be whether she holds onto optimism, or becomes cynical after her outlook is exploited as naïveté.Star Trek: Voyagerdoes wind up interrogating the value of holding onto one’s ideals inan inherently unkind environment. Instead of that being just Captain Janeway’s (Kate Mulgrew) story,Voyagercould have also explored that with Kes, as anon-StarfleetStar Trekcharacter, navigating how the world works—andKes might have a different conclusion that isn’t all sweetness and light. Balancing kindness and toughness would’ve made Kes a stronger character, especially when her powers developed.
4Star Trek: Voyager Season 2, Episode 10 - “Cold Fire "
Kes Acknowledges Her Capacity For Evil
When the USS Voyager encounters an Ocampa colony, Kes befriends Tanis (Gary Graham), who has masteredOcampa psychokinetic abilitiesand encourages Kes to dig deeper into her own potential. Kes actually relishes the feeling of destroying life when she unthinkingly burns the hydroponics bay and accidentally boils Lieutenant Tuvok’s (Tim Russ) blood during one of their lessons. Tanis completely takes advantage of Kes and manipulates her; in the end,Kes gives in to her darker impulses and psychokinetically harms Tanis. Arguably, Kes attacked Tanis in self-defense, but she also didn’t have to gothatfar.
Tanis is 14 years old, and his father reached the age of 20, so if Kes—who was born in 2369—reached or even surpassed Tanis' stage of enlightenment, Kes could theoretically still be alive when Prodigy happens in the mid-2380s.
“Cold Fire” is the first time thatStar Trek: Voyagerreally acknowledges Kes' potential for darkness, which Kes wants nothing to do with by the end of the episode. Tuvok points out that everyone has the capacity not just to be destructive, but also to enjoy causing harm. The important thing is acknowledging those tendencies because ignoring them will only make them stronger. This suggestsKes could have a classicStar Trekmoral dilemma about whether to use her power to help others, even if it means losing herself in the process, but we never see that.
3Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Episode 18 - “Darkling”
Kes Represents Star Trek’s Belief That Cooperation Will Triumph Over Evil
In “Darkling”, the Doctor becomes his own evil twin after experimenting with new personalities in his subroutines, and Kes considers leaving the USS Voyager with her rebound, Zahir (David Lee Smith). Neelix famously improved after breaking up with Kes, and we get hints Kes would have gotten better, too. In fact,Kes shows she could have been the USS Voyager’s much-needed counselorwhen the Evil Doctor kidnaps Kes and rails about his right to exist because Evil has been suppressed for so long. Despite being part ofVoyager’s “Trilogy of Terror”, “Darkling” proves why Kes needed to stay onVoyager.
10 Ways Jennifer Lien’s Kes Staying On Voyager Would’ve Changed Star Trek
Jennifer Lien’s Kes staying on Voyager changes Star Trek with Ocampa powers and conflict with Seven of Nine leading to Kes' character development.
Kes embodiesStar Trek’s visionby believing kindness and cooperation will always triumph over evil. The Evil Doctor has no qualms about being selfish or harming other people, metaphorically screaming he must persist by any means necessary.Kes tells the Doctor that nature itself is inherently good because people naturally survive by building communities to uplift and strengthen each other, like the cells of the body cooperating to keep an organism alive. Even knowing everyone has baser instincts, Kes demonstrates goodness through small acts of kindness.Thisis the Kes we would’ve gotten if she’d stayed.
2Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Episode 21 - “Before And After”
Star Trek: Voyager Shows Us Kes' Entire Lifespan In One Potential Future
Star Trek: Voyagerseason 3, episode 21, “Before and After”, cleverly starts at the end of Kes' life, and takes her backward through time, as Kes works to unravel her mystery illness. It’s a unique premise that couldonlywork with Kes, because of her short lifespan and telepathic abilities. Throughout the inexplicable backward time jumps,Kes is determined to figure out what’s happening to her, while we get to see Kes being married to Tom Paris and having a daughter, losing friends inVoyager’s “Year of Hell”, becoming a grandmother, and reaching the end of her life.
The USS Voyager would indeed go through the “Year of Hell” in season 4’s 2-part episode of the same name, but with far fewer casualties and a different outcome than in “Before and After”.
With each jump backward, Kes eventually gives up on trying to explain the situation patiently, because she’s running out of time. I love seeing Kes speaking more straightforwardly and acting on her convictions, as opposed to the tender-hearted uncertainty that usually characterizes Kes. While the entire episode does eventually get erased because of its very nature, this story shows us Kes' potential future, so"Before and After” is a pretty good indication of how Kes' life might have goneif Lien had stayed onStar Trek: Voyager.
1Star Trek: Voyager Season 4, Episode 2 - “The Gift”
“The Gift” Shows How Kes Could Have Grown Far More Powerful
Kes' last continuousStar Trek: Voyagerepisode reveals the most about how powerful Kes could have become. “The Gift” accelerates Kes' psychokinetic powers to the point where she can see beyond the submolecular, and manipulate matter, making Kes a potential danger to the structural integrity of the USS Voyager. It’s a convenient way to write Kes off ofStar Trek: Voyagerbecause Jennifer Lien had to leave, but I think reckoning with the strength of Kes' Ocampa powers could have been a strong arc if it were drawn out overVoyager’s season 4—or even the entire series.
The lastStar Trek: Voyagerepisode to feature Jennifer Lien as Kes comes later, withVoyagerseason 6, episode 23, “Fury”.
In a different series finale, Kes' final burst of psychokinetic energy could push the USS Voyager all the way home. “The Gift” seems to jump to the end of a longer character arc, because Kes issoself-assured while Janeway and Tuvok argue for her to stay. Imagine a version of Kes who’s lived with her darkness and balanced it, emerging as Voyager’s secret weapon with an inherent connection to the fabric of space-time. That’s the Kes who would make the ultimate noble sacrifice at the end ofStar Trek: Voyager, and I wish we could have seen her.
