Why did Jennifer Lien (Kes) leave Voyager?

In the special features to the Season 3 DVD set, there’s an entire special feature on Jennifer Lien and the story of Kes. It was fascinating. Lien had obviously REALLY picked the minds of the writer and/or created her own back storyline. You should have heard what she had to say about her relationship to Neelix. (She was telling all sorts of reasons and story as to how they met and why they loved each other.) She also had some gorgeous insight into who Kes was before and after she left Ocampa. This did NOT seem like a woman in her early 20’s! She sounded like a woman in her 40’s! So mature! Also, it was remarkable to hear Kate Mulgrew, Tim Russ, Ethan Phillips and Robert Picardo speak soooo fondly of her! I mean, these remarks were REAL, deep, meaningful, thought-out sentiments her fellow actors were giving to her credit! She was definitely loved!

But, to relate to this discussion about her leaving, I noticed two very important things about this feature. A) Jennifer Lien clearly LOVED Kes. She said it was a “joy” to play her. There’s no way she would have given her up (or “quit the show”). I mean, what 23 year old would give up that kind of work!!? B) This is what Kate Mulgrew said about her: “Sad about Jen – and I’ll tell you exactly why: Cause I think she’s a hell of an actress. Sorry to see her go – sorry to see her go the way she went – knowing she was a wonderful actress. That was tough.” You can tell from the interview that Mulgrew is a very tough lady – so that’s high praise!

The whole “Wang being one of the most ‘50 Most Beautiful People’ theory” being what kept him on the show…. naaah. I don’t really buy that. There’s more to this story. What I do buy is that the producers didn’t want to have to pay a 10th cast member – that’s a whole lot of money. And even though Lien is GORGEOUS, it’s a demure, princess beauty, not the vavaVOOM sexiness that was Jeri Ryan – and they wanted that kinda sex appeal to enliven the series. (Ryan was also an AMAZING actress, to bat.) As well, the Seven of Nine character definitely was a fantastic move on the writers’ part. Did Lien leave on her own accord... who knows?

Kes was my very favorite character and, yes, it’s clear that her leaving the show wasn’t as organic as it should have been; there definitely were some holes. I wouldn’t have minded Neelix or Kim leaving. It was really a shame. Kes was fascinating.
 
i disagree that kim or neelix should have gone instead. kim was a really natural character as a fresh recruit. his buddy relationship with tom was very believable too. i loved kim or garret wang and so do the trekkies for good reason. and neelix was great comedic relief as the chef. the original characters were the most interesting and what made the show good was the mix of different backgrounds, creeds, races and variety as well as the almost family and caring relationships they had.

the captain, tuvok, chakotay, kes, the doctor, kim and neelix really made the show great. the chemistry was even more believable than tng. this was one of the best casts of the star trek series next to ds9. this cast was so good, you actually felt like star trek was real and these characters were real.

i do agree that they should have kept kes. her character was really interesting.

though because much of the public is rather degenerate, they needed or thought they needed to add seven to boost or keep ratings high, that is unfortunate. most of the episodes involving her were the most uninteresting especially if it involved the borg as it's always predictable and done to death. there is no mystery to the borg and they are as predictable as computers. they did not develop her character either, she was far too trite and sarcastic consistently. she was much more interesting when showing her humanity.

i will have to mention that the two characters i found the least interesting or likable were seven bu especially b'lanna. it seems she's not mentioned much but i never really found her interesting at all, just crass and shallow. b'lanna really was an undeveloped character out of all of them. so much so that she came across as grating and annoying consistently to the point you cringe and wait for her to get off the screen for the rest of the crew to resume, especially if she had too much airtime with her sarcasm that was too lame and flat. seven had more potential than her. i'm not saying the person playing b'lanna ruined the show because she didn't since the other characters made up for it but she was just really one-dimensional like a robot, even more than seven. everytime she's onscreen, she only exhibited two emotions and that was arrogance and sarcasm. she didn't even add anything else. she was the most predictable out of all of them. the rest at least seemed to have a soul or you could sense that across the screen, even the holographic doctor had more than the person playing b'lanna. i couldnt' wait for her to shut up with what she needed to report and get out of the screen so the others could talk. she would have been best as an extra in the background.
 
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Joining late here but I have to say that although I've watched most Star Trek and Voyager for many years I can honestly say I hadn't realised she left.

Only this debate has twigged my recollection of her being written out as a "back to the home planet" thing.

In any case, I could understand that the plot line wouldn't have been successful (if it ever was) with an ESP enhanced completely un Star Trek like character. OK we've had characters with 'special powers' as a one off encounter but would the plot have held up every week.

Councilor Troy was a bit hard to take but at least it was a restricted and had she looked like Spock, I don't think she would have lasted long. Neelix was also at the end of his usefulness as a character and should have gone with Kes to fulfil his role as a father. He had no reason to return to Earth and his 'fixer' role had long since lost it's validity or any influence in the plot.

Seven on the other hand brought The Borg and all things alien. I fancy the whole series would have been scrapped had she not been introduced. The series was getting close to it's "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea/ Moon Base Alpha" moment where the same old same old was being wheeled out episode after episode. Move to the next system, have a bit of trouble, sort out the locals and then finish with the "who was that man in the mask" ending. Move on to ...
 
I was very sorry to see Kes go. She was one of the more fascinating Star Trek characters, and Jennifer Lien was a fantastic actor. I would have loved to see her character continue to develop. I like the relationship with Neelix too. I thought there was a lot of potential exploring that relationship. Particularly as Kes headed toward her inevitable elogium, when she and Neelix would become parents.

If it is true that Yeah of Hell was intendedto be an arc over part of seson 4, then it would have made the show much much better.

Now that I think back on it, I really liked the first three seasons of Voyager. I think season 4 is when it started to go downhill for me. There were still good moments, but It was just lacking "something" that it had early on.

That said - Scorpion was one of the best two-parters in Star Trek history for me.
 
i agree with kim haters, that he was the weakest link of the show and should have been let go, people magazine be dammed. He always "unfit" to play a bridge officer in starfleet to me fsr.. =)

that said, starting with season three somewhere, i began to not really like kes anymore fsr, she just changed for me somehow.. (she was great in seasons 1 and 2)

And to whoever said they should have kept Seska, i 100% agree she was fabulous.
= )
 
Here we are still --in 2011--discussing the change-out of the Kess character. I'd say that indicates the staying power of the writing of the series, yes? Anyway, my thoughts to add to the considerations are that another poster was probably primarily correct in assuming that the budget for the series would not support a 10th cast member...so when the music stops playing, somebody doesn't have a chair to sit in. haha

I suspect that the Kess character was intended form the outset to be the Deanna Troy of ST:Voyager. In other words, the soft female character for the guys to melt over. If the character had been fulfilling this expectation, the character probably would not have been cut and exchanged for a more overtly sexy rehabilitated Borg Drone (acted with an incredible range by Jeri Ryan). I suspect the Kess character was rather doomed from the outset, based on its' raison d'etre being this soft female function to boost and hold ratings and the fact that the Kess character was scripted to be so child-like. They dressed her like a Catholic school girl, and had to talk in an incredibly soft voice. The character was so soft spoken that, even when her kenetic abilities peaked and a medical instrument she was just thinking she wanted flew into her hand, the character had a very mild response to what for anyone else would have been a shocking event.

If Lien couldn't get the directors and the writers to let her give more dimension to Kess--other than rare extremes like Warlord--that character was always headed for the door. What surprised me was that with all the production talent on that series, it didn't occur to anyone. But perhaps Brannon Braga's brainstorm about the rehabilitated Borg was too much too resist (futile even) and so the Kess character was abandoned. In short, I think the failure of the Kess character was basically a combined failure from the outset shared by the producers, writers and directors.
 
I've been watching Star Trek since I caught it in reruns when I was in the 4th grade. I wasn't super crazy about TNG at first, but got to like it in 2nd season. I didn't get to watch Voyager untill I could watch it on line. But letting go of "Kess" did not surprise me after watching that lousy ending to Entreprise and they killed off Tripp for no good reason!!!!! Also I never liked Deanna Troy, esp. after the connvention I saw her at in San Antonio, TX where she yelled at attenders. Why would I want to see her on Enterprise? Long live Kess and 7 of 9! And Tripp!
 
Jennifer was never fired from the show, her contract was ending at the end of that season and she decided not to renew as she planned to leave acting to pursue a Medical career. Although she quit acting she did continue for a couple of years while attending medical school doing voice over work and made a 1 time return to Voyager in season 7. but as of 2003 she left the entertainment business all together. She is now a Doctor and is happy with her new career. In 2011 she got together with the cast of Voyager for a QandA session where she herself explains why she left the show. MY GOD! she got so so so Fat.
 
I always love the weight comments from internet posters about actors and actresses' weight problems. Especially when they haven't been acting for a decade. And when they've had kids. And work a full-time job.

I think we'll never know the real reasons she was let go, because only Jeri Taylor or Jennifer could give the 100% truth. Even now, it will have been colored by a decade of feelings and recollections, so this will be one mystery always left to the realm of speculation.
 
If you think about it, the roles of Kes and Seven were interchangeable, thus Kes being the best option to remove from the cast (I put it down to Harry- not a great contributer to the plot, Kes - listed below, or B'Elanna Torres - because they had in an earlier episode made out in the future she died)

Kes & Seven though were the best options in my opinion. Both characters had a greater deal of interaction with the Doctor compared to the rest of the cast so if Kes stepped out, Seven would be able to fill in the void not as a medical assistant but as a patient. Not only did she do that, but he became a mentor to her and her humanity as well. I did however love how Kes was able to use her abilities to remove the Borg implant from the nerve in Seven, and it would have been amazing to see that be put to more use in Season 4 onwards. (for instance giving Seven that desire to truly fit in a possibly remove the implants from her face later on)

In addition to this, their interaction with Tuvok was unique. Wheareas Kes shared her mental abilities with Tuvok, Seven shared her sense of logic as well as her knowledge. Once again, Kes was able to be replaced in sense.

Her relationship with Tom Paris had never really taken off though the idea had been there and was filled by Torres/was in the process of being filled. Even though this relationship could have gone ahead as we saw in the same episode Torres died (I bet Roxanne thought she would get the boot because of that!) I'm glad it didn't.

As for Harry, I think he could have been taken out, his character did seem to be isolated from the rest of the cast and mostly interacted with Tom (and the occasional alien female) but I felt he was too limited. Basically held back by Libby, was a mummys/captains boy. I did enjoy his interaction with Seven and Astrometrics though.

Her relationship with Neelix was annoying, it was too easy going and tidy for my liking. Kind of felt that was a dead end area in the plot.

Season 3 was a step up for Kes and I was sad to see her go, especially as her role in Warlord was amazing and it was great to see her step out of that goody-two-shoes nurse role. However I do see her as the most (as Tuvok would put it) logical choice, to remove from the show.
 
Voyager's not my favourite Trek series, but I would've axed Harry Kim.

He's practically devoid of character.
 
That is really easy to see with hindsight Thaddeus6th, but at the time Garrett Wang was winning all kinds of awards and market research showed that female viewers loved him.

I really don't see the logic of why "someone" needed to go when Jeri Ryan joined. Surely, it couldn't just be the payroll budget? Lots of ensemble cast TV shows have characters who don't get used much all of the time, but are still members of the cast. Two strong female characters would be a positive not a negative. I still think Kes was the character who had the most untapped potential, but this argument really needs to be put to bed now, don't you think?

As William Shatner once said, "We should get a Life!"
 
Hmm.

I agree with you on the hindsight factor, but why was he winning awards? He might be a splendid fellow but his character was utterly tedious.

Ha, funny you should quote Shatner (the Futurama with the Star Trek cast was on TV tonight).
 
I myself have found that Rick berman(sp?) decisions made from TNG DS9 onward made the star strek property degrade quickly. Constantly choosing the flavor of the week I felt series decisions dumbed the shows down really fast.
I was expecting a Steve Urkel character to be added at any time. I know that due to budget not every episode can be an explosion battle spectacle or exotic world fantasy, but increased episodes in the holodeck, ferengi B grade characters, or just about any episode of the Enterprise left me fast forwarding (through my taped vcr days).

But on topic, I felt Kes character was beautifully written and portrayed. I really felt Kes character was slowly going to evolve into a River Tam- Firefly type character with all the soul searching ramifications to fill out the series. While 7of9 was enjoyable, that could have been done like a Q type character because so much of her was boring that did not involve expanding her relationships.
Sci Fi shows like star trek cannot be done like a regular series tv show like LA law or remington steel. New writers, bold writers, and diverse writers need to be added to those shows constantly. I felt the producers at the time were more worried about developing other properties to be the next arron spelling.

That is why great characters like Kes get the axe, bean counters and old people not wanting to give up power. It is not like the shows were not incredibly profitable.
As for above - those posting are right, you never say anything bad about the show or producers if you want to work in hollywood, and that is what makes it stale.

The enterprise star trek is a great example, so much potential - while i do not like the premise of the series - they should have at least had more entertaining characters that still had traits and worries of the 23rd century. Drug addiction, financial divide, political pressures, new encounters where just not explored enough. And there was no Kes like characters there also. Sad.
 
I have watched the Voyager series FOUR times now and I am so glad they got rid of Kes. The character was annoying/boring.

I actually skip episodes that highlight her.

I LOVE LOVE Seven, Kim and the Doctor... and the remaining cast!

No tears here when Kes left!

Still waiting for Voyager movie!!!
 
Actors in a TV series in the United States. regardless of cast standing are signed to standard 6 year deals. This has been the case for many years without exception due to the strength of the SAG. It is why there s a lot of soul searching after 6 seasons as to whether or not to renew a series stateside. It is also why the definition of a 'season' is so variable depending upon the outlet these days. Jennifer Lien had to have been settled with to void her contract- that notwithstanding, Jeri Ryan was boinking Brannon Braga very shortly after the 4th season commenced.
The contract status says to me that they had written themselves into a corner with Kes, it was a case of move her up to major player status as befit her newfound powers or write her out.
They could not have her onboard with her developing abilities because they would have gotten home far too soon. More convenient to have her give them the 10,000 parsec shove and enable them to develop the Hirogen and other bad guys and leave the other dead end villains behind.
 
Well! I've started rewatching Voyager having watched DS9 reruns (seriously, watching them one after another you realise Voyager is infinitely better) and until I saw this thread, I had NO idea Kes/Lien was sacked.

I liked her character, but would always take Ryan over Lien. However....I do rather agree that Wang's Kim became very much a drip early on in the series and he could have definitely done with the axe to give time for Kes to mature more. Still, hindsight and all. For now I'll just carry on enjoying! :p
 
I think the lot of you are also forgetting one critical fact about Kes...her "lifespan" as an Ocompan was an "average of 7" but only a total of 9 years. Even at that, to reach 9 was series quoted to be somewhat rare.

Her character was born in the year 2369. She left Ocompa in the year 2371. That made her 2 yrs old. Having served 3 years on Voyager [now 5 years old] she eventually met up with Susperia, later being hit with chronitons and ultimately the contact with Species 8472 - seemed to exponentially speed up her telepathic and telekinetic powers to the point of her "morilogium" [final phase of her lifespan], immaterial of the alternate timeline sequence of events.

One of 643,000 source results: [remove the spaces to form the link]

en . memory- alpha. org / wiki / Kes

Since the bulk of her lifespan was about up anyway...how does a script writer have the ability to circumvent these facts? Devout Trekkers are notoriously fickle about their show. Any deviation from previously known facts [read that as episodes]...unless "Q" shows up to screw with them - or there's a space/time anomaly...episodes and shows are met with blistering criticisms for inconsistencies.

Her parting the series was inevitable and I think they did it in a way that was both tasteful and complimentary to the character.

Despite the rumor mill, I personally think it was mutually agreed departure.
 
As I'm sure a lot of you are aware, Voyager had the largest regular cast of any Star Trek series. Therefore, when the storyline started to become Seven of Nine, they needed to make room for another regular. Kes was the weakest of all the regular characters, so she was the weakest link. GOODBYE!
 

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