One of the most popular characters inStar Trek’s 1990s shows is Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), and these episodes ofStar Trek: VoyagerandStar Trek: Picardhelp to explain why. Originally added to the cast ofStar Trek: Voyagerin season 4 to bolster sagging ratings, Seven of Nine became a breakout character who revitalizedVoyager. Jeri Ryan’s good looks were only part of Seven’s success; far more of Seven of Nine’s appeal comes from her compelling character arc, which saw the ex-Borg drone reclaim her humanity and adapt to life outside the Collective.
Two decades after Seven of Nine’s four seasons as a series regular onStar Trek: Voyager,Seven of Nine’s completeStar Trekstorycame full circle inStar Trek: Picard.The true depths of Seven’s trauma at the hands of the Borg finally came to light, thanks toPicard’s willingness to look at the dark side of Seven of Nine’s backstory. Each of these episodes adds another piece to the picture of Seven of Nine as a complex character who overcame the Borg’s cruel conditioning, learned compassion, and eventually becameCaptain of the USS Enterprise.
8"The Gift"
Star Trek: Voyager Season 4, Episode 2
Seven of Nine debuted inStar Trek: Voyagerseason 4, episode 1, “Scorpion, Part 2”, but the follow-up episode, “The Gift”, does a far better job of sitting with Seven as a character right after she’s been severed from the Borg Collective. Here,Seven wants to return to the Borg, because it’s the only life she’s known, but her body is physically rejecting the Borg implants, so it’s not possible. Pacing in Voyager’s brig like a caged animal,Seven covers fear with anger, hostility, and a vitriolic promisethat she’ll kill Captain Janeway’s (Kate Mulgrew) USS Voyager crew.
As Jennifer Lien’s last episode as Kes, “The Gift” refers to Kes' gift of sending the USS Voyager 10,000 lightyears closer to home and out of Borg space, but the title can also easily refer to Janeway’s gift of compassion to Seven of Nine.
Instead of retaliation, however, Seven of Nine’s threats are met with compassion and kindness. After Janeway finds out that the drone in Voyager’s brig was a human girl named Annika Hansen, Janeway has absolute faith that Seven of Nine’s humanity is still in there, buried beneath the implants and exosuit. Seven of Nine doesn’t want to see herself as human, but"The Gift" proves that Seven’s resistanceisfutile: she will be liberated.
7"The Omega Directive"
Star Trek: Voyager Season 4, Episode 21
In “The Omega Directive”, Seven of Nine speaks of the Borg as a culture with their own values, instead of just being a mindless force of nature. The infinitely destructive Omega Molecule must be destroyed, according to Starfleet’s Omega Directive, but Seven of Nine argues that the Borg tried to synthesize Omega because it was so perfect.Viewing the Omega Molecule itself is the closest thing Seven has to a religious experience, because the Borg practically deified perfectionas something to strive for.
By establishing thatthe Borg value perfection like Vulcans value logic, “The Omega Directive” provides the perspective needed to understand the culture that raised Seven of Nine. Seven was taught to believe that assimilation is not a tool used to conquer, but a way for the Borg to become more perfect by efficiently gleaning what they could from other cultures. Assimilation was also a gift the Borg gave, allowing others to also come closer to perfection. Knowing that Seven still clings to Borg values of efficiency and perfection helps us understand what drives and motivates her.
6"Infinite Regress"
Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 7
In “Infinite Regress”, Seven of Nine starts to exhibit unusual behavior whenthe personalities of people that Seven assimilated as a drone start to emerge and take over Seven’s body. Jeri Ryan’s acting skills are on full display as Seven embodies a variety of people, like a young child eager to play withNaomi Wildman (Scarlett Pomers), a Klingon warrior, and an elderly Ferengi. But in the moments where Seven of Nine is herself again, she’s terrified, uncertain, and doesn’t understand what’s happening to her.
“Infinite Regress” marks the start of Seven of Nine’s unlikely friendship with Naomi Wildman.
Seven of Nine was more than a simple drone; she was the Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01, soSeven was personally responsible for assimilating tens of thousands of new drones.Now that Seven has rediscovered her individuality, however, Seven of Nine is aware of what she took from all these people, and how she condemned them to live as drones. Even if Seven is liberated from the Collective, every life that Seven took adds to the weight of her guilt. It’s heavy stuff for what could have been a comedy episode.
5"Dark Frontier"
Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episodes 15 & 16
Thetwo-partStar Trek: Voyagerepisode"Dark Frontier" marks an important turning point for Seven of Nine, when she actively reclaims her humanity and leaves the Borg behind for good. While researching how to pull off a Borg Cube heist, the Hansens' recovered journals trigger Seven’s memories of being captured and assimilated as a child.In flashbacks, we get to see the backstory that Seven had repressed, as she comes to resent her parents' failure to keep her safe, and grieves the life she never lived.
Alternately fascinated and disgusted by Seven’s humanity, the Borg Queen twists the truth like a narcissistic parent.
During the heist in the second half, theBorg Queen (Susanna Thompson)manipulates Seven into staying with the Borg by quietly threatening Voyager’s crew. Alternately fascinated and disgusted by Seven’s humanity, the Borg Queen twists the truth like a narcissistic parent, claiming Seven was purposely let go to assimilate humans more easily.Seeing the toxic environment that Seven of Nine grew up in helps us understand why Seven of Nine issoconditioned by the Borg, and how far Seven has come on Voyager.
4"Someone to Watch Over Me"
Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 22
If there’s anyStar Trek: Voyagerepisode that paints Seven of Nine as an autistic-coded character, it’s “Someone to Watch Over Me”.In an effort to remedy Seven’s difficulty with social interaction, Seven of Nine tries to learn about dating.The Doctor becomes Seven’s guide through a series of lessons, which Seven awkwardly carries out with all the seemingly cold efficiency of her Borg upbringing. It’s not that Seven’s cold, exactly; it’s just that human mating rituals are inefficient and confusing to her.
When the Doctor accidentally falls in love with Seven, she doesn’t return his feelings. However, that doesn’t jeopardizeSeven of Nine and the Doctor’s friendship. If anything, the experience brings them closer together, andthe Doctor continues to teach Seven about humanity throughout the rest ofStar Trek: Voyager’s run. Seven may not come away from “Someone to Watch Over Me” with a romantic partner, but we gain clear insight into Seven’s attitudes towards social situations.
3"Imperfection"
Star Trek: Voyager Season 7, Episode 2
ByStar Trek: Voyagerseason 7, Seven of Nine is fully integrated into the USS Voyager crew, along with Icheb (Manu Intiraymi), one ofSeven’s Borg children. Seven’s malfunctioning cortical node spells certain death, because in the Collective, drones with broken cortical nodes are dismantled. Therefore,Seven considers her broken node a personal failing, and she pushes her closest friends —Icheb, Janeway, and the Doctor— away. Seven refuses to let them see her as imperfect, while she contemplates her own death.
Seven of Nine already knows that B’Elanna Torres doesn’t like her, so it’s paradoxically easier for Seven to be vulnerable around B’Elanna, who briefly becomes a kindred spirit—both have trouble fitting in, don’t like authority, and mask their fear with anger.
The Borg values that Seven was raised with make it difficult for her to believe that other people really do care about her, even when they’ve shown how much they love her. The Borg value perfection above all else, andSeven still believes that she must be perfect and productive to have value and be accepted.Seven also believes that proving herself as an individual means doing everything completely on her own. But it gets a little easier when Icheb puts his own life on the line to donate his cortical node to Seven, saving her life.
2"Stardust City Rag"
Star Trek: Picard Season 1, Episode 5
Twenty years of Seven of Nine’s life afterStar Trek: Voyagerare expertly written into “Stardust City Rag”, starting with the fact that Seven joined thevigilante Fenris Rangers. Seven’s past is intertwined with the charismatic criminal Bjayzl (Necar Zadegan), who used Seven to get to Icheb (Casey King), harvested Icheb’s Borg implants and left him to die. Bjayzl was likely one of the first people Seven trusted afterVoyager, and that broken trust hardened Seven against ever trying again.This Seven is vengeful and violent,claiming that hope is for idealists like Admiral Jean-Luc Picard.
Seven of Nine: “Did you honestly feel you had reclaimed your humanity?”
Admiral Picard: “Yes.”
Seven of Nine: “All of it?”
Admiral Picard: “No. … But we’re working on it, aren’t we?”
Seven of Nine: “Every damn day of my life.”
“Stardust City Rag” shows who Seven of Nine is when left to her own devices inStar Trek: Picard’s darker, practically claustrophobic version ofTrek’s galaxy. Without any of herVoyagerfriends, Seven is jaded and beaten down — but not broken. Being a Fenris Ranger is “hopeless and pointless and exhausting, and the only thing worse would be giving up,” becausefighting against injustice and brutality is how Seven proves her own humanity to herself.It’s hard and terrible, but if Seven has the power to help even one person, she will.
1"The Last Generation"
Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 10
Plenty of important character-defining moments for Seven of Nine are sprinkled throughoutStar Trek: Picard— but “The Last Generation” gives Seven of Nine her crowning glory.Star Trek: Picardhelped Seven see that she did not need to be perfect,since she defied protocol to do the right thing for the sheer sake of it being the right thing. ByStar Trek: Picardseason 3, Seven no longer needed to atone for her Borg past, but still struggled with believing that she was where she truly belonged, not least because of Captain Liam Shaw’s (Todd Stashwick) prejudice.
Even after Commander Seven of Nine led the USS Titan-A’s charge against the Changeling and Borg Alliance, inspiring anyone uninfected to take up arms, Seven still believed she needed to resign from Starfleet. It took Shaw’s posthumous recommendation, and Captain Tuvok’s (Tim Russ) refusal to accept Seven’s resignation, for Seven of Nine to understand that she really was worthy—as an individual, a Starfleet officer, and a starship Captain. Every struggle inStar Trek: Voyagerled to Captain Seven of Nine taking command of the USS Enterprise-G inStar Trek: PIcard… and hopefully,Star Trek: Legacy.
Star Trek: Voyager
Cast
In this sci-fi series, the starship Voyager becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant, 70,000 light-years from Earth. The diverse crew, led by Captain Janeway, embarks on a perilous journey home, encountering unfamiliar species and challenges while adhering to Federation principles in uncharted space.
Star Trek: Picard
Star Trek: Picard follows retired Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, played by Patrick Stewart, twenty years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis. The series delves into Picard’s life post-Starfleet, as he navigates a new chapter filled with unresolved past events and new challenges.
