This section describes all the production issues concerning Kes. Since I have no contact with Jennifer Lien, nor with the makers of Startrek: Voyager, I can't verify this information. Some is indirectly based on multiple sources, some is indirectly based on only one source. The rest is pure conjecture on my part to fill in the blanks with what I think may have been the case. Quite a lot of it seems rather doubtful. Please treat it as such. If you have more information, please tell me.

Casting and preparing. Not much is known about those initial phases of the series. Kes is one of the characters on Voyager that don't have a parallel on Red Dwarf and the character was conceived later than most other characters. Casting of Jennifer Lien for the part happened before anybody had any idea of what the character was going to be like. There's the suggestion that there was frustration under the production crew over the impression that the bosses were even indifferent to what this character was going to be like. Personally I have the feeling that Jennifer filled in a lot of it herself, and that in later episodes the writers started to write with that vision in mind.

Casting an actress for an undefined role means that either they selected someone who's cheap, or someone who's good and could do whatever they would decide upon later. It's unknown which criterion was used in casting Jennifer.

Breaking up with Neelix. With low viewing figures (even though they got even lower after Kes left) the producers decided that more romance was necessary. Kes's stable relationship (the stability of which was established in episodes like Parturition) made her unavailable for other suitors and therefore also for audience fantasies. It was written that Kes broke off with Neelix, and Kes was clothed in so-called cat-suits. Instead of looking normal while being tight-fitting, these new clothes actually looked tight-fitting. I think this was too obvious to work.

The actual break-up was handled really badly. In Warlord Kes tells Neelix that their relationship is over, but later it is revealed that Kes was actually talking as the warlord Tieran who of course didn't want a relationship with Neelix. Everybody realises this, except the writers of the next episodes because in those Kes and Neelix suddenly and inexplicably are indeed not together anymore.

Hair and wigs. Jennifer wears a wig as Kes, but it's not the suddenly long hair of later episodes that's a wig, but the short hair of before. Jennifer's real long blond curly hair is stacked away under those wigs. When they were 'sexing up' Kes, Kes was made to look more like Jennifer herself. This part of it does work.

Again, the actual hair-growing was handled very oddly. In the episode Before and after, where Kes lives backwards through time, Kes is shown to have long hair when she's older. So far so good. But when everything is restored to normal, she still has long hair instead of the short hair of only a week ago. We'll just have to chalk that one up to the dangers of time-travel.

Cold fire. The reason given for Kes's departure, is that the writers didn't have enough ideas anymore for the character. Since Kes is the only character on board that isn't supposed to be or trying to be a model officer, the human side of the problems encountered can only be played off Kes. It therefore begs the question whether writers that don't see stories for Kes, or involvement of Kes in other stories, are suited to write Startrek stories. Startrek stories need to have some problem or issue which is both scifi and involves a character on a personal level. Taking Kes out of the Voyager chemistry severely damages the ability to make proper Startrek stories work.

Fortunately for the writers the official reason given is not the real reason. To further 'sex-up' the series a new character was introduced (7/9) which has and showed certain physical attributes that were out of all proportions. Note that even with the enormous amount of advertising for that fourth season, the average viewing figures without Kes and with 7/9 were lower than the episodes with Kes and without 7/9. But one character had to leave to make way for 7/9.

Harry Kim was selected as the character that was to leave. But based on an online poll (and we all know how unreliable online polls are) of a magazine, in which the actor was in the top 50, the producers decided that having such a popular person on the show would be free publicity. They decided to keep Kim. No announcement was made to the actors as to who had to leave, but Ethan Phillips (Neelix) fully expected to be the one.

The first episode of the fourth season sees Harry Kim recover from his fatal illness. No one leaves yet. The script for the second episode was sent to the actors. Jennifer must have been thrilled to see another episode that features Kes and her exploration of her mental abilities. She must have been wondering what miracle the writers had come up with to solve the problems threatening the ship and Kes herself. The curiosity must have been on a high when Kes is in the shuttle, transforms to a higher level of existence, and sends the ship ten years closer to home. How are they now going to find Kes back? She turns the page. "The End". They do not find Kes back, Jennifer is the one who gets fired. No one had told her. (Note: this is the bit based on only one indirect source, that I warned for earlier, filled in with total guesswork)

It gets worse. The producers didn't even have a proper reason to select Kes. I gave one argument earlier why it harms the series if Kes is not there, and I can give more. But they had no counter-argument as far as I know. Kim would be logical, since his personality makes that he doesn't do much and doesn't get involved, unlike Kes's personality. Neelix would be the next logical choice, since Startrek fans hate him (I don't, I just think he's flawed. I loved the Jetrel episode).

One producer, who has fortunately left now and who has been a destructive force towards Startrek: Voyager on other occasions as well, had a little feud with another producer. This second one liked Kes, so the first disliked Kes. Or, the first disliked Kes, so the second liked her. In any case it was petty. Getting rid of Kim was the second producer's idea, and when (s)he was 'proven' wrong by the online poll, the first producer had a chance to get back at him/her. That's why Jennifer Lien was so coldly fired. And that's how they killed the last shred of humanity on Startrek: Voyager, just to satisfy their childish needs.

New Kes episodes. I wished there were new Kes episodes! But rumour has it that they are considering a Kes episode, if the right idea comes along. I hope The Story of Kes on this site gives you some ideas; send them in to the producers!

Note again that the information on this page is not said to be true. I've not checked it, and I don't have it from first or even second hand experience. A lot of it is also guesswork. But scientifically, any theory is sound if it fits all the facts known to you, until facts come along that make that the theory needs updating. This page contains my personal theory.

Complaints? Updates necessary? Whatever? E-mail me: Gidi Kroon.