Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: jeri ryan, Liam Shaw, paramount, seven of nine, Star Trek Picard, star trek: voyager, Terry Matalas, Todd Stashwick

Star Trek: Picard Star Jeri Ryan on "Vox" Fallout, Seven, Shaw & More

Star Trek star Jeri Ryan on Seven of Nine's journey from Voyager to Picard, winning over Shaw, reuniting with Tim Russ' Tuvok & more.

It's easy to get lost in the shuffle with the Star Trek galaxy, especially as part of an ensemble cast. It's a feeling star Jeri Ryan is familiar with, having been a part of two shows. First, by joining Voyager during its seven-year run and being one of three original cast members of Picard, along with Patrick Stewart and Michelle Hurd, to stay the entire duration. As we're about to reach the finish line, Ryan still had a major part to play amidst the reunion of The Next Generation, finally accepting her Starfleet commission of achieving the rank of commander and being the first officer of the U.S.S. Titan-A to Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick), who harbors some serious hate towards the Borg. The actress spoke to Screen Rant about Seven's major development, talking about her former ship to Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), and more. The following contains major spoilers.

Jeri Ryan's Journey on Star Trek: Voyager, Picard & Beyond

What's probably been the biggest reveal in the Paramount+ era is the re-introduction of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D at the end of "Vox" which went well beyond the tease in Jean-Luc Picard's dream sequence in season one. It turned out Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) was rebuilding it in secret after recovering the saucer section from Veridian III (when it crashed during the events of 1994's Generations)and cobbling its remaining other parts together at the Fleet Museum. "What's funny is I texted Terry Matalas, the showrunner, after I watched [episode 9]. I didn't even watch Next Gen. I didn't even watch the old Star Trek, and I was choked up! So, yeah, it was pretty cool," Ryan said.

Before the Enterprise-D's crew escape to the Titan's maintenance shuttle to return to the Fleet Museum, Shaw, Seven, and Raffi stayed behind to buy them time as the assimilating younglings tried to kill them. Shaw ended up a casualty. "[laughs] Indeed, it is! I shall sit and spin in his honor," Ryan said upon getting her promotion. Upon Seven's relationship with him, "She was certainly not a fan at the beginning of the season when we meet Shaw. And over the course of the season, we saw them develop a begrudging respect for each other, and realize that they needed each other's help and support. So it was a sort of push/pull kind of situation and a lot of butting heads. But that acknowledgment at his death was pretty powerful, I think, for Seven."

Shaw's insistence to deadname Seven to her pre-assimilation name Annika Hanson certainly didn't go unnoticed by fans and not by Ryan either. "No, I wasn't surprised at all. I loved it. And I loved that the trans community felt represented and identified with that, but I wasn't surprised by that." When it came to touring the Fleet Museum in "The Bounty," Seven brought up her former ship U.S.S. Voyager. "It's great. I mean, that was four years of my life. And I love those people. So it's fun seeing it. I wish we could have had the budget, and the story time, and the number of episodes to be able to bring all [Voyager's] characters back get to revisit all of them. But that's just not the reality of television."

The beginning of Picard found Seven disillusioned with Starfleet and joining the Fenris Rangers, who had looser morals than the by-the-book Federation. It wasn't until the end of season two when she finally accepted the commission, which certainly doesn't hurt having the endorsement of two admirals in Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Picard. Upon her reuniting with her Voyager co-star Tim Russ, who plays Tuvok, in Picard, the series revealed not only was he promoted, but unfortunately been compromised with a Changeling double. As far as their scenes and what little Ryan can reveal, "No, we didn't shoot that together. But he's phenomenal, of course. And yeah, I can't say anything else. We did get to chat. We did get to run into each other. And there might be another scene, perhaps, where you might see the two of them together. It's kind of obvious because he was very vocal when he posted once his episode aired, but he's in two episodes. So yes, we will see him in Episode 10. Whether it is Changeling Tuvok or real Tuvok, I won't tell you, but yeah."

For more, including Ryan talking about Seven reuniting with Raffi, Seven's mutual respect and friendship with Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut's Sidney La Forge, comparing Seven's evolution on Voyager to Picard, and her future in the franchise, you can check the interview here. The series finale of Star Trek: Picard streams Thursday on Paramount+.

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