 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Cast Reflections: Season 1: There's a short interview segment with Jennifer on set in her Kes make up from the pilot (below) and we see her filming the pilot.
"It's a joy to pretend to be this extraordinary creature. So open and everything's so new. No sort of cynicism or precociousness or pretentiousness or sarcasm... None of the usual young, female... It's good, it's very good."
Easter Egg: You may have seen pictures from the pilot with Kate Mulgrew with her hair down from the pilot in the Ocampa city, but the studio didn't like it so they had to reshoot scenes. You see Kes with her outfit and injury from when she was rescued but she's in the Ocampa city, so they must have reshot it differently, her taking the crew there after being treated.
I was surprised to find very little to do with Kes/Jennifer on this seasons DVDs. But the discussions are about the stories, i.e. the continuing Kazon story and how that was a risk for syndication when they should be stand alone episodes. In the photo gallery there's an image of Kes and Tannis on their marks in "Cold Fire" with the director presumably. And there's a picture of Levar Burton as director with Jennifer. The feature A Day in the Life of Ethan Phillips is very interesting!
I've not got the third season on DVD yet. I look forward to it because there's a character profile on Kes.
Kes's departre is spoken about.
Rick Berman: "The decision to lose the character of Kes was simultaneous to the decision to bring on the character of Seven of Nine. And it had nothing to do with Jennifer Lien, she's a lovely actress. It's just that the character wasn't working for us. We tried on a number of occasions to make the character work and it didn't seem to be working."
Kenneth Biller: "I was a little bit regretful when Kes left the show because I thought that she was an interesting character to write for from a science fiction standpoint. She had telepathic abilities, she had this very compressed lifespan. She had things about her character that often lent themselves to interesting storytelling. So we certainly gained something in the Seven of Nine character but we lost something in losing the Kes character as well."
Kate Mulgrew: "It was an awful moment when I had to say goodbye to Jennifer Lien. You can well imagine. I had to act what I was in fact feeling. And this is a treacherous terrain [the acting business], I was very upset. And... I found it very difficult to get through that episode... Really difficult."
Jeri Taylor: "We knew we would probably want to eliminate her in some interesting way. And in season three or four of a series, very often people go and people come. So it wasn't that that unexpected an event. So we decided to let Kes go and bring Seven of Nine in."
In Red Alert: Amazing Visual Effects, the effect of Kes fluctuating in and out of the physical reality is talked about. Liquid nitrogen was used. The Birth of Species 8742 feature is fascinating, with Kes clips from "Scorpion."
I was very disappointed there are no interviews or discussions about Kes's return in "Fury." There is a feature on the special effects in that episode though. We see Jennifer walking on a treadmill against a green screen, that's how the scene where Kes walks down the corridor with the corridor exploding around her was made. And they talk about the two Kes's and the woman who played the Kes double.