Star Trek VoyagerJennifer Lien: What really happened? Part 1 of 2

For years, the cast and crew of Star Trek Voyager would never fully disclose the sudden departure of Jennifer Lien.  Whenever some would bring it up to the cast, they’d get uncomfortable, It would later add fuel to a major feud between Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan.  Things got so intense that most of the cast didn't want to be around when Ryan and Mulgrew shared a scene. That is for another story.

I used to find Jennifer Lien attractive.  She is only a few years older than me. Lien played the interesting Kes character.  After the third season, Lien left the show, or was fired.  ST fans heard conflicting reports about her departure.  The most famous and false one was that “The writers never had a grasp on her character”.  After years of this story, we now know that was a lie.  Screen 

From Screen Rant, She began to become distracted, inattentive, there was just something off. I asked her to come into my office and probed gently to see if there was something going on in her life, something I could help her with, and she simply wouldn’t speak at all. This is what happened to everyone who tried to reach out and help her, including her agent. To this day, I don’t think anyone knows what’s going on, but clearly, there was something emotionally upset about her. She would not open up about it, she would not consider getting help about it, but clearly, it was more powerful than she was

I don’t agree with everything Jeri Taylor did on VOY, but she went out of her way to keep Lien on the show.  Truth be told, Wang, Harry Kim, was supposed to get the axe.  He was also misbehaving, but not to the extent Lien was.  Taylor tried to get her help, but she refused.  Lien and Trek parted ways.  Given all the issues I had over the years, this new information would have answered a few questions about her future misdeeds.  I think they would have kept Kes on the crew, but she had too many personal demons. 

I know that the cast was very close, and they felt hurt by her departure.  It seems they have kept this news close to the vest.  I am glad Jeri Taylor finally revealed this side of the story.  Jeri Taylor would pass away earlier this year, and it would have been kept a secret. 

For me, addiction issues need to be dealt with.  Lien seemed to not want to face it.