Seven Of Nine And Raffi Might Have A Future Beyond Star Trek: Picard After All
At the very end of the first season of "Star Trek: Picard," after the story had concluded and everyone was headed back home, the violent bounty hunter Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Admiral Picard's close friend Raffi (Michelle Hurd) sat idly conversing. They reached out and began romantically holding hands, implying that the characters were initiating a romance. Previously throughout "Star Trek," both Seven and Raffi had only been seen having romances with men, so their respective bisexuality came as a pleasant surprise.
Sadly, at the start of the second season of "Picard," enough time had passed that Seven and Raffi had already dated for a while ... and had broken up. There was now a great deal of romantic resentment between them, and they had to struggle to fulfill their mission in the 21st century (the second season featured a time travel plot). In the show's third and final season, Raffi was on her own solo missions and Seven had become the first officer on board the U.S.S. Titan-A. It would take a while for the characters to reunite. Viewers, it seems, were robbed of the happy part of Seven's and Raffi's relationship.
But season three of "Picard" ended with a tantalizing setup. After the story concluded and everyone went on with their lives, the Titan-A was rechristened the Enterprise-G and sailed off into the stars. Seven was now the ship's captain and Raffi served as her first officer.
Showrunner Terry Matalas has been very open about how the conclusion of "Picard" was meant to serve as a pitch for a new series, set on board the Enterprise-G, that he wants to call "Star Trek: Legacy." In a recent interview with TrekMovie, Matalas acknowledged the potential drama that might be wrought from Seven's and Raffi's past relationship.
When your captain is your ex-girlfriend
Inter-officer romances aren't wholly uncommon on "Star Trek." Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) were romantically involved before they served on the Enterprise, and, many years later, would rekindle their romance and eventually marry. Odo (René Auberjonois) and Major Kira (Nana Visitor) had a long-running will-they-won't-they romance on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," and the two iterations of Dax (Terry Farrell, Nicole de Boer) would have romances with Worf (Michael Dorn) and Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig) respectively. Seven of Nine herself would have a romance with Chakotay (Robert Beltran) on "Star Trek: Voyager."
But "Star Trek: Legacy" would be the first time that a captain would serve directly with an ex. Matalas loved the possibilities of that dynamic, saying:
"A first officer and a captain with a past? Well, first, there's nothing to say [about the future of "Star Trek: Legacy"], I wish there was. But yeah, there's a there's quite a few storylines that we talked about from the beginning about where that would go. And it's just such a rich opportunity."
Because the streaming wars proved to be unprofitable, Paramount's presumed plan to make as much "Star Trek" as possible seems to have been changed. "Picard" came to an end, while "Discovery" and "Prodigy" will only have one more season each before being canceled. "Section 31" was shortened from a series into a single TV movie. It seems that "Star Trek" is in a state of contraction. Matalas confirms there are still no plans to make "Legacy," saying:
"They have 'Star Trek' that they are making and they only have so much money and streaming space. There's currently not, but we're looking forward to whatever the 'Star Trek' universe brings ... and never say never."
Doesn't sound hopeful.