Star Trek: The Next Generation
Summary
Before she played Ensign Ro Laren , Michelle Forbes played an entirely different character inStar Trek : The Next Generation . Ensign Ro Laren was created by Michael Piller , and introduced inTNGseason 5 . Discussing the character of Ro in theStar Trek : The Next Generation Companion , Rick Berman said that the persona initiate from a desire to boast " character with the effectiveness and dignity of a Starfleet officer but with a troubled past , an edge . " Michelle Forbes was cast as Ensign Ro and join thecast ofStar Trek : The Next Generationon a recurring basis .
Michelle Forbes ' career began , likeStar Trek : The Next Generation , in 1987 with a role in the telecasting soapGuiding Light . Between 1989 and 1991 , Forbes had a fistful of modest part in web shows likeThe Father Dowling Mysteriesbefore get together the cast ofTNGfor season 5 . Thesuccess of Ro Laren onTNGled to Michelle Forbes being offered a regular persona inStar Trek : Deep Space Nine , but she turned it down to quest after other roles . However , while Ro Laren was an former purpose for Michelle Forbes , it was n’t the first grapheme that she had play inStar Trek : TNG .
Ensign Ro was a popular TNG recur character mean to spinoff into DS9 . Here ’s why Michelle Forbes quit Star Trek and what happened subsequently .
Michelle Forbes’ Star Trek: TNG Role Before Ro Laren
Michelle Forbes first come out inStar Trek : The Next Generationas Dara in the Lwaxana Troi ( Majel Barrett ) episode " Half a Life " . Dara was the daughter of Lwaxana ’s latest love interest , Doctor Timicin ( David Ogden Stiers ) , they were penis of an alien raceway address the Kaelon , whose culture had a controversial glide slope to old historic period . Rather than give in to the ravage of aging , and the various indignity of get older , the sixty - yr - honest-to-goodness Kaelons conduct a ceremony know as Resolution , in which they celebrate their life and accomplishments with friends and family before direct their own life sentence in a ritual suicide .
It ’s a typically unsubtleStar Trekmetaphor for how contemporary gild can be guilty of abandoning their older citizens . Having fallen in love with Lwaxana Troi , Timicin opts not to go ahead with his Resolution ceremony . This thrust Dara to visit the USS Enterprise - D to plead with her don not to go against tradition and land shame upon their family . Eventually , she convince her father to survey tradition , snap off Lwaxana ’s warmheartedness . Star Trek : The Next Generation ’s producers were so impressed by Michelle Forbes ' carrying out as Dara in the pivotal scenery in " Half a living " that they after offered her the character of Ro Laren in season 5 .
Why Ro Laren Was So Popular In Star Trek: TNG
Ro Laren was a popularStar Trek : The Next Generationcharacter because she had flaw , something that Captain Jean - Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) and the crew of the go-ahead - D were n’t allowed to have . These flaw and Ro ’s troubled past serve to judder up the dynamics onTNG , freshening the show up as a solvent . Many of Picard ’s gang controvert Ro ’s assigning to the starship go-ahead , most notably Commander William T. Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) , who had an antipathetical relationship with the Bajoran .
Ro Laren also had the most cheering character discharge inStar Trek : The Next contemporaries , culminating in her shocking treason toward the end ofTNGseason 7 . " Preemptive Strike " is thebestStar Trek : TNGepisode direct by Patrick Stewart , and showed Ro deciding that she could no longer bear Starfleet ’s insubstantial response to Cardassian Occupation across the galaxy . The concept of a Starfleet officer who no longer believes in their mission really capture the vision , and helped to betray the personal stakes involved in the Maquis storylines that would recur throughout bothStar Trek : Deep Space NineandStar Trek : Voyager .
Ro ’s betrayal captured the imagination of Terry Matalas , who impart the fibre back inStar Trek : Picardseason 3 , episode 5 , " Imposters " . Discussing his decision to bring back Ro withEntertainment Weekly , Terry Matalas enunciate that the history between Commander Laren and Admiral Picard was perfect for the story he wanted to say . Ro ’s brief take inPicardalso allowed Terry Matals to correct the cliffhanger ending of " Preemptive Strike " .
Custom image by Simone Ashmoore
" The only room to be sure that the person that you ’re talking to is actually the person you hope they are is by getting through a purgation of psychic trauma of the past of this relationship [ … ] That was Ro and Picard , and I so urgently wanted to see the termination to that human relationship . "
Ro Laren Can Still Return To Star Trek
Commander Ro Laren ’s shuttle was destroyed , apparently killing off Michelle Forbes ' belovedStar Trekcharacter . However , one scene from theStar Trek : Picardseason 3 last would have revealed that she had been captured by the Changelings prior to the shuttlecock explode . In aroundtablePicardinterview with Terry Matalasrevealed that the scene was write but never made it in front of the camera . This means that , if Terry Matalas’Star Trek : Legacyis commissioned , he can finally uncover that Ro Laren survive the birdie burst by being beamed aboard the USS Intrepid , and hold in its brig .
Even ifStar Trek : Legacydoesn’t take place , there are way for Michelle Forbes to return as Ro Laren elsewhere in the enfranchisement . For example , Star Trek : Lower Deckstakes place in the twelvemonth after theStar Trek : The Next Generationmovies ended , meaning that the Lower Deckers could bump into Ro Laren during her post - Maquis rehabilitation . There ’s even an remote opportunity that Ro Laren could seem inStar Trek : Prodigy , pass on that Admiral Kathryn Janeway ( Kate Mulgrew ) has a impregnable caterpillar tread record of rehabilitating Maquis terrorist by afford them second chance . While these are fun melodic theme , nothing could beat the chance to see Ro Laren uprise if Terry Matalas’Star Trek : Legacyshow becomes a reality .
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Cast
Star Trek : The Next Generation follows Captain Jean - Luc Picard and his bunch aboard the USS Enterprise NCC-1701D as they enter on interstellar geographic expedition , seeking out new worlds and civilization .
Star Trek: The Next Generation follows Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew aboard the USS Enterprise NCC-1701D as they embark on interstellar explorations, seeking out new worlds and civilizations.
