Jeri Ryan Says Star Trek's Hot Lesbian Couple Was Created By Accident

Star Trek: Discovery isn't the franchise's only queer show.

Over its two seasons, Paramount+'s Star Trek: Picard has introduced a relationship between one classic female character and a new one, former Borg drone Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and troubled Starfleet officer Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd). And now we know how the two characters were paired together.

According to Ryan, who talked with SFX Magazineabout her role, the idea to have Seven and Raffi's relationship turn into a romance actually came from the actors joking around.

"It was actually Jonathan Del Arco, who played Hugh (a Borg) and Michelle. I sort of dropped a seed and then they picked it up and ran to the producers with it," Ryan said. "We were at the network party at Comic-Con and we took a picture together, Michelle and I, that Johnny took. I said, 'Well, there's the hottest lesbian couple that never existed,' and they both went, 'Oh my god, that's it. That's perfect!' They grabbed the phone and ran to Michael Chabon (season 1's showrunner) and his wife and pitched the idea and they loved it."

According to Pink News, she also opened up about how she views the relationship and where she wants to take it. "The is a relationship with two very damaged people who are trying to figure out if they can heal themselves enough to actually be together, if that makes sense," she said. "It's an unusual thing, in Star Trek, to pick up in the middle of a relationship. This is not the beginnings and the flirtation and all of that - you see that just for a glimmer in the finale of season one. Then there's a time-cut, and we're dropped into the middle of this relationship."

The second season of the show picks up after a time cut, with the characters also having time-traveled into the 21st Century. When we see the characters in season two, they're already in an established relationship.

"We skip the whole honeymoon phase, and we are into the complexities of an adult relationship, in the trenches, you're in the middle of it," she said. "How do you navigate a whirlwind romance that's born from primarily adrenaline, and now you have to navigate the day-to-day while you're also saving the world?"

She also added that there had long been talks of making Seven gay or bi, even back in her Voyager days. "I know that Jeri Taylor, who was one of the showrunners at the time, was very interested in making Seven gay or bi or pansexual, and that was shut down," Ryan said. "But it's the character that would have made perfect sense - absolute perfect sense - from the get-go because she didn't even grow up human. Why should she have any preconceived notions about sexuality or any of it? It's the perfect character to explore that storyline with."

Unfortunately, at that time, the Star Trek franchise was being executive produced by Rick Berman, who is now known to have been a "raging homophobe" at the time, regularly shooting down ideas from writers to include LGBTQ+ content on the show as original series creator Gene Roddenberry had wanted.

Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard is currently airing, with its first episode premiering today. New episodes will be available on Paramount+ each Thursday.

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