Voyager Raised Concerns For Another Character

In addition to how the Doctor might relate to a new Borg character, Picardo was suddenly concerned that Seven would be given stories and character moments that might have previously been assigned to him. After all, the Doctor was a machine intelligence that had to learn how to become more human, and Seven was implanted with machines and had to learn how to become more human. Picardo said:

“[W]hat happened is that Seven’s character was suddenly assigned storylines that would have been The Doctor’s in the first three seasons. Had I realized they were going to do that, I might’ve been trepidatious. When I heard that Kes wasn’t coming back, I did go in to Brannon’s office and say, ‘I’m concerned again.'” 

Brannon is Brannon Braga, one of the show’s co-creators and key writers. Even if the executives at Paramount didn’t like Kes, Picardo did, and he knew that his character was about to lose something vital. In the early episodes of the series, the Doctor was impatient and mechanical. Only Kes was able to help him explore his emotional life. A cold-blooded Borg character wouldn’t be able to provide that. Picardo brought up his concerns succinctly, saying: 

“I explained that Kes had really been The Doctor’s mentor. Officially, he’s mentoring her as a medical assistant, but she has been mentoring him and developing his humanity. My concern was that she’s been his emotional sounding board, his confessor. The moment she’s gone, The Doctor is just going to go back to being a buffoon and a windbag. He’d never open himself up to another crew member at this point.”

Braga, however, turned the new change back on Picardo, and encouraged him to think of it as an acting challenge.