Although “Star Trek: Voyager” ended in 2001, many characters from the series have returned to the Trekkies in a big way, all of whom are still around and still going about their Starfleet lives. Seven of Nine (Jerry Ryan) and Duvok (Tim Russ) both appeared in “Star Trek: Picard,” with the former playing a series regular role. The reference-heavy “Star Trek: Lower Decks” makes “Voyager” references all the time, and even had an episode set on the USS Voyager.
Most notably, Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) not only had a cameo in the 2002 film “Star Trek: Nemesis,” but a holographic version of the character played a major role in the animated series “Star Trek: Prodigy.” The same show also featured a subplot involving the real-life Janeway, the Doctor (Robert Picardo) and Chakotay (Robert Beltran), the captain of the experimental ship USS Protostar. Chakotay, Trekkies can tell you, was a first officer aboard the USS Enterprise, but he belonged to a resistance group called the Maquis, bent on overthrowing the Confederacy. The Maquis hated the confederacy's repeated negotiations with its enemies, and often lost their homes in irresponsible deals.
Chakotay had a gentle, practical nature, often expressing the feelings of his colleagues. He was valiant and constantly meditated. Chakotay also provided good First Nation representation, as it was later revealed that the Native American consultant on “Voyager” made up everything.
Beltran spoke to TrekMovie in 2023 and the actor revealed that he was offered the role of Chakotay in two episodes of “Star Trek: Picard.” However, he turned down the musical because it did not appeal to him.
'Penance' and 'Asim'
The episodes in question are “Penance” and “Integration” (March 10 and 17, 2022), which opened the story for the second season of “Star Trek: Picard”. Beltran was vague when announcing the offer on his Twitter account, however, writing:
“I was offered an episode (first two, then one) in 'Picard', but I didn't like what they wrote for Chakotay, so I turned them down. I won't go into details, but I have no animosity. 'Star Trek: Prodigy' Gives a Chakotay to 'Picard' Makers
Specific episodes will be revealed until the Trek movie “Picard” reaches out to showrunner Terry Modellus. Matalas, who co-wrote “Penance”, noted that Chakotai was supposed to appear as an alternate, “evil” version of himself in a parallel universe. In fact, he briefly served as the show's central antagonist, casting a skeptical eye on good-hearted characters from the “good” universe.
The second season of “Picard,” for those unfamiliar, began with Q (John De Lancey) sending Picard (Patrick Stewart) to an alternate timeline in which Earth has become a fascist, genocidal force in the galaxy, wiping out many species. Picard, Seven of Nine and others must briefly occupy the lives of their murderous counterparts. Seven was put in a particularly difficult spot as he was suddenly the evil president of Earth and had to contend with the fact that his enemy presided over murders and executions.
The original idea was that Chakotay would appear in an alternate timeline as Seven of the Nine's evil and fascist husband. This would make sense in the “Star Trek” canon, as Chakotay and Seven shared a brief romance in the seventh season of “Star Trek: Voyager.”
John John Briones took on the role
The concept of “repentance” and “assimilation” is that the husband of Seven is referred to as the First Magistrate of Earth, the Confederate. Matalas wanted to see Beltran in the role, but he refused so they had to rewrite the part. John Briones, who appeared in “Ratched” and “American Horror Story: Apocalypse,” is a new character who becomes Seven's fascist alternate-universe husband. Briones, incidentally, is the father of Issa Briones, who played several roles in the first two seasons of “Star Trek: Picard.” He was Taj, Choji, and Sutra in the first season and Corey in the second season.
Since the final episode of “Voyager” takes place in the future where the couple is married, it would have been fitting to have Chakotay in the role. However, that episode was erased from the timeline where Janeway started talking about time travel. In “Picard,” Seven is revealed to be in love with Rafi (Michael Hurd) and tries to maintain their friendship after a bad breakup. Introducing Chakotay to the series may have added more of a soap opera dynamic to the drama; Seven and Rafi can solve their problems on their own without involving Seven's ex-boyfriend.
Also, Beltran clearly liked the idea of Chakotay being firm, calm and authoritative. The villainous version of the character did not interest the actor. Fortunately, the “main” version of the character had a lot to say and do. In the second season of “Prodigy,” so “Voyager” fans aren't robbed of seeing a familiar face.
