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Published Jan 8, 2024
Everything You Need to Know About Ro Laren
The Bajoran Starfleet officer made several key relationships before defecting to the Maquis.
StarTrek.com / Rob DeHart
Despite a loner’s mentality, a bad reputation, and a tense transfer to the U.S.S. Enterprise- D, Ensign Ro Laren eventually found friendships among the starship’s complement, and it all started with…
"Ensign Ro"
StarTrek.com
Always the listener, the El Aurian bartender made the effort to break through Ro Laren’s icy facade and offered the Bajoran officer her friendship at a time when the Enterprise -D’s crew would not. After Captain Picard confined Ro to her quarters, Guinan paid her a visit and encouraged Ro to talk about her troubles. Guinan vouched for Ro in front of Picard, convincing the captain to put aside his preconceptions so that the ensign could tell him about an illegal plot that a Starfleet admiral had initiated.
Ro and Guinan’s bond continued to grow, particularly during the brief time they were transformed into children by a transporter accident. Guinan recognized that Ro’s frustration about becoming a child again reflected the Bajoran’s rough childhood, so the El Aurian rallied Ro’s spirits, ultimately getting the ensign to express herself by jumping on her bed and drawing a portrait of her mother with crayons.
William T. Riker
"Conundrum"
As the Enterprise-D ’s first officer, Commander Riker was one of the staunchest opponents to Ro Laren's transfer onto the starship. The two regularly clashed over Starfleet regulations and shipboard procedures. A Satarran operative’s plan to infiltrate the flagship and wipe the crew’s memories had an intriguing side effect, as it permitted Riker and Ro to socialize without the baggage associated with their past conflicts. The pair found common ground, and they were even romantically involved before their memories were restored.
Upon Ro’s promotion to lieutenant, the Bajoran undertook a mission to infiltrate the Maquis. When Picard suspected Ro’s loyalties were wavering, he assigned Riker to pose as her relative and accompany her on the journey to spring a trap on the Maquis. Ro finally made her choice, siding with the Maquis and pointing a phaser at Riker before expressing her regrets and fleeing with her new comrades. Despite their tumultuous history, Riker genuinely appeared sad over Ro’s departure, though he did wish her well.
Geordi La Forge
"The Next Phase"
Another officer who resisted Ro Laren’s presence on the Enterprise -D, Geordi La Forge gradually found respect for his colleague, particularly during the incident which saw the disembodied presences of alien prisoners assert control over Counselor Troi, Data, and Chief O’Brien’s bodies. La Forge and Ro collaborated on what turned out to be a failed project to remove the entities by initiating a plasma shock on the affected crew members.
On a mission where a Romulan experiment caused Ro and La Forge to become cloaked, the two worked closely to figure out precisely what had happened to them. Ro believed they had actually died, at least until the chief engineer uncovered the Romulans had been trying to develop a phased cloaking device. The duo successfully alerted Captain Picard to their presence, foiled a Romulan scheme to sabotage the Enterprise -D, and learned they had more in common than they had originally thought.
Jean-Luc Picard
"Preemptive Strike"
Following Guinan’s declaration that Ro was her friend, Captain Picard chose to trust in the Bajoran, ultimately recognizing her potential and offering her a permanent place on the Federation flagship. This act of confidence meant a lot to Ro, who expressed her gratitude to the captain when she was cloaked and out of phase, even though Picard could not actually hear her say the words. Picard’s faith in Ro flourished, as he was the one who recommended her entry into Starfleet’s advanced tactical training program.
After returning to the Enterprise -D, Ro honored Picard’s support by accepting Starfleet’s request that she infiltrate the Maquis. As Ro’s sympathies toward the Maquis intensified, Picard worried about the path the Bajoran was taking. The captain’s concerns proved accurate, and he was discouraged by Ro’s decision to expose Starfleet’s trap and leave with the Maquis. Ro asked Riker to convey how sorry she was for betraying Picard, and the incident clearly caused the captain much sorrow.
A leader in the Maquis group that Ro infiltrated, Macias quickly endeared himself to the Bajoran with his kind demeanor, a resilience against Cardassian tyranny, and their shared love for hasperat. Macias reminded Ro of her father, but the friendship was short-lived. Tragically, a Cardassian team attacked the Maquis camp, killing Macias in the process. With his dying breath, Macias told Ro that someone would step forward to take his place. Macias’ death turned out to be the catalyst which propelled Ro to take a stand and join the Maquis, thus ending her Starfleet career and causing the rift between Ro and Picard.
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This article was originally published on March 16, 2023.
Jay Stobie (he/him) is a freelance writer and consultant who has contributed articles to StarTrek.com, Star Trek Explorer, and Star Trek Magazine, as well as to Star Wars Insider and StarWars.com. Jay can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @StobiesGalaxy.
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Star Trek: Picard 's latest Next Generation cameo was all about 'doing a paranoia thriller'
"I so desperately wanted to see the conclusion to that relationship," says showrunner Terry Matalas of Jean-Luc Picard and the latest surprise guest.
Nick is an entertainment journalist based in New York, NY. If you like pugs and the occasional blurry photo of an action figure, follow him on Twitter @NickARomano.
Warning: This article contains spoilers from Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 5.
Patrick Stewart 's Jean-Luc is touring his greatest hits in the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard by bringing back a bevy of familiar faces from The Next Generation . The reunions keep coming in episode 5, titled "Imposters," which sees a character showrunner Terry Matalas says he really wanted for his story arc.
Actress Michelle Forbes returns as Ro Laren, a Bajoran member of Starfleet who served on the U.S.S Enterprise-D. Trekkies last saw her in season 7 of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1994. The character now arrives on Picard to question Jean-Luc and Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) about the Titan's activities, but similar to her past story arcs, there's a secret, more pressing reason why she's really there.
"There was nothing I wanted to do more than bring Ro Laren back," Matalas tells EW. "It felt like such a hanging chad from Next Generation . That episode to me is very special. It's the idea of doing a paranoia thriller."
Ro made her first appearance on The Next Generation in 1991 in the episode "Ensign Ro," and her colorful background includes a conviction for disobeying orders and getting eight crewmen killed. She was first stationed on the U.S.S. Enterprise on a secret mission to make a deal with a suspected Bajoran terrorist, but her principles in the matter are what gained her respect from Picard.
The last time Picard saw her — at least on screen — was in season 7 when she was sent to infiltrate a resistance group known as the Maquis and ended up defecting. A lot has seemingly happened to Ro off screen since that time. To use Picard's own words, "How the hell is Ro Laren back in Starfleet?!" It turns out she was once again rehabilitated and brought up through Starfleet Intelligence.
She beams aboard the U.S.S Titan in Picard season 3 with two armed security guards from the U.S.S Intrepid as Jean-Luc and Riker face potential treason charges. Once both Picard and Ro break the ice and confirm neither of them are Changelings, she reveals her true purpose for being there is because Starfleet has been infiltrated at the highest level by Changelings.
"The only way to be sure that the person that you're talking to is actually the person you hope they are is by getting through a catharsis of trauma of the past of this relationship, [which] to me felt like it could be really good television," Matalas says. "That was Ro and Picard, and I so desperately wanted to see the conclusion to that relationship."
Closure comes just in time. The episode concludes with the death of Ro, who realizes too late that her own detail has been infiltrated by Changelings who plant a bomb on her shuttle. She's at least able to leave behind her Bajoran earring containing all her files on the Changelings before crashing her shuttle into the Intrepid.
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Ensign Ro (episode)
- View history
The Enterprise takes on Ensign Ro Laren to help track down Bajoran terrorists who attacked a Federation colony.
- 1.2 Act One
- 1.3 Act Two
- 1.4 Act Three
- 1.5 Act Four
- 1.6 Act Five
- 1.7 Log entries
- 2 Memorable quotes
- 3.1 Production history
- 3.2 Story and script
- 3.3 Production
- 3.4 Cast and characters
- 3.5 Continuity
- 3.6 Reception
- 3.7 Video and DVD releases
- 3.8 Apocrypha
- 4.1 Starring
- 4.2 Also starring
- 4.3 Guest stars
- 4.4 Special guest star
- 4.5 Co-star
- 4.6 Uncredited co-stars
- 4.7 Stand-ins
- 4.8 References
- 4.9 External links
Summary [ ]
It is a typical day as Mot trims Captain Picard 's hair in the barbershop while dispensing advice on strategy while in adversarial situations with the Romulans . The conversation is interrupted by a call from Commander Riker , who reports that the USS Enterprise -D has just received a distress call from a colony on Solarion IV . As Picard leaves, Mot observes how close Solarion is to the Cardassian border and points out that he told them not to colonize it. When Picard arrives on the bridge , there is an audio-only communication from a Bajoran man claiming responsibility for destroying the colony and threatening more violence if their homeland is still kept from them.
Act One [ ]
Picard is holding a private meeting in the observation lounge with Admiral Kennelly , who is ill with a Cardassian virus he received while meeting with a Cardassian liaison last weekend. Picard replicates him ginger tea with honey , his Aunt Adele 's cure for the common cold . They move on to discussing the Bajoran terrorism issue. It seems the Cardassian Empire annexed Bajor forty years ago and the Bajoran people were subsequently driven from their own land and left to wander the galaxy, looking for a planet to settle on. While the Cardassians have had problems with terrorism ever since the annexation , this is the first time the Bajorans have attacked the Federation . Kennelly wants Picard to stop Orta , the Bajoran terrorist leader, at all costs. While the two discuss the issue, Riker learns that Ensign Ro Laren is waiting to beam aboard the Enterprise . The ensign has come at Kennelly's request, for he thinks she will be useful on the mission even though she was imprisoned previously. Picard recognizes the name and protests due to an incident on Garon II while she was on the USS Wellington , but the admiral is insistent she is right for the job. Picard tells Riker to proceed. Riker is unclear why Ro is to be allowed to beam aboard and Picard tells him he will fill him in later.
When Ro Laren arrives aboard the Enterprise , there is visible anger on the part of Riker, as he tells her to respect uniform code. She takes off her earrings and follows Riker out of the transporter room .
Act Two [ ]
" Better than prison? There are officers who wait years to serve on this ship! "
Riker expresses his concerns with Picard in his ready room . He says many officers won't want to serve with Ro. Picard assures him it will be temporary. Ro enters and Picard calls her "Ensign Laren". Ro interrupts Picard to tell him that Bajoran surnames come first, and thus Ro Laren is Ensign Ro, with a casual disregard for respect and procedure. Riker is insulted by Ro's apparent lack of respect for what he considers the honor of being stationed on the Enterprise ; in her words, it is "better than prison". Picard tells her they will all have to serve together for the time being. Ro interrupts him again, saying that she knows the routine and wants this mission to be over with as quickly as possible so they can go their separate ways. Without being dismissed by Picard, Ro rises and promptly exits the ready room.
At a staff meeting, Picard and the crew discuss how to get in contact with the Bajoran people. Data suggests that a man known as Jas Holza might be the best choice, and that he may be found on Valo III . Dr. Crusher is familiar with the man, as she met him at a medical symposium and adds that he is quite charming, as well as a good dancer. However, Ro points out that Jas holds no real sway over the Bajoran people. She does, however, know a man named Keeve Falor who lives on Valo II . They decide to go there instead.
On the surface of Valo II, Picard meets with Keeve, who does not condone the terrorist attack against the Federation. However, at the same time he refuses to help Picard or the Federation, as he feels betrayed by the way they sat idly by while Bajor and its people were ravaged by the Cardassians. Picard determines to help the people of the planet using the Enterprise 's replicators to produce blankets for every man, woman and child in the settlement, which makes Keeve much more cooperative. Ro tells Picard she ran away because she could not live as the Bajorans do and would not be lost nor defeated.
Act Three [ ]
Ro sits alone at a table in Ten Forward , sipping her beverage and turning Troi and Crusher away when they offer to sit with her. As Geordi La Forge sits at the bar nearby and expresses his displeasure at Ro's presence to Guinan , she decides that Ro sounds like someone she would like to get to know, based on La Forge's description of her. During their conversation, it is revealed that Ro was court martialed because she disobeyed a direct order, resulting in the death of eight fellow officers. Guinan persists despite Ro's efforts to push her away, intent on making a new friend.
In her quarters, Ro receives a transmission from Kennelly and tells him that all is going according to plan. When it comes time to beam to the surface, Picard finds Ro had left the Enterprise six hours prior and the terrorists never showed up at the designated meeting location. He beams down anyway with an away team , where they find themselves surrounded by armed Bajorans.
Act Four [ ]
Orta emerges with Ro to face the Enterprise crew, his face mutilated and vocal cords cut by the Cardassians. He tells them that the Bajorans did not attack Solarion IV and lets them go.
Back on the Enterprise 's bridge , Ro discusses the issue of who attacked Solarion IV with the other officers until Picard asks her into his ready room. There he angrily says she is not to beam down without authorization and confines her to her quarters for the duration of the mission.
That night, Guinan visits Ro to talk about what has happened. She observes that Ro seems to trust no one, least of all herself. After a brief conversation, Guinan recalls a time in her life when she got herself into a bad situation and that she would probably still be there if she had not put her trust in one man.
Despite Ro being confined to her quarters, Guinan takes her to Picard's ready room, telling the captain that she considers Ro a friend, convincing him to hear her out. Guinan leaves the two of them to talk, Picard noting that Guinan is very selective on who she calls a friend. Ro reveals a secret about her purpose aboard the Enterprise . As she reveals, Admiral Kennelly wanted her to make a secret deal with Orta, in direct violation of the Prime Directive : so long as Orta stopped attacking the Federation, Kennelly would supply him and his fellows with weapons and ships. However, when she learned Orta was not responsible, she never made the offer (something Picard notes almost certainly saved her from another court martial) and did not know what to do next. Ro shares a story about how her father was tortured to death in front of her at the hands of the Cardassians, explaining that she felt ashamed to be Bajoran. She and Picard decide to find a way for Orta to help them expose the ones who really attacked the Federation colony.
Act Five [ ]
As the Enterprise prepares to escort a Bajoran transport with Orta and his compatriots aboard, they find the ship can only travel at half impulse and match speeds accordingly. Picard tells Data to monitor the Cardassian border, and as they travel, two top of the line Galor -class Cardassian warships seem to take up a parallel course. Upon reaching the point along their path closest to the Cardassian border (they are in neutral, unclaimed space at this point), the warships cross the border and move to intercept the transport. When the Cardassians order Picard to let them destroy the transport, Picard contacts Kennelly, who first appears to leave the decision on how to act in Picard's hands, but when Picard decides not to withdraw, states that the Enterprise should retreat in the interest of protecting the peace treaty with the Cardassians. Picard argues with Kennelly that the Cardassians may be using Starfleet to flush out the Bajorans, but Kennelly isn't interested and gives him a direct order to withdraw. Apparently forced into a corner, Picard has the Enterprise leave the transport unprotected and it is promptly destroyed by Gul Dolak 's warship . However, when Kennelly hails the Enterprise seconds later, it is revealed – in a conversation Picard makes a point of having on the bridge rather than in the privacy of his ready room – that no one was aboard the transport.
It turns out that, just as Picard suspected, the Cardassians were the ones who attacked the colony in an attempt to bring the Federation onto their side. They were hoping to find someone – like Kennelly – who was gullible enough to do so. Kennelly, Picard tells Ro later, will likely be called to a hearing and will probably be court martialed .
Back on the surface of Valo II, Picard sees in Ro some of the qualities shared by the finest Starfleet officers he has ever known. While she has not yet become one of those officers, he believes she can be in time. He asks her to stay, and at this point it is clear that the two of them have taken a liking to one another. The one provision is that, despite Starfleet uniform code , she must be allowed to wear her Bajoran earring. Picard smiles and agrees, beaming them back on board the Enterprise .
Log entries [ ]
- Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), 2368
Memorable quotes [ ]
" I understand you've been discussing alternative adversarial engagement strategy with Mr. Mot. " " It'd be more accurate to say he was discussing them with me… He's the best barber in Starfleet – what can you do? "
" This is the Bajora. We claim responsibility for the destruction of the Federation colony on Solarion IV. As long as we are without our homeland, no one will be safe in this sector. "
" There are other Bajorans in Starfleet. Assign one of them! "
" It was not necessary to abduct us. " " I am sorry, but after speaking with Ro Laren, I decided that it was. "
" Yes, Ensign Laren, please sit down. " " Ensign Ro, sir. " " I beg your pardon? " " The Bajoran custom has the family name first, the individual name second – I am properly addressed as Ensign Ro. " " I'm sorry, I didn't know… " " No, there's no reason you should. It's an old custom – most Bajora today accept the distortion of their names in order to assimilate… I do not. "
" They're lost, defeated. I will never be. "
" You are innocent bystanders, and I cannot condone violence against those who are not our enemies. " " Then I don't understand why you're unwilling to help us. " " Because… you're innocent bystanders. You were innocent bystanders for decades as the Cardassians took our homes. As they violated and tortured our people in the most hideous ways imaginable. As we were forced to flee. " " We were saddened by those events, but they occurred within the borders of the Cardassian Empire. " " And the Federation is pledged not to interfere with the internal affairs of others. How convenient that must be for you. To turn a deaf ear to those who suffer behind a line on a map. "
" Mind if we join you? " " Yes. "
" Am I disturbing you? " " Yes. " " Good. You look like someone who wants to be disturbed. "
" And so now, you're sitting in crowded rooms just staring at your drink. I think you enjoy it." " I enjoy it? " " Well, you're working so hard at torturing yourself. I can only think that you enjoy it. "
" You're not like any bartender I've met before. " " And you're not like any Starfleet officer I've met before. And that sounds like the beginning of a very interesting friendship. " " I'm not interested in making friends. " " Too late. You just did. "
" All is not what it seems to be, Captain. Perhaps someone is using you to get to me. Perhaps you are a victim of this deception as well; I do not know. " " Deception?! " " Your mission was to seek out the Bajoran terrorists who destroyed the Federation settlement on Solarion IV. " " Yes. " " As I have informed Ro Laren, it was not the Bajora. "
" Subspace signal, coming in from Starfleet, sir – Admiral Kennelly. " " On screen. " " It is on a secure channel, sir… in your ready room? " " No, here… on screen. "
" The Cardassians have destroyed the Bajoran ship, Admiral. " " All hands lost? " " No, sir. " " Survivors? " " No, sir – no one was on board. "
" What're you talking about?! " " The ship was controlled from the ground… " " This was your idea, Picard? " " Actually, no… it was Ensign Ro's idea, but I fully endorsed it – I suspected something like this might occur. "
" Do you know how many people they killed on Solarion IV?! " " The Bajorans did not attack Solarion IV! " " Who told you that? Orta? " " Yes. " " And you believed him?! " " Admiral, Orta's ships are old and obsolete. They don't even have warp capabilities – they couldn't have reached another star system, let alone attacked one. " " Then who's responsible?! " " I suggest you ask your friend, the Cardassian liaison, Admiral – the only explanation I can think of is that the Cardassians staged it. " " The Cardassians?! Why? " " Perhaps they were hoping to find someone in Starfleet – like you , Admiral – naive enough to solve their Bajoran problem for them. "
Background information [ ]
Production history [ ].
- Final draft script: 18 July 1991 [1]
- Filmed: 29 July 1991 – 6 August 1991
- Insert scene filmed: 16 September 1991
- Premiere airdate: 7 October 1991
- First UK airdate: 4 January 1995
Story and script [ ]
- This episode features the first appearance of the Bajorans , who went on to be a focal point of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . In the original story, it was the Romulans who were occupying Bajor, but Rick Berman felt the Romulans had been seen too much and, remembering " The Wounded ", had the occupiers changed to the Cardassians. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine , issue 4) Even though this episode proved an inspiration on the creation of the DS9 TV series, it was written at a time before that series was envisioned. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine , issue 0)
- Berman emphasized the Bajorans were not modeled on any one real-life group. " The Kurds, the Palestinians, the Jews in the 1940s, the boat people from Haiti – unfortunately, the homeless and terrorism are problems [in every age]. " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (2nd ed., p. 178))
Production [ ]
Les Landau giving advice to Michelle Forbes
- The scene where Ro took off her uniform jacket to comfort the young girl required close consultation between costume designer Robert Blackman and director Les Landau , as the uniforms were designed without obvious closures at the front. Modifications were made to the costume off-camera to achieve the effect. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , p. 148)
- "Ensign Ro" was filmed between Monday 29 July 1991 and Tuesday 6 August 1991 on Paramount Stage 8 , 9 , and 16 . On Monday 5 August 1991 , the production moved outside for a location shooting at Bronson Canyon near the area where the previous episode, " Darmok ", was filmed. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (2nd ed., p. 178))
- An insert scene of a monitor in Picard's ready room was filmed on Monday 16 September 1991 , during the production of " Unification II ".
- On Friday 2 August 1991 , Paramount Stage 8 and 9 were visited by the Executives of Paramount Pictures . The call sheet featured a note that the two sets must be clean and lighted.
- Birds & Animals Unlimited worked again on The Next Generation following the fourth season episode " In Theory ". For this episode, two animal handlers and twelve Guinea fowls were on set.
- On Tuesday 6 August 1991 , the publicity photos of the main cast and guest actress Whoopi Goldberg for the fifth season were shot at the main bridge and Paramount Stage 8.
Cast and characters [ ]
Forbes and Stewart filming on location
- This episode was created to introduce the new recurring character of Ro Laren . The producers hoped to add another character who could create some conflict, and preferably a woman. Berman explained, " The other characters in the cast are relatively homogeneous; some might even say bland. So we wanted a character with the strength and dignity of a Starfleet officer but with a troubled past, an edge. " ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (2nd ed., p. 177))
- Michelle Forbes was offered the part of Ro Laren because the producers were impressed by her performance as Dara in " Half a Life ". ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (2nd ed., p. 178))
- This episode features the first appearance of Mot , the Bolian barber . He next appeared in " Schisms ".
Continuity [ ]
- Commander Riker orders Ro to comply with Starfleet uniform regulations when she beams aboard the Enterprise -D by making her remove her traditional Bajoran earring . This seems like a strange request as Worf is allowed to wear his Klingon baldric and Deanna Troi is allowed to not wear a standard uniform at all. However, given Riker's clear misgivings in regards to Ensign Ro serving on the Enterprise and his statement that "I intend to demand the highest level of performance from her", it would seem that adherence to the Starfleet uniform code is somewhat at the discretion of one's commanding officer and Riker simply chose to give her no leeway in the matter. Nevertheless, enforcement of the uniform regulation is paralleled in the Star Trek: Voyager episode " Learning Curve ", when Tuvok orders Gerron to remove his earring.
- The name "Bajora" – at times used here to indicate both the Bajoran race and their terrorist group – is not heard after this episode in TNG, DS9, or VOY, but it is visible on a computer readout in " Conundrum ". Later episodes of DS9 established named terrorist groups on Bajor, including the Kohn-Ma and the Circle .
- Kennelly states that the Occupation of Bajor has lasted forty years. Later references conflict with one another and Kennelly's claim. See the Inconsistencies section of the Occupation page for more information.
- The appearance of the Bajorans in this episode is slightly different; over each eye, there is a subtle ridge. These were dropped later and Ro Laren no longer has them in her final appearance in TNG : " Preemptive Strike ".
- Stock footage of Starbase 74 from " 11001001 " was re-used in this episode to represent Lya Station Alpha where the Enterprise meets Kennelly and picks up Ensign Ro. The footage is a modified version of spacedock shots from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock .
- During the explanation of the Bajoran naming convention (that the family name goes first while the given name is second), Ro mentions that many Bajorans accept their names being distorted in order to assimilate better. Despite this, all further Bajorans seen in the franchise (with the exception of Tal Celes ) would go by the naming order that is established in this episode.
- This marks the second and final appearance of the type of Cardassian uniform first seen in " The Wounded ".
Reception [ ]
- Michael Piller felt that the introduction of Ro was a success. " It's one of the season's greatest accomplishments. Not just by Rick and I, but by the acting of Michelle, who is just a wonderful performer. You don't just throw in new people because this audience is really particular about who they're going to make part of the family, but I've heard almost no resistance to Ensign Ro. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 229)
- Piller credited this success as due to the use of Guinan . " I think Guinan embraces Ro in a very personal way. She basically took Ro by the hand and said she deserves your attention and deserves to be embraced by you. When she took Ro to Picard for that very reason, in essence, she was doing that to our audience. It was not a very easy show to write; it was not until we found that relationship between Ro and Guinan that I was personally satisfied that we really had done something magnificent. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 229)
- A mission report for this episode, by John Sayers, was published in The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine issue 18 , p. 17–20.
Video and DVD releases [ ]
- Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 52, September 1992
- UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment ): Volume 5.1, 24 June 2002
- As part of the TNG Season 5 DVD collection
Apocrypha [ ]
- Guinan tells Ro that " a very long time ago, I got into some serious trouble too, and I mean serious, and I'd probably still be there, if I hadn't trusted one man. " The Star Trek: Stargazer novel Oblivion shows the backstory for the friendship of Picard and Guinan, including how Picard helped save Guinan. However, Guinan may have been referring to the events of " Time's Arrow, Part II ".
- The story behind the actions that led to Ro's demotion are featured in the DC Comics TNG Special 2 story "The Choice".
Links and references [ ]
Starring [ ].
- Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
- Jonathan Frakes as Cmdr. William Riker
Also starring [ ]
- LeVar Burton as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
- Michael Dorn as Lt. Worf
- Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher
- Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
- Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data
Guest stars [ ]
- Michelle Forbes as Ro Laren
- Scott Marlowe as Keeve Falor
- Frank Collison as Dolak
- Jeffrey Hayenga as Orta
- Harley Venton as Collins
- Ken Thorley as Mot
- Cliff Potts as Admiral Kennelly
Special guest star [ ]
- Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan
Co-star [ ]
- Majel Barrett as Computer Voice
Uncredited co-stars [ ]
- K.C. Amos as operations officer
- Rachen Assapiomonwait as Nelson
- Thomas J. Booth as civilian
- Boyen as Bajoran settler
- B.K. Byron as Vulcan patron
- Cameron as Kellogg
- Clark as Bajoran freedom fighter
- Cook as Bajoran settler
- John Copage as sciences officer
- Denise Deuschle as sciences officer
- Inez Edwards as sciences officer
- Factor as Bajoran settler
- Falerne as Bajoran settler
- E. Falerne as Bajoran settler
- Garverick as Bajoran settler
- Michele Gerren as sciences officer
- Gonzalez as Bajoran settler
- Whitney Hall as Bajoran settler
- Melanie Hathorn as sciences officer
- Houy as Bajoran settler
- Hwang as operations officer
- Joly as Bajoran settler
- Kinsel as Bajoran settler
- Alex Landi as Bajoran freedom fighter
- Debbie Marsh as civilian
- McGhee as Bajoran settler
- Melton as Bajoran girl
- Menning as Bajoran settler
- Jay Montalvo as operations officer
- Kevin Pentalow as Bajoran freedom fighter
- Polito as Bajoran freedom fighter
- Keith Rayve as command ensign
- Reynolds as Bajoran girl
- Denise Lynne Roberts as Patti
- Rose as Bajoran settler
- Santo as Bajoran freedom fighter
- Silver as Bajoran settler
- Simen as Bajoran girl
- Leatrim Stang as Bajoran settler
- Noriko Suzuki as operations ensign
- Talbot as Ten Forward waitress
- Matt Tufo as barber
- Uchizono as civilian
- Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace
- Vassili as Bajoran boy
- Anne Woodberry as Bajoran settler
- Michael Zurich as Bajoran freedom fighter
- Female Bajoran contact (voice)
- Female bridge officer (voice)
- Ten Forward waiter
- Ten Forward waitress
Stand-ins [ ]
- David Keith Anderson – stand-in for LeVar Burton
- Candace Crump – stand-in for Whoopi Goldberg
- Franky – stand-in for Ken Thorley
- Krista – stand-in for Michelle Forbes
- Nora Leonhardt – stand-in for Marina Sirtis
- Tim McCormack – stand-in for Brent Spiner , Cliff Potts , Harley Venton , and Frank Collison
- Lorine Mendell – stand-in for Gates McFadden and Michelle Forbes
- Renna Bogdanowicz – stand-in for Michelle Forbes
- Richard Sarstedt – stand-in for Jonathan Frakes , Scott Marlowe , and Jeffrey Hayenga
- Dennis Tracy – stand-in for Patrick Stewart
- Guy Vardaman – stand-in for Brent Spiner
- James Washington – stand-in for Michael Dorn
References [ ]
2310s ; 2328 ; 2347 ; " a great deal "; " a lot "; abduction ; achievement ; " ad hoc "; Adele ; admiral ; adversarial engagement strategy ; afternoon ; " all hands "; " all's well that ends well "; Alpha Quadrant ; alternative ; amnesty ; annexation ; Antares -class ( Bajoran carrier ); appearance ; architect ; argument ; artist ; " as well "; assignment ; " at all times "; " at least "; attack ; attention ; attitude ; audio channel ; aunt ; authorization ; away team ; Bajor ; Bajorans ; Bajoran language ; bar ; bartender ; barber ; barbershop ; base of operations ; bearing ; beauty ; " behind the scenes "; blanket ; bluff ; border ; builder ; Cardassians ; Cardassian Empire ; Cardassian liaison ; Cardassian Militia 41 ; Cardassian space ( Cardassian territory ); Cardassian warship ; carrier vessel ; Celsius ; civilization ; class M ; " come on "; common cold ; complaint ; composition ; computer ; confined to quarters ; conspiracy ; coordinates ; course ; crime ; crust ; court martial ; cure ; custom ; " damn it "; dance ; dancer ; decade ; deception ; degree ; destination ; destruction ; diplomacy ( negotiation ); diplomatic channels ; diplomatic soirée ; discussion ; Dolak's warship ; Dolak's sister ship ; dozen ; east ; emergency distress signal ; enemy ; energy fluctuation ; ETA ; event ; " excuse me "; eye ; " eye of the beholder "; face ; fact ; family name ; fear ; Federation ; Federation-Cardassian border ; feeling ; fifth grade ; " fill in "; flagship ; frequency ; friendship ; Galor -class ; Garon II ; generation ; ginger tea ; " go ahead "; ground ; gul ; guest ; hail ; " have a seat "; hearing ; heritage ; history ; " hold it "; " hold on "; homeland ; honey ; honor ; hour ; Human ; hundred ; " I beg your pardon "; " I do not know "; " I don't think so "; " I see "; idea ; " in exchange "; " in fact "; " in order to "; " in your shoes "; individual ; information ; integrity ; internal affairs ; Jaros II ; Jas Holza ; job ; judgment ; jurisdiction ; kilometer ; Latin language ; leader ; liaison officer ; location ; Lya Station Alpha ; Lya Station Alpha planet ; Lya Station Alpha planet's moon ; meeting ; mercy ; Midsummer Night's Dream, A ; Milky Way Galaxy ; minute ; mission ; mistake ; molecular displacement trace ; monitor ; motive ; mutilate ; name ; neighbor ; night ; neutral space ; Occupation of Bajor ; offer ; " on board "; " on your mind "; " one way or the other "; opportunity ; order ; parallel course ; pariah ; passion ; peace ; percent ; place ; plan ; pole ; policy ; politics ; power ; prison ; problem ; promise ; quality ; question ; raid ; reader ; reason ; reception ; red alert ; refugee ; replicator ; " rest assured "; Ro Gale ; Ro Gale's torturer ; Romulans ; room ; " same old story "; search pattern ; Sector 21305 ; secure channel ; settlement camp ; settler ; ship class ; sideburns ; " sit down "; sitting ; splinter group ; Solarion IV ; Solarion IV attacker ; Solarion IV colony ; Solarion system ; Solarion system sector ; Solarion system sector settlements ; southern continent of Valo II ; speed ; splinter group ; spokesman ; " stand by "; Starfleet ; Starfleet record ; Starfleet uniform code ; star system ; stockade ; story ; strategy ; subspace ; subspace channel ; subspace communication ; subspace log ; subspace relay ; subspace signal ; subspace transmission ; sugar candy ; suggestion ; surface ; survey ; survivor ; sympathy ; symposium ; " take up arms "; terrorism ; terrorist ; terrorist attack ; " that's all "; " the big picture "; thing ; third moon of Valo I ; thousand ; threat ; timetable ; " top of the line "; torture ; transport log ; treaty ; tricorder ; tricorder security link ; truth ; " turn a deaf ear "; Valo I ; Valo II ; Valo III ; Valo system ; " very well "; victim ; violation ; violence ; virus ; visual range ; vocal cords ; weapon grid ; week ; weekend ; " well done "; Wellington , USS ; Wellington away team ; west ; " what the hell "; wing ; year ; yellow alert ; " you know "; year
External links [ ]
- " Ensign Ro " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- " Ensign Ro " at Wikipedia
- "Ensign Ro" at StarTrek.com
- " "Ensign Ro" " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
- 3 Star Trek: The Next Generation
- March 8, 2024 | Watch: Rare Footage Of Leonard Nimoy Hosting 1975 Special Presentation Of Star Trek’s “The Menagerie”
- March 7, 2024 | Terry Matalas On Why Janeway And Harry Kim Weren’t In ‘Star Trek: Picard’ And The Fate Of The Enterprise-E
- March 6, 2024 | First Look At Brent Spiner’s Return To ‘Night Court’
- March 6, 2024 | Review: The EXO-6 ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ 1:6 Kira Nerys Is A Major Figure
- March 5, 2024 | Creation Brings Back Regional Star Trek Conventions Starting In San Francisco This Weekend, Chicago In Fall
Michelle Forbes Opens Up About Returning As Ro Laren For ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 3
| March 22, 2023 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 45 comments so far
The big surprise in last week’s episode of Star Trek: Picard was the return of Michelle Forbes. The actress and showrunner are talking about the return of Ro Laren to Star Trek and why it was essential for the season.
Forbes talks Ro’s return
Michelle Forbes appeared in seven episodes spanning the last three seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation as the Bajoran ensign Ro Laren. Producers wanted Forbes to continue the role as a series regular for the spinoff series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , but she declined. Three decades later, she did return for a single episode of Star Trek: Picard (last week’s “Imposters”). The actress offered her thoughts on Ro and her return with a photo slide show on Instagram, saying in part, “Ro taught me a lot. I’ve held those lessons close.” Forbes also talked about how she was happy to reunite with Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes “and eat breakfast and laugh together again!” She also offered up her thanks to Gene Roddenberry for creating the Star Trek universe and for TNG producers Rick Berman and Jeri Taylor for creating the character of Ro, adding “It’s been sweet to carry and hold her for decades. She’s such a deep part of my heart and I love that we share that.”
You can scroll through some of her pictures from the set in her Instagram post below…
View this post on Instagram A post shared by MISHKA (@iammichelleforbes)
Bringing Ro back was essential
The episode “Imposters” focused on exploring the Changeling conspiracy within Starfleet when security was sent to investigate the events on the Titan. Speaking to Collider , showrunner Terry Matalas explained how putting Ro in charge of that investigation made it all come together.
This story was always—the pitch that I had for it was, “How great would it be to do a paranoia thriller with someone that you have all this baggage with?” The only way to be sure you’re sitting across from the person that you hope you’re sitting across from is to get through your trauma with them. I thought that if we could pull that off, we’d have a really interesting episode of television. But that required us getting Michelle Forbes and convincing the studio and the network it was the right idea, and educating a lot of people on who Ro Laren [was].
Michelle Forbes as Ro Laren in “Imposters”
Matalas talked to Entertainment Weekly about how bringing back Ro was an opportunity to provide closure to the character’s arc (and her relationship with Jean-Luc Picard) following her final appearance in the season 7 episode “Preemptive Strike.”
There was nothing I wanted to do more than bring Ro Laren back. It felt like such a hanging chad from Next Generation . That episode to me is very special. It’s the idea of doing a paranoia thriller… The only way to be sure that the person that you’re talking to is actually the person you hope they are is by getting through a catharsis of trauma of the past of this relationship, [which] to me felt like it could be really good television. That was Ro and Picard, and I so desperately wanted to see the conclusion to that relationship.”
Michelle Forbes as Ro Laren and Patrick Stewart as Picard in “Imposters”
On Tuesday, Paramount+ released a clip on social media showing the tension between Picard and Ro.
Ro Laren came to take names and eat hasperat, and she's all out of hasperat. What was your reaction to seeing her confront Picard again after all this time? #StarTrekPicard pic.twitter.com/nszs0Ukt1Y — Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) March 21, 2023
You can buy Ro’s Bajoran earring
One of the plot points in “Imposters” regarded Ro’s Bajoran earring, which she gave to Jean-Luc Picard before departing the USS Titan. Ro wearing a Bajoran earring was part of their history together, plus this particular earring contained all of her files so Picard and the team on the Titan could continue her investigation.
Ro gives Picard her Bajoran earring in “Imposters”
Star Trek licensee Rock Love Jewelry has announced the release of a replica of this earring. Thanks to collaboration from Picard prop master Jeffrey Lombardi, the replica uses the exact same sculpts as those made for the show. The Rock Love version is sculpted in solid sterling silver, plated in polished genuine rose gold, with three glittering cubic zirconia crystals. The Picard Bajoran Cuff Earring replica is available to buy from Rock Love for $95 .
Rock Love Picard earring
Ro’s pre- Picard story told in new comics
You can find out more about Ro Laren in the just-launched Star Trek: Defiant comic series from IDW. Set before the events of Star Trek Nemesis , it’s a spinoff of IDW’s ongoing Star Trek series launched in 2022. In Defiant , Worf leads a new team with his own mission on the USS Defiant and his crew includes Ro Laren.
Ro and B’Elanna Torres on the B cover for Defiant #3
The third and final season of Picard premiered on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., and Latin America, and on February 17 Paramount+ in Europe and elsewhere, with new episodes of the 10-episode-long season available to stream weekly. It also debuted on Friday, Feb. 17 internationally on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .
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One of the best moments of this season was Picard and Ro’s moment of realisation through their own trauma that they each were who they said they were! “You broke my heart” the first time since Tasha Ya’s death I have shed a tear watching Star Trek. Granted I was a very young child when I first saw that.
Exactly. This is how you do emotion without turning it into a weepy melodrama like Discovery feels like every season. It was emotional but not overdone or drawn out. I loved how they both genuinely had grievances with each other but the situation they were under made it feel more tense. They were both angry at each other but at the same time wasn’t even sure they were even talking to the real person until they realized they were. Just so well done.
I love Disco but they was a masterclass in emotional Trek. Such a satisfying scene.
This was such an earned return of Ro. Executed perfectly and loved every minute of it,
Am I mistaken or does her nose – in the last of her Insta pics – look different from how it looked on the Picard episode?
It seems the low, ambient lighting may have lost the detail that we see in a brightly lit makeup trailer.
It really looks like less ridges, spaced further apart and more pronounced, than what I saw on screen. Could’ve been form a make-up test.
Yeah, that’s what I thought… 👃🔍🫤 It looks a lot more pronounced with larger ridges, and in the episode itself, much more subdued.
If it’s still a small prosthetic, I wonder why they changed it so drastically from how she looked on TNG, especially the stern “V” at the top between the eyebrows, that’s now completely disappeared. Curious. 🤔
I was hoping she’d be featured on The Ready Room in a behind-the-scenes interview, but all they made time for was a trivia question about the character.
The stern V as you call it was gone a long time ago, since that part of the prosthetic kept peeling off on actors, due to sweating. None of the later Bajorans have them any more. But I do wish they would’ve gone with the more pronounced nose in that pic for her final look.
I do remember them doing away with the “V” for Bajorans, but always thought that Ro Laren retained hers until her final appearance. I just checked… and nope, it’s just the zig-zag on top. But it looks like she didn’t even keep that exact shape for her final performance, did they? 🫤
Thankfully, it’s not as severe as what they did to the Trill; but I would’ve still preferred a bit more consistency, so that we don’t have to head-canon the issue… 👃🤛 …she lived quite dangerously, after all! 😅
The whole topic reminds me of what they did with the various Romulan looks in PIC season 1, depending on what area/region they’re from — I thought that was a clever, respectful way to honor everything that came before.
I was genuinely happy to see her again. Michelle Forbes is great.
I was, too, and yes, she is! 🤩
Very talented and attractive actress, imo. She’s had a lot of great roles over the years. Post Trek, I especially enjoyed her turn as a villain in True Blood. It was great to see her again in PIC.
I rewatched “Pre-emptive strike” this week for the first time in many years. What a disappointment. the actors playing Maquis were awful. No conviction, no real emotion. The scene in the ship with the woman Maqui was silly. And the soap opera with the old guy. Last weekend’s Picard’s show was orders of magnitude better in terms of script, performance, emotion, dramatic acting, character development, well … everything. But killng off Ro was a disappointment and, frankly, superfluous. I think we already understood the seriousness of the conspiracy without that.
The way you describe Preemptive Strike is pretty much ’90s Trek in a nutshell. I liked the death of Ro myself. It gave nice closure to the relationship, and capped off some powerful scenes, while also raising the emotional stakes (you’re focused on plot, I’m focused on character).
Well said, it was a very clever and emotional plot to the episode and how it it brought Worf and Raffi into the story line was great
The magnitude of the conspiracy is one thing, but now Picard can’t let Ro’s death be in vain, especially after the two of them just had their emotional breakthrough. Without that, Picard is really only emotionally motivated to protect Jack, which by itself probably wouldn’t be enough to stop the Changeling/Mystery Villain Big Threat.
Also, it follows the themes of the season: family, loss, and legacy.
at the heart of most of ST
Well…..maybe she’s stuck in the transporter buffer.
If she does reappear, we can’t be sure if it’s her. I don’t think they have time to go over that again.
I was very happy to see Ro Laren again. However, the story about the Changelings is closely linked to DS9, so I’m hoping for surprises here as well. A visit to DS9 would be wonderful.
Great! Now do Tom Riker
I’m still not certain Will isn’t actually Tom.
It looked like they were setting that up in the beginning, but too many character beats for Will have happed that just wouldn’t work for Tom at this point.
On paper, this should have worked. . . yet Ro’s reappearance after all these years just didn’t feel believable to me. Perhaps another episode to allow the personalities to play out might have helped, but her abrupt appearance and departure within one episode mainly felt like fan service to me.
I was thinking the same thing here she is one minute and at the end..gone. Actually, I was thinking she was going to be a Changeling until her ties to Worf was confirmed. Also, being unable to escape the shuttle seemed a little unconvincing. She could have donned a space suit and jettisoned out.
The other ship didn’t put up its shield to protect it from the shuttle explosion/impact? Come on. You’d think there’s a 24th century equivalent of various collision avoidance features on a Starship like we do with the newest cars today.
As Admiral Cain on the new Battlestar Galactica she was INCREDIBLE.
Her return here is VERY welcome and while sad in-universe, brings much needed closure and the discussion she ALWAYS had to have with Picard. GREAT acting in the 10 forward scene and so powerful.
I’m very happy she agreed to return. Not at all fan-service but very organic story-telling.
LOVING this season!
I also have to wonder if they asked her if she’d ever be interested in being a recurring/regular character again, and once she said no, they made the decision to kill her off.
Yes she was terrific as Cain. So much the strength of Ro and yet so much unlike her in every way.
Yeah it was great to see Forbes back as Ro. Of course I assumed she could come back and I thought it was a possibility but I never really thought it would happen.
And I actually rewatched both Preemptive Strike and Imposters together over the weekend. Those episodes really line up in terms of the stakes and emotions. I forgot how much of a hardass Picard was to her when she was having doubts over her mission and it really tied in great with how she felt Picard treated her and he was always too far up Starfleet’s butt lol, then and now. I also liked how you can tell Riker had a lot more sympathy for what she did then and still defended her in the episode.
I can tell some people are bothered by her death but I think they handled it well by showing how much she did ultimately care for Starfleet and her friends. They probably could’ve drawn it out to another episode, but that’s the problem when you only have ten episodes and you have to keep things moving…in this case literally.
Overall though all the legacy characters have been handled so well on this show IMO. It’s just great to see them all back and can’t wait for the next surprise appearance.
I agree, Ro was handled incredibly well, given the time restraints of the season.
Sooo excited for the next one! ✊️💫 It’s just a few more hours away… 😁
I thought the next episode was even BETTER than this one!!! We are living in good times my friend! :)
I actually always felt Episode 6 was the weakest, but still really good. Glad to heat you liked it. Curious what the broader sentiment is.
I probably need to rewatch it a few more times to make up my mind, but weaker than all others in the season it was not, IMO.
And I usually don’t mind fan service all too much, but this was the mother lode… ALMOST too much with all the ships, Genesis, Kirk, and Attack Tribbles, even with a TNG-pilot-clip flashback, and the DataLalLoreB4Soong revival. 😵💫💫
But then again, I feel like celebrating it, instead of needlessly lamenting… 😄🎉
From a narrative/writing perspective it was the weakest. It was definitely the most fan-squealing, even for me. Aside the ships, seeing Geordi meet Data gain, seeing Picard with Geordi, etc. Heck, even the final revelation was kind of cool.
But overall, it wasn’t as strong as past episodes. The lack of Shaw was a big reason :)
I liked it too, I think. Maybe even loved it? Still digesting it all from last night… they really laid it on thick, that’s for sure! 😅
I’m VERY curious to hear your thoughts. Not so good with names, but if I recall, you’ve been hard on the show (or was that someone else?). That you liked this, is interesting!
I really expected a big backlash from it. But it seems Terry really gets what fans want.
I’ve been hard on the dumpster fire that’s DSC. PIC, I’ve mostly liked from the start. Not entirely the first season, but it had its moments. The second season, I probably liked better than most commenters on here. The third, though, is fantastic so far.
Sure, there are minor logic flaws here and there, but you can tell that the writers’ room took the story through the wringer, while making sure that the entertainment value stays high, pretty much consistently, which is why I can appreciate this last episode’s LD-level of nods and Easter eggs (after all, the holiday takes place early this year)! 😉🐰🥚
Yeah, I think keeping your audience entertained with well written characters that have wits and/or heart (and aren’t just virtue signaling on steroids), and a compelling story that continuously sheds its revelatory layers like an onion being peeled (instead of the hasty plot dump near the very end), are key to this season’s success.
Ro or Michelle’s performance was just fantastic and reminiscent of one of Discovery’s best characters, Admiral Cornwall
One of the best moments on the show was seeing ro again. One of the worst moments in television history was writing this character to be stupid as their exit. She was a marquis! Somehow she forgot to think? She could have simply ejected into space and beamed over the titan. Did no one else think that as an almost reflex reaction to that situation?
Where was Troi when you needed someone “EJECTED INTO SPACE!!!!”
I… don’t even know how to respond to this. Eject into space? Are you serious? When have we ever even heard of that as a viable option?
Besides…her sacrifice made perfect sense precisely BECAUSE she was a Maquis. She doesn’t want to save herself, she wants to achieve the mission, and if that means sacrificing her life to give Picard and his team a chance to get away and finish that mission, that’s exactly what she’s going to do.
People can survive a few seconds in space and it will only take one or two to beam her aboard. Her “sacrifice” meant nothing because it could have been done without dying. “keep a lock on me, I’ll be blowing the hatch.” she sets shuttle course, blow the hatch, titan beams her over. There are instances of people surviving in vacuum of space. One instance is from season 5 of tng called “disaster” where crusher and LaForge ejected the contents of shuttle bay and were exposed to the vacuum of space until the bay shields were reactivated. If that’s a viable option to remove something from the bay, why is it unimaginable to eject yourself to get yourself away from something?
I’m not ashamed to say that I teared up a lot when Ro died. The tragedy of lost opportunities in relationships, how the actors brought that home in those last moments, was just absolutely brilliant. The realization of what they really meant to each other, and that they wouldn’t get to act on that.. heartbreaking.
Michelle Forbes (I)
IMDbPro Starmeter Top 5,000 314
- Contact info
- 4 wins & 12 nominations total
- Carrie Laughlin
- Maryann Forrester
- Woman in the Road
- 2008–2009 • 15 eps
- Lieutenant Jackson
- Commander Ro Laren
- Dr. Veronica Fuentes
- 13 episodes
- Margaret Kleinsasser
- Ellen Becker
- 10 episodes
- Vicki Ann Rudin
- Valerie Edwards
- 29 episodes
- Zofia Blazkowicz (voice)
- Janis Nimitz
- 11 episodes
- Helen Goddard
- Dr. Marian Bowles
Personal details
- 5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
- January 8 , 1965
- Austin, Texas, USA
- Ross Kettle 1990 - 1999 (divorced)
- Parents Adam Eliseo Guajardo
- Adriana Carole Guajardo (Sibling)
- Other works Appeared in Global Frequency (2005) , (unaired pilot), where she played "Miranda Zero".
- 4 Interviews
- 1 Magazine Cover Photo
Did you know
- Trivia After appearing in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) as Ro Laren, she was approached to play the same character in a starring role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) . When she turned down the part, because she didn't want to commit to a regular television role at that point in her career, a new Bajoran character, Kira Nerys, was created and Nana Visitor was cast in that part.
- Quotes On turning down Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) : There were all sorts of rumors about why I didn't take [the DS9 role] and that I was quite arrogant about the whole thing. It wasn't that at all. It was, again, about wanting variety in my career. If I'd gone on to do DS9, I might not have had the variety I've been lucky to have in my career. That's not to say I wasn't grateful for the opportunity; I genuinely was. However, I had to make a choice that felt right for me, which was a difficult one, especially as a young actor being offered a steady job. (TV Zone Magazine, January 2005)
- Trademarks Often plays characters who are anti-authority
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'Star Trek: Picard' Season 3: That Episode 5 Cameo Explained
The return we needed and wanted.
Ro Laren is back (for a little bit)! While the final season of Star Trek: Picard has announced the return of the majority of the main cast from Star Trek: The Next Generation , the return of Michelle Forbes was kept close to the chest as a secret from fans. The last time we saw her was in The Next Generation Season 7 episode, "Preemptive Strike," where she decides to sabotage a Starfleet operation against the Maquis, a group of former-Federation citizens resisting Cardassian oppression, and subsequently defects to the organization. This was considered a massive betrayal by Picard, leading to the tension caused by her return in Picard 's fifth episode of the season, "Imposters."
Additionally, Ro Laren was one of the intended leads for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , but the role was retasked as Kira Nerys ( Nana Visitor ) when Forbes declined. So, let's take a look at Laren's past for those new-age Trek fans or anyone with a short memory. After all, 29 years is a long time.
Who is Ro Laren?
Ro Laren, with Ro as her surname, first appeared in the Season 5 episode, "Ensign Ro." As a Bajoran, she grew up under the Cardassian Occupation, having caused her people to scatter among refugee camps. Eventually, she witnessed Cardassians interrogate, torture, and murder her father. The shame she initially experienced due to this and the poor quality of life at the camps pushed her to run away, but she would later overcome that shame to appreciate her heritage. After graduating from Starfleet Academy, one of Ro's posts was aboard the USS Wellington . While on an away mission, her rebellious nature cost the away team their lives. She was subsequently court-martialed and imprisoned.
RELATED: ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 3 Gives This 'TNG' Episode a Satisfying Resolution
Ro is released, however, and reinstated (but demoted) to Starfleet as an Ensign in exchange for locating a Bajoran terrorist in a star system she was familiar with. When they reach the location of the terrorist, Ro disappears. Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) beams down with an away team anyway and finds Ro with a group of armed Bajorans, who let Picard know that they did not commit the act of terrorism against a Federation colony that they were wanted for.
Later, it is revealed that Ro was actually sent on this mission to negotiate a deal with the resistance fighters that went against the Prime Directive — a supply of guns and ships in exchange for a cease in attacks against the Federation. This allows the Enterprise to work with the resistance fighters to expose the true terrorists, the Cardassians. It's at this point, Picard begins to take Ro under his wing and requests that she transfer to the Enterprise , and she agrees, with the condition that she is permitted to wear her Bajoran earring, which will become important in her appearance on Picard .
Ro's History Aboard the Enterprise
Ro faced several unusual situations while she was onboard the Enterprise as an Ensign. She struggled with solving a failure in the Enterprise's containment fields due to a quantum filament, contended with criminals-turned-energy-beings taking over the bodies of the crew, became stuck in a time loop, got caught in a different phase state due to a transponder accident, and was temporarily transformed into a child. She doesn't appear for 42 episodes after these adventures, and when Ro returns in Season 7, Episode 24, "Preemptive Strike," it's explained that she was completing an Advanced Tactical Training course at Starfleet on Picard's recommendation. This further cements the bond between the two, making their upcoming falling out even more tragic.
Upon graduation, she is once again assigned to the Enterprise as a newly promoted lieutenant and assigned to infiltrate the Maquis, a task she wasn't certain about. After a manufactured chase, Ro meets a Maquis leader and piques his interest. He later kidnaps her, and she is able to gain the trust of him and the other members of this cell by stealing medical supplies from the Enterprise under fake pretenses. With their trust earned, she is able to convince them to use considerable resources to launch an attack on a convoy, which in reality was a Federation trap.
After one of the Maquis members dies in a Cardassian attack, Ro begins to question her loyalties due to his final words, "When an old fighter like me dies, someone always steps forward to take his place." While she wants validation from Picard, but she also feels belonging to the resistance group. Ro tries to lie to try to cancel the attack, but Picard sees through this causing her to reassure him that she would carry out her duties. When it was time for the attack, the Captain sends Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) on the mission with her to ensure its success, but Ro still fires a particle beam to reveal the Starfleet forces hidden nearby, revealing them to the Maquis. She allows Riker to return to the Enterprise on the shuttlecraft, but not before she asks him to tell Picard that she was sorry and beams to a Maquis ship. Considering Picard's faith in the officer and Ro's need for Picard's approval, this is quite a blow that Picard hasn't managed to let go of, even decades later.
Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Ro Laren
She was Star Trek's first Bajoran, and she was one of the franchise's best characters.
Ro Laren was, and remains, one of the most engaging secondary characters in Star Trek history. Her recent return to the franchise in Star Trek: Picard finally closed the cover on her story, though there is simply so much to discuss in the history of the show's first Bajoran.
She was the archetype for an entire people, and the template for one of the most popular characters on Deep Space Nine . Her story was used to set up the then-upcoming Star Trek: Voyager, even though she never appeared on either show.
Her number of appearances are actually quite low when one counts them against other secondary characters across the franchise, though its safe to say that Ro Laren made one hell of an impact with a very restricted amount of screen-time. From a character who was brought in the stir up the pot, to one who reveals a grand conspiracy within the walls of the mighty Federation, Ensign, then Commander, Ro Laren is one of the strongest examples of a powerful character across the franchise, played to perfection by Michelle Forbes.
10. She Was Introduced To Replace Wesley Crusher
Everyone's favourite Ensign announced his departure in the show's fourth season, which left a noticeable void on the bridge of the Enterprise-D. There began something of a rotating roster of replacements, with Ensign Rager popping up sporadically until the show's finale.
Behind the scenes, Berman and Piller were interested in creating a new character, specifically a female one, who could challenge Gene Roddenberry's ideal of the utopian, perfect future. This would help them stand out, arriving in the fifth season of a highly established show.
There would be a significant difference between this new pilot and the departing Wil Wheaton - there was no pre-established relationship to anchor the new character. This meant that whomever was cast would have to quickly make a statement of intent, then burn it into the audience's mind.
Ro's first scene features her immediately at odds with Commander Riker, who at that stage was among the most popular characters on the show. A new face showing disdain for the most famous beard in Star Trek ? That was something sure to illicit a response.
Writer. Reader. Host. I'm Seán, I live in Ireland and I'm the poster child for dangerous obsessions with Star Trek. Check me out on Twitter @seanferrick
Screen Rant
Picard resolves what happened to 1 star trek character after 29 years.
A popular TNG character makes a surprise return in Star Trek: Picard season 3 to answer a decades-old mystery and move the Changeling story forward.
Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 5 - "Imposters" Commander Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) makes a surprise return in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 5, "Imposters," to wrap up the former Bajoran freedom fighter's story and set Picard on course for a perilous second half of season 3. Ro was one of the most popular recurring characters in Star Trek: The Next Generation and her exit at the end of season 7 remained an unanswered question for 29 years.
In Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 5, the USS Titan-A is licking its wounds after escaping the Ryton Nebula and Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer). However, Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) contacted Starfleet Command to force Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) to answer for putting the Titan in danger. In a big surprise, Starfleet Intelligence sent Commander Ro Laren to the Titan, flanked by two security officers from the USS Intrepid. Ro is also ostensibly ordered to apprehend Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), who is undergoing some sort of terrifying transformation related to Picard season 3's Changeling villains.
Related: Every Change Picard Season 3 Made To DS9's Changelings (So Far)
Ro Laren's Comeback In Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Explained
Commander Ro is immediately suspected by Admiral Picard of being a Changeling, which she 'settles' via a blood screening upon their interrogation. However, Ro's cold and foreboding demeanor hides her true agenda, as she's aware of a vast Changeling infiltration of Starfleet, and she can trust no one, not even Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) . But Ro decides to trust Picard, her former Captain on the USS Enterprise-D, despite the way they parted in TNG and the animosity they mutually feel toward each other.
In the private sanctuary of the Titan's 10 Forward holodeck simulation, Picard and Ro have a heart-to-heart that allows them to settle their old grievance and address the crisis at hand. Ro reports at least a dozen Starfleet ships contain Changeling infiltrators, including the Intrepid. She also has people working for her - namely Captain Worf (Michael Dorn) and Commander Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) - to uncover the Changeling conspiracy. Before they parted, Ro gifted Picard her old Bajoran earring, which Riker later gleaned contains all of Laren's data she has uncovered about the Changeling plot.
Picard Season 3 Answers What Happened To Ro Laren After TNG Season 7
Ro Laren appeared in several highly-regarded TNG episodes , including "Ensign Ro," "Rascals," and "Preemptive Strike," when she betrayed Starfleet and Captain Picard in order to join the Maquis resistance against the Cardassians. An assertive and tough survivor with a traumatic past as a Bajoran freedom fighter, Ro was a unique and well-liked female presence in TNG . Ro's Bajoran backstory earmarked her as the co-lead of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , but Michelle Forbes chose not to continue with Star Trek, and she was replaced by Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) in the spinoff.
Ro's exit from the Enterprise haunted Picard for decades. Ro was a source of embitterment for Jean-Luc as Picard took a chance on her and groomed Laren as his protégé. For her part, Ro explained in Picard season 3 that Starfleet wasn't the right fit for her (also in a meta sense for Michelle Forbes and Star Trek) and her heart belonged to the Maquis' cause of waging war with Cardassia . Star Trek: Picard season 3 revealed that after the Maquis collapsed and were " no longer a threat" to Starfleet, Ro turned herself in and was court-martialed. However, Starfleet Intelligence sprung her due to her intimate knowledge of terrorist activities. Ro eventually rose up the ranks to Commander.
Related: Star Trek Reveals Picard Fought A Janeway & Voyager Alien Enemy
What Ro Laren's Death Means For Star Trek: Picard Season 3
Ro Laren's powerful reunion with Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard season 3 was as riveting and rewarding as it was brief and tragic. When Ro piloted her shuttle back to the Intrepid, her security officers revealed themselves to be Changelings and planted a bomb before beaming back to the Titan, while simultaneously preventing Ro from escaping. What doomed Ro was her refusal to follow 'orders' to apprehend Jack Crusher, at which point, the Changelings realized she was compromised and marked her for death. To her credit, Ro piloted her exploding shuttle into the Intrepid's nacelle, crippling the starship's warp capabilities and giving Picard what he once gave her: "a fighting chance" to escape.
However, Ro Laren's death isn't for naught. Ro provided Picard with all of her intel uncovering what she knew about the Changelings' plot, which involves all of Starfleet on display during the Federation's Frontier Day celebration. Worf also made contact with Picard and Riker for the first time in decades, merging the Klingon's B story with Picard's A story, at last, and setting the stage for Worf and Raffi to join the Titan's new mission. Ro indeed gave Picard and the Titan "a fighting chance" to stop the Changelings , and seeing Ro Laren (and Michelle Forbes) reunite with and reach an accord with Jean-Luc after 29 years since TNG was an unexpected and bittersweet highlight of Star Trek: Picard season 3.
More: Picard Season 3's Seven Of Nine & Sidney La Forge Respect Saved The Titan
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.
Michelle Forbes Completely Changed Star Trek: DS9 By Refusing To Return As Ro Laren
The premise for "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" is a little complex for the non-Trekkie, but ripe for drama when one delves in.
The titular station, Deep Space Nine, was in orbit around the non-Federation world of Bajor. For the past several decades, Bajor had been militarily occupied by the Nazi-like Cardassians, a species that regularly enslaved and mass-murdered Bajoran citizens. At the outset of the series, the Cardassian occupation had just ended, and Bajor inherited their disused station. In order to aid the Bajoran restoration, Starfleet was assigned to run Deep Space Nine and to oversee the rebuilding of Bajor's government (which was already tilting dangerously close to a corrupt theocracy).
Commander Sisko (Avery Brooks) was the Starfleet officer put in charge of the broken-down DS9 and his first officer was the haughty former Bajoran resistance fighter, Major Kira (Nana Visitor). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" was unique in that it wasn't about the peerless utopia of previous "Star Trek" shows. It was about what happens when idealists in Starfleet are forced to consistently butt heads with war-mongering individuals, suffering individuals, religious individuals, and capitalists.
In order to "bridge the gap" between "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine" (which ran concurrently for two years), the showrunners wanted to include some familiar faces. Chief O'Brien (Colm Meany) was ported over from the former series. In the oral history book "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams," edited by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, "Deep Space Nine" co-creator Michael Piller said that the Bajoran "NextGen" character Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) was also originally intended to join the new cast.
It wasn't until Forbes refused to reprise Ro that Major Kira would have to be invented.
Ro Laren vs. Kira Nerys
Piller noted the natural assumptions many had about Forbes. Since Ro Laren was a Bajoran character, it seemed logical that she would be part of a show about the Bajoran homeworld. Forbes, however, was tired of acting on television and wanted to make feature films instead. This was in the early 1990s, and Forbes would soon be moving on to notable indies like "Kalifornia" and "Swimming with Sharks." Piller recalled Forbes' ambitions:
"Michelle Forbes is a wonderful actress, and her character of Ensign Ro created the entire canvas for this new series. It had always been assumed that she would be one of the people spun off and moved over to 'DS9,' but she wanted to be a feature actress."
Ro Laren, it should be noted, was a Starfleet officer, while Kira Nerys was not. When Piller realized he could no longer write Ensign Ro as a counterpart to Commander Sisko, he was struck by what he felt was a much better idea. If Sisko's Bajoran first officer wasn't part of Starfleet, she would feel less beholden to his authority, causing more opportunities for interpersonal drama. As Piller put it:
"I found there was a great deal more conflict in having the Bajoran not be Starfleet. Immediately you have different priorities and agendas, and the two people immediately have a conflict with each other the moment they step onto the station. The one between Sisko and Ro would have been a much different one, because ultimately she's Starfleet and has to do what the boss says. Kira Nerys could do things that are not appropriate Starfleet behavior."
A lot of Ro's old dialogue was handed to Kira, and a dynamic new entity was born.
Ro One: A Star Trek Story
A lot of the original series bible for "Deep Space Nine" was printed in the 1994 book "The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," and it seems that the series evolved quite a bit from its inception. The series bible originally describes a science officer in a wheelchair, a non-Starfleet law enforcement agent (the character who would become the Changeling Odo), a bar owner, the station commander, and the commander's son. In the original version of the show, Ro was to have been promoted to Lieutenant and was specifically assigned to Deep Space Nine as a liaison officer between Starfleet and the Bajoran people. In the final draft of the show, there was no specially allocated liaison officer. Sisko and Kira just had to figure it out.
Ro Laren was to become good friends with Odo, the character eventually played by René Auberjonois. This relationship was altered for Kira, as she and Odo would eventually form a romance. Ro was also to be taken under the wing of Jadzia Dax (eventually Terry Farrell), a young woman who possessed centuries of wisdom from an alien worm implanted in her stomach. Dax and Kira eventually formed a light friendship.
Forbes reportedly felt a little overwhelmed by the idea of continuing to be associated with "Star Trek." In addition to the time commitment, she was likely wary of everything that came with being a regular "Star Trek" cast member (that is, convention appearances and signing autographs). Kira was invented to be as much like Ro Laren as possible, so Piller and his co-creator Rick Berman wouldn't have to change their script or bible too much.
Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki
A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the finale of Picard and the continuations of Discovery , Lower Decks , Prodigy and Strange New Worlds , the advent of new eras in Star Trek Online gaming , as well as other post-56th Anniversary publications such as the new ongoing IDW comic . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} or {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old . Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. ' Thank You
- Memory Beta articles sourced from comics
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- 2340 births
- Maquis personnel
- Bajoran Militia personnel
- Bajoran lieutenants
- Starfleet personnel
- Starfleet personnel (24th century)
- Starfleet security chiefs
- Starfleet security personnel
- Starfleet security officers
- Starfleet helmsmen and flight controllers
- Starfleet ensigns
- Starfleet lieutenants
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- USS Defiant (2375) personnel
- 2401 deaths
- View history
- 1.1 Early life
- 1.2 Starfleet
- 1.3 The Maquis
- 2 Ro the Bajoran
- 3 Alternate timelines and realities
- 4 Service record
- 5.1 Background
- 5.2 Connections
- 5.4 Appearances
- 5.5 External links
Biography [ ]
Early life [ ].
Ro was born in Jo'kala on Bajor , but was raised in Bajoran resettlement camps under the watchful eyes of the Cardassian overseers. When she was seven, a Cardassian named Joer Varc lured her into a tent with a piece of milaberry candy , then she was forced to watch as the Cardassians tortured her father for hours until he died.
After Ro Gale's death, Ro's mother fell into such a state of despair, that she was no longer able to watch after Laren and Laren was sent to live with her uncle.
Eventually, Ro struck out on her own and quickly learned how to avoid Cardassian orphan catchers and pick their pockets at the same time. She picked up a skill with computers and was able to manipulate security systems and other Cardassian systems.
She lived on the streets of Bajor until she was taken in by a man named Bram Adir , leader of the Bram resistance cell , who was impressed with Ro's talent with Cardassian computers. In 2353 , Bram took the teenaged Ro on a salvage operation, in an attempt to bring a derelict Ferengi vessel into the resistance's armory.
Instead, they discovered a Bajoran refugee named Darrah Mace on board, who lived at the Bajoran refugee camp on Valo II . Darrah took Ro and Bram back to Valo, where she was recruited to hack into a Cardassian computer system on Valo VI . Ro successfully infiltrated the Cardassian facility, but was unable to secure the information that she had been sent to retrieve as she again encountered Joer Varc, the man who killed her father. Ro killed Varc and another Cardassian, but left behind the data rod that was her objective.
By 2357 , Bram had been killed by the Cardassians, and the rest of the cell, who never cared for Ro in the first place, eventually asked her to leave.
She returned to Valo, where she joined up with a resistance fighter named Akhere Bis , who had a plan to destroy the Cardassian ore processing center on the space-station Terok Nor . At first, Ro went along with the plan, even going so far as to plant a bomb on a ship heading from Valo to Terok Nor . However, upon considering the Bajoran lives that would be lost in the attack, Ro warned the vessel's captain of the plan.
Realizing that she would not be welcome back with Akhere's cell, Ro took one of the Valo settlement's warp-capable shuttles and headed for space beyond the Bajoran and Cardassian sectors. ( TLE - Terok Nor novel : Night of the Wolves )
Starfleet [ ]
Ro eventually made her way to Federation space where, in 2358 , she entered Starfleet Academy hoping for a career in Starfleet . She graduated from the academy in 2362 . Her Starfleet service serial number was HL-2133-8947 (APL). ( TNG episode : " The Next Phase ")
Ro's Starfleet career turned out differently than expected. Her time as an ensign aboard the USS Wellington was riddled with disciplinary measures. After disobeying orders on the planet Garon II , eight members of an away team were killed. ( TNG episode : " Ensign Ro ")
In a later reconstruction of the affair, it was accounted that Ro was sent with an away team to help catch a Seriphami freedom fighter cell. She secretly sympathized with the goal of the revolutionists. When a deadly weapon fight occurred between the away team and the cell, she was the first who realized that the wounded Seriphami could have fallen into a healing stasis, which they could be mortally wounded by accident even with a phaser set on stun. She wanted to warn her teammates about this, thus giving away their hiding place. In the end, it was a Seriphami deceit, and a wounded-looking Seriphami shot Ro's teammates. ( TNG - Special #2 comic : " The Choice ")
Ro was subsequently court-martialed and imprisoned at the penal facility at Jaros II . One of the officers presiding over her court martial was Admiral Leonard James Akaar . ( DS9 novel : Lesser Evil )
In 2368 , she was offered a deal by Admiral Kennelly ; her freedom in exchange for her assisting the USS Enterprise -D in finding the Bajoran terrorist Orta , who was believed to be responsible for attacking Federation targets.
When Ro discovered that the attackers of the Federation facilities were actually Cardassians, she turned to Enterprise captain Jean-Luc Picard to uncover the truth. ( TNG episode : " Ensign Ro ")
Ro was at the conn when the Enterprise discovered the nature of a temporal causality loop and escaped from a predestined collision with the USS Bozeman . Due to the repetitive effects of the temporal distortion , Ro was killed and the Enterprise had been destroyed numerous times before this. ( TNG episode : " Cause and Effect ")
Later in 2368 , (stardate 45934.7), Lieutenant Worf requested that Ro join him on an away team to Votar VII , to settle a conflict between the colonists there, due to her experience with insurrections. She assisted Worf and participated in a failed, non-lethal assault on a Kaylar -held dam. ( TNG comic : " A Matter of Dates ")
Ro and Worf fighting the monks.
In early 2369 , Ro, Geordi and Worf took the shuttlecraft Goddard to receive Starfleet briefings. On their return journey, the shuttle was forced to drop out of warp, due to solar flare activity and crash-landed on the planet Riat . The shuttle, damaged beyond immediate repair, the planet inhospitably cold, the away team sought shelter in a nearby Dracon monastery . Unfortunately, the order of monks in the monastery had become violent and cannibalistic, due to radiation from the solar flares causing a mutation in an algae in their water supply. The team was forced to fight the monks off, several times, before another shuttle from the Enterprise arrived to rescue them. ( TNG comic : " Light of the Day ")
Also in 2369, Ro was the acting first officer of the Enterprise -D, while Will Riker was in command, due to Captain Picard having been transported into the past. She suggested abandoning the search, to ensure that the Enterprise arrived at the Gorn Summit in time. Once Riker showed his determination to continue, she would suggest asking the Bon Amar for help in the search. ( TNG novel : Requiem )
After the encounter with Orta and the Cardassians, Ro served aboard the Enterprise for over a year (it's closer if we say, two years), before returning to the Academy for Advanced Tactical Training . ( TNG episode : " Preemptive Strike ")
Her final mission on the Enterprise-D , before the Advanced Tactical Training, was a flight with a shuttle to transport an ambassador to a near starbase. Her shuttle was shot down by raiders. She awoke in a "fairy castle" with a mysterious landlord, the "Beast," who gave his life for her, when the raiders arrived once again. After Ro was rescued by the Enterprise-D , she found out that the mysterious "Beast" was a Cardassian war criminal in exile. ( TNG comic : " The Bajoran and the Beast ")
At the Academy, one of her instructors was Lieutenant Commander Chakotay , who told of her of the resistance movement known as the Maquis . ( TNG reference : Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion ; ST website : StarTrek.com )
The Maquis [ ]
Ro working for the Maquis.
Upon her return to the Enterprise in late 2370 , Ro had been promoted to full lieutenant . She was assigned to infiltrate the Maquis , a group of Federation citizens and former Starfleet officers. The Maquis were fighting off the Cardassians in the Demilitarized Zone , in defiance of a recent Federation treaty with the Cardassian Union .
Ro found that she both sympathized and fit in better with the Maquis more than she ever did in Starfleet, so she once again defied orders, betraying Starfleet and joining the Maquis. ( TNG episode : " Preemptive Strike ")
Ro quickly became a legend among the Maquis, with even the senior members of the organization looking upon her with awe. The reclusive figure who had abandoned Starfleet and who went on to join their hopeless cause led many to see her as the Maquis' greatest hero. ( TNG - The Dominion War novel : Behind Enemy Lines ) As of stardate 47891.1 (late 2370 ), Ro had been given the codename Architect and was the leader of New Hope 's Maquis. ( TNG novel : Rogue Saucer )
Ro snuck aboard Deep Space 9 in mid- 2371 , in order to prevent Aela , a Maquis extremist, from assassinating Gul Engor and destroying the station, in an attempt to destabilize the peace treaty between the Federation and Cardassians. ( DS9 comic : " Friend and Foe Alike ")
Later that year, Ro joined Kira Nerys in her search for mapping the black market routes of Bajor, in the hopes of finding the origin of the Wrath of the Prophets epidemic.( DS9 novel : Wrath of the Prophets )
With the relative peace that was granted to the Maquis in 2372 , following the start of the war between the Klingon Empire and the Cardassians, Ro was offered the opportunity to move up the Maquis ranks. She turned down the opportunity, instead settling on the Maquis colony on Galion , where she built a small house and a vegetable patch where she grew tomatoes . Despite settling down, she did occasionally leave Galion to perform missions for the Maquis. ( TNG - The Dominion War novel : Behind Enemy Lines )
In the year 2373 , Ro and her Maquis cell joined forces with Will Riker, who had apparently turned renegade, but who was actually on an undercover mission to find a group of Klingon weapons dealers. These weapons merchants wanted to make a business with Genesis technology, which had been forbidden for the better part of a century. ( TNG comic : " The Enemy of My Enemy ")
After some years with the Maquis, Ro deserted from the Maquis and turned herself in to be imprisoned. ( PIC episode : " Imposters ")
Somehow, Worf got a hold of her and secretly recruited her to help him hunt down Kahless . ( ST comic : " Defiant, Issue 1 ")
Ro the Bajoran [ ]
Ro was a Bajoran, but often stood out of the crowd, due to her determination to be herself and not just another member of the flock.
Ro believed in the Prophets as entities, and believed they were involved with the Bajoran people. However, she did not believe that beings living in a wormhole and occasionally interfering with a people was reason enough to worship them as gods . Nor did she appreciate that most Bajorans frowned upon any other Bajoran who did not follow the faith to the letter. ( TNG episode : " The Next Phase ")
Her father was proud to be Bajoran and in a way, so was she and to that end, she wore a Bajoran earring . She did not follow the Bajoran faith, so wore the earring on the wrong ear to discourage vedeks from trying to feel her pagh , which was normally done by squeezing the left ear. ( DS9 novel : Avatar, Book One )
On the Enterprise-D , she celebrated a Bajoran holiday once, but it was a kind of national holiday commemorating a local freedom fight based on the traditions of Ro's area of origin, and not a religious/spiritual holiday. ( TNG comic : " Restoration ")
Alternate timelines and realities [ ]
When Elias Vaughn was having his second orb experience , he became Eli Underwood , a patient at the same insane asylum as Benny Russell . While there, he interacted with a nurse named Lauren , who was the representation of Ro. ( DS9 novel : Unity )
In an alternate timeline in which the Cardassian Union never withdrew from Bajor and discovered the Bajoran wormhole , Ro became Chief of Security aboard the Enterprise -D and later the first officer of the USS Enterprise -E . ( TNG - Myriad Universes novel : A Gutted World )
In another alternate timeline, Ro never joined the Maquis and replaced Worf as chief security officer aboard the USS Enterprise -D. She rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and continued to serve aboard the ship into 2378 . ( TNG - Myriad Universes novel : Brave New World )
In another alternate timeline, the Klingons conquered Earth when the Khitomer Conference failed in 2293 . Ro was involved with the resistance on Earth and engaged in a relationship with Tasha Yar . She later sacrificed herself to save Yar and the rebels, when they were betrayed by Wesley Crusher and his followers, who preferred to try and destroy the Klingons instead of negotiating peace. ( TNG - The Last Generation comic : " What Happens Now ")
In an alternate reality , Ro was the flight controller of the US Enterprise , which was under the command of Wesley Crusher , in 2380 . ( TNG novel : Q & A )
Service record [ ]
Appendices [ ], background [ ].
The 2001 promo for the new Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novels featuring Ro.
Ro Laren was portrayed by American actress Michelle Forbes MA in Star Trek: The Next Generation from 1991-1994.
In 2001, Pocket Books released a promo for the new Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novels featuring Ro and the caption " Given time, anyone can change. Almost anyone. "
Connections [ ]
Appearances [ ]
External links [ ].
- Ro Laren article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
- Ro Laren article at the Star Trek Timelines Wiki .
- 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
- 2 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel
- 3 Odyssey class
Why This Character's Death in Star Trek: Picard Was Its Most Tragic
Star Trek: Picard brought back many characters from The Next Generation, including a memorable recurring character whose death was its most tragic.
The final season of Star Trek: Picard was a great-big The Next Generation reunion, effectively a movie trilogy's worth of story. Still, limitations on budget and time meant not every character producers wanted could be included. For example, Kathryn Janeway could've been present for Seven of Nine's promotion . However, the return of Michelle Forbes as Ro Laren was the most surprising, and the character's death was the show's most tragic. Though, like Admiral Shelby, who took two phaser bolts to the chest, she might actually be okay.
Ro Laren wasn't in Star Trek: The Next Generation's early seasons . The formerly imprisoned Starfleet officer arrived on the show in Season 5. She proved herself to Captain Picard, who offered her a place on the Enterprise and became her mentor. The penultimate episode of The Next Generation brought Ro Laren back, only for her to defect from Starfleet. She left them to fight for the Maquis, Bajoran rebels fighting against Cardassian colonists. Ensign Ro was a character who felt like a major part of the back half of The Next Generation but only appeared in a handful of episodes. The fallout from her defection on Picard, both professionally and emotionally, were two of the biggest dangling story threads. What makes her Picard return even sweeter is how it was germane to the story being told. She reconciled with Picard and then met a surprisingly emotional end. The tragedy goes beyond her reconnection with her mentor. Her life was defined by being caught in-between other people's conflicts.
RELATED: This Star Trek Entry Deserves More Credit for Saving the Franchise
Ro Laren Remains a Unique Star Trek Character From Upbringing to Attitude
When Ensigns Boimler and Mariner found themselves on the Enterprise in the Strange New Worlds crossover episode , they were delighted. When Ensign Ro found herself on the Enterprise in The Next Generation , she was not happy about it. Ro bears similarities to Una Chin-Riley , though the Bajoran officer lost her court-martial. Still, she was from a culture that faced real oppression in the utopian future of Star Trek . She wasn't all "Ad Astra per Aspera," serving on the Enterprise was "better than prison." Not only that, she was being used by a corrupt Admiral who represented the worst of Starfleet.
From her first appearance on The Next Generation , she taught Picard and company about how hard life was for Bajorans compared to other Federation peoples. Unlike Number One, she resented Starfleet for ignoring her people's plight in order to keep the peace with an alien military empire. Ro Laren never became a believer in Starfleet, but she did want to be the kind of person who impressed Picard. In an episode where she was invisible to the rest of the crew, she said an emotional "goodbye" to him. But not before noting that he still intimidated her, even though he couldn't see her. After the war in Deep Space Nine was over, Ro Laren did what she thought Picard would do. She turned herself in and faced the consequences.
Again, sentenced to a Starfleet prison , Ro Laren was drafted by Starfleet intelligence to spy on and combat other terrorist organizations. This put Vadic and the Changeling conspiracy on her sensors. When unable to even trust her fellow officers, the only person Ro Laren would believably turn to is Picard. Only this last time, he wasn't able to protect her or offer her a second chance. Instead, she gave him the opportunity to save the Federation. She never sought out Starfleet and wasn't a big believer in the cause. Nonetheless, she gave her life to protect it. Or did she?
RELATED: Star Trek: First Contact May Contain an Unintentional Homage to Gene Roddenberry
The Death of Ro Laren on Picard Was Fitting, but It Could Be Undone
Both Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager dealt with the politics of the Maquis and Federation animosity at length. Picard smartly kept the focus on the personal dynamics between (now) Commander Ro and the fugitive retired admiral. Even if a viewer wasn't a fan of The Next Generation , the emotional interplay between the characters is more gripping than the spycraft plot. Just like in the previous show, Ro Laren's contribution to the emotional narrative in Picard feels far more significant than how long she's actually on the screen.
Moments before her death, Jean-Luc pleads with her to forgive him for "only now" seeing the totality of her character. Specifically, the parts of Ro Laren built from what Picard gave her. Ensign Ro was brash, abrasive and unafraid to speak her mind. She didn't mind being disagreeable, only opening up at all because Whoopi Goldberg's Guinan insisted . Her final The Next Generation episode began with her promotion to Lieutenant, something that happened in large part because of Picard greasing Starfleet's political wheels. So, when she left Starfleet for the Maquis, the betrayal wasn't one of duty for Jean-Luc. It was deeply personal.
Picard, Jack Crusher and Starfleet only survived because of her quick-thinking and relentless effort to do the "right" thing. It is a powerful story made more tragic by her death, but she may live again. Showrunner Terry Matalas told ScreenRant his original Picard finale draft featured a scene where Starfleet rescued the Changeling's prisoners, including a very-much-alive Ro Laren. If Star Trek: Legacy happens , perhaps he can finally shoot it. Until then, Ro Laren is a tragic hero who was not appreciated until it was too late.
Michelle Forbes’ Best Acting Roles (Including Star Trek: TNG’s Ro Laren)
- Michelle Forbes excels at portraying complex, vulnerable characters in iconic TV shows, showcasing her acting prowess and emotional depth.
- Forbes turned down a lead role in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to pursue diverse acting opportunities, proving her versatility and commitment to her craft.
- Ro Laren's impactful return in Star Trek: Picard season 3 highlights Forbes' ability to embody older characters with experience and weariness, adding depth to the narrative.
Michelle Forbes played one of Star Trek: The Next Generation 's best-loved recurring characters, but Ensign Ro Laren is just one entry on an impressive list of film and TV credits. The character of Ensign Ro in TNG was so popular that Michelle Forbes was offered the chance to join Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as one of the leads. However, Forbes turned this down to pursue other acting roles, which in retrospect feels like the right choice for her as an actress and for DS9 in general.
Ro Laren later returned in Star Trek: Picard season 3, and Michelle Forbes gave an incredible performance as an older version of the Star Trek: The Next Generation character . In the time between Ro Laren's final appearance in TNG and her return in Picard , Michelle Forbes has appeared in some of the biggest TV shows of the past three decades . While Michelle Forbes rarely plays the protagonist in these big shows, the characters that she portrays often have complex layers that Forbes excels at peeling back to reveal vulnerability and nuance.
I Remembered Michelle Forbes Was In Star Trek: TNG Before She Was Ro Laren
Susan metcalfe in messiah 1 to 3, 6 episodes (2001 - 2004).
Michelle Forbes played Susan Metcalfe in three seasons of the BBC's UK serial killer series, Messiah between 2001 and 2004. It's an interesting performance from Forbes, who plays the deaf wife of Detective Chief Inspector Red Metcalfe (Ken Stott). Throughout all three Messiah seasons, Forbes communicates solely through British Sign Language, meaning that it's an incredibly physical performance. While Red and Susan's marriage rests on the slightly offensive idea that the detective who sees unspeakable evil can only be married to a woman who physically can't hear him discuss those crimes . Thankfully, Michelle Forbes grounds this with her nuanced and affecting performance.
Dawn Lockard in Swimming With Sharks (1994)
Released april 21, 1995.
Swimming with Sharks is all about the tense confrontation between Kevin Spacey and Frank Whalley's despicable characters, but Michelle Forbes provides a great deal of heart as Dawn Lockard . Swimming with Sharks is an industry satire about the toxic culture in Hollywood studios that has taken on an even darker tone due to Kevin Spacey's public downfall. Forbes plays a producer at the studio, who is really the only sympathetic character in the whole movie, and the horrendous treatment of Dawn grimly emphasizes the cutthroat nature of career progression in Hollywood.
Lieutenant Jackson in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two (2015)
Released november 20, 2015.
Michelle Forbes played Lieutenant Jackson in part two of The Hunger Games' big finale . Jackson was one of the resistance fighters that joined the Battle of the Capitol in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two . Distrustful of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), Jackson met a grisly end at the hands of the lizard mutts. Although never likely to overshadow the superstar talent that is Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Forbes brought the cold steel of characters like Star Trek: The Next Generation 's Ro Laren to the character of Lieutenant Jackson in Mockingjay Part Two .
Mitch Larsen in The Killing
Seasons 1 and 2, 2011 - 2012.
The American remake of the Scandi-Noir classic The Killing featured Michelle Forbes in the role of grieving mother, Mitch Larsen. Michelle Forbes' portrayal of Mitch was utterly devastating, conveying the nuance of grief as a mother struggles to cope with the murder of her daughter. Michelle Forbes brought some subtlety to the performance that ensured Mitch's grief was never overwrought or melodramatic . While the American version of The Killing never quite matched up to the Scandinavian original, Michelle Forbes and Brent Sexton as Mitch and Stan Larsen had a hugely compelling arc as their marriage crumbled at the center of a sprawling murder investigation.
Lynne Kresge in 24
Season 2, 18 episodes (2002 - 2003).
Michelle Forbes played Lynne Kresge, a crisis management advisor to President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) in 24 season 2 . Kresge was at the heart of 24 season 2's political intrigue, as she uncovered a plot to depose President Palmer, whom radical members of his cabinet felt was unfit to handle the ongoing situation. Michelle Forbes also got to play some tense phone calls between Kresge and maverick counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and was able to hold her own against his righteous fury. Sadly, Lynne's tragic fate meant that Forbes didn't return for 24 season 3.
Lynne's main rival in 24 season 2 was the President's ex-wife, Sherry Palmer, played by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's Penny Johnson Jerald.
Maryann Forrester in True Blood
Seasons 1 and 2 (15 episodes).
Michelle Forbes played Maryann Forester, one of True Blood 's villains , and the main antagonist of season 2. Maryann was a Maenad, an incredibly powerful and immortal supernatural being that could morph their hands into giant poisonous talons. It was an incredibly outlandish character for Michelle Forbes to play, even with her history in Star Trek: The Next Generation . However, Michelle Forbes imbued Maryann with a degree of authenticity and sexiness that made her a compelling antagonist in True Blood season 2.
All 7 Seasons Of True Blood, Ranked Worst To Best
Carrie laughlin in kalifornia (1993), released september 3, 1993.
Kalifornia is a road movie thriller with an impressive cast that includes Michelle Forbes, Brad Pitt, The X-Files ' David Duchovny, and Yellowjackets ' Juliette Lewis. Forbes plays Carrie Laughlin, the photographer girlfriend of David Duchovny's true crime journalist. Relocating to California, they plot a road trip that takes them to various murder sites. However, it gets too real when the true crime tourists pick up two hitchhikers; a real-life serial killer and his girlfriend. Hugely influential film critic Roger Ebert praised the film and its cast, noting that he watched it as if he were "observing the lives of real people."
Dr. Julianna Cox in Homicide: Life On The Street
32 episodes and 1 tv movie (1996 - 2000).
Michelle Forbes joined the cast of the hugely influential cop show Homicide: Life on the Street in season 5 as medical examiner Dr. Julianna Cox . Much like Ro Laren in Star Trek: The Next Generation , Dr. Cox had a strong moral code that often meant that she would refuse to follow orders. This eventually resulted in her being fired as Chief Medical Examiner by the city of Baltimore for refusing to alter evidence. Like many characters in Homicide , Cox was refreshingly and unapologetically real for network TV in the 1990s, having multiple sexual partners and regularly drinking too much with her on-again-off-again love interest, Detective Mike Kellerman (Reed Diamond).
Yaphet Kotto, who played Lieutenant Al Giardello in Homicide: Life on the Street was once considered for the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation .
Admiral Helena Cain in Battlestar Galactica
3 episodes and the tv movie, battlestar galactica: razor.
Michelle Forbes is one of several Star Trek actors in Battlestar Galactica , and gave one of her finest performances as Admiral Helena Cain. Michelle Forbes' performance as Cain really emphasized the pain she had experienced during the war with the Cylons . Although her actions were sometimes reprehensible, they were understandable given everything that she and the crew of Battlestar Pegasus had been through following the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. So understandable were Cain's actions that Commander William Adama (Edward James Olmos) refused to condemn them after her death, as he had never been in her situation.
Star Trek: Voyager Frustrations Led To Creation Of Battlestar Galactica
Ro laren in star trek: the next generation and star trek: picard, 9 episodes of tng (1991 - 1994) and 1 episode of picard season 3..
Michelle Forbes was created to shake things up when she joined the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation in season 5. Rick Berman and Michael Piller were keen on a character that was spikier than the cool and supremely competent crew of the starship Enterprise . Discussing Ro's origins in the Star Trek: The Next Generation companion, Rick Berman said that they wanted a " character with the strength and dignity of a Starfleet officer but with a troubled past, an edge. " Forbes delivered that in spades, clashing with some of TNG 's most beloved characters.
Michelle Forbes had great chemistry with Patrick Stewart, which helped to sell the affecting mentor and pupil relationship between Ro and Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Ro's relationship with Picard was such a strong part of her story that her betrayal in season 7 was shocking, heartbreaking, but also completely in line with the character's journey. Forbes' return in Star Trek: Picard season 3 was an unexpected pleasure, and she brilliantly imbued Ro with the experience and weariness of her years as a member of the Maquis. It was a reminder how lucky Star Trek: The Next Generation was to have an actor of Michelle Forbes' talents in the cast.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.
Cast LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis
Network CBS
Streaming Service(s) Amazon Prime Video
Franchise(s) Star Trek
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Ro Laren / ˈ r oʊ ˈ l æ r ə n / is a fictional character appearing on a recurring basis in the fifth, sixth and seventh seasons of the American science-fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.The character returned for the third season of Star Trek: Picard.Portrayed by Michelle Forbes, she is a member of the Bajoran species who joins the crew of the USS Enterprise-D over ...
Ro Laren was a female Bajoran national who served as a commander in Starfleet, working for Starfleet Intelligence during the early 25th century. A survivor of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, Ro had a tumultuous career within Starfleet. Following a court martial and demotion due to a catastrophic away mission, she was assigned to the Federation starship USS Enterprise-D in 2368 and mentored ...
As the Enterprise-D's first officer, Commander Riker was one of the staunchest opponents to Ro Laren's transfer onto the starship.The two regularly clashed over Starfleet regulations and shipboard procedures. A Satarran operative's plan to infiltrate the flagship and wipe the crew's memories had an intriguing side effect, as it permitted Riker and Ro to socialize without the baggage ...
Michelle Forbes' Star Trek: The Next Generation character, Ensign Ro Laren, was intended to spin off as a lead character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but here's why the actress rejected the part and left the franchise.The surprising move necessitated the creation of a new Bajoran character, Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), which ended up serving DS9 even better in the long run.
Actress Michelle Forbes returns as Ro Laren, a Bajoran member of Starfleet who served on the U.S.S Enterprise-D. Trekkies last saw her in season 7 of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1994.
The Enterprise takes on Ensign Ro Laren to help track down Bajoran terrorists who attacked a Federation colony. It is a typical day as Mot trims Captain Picard's hair in the barbershop while dispensing advice on strategy while in adversarial situations with the Romulans. The conversation is interrupted by a call from Commander Riker, who reports that the USS Enterprise-D has just received a ...
In the fifth season of "Star Trek: The Next Generation, " the showrunners introduced a new regular character named Ensign Ro Laren. Ro (an excellent Michelle Forbes) was a Bajoran, a species whose ...
Ensign Ro's Tragic Backstory CBS/Viacom. Ro Laren was born on the planet Bajor, which at the time was under occupation by the Cardassian Union.The Cardassians had strip-mined the planet, forcing ...
Ensign Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) first appeared in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Ensign Ro" (October 7, 1991), and she introduced an interesting character dynamic to the series ...
Ro Laren's storyline continued in Star Trek: Picard season 3, where she returned as Commander Ro Laren, now working for Starfleet Intelligence, and had an emotionally charged reunion with Jean-Luc Picard. One of the "greatest accomplishments" of Star Trek: The Next Generation was Ensign Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes), according to showrunner ...
Ro Laren in Star Trek Picard season 3. Ro Laren has returned in Star Trek Picard season 3 episode 5. She appears onboard Captain Shaw's USS Titan leading a Starfleet Intelligence team from the USS Intrepid (who later turn out to be Changelings).She arrives to investigate the Titan's activity, question Picard and Riker, and look into Picard's son Jack Crusher.
Variety listed "Ensign Ro" as one of the top 15 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The A.V. Club gave the episode an A− and said that the new character Ro was "terrific". The character of Ensign Ro led to a recurring role on the series, and was an influential and popular character for the Star Trek franchise.
Ensign Ro: Directed by Les Landau. With Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn. Captain Picard foils a plot against the Bajorans with his new Bajoran officer, Ensign Ro.
The big surprise in last week's episode of Star Trek: Picard was the return of Michelle Forbes. The actress and showrunner are talking about the return of Ro Laren to Star Trek and why it was ...
After appearing in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) as Ro Laren, she was approached to play the same character in a starring role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993).When she turned down the part, because she didn't want to commit to a regular television role at that point in her career, a new Bajoran character, Kira Nerys, was created and Nana Visitor was cast in that part.
Additionally, Ro Laren was one of the intended leads for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but the role was retasked as Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) when Forbes declined. So, let's take a look at Laren's ...
April 2nd, 2023. CBS. Ro Laren was, and remains, one of the most engaging secondary characters in Star Trek history. Her recent return to the franchise in Star Trek: Picard finally closed the ...
Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 5 - "Imposters" Commander Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) makes a surprise return in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 5, "Imposters," to wrap up the former Bajoran freedom fighter's story and set Picard on course for a perilous second half of season 3. Ro was one of the most popular recurring characters in Star Trek: The Next Generation ...
They introduced Ro Laren in the episode "Ensign Ro," early in TNG's fifth season. She appeared in eight episodes of the series total, and she introduced the Bajoran race to Star Trek lore ...
Ro One: A Star Trek Story Paramount A lot of the original series bible for "Deep Space Nine" was printed in the 1994 book "The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," and it seems that the series ...
The 2001 promo for the new Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novels featuring Ro. Ro Laren was portrayed by American actress Michelle Forbes MA in Star Trek: The Next Generation from 1991-1994. In 2001, Pocket Books released a promo for the new Star Trek: Deep Space Nine novels featuring Ro and the caption "Given time, anyone can change. Almost anyone."
The Death of Ro Laren on Picard Was Fitting, but It Could Be Undone. Both Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager dealt with the politics of the Maquis and Federation animosity at length. Picard smartly kept the focus on the personal dynamics between (now) Commander Ro and the fugitive retired admiral. Even if a viewer wasn't a fan of The Next ...
Michelle Forbes played one of Star Trek: The Next Generation's best-loved recurring characters, but Ensign Ro Laren is just one entry on an impressive list of film and TV credits. The character of ...
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