Beltran: Natural Sexual Tension For C/7

A large portion of fandom has been up in arms ever since reports suggested Chakotay will marry Seven of Nine in the Voyager finale. But for both the actors involved, the Chakotay/Seven relationship is a logical development.

"'Human Error' gave me more than just a cursory scene with Jeri Ryan," Robert Beltran said in a new interview with Starlog Magazine, recalling the recent episode in which Seven selected Chakotay as her holo-lover. "That's something the writers really dropped the ball on, the relationship between Chakotay and Seven of Nine. That episode sort of shows what could have happened, what they missed out on. I always thought that there was a natural sexual tension between Chakotay and Seven of Nine that they never exploited, so it was great fun when we finally got a chance to explore it."

Last month, Ryan also said it made sense for her character to go with Chakotay (story). "Seven doesn't take Harry Kim very seriously," she said. "It wouldn't be the Doctor because they've been down that road, too. It's not that Seven of Nine has a thing for Chakotay, but she programs the Holodeck with the crew, to practice her social interaction skills with them. They are the people she knows. It has been programmed in such a way that all the males are receptive to Seven, and it just happens to work out that Chakotay's the one."

At the time the interview was conducted, Beltran did not yet know about Chakotay and Seven ending up together in the finale, In fact, he hadn't yet heard anything about the contents of the finale, but he did know what he would - and would not - like to see happen. "I don't want Chakotay to die. If they were going to kill him off, I wish they would have done it at the beginning of the year or halfway through the season."

"[I] would like to leave the fans with the sense that there's something exciting waiting for the characters," he continued. If there's any life after Voyager - and frankly I doubt there will be - I hope the fans are left with something exciting to look forward to seeing. I have always seen Chakotay as an outsider, a rebel and a man with his own code of honour, and that's the way I want him to go out."

Though Beltran has been outspoken in criticising Voyager over the past few months, and again was in this new interview, he was still optimistic about the final few episodes. "It's getting kind of exciting to get to the end. I'm looking forward to it. It has been a worthwhile experience. I went in knowing that I was going to do seven years and I had made up my mind to do seven years, and so it hasn't been a surprise. It has gone by quickly and been relatively painless. I've made good friends, and to be employed for seven years is a lot."

In the full four-page interview with Starlog's Ian Spelling, Beltran talked in more detail about his great friendship with the rest of the cast, without which he was "pretty sure [he] would have quit after the fifth season." In addition, provided his opinion on several episodes of the seventh season, and commented negatively on what he saw as a lack of development for any of the characters.

To subscribe to Starlog or to order just this single issue, which also contains an interview with Tim Russ (Tuvok), please follow this link.

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