Tom Wright, who played Tuvix in Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 24, “Tuvix”, has high praise for the scenes that he shared with Kes actress Jennifer Lien. In “Tuvix”, a transporter accident merges Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Talaxian chef Neelix (Ethan Phillips) into a single being named Tuvix, who shares characteristics of both Tuvok and Neelix. Most members of the USS Voyager’s crew grow accustomed to Tuvix over the months that the hybrid being is with them, but Kes (Jennifer Lien) becomes uncertain when Tuvix wishes to resume Neelix’s relationship with Kes. Kes is acutely aware that Tuvix isn’t Neelix, but a totally new person whom Kes does not know.
Because Tuvix is a unique individual, Tuvix is played by guest star Tom Wright, who expertly imbues the character with equal parts Tuvok and Neelix, sometimes switching between Neelix’s personality and Tuvok’s within the same line. Wright was invited to discuss his experiences on a panel dedicated to “Tuvix” on TrekTalks 3, which raised over $109,000 for the Hollywood Food Coalition. Star Trek: Voyager‘s Robert Duncan McNeill emphasizes the importance of the Kes relationship in the audience’s reading of Tuvix as a new character, prompting Wright’s praise for scenes with Lien. Read their quotes and watch the “Tuvix” panel at the 6:42:59 time stamp below:
Robert Duncan McNeill: “The Kes and Tuvix relationship was a really important part of the audience experiencing that Tuvix is not the friends we’ve gotten to know. She was the point of view of, I like Tuvix, but it’s not Neelix. I miss Neelix. I’m grieving Neelix. And I think a lot of that experience Kes was having is what informed Janeway to make the decision and kept her perspective clear.”
Tom Wright: “The Kes relationship was in a lot of ways the gateway to accessing a certain emotional place that I felt the character needed to be. They were really good scenes because they were love scenes in some of the best possible ways. You could tell there was a depth of emotion between the two of them. And I remember [Jennifer Lien] being a very gracious actress.”
Star Trek Repeats Voyager’s “Tuvix” & Improves Janeway’s Controversial Solution
An outbreak of Tuvixing on the Cerritos forces the Lower Deckers to try and avoid repeating Janeway’s murderous solution from Star Trek: Voyager.
Kes’ Emotions Contribute to Janeway’s Final “Tuvix” Decision
Kes loses partner Neelix and mentor Tuvok, but can’t mourn either one.
There are no easy answers, but as the emotional center of early Star Trek: Voyager, Kes is the one to steer Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) towards a final resolution they can live with. Kes was so close to both romantic partner Neelix and mentor Tuvok that merging these very different relationships into one is impossible, particularly since Tuvix feels both Neelix’s love for Kes and Tuvok’s attachment to his wife on Vulcan, T’Pel (Marva Hicks). Kes’ negative reaction to Tuvix’s romantic overtures bears this in mind, and therefore reminds Janeway they’ve lost both Tuvok and Neelix.
Tuvix unknowingly contributes to his own demise, then, when he asks Kes to plead with Captain Janeway on his behalf. The fact that Tuvix still contains both Tuvok and Neelix, who should be gone, means Kes’ grief for Neelix and Tuvok is muddy, uncertain, and unresolved. Kes can’t trade two important relationships in her life for one highly unusual, ill-defined one with Tuvix, even if the rest of Voyager’s crew seems to be able to accept Tuvix without mourning either Tuvok or Neelix. It’s that math that convinces Janeway to separate Tuvix, and restores Star Trek: Voyager to its necessary status quo.
Star Trek: Voyager
- Release Date
- May 23, 1995
- Cast
- Kate Mulgrew , Robert Beltran , Roxann Dawson , Jennifer Lien , Robert Duncan McNeill , Ethan Phillips , Robert Picardo , Tim Russ , Garrett Wang , Jeri Ryan
- Genres
- Action , Sci-Fi
- Seasons
- 7
- Story By
- Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor
- Writers
- Rick Berman , Michael Piller , Jeri Taylor
- Network
- UPN
- Streaming Service(s)
- Paramount+
- Franchise(s)
- Star Trek
- Directors
- David Livingston , Winrich Kolbe , Allan Kroeker , Michael Vejar
- Showrunner
- Michael Piller , Jeri Taylor , Brannon Braga , Kenneth Biller
