Out av universum, varför infördes Seven of Nine?

I en intervju med Stephen Poe uppstod det här problemet:

Q: Why was Seven (Jeri Ryan) a Borg picked as the new character? Was is sex appeal or something else? Pat

SP: Good question. Seven functions on two levels. First, she provides the perfect foil for Janeway- something Voyager did not have previously. Kirk had Spock, Picard had Data, but Janeway's foil was missing. The result is, Janeway's character has been strengthened significantly. This is very apparent throughout this current season. Second, Seven is a perfect example of something Star Trek has always done superbly well: force each of us as viewers to look in the mirror again and realize this too is part of what it's like to be human. In this case, it forces us to confront old ideas, stereotypical images, pre-conceived notions. At first look, Seven appears to be blatant T&A aimed squarely at the male demographic. But if we can get past that "image" what do we see? A character who, because she was raised by the Borg, has not got a clue as to what effect her appearance might have on a male crewmember. In that sense she is sexless. What we then discover is here is a FEMALE character (do I have to shout Hooray!?) who is strong-willed, independent, tough, takes no crap from the Captain, calls everyone on their hypocrisies and silliness ---whoa! That's one heck of a role model for women everywhere. Jeri Ryan told me one day when we were discussing this point that she gets a lot of mail from women and the letters generally all start out the same way: "I really, really, really did not want to like your character - but I do. "

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Jag misstänker dock att sikte på att förbättra betyg var troligen också en av vinklarna. Med tanke på att sju i huvudsak ersatte Kes, om saker hade fungerat bra skulle det förmodligen inte vara nödvändigt att ändra formatet. Som förklarat i den här artikeln från tiden, betygsättningen av Voyager ökade med 60 procent efter att Seven introducerade.