When it comes to long-standing TV franchises that I’m most terrified to cover, Star Trek is easily at the top of the list. With so many seasons, opinions, and legacies developing in popular culture since the mid-1960s and the original series, I feel like I’m a dunce constantly playing catch-up with something complex that keeps slipping from my grasp.
However, if I were to hedge my bets and choose two seasons to binge, I’d pick Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Picard. Not just because they feel like the two iterations of the franchise that I can’t afford to miss out on, but because I’m unashamedly in love with Jeri Ryan.
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Trekkies will know her best for playing Seven of Nine in both shows, a former Borg drone who initially joins the crew of the Federation starship Voyager. By the time she tries to leave in Picard, she’s promoted to Captain — but as of writing, a story of her time in charge has yet to materialize.
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According to Ryan herself [via TrekMovie], she has already turned down a solo spinoff that “wasn’t in line with the Star Trek legacy,” so we could be waiting a while for the perfect fit… if it ever arrives.
If we can’t get Seven of Nine back, let’s go with the next best thing: Ryan’s own recommendations for what to watch alongside your annual Voyager and Picard binges (it never hurts to freshen things up).
But when I ask her the question, her answer takes me completely by surprise, especially as she’s considered the potential long-standing impacts of AI in relation to sci-fi itself.
‘People aren’t paying enough attention to AI’
“Not that they have anything to do with Star Trek directly, but given the AI situation, I think The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day would be really good things to watch now,” Ryan tells me.
“I think they’d be very timely. I feel like a lot of people, or not enough people, have paid attention to AI. I think a few more people could do to listen to how that ended up for humanity.”
It’s an unexpected and dark suggestion, but I certainly see the link. Like Star Trek, Terminator was ahead of its time, transforming the sci-fi genre into something iconic that would later serve as an archetype for TV shows and movies to come.
In fact, both movies go way beyond Arnold Schwarzenegger saying “Hasta la vista, baby,” in dark sunglasses and a leather jacket. His Terminator Borg is the polar opposite of Seven of Nine, working as an assassin from the future intent on killing the woman who will supposedly give birth to a man who will save humankind from extinction.
By the end of Judgment Day, Terminator is a good guy, having been reprogrammed to protect instead of destroy. It’s this conclusion, I think, that Ryan would like to reach… or at least remind fans that there is still light at the end of the tunnel.
If you look beyond Star Trek, protection against AI is something Ryan is clearly passionate about. In April 2026, she testified in support of the California Senate Bill 1050, which would “target false advertising by requiring clear and conspicuous consumer disclosures whenever a synthetic digital performer is used in state advertisements.”
Would a Seven of Nine spinoff featuring a synthetic lead character flop if Ryan resolutely disagreed to it? Yes. But let’s face it… we don’t want that kind of spinoff anyway.
At this point, Ryan is leaving us with a lot of food for thought when it comes to what the future looks like, with some iconic sci-fi action sprinkled in for good measure. How can you not love her?
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jasmine.valentine@futurenet.com (Jasmine Valentine)
