star trek ro laren actress

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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.

Screen Rant

Michelle forbes’ best acting roles (including star trek: tng’s ro laren).

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I Remembered Michelle Forbes Was In Star Trek: TNG Before She Was Ro Laren

All 7 seasons of true blood, ranked worst to best, star trek: voyager frustrations led to creation of battlestar galactica.

• 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.

Ro Laren shook things up when she joined Star Trek: The Next Generation in season 5, however this was actually Michelle Forbes' second TNG role.

10 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.

9 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.

8 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 .

7 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.

6 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.

5 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.

True Blood featured seven seasons worth of vampire lore that started out fresh, but slowly began to decline in quality as the years progressed.

4 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."

3 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 .

2 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.

Ronald D. Moore clashed with Star Trek: Voyager's writers, but channelled those frustrations into creating the acclaimed Battlestar Galactica reboot.

1 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.

• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
• Star Trek: Picard (2020)

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The Intriguing World Of Entertainment

She Played ‘Ro Laren’ on Star Trek: The Next Generation. See Michelle Forbes Now at 57.

By Megan Moore | January 14, 2023

Michelle Forbes is an American actress known for both her film and television roles. Star Trek fans will know her as Ensign Ro Laren from her time on TNG. What has she been up to since her time on the show ended 26 years ago?

Forbes was born in Austin, Texas, on January 8th, 1965. She is of Mexican heritage, born Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo.

Initially, she wanted to be a ballet dancer. However, her passion quickly pivoted to acting. She began receiving formal lessons at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas.

She vacationed in New York City at age sixteen, where she tried out for a film role. Forbes did not receive the part but, as a result, was approached by an agency.

She signed with the William Morris Agency shortly after and began her acting career.

Acting Career

In 1987 Forbes was awarded two roles in Guiding Light. She was only twenty-two years old, and it would be her first acting credit. She played Solita Carrera and Dr. Sonni Carrera Lewis.

Forbes was on the daytime soap series for two years. During that time, she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

In 1991, she moved on to a few smaller guest roles, playing a gym instructor in Father Dowling Mysteries and Maren in Shannon’s Deal. She also continued in the theater.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Forbes was offered a guest part in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s episode “The Inside Man,” in which she played Dara. After her brief part, she was awarded a full-time role as Ensign Ro Laren, a member of the Bajoran race, in the Star Trek series.

Forbes’ first appearance as Laren was in season five, episode three. Her character was reserved yet opinionated, cast as an informal protégé to Captain Picard and a liaison between the crew and the Bajorans. 

Though she was a strong character, Forbes would only go on to act in eight episodes. Her final appearance was in season seven, episode twenty-four when Laren felt a connection to the Maquis, who she had been sent to find as part of her mission, and ultimately decided to stay, leaving Picard and Starfleet behind.

Fans absolutely loved her character, and her being written off the show left many confused.

Most believed she died when it was revealed the Maquis were wiped out by another race. However, a few survivors were imprisoned or stranded in the Delta Quadrant.

A series of novels were released after Deep Space Nine that finally gave fans an answer. Laren had survived and joined the Bajoran Militia, eventually becoming a Chief Security Officer.

Turned down Deep Space Nine role

It was reported that Forbes turned down this, which would have been a main role in the television series Deep Space Nine . A new character, Kira ( Nana Visitor ), had to be created instead.

It is alleged that Forbes wanted to pursue film instead of television and had felt complete with Ro Laren’s time on the show.

However, later she would admit that it was a mistake to believe the television role would have trapped her and prevented her from a film role and wished she had taken the opportunity.

What did she do after Star Trek?

Nevertheless, she had a thriving career after Star Trek. Initially, she gained a few film roles, such as Nerissa in Love Bites and Carrie Laughlin in Kalifornia.

The latter for which she was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Actress. Other early movie roles include Dawn Lockhard in Swimming with Sharks, Helen in Roadflower, Mary in Just Looking, and Lieutenant Brazen in Escape from LA.

Before long, she returned to television. First, with guest roles in Seinfeld and the Outer Limits.

But in 1996, she won a main role in the police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street. Forbes played Dr. Julianna Cox, the Chief Medical Examiner.

She would go on to act in thirty episodes from 1996 to 1998 and be nominated for a Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series.

Forbes continued to pick up both guest roles and minor recurring roles in a variety of television shows throughout the late nineties and early 2000s.

She appeared in Brimstone, The District, Wonderland, Messiah, Strong Medicine, and Fastlane.

Her character Lynne Kresge in the action drama series 24 won her a nomination from the Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Other notable roles include Battlestar Galactica, In Treatment, in which she played Kate Weston for thirteen episodes, True Blood as character Maryann Forrester for 15 episodes and was nominated for three awards, and her role as ‘Mitch’ Larsen in The Killing, where she appeared in twenty episodes and was nominated for four awards.

Aside from television and film roles, Forbes has also lent her voice to video games, namely for Half-Life 2, where she voiced Dr. Judith Mossman.

What is Michelle Forbes Doing Now?

Forbes acting career continues to thrive and she recently appeared in the crime drama thriller Big Sky as Margaret Kleinsasser and in a recurring role in the medical drama New Amsterdam as Dr. Veronica Fuentes.

Recent film roles include Say You Will and The Honor Farm.

Outside of her career, Forbes has been a vegan since 2011 and is a vocal animal rights activist.

In 1990 Forbes married fellow actor Ross Kettle, who is from South Africa. The pair divorced in 1999.

You can follow Michelle on Instagram where she regularly posts about her projects and her personal life.

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About Megan Moore

Megan is a freelance writer who loves covering Hollywood, particularly tracking down what our favorite 80s and 90s celebs are up to now! She has used her talents to write for various lifestyle publications and has authored a few books as well. When not writing, she can be found running the trails or planning her family’s next hike. More from Megan

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Why Ro Laren’s Star Trek Return Took So Long

If you’ve seen the most recent episode of Star Trek: Picard , you will have seen the biggest surprise of season 3 yet. Michelle Forbes has reprised her role of Ro Laren for the first time since 1994’s “Preemptive Strike”, the penultimate episode of S tar Trek: The Next Generation . But why did Ro Laren’s Star Trek Return take nearly 30 years to happen? She was treated brilliantly too. It’s a welcome return, and we’re all very happy to have her back, however briefly.

Who is Ro Laren?

Forbes, then an up-and-coming television actress, landed the role of Dara for the TNG episode “Half a Life” in season 4. Her performance impressed the producers so much that when they were creating the character of Ro, they offered her the part. The character was created to shake up the status quo on the USS Enterprise-D. Her backstory was there to create conflict and challenge the characters with her nuanced allegiances. She accomplished this through 6 guest appearances in the fifth season of TNG .

The character’s troubled past, including growing up in Bajoran refugee camps due to the Cardassian occupation and a court martial for not following orders that resulted in 8 deaths, made for one of the better recurring crewmembers of the Enterprise. Her earning the respect of Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) and Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and even developing a friendship with Geordi (LeVar Burton) gave the series a lot of heart.

Preemptive Strike & Deep Space Nine

However, during the production of the sixth season of TNG, the production also started on the spinoff Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . In the original drafts, Ro was the first officer aboard the station, working under Sisko (Avery Brooks), developing a lot of respect for Odo (Rene Auberjonois), and bickering with Quark (Armin Shimerman). Unwilling to commit to a series, wishing to work on films and avoid being typecast, Forbes turned down the role.

This character was later rescripted as Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor). As a DS9 fan, I often wonder what the series would have been like should Ro had been there instead of Kira. But this would not be the end for Ro’s character. While not a regular, she made further guest appearances in seasons 6 and 7 of TNG. It was the last of which, in particular, “Preemptive Strike”, which made the proper debut of the Maquis.

Ro was revealed to have undergone advanced tactical training at the recommendation of Picard. Sent to infiltrate the Maquis, she quickly gained their trust and became sympathetic to their cause despite her reluctance. Her running away from Starfleet and going rogue is among the biggest gut punches of the entire series. It’s an episode that I rewatched before watching “ Imposters ”, and it holds up very nicely.

Being a part of the Maquis, Forbes was offered a role on Star Trek: Voyager and turned it down, including guest appearances in Starfleet Academy flashbacks with Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill). Given the conclusions of the Maquis storyline in DS9 , the audience could assume that Ro had even died. She was never even mentioned in the series canon until Ro Laren’s Star Tre k Return in “ Imposters ”.

Forbes Through the Years

Even though she wasn’t working in Star Trek , Michelle Forbes was never an out-of-work actress. She was nominated for a Saturn Award for her performance in Kalifornia, a 1993 road thriller film that starred The X-Files star, David Duchovny.  Throughout the rest of the 1990s, she starred in Roadflower with Christopher Lambert, Black Day Blue Night with Gil Bellows, and Escape from L.A. with Kurt Russell.

Throughout the 2000s, Forbes shifted back towards television and television films, including major guest starring roles in 24 , Prison Break , True Blood , and The Killing . She even returned to sci-fi with a guest role in Ronald D. Moore’s Battlestar Galactica reimagining. Her 3 episode stint between Pegasus and Resurrection Ship is nothing short of a masterclass, with her character remaining a topic of debate among fans. Moore wrote 27 TNG episodes, including Forbes’ “ Disaster ” and “ The Next Phase ”.

Having turned down even guest reprisals, one could assume that Forbes never really embraced Trek, at least not initially . However, the amount of time that passed, along with her warming of the character, likely led her to accept the guest role in Picard Season 3. After her secret return aired, she publicly thanked the producers and recognised Ro’s impact on her career via Instagram.

Ro Through the Years

Even though she didn’t appear onscreen again until Imposters , plenty of novels tell her story beyond T NG. The relaunch novels, although non-canon to the series, offer an alternate take on what could have been. They tell the ongoing stories of all the 24th Century era characters. In this timeline, Ro never climbed her way up the ranks in Starfleet, which we saw in Picard .

Here, Ro never returned to Starfleet, remaining with her Maquis group. However, she had further adventures with the TNG and DS9 characters. This included her replacing Odo as the station’s chief of security. It’s really cool to explore this alternate timeline, finding Ro in the place where she was intended to be. Definitely check out the relaunch series for a fun alternate take on what could have been.

In the current IDW comic run, “Defiant”, Ro is recruited to help Worf hunt down Kahless. The comic has just started, so there’s not much more to say about it now. However, it does promise some very intriguing action for fans of the era. I would definitely recommend it as a comic to follow at the moment. It also features Worf (Michael Dorn) and Lore (Brent Spiner), who both have major roles in Picard Season 3.

Ro Laren’s Star Trek Return, and Michelle Forbes, managed to close off a 30-year-old plot thread. Even if it was only for one episode, it was nothing short of beautiful. Unexpected but still more than welcome. I really hope that Star Trek: Picard still has a few surprises up its sleeve. It would also be nice if future Trek projects also show such reverence to Trek. I wonder who the next big character reveal will be.

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 airs on Thursdays via Paramount+ for those in the United States. Additionally, on Crave and the CTV Sci-Fi channel for viewers in Canada. However, new episodes air Fridays via Amazon Prime Video in international regions like Australia and the United Kingdom. Paramount+ also streams the episodes in select locations, such as Italy, Germany, and France. For coverage of all things Star Trek, be sure to follow Trek Central!

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Who is Ro Laren in ‘Star Trek?’

Warning: This article contains spoilers about season three of Star Trek: Picard .

Star Trek has produced its fair share of popular, enduring characters . A stand-out must be Ro Laren ( Michelle Forbes ), the tough yet tragic Bajoran Starfleet officer who didn’t feel at home anywhere.

For 50 years between 2319 and 2369, the peaceful planet of Bajor reeled under a repressive and increasingly brutal Cardassian Occupation . Ro Laren was a Bajoran born during these dark times. She later described her childhood as “a long and depressing saga” and was grateful when it was finally over. At the tender age of seven, she was forced to watch her father being tortured and eventually executed. Unsurprisingly, this left her with a burning hatred of all things Cardassian.

To escape the Occupation, Ro signed on with Starfleet when she was 18, graduating a few years later and being assigned to the USS Wellington. Ro proved to be an energetic young officer, and she was rapidly promoted to Lieutenant. During a botched away mission on Garon II, Ro disobeyed direct orders, leading to the deaths of eight crewmen — her entire team. Starfleet was quick to court martial Ro, and she found herself demoted to Ensign and imprisoned in a military stockade.

Service aboard the Enterprise

But Starfleet could ill-afford to keep such a skillful officer on ice for long. In 2368, Ro was granted temporary release from jail to serve on board the USS Enterprise-D under the legendary Jean-Luc Picard . Picard needed someone who knew about Bajoran culture and the Bajoran resistance which had emerged during the occupation. Ro acquitted herself well, and Picard asked her to remain on board after the initial mission concluded. Even so, many Enterprise personnel refused to have anything to do with her, still blaming her for the disaster on Garon II. This left Ro still feeling like an outsider.

One of the few real friendships Laren struck up during this period was with the ship’s bartender Guinan, who was naturally drawn to Ro because everyone else shunned her.

Ro went on to serve in an exemplary manner through several key Enterprise missions. She was present when an encounter with a quantum filament nearly destroyed the ship, discovered a secret Romulan phasing device, and managed to rescue her shipmates from Ferengi pirates. She even engaged in a very short-lived sexual relationship with Enterprise First Officer William T. Riker (the pair was suffering from amnesia at the time, but they clearly desired one another). However, Ro’s tough, uncompromising style was unpopular with much of the crew in spite of her bravery and skill at the helm.

Maquis and later years

The feeling of being distinctly un-Starfleet did not go away. Her Bajoran roots and hatred for the Cardassians eventually led her to make a momentous decision. During the Next Generation episode “Preemptive Strike,” Ro was tasked by Starfleet with infiltrating a group of Maquis (a loose and very anti-Cardassian military confederation of border planets). The Maquis was threatening the fragile peace between Cardassia and the Federation. Things went well at first as Ro managed to successfully embed herself with the group.

But old loyalties died hard in Ro Laren, and she found herself identifying more with this rag-tag band of resistance fighters than she ever did Starfleet. When Riker was sent to bring her in, she turned traitor to the Federation and deserted her post to join the rebels.

Little is known of Ro during these years, but most fans assume she was a valuable and deadly member of the Maquis. When the Maquis was eventually destroyed during the events of Deep Space Nine , Ro managed to use her skills to wrangle her way back into Starfleet once again.

In Star Trek: Picard , Ro was working for Starfleet Intelligence where her previous experience in terrorist cells made her a valuable asset. She emerges as the Handler to Worf and Raffi during their spying activities. An uncomfortable meeting with her old Captain led to a reconciliation. Unfortunately, Ro was killed by Changeling imposters on her own security team, but not before she handed Picard the old Bajoran earring she always wore. Inside it was all the information she possessed on the conspiracy within Starfleet.

Unless a mirror-universe or alternate reality Ro pops up in the future, fans are unlikely to see this beloved character again.

Megan Parlen

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Born as Megan Sloan Parlen in Los Angeles, California, she started her acting career at the age of three when she appeared in a television commercial for milk. She is probably best known for her role as Mary-Beth Pepperton in the comedy series Hang Time on which she worked between 1995 and 2001. For this role she won a Young Star Award in the category Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Saturday Morning TV Program in 1997 and two nominations in the same category in 1998 and 1999. Following the ending of Hang Time , Parlen attended college and earned her Masters Degree in Broadcast Journalism from USC Anneberg.

Besides her work on Hang Time and Star Trek , Parlen was featured in Walk Like a Man (1987, with Christopher Lloyd , Earl Boen , and Ellen Albertini Dow ), the television drama Sisters (1990, with Daphne Ashbrook , David Bowe , Robert Beltran , and Gary Werntz ), My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (1991, with Clarence Williams III ), the animated short film Snoopy's Reunion (1991), and the television drama Dad, the Angel & Me (1995, with Jane Carr , Paul Collins and Edward Penn ).

Parlen also appeared on several television series including episodes of Hardball (1989, with Harvey Jason , Marcelo Tubert and Valerie Wildman and directed by Larry Shaw ), L.A. Law (1990, with Corbin Bernsen , Larry Drake , Nicolas Surovy , Craig Wasson , Jennifer Hetrick , Maryann Plunkett , Diana Muldaur , and Warren Munson ), Boy Meets World (1993, with Katie Jane Johnston ), Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1994, with Teri Hatcher , Tracy Scoggins , K Callan , Brian George , Claudette Nevins , and Bradley Pierce ), Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1996, with Richard Lee Jackson and Gregg Daniel ), and Something So Right (1997).

While studying at college, Parlen worked as a voice actress and lent her voice to the video games Elysium (2003, with Cam Clarke , Michael Gough , and Kevin Michael Richardson ), Gladius (2003, with Jason Marsden , Charles Dennis , Grey DeLisle , Robin Atkin Downes , Keith Szarabajka , and Keone Young ), Tony Hawk's Underground (2003, with Larry Cedar , Matt E. Levin , and Larc Spies ), and Nicktoons Movin' Eye Toy (2004).

Since her graduation, she has been working as a documentary producer. Her credits include This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006), Young Scientist Challenge (2009), episodes of Popular Science's Future of (2009), National Geographic Explorer (2010), and Through the Wormhole (2010-2011), and the television documentary Vanished from Alcatraz (2011).

External links [ ]

• Megan Parlen at Wikipedia
• Megan Parlen at the Internet Movie Database
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Star Trek: Picard 's Showrunner Says Its Latest Surprise Return Always Had to Be the Plan

Picard 's choice to bring back deep space nine 's changelings as its big bad necessitated an important tng figure's return..

Star Trek: Picard ’s last season is throwing everything it can at Patrick Stewart’s legendary hero, in terms of big shocks, big enemies, and big reunions. But while the show teased the run up to season three by loudly proclaiming the returns of The Next Generation ’s iconic bridge crew, some returns have been kept quiet—no matter how vital they were to the show’s arc.

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Speaking to Collider , Picard showrunner Terry Matalas discussed the heartbreaking return of TNG ’s Michelle Forbes, aka Ro Laren , the one-time Enterprise -D Ensign turned Maquis defector, in today’s excellent episode “Imposters.” According to the producer, Picard always wanted Ro Laren back for the story it needed to tell here—that Starfleet had been compromised by the Changelings , now more capable of hiding themselves from detection than they were during DS9 's Dominion War . But more crucially, the person who warns Picard of this threat had to be Ro in Matalas’ eyes for a very simple reason: there had to be a level of distrust and drama that only Picard’s greatest regret could match.

“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,” Matalas explained to Collider. “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].”

It’s a shame he had to explain who one of TNG ’s best supporting characters—her position as Picard’s reluctant protoge in the latter seasons of the show made for one its most fascinatingly combative relationships—was to the higher- ups. But if you’ve watched “Imposters” already, you’ll know Matalas’ advocacy for Ro was more than worth it, and a story well worth bringing her back for.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

Den of Geek

Picard Just Ended One of Star Trek: TNG’s Most Frustrating Storylines

Star Trek: Picard finally brings back one of The Next Generation's most controversial Starfleet characters...

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This Star Trek: Picard article contains spoilers.

When most people think about the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation , Picard, Riker, Geordi La Forge, Worf , Beverly Crusher, and Data immediately come to mind. They might even think of some of the side characters, like Wesley Crusher and Chief Miles O’Brien, the latter of which went on to play a much bigger role on Deep Space Nine . But Trekkers would agree that when it comes to the best of the recurring characters of TNG , there’s one who stands above even Lieutenant Barclay and Doctor Pulaski : Michelle Forbes’ Ensign Ro Laren.

Introduced in the season five episode that bore her name, Ro was a Bajoran Ensign who clashed with Picard almost immediately. Played with a chip on her shoulder by Forbes, Ro brought an essential bit of conflict to the Enterprise crew, adhering to a moral code that sometimes put her at odds with Starfleet, and adding some edge to a show that tended to avoid deeper interpersonal conflicts (a Gene Roddenberry rule that modern Trek has largely abandoned). It’s no surprise, then, that Forbes’ abrupt exit from the franchise resulted in one of The Next Generation ‘s most divisive storylines.

In the season 7 episode “Preemptive Strike,” Ro Laren defects from Starfleet to join the Maquis, a group of anti-Cardassian extremists who oppose the Federation’s treaty with the one-time occupiers of Bajor. Although producers originally hoped to continue Ro’s story on Deep Space Nine , the show about Starfleet occupying a former Cardassian space station above Bajor, Forbes passed on the opportunity, leading to the creation of Nana Visitor’s equally brilliant Major Kira Nerys as a replacement.

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Meanwhile, the lack of closure for Ro left a frustrating hole in Next Generation . Throughout her two seasons on the show, Ro and Picard pushed one another, with the former learning how to be part of an organization that put the needs of the many before the needs of the few, and the latter learning to ease up on empty restrictions, eventually allowing Ro to wear her Bajoran earpiece on the Enterprise.

Ro’s story comes to an end shortly after she’s promoted to Lieutenant when she’s assigned to infiltrate and investigate a Maquis cell. The experience leads Ro to believe that she’ll do the most good by working with the rebel group, leading to her heartbreaking resignation from Starfleet. And unlike Worf, who always came back after resigning his commission to do Klingon stuff, Ro basically disappears, leaving both Picard and viewers hanging. Although she showed up again in non-canonical works — including the book The Wrath of the Prophets , which teams Ro with Kira — she didn’t even get a brief movie cameo, an honor bestowed upon Barclay in First Contact .

So it was quite the shock to see Ro Laren leading a group of Starfleet security personnel to court martial Picard, Riker, and Seven in the latest episode of Star Trek: Picard , “ Imposters .” Our heroes knew they would face repercussions for commandeering the USS Titan and endangering Captain Shaw ‘s crew in their attempts to rescue Beverly Crusher and her son Jack . But they are caught completely by surprise when Ro arrives once again representing Starfleet and with the rank of Commander.

Ro’s Starfleet comeback allows director Dan Liu to ratchet up the tension in the episode, in which we learn that renegade Changelings have already infiltrated the highest levels of Starfleet. Like the viewers, Picard doesn’t understand how Ro was allowed back into Starfleet after joining the Maquis or how she earned such a high-ranking position (apparently, he never asked his fellow defendant Seven of Nine about her Voyager shipmates Chakotay or Torres). So we watch the proceedings closely, convinced that Ro will, at any moment, reveal her true, gooey nature as an undercover Changeling.

But episode writers Cindy Appel & Chris Derrick have more than just paranoia in mind. Instead, they allow Picard and Ro to hash out their differences, thus giving a more satisfying conclusion to the latter’s journey. Ro explains that principles drove her to leave Starfleet for the Maquis, that it wasn’t just ego that prevented her from acquiescing to the Federation. And as she has always done, Ro challenges Picard’s assumptions, especially his sometimes blind faith in Starfleet, bringing a healthy bit of skepticism that will surely serve her former mentor well as he deals with the Changeling threat.

Unfortunately, their reunion is short-lived. By the end of the episode, Ro has chosen to sacrifice herself so that the Titan can escape the USS Intrepid , which is now also under the control of the Changelings. Some may argue that ending Ro’s story just as suddenly as it began is equally unsatisfying, but unlike her original exit back, Picard gives Ro the opportunity to fully speak for herself and make peace with Jean-Luc, while filling in the gaps from the TNG era. Most importantly, it gives us all a chance to say a proper goodbye to one of Star Trek ‘s best characters.

Star Trek: Picard season 3 streams on Thursdays on Paramount+.

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Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

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Star Trek: Picard Boss Explains the Surprise Return of a Next Generation Favorite: ‘It Felt Like We Had to Do It’

Dave nemetz, west coast bureau chief.

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Warning: This post contains spoilers for Thursday’s Star Trek: Picard .

We knew this season of Star Trek: Picard would see Jean-Luc cross paths with a lot of his former Enterprise crewmates — but we didn’t see this one coming.

In Thursday’s episode, Starfleet sent a team of investigators to question Jean-Luc and Riker about their insubordination aboard the Titan , and the team was led by… Ro Laren, the Bajoran lieutenant played by Michelle Forbes on Star Trek: The Next Generation . (Jean-Luc was left deeply disappointed by her on TNG when she left the Enterprise to join a band of resistance fighters.) Forbes reprised her role as Ro Laren this week, and it was clear the wounds between her and Jean-Luc hadn’t exactly healed over the years.

Jean-Luc still felt betrayed by Ro Laren’s abrupt departure all those years ago, labeling her a “traitor,” and he also suspected she could be one of the changelings that have infiltrated Starfleet. That led to a riveting scene where Jean-Luc and Ro held phasers on each other while arguing about their old rift on the holodeck — “You broke my heart,” he told her, and she replied: “And you broke mine” — and that intense conversation convinced Jean-Luc that she was the real Ro Laren.

For Matalas and the Picard writers, “the opportunity to tell a story that’s essentially a paranoia thriller, where both of them are looking at each other, not entirely certain if each other are who they say they are, and the only way to verify their identity is to work through this kind of catharsis about how they feel, [felt] like it could be good television.” He admits “it was a tough one to crack, but it was brilliantly written by our writers, and I think it’s satisfying. But it felt like we had to do it.”

By episode’s end, Ro Laren exposed the changelings within Starfleet and nobly sacrificed herself, piloting a shuttle carrying a bomb into another ship to allow Jean-Luc and the Titan time to escape. “She sets them on the path, hopefully, that could save the galaxy,” Matalas notes.

Got thoughts on Ro Laren’s surprise return and this season of Picard so far? Beam down to the comments and make your voice heard.

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Brilliant !!

I enjoyed the first two seasons, but these episodes feel like a real continuation of TNG. Very well done.

This third season of Picard has been some of the best Star Trek ever put out. It’s been incredible.

Loved her character and she was like a surrogate daughter for Picard. I haven’t watched yet….

Crazy effing good ep. right there! Never saw that coming. No way. No how.

Outstanding that Michelle Forbes came back to conclude Ro’s story. A brilliant performer whose presence 30 years ago made TNG better and whose appearance in ST:P continues the high quality of this season. And a well-deserved special guest star notation in the credits, as she was one of the recurring stars in TNG as relevant to the series as the regular cast.

yea bring her in then make her stupid. she was in the maquis for pete’s sake. even i could figure out how to get out of that situation. blow the hatch, then while you’re outside you get beamed over. i’m sure she has many more ideas, but writers chose to write her stupid.

Yeah, sure. Blow up the hatch in the small shuttle without a) blowing up herself, b) jump into space and hope that the Titan is faster than the Intrepid and c) that the transporter block on the shuttle is limited to the dimensions of the shuttle.

She did the best she could with the times she had left and did what she said: she gave them a fighting chance to escape.

The communication link was cut off several seconds before the explosion, so its possible she did some maquis trick in that time to survive. Just a theory but strange it didn’t stay connected until the explosion.

It was a very welcome surprise that Michelle Forbes came back, not only that but a character (Ro) we did not know as this surprise was kept, and not released on all the spoiler sites. Not sure how I feel yet about them killing her off, well not true, I would have preferred her to have survived. This season has been a lot better than i thought it would be.

Fantastic episode. I never expected a conclusion to this TNG storyline, just wonderfukl.

Also another 12 Monkeys alumn joined as a guest star, Kirk Acevedo as a Vulcan crime Lord. Who would have thought?

During DS9 the Cardassians joined the Dominion and together waged war on the Maquee. During Voyager we learned that the entire Maquee resistance was wiped out. Ro Larin should have died sometime around 2373 give or a take a few years. Moreover, had she turned herself in before then, Picard would have absolutely been made aware. This was a retcon. An illogical and frankly pointless one at that. She might have been recruited by a section 31 like organization, but never starfleet security. This show is making a mockery of starfleet and star trek canon. Did these writers even watch the DS9 two parter “Home front/Paradise Lost?”

How is this a retcon when it is realistic? The entire Marquis is wiped out? Well, some of them were in the Delta Quadrant. Obviously it wasn’t the entire Marquis. What makes you think that others didn’t also survive? It’s not like Q snipped his fingers and actually wiped them out. You also don’t know when she turned herself in. She only said after years with the Marquis. That could have been well before that all happened. Also you assume that Picard would have been informed. Maybe, or maybe not. Missing information happens all the time. Non of this is a retcon, just nitpicking.

1. Ro Laren joined the Marquis sometime in 2370. It would have been later in the year based on the events and episodes that take place between her return to the enterprise and her defection. The Marquis were wiped out approximately 3-4 years later.

2: Picard was her mentor and commanding officer. She wouldn’t be thrown in jail without a court martial, and they would definitely inform him and seek his testimony in such a proceeding.

3. Torres makes it pretty clear that every base was destroyed and the vast majority died. If she was a lucky survivor then they should have said so in the episode. This was clearly an error by the writers who were probably not very familiar with the events of DS9 and Voyager.

4. A spy who defects is not a good spy. Using her in intelligence is a huge risk. Section 31 would recruit her in a heartbeat. She should have been section 31. This would be even more significant as 31 is the group that created and disseminated (through Odo,) the original Changeling virus/bio weapon. I assume the new found powers/abilities of the Changelings are tied directly to surviving it.

5. That a random Commander would put the pieces together and be allowed to live, and interact freely with JLP is silly writing. Why not replace her instead of her underlings. Especially if she is making noise trying to get to Janeway and other trusted admirals and raise the alarm about the infiltration.

Not only is it a retcon, it is bad writing.

Yes, definitely nitpicking. Nothing Ro said is contradicting established canon. You are just making a lot of assumptions what people would have done or should have done when there are multiple possible scenarios. Just because she didn’t detail every single second of what happened after she left the Enterprise means it’s bad writing or a retcon.

You are over complicating stuff when what happened can also be a lot simpler and still work. It might just not work for you and that is fine. I just don’t agree with it.

Or, they wanted to use an actress who had history with TNG, a character who would be a fun callback, and a character fans would believe Picard would trust. To accomplish this, the ignored the fact that the Marquis only lasted another few years after Roe joined. The better choice would be someone like Miles O’Brien. That said I am not sure they could get the actor to reprise that role.

It’s nice that you are such a devoted fan, but I also think you are nitpicking. They wouldn’t have known if every single Maquis member died. This is not the stretch you are making it out to be.

Crazy good episode! Fantastic way to tie up that loose end!

The season has been a lot better but its weird they way everyone treats Picard. He’s a dinosaur that doesn’t know what happening around him. Everyone seems to lecture/scold him for every idea he has. The show is very antagonistic toward its main character.

On a scale of 1-10 this episode was a 12!!

This season has been incredible. It makes me feel like this third season should have just been a limited series because the first two seasons were not good overall.

If Michelle Forbes isn’t Performer of the Week, I’m going to riot.

(Okay, one person can’t riot but you get what I mean.)

Better and better! . The first few episodes were a little mixed, for me — wonderful performances, but some of the occasion for them seemed shoehorned in, such as the issue between Ryker and Troi. There was the danger of making this into a series of set pieces rather than a story. The business in the nebula had its function, establishing the new bad guy and giving some time for character interactions, and giving a moment of beauty and wonder, but ultimately it got resolved by pulling a rabbit out of a hat, or, rather, stuffing a couple into the port nacelles. . But now things are cooking. As someone who saw TNG when it first aired and subsequently forgot all about it, I had no idea who Ro Laren was, but I still found the scenes with her moving, particularly at the end. Michelle Forbes was just very good, and Patrick Stewart as well, of course. . One standout that no one seems to mention is Michelle Hurd, who’s really brought it, and apart from her solo performances, her chemistry with Michael Dorn has been amazing. Put on top of that their impressive stunt work. . If there actually was another season of this, it would not be a bad thing.

Wil Wheaton had both Dorn and Hurd on The Ready Room, and they discussed the chemistry that developed and prep for the fight scenes quite a bit.

Big plug here for Ready Room. It’s been stellar this season with lots of insights into the characters from the primary players.

I absolutely loved the DS9 tie in here – it was so appropriate. And it gave Michelle Forbes a final reprise, a meaty, heroic, buzzyworthy one.

I have hated every nuTrek series, including Star Trek Picard. It was all garbage. But I can honestly say that season 3 is good Trek. Not perfect. There is some retconning and some misunderstanding of the changelings (the bucket), but it has some great character work, and a pretty cool arc. And there is a son of Beverly Crushers whom I don’t hate! Now I want to see more Trek like this, and it is the last season!

We now need a standalone tv movie to explore the story of Ro. Like RAZOR did for her Admiral Cain.

I liked the return a lot but it really saddened and surprised me that they killed her off.

It didn’t surprise me that they killed her off. They had an interesting character, so of course they killed her off. Shock value. I seriously doubt she’ll be the last.

The biggest shame of killing off Ro was that, with no chance of Yeoh doing it, Ro would have been amazing leading a Section 31 series. I can’t imagine that Forbes would have any interest in playing Ro for that commitment any more than she did back in the 90’s, but one can dream.

Could she have survived the shuttle explosion? I only got 3 words….advanced tactical training!

What a great idea and ep.

Cried so hard.

The confrontation is one of the best scenes in all of ST. Masterfully written and masterfully played by the actors.

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How Battlestar Galactica Recruited A Star Trek Alum For Its Best Villain

T he Cylons, androids created by man, are the villains of "Battlestar Galactica," but they wear human guises . This reflects how the show's human heroes are all deeply flawed people and humanity's foibles (from arrogance to self-destructive) continue to haunt them even as their technology soars past the modern day.

Indeed, the best villain in "Battlestar Galactica" was a human character: Admiral Helena Cain (Michelle Forbes), commander of the Battlestar Pegasus. In the series' pilot min-series, the Cylons attack humanity's 12 colonies. The only survivors appear to be Galactica herself and a handful of civilian spaceships, who set out to find the mythical world Earth to be their new home.

Midway through season 2 in the episode, "Pegasus," the Galactica and her fleet meet the Pegasus, the other Battlestar which survived the genocide. (Galactica, as an older model, didn't have networked computers for the Cylons to hack, while Pegasus was undergoing a retrofit and so avoided the full brunt of the Cylons' virus). It doesn't stay a happy reunion for long. In a great dramatic move, Cain pulls rank on Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) and wastes no time asserting her authority. The weight of her grave situation has made her snap, turning her into a dictator who cares not about preserving humanity but about going down swinging against the Cylons. If any subordinates question her, she kills them. 

Forbes, one of few actors who can be as steely and coldly terrifying as Olmos, was perfect casting. Moments like the cliffhanger ending of "Pegasus," where Adama and Cain have a tense phone call before their ships prepare for battle, make me think "Battlestar Galactica" might be the best science-fiction series ever filmed. 

Before "Galactica," series co-creator Ronald D. Moore was a writer on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" — which is where he first worked with Forbes.

Read more: Lucille Ball Suffered Life-Changing Sacrifices For Star Trek

Star Trek's Ensign Ro

Forbes joined "The Next Generation" in season 5 as Ensign Ro Laren and was a recurring character; she appeared in six of the season's 26 episodes. My first experience watching "The Next Generation" was a season 5 DVD box set, so I think of Ro as a more integral part of the show than she really was.

Ro is a Bajoran. (Like Southeast Asian cultures, Bajoran names arrange the family name preceding the given name.) Ro Laren's full history can be read here , but the nuts and bolts are: Bajor has long been occupied by the imperialist Cardassians and Ro grew up in a refugee camp. Her membership in Starfleet is more of an alliance of convenience; she certainly doesn't share the organization's idealism. In her last appearance (season 7's "Preemptive Strike," the penultimate "Next Generation" episode), she defects to the anti-Cardassian terrorist organization the Maquis.

Producer Rick Berman (who co-created Ro with writer Michael Piller) wanted to shake up the Enterprise-D crew dynamic. Quoted in "The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion" by Larry Nemecek, Berman says, "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." Forbes was cast as Ro due to an impressive guest appearance in the season 4 episode "Half A Life" ( far from the only time "Star Trek" has reused an actor as a different character ).

Michelle Forbes Passes On More Star Trek

The "Trek" producers were so impressed by Forbes they offered her a bigger, more permanent part.  "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," set on a station orbiting the liberated Bajor , was originally conceived with Ro as part of the main cast; she would move over from "Next Generation" to "Deep Space Nine" alongside Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney). But Forbes declined the part and Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) was created hastily to replace Ro.

Speaking to Indiewire in 2016 , Forbes admitted she's a "commitment-phobe." For some actors, a regular part on a TV show would be a godsend, but evidence suggests that wasn't what Forbes wanted. She preferred to focus on her film career, which by nature required only short(er) commitments and moving from project to project.

Forbes started shifting back to television in the late 90s (she was part of the main cast for seasons 5 and 6 of "Homicide: Life on the Street"). She was getting work in the movies, but alas, she wasn't a star the way someone with her talent deserved to be. That move eventually led to her getting the offer for "Battlestar Galactica."

Forbes appeared on the episode of the "Battlestar Galacticast" covering "Pegasus." (This is a podcast covering the series, one episode at a time, hosted by actress Tricia Helfer, aka Cylon Number Six, and writer Marc Bernadin.) Forbes discussed how she and her agents almost declined the role until she watched some of "Battlestar Galactica." Though wary of being typecast as a woman of authority, she knew she wanted to be a part of the series. "How close one can come to making bad decisions," Forbes prefaced the story.

Admiral Cain On Battlestar Galactica

"Pegasus" is roughly adapted from "Living Legend," one of the few times "Battlestar Galactica" remade an episode of the original 1978 series. Moore said on the DVD commentary for "Pegasus" that he wanted to remake "Living Legend" since he first accepted the "Galactica" job. He made the story his own, though, adding the twist of Cain (played by Lloyd Bridges in "Living Legend") being Adama's superior and a woman. The show had previously gender-flipped the hot shot pilot Starbuck, played by Dirk Benedict in the original and then by future  "Mandalorian" star Katee Sackhoff in the remake.

On "Trek," Moore wrote two episodes featuring Ro Laren: "Disaster" and "The Next Phase." But while he'd worked with Forbes before, he hadn't reimagined Cain with her in mind, nor was she his first choice. Moore and co. looked at many different actresses for the part and chose Forbes from that sea of options. Like most of their casting choices, it was a good call.

One detail of Forbes' casting that Moore appreciated was her relatively young age (she's 18 years younger than Olmos and was only 40 when she first played Cain). This added dimension to Cain's character; unlike the veteran Adama, she was a fast-tracked admiral who'd snapped when push came to shove.

As for Ro, with her "hot temper" and "rough edges" (as Forbes described her on the "Galacticast"), she would probably fit in better on Galactica than the Enterprise-D. After Ro defects to the Maquis in "Preemptive Strike," Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) observes to Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) that she seemed convinced she was doing the right thing. Cain shares that same sense of conviction. 

The Fall Of Admiral Cain

Forbes admitted on "Galacticast" that she didn't quite piece together the "Star Trek" parallels (i.e. how Moore was purposefully flipping "Trek" clichés on their head) in "Battlestar Galactica." Even so, the same strengths that made Forbes excellent as Ro helped her play Cain. Forbes didn't play the Admiral as insane, merely hardened ( as she told TV Zone in 2006 ):

"She's lost perspective. People ask, 'Is she insane? Is she psychotic?' I hope that's not how she came across because that was never the intention. I think some individuals can appear to be that way, but this is a woman who did what she had to do in order to survive during some very brutal conflicts. Along the way, Cain lost her sense of judgement as well as her sense of reason and rationale."

Cain was a temporary part by design (at the end of her third appearance, "Resurrection Ship Part 2," she's murdered an escaped Cylon prisoner), which is probably another reason Forbes agreed to it. Still, the character was so memorable that Moore and his writers found a way to bring her back. Not with any hackneyed resurrection (though Cain as a Cylon could have been a great twist), but with the prequel TV movie "Razor," showing what Pegasus was up to before its rendezvous with Galactica and how Cain became the ruthless tyrant she was in "Pegasus."

When Michelle Forbes worked on both "Star Trek" and "Battlestar Galactica," both shows clearly understood the kind of actor they had on their hands and did their best to get all they could out of her.

Read the original article on SlashFilm