Seven of Nine's 12 essential 'Star Trek' episodes that you should watch

Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine is one of the most popular Star Trek characters out there. We first met her at the beginning of Season 4 of Star Trek: Voyager, where she is full-on Borg, though she's soon removed from the Collective and becomes part of the Voyager crew. Getting used to living outside of the Collective, however, was something that took her years to adjust to, but adjust she does, especially if you look at how far she's come from her introduction to her time on Star Trek: Picard.

Here are 12 essential Seven of Nine episodes that are worth (re)watching to see the many facets of her character, as well as her journey over the years.

1. "Scorpion, Parts 1 and 2" (Voyager Seasons 3 & 4)

Photo: Paramount+

"Scorpion" is a two-parter that spans the end of Season 3 and the beginning of Season 4 of Star Trek: Voyager. While Seven of Nine doesn't show up in the Season 3 finale, the events of that episode set up for her introduction at the beginning of Season 4. Part 2 is Seven's origin story, for lack of a better phrase — it starts off with her as full-on Borg acting as the Borg's liaison to Voyager as they establish an uneasy alliance to save themselves from Species 8472's attacks. Voyager and the Borg ultimately defeat Species 8472 together. Seven of Nine is still all Borg, however, and — as the Borg are wont to do — breaks the alliance and tries to assimilate the ship. Fortunately, Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) thought this might happen, and has Torres (Roxann Dawson) fry Seven's connection to the Collective. Seven is now separate from the Borg, but as we'll see in later episodes, she'll have a long road in adjusting to life as a human.

2. "The Gift" (Voyager Season 4)

"The Gift" is the episode immediately after "Scorpion," and focuses on Seven as she adjusts to life separate from the Borg. Seven had been Borg for all of her adult life and wants to return to the Collective. Janeway, however, is having none of it. In "The Gift," we learn some of Seven's backstory — her human name is/was Annika Hansen and her parents were scientists murdered when she was assimilated — and we ultimately see her come to terms with being an individual rather than one of many drones.

3. "The Raven" (Voyager Season 4)

We get more into Seven's history later on in Season 4 in "The Raven," where Seven has flashbacks to her past, specifically the day the Borg assimilated her as a child. The episode also takes Seven and Tuvok (Tim Russ) to the Raven, the remains of the ship that belonged to Seven's parents. There, Seven relives the emotional trauma of seeing her parents die as well as her own assimilation by the Borg. It's an emotional moment for her, and a turning point on her journey to understanding and embracing her humanity.

4. "One" (Voyager Season 4)

"One" is Season 4's penultimate episode, and leaves Seven and the Doctor (Robert Picardo) as the only conscious beings on Voyager. The starship is flying near a nebula that would harm the rest of the crew unless they stay in stasis for a month. During the weeks-long journey, things get tough for Seven, especially after the Doctor is confined to Sickbay when his programming malfunctions. It's a psychologically intense episode, and one that shows how Seven perseveres no matter what is thrown her way.

5. "Infinite Regress" (Voyager Season 5)

In "Infinite Regress," Seven's Borg tech picks up an infected Borg neural interlink that causes her to exhibit multiple personalities, from a meat-loving Klingon to a young, bubbly child. The breadth of Ryan's acting here is impressive, and it also touches on how Seven must face the atrocities she committed when she was Borg.

6. "Someone to Watch Over Me" (Voyager Season 5)

This episode in the back half of the fifth season has the Doctor teaching Seven how to date after others in the crew didn't appreciate her watching their dating habits from afar. "Someone to Watch Over Me" is a humorous episode, although a bit bittersweet at the end when the Doctor realizes he has feelings for Seven and that those feelings are unrequited.

7. "Relativity" (Voyager Season 5)

"Relativity" is one of the best Trek episodes out there, full-stop. It's one of the franchise's many time travel stories, and this one centers around Seven as she repeatedly goes back through time trying to stop someone from planting a temporal bomb on Voyager. There's also a scene of Seven playing ping pong, and the episode is worth watching for that alone.

8. "Child's Play"(Voyager Season 6)

Later on in Voyager, Seven develops a maternal relationship with Icheb, a child who — like Seven — used to be part of the Borg Collective. In "Child's Play," Voyager has found Icheb's parents, something that raises complex feelings for Seven. The episode also emphasizes how much Seven has changed in just two seasons — she has effectively become Icheb's parent, and a good one at that.

9. "Unimatrix Zero, Parts 1 & 2" (Voyager Seasons 6 & 7)

"Unimatrix Zero" is another two-parter that spans two seasons. In it, Voyager is once again in a conflict with the Borg. Unimatrix Zero is a virtual realm that some Borg drones visit when they are regenerating (aka, sleeping). There, they are their pre-assimilated selves, something that the Borg unsurprisingly does not like. Seven was able to visit Unimatrix Zero when she was a Borg drone, and in this episode she travels back there, where she is Annika, and has a lover who is still Borg. It's yet another side to Seven, and a heartbreaking one when Unimatrix Zero is destroyed.

10. "Body and Soul" (Voyager Season 7)

"Body and Soul" is another humorous episode featuring Seven and the Doctor. In it, the Doctor's programming is installed into Seven's Borg tech, allowing him to control Seven's body. This translates on-screen to Ryan impersonating Picardo's Doctor. It is, in a word, delightful.

11. "Stardust Rag City" (Picard Season 1)

Much to the delight of Trek fans, Seven of Nine came back to the Trek universe in Star Trek: Picard. Seven has changed a lot since the Voyager finale — she's now dressed in comfortable, functional clothes instead of catsuits, for one, and she's become much more comfortable with her humanity. She's also understandably ruthless in this episode when she goes after the person who murdered her de facto son, Icheb. It's a tough episode for her character, but tells us a lot about how Seven has changed (and not changed) since we last saw her.

12. "Assimilation" (Picard Season 2)

In the second season of Picard, Seven finds herself in an alternate reality where she was never assimilated. This new reality isn't so great (although she is President of the totalitarian xenophobic government on Earth), and she, along with a few of Picard's other friends, goes back to the year 2024 to try to fix the mishigas that Q has cooked up. In "Assimilation," the third episode of Season 2, we see Seven appreciating how she's treated now that she doesn't have any Borg gear. It also features her trying to be flirty and bubbly with her girlfriend Raffi (Michelle Hurd) as she tries to get a befuddled security guard to do them a favor.