Sarah Silverman's Star Trek Role Was More Pivotal (And Tragic) Than Fans Remember

Just before the conclusion of her two-episode "Star Trek: Voyager" arc, Sarah Silverman's Rain Robinson kisses crewmember Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill). Nothing comes of their romance, however, since Robinson remains in the past and Silverman never appears on "Star Trek" again.

This moment was perhaps a remnant of a plan the "Voyager" producers once had for Robinson to join the Voyager crew full-time and serve as a sort of audience surrogate in the show's futuristic environment. "It was [co-executive producer Brannon Braga's] desire to bring Rain on board because he enjoyed writing for Sarah and the freshness she brought to the show," producer Bryan Fuller told TrekMovie.com after previously revealing plans for her expanded role on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Robinson does show up briefly in a few additional "Star Trek" novels including "The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume Two" and "Hearts and Minds." In the story of the former she starts working as an assistant to Roberta Lincoln (played by Terri Garr in one episode of "The Original Series"). In the latter book, however, readers find out that Robinson resigned after finding out her predecessor as Earth's supervisor Gary Seven (originally played by Robert Lansing) could have prevented 9/11 and decided not to. Since Robinson lost her father in the attack, she takes this personally. This marks her most recent canonical appearance.