#recurring characters

No Nancy Hower doesn't mean no Sam Wildman.

Obviously having Nancy Hower appear as Wildman more often would have been preferable. But "Voyager" has recast guest stars and recurring characters on multiple occasions. Naomi Wildman, Captain Braxton, T'Pel, and even the Borg Queen have all changed actors, some with no subtlety at all.

Brooke Stephens as Naomi Wildman in "Moral Coil," vs Scarlett Pomers for the rest of the series

The Borg Queen: Susanna Thompson in "Dark Frontier" and "Unimatrix Zero," Alice Krige in "Endgame."

Captain Braxton in "Future's End", vs "Relativity." (Allan G. Royal in the first, Bruce McGill in the second)

T'Pel (wife of Tuvok). Kimber Lee Renay in "Bliss;" Marva Hicks in "Persistence of Vision" and "Body and Soul."

With this in mind, we can pick out a background actress who looks close enough to Samantha Wildman, and head-canon that it's the same character with a change in actress.

...so without further ado, let's look for Ensign Samantha Wildman.

"Scientific Method" (Season 4).

This out-of-focus science officer not only can be Sam, but it makes a lot of sense it would be her. This scene is near the end of the episode, after Seven of Nine has revealed the invisible aliens experimenting on the crew. As the ship's Xenobiologist, Wildman would likely be heavily involved in trying to detect and monitor these aliens, so it makes sense she'd be on the Bridge at that time.

Sam Wildman is mentioned at the end of the episode, when Tom says he traded a Sickbay shift with her, indicating that she is still very involved in the crew, and her biology skills are being put to good use.

If you'll pardon the shameless self-promotion, my story "Unbreakable" goes into more detail about what Sam and Naomi were going through during this episode.

According to Memory Alpha, this background woman is played by Alicia Lewis. Up close, I don't think she can pass as Samantha Wildman. But in the background and out-of-focus, she serves the purpose well.

"Year of Hell" (Season 4)

It's odd that neither Sam nor her daughter is mentioned in this episode. But in this case, no news is definitely good news. If Naomi had lost her mother, or the other way around, you'd think we'd have heard about it. Neelix would definitely have been far less optimistic if Sam or Naomi had died; given his upbeat attitude up to the very end of the episode, we can safely presume that Samantha and Naomi are both somewhere among the survivors in the Mess Hall at the end of Part I. The question is, where.

It makes sense that we can't see Naomi, since she'd be shorter than everyone else. But what about Sam? There is a blonde woman next to Tuvok, but she really doesn't look much like Sam. If we wanna stretch and say it's her, then she obviously changed departments like Neelix did. Personally, I think that face looks more like one of the Delaney twins (people do change their hair colors).

I've combed that scene over and over (not just on TrekkCore's screencaps, but re-watching it on Paramount Plus) and I just can't find anyone else resembling Sam. She and Naomi must be hidden low in the shadows, or standing in an area the not visible to the audience.

"Waking Moments" (Season 4)

Looks like Tuvok's nightmare might have featured Sam, at her science station! (And maybe Stadi?)

Later, it's blink-and-you-miss-it, but "Wildman" is shown on the monitor when the Doctor is speeding through various crewmembers whose brain patters all look the same. The moment comes at 30:03. (This screencap is not on TrekCore, I took it myself off of Paramount Plus.)

"Hope and Fear" (Season 4)

This officer played by Laura Millar looks noticeably similar to Nancy Hower. The two could play sisters. And of course, Sam Wildman would have especially good reason to be smiling at the possibility of returning home. Poor Sam no doubt was excited to introduce Naomi to her father, and reunite with her husband.

"Counterpoint" (Season 5)

This woman at the end of the line acts exceptionally exasperated with the Devore inspection. She glances over at the inspector with clear disdain, rolls her eyes and shifts with restrained frustration. Though the actress is obviously not Nancy Hower, the character can definitely still be Sam Wildman.

Samantha Wildman would have good reason to be even more displaced with the Devore than most people. And it's not just the stress of being a single mother who misses her husband. Sam was good friends with Kes, and received much-needed emotional support from Tuvok during a traumatic experience ("Once Upon A Time"), so she would be especially disgusted by the Devore's anti-telepath bigotry. As a science officer, she likely also works with Betazoid science officer Jurot, and probably at least one or two of the other Vulcans on Voyager. (Where those other Vulcans were during this episode is a plot hole for another day.)

"Equinox: Part I" (Season 5)

I feel that's possibly supposed to be Wildman, standing behind Neelix. She doesn't look particularly like the character at all, but there is circumstantial evidence: she's a blonde woman in a green uniform, she's standing near Neelix, and Naomi shows up later in the episode. I'm unsure if this is just a coincidence or not.

"Child's Play" (Season 6)

Okay, I'm convinced this one is intentional. This is Voyager's Science Fair, where Naomi and the Borg kids show off their science projects. There is a blonde science officer fawning over Naomi's project, along with Neelix. (Naomi made a model of her father's homeworld, Ktaris.) It seems hard to believe that anyone on the "Voyager" staff would care this much about detail, but it looks like someone did.

As far as I can tell, this woman is only shown in this background shot; when we see Naomi's project up close, the woman has moved out of view. This leads me to believe that they wanted to keep the actress out-of-focus, so it would be less obvious that it isn't Nancy Hower. (It might in fact be Nicole McAuley, Jeri Ryan's photo double! But, I'm not certain.)

"Imperfection" (Season 7)

The woman who walks behind Janeway and Icheb in the hallway is totally Sam Wildman, IMHO. (These screencaps are my own, from Paramount Plus.)

"Homestead" (Season 7)

Oy. Nancy Hower's absence in Neelix's final episode is very jarring. I assume it was due to the cheap studio not wanting to pay any more guest stars for the episode.

This woman watching Neelix leave the ship looks similar to Sam. But the fact that she and Neelix don't even look at each other throws a wrench in the idea that it's Samantha. One would expect her to be up front with Naomi, as one of the people to give Neelix a final goodbye.

...on the other hand, this woman does have more of an interaction. Neelix makes a pained face when he passes her, and she watches him go with a bittersweet smile. Her face resembles Sam Wildman at least a bit, and people do change their hair colors.

I believe this same woman was also at the First Contact Day party at the beginning of the episode. In that scene, it's more obvious that she's not Nancy Hower. But she has similar facial features, or at least similar eyes. If it's Sam, then she looks like she's suffered some physical affects of stress, but the Delta Quadrant can certainly do that to someone.

Interestingly, the woman noticeably resembles the adult Naomi seen in "Shattered," adding credit to her being Naomi's mother.

Personally, I'm going to say that this woman is Sam Wildman, having changed her hair color, and aged more noticeably than some other shipmates, due to the continuous stress of the last seven years.

She's a single mother, missing her husband, not knowing if he's dead or alive until recently; she lost her baby, then got another version of her back. Voyager has been in catastrophic situations on an almost weekly basis. Her daughter can't have a normal childhood. She's repeatedly been given the hope of returning home, only for it to turn out to be an alien pitcher plant or a trap set by a villain. All things considered, she looks pretty damn good!

"Author Author" (Season 7)

If we decide that woman is indeed Samantha, then here she was a few episodes earlier in "Author Author," receiving her chip to call home. Right next to Neelix with her hand over her chest, she looks especially happy to be getting to speak to someone back home. (Which I also wrote about in "Eleven Minutes," a story where Naomi finally meets her father over facetime.)

I searched "Workforce" and "Endgame" and didn't find anything. Neither of those has anywhere near as many people in the backgrounds as I'd have thought!