Healer Trek: June 2012

Monday, June 25, 2012

TWITrek Character Insight No. 9: The (holographic) Doctor

This is the latest installment in a series of "Character Insight" articles regarding the rich history of characters in the Star Trek universe. An audio version will appear on the This Week in Trek podcast, available for direct download here.
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Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, our subject is The Doctor from Voyager.

The Doctor is officially known as the Emergency Medical Hologram, which is a holographic program configured to provide medical services to a crew without enough doctors and nurses on board. With no medical personnel alive on board the Voyager following the trip to the Delta Quadrant, The Doctor becomes the Chief Medical Officer by default.

Although the Doctor was programmed with medical knowledge to treat all known illnesses and to perform over 5 million surgical operations, his program was also capable of learning and adapting to new situations. This ability to adapt allows the Doctor to develop social skills, hobbies, and relationships with the crew of Voyager over the course of the series.

This development does not begin in earnest until Kes volunteers to become a medical assistant and notices the lack of respect for the Doctor from the crew. Once Janeway grants the Doctor some autonomy such as control over his activation and deactivation sequences, the Doctor begins to develop as another member of the Voyager crew.

This development includes romantic interests with a Vidiian, a love of opera, a family life with a holographic wife and kids, ethical subroutines that cause him to deal with loss and decision-making as a human would, and the experience of taste and touch while his program was downloaded into Seven of Nine's cybernetic implants.

The Doctor has trouble selecting a name for himself throughout the series, but he settles on Joe after trying out other names like Kenneth, Lord Schweitzer, and Schmullus. The Doctor also adds to the old Dr. McCoy lore by saying "I'm a Doctor, Not A _____" multiple times in the series.

The Doctor's holographic nature enables him to save the ship and crew members on various occasions, including when the Kazon took over the ship and abandoned the rest of the Voyager crew on a desolate planet.

One Notable Quote comes from The Swarm in season 3 (episode 4):
The Doctor: "You claim that you're my friend but you don't even call me by my name."
Kes: "That's because you don't have a name."
The Doctor: "No name? That's ridiculous! I'm... My... I demand you tell me my name!"
Best Episodes Featuring The Doctor:
Lifesigns, season 2 episode 19
The Swarm, season 3 episode 4
Real Life, season 3 episode 22
Latent Image, season 5 episode 11

Actor: Robert Picardo played The Doctor, and he has also appeared on Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis as well as the movie Gremlins 2, Electric Bugaloo. He also entertains currently on Twitter @RobertPicardo

Saturday, June 16, 2012

TWITrek Character Insight No. 8: Malcolm Reed

Reed served as Armory Officer aboard the Enterprise. Reed wanted to serve in the Navy like the other men in his family, but his aquaphobia led him into Starfleet and aboard Captain Archer's vessel.

Reed is an Englishman who reminds you of the old Royal Guards, fiercely disciplined and not very social. This leads to many awkward situations such as when the crew tries to throw Reed a birthday party without knowing nearly anything about Reed's food preferences or personal interests.

Reed does eventually begin to warm to his crewmates aboard the Enterprise, especially Trip after a shared near-death experience in the episode Shuttlepod One. Reed and Trip shared a memorable shore leave together on Risa where the two exotic women they courted robbed them and tied them up in a cellar. And they call it a pleasure planet!

Reed outwitted many aliens with superior armory technology throughout the series by making the most out of the resources he had on board. For example, Reed built phase cannons from scratch and overloaded them to defeat Axanar shields. Reed also perfected the stable electromagnetic barrier or force field that becomes ubiquitous in the Next Generation-Voyager era.

Reed is allergic to many things and seems more prone to illnesses than the other crew members on Enterprise. However, that does not stop Reed from diving full bore into the defense of his crewmates whenever necessary, just like his "predecessors" Worf, Sulu, and Tuvok.

One Notable Quote comes from Shuttlepod One in season 1 (episode 16):
Lt. Reed: Sometimes I think you North Americans read nothing but comic books and those ridiculous science fiction novels.
Commander Tucker: Well, I'll have you know that Superman was laced with metaphor - subtext layered on subtext.
Lt. Reed: Oh, if only Dr. Cochrane had been a European, the Vulcans would have been far less reticent to help us. But no, he had to be from Montana.

Best Episodes Featuring Reed:
Fight or Flight, season 1 episode 3
Regeneration, season 2 episode 23
Chosen Realm, season 3 episode 12

Actor: Dominic Keating played Reed, and he has also appeared on the TV series Heroes. Look for him to play in the upcoming Hobbit movies as well.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

TWITrek Character Insight No. 7: Chakotay

Chakotay served as First Officer aboard the USS Voyager. Before joining the crew of Voyager, Chakotay was the commanding officer of the Maquis ship Val Jean, which was thrown into the Delta Quadrant with Voyager.

When the two ships decided to merge crews aboard Voyager, Chakotay served a critical role in making the former Maquis crew members integrate into the Starfleet crew. By showing absolute loyalty to Captian Janeway, Chakotay ensured that other valuable crew members worked well in the new Starfleet crew, most importantly Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres.

Chakotay is a Native American whose ancestors were also the ancestors of the Mayans in Central America and Mexico. Chakotay grew up with little appreciation of his culture until his father's death while serving in Starfleet. As a result of this death, Chakotay joined the Maquis to continue his father's fight and embraced all the history and tradition of his Native American culture, including getting the distinctive tattoo on his face.

This tradition comes up often on the show, as Chakotay uses tribal legends and stories passed down through the generations to share wisdom with other crew members. Chakotay also frequently seeks communion with his fathers spirit on vision quests.

Chakotay has a passion for archaeology, reading, and art. Chakotay is a vegetarian who enjoys mushroom soup but dislikes other vegetables like carrots. He also is a fan of sumo wrestling and boxing, which he uses to relax and blow off steam.

Chakotay also becomes romantically involved with various crew members during the journey back to the Alpha quadrant, including the Cardassian Seska, Seven of Nine, and Captain Janeway briefly.

One Notable Quote comes from Initiations in season 2 (episode 2):
A-koo-chee-moya. I pray on this day of memories, to speak to my father - the one whom the wind called... Kolopak. Though I'm far from his bones, perhaps there is a spirit in these unnamed skies who will find him, and honor him with my song. A-koo-chee-moya.

Best Episodes Featuring Chakotay:
Tattoo, season 2 episode 9
Unity, season 3 episode 17
One Small Step, season 6 episode 8

Actor: Robert Beltran plays Chakotay, and his most notable work outside Star Trek include recurring roles on the recent series Big Love and the mid-90's series Models, Inc.

Monday, June 4, 2012

TWITrek Character Insight No. 6: Montgomery Scott

Scotty served as the chief engineer aboard the USS Enterprise for nearly 30 years and earned a reputation as a miracle worker during his service. Scotty brings color and humor to many TOS episodes and movies as a result of his good-natured attitude and his Scottish tendencies.

Scotty was second officer on the Enterprise behind only Kirk and Spock, and that led him into many difficult command situations in which he excelled. Despite this outstanding record whenever he took command, Scotty never pursued his own command because he always wanted to be just an engineer.

One of the benefits of being Scottish is a high tolerance to alcohol, and Scotty used this power to incapacitate a Kelvan agent attempting to take over the Enterprise. Scotty prefers Scotch whiskey and refers to other drinks such as vodka as "sodapop" and "milk."

Keeping with the stereotypes of his nationality, Scotty is also an avid bagpipes player as evidenced by the heart-wrenching playing of Amazing Grace at Spock's funeral in The Wrath of Khan.

Scotty also links the first two generations of Star Trek in two ways: he was on the Enterprise-B when Kirk was lost to the Nexus in the TNG movie Generations, and he was discovered by the Enterprise-D in the episode "Relics" after being lost for decades in transporter buffer at a Dyson sphere.

One Notable Quote comes from The Trouble With Tribbles in season 2 (episode 13):
Before they went to warp, I transported the whole kit'n'kaboodle into their engine room...where they'll be no tribble at all.

Best Episodes Featuring Scotty:
Wolf In The Fold, season 2 episode 7
The Apple, season 2 episode 9
By Any Other Name, season 2 episode 21

Actor: James Doohan originally played Scotty and had a 50-year acting career before his death in 2005. Doohan auditioned for the part with a Scottish accent that stuck on the character because he thought Scottish people made the best engineers. Simon Pegg took over the role in the 2009 reboot and he is best known for comedic work in Hot Fuzz, Sean of the Dead, and Run Fatboy Run.