Healer Trek: June 2013

Monday, June 24, 2013

TWITrek Character Insight No. 56: Nog

Nog is the only son of Rom, who is Quark's brother and one of the waiters who works in Quark's Bar on DS9. Rom is left as a single father to Nog as a result of being swindled out of all his money by his former father-in-law, and Nog is thus forced to learn and adhere closely to the Rules of Acquisition. As a result, Nog has plenty of time to find himself in adventures and shenanigans on the station.

Without many other children on the station, Nog immediately becomes close friends with Jake Sisko after the Federation takes over the Terok Nor station and redubs it Deep Space 9. Although these two characters often get into shenanigans in silly episodes such as holodeck stories, these characters share a real bond that is rarely seen between child characters of long-running shows. Honestly, Nog and Jake bring a refreshing twist to the character development used significantly along the long story arcs of DS9.

Although Rom his father would prefer a long profitable life as a Ferengi businessman, Nog strikes out on his own trail in an effort to avoid his father's fate if business goes bad. Nog's path takes him to Starfleet Academy as a Federation cadet, although the Ferengi had not yet joined the Federation at that time. Nog ends up being the first Ferengi in Starfleet, serving a similar role for this series as Worf and Spock.

Similar to the track Wesley Crusher takes in TNG, we see Nog transfer from a kid on board to a Starfleet officer. Once Nog returns as a cadet and ensign from the Academy, he is immediately involved significantly with the ongoing Dominion War. This includes Nog's use as an advance scout, although Nog loses his leg and needs a biosynthetic replacement from battling with the Jem'Hadar.

Nog is the most frequent recurring character on DS9 behind Morn, with 46 appearances all including speaking roles. Nog is shown wearing six different rank insignias, which ties him with Commander Geordi La Forge for the higher number of distinct ranks held during episodes of a series.

Our notable quote this week comes from the episode Heart of Stone:
Nog: According to Ferengi bylaws, section 105, subparagraph 10: "Upon reaching adulthood, Ferengi males must purchase an apprenticeship from a suitable role model." I choose you.
Commander Sisko: You want to be *my* apprentice?
Nog: That's right. I want to be the first Ferengi in Starfleet! Now, who do I see about getting a uniform?

Actor: Aron Eisenberg played Nog throughout the entire Deep Space 9 series. Eisenberg has not acted since 1999, although he enjoyed an 11 year acting career including small appearances on shows like the Wonder Years and Tales From The Crypt.

Until next time, live long and prosper...

Monday, June 17, 2013

TWITrek Character Insight No. 55: Christopher Pike

Pike is the Captain of the new flagship the U.S.S. Enterprise during the time when James Kirk and his future crewmates go through Starfleet. Indeed, Pike is the driving force behind convincing the Kirk of this timeline to leave his podunk Iowa life and shoot for the stars like his late father George did. Although Pike challenges Kirk on many occasions, he is a mentor and friend that was vital to Kirk's development as a true Captain deserving of the command chair.

Pike sees the great potential in young Kirk even when many others see nothing but brashness and inexperience, and that leads Pike to promote Kirk and to rally behind him when others in power (including Spock) would send him to the brig or back to the Academy for more training. By continuously taking the volatile Kirk under his wing, Pike instills wisdom into the new captain that sinks in just in time before John Harrison murders many Starfleet leaders including Pike in the beginning of Into Darkness.

Pike rose to the rank of Captain in just four years, which was the fastest anybody had achieved that feat until Kirk came along. Pike challenged the young potential cadet to do better than his father and himself, and Kirk does just that by taking over the flagship as Captain in a mere three years. Pike also has the distinction of being the first major Starfleet character to die and stay dead in the Abrams Timeline (too bad we didn't have some extra magic blood laying around...).

Assuming a third movie is made, it will be interesting to see how Kirk grows without the steady hand of Christopher Pike at his side. Spock will eventually have to stop relying on Spock Prime, but at least his mentor is still around when required.

One similarity with the Pike in the prime timeline is that the character gets badly injured enough to be put in a wheelchair, Abrams timeline Pike by Nero's torture and the Prime timeline Pike by a baffle plate explosion and delta particle radiation poisoning. Pike meets a grim end in both timelines, although his importance as a mentor and possible father figure to Kirk in the Abrams timeline makes him much more critical than just being the predecessor to Kirk.

Our notable quote this week comes from Star Trek 09:
""Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved eight hundred lives, including your mother's and yours. I dare you to do better."

Actor: Bruce Greenwood took on the role of Pike in the Abrams timeline. Greenwood had been previously known for many television appearances over the past three decades as well as roles in I, Robot and Deja Vu.

Until next time, live long and prosper...

Monday, June 10, 2013

TWITrek Character Insight No. 54: Nero

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, we begin a series of segments reviewing the characters of the Abrams timeline to celebrate the release of Star Trek Into Darkness. Fair warning, this segment is going to have some <> for the next few weeks.

Let's start with Nero, the Romulan villain from Star Trek 2009.

Nero is the captain of a Romulan mining vessel from around the year 2387, which follows nearly 10 years after the return of the U.S.S. Voyager and 20 years following the end of TNG. Nero is on a mining mission on his vessel the Narada when a supernova caused the destruction of his home planet Romulus. Nero stood helpless as he watched his pregnant wife and unborn child die with the rest of Romulus, as Spock did not arrive to form a black hole to stop the supernova in time.

This causes Nero to seek vengeance against all those who did not help his home planet, including Spock and the Federation. Nero is pulled through the black hole with Spock back in time to the 23rd Century, where he waits until he can effect the same planet-destructing fate on Spock's home world Vulcan. This time travel leads Nero to destroy much of the Federation fleet on the day of Jim Kirk's birth, altering the timeline of the original Enterprise crew to the Abrams timeline.

Unlike other Romulan villians we have seen, Nero's face is tattooed heavily and this is explained as a modified mourning ritual in the prequel comic Star Trek: Countdown. Romulans would paint their faces with their grief on the death of loved ones and as the paint fades away, so does the time for grieving. Nero contorts this to tattoos because he believes his grief will never go away.

Nero is actually the second Romulan movie villain in a row, following Shinzon in Nemesis. However, while Shinzon had significant political aspirations and purposes to his villainy, Nero is simply a demented angry survivor of a natural disaster.

Although the character of Nero is provided much interesting backstory in the comics associated with Star Trek 09, most of the material this backstory was based on was cut from the movie, including imprisonment by Klingons on Rura Penthe following damage to the Narada caused by George Kirk's suicide attack. That's a shame, as it causes this character to be pretty undeveloped and poorly written compared to other villains like John Harrison and Khan.

Our notable quote this week comes from Star Trek 09:
"Kill him? I'm not gonna kill him. I'm gonna make him watch."

Actor: Eric Bana played Nero, and his other interesting roles include an anchor on Finding Nemo and Bruce Banner on the highly-panned 2003 Hulk movie. He will star in upcoming movies Closed Circuit and Lone Survivor.

Until next time, live long and prosper...

Sunday, June 2, 2013

TWITrek Character Insight No. 53: Tuvok

Tuvok is tactical and security officer for Captain Janeway, and he serves as second officer following the combination of crews with the Maquis leads to Chakotay becoming the new first officer. Similar to the role Spock plays for Captain Kirk, Tuvok is the most trusted and logical guide for the Captain during the seven-year stranding in the Delta Quadrant. Tuvok exudes these qualities even more than Spock because Tuvok is the first full Vulcan main character on any of the shows.

Tuvok enters Starfleet at a young age as a result of the desires of his parents, and his first three years under Hikaru Sulu on the Excelsior makes him wary of humans and how they believe everyone can be positively influenced to be like them. After 50 years away from Starfleet, Tuvok comes back a changed man after living the family life and realizing the mistakes he made as a youth in judging humanity too soon.

One of Tuvok's passions in herbology, and he is a prize-winning orchid breeder. His passion for plants causes him to form a bond with Neelix, who is the most unlikely of friends for a brooding Vulcan. Of course, the transporter accident that temporarily combined these two characters into Tuvix also helped them understand and bond with one another on a level not understood by others.

Tuvok also is one of the only major characters (including Picard) to be assimilated by the Borg. However, just like Picard, Tuvok survives the ordeal and comes back to the regular Vulcan life he had before assimilation thanks to his Starfleet crewmates. Despite being a married family man, Tuvok does have a couple of brief romantic endeavors when it seems that his return to the Alpha Quadrant is hopeless.

In addition to orchids, Tuvok spends his free time meditating frequently and studying Earth-based martial arts. Tuvok would make an interesting match for a Klingon warrior like Worf, although we never get to see him engage in such interesting combat.

Our notable quote this week comes from the episode Meld:

"Sitting here, attempting to meditate, I have counted the number of ways I know of killing someone using just a finger, a hand, a foot. I had reached 94 when you entered."
Actor: Tim Russ played Tuvok, and he earned the role after narrowly losing out to Levar Burton for the Geordi La Forge role in TNG, and after playing various roles in TNG, DS9, and Generations. Russ continues to be a prolific actor, most recently appearing in iCarly and the upcoming movie Monster School.

Until next time, live long and prosper...