Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Character Insight No. 172: General Martok

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 profile the Klingon General and then Chancellor Martok based on a recommendation from Chris on Twitter, the regular Ten Forward topic producer. 

Martok.jpg
(Martok, courtesy Memory Alpha)

Martok appears first in late Season 4 of Deep Space Nine, and he becomes a staple of the stories involving Klingons and the Dominion War. Indeed, he ends up in a close friendship with Worf, who also brings a lot of Klingon-type stories to these latter seasons of the show.

The only backstory we learn about Martok is from his own recollection, in the episode Once More Unto the Breach.  He grew up in the House of Martok when that was not a part of the high aristocracy, but he earns a battlefield commission as an officer after successfully defending a Klingon general during a surprise Romulan attack. He's a high riser who makes it to the rank of General by the time of the events on Deep Space Nine.



His first few appearances on the show are actually as a Dominion founder who shapeshifts into Martok while General Martok is in an internment camp for two years. This real Martok escapes in the episode By Inferno's Light, but not before we learn about the daily struggle for a captive Klingon used to train Jem'Hadar warriors in hand-to-hand combat, including losing an eye.


Worf serves as a close mentor to Martok during his imprisonment and then after he is made commander of the Klingon forces on Deep Space Nine. Although Martok could be a gruff angry character at times, he is an excellent judge of character and that comes in very handy when fighting the shapeshifters of the Dominion. He led Klingon forces in many significant Dominion War battles, including the battle to retake Deep Space Nine as well as the charge to end the war on the Cardassian homeworld.

From You are Cordially Invited:
Lt. Commander Worf: Anyone can see that we are hopelessly mismatched. She is a Trill, I'm a Klingon. She has had five marriages; this would be my first. When she is laughing, I am somber. When I am happy, she is crying. She plays tongo with the Ferengi bartender; I can barely stand him. She mocks everything, while I take everything seriously. She is nothing like the woman I thought I would marry. Martok: We are not accorded the luxury of choosing the women we fall in love with. Do you think Sirella is anything like the woman I thought that I'd marry? She is a prideful, arrogant, mercurial woman, who shares my bed far too infrequently for my taste. And yet... I love her, deeply. We Klingons often tout our prowess in battle, our desire for glory and honor above all else. But how hollow is the sound of victory without someone to share it with. Honor gives little comfort to a man alone in his home... and in his heart.

In the meantime, he also becomes Chancellor when Gowron tries to dishonor Martok by taking over the fleet and assigning him to losing battles, leading to a showdown where Worf kills Gowron. Martok invites Worf and his family to join the House of Mogh, and he establishes Worf as Federation Ambassador to the Klingons after the Dominion War is won by his leadership and battle prowess.

Martok adds an interesting Klingon dynamic to the latter seasons of Deep Space Nine, helping advance the character of Worf as well by an external influence. He's always got some interesting views, such as marriage being a disguised and subtle form of combat. For that, he rises above the ranks of typical boring Klingons of the era into a character that is good to see in the complex and dark Dominion War stories.

Until next time, earn your honor.

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Feedback can be sent to me with future segment suggestions on Twitter @BuckeyeFitzy.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Character Insight No. 171: Best of Kathryn Janeway

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 continue the "Best Of" series with a look at our final character from Voyager, Captain Kathryn Janeway. Here are some of her best episodes. 

Janeway Season7.jpg

(The Captain, courtesy Wikipedia)

In the Season 2 episode Deadlock, a bizarre nebula causes Voyager to be duplicated into one highly damaged version and another undamaged version connected by space-time rifts. This leads Captain Janeway to debate with herself, or another version of herself, the appropriate fate of the crew when one Voyager has to be self-destructed for the sake of the other.

Captain Kathryn Janeway #1: We can't just stand by and let you all be killed. Captain Kathryn Janeway #2: I'm not about to let that happen. I'll destroy this ship. Captain Kathryn Janeway #1: I don't suppose there's any way I can change your mind. I know how stubborn you can be.

Although this premise is taken to an extreme limit, you learn a lot about how Janeway thinks and values her crew and ship in that episode. In the two-part Season 4 episode Year of Hell, Voyager ends up in a year long war with a time-manipulating warlord who is messing with timelines to restore his people and resurrect his wife. This year of conflict pushes everyone to the brink, including the Captain who must sacrifice her ship in an effort to restore everything back to normal.

Captain Kathryn Janeway: Tuvok, I can hear your objections already. I am not leaving. Tuvok: Given Voyager's damaged state, the probability of your surviving an armed conflict... is marginal. Captain Kathryn Janeway: Oh, I know the odds. But I have to stay. Voyager's done too much for us. Tuvok: Curious. I have never understood the Human compulsion to emotionally bond with inanimate objects. This vessel has done nothing. It is an assemblage of bulkheads, conduits, tritanium. Nothing more. Captain Kathryn Janeway: Oh, you're wrong. It's much more than that. This ship has been our home. It's kept us together. It's been part of our family. As illogical as this might sound, I feel as close to Voyager as I do to any other member of my crew. It's carried us, Tuvok - even nurtured us. And right now, it needs one of us.

When not being stereotypically heroic with her ship, we catch glimpses of how hard it would be for Janeway to let go of her duty to her crew and the mission in the Season 2 episode Resolutions. Covered by Mike and Darrell recently, this episode features Janeway struggling with a transition to a new life with Chakotay stranded on a planet where they contracted a deadly virus preventing them from leaving with Voyager.

Captain Kathryn Janeway: You know, Chakotay, it occurs to me we aren't exactly in a command structure anymore. Maybe you should call me "Kathryn". Commander Chakotay: Give me a few days on that one, okay?

Finally, we have the Season 3 episode Coda, in which Janeway experiences what she thinks is death but is really just an alien trying to coax her spirit away from her body to feed on it. The alien takes the form of her admiral father, which leads to some interesting dialogue showing Janeway's past and values.


Captain Kathryn Janeway: I have to know what's going to happen to them. To see Kes continue to grow and learn. To know if Tom and B'Elanna will ever stop sparring with each other and develop a real friendship. Admiral Edward Janeway: You can only be an observer of their lives, never a participant. Captain Kathryn Janeway: I don't care. I'd rather be here in spirit than not at all. A captain doesn't abandon ship!

Captain Janeway has a very dynamic character arc during the seven seasons of Voyager, and it is truly difficult to narrow down her best character pieces. However, for further enjoyment, most of the Borg episodes also reveal how far Janeway is willing to stretch herself for the sake of Starfleet and the crew, and these should not be missed either. Also check out Counterpoint from Season 5, which doesn't have great quotes but it is perhaps the best Janeway-centric episode in the series.

Until next time, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and don't go down with your ship. 

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Feedback can be sent to me with future segment suggestions on Twitter @BuckeyeFitzy.

Monday, December 14, 2015

Character Insight No. 170: Star Wars/Star Trek Crossovers

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 celebrate the release of the first trailer for Star Trek Beyond as well as the Star Wars The Force Awakens premiere with a look at how these mega franchises have crossed over.

The Enterprise in a spot of bother
(A screenshot of the trailer, courtesy Paramount Pictures)

Star Wars is approaching its 40th anniversary while Star Trek celebrates the big 5-0 next year, but these science fiction mega franchises have not had a ton of crossover in actors, etc. However, one part that defines these franchises at least in the theater is special effects, and both have used Industrial Light and Magic often for the visual effects we love on the big screen.

Turning to those actors, before the JJ Abrams reboots of both film franchises, the only actor who had crossed over was Felix Silla, who played a Talosian on The Cage as well as an Ewok on Return of the Jedi. However, now Deep Roy has crossed over as Droopy McCool in Return of the Jedi and Scotty's friend Keenser in the recent Star Trek films. Speaking of Scotty, according to IMDB this week Simon Pegg is to appear somewhere in The Force Awakens, which would make him the most obvious crossover actor yet thanks to his prominent Trek role as Scotty.



If we go a bit farther into the expanded universe of Star Wars and the cartoons, there are a lot more notable names which cross over from Star Trek. These actors include George Takei, Brock Peters, Brent Spiner, the aforementioned Simon Pegg, Ron Perlman, among others.


Of course, we would be remiss if we didn't also mention JJ Abrams himself, who directed Star Trek 09 as well as Star Trek Into Darkness before moving on to co-write and direct The Force Awakens. He made Star Trek fans pretty happy in 2009 and hopes are high that he can bring the same film magic to rekindle Star Wars as well. If he does, he will be the unquestioned king of this era of mega science fiction franchises.

So there has been crossover, even though there have as of yet been no explicit character crossovers or story crossovers. These franchises are set in different time periods, but don't be surprised if many years form now a crossover occurs at some point. We could then hopefully settle one of the great debates of our time: Enterprise or Millennium Falcon?

Oh, it turns out Neil Degrasse Tyson already solved that one for us: (Insert Quote)

But seriously, both ships make great bottle openers on Think Geek, for what it's worth. Until next time, let's all geek out together and laugh at those poor souls who just don't get the beauty and fun of both these science fiction franchises.

 ------------   Feedback can be sent to me with future segment suggestions on Twitter @BuckeyeFitzy.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Character Insight No. 169: Best of Kes

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 continue the "Best Of" series with a look at the best episodes featuring Kes, from Voyager. 

Kes.jpg

(Kes, courtesy Wikipedia)

Kes is one of two Delta Quadrant residents who become part of Voyager's crew as a result of the events of the pilot Caretaker. She is an Ocampan, a life form which has psionic powers and a 9-year lifespan. Thus, even though she serves as a medical assistant, she eventually leaves the crew after three seasons, making way for Seven of Nine as a new character. Here are some of her best moments. 

In the Season 3 episode Before and After, Kes is shown participating in a year-long battle with the Krenim and being infected with particles from a Chroniton torpedo, which leads to a backwards journey through an alternative version of her life when the Doctor accidentally activates these particles when trying to keep her alive. In this timeline, she marries Tom Paris and their daughter marries Harry Kim.


Kes: If there's one thing that this experience has taught me, Captain, it's that there's no time like the present. 


In the season 2 episode Elogium, Kes is caused by some space-dwelling life forms to prematurely enter the once-per-life Ocampan female reproductive state. She must deal with the potential loss of her only opportunity to have a child, and the Doctor helps her with this as much as she helps him with his growth as a character. 


Neelix: A... Awful! How can you eat it? 
Kes: I can't stop eating it. I've had six bowls! And the reason it tastes so strange, I've put a container of nitrogenated soil in it. 
Neelix: Dirt? You're eating dirt? 

...
The Doctor: Her unusual appetite may merely indicate a nutrient deficiency. It is not unusual for humanoids to crave foods that are rich in the very vitamins and minerals that their bodies are lacking. 
Kes: You... you can't mean my body lacks dirt? 



Finally, in the season 3 episode Warlord, Kes has the consciousness of an Ilaran tyrant transferred into her own and she must fight this consciousness off to regain her individuality. This leads to the end of her romantic relationship with Neelix, as well as trauma over being caused to do violent acts when under the tyrant's control. 


Kes: How can I worry about my own wellbeing when... so many people have suffered and died? 
Lieutenant Tuvok: You were not responsible for Tieran's actions. 
Kes: I can't help wondering whether I could've fought harder. 
Lieutenant Tuvok: It was your absolute refusal to surrender which defeated him. You cannot ask more of yourself than that. 


Kes was an interesting character at times, but her development was more stilted than Neelix, and she ended up being a character the show could do without. Although the actress who played Kes has recently gotten into some legal trouble, we shouldn't let that color our enjoyment of this character provided by the early Voyager show writers trying to bring that Delta Quadrant flavor to the crew.

Until next time, have a great Thanksgiving!

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Feedback can be sent to me with future segment suggestions on Twitter @BuckeyeFitzy.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Character Insight No. 168: Best of Tom Paris

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 continue the "Best Of" series with a look at the best episodes featuring Tom Paris, from Voyager.

(Tom Paris, courtesy Memory Alpha)

Tom Paris is the chief helmsman on board Voyager.  As the journey continues and the crew grows thin, Paris also takes on the duty of auxiliary medic for when the holographic doctor is unavailable or overwhelmed. He's a sometimes brash son of an Admiral from a long-serving Starfleet family, but his development comes in overcoming his own life's obstacles. His character was also loosely based on the Nicolas Locarno character the actor played in the TNG episode The First Duty. In this way, he serves as an interesting character contrast for his best friend Harry Kim.

Here's some of his best quotes and moments. 

In the Season 2 episode Threshold, Tom addresses his past aspirations and disappointments of his family line face-on, as he has a chance to test the first ever Warp 10 flight in space. The experiment goes horribly awry and he de-evolves, as does the show writing in what perhaps ends up being the worst episode of the whole Voyager show. However, Tom's character bits in the first half of the episode are fantastic, including his debate with Captain Janeway when he is initially not medically cleared to do the test flight:

Tom Paris: When I was a boy, my father used to tell me that I was special. That one day I'd do something significant. My teachers at school, all the kids, everyone used to say, "Tom Paris is gonna do something important when he grows up". Obviously that didn't happen. Captain Kathryn Janeway: This isn't about personal redemption. We're talking about medical risk. Your life could be in danger, and we need you. Tom Paris: Captain, this is the first time in ten years I feel I *have* a life to risk.

In the Season 4 episode Day of Honor, the slow-budding romance between Tom and Engineer B'Elanna Torres finally advances when both characters are stranded in space following an attack on their shuttle while trying to recover an ejected warp core. B'Elanna eventually admits her love for Tom, which will lead to a marriage and a child by the last season of the show. She still plays coy in the process though, as shown here:

Tom Paris: When we first met, you didn't have a very high opinion of me. B'Elanna Torres: That's putting it mildly. I thought you were an arrogant, self-absorbed pig. Tom Paris: Flattery won't get you any more oxygen... Do you think I've changed? B'Elanna Torres: A lot. Now you're a stubborn, domineering pig.

The best Tom Paris episode is likely an easy choice, that being the Season 5 episode Thirty Days. In this episode, Tom recalls in a message to his father the series of events that led to his demotion to Ensign as well as a 30 day stay in the ship's brig. On a meeting with delegates of an ocean planet, the Voyager crew discovers that some oxygen-mining units and a central reactor at the core of this planet is causing water loss at a rate that will destroy the planet in 5 years. The delegates and government do not want to impair lifestyle to change this, which leads to Tom Paris breaking the Prime Directive to use the Delta Flyer to destroy some of the oxygen-mining units.

Captain Janeway: Four years ago I released you from prison and gave you a fresh start. Until now you've been a fine officer; your service on this ship has been exemplary. I really believed you were past this kind of conduct. Lt. Tom Paris: I've never been very good at playing by the rules. That doesn't mean that serving under your command hasn't changed me - for the better. At least, this time I broke the rules for a reason - for something I believed in. Captain Janeway: I admire your principles, Tom. But I can't ignore what you've done.


He struggles with the decision on whether to actually finish the letter and/or send it to his father, but with Harry Kim's guidance, he ends up deciding this moment is one where he could earn his family's trust back again.

[last lines] Tom Paris: [in his letter to his father] "I honestly don't know if I'll ever understand you. Or what went wrong between us. But I hope this letter helps you understand me a little better." - Computer, file letter in my personal database. And transmit when we're within range of Earth.

Paris does not suffer from some of the same character development flaws as other characters on this show, and he comes full circle from a Maquis sympathizing small-time criminal to a family man over the course of the show. Although episodes focusing on him are a little few-and-far-between, the ones we get are pretty strong.

Until next time, keep striving to make yourself better, whether for family or for other reasons. 

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Feedback can be sent to me with future segment suggestions on Twitter @BuckeyeFitzy.

Monday, November 9, 2015

Character Insight No. 167: What's in a Theme?

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 take a look forward to the newly-announced Star Trek TV series with an investigation on what we want in a theme song. 


(The opening of the TNG theme credits)


Everybody has an opinion on theme music, but it seems that most Trek fans can agree on some things they like and some things they dislike about theme music. Especially when you are generally stuck with theme music for many years, it can be critical to set the mood and make you excited for this week's adventure in space. This has proven to be just as much a character of the show as the actors themselves!

Here's my own personal ranking of the theme songs.

1. The Next Generation

Yes, I know it's kind of a cheat because they stole it from The Motion Picture, but this update to the classic theme has just enough bombastic to get you geared up for excitement while still having the majestic quality of orchestral music as well.

2. Voyager

The middle of such a list is where most people will make personal choices, and I personally like Voyager's theme because it has a light, uplifting feeling that fits Star Trek better than darker toned themes, in my view. Not as exciting as TNG, however.

3. The Original Series

This has the sounds of 60's lounge music, which is kind of cheesy, but it is also iconic. It set the standard for no lyrics and letting the theme song stand on its own, which is critical as we will see.

4. Deep Space Nine

I find this to be too flat in places, which doesn't make me want to jump into the next episode like the songs above it on my list. It is calm and majestic, like the Deep Space Nine station...OK maybe not.

5. Enterprise

I've got faith to believe...that it doesn't matter which version you pick, this is just an awful choice with lyrics that don't make sense for the show, but at least it wasn't boy bands...I guess we can say that.

So what can we take from all this? It seems that having a piece of music with no lyrics is an absolute must, and I would personally prefer a bombastic exciting piece of music. However, it could fit the times like the TOS theme and bring in more modern stylings, perhaps a mix of styles like the Metallica S&M album (adding a guitar and bass, or maybe elements of hip hop rhythm with an orchestra leads to unique and good sounding results).

What would you want in the next theme song for Star Trek in 2017? Regardless of how it comes out, at least it's unlikely that we can do worse than Enterprise.

Until next time, keep your lyrics and your boy bands out of my Star Trek.

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Feedback can be sent to me with future segment suggestions on Twitter @BuckeyeFitzy. Until next time, live long and prosper..

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Character Insight No. 166: Best of Tuvok

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 continue the "Best Of" series with a look at the best episodes featuring Tuvok, from Voyager. 


(Tuvok, not his normal expression, courtesy the IronCladWords Blog)

Tuvok serves as the chief tactical officer and security officer aboard Voyager, and he is Janeway's original right-hand man, even after the Maquis join the crew and Chakotay takes over as first officer in the Delta Quadrant. The first Vulcan regular crew member since Spock had big shoes to fill, but we get to see a different character arc of a full-blooded Vulcan still struggling with some internal conflict and emotional control at times. Let's take a look at some of his best episodes.

In the Season 7 episode Repression, Tuvok discovers that he was discovered as a Starfleet undercover operative while he was with the Maquis by another Maquis who experimented with Tuvok using mind control. This mind control is triggered again seven years later by a subliminal message in a letter from his son, and this is one of Tuvok's internal flashbacks which helps him figure out the problem.

Tuvok: [flashback] What do you want? 
Teero: You. You're the perfect subject. 
Tuvok: For what? 
Teero: I'm a student of the mind. Yours is remarkable - disciplined, orderly. On the surface, that is. Beneath - boiling emotions, repressed violence. In a sense, you're two different men. One I could never hope to manipulate. But the other... 
Tuvok: I have been trained to resist mind control. 
Teero: That's the rational, logical part of you at work. But I want to reach your inner fire - your spirit. 


Other episodes like Season 3's Flashback focus on Tuvok's unsuccessful first stint in Starfleet. We see his struggles back then with dealing with non-Vulcans in the way he deals with being an ensign on Captain Sulu's Excelsior crew.


Captain Hikaru Sulu: Outstanding! I may have to give you a promotion. 
Tuvok: That was not my motivation, Captain. I am not attempting to curry favor with you in any way. 
Captain Hikaru Sulu: [laughing] Mr Tuvok, if you're going to remain on my ship, you're gonna have to learn how to appreciate a joke. And don't tell me Vulcans don't have a sense of humor, because I know better. 
Tuvok: I will... work on it, sir. 


Through Tuvok's character pieces in Voyager, we also learn small further bits about how Vulcans treat everyday items like emotions of family life, as seen in this short quote from the Season 2 episode Innocence.


Elani: [referring to Tuvok's children] If Vulcans don't feel anything, does that mean you don't love them? 
Lieutenant Tuvok: My attachment to my children cannot be described as an emotion. They are part of my identity. And I am... incomplete without them. 


Likely the best Tuvok episode of all time is the Season 2 episode Meld, in which Tuvok decides to mind meld with a Betazoid crewman Lon Suder who had murdered another person on board. This mind meld causes Suder's violent tendencies to transfer to Tuvok, who struggles to control them including during frustrating conversations with his foil Neelix.

Lieutenant Tuvok: Morale is irrelevant to a Vulcan. 
Neelix: Oh, please, there's no one on this ship requires my services more than you do. I will not rest until I see you smile. 
Lieutenant Tuvok: Then you will not rest. 


Other top episodes include the series finale Endgame as well as those focusing on Tuvok's odd couple relationship with Neelix, which we recently covered in Neelix's Best Of segment, including Riddles and Tuvix

Until next time, embrace the logic of good character development.  

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Feedback can be sent to me with future segment suggestions on Twitter @BuckeyeFitzy.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Character Insight No. 165: Lt. Kevin Riley (in memorium of Bruce Hyde)

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 honor the memory of actor Bruce Hyde, who passed away at the age of 74 last week.  He is best known for his two early appearances on TOS as Lieutenant Kevin Riley.
 
 Bruce Hyde on 'Star Trek'
(Riley at the conn next to Sulu, in one of his appearances)

Kevin Riley only made two appearances in the show, both in the first season. However, he's the star of the show in the episode The Naked Time, which was one of the first episodes aired and therefore makes him highly memorable despite the limited appearances. 


In The Naked Time, Riley takes control of the ship when infected with a disease that causes people to lose their emotional inhibitions. While other notable things are happening like Sulu running around with a fencing foil and his shirt off, Riley barricades himself in the engine room and sings dictates to the crew as "acting captain." Hilarity ensues. 

Riley: You rang, sir? 
Capt. Kirk: Who is this? 
Riley: This is Captain Kevin Thomas Riley of the Starship Enterprise. And who's this? 
Capt. Kirk: This is Captain Kirk. Get out of the engine room, Navigator. Where's Mr. Scott? 
Riley: I've relieved Mister Scott of his duties. 


Riley: [over the intercom] Lt. Uhura, you've interrupted my song, uh... I'm sorry but there'll be no ice cream for YOU tonight. 
Capt. Kirk: Cut him off. 
Uhura: I can't, sir. There's no way to do it. 
Riley: Attention, crew, this is Capt. Riley. There will be a formal dance in the bowling alley at nineteen hundred hours tonight. 


Riley then makes a very small appearance in The Conscience of the King, but this is nowhere near as notable as his taking over the ship and singing the Irish night away. That may be why we did not see much of him again, as that was such a strong bit role that it would've likely been difficult to keep him in the background. Plus, recurring background roles basically did not exist on TOS, as Riley is one of only three actors to portray the same background character in more than one episode. 

Bruce Hyde had an incredibly short television acting career, with all of his roles being in 1965 and 1966 other than a recent appearance in 2010 in The Confession of Lee Harvey Oswald. Star Trek was easily his most notable role, but he also managed appearances in The Beverly Hillbillies and on Dr. Kildare. 

Hyde was known better for many years of stage acting on Broadway. He settled down in Minnesota and taught acting classes for St. Cloud State University the past decade, while acting in local productions until the day he died last week. 

Rest in peace, Bruce. Thank you for your contributions to Star Trek and the future artistic endeavors of other actors.

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Feedback can be sent to me with future segment suggestions on Twitter @BuckeyeFitzy. Until next time, live long and prosper...

Monday, October 19, 2015

Character Insight No. 164: Best of B'Elanna Torres

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 continue the "Best Of" series with a look at the best episodes featuring Engineer B'Elanna Torres, from Voyager. 

BelannaTorres.jpg

(B'Elanna Torres, courtesy Wikipedia)

Although Voyager was the first show since the Original Series to feature a Vulcan main character, Torres actually serves as more of an analogue to the character of Spock, a relative outsider who struggles with her hybrid heritage, in this case half human and half Klingon.

In the Season 1 episode Faces, this balance of the two heritages is shown in great detail when the Vidiians use advanced medical technology to split B'Elanna into two people, a timid human and a tenacious Klingon. Her human half admits that she cannot survive without the Klingon toughness, but she fights an internal conflict which has lasted since she tried to cover up her different Klingon roots since she was a child.

Human B'Elanna Torres: I do know that right now - the way I am... I'm more at peace with myself than I've ever been before. And that's a *good* feeling.
Commander Chakotay: But?
Human B'Elanna Torres: I'm incomplete. It doesn't feel like me. I guess I've had someone else living inside of me for too long to feel right without her.
Commander Chakotay: I'd have to say that you two made quite a team down there.
Human B'Elanna Torres: I know. I came to admire a lot of things about her. Her strength - her bravery... I guess, I just have to accept the fact that I'll spend the rest of my life fighting with her.

Indeed, much of the remainder of the series shows B'Elanna struggling to keep control over her raw Klingon instincts, which is a similar battle that we understand Vulcans must master to be like Spock.


This character's coming of age moment perhaps did not come until the Season 6 episode Barge of the Dead. This is a Klingon heavy episode, so Darrell beware, but a near-death experience lets B'Elanna travel to Klingon hell, where she finds out her mother will spend all eternity thanks to the dishonor she has caused her family. But thankfully, she discovers on the barge heading to Klingon hell that she can renounce her uncontrolled anger which creates the family dishonor, thereby going instead with her mom to Sto-Vo-Kor. 
 B'Elanna Torres: [of her mother] Did I ever tell you that she put me in a Klingon monastery?
Tom Paris: [snorts] You're kidding.
B'Elanna Torres: It was after their marriage ended. She pulled me out of the Federation school, in order to teach me... honor and discipline.
Tom Paris: Hm - out of the plasma cooker into the fire.
B'Elanna Torres: She prayed to Kahless every day to guide me in the ways of the warrior. I guess he wasn't listening.

 But by my watch, the best episode for Torres is hands-down the dark piece called Extreme Risk in Season 5. In this episode, the crew discovers after a holodeck accident testing the Delta Flyer that Torres has been regularly risking her life in the holodeck without safety precautions. When pressed by Chakotay, she reveals that she has not been able to mentally deal with the news from the Alpha Quadrant that most of her Maquis friends have been eradicated by the Cardassians and the Dominion, coping only by putting herself in near-suicidal danger. This is a fantastic character piece that should speak wisdom to all those who suffer from depression, or the friends and family of those in that state.

B'Elanna Torres: When I was six, my father walked out on me. When I was 19, I got kicked out of Starfleet. A few years later, I got separated from the Maquis. And just when I start to feel safe, you tell me that all of our old friends have been slaughtered. The way I figure it, I've lost every family I've ever had. Chakotay: B'Elanna - you have a new family now, here on Voyager. And you're not gonna lose us. You're stuck with us. B'Elanna Torres: You can't promise me that. Chakotay: No, I suppose I can't. Losing people's inevitable; and sometimes it happens sooner than we expect. But I can promise you that the people on this ship aren't about to let you stop living your life, or break your neck on the holodeck. You're gonna have to find another way to deal with this.

B'Elanna is a young character who comes into her own in this series, a much better and more developed version of Harry Kim, if you will. Half Klingon heritage plays a big role in the show runners making this character better.

Fun facts: Roxann Dawson was the first actor to be cast on this show after her reading for this character. She was pregnant in Season 4, but the crew covered it up with lab coats except in the holodeck episode Killing Game, where Dawson is shown to be pregnant with a Nazi officer's child! You never know what you might find lurking inside those big lab coats!

Until next time, overcome the internal struggle and be the best mixture that you can be.

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Feedback can be sent to me with future segment suggestions on Twitter @BuckeyeFitzy.