TWITrek Character Insight No. 22: Pavel Chekov

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 Pavel Chekov from The Original Series. (Nuclear Wessels!)



Chekov is a Russian who served as navigator aboard the Enterprise under Captain Kirk. Chekov actually rotated to other stations such as science as well, but navigator is where Chekov settled in during the five year mission. He returns as Chief of Security aboard the Enterprise during the movies.

Although Chekov did not join the show until the second season, he joined the crew sometime during the first season based on what Chekov knew of events in the first season. The most notable example of this is his familiarity with Khan in Star Trek II, although Space Seed was a season one episode.

Chekov is wildly proud of his Russian heritage and makes numerous big claims about Russian culture during the show. These boasts include that the Garden of Eden is located just outside Moscow, Cinderella was a Russian epic, and the saying "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" was coined in Russia. Although each of these is untrue, you can't fault Chekov for his home country pride.

Chekov was added to the show to fill a lot of roles originally written for Sulu because George Takei was busy filming The Green Berets during much of season two. Although Chekov was drafted as a young Englishman originally, Gene Roddenberry changed him to Russian after receiving some complaints that fashioning a future with a united world and no U.S.S.R. presence was disingenuous.


The wig that Chekov originally wore was designed to make him look like the musician Davy Jones, but it comes across as looking like one of the Monkees.

The best episodes featuring Chekov include The Way to Eden, Who Mourns for Adonais, and The Tholian Web.


Our notable quote this week comes from the episode The Trouble With Tribbles:
Scott: When are you gonna get off that milk diet, lad?
Chekov: This is vodka.
Scott: Where I come from, that's soda pop.
Scott: [raising his glass] Now this is a drink for a man.
Chekov: Scotch?
Scott: Aye.
Chekov: It was invented by a little old lady from Leningrad.

Actor: Walter Koenig is the actor who played Chekov. Koenig has acted for 50 years now and is also well known for his role as scoundrel Bester on Babylon 5.

Until next time, live long and prosper...

TWITrek Character Insight No. 21: Morn

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 Morn from deep Space Nine and Voyager.



Morn is a Lurian who is a frequent patron of Quark's Bar on the Deep Space Nine station. Morn owns a shipping business that specialized in the transport of mundane cargo.

This seemingly mundane business likely results from Morn settling down following his role in the theft of 1,000 bricks of gold-pressed latinum during the Lissepian Mother's Day Heist.  Morn's role in this heist is discovered just days after the statute of limitations for prosecuting him expired.  Morn hid the latinum inside his second stomach, and Quark believes this is why Morn lost nearly all of his hair.

Although Morn never speaks on camera during the series, he is known for being quite the talker. Provided an opportunity to talk about his 17 brothers and sisters, he will talk your ear off as you sit at the bar. Morn did speak in the German version of the episode "The Jem'Hadar", but that line never made it to the English language version.

He is such a regular customer at Quark's Bar that when he leaves on vacation, Quark makes a TuPac-like hologram of him in his normal seat to encourage other patrons to come in the bar as normal. Morn always sits on the right hand side of the bar, which is clearly an homage to the character Norm from Cheers. Other little shoutouts to the Cheers character also exist, such as the similar greeting Morn gets from Dax when seen in the bar.

Jadzia Dax was interested in Morn romantically, but she has to settle for Worf when Morn turns her down. Morn buys Quark's bar when Quark retires, remaining a fixture at his favorite location.

The best episodes featuring Morn include Favor the Bold, Who Mourns for Morn, and Blaze of Glory.

Actor: Mark Allen Shepherd is the actor who played Morn. Although most of his appearances are uncredited, Shepherd showed up in over 90 total Star Trek episodes.

Special Thanks to listener Douglas for suggesting this unique character and providing much of the information today. He can be reached on Twitter at @dstoryii

Until next time, live long and prosper...

TWITrek Character Insight No. 20: Phlox

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 Doctor Phlox from Enterprise.



Phlox serves as the Chief Medical Officer aboard the Enterprise NX-01. He is a Denobulan with over 50 years of practice before joining the crew of Enterprise as part of the Interspecies Medical Exchange program.

Phlox is differentiated from other Chief Medical Officers in that he fills his sickbay with many different types of alient plants, spores, and living pets and creatures in addition to medical instruments. Phlox used these animals in many different types of unique treatments for the crewmembers of Enterprise.

Phlox served at Starfleet Medical on Earth for two years before joining Enterprise, and he finds a love of Chinese food while serving on Earth. He considers egg drop soup to be one of humanity's greatest contributions to society at large.

Phlox holds over a dozen scientific degrees, ranging from veterinary medicine to dentistry and psychiatry. His expertise in psychiatry comes in handy when the Enterprise assigns him to be ship's counselor as well as Chief Medical Officer. In this role, Phlox forms close bonds with many of the other senior officers.

Phlox had three wives, who each have 3 husbands of their own.  This family grouping results in a total of 720 total relationship pairings, and 42 of which have romantic implications. As a result, Phlox is part of a big family including 31 children, although only five of these children are his own. He maintains good relations with his two daughters, a surgeon and a biochemist, but his relationship is strained with two of his sons.

Similar to some of the animals he uses in treatment, Phlox goes through an annual hibernation period for up to six days. When threatened, Phlox has the ability to blow up his face like a blowfish to scare off attackers.



The best episodes featuring Phlox include: Dear Doctor, from season 1; A Night in Sickbay, from season 2; Regeneration, from season 2; and Doctor's Orders, from season 3.

Our notable quote this week comes from the episode Dead Stop in season 2:
Lieutenant Malcolm Reed: It can't be ethical to cause a patient this much pain.
Dr. Phlox: It's unethical to harm a patient; I can inflict as much pain as I like.


Actor: John Billingsley is the actor who played Doctor Phlox. Billingsley's most notable role since Enterprise has been a four-year stint on the show True Blood.

Until next time, live long and prosper...

TWITrek Character Insight No. 19: 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, our subject is Lieutenant Tom Paris from Voyager.



Tom Paris serves as pilot and flight controller aboard the Voyager during the seven year stranding in the Delta Quadrant.  Paris was a Starfleet prisoner brought aboard as an observer and Maquis expert to help the Voyager track down Chakotay's ship Val Jean.  However, he is reinstated as a Starfleet officer by Captain Janeway in view of the lack of personnel available following the transfer to the Delta Quadrant.

The character of Tom Paris was based on the Nicholas Locarno character, who leads Wesley Crusher and four other cadets to perform an illegal flight maneuver in the TNG episode The First Duty. The show writers created a different character because they wanted this bad boy to be one who was redeemable, while Locarno was not.

Paris grew up as the son of a Starfleet Admiral, and his father put so much pressure on Paris that his childhood was very troubled. Rather than being able to pursue his first love of the sea in the Federation Naval Patrol, his father forces him into Starfleet Academy. As a result, Paris has a disposition towards acting out against the system he initially wants no part of.

Despite developing a passion and a talent for piloting, Paris is forced out of Starfleet after he covers up a piloting error that led to the death of three fellow officers on his first starship. He ends up joining the Maquis for a few weeks, and that is how he is captured and put in prison by the Federation.

However, his ties to the Maquis and his piloting ability lead to the situation where Janeway reinstates him to drive the Voyager. With only a couple of exceptions in the seven-year journey, Paris proves that he was worth giving another chance to redeem himself. His most notable contribution to the successful return of Voyager was the construction of the Delta Flyer shuttle, which was designed specifically for use in the hostile Delta Quadrant.

In addition to things related to the ocean, Paris is passionate about much of 20th Century American culture, including movies, internal combustion cars, and novels of the time period. Paris also has a flair for holographic narratives, highlighted by his repeating portrayal of a protagonist named Captain Proton, and his favorite bar in France which is used as the Voyager version of Ten Forward.

Although Paris was only promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade in the pilot episode, his character wears the rank pips of a full Lieutenant for several episodes before the mistake was caught. Paris had the middle name Eugene, which was a tribute to Gene Roddenberry.

The best episodes featuring Paris include: Threshold from Season 2, Worst Case Scenario from Season 3, Thirty Days from Season 5, and Lineage from Season 7.

Our notable quote this week comes from the episode Threshold:
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. 





Actor: Robert Duncan McNeill is the actor who played Tom Paris and Nicholas Locarno in TNG.  Although he took a break from acting for 10 years, he recently appeared on an episode of the TV comedy Chuck.

Until next time, live long and prosper...