Healer Trek

Monday, April 21, 2014

TWITrek Character Insight No. 93: The God of Sha Ka Ree

Sha Ka Ree comes in at number 14 on the list of top Trek villains.

The malevolent entity trapped on a planet at the center of the universe probably should not be known as Sha Ka Ree, as it was simply impersonating that Vulcan god as well as other known God-figures. However, as Sybok was led to lure Captain Kirk and the Enterprise to this entity under the false pretense of Sha Ka Ree, that's what we will call this fake god.

Sha Ka Ree actually sounds like a great concept for a villain on paper, which is why it moves ahead of others like Valeris and Dougherty. Captain Kirk versus a god-like being, something that may finally be a match for the Captain. However, Kirk sees right through the entity's ploy to capture the Enterprise for its own purposes ("What Does God Need With A Ship"), and thus he talks yet another powerful machine or entity to death. Must be the Bill Shatner cadence, which is in full effect in this film.

We never learn much about why Sha Ka Ree is trapped on this planet, as the villain only shows up near the end of this movie. However, star trek novels have retconned this story to include banishment by the Q Continuum after the being causes a civil war and the downfall of a powerful empire centuries before the encounter with Sybok and the Enterprise. I like to think this is just John De Lancie's Q on a ridiculous anger bender.

(Quote of the Week)
"God": You doubt me?
Kirk: I seek proof.
McCoy: Jim! You don't ask the Almighty for his ID!
"God": Then here is the proof you seek.
[Shoots Kirk with lightning]

The god-like being was originally to be shown in various forms, including andorian, zulu, and bullman, but those ended up on the cutting room floor. That would have made a much different look than the one settled on for most of this appearance.

This villain skates by on concept alone, as the execution was awful, much like the rest of this Shatner-directed and written fiasco. This is clearly the worst of the Star Trek movies and really the only truly bad film in the series overall, in my opinion, but that brings Sha Ka Ree down toward the bottom of the list.

I give this villain 1.5 out of 5 stars.

George Murdock played Sha Ka Ree in human face form, and he is best known for recurring roles on The X-Files and Law and Order. Sadly, Murdock died almost exactly two years ago at the age of 81.

Until next time, live long and prosper...

Sunday, April 13, 2014

TWITrek Character Insight No. 92: Lieutenant Valeris

Valeris comes in at number 15 on the list of top Trek villains.

Valeris serves as the helm officer aboard the Enterprise-A. She is placed on the flagship because she was the first Vulcan to graduate at the top of her Academy class, thanks in large part to mentorship from Spock. However, his trust in her ends up being misplaced as she conspires with higher ups to sabotage peace talks with the Klingon Empire.

In furthering this conspiracy, Valeris gets the Klingon delegation drunk at a formal dinner, then has two compatriots murder Klingon Chancellor Gorkon in a zero gravity situation, leading to awesome floating purple blood special effects. She then kills those other crewmen to try and cover her tracks, although she is outfoxed by Captain Kirk in the end.

In a mind meld, she gives up all the names of the co-conspirators as well as reveals a plot to assassinate the Federation President. Captain Kirk and Captain Sulu of the Excelsior save the day by stopping the further assassination to save the Khitmoer Accords peace treaty.

(Quote of the Week)

Kirk: "Names, Lieutenant!"

Valeris: "I do not remember."

Spock: "A lie?"

Valeris: "A choice."

She wears a mismatched uniform with a red collar indicating cadet, the insignia of a lietenant commander, and a gray wristband and patch indicating sciences division because no new uniforms were being made for this cast and actress Kim Cattrall had to wear whatever would fit. This role was initially to be a recurrence of the Saavik character, but Kirstie Alley would not come back and the writers worried about making this beloved character a traitor. Good move, in my opinion.

She's the weakest villain in a movie with at least three of them, and that puts her near the bottom of this list. But we did at least learn that non-consensual double-handed mind melds can be apparently very violating and painful!

I give this villain 2 out of 5 stars.

Kim Cattrall played Valeris, and she is best known for her role in Sex and The City. She designed her iconic looking headband and also her name, which stems from Eris, the Greek goddess of strife.

Until next time, live long and prosper...

Sunday, April 6, 2014

TWITrek Character Insight No. 91: Admiral Dougherty

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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For record, episode 90 was written and produced by Ken P., as we did an April Fool's switch of segments for the show. He did a great take on Commander Kruge from The Search For Spock, who ranked 18th in our poll for Star Trek villains. Check out the audio in the show feed (a script here wouldn't do it justice, as it was a great job!)
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Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we begin our series on best Trek movie villains with Admiral Matthew Dougherty from Star Trek Insurrection. (Insert film theme)

Dougherty comes in at number 16 on the list of top Trek villains.

(Nero, who was profiled a few months ago, came in at No. 17 and Commander Kruge came in at No. 18, which Ken P. did last week. But let's get to the subject at hand, the badmiral).

Like most Trek movie villains, Admiral Dougherty only appears in the movie he stars in. Dougherty had secured approval from the Federation council to collect all the metaphasic particles from the rings of a planet in an area of space called the Briar Patch. These metaphasic particles have rejuvenating qualities, and of course the Council is all about finding the fountain of youth, proverbially speaking.

However, the vice admiral left out one important detail when briefing the Federation Council on this action, and that was the need to relocate a peaceful race called the Ba'Ku from this planet since the collection of the metaphasic particles would render the planet uninhabitable. Although the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few may apply as a Vulcan axiom, the political fallout from such a forced relocation would not have been tolerated if the Council was fully informed.

(Quote of the Week)

ADMIRAL MATTHEW DOUGHERTY
I'm acting on orders from the Federation Council.

JEAN-LUC PICARD
How can there be an order to abandon the Prime Directive?

ADMIRAL MATTHEW DOUGHERTY
The Prime Directive doesn't apply. These people are not indigenous to this planet. They were never meant to be immortal. We'll simply be restoring them to their natural evolution.

JEAN-LUC PICARD
Who the hell are we to determine the next course of evolution for these people?

Thus, Dougherty has to turn to an alliance with some bad actors the Son'a, who just happened to be Ba'Ku that were previously exiled from this paradise planet. But of course Badmiral Dougherty was too blind to see the obvious, plotting for personal power and gain rather than doing things the right way. Thankfully Captian Picard and his crew figure out the deception and stop the Son'a, but not before their leader gives the Admiral the most vicious face-stretch ever. (Insert death noise).

ADMIRAL MATTHEW DOUGHERTY
If you launch the injector while the planet's still populated, the Federation will pursue you until--

ADHAR RU'AFO
The Federation... will never know what happened here.

Here's to you Admiral Dougherty. Your mediocre small role in a plot better suited for a television episode than a movie may not be memorable, but you do continue the trope of the bad Admiral. And that death by face lift was pretty cool as well. I give this villain 2 stars out of 5, as I share the view of the audience that this is a bottom-feeder in the chase for most evil and devious.

Anthony Zerbe played Dougherty, and he also played the villain in the James Bond flick License to Kill. He most recently appeared as a senator in American Hustle, his first acting role in over six years.

Until next time, live long and prosper...

Monday, March 24, 2014

TWITrek Character Insight No. 89: Galloway

Although we profiled a time agent who was able to warp time and space to escape death last week, Galloway has stronger resurrection powers apparently. He is one of a handful of characters who dies and then reappears later without explanation. But then again, as a redshirt, he's probably just destined to die once again on an away mission.

Galloway serves as a Lieutenant assigned to the operations division as a security officer on board the Enterprise. In addition to guarding the leadership of the crew on away missions, he frequently appears in the transporter room to operate the transporter. At least in those episodes he's not subject to the usual abuse a redshirt takes. That also helps him survive longer than most other redshirts who appear on the show and regularly go on away missions.

That abuse includes contracting a viral infection that drives the crew crazy on one mission, being absorbed into the body of an alien, and eventual death on Omega IV from another captain. Apparently vaporization by phaser beam is not permanent, though, as he appears again in two more episodes after passing away in The Omega Glory episode.

In one of these episodes, he was credited as a different character Johnson, but he clearly plays Galloway in Turnabout Intruder. In fact, he receives more speaking lines in that latter episode than he did before his death. Our quote of the week comes from this episode:

Galloway: "You're asking me to violate the captain's orders."

Spock: "He is not the captain."

Galloway: "You're as mad as she is. You're to leave here at once. I follow orders."

Spock: "Certainly, Lieutenant. We all must do our duty."

The James Blish adaptations explain away the death and resurrection issue by having a different redshirt get vaporized, but this is a fun oversight for watchers of the entire series to catch and chuckle at. After all, there's only so many extras around for a 1960's television show.

David L. Ross played Lieutenant Galloway. He only has six credits as an actor, but he does appear in a memorable role as a reporter in Rocky II in 1979. He has since enjoyed married life outside Hollywood over the past three decades while raising four children.

Speaking of movies, don't forget to help vote for the upcoming list of best Trek movie villains over at strawpoll.me/1175936. You can help craft Character Insight!

Monday, March 17, 2014

TWITrek Character Insight No. 88: Daniels

Daniels is a temporal agent who travels through time frequently to achieve missions related to the Temporal Cold War. Although the parts of the Cold War that viewers can see are limited thanks to seeing things from Archer's perspective, the storylines involving Daniels reveals that time is a tapestry in which many different threads come together (and can be torn asunder when desired by bad actors). Daniels is one of only four recurring characters to appear in all four seasons of Enterprise.

Daniels appears as a regular crewman initially, as he infiltrates the crew to prepare for the appearance of Silik, the antagonist leader of the Suliban Cabal. His first three episodes focus on this ongoing battle through time with Silik, highlighted by being stuck in the 31st Century with Captain Archer. However, they escape with some engineering ingenuity and some 22nd Century technology.

Once the Xindi become a regular threat, Daniels appears on multiple occasions to try and convince Archer that he should not commit suicide to stop the Xindi. Daniels explains that Archer is critical to the formation of the Federation, and the Federation is what stops the Sphere Builders, a race that bribes the Xindi to destroy Earth before the Federation is formed. If this sounds familiar, it is because this is just like how the Borg tried to travel in time to stop Earth from making First Contact.

Of course, then Enterprise totally jumps the temporal shark and pits Archer's crew against some aliens aligned with the Nazis. Yes, the Nazis again...it's a wonder Lincoln didn't get shot too.

Although the stories related to the Cold War can be hard to follow, Daniels is a fun conduit to show that time is yet another dimension to conquer and control. His character has helped spawn a series of books called Department of Temporal Investigations, for those who enjoy this time travel stuff.

The Quote of the Week is from "Azati Prime"
Temporal Agent Daniels: If you destroy their weapon, they will only build another. You are the only one who can convince them of what I have told you. It is crucial to history that you do not sacrifice yourself.
Captain Jonathan Archer: My concern is with preventing the deaths of billions of people. If that's a problem for history, then history will have to suffer!

Matt Winston played Daniels, and he has appeared in great movies like Fight Club, AI, and Little Miss Sunshine.

Speaking of movies, don't forget to help vote for the upcoming list of best Trek movie villains over at strawpoll.me/1175936. You can help craft Character Insight!

Monday, March 10, 2014

TWITrek Character Insight No. 87: Harry Mudd

Harry Mudd was devised as an alternative type of antagonist that 1960's audiences could readily understand compared to the Talosians of the pilot episode. A human grifter and con man who went into the business to run away from a nagging wife is a perfect fit for the original audience. Of course, the gifted writing of Stephen Kandel and the great acting job by Roger Carmel made the character an icon of original Star Trek.

The first time Mudd encounters the Enterprise, he is in the middle of conning some miners to buy beautiful women as wives, but the women turn out to be older haggard women with appearances masked by an illegal Venus drug. Mudd then flees a death sentence on another planet and ends up as a king of a planet of androids who want to study humanity in an effort to later enslave it. Later on, he is captured for defrauding thousands of buyers of a love potion crystal, although he later gives one to Nurse Chapel and it leads to a short romance between her and Spock. Basically, Mudd is always full of shenanigans.

Mudd allows for a look into the future of criminal justice, and it is clear that rehabilitation programs are what the show writers saw as the future. Mudd is the only recurring character who was played by the same actor in more than one live action TOS episode. Along with Khan, Mudd is also the only antagonist to go against Kirk and the Enterprise more than once. He's the Q of his day! That's also likely why he even got an Easter Egg mention on Star Trek Into Darkness: (Insert quote from Sulu about "the Mudd incident").

There was a third TOS episode written by Stephen Kandel featuring Mudd, but it never was filmed because Carmel was busy filming something else. This episode would have told the story of Mudd's escape from the android world with a cache of high-powered weapons and scientific equipment, which he then uses to bribe a group of pirates who end up clashing with Kirk's Enterprise.

The Quote of the Week is from "I, Mudd"
Harcourt Fenton Mudd: Now listen, Spock, you may be a wonderful science officer but, believe me, you couldn't sell fake patents to your mother!
Spock: I fail to understand why I should care to induce my mother to purchase falsified patents.

Roger Carmel played Mudd,and he played bit roles in many television shows from the 1960's through his death in 1986. His last credit was for Ducktales, of all things!

Speaking of movies, don't forget to help vote for the upcoming list of best Trek movie villains over at strawpoll.me/1175936. You can help craft Character Insight!

Monday, March 3, 2014

TWITrek Character Insight No. 86: Kashimuro Nozawa

Nozawa is an operations division crewmember on Voyager, typically seen assisting with the security and engineering department personnel during the stranding in the Delta Quadrant. Nozawa was one of the original extra cast members who appeared in the Caretaker pilot episode, and that led to sixteen other appearances spaced through five seasons.

For many of these appearances, Nozawa is just another guy in the ranks, a face in the crowd, if you will. This means he is often seen talking with other crew members in the mess hall, on away missions, and on shore leave. Sometimes these anecdotes were funny scenes, like when B'Elenna walked in on him while he was undressed in his quarters during an encounter with an inversion field.

It wasn't all fun and games though, as the ensign takes a beating in some episodes. This includes being stunned by a rogue doctor while working the transporters, being called stinky by some Voth scientists, and suffering burns when a console exploded on the bridge where he was working

Until season 7, Nozawa was not given a full name. But during a two-part episode where Nozawa is brainwashed and captive with much of the crew on a Quarren planet, his name shows up on a computer display of the Quarrens. This ensign is one of many important recurring faces on the ship, which is required to make it feel like the small stranded crew it is. However, there are only so many stars for a show, which means we miss the opportunity to learn much about Kashimuro.

(No quote of the week)

John Tampoya played Nozawa, although he went uncredited during his appearances. Other than one other TV pilot, Tampoya only ever played as an extra for many episodes of The Next Generation, Voyager, and the movie Generations.

Speaking of movies, don't forget to help vote for the upcoming list of best Trek movie villains over at strawpoll.me/1175936. You can help craft Character Insight!

Until next time, live long and prosper...