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.
--------------------
Welcome
back to Character Insight! This week, we profile Corporal R. Ryan, a recurring character appearing on Enterprise.
("Why is it the enlisted never look too happy to be around?")
Ryan is one of the enlisted crewmembers who is part of the MACO force assigned to Enterprise during the Delphic Expanse mission. As a result, he shows up on many critical away missions and as a guard on multiple episodes, although his role is nearly always a background one.
The MACO, or Military Assault Command Operations, had access to weapons three or more years advanced than the Enterprise crew, keeping them on the cutting edge for future combat. Thus, Ryan is a sniper who has access to the newest toys, including better scopes and particle rifles. He uses this sniper rifle to shoot a mine foreman on a planet where Captain Archer needs to be rescued. That mission succeeds, as do many when this character contributes to them. It is interesting that this shooting role was written for the leader of the MACO's Major Hayes, but this was reconfigured during filming to give Ryan the spotlight in his first of a dozen appearances over 4 seasons.
His gunmanship comes in handy when Captain Archer needs to retake the ship. This includes kicking the Triannons off the Enterprise after they had taken over, and defending the Enterprise from a Sphere Builders invasion while the bridge crew is away on mission. Sometimes, he is just a simple security guard, holding unwanted visitors out of meetings and carting people like Arik Soong and Malcolm Reed to and from the brig.
Having MACOs on board is a constant reminder that space exploration requires a strong military hand in the early days of Starfleet. Especially when conflicts arise like with the Xindi, these guys are the little known backbone that keeps the ship out of harm's way.
Ryan is one of the few recurring characters who makes more than 10 appearances while being played by two different actors. Both actors who played him are regular background actors, Jason Collins and Aaron White. Collins is more of a television actor, but he has appeared in the movies The Frozen Ground, National Treasure Book of Secrets, and Treevenge. Yes, TREEVENGE. White has not acted as much, but he did appear on the TV show 24 as well as in the recent movie Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie. This actor swapping can be a bit confusing when characters are a bit faceless without much personality, but it is a necessary evil of weekly episodic television sometimes for non-regular characters (who may have other acting gig or jobs).
We've covered similar small characters on this segment before like Engineer Alex, and guys like Corporal Ryan are good consistent background scenery for the most part. It would be nice to see some of these familiar faces develop more personality and character, like in the TNG episode lower decks, but it's hard enough to spread out sufficient time to an ensemble major crew let alone minor crew members. I guess that's what we have The Redshirt Diaries web show for!
Until next time, live long and prosper...
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.
--------------------
Welcome
back to Character Insight! This week, we profile Michael Jonas, a recurring character on Voyager who plays a key role in the first long storyline of Voyager, the Seska storyline.
("Put on your constipated serious face...good, good")
Jonas was one of the Maquis fighters who served aboard the Val Jean under Chakotay's command until their crew became stranded with Voyager in the Delta Quadrant. He, like B'Elanna Torres, serves as an engineer after joining the ship. He turns out to be one of the harder crew members to bring over to the Starfleet side, and his desire to look out for himself almost ends up in disastrous consequences for the entire Voyager crew.
Jonas was close friends with another former Maquis Kurt Bendera, who died at the hands of the Kazon. Bendera's death was the straw that broke the camel's back in the attempt to get Jonas to fully integrate into Starfleet. Jonas blames Captain Janeway's policies for Kurt's death, which leads him to secretly open communications with Seska to negotiate takeover of the Voyager by the Kazon.
Jonas transmits details of Voyager's new transwarp technology after Tom Paris breaks the Warp 10 barrier. Tuvok detects these transmissions, which were ingeniously sent in the waste energy emitted from the propulsion systems and the power grid. But that doesn't fool him, so he and Tom Paris set forth on a secret agent plan to flush out the traitor and figure out who has turned against the Voyager.
Quote: (from Investigations)
When Jonas sabotages the magnetic constrictors of the USS Technobabble for Seska, Paris and Tuvok put a plan in place to make it seem like Paris is also defecting from the crew. Seska takes the bait, pulling in Paris, who then turns on her and the Kazon to determine that Jonas is the traitor. Meanwhile, Neelix also comes to the same conclusion in his own investigations aboard Voyager and he ends up trapped in a struggle with Jonas in main engineering. Neelix wins the day though, as Jonas ends up falling into a plasma fire near the warp core, a fitting way for a traitor to go out.
Jonas is a necessary evil character to fill a gap early in the show, although it is a bit lazy to have Tuvok always be ready to foil the rogue Maquis plans. Seska and the Kazon are the first great villains in the Delta Quadrant, and Jonas holds a special memorable role in this storyline, even as a small bit character. That's more than can be said for many recurring characters.
Raphael Sbarge played Jonas, and his acting career began as a little kid on Sesame Street when that show was brand new. He has also played in various movies like Independence Day and Pearl Harbor, and more recently in TV series like Once Upon A Time. He's also a prolific video game voice actor, appearing in Mass Effect and Everquest, among others.
Until next time, live long and prosper...
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.
--------------------
Welcome
back to Character Insight! This week, we profile Ro Laren, a recurring character on TNG who almost became a major character on DS9.
("Nose ridges and earrings, yes indeed, it's a TNG era alien via forehead of the week")
Ro grew up during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, which means she spent most of her childhood in internment and refugeee camps. Her most traumatic moment was being forced to watch Cardassians question and torture her father to death, an incident that taught her not even her father could protect her. She felt ashamed to be a Bajoran in view of this weakness, and she ran away from her culture for a time before coming back to embrace it, once she was done grieving her father.
Ro decided to serve in Starfleet, and despite good accolades at the Academy, her first assignment results in a court martial. Her decision to disobey orders on an away mission led to the deaths of 8 crew mates while serving on the USS Wellington. Thus, when she comes aboard the Enterprise to help with a Bajoran terrorist capture mission, she is only at the rank of ensign and has been just released from a prison sentence. Needless to say, Captain Picard and Commander Riker don't trust her initially.
However, Ro quickly showed her potential guiding the Enterprise through this terrorist capture mission. Captain Picard decides he cannot let this promising young officer go, so she appears in several other episodes in the final three seasons of TNG. The most notable of these is The Next Phase, an episode where Ro and Geordi La Forge get sent out of phase by new Romulan cloaking technology and they have to find a way to inform the rest of the crew that they are not dead and also about the Romulan threat.
Quote: Ro Laren: I
was raised with Bajoran beliefs. And I even followed some of the
practices. But I never really believed in a life after death. And then
suddenly I was dead... and there was this other life. And that made me
feel like I'd been pretty arrogant, to discount everything I'd been
taught, you know? Now I don't know what to believe.
Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Hmm... Well, maybe we should develop our own interphase device. If it can teach Ro Laren humility, it can do anything.
Ro is later assigned to infiltrate the Maquis. In the process of gaining the trust of the Maquis, she again found her loyalties torn because her heritage led her to be sympathetic to the Maquis cause, which is opposed by the Cardassians. She ends up defecting from the Enterprise, with an apology to Picard for betraying his trust.
Quote: Ro Laren: Could you tell Captain Picard something for me?
Commander William T. Riker: Of course, what is it?
Ro Laren: Tell him I'm sorry.
Ro Laren is a good late-season character because she was designed as a sharp-edged character to contrast from the well-known main characters. Her personal backstory lends itself to good stories about her path to redemption and acceptance of her cultural heritage, even when it doesn't align with her Starfleet mentors.
It is also interesting that the character of Ro Laren was slated to be a main character on DS9, but this role was turned down by actress Michelle Forbes. While it would have been fun to see another character from TNG develop more like Miles O'Brien did, we still received a compelling alternate character when Kira Nerys was plugged into the role Ro Laren was to be in.
Michelle Forbes played Ro, and she has had recent roles on television shows like 24, True Blood, and Battlestar Galactica. She can also be seen in the upcoming Hunger Games movie, The Mockingjay Part 1.
Until next time, live long and prosper...
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.
--------------------
Welcome
back to Character Insight! This week, we profile Brunt, one of the many highly powerful Ferengi making multiple appearances on Deep Space Nine.
("Is that a Dominion spy?")
Brunt is a liquidator for the Ferengi Commerce Authority, which is basically the IRS on steroids thanks to the stringent Rules of Acquisition all Ferengi businessmen subject themselves to. He first appears as an investigator working to punish Quark's mother for being a female making profit, and then to investigate Quark for causing a worker strike at his bar.
He finally is able to revoke Quark's business license for breaking a contract with the FCA, but the story did not end there for this micro-managing FCA agent. Instead, Brunt then tasks himself with bringing down Grand Nagus Zek to try and make himself the new leader of the Ferengi universe. Of course, Quark foils these plans because he can't bear to work with Brunt as a Grand Nagus, and also because Zek is a friend of Ferengi women's rights, important to Quark's mother.
Quote: "I want you back in business. It gives me an opportunity to keep my eye on you, because one day you are going to make a mistake, and on that day, you're going to lose more than your business license." (from Ferengi Love Songs).
But Brunt temporarily gets his way after the FCA deposes Zek following his bold reforms to give equal rights to Ferengi women. Quark again gets the best of Brunt by convincing enough FCA commissioners to return Zek to his position, a move that makes Zek indebted to Quark and his family forever. Which eventually leads to Quark's brother Rom becoming Grand Nagus, but that's another story. Why this plot twist required a story of Quark becoming a woman is beyond me, but it's not as if the Ferengi are taken terribly serious to begin with in Star Trek.
Brunt did return to his job as a FCA liquidator following his failed attempts to become Grand Nagus. One would expect he returned to his paper-pushing bullying ways with the small amount of power granted by his original position. This character would be more interesting if it weren't for the whole Ferengi culture and storyline being so ridiculous. With that as the backdrop, he simply becomes an irritation that leads to dumb things like Quark with boobs.
No, I take it back, an annoying inflexible tax man is never terribly interesting. At least, assuming the show writers don't surprise us (and a bully with delusions of grandeur is not surprising in this role).
Jeffrey Combs played Brunt, and he is likely better known for his role as Weyoun of the Dominion in this same series. He played nine different roles in all his Star Trek time, which ranks among the top five for recurring character actors, and he continues to do a lot of cartoon voice work now.
Until next time, live long and prosper...
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.
--------------------
Welcome
back to Character Insight! This week, we profile a character who spanned three television series in Star Trek, that man being Cyrano Jones.
("The man who brought you Tribbles!")
Jones makes his first appearance on the iconic Trouble With Tribbles episode. He is a trader located on a space station and pawning goods like gems, tribbles, and glow water while the Klingons in the area plot to take over Sherman's Planet. The ensuing infestation of the station as well as the Enterprise leads to Jones being sentenced to a 20 year prison sentence for transporting dangerous lifeforms. He will spend most of this prison sentence cleaning up the mess left by the tribble infestation. At least he will always have a warm and soft place to take a nap!
Of course, a weasel like Cyrano Jones can't be held down by a prison sentence, so he escapes and travels to a Klingon planet to sell more tribbles. He also acquires a genetically-engineered tribble predator called a glommer, which he then tries to smuggle off the planet. The Enterprise catches Jones and forces him to return the glommer to the Klingons before giving him back over to the authorities. Here's guessing that was a place with less warm and soft places to sleep.
Quote: "Once this lovely little lady starts to show this previous little darling around, you won't be able to keep up with them."
Jones is also one of the charactrers who appears in the DS9 episode Trials and Tribbleations, which was the third overall appearance following those on TOS and The Animated Series. Although this type of swashbuckling trader character does not appear much following the first two series, he could very well be an inspiration for the Ferengi. Of course, Starfleet captains don't like these characters much, whether they be humans or Ferengi.
Jones is one of only three recurring characters to be played by the same actor in TOS and TAS. His name was originally to be Cyrano Day Jaymin, but this was changed because the script didn't read well. He was also to be a planetary scout who was a gold miner of the Federation era, but this was changed because the tribble story worked better with a general tradesman rather than a planetary scout. Although it does not count as an appearance, an illustration of this character is shown while Data assimilates some Dixon Hall novels in the TNG episode The Big Goodbye.
Capt Kirk - Pick up every tribble on the space station. If you do that, I'll speak to Mr. Lurry about returning your spaceship.
Jones - It would take years!
Spock - 17.9, to be exact.
Jones - 17.9 years!
Cyrano Jones may not have ended up as such a notorious character without the genius story of the tribbles, but we are certainly better off with the funny stories like his mixed in with the more serious adventures. He therefore serves a similar role as Q does in some episodes of the later Star Trek series. He's a largely unique recurring guest star, which makes for a better character than most which only show up on a couple or three shows.
Stanley Adams played Cyrano Jones, and his most famous appearances as an actor came in 1960s movies like Breakfast at Tiffany's and Lilies of the Field. He passed away in 1977 at the age of 62, far before his time.
Until next time, live long and prosper...
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.
--------------------
Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, I am recording this segment on my birthday, so why not come out of the long series of movie villains with a look at how birthdays add character to Star Trek? After all, what defines characters more than how we celebrate our aging process?
("Surprise Parties...still lame in the 24th Century")
Despite officially only being celebrated by humans, Ferengi, and Krenim in Star Trek lore, birthdays and surprise parties appear with regularity on Star Trek shows. There's nothing more human than pushing your culture on everyone you meet in the spirit of patriotism, colonialism, or discipleship, the Prime Directive notwithstanding. So we get to see that humans still love their presents and parties on birthday occasions.
And just like today, there are plenty of weak gifts forced upon people who don't want to think about aging or how old they are. For example, Captain Kirk receives in The Wrath of Khan an antique pair of eyeglasses in an era of medicine perfecting eyesight, as well as an antique copy of A Tale of Two Cities, one of the most boring books you could offer especially when it would be available anytime digitally. But in a cute twist of fate, Kirk pawns that bad gift when time traveling to save the whales because he knows he will once again receive the glasses someday from Dr. McCoy.
Of course, with humans forcing their birthday traditions on their poor crewmates, it does lead to some fun grumpy character lines. Worf is not amused by many things involving merriment, but especially not a surprise birthday party thrown for him in the episode Parallels:
Quote: "(Picard) How old are you? (Worf) I am...old enough"
Worf is not the only one who can play the grumpy birthday card, as Vulcans are like Klingons and apparently do not celebrate birthdays. When your life expectancy is well beyond 100 years, each individual year probably becomes less significant. But regardless, that does not excuse Mr Grumpyface Tuvok and his nonplussed response to Janeway giving him a candle-laden cake on his birthday in the episode Fury.
Quote: "(Janeway) You're supposed to blow out the candles. (Tuvok) That is not a Vulcan tradition. (Janeway) Well...? (Tuvok) blows out candle...it was a fire hazard"
Some cultures take to the birthday parties more readily, such as Kes in Voyager. Of course, when you only live for a small number of years, it makes more sense to celebrate reaching another milestone. That doesn't stop humans like Dr. Bahsir from finding importance or life turning points at certain birthdays such as 30, even with the presumably longer lifespans of humans 300 years from now. If nothing else, birthday celebrations are an interesting social quirk of humanity that leads to some interesting interactions with other species, another good aspect of Trek. Of course, it would be nice if these interactions were focused on more than the silly surprise parties, but it is a television show after all.
At least birthday parties still have cake, meaning the indulgences in a sweet tooth or some favorite flavor is still a thing 300 years from now. And why not, with replication technology at hand? The writers gave some characters some interesting flavor choices for cakes, at least, including Jimbalian Fudge for Kes, Pineapple for Malcolm Reed, chocolate for Deanna Troi, and Cellular Peptide for Worf ("with mint frosting"). OK that last one isn't truly a birthday cake, but anytime you can play the Worf cake clip, you simply do.
And so, as I revel in a piece of my favorite Lemon cake later today, let's raise a glass to silly human traditions and birthdays. It's good to know we will still be having silly fun and cake in the 24th Century. Birthdays are yet another piece of character in the Star Trek universe, although we will return to the more conventional character profiles again next week.
Until next time, live long and prosper...
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.
--------------------
Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we complete our length countdown of best Trek movie villains with the top spot. Who else could be number 1, but Khan Noonien Singh from The Wrath of Khan?
("Ahh, the magic of the Montalban")
As with the John Harrison Khan of the reboot movies, the original Khan is a genetically engineered human who was developed to help run the world countries in the 20th Century. However, in this timeline his re-appearance happens in deep space as Kirk's Enterprise finds the sleeper ship SS Botany Bay in the Mutara sector with all 84 occupants aboard in stasis.
Kirk's boarding of Khan's ship triggers his stasis unit to revive him. After Dr. McCoy saves Khan's life, Khan temporarily takes over the ship in an attempt to go take over a local colony, but Kirk is able to fight Khan and subdue him. The Enterprise leaves the human augments on Ceti Alpha V, a habitable world, to start a new life and colony apart from society.
Unfortunately, that planet became a desert wasteland a few years later when Ceti Alpha VI has a cataclysm and alters the orbit of Ceti Alpha V. Indeed, this planet is mistaken for Ceti Alpha VI when the USS Reliant and Pavel Chekov come back to scout an apparent unhabitable planet to test the Genesis Device. Khan uses some local eels to make Captain Terrell and Chekov vulnerable to following all suggestions by Khan. Khan and his crew thus highjack the Reliant and try to track down the Genesis Device while also luring Captain Kirk in a plot to gain revenge for his exile on a wasteland planet.
Indeed, Khan quotes from Moby Dick quite often, a nice allegory by the writers to the crazed obsessive nature and psychology of Khan and his revenge plots.
Quote: "He tasks
me! He tasks
me, and I shall have him! I'll chase him 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares maelstrom and 'round Perdition's FLAMES before I give him up." – Khan
Khan then ambushes the Enterprise by faking communications trouble before firing phasers on the Enterprise to knock out many ship systems including propulsion. Kirk knows more about starship battle though, as he uses codes to override the Reliant's tactical system from outside to fire a few weak shots at the Reliant to take out photon torpedos and the warp power, then he goes into the Mutara nebula to force the battle into a sensor-less three-dimensional battle.
Khan does not appreciate the 3-dimensional submarine-like nature of this battle, which allows the Enterprise to flank the Reliant and attack from behind to win the battle. Khan tries to activate the Genesis device as a bomb to sacrifice himself and kill the Enterprise, but Spock repairs the warp core damage just in time, at the cost of his life, to enable the Enterprise to escape for another day.
Quote: "From hell's heart, I stab at thee...For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee..." - Khan
Khan is one of only two villains to successfully kill off a main character, the other being Dr. Soran in Generations. Khan is also only one of two villains to appear multiple times in live action against Kirk's Enterprise, the other being Harry Mudd, who also got a shoutout in the reboot Into Darkness. Khan has a descendant Noonian Singh who redirects his efforts away from human augments to perfecting artificial intelligence, leading to the creation of Data. So the line of augments does eventually provide some serious good in the Star Trek universe.
This villain has it all: a salty history with Kirk, deep and interesting motivations for his crazy revenge obsession, infinitely quotable, an outstanding acting performance, a suspenseful and tension-filled battle with the Enterprise, and true impact on the crew of the Enterprise. He also brings Star Trek another ethical/moral dilemma of the times, this time the risks of genetic engineering, and it makes you think. That's when Star Trek is at it's best, when it faces the biggest and toughest questions of humanity.
For more on this great character and his back story, check out the trilogy of novels by Greg Cox including The Eugenics Wars Volumes I and II, and To Reign in Hell, The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh.
Ricardo Montalban played Khan in these appearances. He passed away in 2009, but in his 88-year life, he has many memorable film and TV appearances including Fantasy Island and The Naked Gun.
Until next time, live long and prosper...
