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 Wesley Crusher from TNG.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp17
Wesley begins his journey aboard the Enterprise as a passenger. He was the teenage son of Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher, but he found his way on the bridge often by shadowing bridge officers in work-study programs. Following his outstanding work on the propulsion system with The Traveler, Picard granted him the commission of acting ensign.
Although Wesley was just as likely to destroy the ship with nanites as he was to save the day, the character allowed the screenwriters to experiment with many mentorship stories and growing pains stories. Wesley was granted the rank of full ensign by Picard before leaving the ship to enroll at Starfleet Academy.
While at the Academy, Crusher saves the ship against from a mind control device while on holiday. He also loses an entire year of academic credit for his role in the cover up of the performance of a banned flight maneuver called the Kolvoord Starburst, which sours him on his future in Starfleet.
As a result, when The Traveler shows up again and offers to mentor Crusher, he takes the opportunity to lead a much different and unique life. Little more is heard from Crusher following this departure, although we do know that he possibly rejoins Starfleet by the time Riker and Troi become married. His possible futures as a Traveler and in Starfleet aboard the U.S.S. Titan have been retconned by the books.
Wesley was named after Gene Roddenberry's middle name, which is also Wesley. Wesley was almost slated to be a female character named Leslie, but the writers switched back during casting. Crusher's tendency to dominate episodes and have pretentious or overwrought dialogue makes him one of the least favorite characters in Star Trek lore, but he is certainly an integral part of what TNG is all about.
The best episodes featuring Crusher include: The First Duty from season 5, Pen Pals from season 2, and Justice from season 1.
Our notable quote this week comes from the episode Final Mission in season 4:
Ensign Wesley Crusher: [to Picard] Sir, in the past three years, I've lived more than most people do in a lifetime. I think I'm very lucky, no matter what happens. How many people get to serve with Jean-Luc Picard?
Actor: Wil Wheaton played the role of Crusher, and he has recently had a resurgence of acting appearances in web series like Tabletop and The Guild as well as TV series Eureka and The Big Bang Theory.
Until next time, live long and prosper...
Monday, August 20, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
TWITrek Character Insight No. 16: Hikaru Sulu
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 Hikaru Sulu from TOS.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp16
Sulu serves as the helmsman aboard the Enterprise, although he also takes shifts as tactical officer. Sulu started as the head of the astrosciences department, but he had already switched to the role of helmsman when the series picks up the story.
Sulu is a regular presence on the bridge and a regular member of away teams, at least when he is serving as a tactical expert. However, Sulu also brings a bit of comic relief in certain episodes such as This Side of Paradise. In The Naked Time, an intoxicated Sulu runs around the ship with his shirt off and a fencing foil, like a swashbuckling buccaneer. (As George would say, Oh My!)
Sulu has various hobbies that come up frequently during his adventures on the Enterprise. Sulu is an expert in antique firearms and swords, and enjoys various types of swordplay. Sulu also is an avid botanist who spends much of his free time caring for rare plants from various locales journeyed to by the Enterprise.
Unlike the other characters of TOS, who stick with the Enterprise until retirement, Sulu progresses to Captain of the Excelsior during the movie series. Sulu plays a critical role in saving Kirk and his former crewmates in The Undiscovered Country. Sulu is also revealed to have a daughter Demora in the movies, and she also becomes a helmsman aboard a new Enterprise.
Sulu's name was changed in the Japanese version of Star Trek to Kato because the Japanese language does not include the L sound. Sulu's first name was not confirmed until Star Trek VI, and there was much speculation as to what it could be over the years.
The best episodes featuring Sulu include: The Naked Time, from season 1; The City on the Edge of Forever, from season 1; and Tomorrow is Yesterday, from season 1.
Our notable quote this week comes from the Voyager episode Flashback in season 3:
Captain Hikaru Sulu: Ensign, you're absolutely right. But you're also absolutely wrong. You'll find that more happens on the bridge of a starship than just carrying out orders and observing regulations. There is a sense of loyalty to the men and women you serve with - a sense of family. Those two men on trial, I served with them for a long time. I owe them my life, a dozen times over. And right now they're in trouble, and I'm going to help them. Let the regulations be damned.
Tuvok: Sir, that is a most illogical line of reasoning.
Captain Hikaru Sulu: You better believe it.
Actor: George Takei played Sulu, and he has a 50 year acting career spanning from General Hospital all the way to Heroes, and a recent appearance on The Apprentice. John Cho took over the role in the 2009 reboot, and he is best known for the comical Harold and Kumar movies and shorts.
Until next time, live long and prosper...
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Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, our subject is Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu from TOS.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp16
Sulu serves as the helmsman aboard the Enterprise, although he also takes shifts as tactical officer. Sulu started as the head of the astrosciences department, but he had already switched to the role of helmsman when the series picks up the story.
Sulu is a regular presence on the bridge and a regular member of away teams, at least when he is serving as a tactical expert. However, Sulu also brings a bit of comic relief in certain episodes such as This Side of Paradise. In The Naked Time, an intoxicated Sulu runs around the ship with his shirt off and a fencing foil, like a swashbuckling buccaneer. (As George would say, Oh My!)
Sulu has various hobbies that come up frequently during his adventures on the Enterprise. Sulu is an expert in antique firearms and swords, and enjoys various types of swordplay. Sulu also is an avid botanist who spends much of his free time caring for rare plants from various locales journeyed to by the Enterprise.
Unlike the other characters of TOS, who stick with the Enterprise until retirement, Sulu progresses to Captain of the Excelsior during the movie series. Sulu plays a critical role in saving Kirk and his former crewmates in The Undiscovered Country. Sulu is also revealed to have a daughter Demora in the movies, and she also becomes a helmsman aboard a new Enterprise.
Sulu's name was changed in the Japanese version of Star Trek to Kato because the Japanese language does not include the L sound. Sulu's first name was not confirmed until Star Trek VI, and there was much speculation as to what it could be over the years.
The best episodes featuring Sulu include: The Naked Time, from season 1; The City on the Edge of Forever, from season 1; and Tomorrow is Yesterday, from season 1.
Our notable quote this week comes from the Voyager episode Flashback in season 3:
Captain Hikaru Sulu: Ensign, you're absolutely right. But you're also absolutely wrong. You'll find that more happens on the bridge of a starship than just carrying out orders and observing regulations. There is a sense of loyalty to the men and women you serve with - a sense of family. Those two men on trial, I served with them for a long time. I owe them my life, a dozen times over. And right now they're in trouble, and I'm going to help them. Let the regulations be damned.
Tuvok: Sir, that is a most illogical line of reasoning.
Captain Hikaru Sulu: You better believe it.
Actor: George Takei played Sulu, and he has a 50 year acting career spanning from General Hospital all the way to Heroes, and a recent appearance on The Apprentice. John Cho took over the role in the 2009 reboot, and he is best known for the comical Harold and Kumar movies and shorts.
Until next time, live long and prosper...
Monday, August 6, 2012
TWITrek Character Insight No. 15: Jadzia Dax
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Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, our subject is Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax from DS9.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp15
Dax is the science officer aboard the Deep Space Nine station. Jadzia is a joined Trill, the eighth host of the Dax symbiont. This provides Dax with lifetimes worth of experience and relationships from which to draw upon.
The previous host of this symbiont was Curzon Dax, who was an old friend of Commander Sisko. As a result, Sisko playfully calls Dax "old man" despite Jadzia being a much younger female than the friend Sisko had in Curzon. Jadzia goes from a shy and hardworking Starfleet graduate to a confident and outgoing person thanks to the Dax symbiont.
Jadzia picks up some of the hobbies and habits of the former hosts, including interests in Klingon martial arts and a talent playing Ferengi tongo. She also bites her nails and often paced with her hands behind her back, which are habits from previous Dax hosts.
Although Jadzia does hold feelings for Commander Sisko, she eventually ends up marrying Worf when he comes onto the station in the last couple of seasons of the show. She may not be an actual Klingon, but she certainly fights and eats like one and therefore becomes an honored member of the House of Martok.
The romance does not last forever though, as Jadzia is one of the most notable casualties of the Dominion War in the season 6 finale. Dax is killed trying to protect a Bajoran sacred Orb from Gul Dukat, but this would not be the end of the Dax character. The symbiont is transferred to Ezri, who becomes the station's counselor in the final season.
The first Trill character was seen in The Next Generation, but that character had one of Star Trek's many distinctive forehead appliances. The writers hated how ugly it made the character look and so changed the Trill race to include the spots that have been common to Jadzia, Ezri, and all Trill characters since then.
Dax was originally slated to be the wise old man character like another science officer Spock, but the outgoing and fun ways of the character that emerged in season 1 stuck and became what defines Jadzia Dax.
Our notable quote this week comes from the episode Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places:
Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax: If I were in your shoes, I would be looking for someone a little more entertaining, a little more fun and maybe even a little more attainable.
Lt. Commander Worf: You are not in my shoes.
Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax: Too bad. You'd be amazed at what I can do in a pair of size 18 boots.
Actress: Terry Farrell played Jadzia, and she also starred in the TV series Becker after DS9. Fun fact: Farrell was born almost exactly 20 years before this host in the same city!
Until next time, live long and prosper...
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