Character Insight No. 212: Tomalak

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we profile Commander Tomalak, a Romulan ship captain who faces off against Picard on multiple occasions in TNG.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp212

In his first appearance in the episode The Enemy, Tomalak violates the Romulan-Federation Neutral Zone in an effort to rescue the crew of a scout ship which had previously violated the same Neutral Zone and crashed on a planet. He threatens to fire on the Enterprise after Picard confronts him and his warbird, but the Romulans back down when one of the stranded crew members is returned safely to them. Indeed, this crew member helps Geordi La Forge escape the planet alive, giving both sides reason to keep the cease fire.

Like all powerful Romulans, Tomalak is of course involved in an elaborate conspiracy to trick the Federation into a trap during his next appearance in the episode The Defector. His trap involves allowing a Romulan defector Jarok to go go the Federation with fake news of a supposed Romulan build up on a planet in the Neutral Zone, to lure a Federation ship there. Picard's Enterprise is the lucky victim of this trap, but thankfully he was smart enough to have some Klingon reinforcements with him when breaking into the Neutral Zone. The Klingons force Tomalak to back down before he takes the Enterprise and its crew hostage.

QUOTE (from The Defector)

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: What shall it be, Tomalak?
Commander Tomalak: You will still not survive our assault.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: And you will not survive ours. Shall we die together?

Tomalak does not match wits with Picard again on this level, but he is an antagonist which is interesting and memorable enough to appear in a couple more episodes of the latter seasons of the show. In Future Imperfect, he is part of an elaborate hologram hoax set by a lonely abandoned boy who wants company and deceives Riker into being with him for a time. 

In the finale All Good Things, he appears in an alternate timeline and decides to let a single ship going a single Federation ship into the Neutral Zone to investigate an eruption in that Zone. Thus, even though he is left to holograms and alternate realities, this Romulan leader becomes one of the few recurring villains in this TV series. He is also a character brought up in many of the Star Trek books, for those who want more.

Just like the Sela character profiled a few weeks ago, Tomalak provides some much-needed consistency on the other side of the long Romulan-Federation tension storylines. It would've been interesting to see him make a cameo in the Nemesis movie, but I suppose an appearance in the finale episode, which was much like the scope of a feature film, was enough of a nod to the importance of this character.

Tomalak was played by Andreas Katsulas, who passed away in February of this year after being out of acting for the last 10 years. His other recurring role was as G'Kar on Babylon 5, and he also appeared in the Harrison Ford movie The Fugitive.

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Character Insight No. 211: Molly O'Brien

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we profile Molly O'Brien, a recurring child character who appeared with her parents both on TNG and DS9.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp211

Molly was born on the Enterprise-D in the fifth season episode Disaster. Quantum filaments striking the ship make various parts of the ship inaccessible to others, including Ten Forward, where of course Keiko O'Brien goes into labor. Worf ends up having to deliver the baby, leading to much hilarity and great quotes to start young Molly's life.

QUOTE:

Worf: You may now give birth. 

For the remainder of the O'Briens' time on Picard's Enterprise, Molly is simply seen in stories primarily involving other characters. For example, her crying as a baby when taken hostage with other crew members unnerves some criminals in one appearance, and she is used to show the importance of a mother-daughter bond when Keiko is transformed into a 12-year old in another episode. 

Like all other child characters, Molly leads to some awkward episodes after her family moves aboard the Deep Space Nine station. One of these included Rumpelstiltskin coming to life and wreaking havoc on the station in the episode If Wishes Were Horses. Another weird episode entitled Time's Orphan involves Molly falling through an energy vortex that transports her back in time 300 years to when a planet was uninhabited. When Miles reactivates the portal, his calculations are ten years off and they have to deal with a feral, wild 18-year old version of their daughter. While a strange episode, this was a good character piece evaluating what it takes to let go of a daughter, although the 8-year old Molly is returned to the parents by convenient writing in the end of the episode.

In the years on Deep Space Nine, Molly is seen most as a character who gives more depth to Miles O'Brien. Her phases of childhood included one where she wanted nothing to do with her father, and Miles has to deal with that like all parents do. Likewise, she spends two six-month stints with her mother on botany expeditions, which allows the show writers to use Miles and Molly's limited time together as a character investigation of families living apart and maximizing every moment together when opportunity arises. 

QUOTE (Hard Times):

Molly O'Brien: Daddy's home, Daddy's home! 
Chief Miles Edward O'Brien: That's right - Daddy's home. 

Molly is possibly the least annoying of the regular child recurring characters, thanks to not being overused or the center of too many silly stories. Indeed, her ability to reveal some of the most poignant nuances of parenthood is a huge net positive to the character of Miles O'Brien and the shows in general.

Molly O'Brien is played by Hana Hatae in most appearances. She has recently begun acting again as a young adult, appearing in upcoming movies The Circuit and 5th Passenger.

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Character Insight No. 210: Grand Nagus Zek

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we profile Grand Nagus Zek, a recurring Ferengi character on Deep Space Nine.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp210


Zek is first seen in an episode where he tests his son Krax to find out if he is worthy of taking over as Grand Nagus, AKA the leader of the Ferengi Alliance. To do this, he announces Quark will be his successor right before faking his own death. Krax did not pass the test, and as such, Zek decides to remain in his position for a while longer.

Also as a result, Zek becomes a recurring character in view of the importance of the Ferengi in the landscape of the Deep Space Nine show. For example, he takes an active role in trying to open negotiations for trade and cooperation with the Dominion, as war does not favor profit for the Ferengi in their current state. Zek often appoints Quark to speak on his behalf or to do his bidding in dealing with Benjamin Sisko and the Federation's initial dealings with the Dominion.

QUOTE (from Rules of Acquisition)
Major Kira: The Ferengi reputation speaks for itself. 
Zek: A reputation for honesty and decency and reliability. You always know what to expect when you do business with the Ferengi. 
Major Kira: Which is why, if you're smart, you don't do business with the Ferengi. 

Although Zek initially starts as a symbol of the ruthless business and rules that Ferengi must follow, he softens his stance as his time around DS9 continues. The first softening comes thanks to the Bajoran prophets, who reverted Zek to a state where Ferengi were not as profit-driven when they found his greed to be offensive. After establishing the Ferengi Benevolent Association and rewriting many of the society rules to promote charitable giving, Quark convinces the Prophets to return him to his normal ways. These changes were only temporary, but they may have had an effect on his future.

That future included a romantic involvement with Quark's mother Ishka, and then a softening of the rigid rules regarding women in Ferengi society. This leads to some incredibly silly scenes and episodes, but it also leads to the eventual surprise that Ishka's other son Rom as Grand Nagus. Unlike Quark, Rom appears to be cut from the same progressive mold that Zek became in his later years, foretelling an interesting future for the Ferengi Alliance.

Zek is played by Wallace Shawn. He still acts today, although his most famous roles are as the dinosaur Rex in the Toy Story movies and Vizzini in The Princess Bride.

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Character Insight No. 209: Ensign Kellogg

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we profile Ensign Kellogg, a recurring character who appears throughout the latter seasons of TNG.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp209

Kellogg is a security and tactical officer aboard Picard's Enterprise ships. We see her beginning in the fourth season of the TV show in bridge duty shifts on the bridge at tactical when Data or Worf are not working at that station. She also appears as a regular face in the crowd in the background of many crew scenes, as with other highly regular recurring characters.

In this latter role, she is seen fraternizing with Commander Riker, attending lectures by Data and Captain Picard, and drinking with crew mates in Ten Forward. While on duty, she is seen in all types of circumstances from landing parties, to guard duty, to being seen in the turbo lifts and the transporter rooms. When Worf gives her an assignment during a security meeting in the episode The Drumhead, her name is finally set for the first time.

QUOTE (from The Drumhead)
Worf: Ensign Kellogg, I want a list of all relatives, known associates, and especially old school friends.
Kellogg: (Nods) Aye sir. 

As the seasons progress, her role as a security guard becomes more pronounced. She is with Worf when investigating Deanna Troi's mental attackers in the episode Violations and then helps arrest the criminal. She guards Gul Lemec while Edward Jellico is in command of the ship temporarily. She also has the privilege of guarding notable other recurring characters like Thomas Riker and Klingon Chancellor Gowron.

Kellogg also continues to be seen in the first two TNG movies, on the bridge in Generations and on the Bozeman site with Zefram Cochrane in First Contact. She actually apprehends Cochrane when he tries to run away during the repairs of the Phoenix, thereby saving the future by making sure he does the warp flight at the right time to get noticed by our favorite stuffy neighbors, the Vulcans. It's a fitting last role for a regular background face of this crew.

Kellogg is played by regular background actor Cameron Oppenheimer, also known as just Cameron. She also was a body double for the Dr. Crusher character when she was not acting as an alien. She only acted in the early 90s, making appearances in films like Samurai Cop and Coneheads.

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Character Insight No. 208: Lieutenant DeSalle

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we profile Vincent DeSalle, a lieutenant jack of all trades who appears on several episodes of TOS.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp208

DeSalle is first seen as a command division navigator in the episode The Squire of Gothos. He specifically joined a landing party which is looking for Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Sulu, and he comes into conflict with Trelane in this process. The most notable scene is where he is temporarily paralyzed when he tries to stun Trelane, and instead, Trelane uses the phaser to experiment with disintegrating some of his trophies.

Desalle appears again in a landing party in the episode This Side of Paradise, where many of the crew fall under the influence of Omicron spores. The Frenchman mutinies, but like all French revolutions, it ended quickly, specifically thanks to a subsonic transmitter.

The next time we see DeSalle at the beginning of season 2, he is placed in command of the Enterprise when the remainder of the command chain was off the ship in the episode Catspaw. He has to lead an effort to try and get through an alien barrier to send help to the crew off the ship, but he does not succeed before the alien Korob removes the barrier himself.

QUOTE (from Catspaw)
DeSalle: Mr. Chekov, recalibrate your sensors. If you need help...
Chekov: I can do it, sir. I'm not that green.

DeSalle: We know they're down there. I want them found!

Interestingly, he has a different color uniform and a different role as assistant chief engineer in the sciences division in this second appearance. This shift occurred because Gene Coon wanted there to be a backup chief whenever Scotty has to take over the bridge as part of the chain of command, so this episode was to introduce DeSalle as a recurring character in this role. Perhaps the shift in role would be typical as crews continue to develop on a long multi-year mission.

However, this was another of Coon's writing plans that went to waste as none of the scripts involving such circumstances with Scotty in charge ended up requiring communication between the bridge and main engineering. Thus, DeSalle is never seen again, in this role or otherwise.

Desalle is played by Michael Barrier. He acted throughout the 1960s, but Star Trek was one of his final roles. He can also be seen in 60's TV classics Mission Impossible, Bonanza, and the movie Angel in my Pocket.

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