https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp226
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Character Insight No. 226: Sick Week look back at Segment 1 on Sisko
I'm sick this week, so rather than give you new bad voice quality, let's take a look back almost five years ago to where this segment started, with a sample of Episode 1 on Benjamin Sisko. A good recall before we begin the Best of Series for Deep Space Nine.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp226
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp226
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Character Insight No. 225: Darien Wallace
Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we review Darien Wallace, a lieutenant crewman who is a regular background character in The Next Generation.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp225
Unlike most background characters, Darien Wallace has a fairly full history fleshed out in canon of the show thanks to his personnel file being shown on a screen in the season 7 episode Eye of the Beholder. He ends up being a core person in that story about Deanna Troi suffering from alien-induced hallucinations.
However, before this moment, all we knew of Mr. Wallace was his last name and his role aboard Picard's Enterprise, which was as the team leader and specialist regarding the life support systems in engineering. We learn from his personnel record that he won some bioengineering awards before joining the crew, perhaps regarding developments in the life support systems he manages.
Wallace appears in 66 episodes and the movie Generations, making him one of the Top 5 most recurring characters on this version of Star Trek. Ironically, just like Diana Giddings of last week, these highly recurring roles do not come with much in the way of spoken lines, just a consistent background presence. His only true spoken line is one word in an episode called The Next Phase. However, we do see him promoted from crewman to ensign to lieutenant as the show progresses.
That background presence is most often seen in engineering, which makes sense, as well as on specific away missions where his expertise can be used to help colonists or aliens on other planets. Outside a three-episode switch to command division and a red uniform in season 4, Wallace is consistently presented as an expert in his field, and that is indicative of the care the show writers took with some aspects of TNG.
Other than the aforementioned Eye of the Beholder, Wallace's most notable appearances include Descent from season 6, where we first learn his name; and Power Play, in season 4. His red jumpsuit uniform from All Good Things was cut up and put on trading cards, so you may have a piece of Darien Wallace sitting around your collectibles!
Wallace is played by regular background extra Guy Vardaman, who was also the stand in photo double for Data and a research consultant for Gene Roddenberry. When not using his hands to re-create button pushing actions of Data and other characters, Verdaman worked on other shows such as Matlock and Cheers, and he later became Vice President of Production at Warner Brothers Online.
Rest in peace, Ralff...the community will miss you.
-----
Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp225
Unlike most background characters, Darien Wallace has a fairly full history fleshed out in canon of the show thanks to his personnel file being shown on a screen in the season 7 episode Eye of the Beholder. He ends up being a core person in that story about Deanna Troi suffering from alien-induced hallucinations.
However, before this moment, all we knew of Mr. Wallace was his last name and his role aboard Picard's Enterprise, which was as the team leader and specialist regarding the life support systems in engineering. We learn from his personnel record that he won some bioengineering awards before joining the crew, perhaps regarding developments in the life support systems he manages.
Wallace appears in 66 episodes and the movie Generations, making him one of the Top 5 most recurring characters on this version of Star Trek. Ironically, just like Diana Giddings of last week, these highly recurring roles do not come with much in the way of spoken lines, just a consistent background presence. His only true spoken line is one word in an episode called The Next Phase. However, we do see him promoted from crewman to ensign to lieutenant as the show progresses.
That background presence is most often seen in engineering, which makes sense, as well as on specific away missions where his expertise can be used to help colonists or aliens on other planets. Outside a three-episode switch to command division and a red uniform in season 4, Wallace is consistently presented as an expert in his field, and that is indicative of the care the show writers took with some aspects of TNG.
Other than the aforementioned Eye of the Beholder, Wallace's most notable appearances include Descent from season 6, where we first learn his name; and Power Play, in season 4. His red jumpsuit uniform from All Good Things was cut up and put on trading cards, so you may have a piece of Darien Wallace sitting around your collectibles!
Wallace is played by regular background extra Guy Vardaman, who was also the stand in photo double for Data and a research consultant for Gene Roddenberry. When not using his hands to re-create button pushing actions of Data and other characters, Verdaman worked on other shows such as Matlock and Cheers, and he later became Vice President of Production at Warner Brothers Online.
Rest in peace, Ralff...the community will miss you.
-----
Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!
Monday, February 13, 2017
Character Insight No. 224: Diana Giddings
Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we review Diana Giddings, a lieutenant engineer who is a background character in The Next Generation.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp224
Giddings has 58 appearances spanning all 7 seasons of the show, and she starts as primarily an engineering background grunt. Most of her first season appearances are on the bridge or in main engineering, typically in the memorable skant dress uniform from that season. In a more notable moment, she is one of the crew members affected by polywater intoxication and that causes her to get amorous with a male crewmate in engineering...just in time for Valentine's Day!
In the second season, this background character switches to sciences division and a blue uniform. She is most often seen in sickbay or in scenes with Dr. Pulaski. Much like Dr. Pulaski, the second season doesn't end well for her, as she is apparently demoted by the time she appears as a regular crewman in season 3.
Her appearances thin out as the seasons go along, but one of her normal roles was as a close personal friend to the O'Brien family in the middle seasons. She takes care of Molly on occasion for the new parents, which dovetails nicely with her continued duties alongside Nurse Ogawa and Ensign Martinez in sickbay.
Ironically her appearances ramp back up in the final season, but most of these appearances are off duty in Ten Forward. She's an easy recognizable face in the crowd to insert in many situations when another extra would've been cast but the show runners preferred some continuity. She still does not receive any significant dialogue, much like some other characters we've covered, including the aforementioned Ensign Martinez.
Giddings is played by Lorine Mendell, who was also the stand in for Gates McFadden. That's probably why it was convenient to make her a medic after season one. She also appears in Star Trek Generations, but only has two other small acting credits to her name beyond the Trek connections.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone, and here's to more love and Star Trek in the world. Happy Birthday to Simon Pegg as well, who was born on this day in 1970 long before becoming a movie writer and the new generation of Scotty.
-----
Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp224
Giddings has 58 appearances spanning all 7 seasons of the show, and she starts as primarily an engineering background grunt. Most of her first season appearances are on the bridge or in main engineering, typically in the memorable skant dress uniform from that season. In a more notable moment, she is one of the crew members affected by polywater intoxication and that causes her to get amorous with a male crewmate in engineering...just in time for Valentine's Day!
In the second season, this background character switches to sciences division and a blue uniform. She is most often seen in sickbay or in scenes with Dr. Pulaski. Much like Dr. Pulaski, the second season doesn't end well for her, as she is apparently demoted by the time she appears as a regular crewman in season 3.
Her appearances thin out as the seasons go along, but one of her normal roles was as a close personal friend to the O'Brien family in the middle seasons. She takes care of Molly on occasion for the new parents, which dovetails nicely with her continued duties alongside Nurse Ogawa and Ensign Martinez in sickbay.
Ironically her appearances ramp back up in the final season, but most of these appearances are off duty in Ten Forward. She's an easy recognizable face in the crowd to insert in many situations when another extra would've been cast but the show runners preferred some continuity. She still does not receive any significant dialogue, much like some other characters we've covered, including the aforementioned Ensign Martinez.
Giddings is played by Lorine Mendell, who was also the stand in for Gates McFadden. That's probably why it was convenient to make her a medic after season one. She also appears in Star Trek Generations, but only has two other small acting credits to her name beyond the Trek connections.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone, and here's to more love and Star Trek in the world. Happy Birthday to Simon Pegg as well, who was born on this day in 1970 long before becoming a movie writer and the new generation of Scotty.
-----
Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!
Monday, February 6, 2017
Character Insight No. 223: Best of Captain Archer
Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we wrap up the "Best Of" series for Enterprise with a profile of Captain Jonathan Archer. Lots to cover, so we'll skip the theme song for once.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp223
In the season 2 episode A Night in Sickbay, Archer must deal with watching his dog Porthos suffer from complications of an away mission while also overcoming some serious pent-up sexual tension as well. We learn the background of how he and his companion Porthos came to be:
Captain Jonathan Archer: An old girlfriend's mother had... this beagle I was crazy about. Even after her daughter and I broke up, we stayed in touch. When the dog got pregnant, I was the first one she called. Four males in the litter - the Four Musketeers. I've had Porthos since he was six weeks old.
In the season 2 episode First Flight, we see Archer as a commander competing with a friend and colleague A.G. Robinson for the right to lead the initial warp flight projects and starships. When Robinson gets the initial upper hand for a warp 2 flight, Archer shows how difficult he would be to console if it hadn't turned out the other way when Enterprise comes along:
Ruby: [trying to comfort Archer] They'll need a pilot for the next flight.
Commander Jonathan Archer: D'you remember what Buzz Aldrin said when he stepped on the moon?
Ruby: No.
Commander Jonathan Archer: Nobody does. Because Armstrong went first.
In Season 2's Cogenitor, the Enterprise crew helps establish what will become the Prime Directive when it interferes with a culture during an otherwise positive first contact mission. Trip finds the enslavement of a third gender of the Vissian race unacceptable and he educates it regarding human culture, which leads to it's suicide and this outburst from Captain Archer:
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp223
In the season 2 episode A Night in Sickbay, Archer must deal with watching his dog Porthos suffer from complications of an away mission while also overcoming some serious pent-up sexual tension as well. We learn the background of how he and his companion Porthos came to be:
Captain Jonathan Archer: An old girlfriend's mother had... this beagle I was crazy about. Even after her daughter and I broke up, we stayed in touch. When the dog got pregnant, I was the first one she called. Four males in the litter - the Four Musketeers. I've had Porthos since he was six weeks old.
In the season 2 episode First Flight, we see Archer as a commander competing with a friend and colleague A.G. Robinson for the right to lead the initial warp flight projects and starships. When Robinson gets the initial upper hand for a warp 2 flight, Archer shows how difficult he would be to console if it hadn't turned out the other way when Enterprise comes along:
Ruby: [trying to comfort Archer] They'll need a pilot for the next flight.
Commander Jonathan Archer: D'you remember what Buzz Aldrin said when he stepped on the moon?
Ruby: No.
Commander Jonathan Archer: Nobody does. Because Armstrong went first.
In Season 2's Cogenitor, the Enterprise crew helps establish what will become the Prime Directive when it interferes with a culture during an otherwise positive first contact mission. Trip finds the enslavement of a third gender of the Vissian race unacceptable and he educates it regarding human culture, which leads to it's suicide and this outburst from Captain Archer:
Captain Jonathan Archer: I might have expected something like this from a first-year recruit. But not you. You did exactly what I'd do? If that's true, then I've done a pretty lousy job setting an example around here. You're a senior officer on this ship. You're privy to the moral challenges I've had to face. You know I've wrestled with the fine line between doing what I think is right and interfering with other species. So don't tell me you know what I would have done when *I* don't even know what I would have done!
Finally, the season 4 two-part episode Demons/Terra Prime before the series finale was a high point for Archer's character and the show as a whole, as Archer fights for a different vision of how humans will interact with other worlds in the proposed Federation as compared to John Paxton, a xenophobic terrorist played by Peter Weller and intent on banishing all non-humans from Earth. Archer provides the following speech in one of many things he does to try and realize his dream for the future of Earth:
Captain Jonathan Archer: [speaking to the alien delegates] Up until about a hundred years ago... there was one question that burned in every Human - that made us study the stars and dream of traveling to them: "Are we alone?" Our generation is privileged to know the answer to that question. We are all explorers, driven to know what's over the horizon, what's beyond our own shores. And yet... the more I've experienced, the more I've learned... that no matter how far we travel, or how fast we get there... the most profound discoveries are not necessarily beyond that next star. They're within us - woven into the threads that bind us - all of us - to each other. The final frontier begins in this hall. Let's explore it together.
Captain Archer may not be considered one of the strongest lead characters in Star Trek history, but Scott Bakula did well when provided good scripts to develop his character. He's definitely one of the bright spots in Enterprise...not to be confused with the theme song, which we must never forget as we wrap up our series on Enterprise main characters... [FAITH OF THE HEART]
Finally, the season 4 two-part episode Demons/Terra Prime before the series finale was a high point for Archer's character and the show as a whole, as Archer fights for a different vision of how humans will interact with other worlds in the proposed Federation as compared to John Paxton, a xenophobic terrorist played by Peter Weller and intent on banishing all non-humans from Earth. Archer provides the following speech in one of many things he does to try and realize his dream for the future of Earth:
Captain Jonathan Archer: [speaking to the alien delegates] Up until about a hundred years ago... there was one question that burned in every Human - that made us study the stars and dream of traveling to them: "Are we alone?" Our generation is privileged to know the answer to that question. We are all explorers, driven to know what's over the horizon, what's beyond our own shores. And yet... the more I've experienced, the more I've learned... that no matter how far we travel, or how fast we get there... the most profound discoveries are not necessarily beyond that next star. They're within us - woven into the threads that bind us - all of us - to each other. The final frontier begins in this hall. Let's explore it together.
Captain Archer may not be considered one of the strongest lead characters in Star Trek history, but Scott Bakula did well when provided good scripts to develop his character. He's definitely one of the bright spots in Enterprise...not to be confused with the theme song, which we must never forget as we wrap up our series on Enterprise main characters... [FAITH OF THE HEART]
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