Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we review Alice and the White Rabbit, two characters who surprisingly show up on two episodes of Star Trek.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp255
Kirk's Enterprise crew never visited pleasure planet Risa, but they found the next best thing in the episode Shore Leave. An amusement park planet that can create characters and experiences right out of your own memories and thoughts! What an amazing and terrifying concept, all at once.
Alice and the White Rabbit, well known characters from Lewis Carroll books and the 1951 Disney movie Alice in Wonderland, show up after Dr. McCoy says that the beautiful shore leave planet was like something out of that same Alice in Wonderland movie. The characters turn out to be robots created by the planet, but it was a fun trip to Disneyland as the crew must figure out the mystery of this planet.
The crew sees these characters again in the TAS episode Once Upon a Planet. As you might expect if you're familiar with Carroll's original works, Alice is chasing the White Rabbit, who is always concerned about being on time. In this episode, McCoy and Sulu have a picnic with these fairy tale characters and a dragon. Because if we've learned anything from Game of Thrones, it's that everything is much better and more believable with a dragon.
QUOTE (from Conspiracy):
Remmick: "We mean you no harm...we seek peaceful co-existence"...(Picard and Riker shoot him).
To date, these are the only Disney characters to invade Star Trek. Given how Paramount and CBS are on the opposite end of the spectrum from Disney and ABC...it's probably not likely we will be seeing any Disney princess crossovers in Discovery or otherwise. Some TOS episodes become memorably wonky, and Alice and the White Rabbit accomplish that for sure.
The White Rabbit was played by William Blackburn in TOS and voiced by James Doohan in TAS. Blackburn also played Lieutenant Hadley, the Gorn Captain, and other guest characters on TOS. He was a profession ice skater before being an actor and costume director, and those slick moves come in handy when running away from little girls from fairy tales. Alice was played by Marcia Brown in TOS and then voiced by Nichelle Nichols in TAS. Brown did not have any other notable acting roles, so one might consider this a one hit wonder...from wonderland.
-----
Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!
Monday, September 25, 2017
Monday, September 18, 2017
Character Insight No. 254: Admiral Gregory Quinn and Inspector General Dexter Rimmick
Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we review Admiral Gregory Quinn and Dexter Remmick, who appeared together in a couple episodes of TNG.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp254
Admiral Quinn is one of the first recurring characters who shows up on TNG, as a critical part of the season one story regarding an attempt by an alien parasite to take over Starfleet Command. In the episode Coming of Age, the Admiral helps uncover this secret plot and then sets Inspector General officer Dexter Remmick to investigate whether the crew of the Enterprise-D has been infiltrated in any manner. This was a bit of a witch hunt similar to the Dominion storylines in latter seasons of Deep Space 9. Indeed, the secretive nature of the investigation causes serious tension between Remmick and the Enterprise crew.
Ironically, Admiral Quinn and Remmick would both later become victims of the alien parasite. In the episode Conspiracy, Captain Picard and Commander Riker must track down the mother creature of these aliens before the infiltration of Starfleet Headquarters is complete. The mother creature turns out to be within Remmick, and when this creature is destroyed, all the other parasites are also killed. That allows Admiral Quinn to make a full recovery. The same cannot be said of Dexter Remmick, who has his head explode in an iconic, disgusting, and memorable scene, which sounds something like this.
QUOTE (from Conspiracy):
Remmick: "We mean you no harm...we seek peaceful co-existence"...(Picard and Riker shoot him).
There's also this from the same episode, because of course:
"Code 47" quote
Admiral Quinn and Remmick are not seen again outside prior footage in a Riker memory scene in the episode Shades of Gray. Perhaps being taken over by an alien parasite is enough to make a man retire.
Here's to you, inspector general officer Dexter Remmick. You may have been an annoying character in an interesting deep state conspiracy story, but at least you went out with a bang like the Fourth of July. Much like Jim Shimoda and his isolinear chip Jenga, you will not be easily forgotten. Or cleaned off the carpet.
Dexter Remmick was played by Robert Schenklan, while Admiral Quinn was played by Ward Costello. Schenklan's acting career ended in the 90s but he has remained a prolific award-winning screenwriter in Hollywood, with recent credits on Hacksaw Ridge and All the Way. The Admiral was one of Costello's final acting roles, as he wrapped up a 35 year career and enjoyed two decades of retirement before his death in 2009.
-----
Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp254
Admiral Quinn is one of the first recurring characters who shows up on TNG, as a critical part of the season one story regarding an attempt by an alien parasite to take over Starfleet Command. In the episode Coming of Age, the Admiral helps uncover this secret plot and then sets Inspector General officer Dexter Remmick to investigate whether the crew of the Enterprise-D has been infiltrated in any manner. This was a bit of a witch hunt similar to the Dominion storylines in latter seasons of Deep Space 9. Indeed, the secretive nature of the investigation causes serious tension between Remmick and the Enterprise crew.
Ironically, Admiral Quinn and Remmick would both later become victims of the alien parasite. In the episode Conspiracy, Captain Picard and Commander Riker must track down the mother creature of these aliens before the infiltration of Starfleet Headquarters is complete. The mother creature turns out to be within Remmick, and when this creature is destroyed, all the other parasites are also killed. That allows Admiral Quinn to make a full recovery. The same cannot be said of Dexter Remmick, who has his head explode in an iconic, disgusting, and memorable scene, which sounds something like this.
QUOTE (from Conspiracy):
Remmick: "We mean you no harm...we seek peaceful co-existence"...(Picard and Riker shoot him).
There's also this from the same episode, because of course:
"Code 47" quote
Admiral Quinn and Remmick are not seen again outside prior footage in a Riker memory scene in the episode Shades of Gray. Perhaps being taken over by an alien parasite is enough to make a man retire.
Here's to you, inspector general officer Dexter Remmick. You may have been an annoying character in an interesting deep state conspiracy story, but at least you went out with a bang like the Fourth of July. Much like Jim Shimoda and his isolinear chip Jenga, you will not be easily forgotten. Or cleaned off the carpet.
Dexter Remmick was played by Robert Schenklan, while Admiral Quinn was played by Ward Costello. Schenklan's acting career ended in the 90s but he has remained a prolific award-winning screenwriter in Hollywood, with recent credits on Hacksaw Ridge and All the Way. The Admiral was one of Costello's final acting roles, as he wrapped up a 35 year career and enjoyed two decades of retirement before his death in 2009.
-----
Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!
Monday, September 11, 2017
Character Insight No. 253: The Sphere Builders
Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we review the Sphere Builders, a recurring set of characters in Enterprise.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp253
The Sphere Builders are the villains behind the Xindi-Earth conflict that dominates over an entire season of this show. Much like other top villains such as the Borg, the Sphere Builders try to destroy the Federation before it ever occurs because in a future timeline, the Federation foils this group's attempt to invade the Alpha Quadrant. That means lots of time travel mumbo-jumbo is in order to explain this race.
The Sphere Builders repeatedly appear to the Xindi following the destruction of the Xindi homeworld, and the Xindi refer to them as religious figures called The Guardians. The Xindi are guided to survive on habitable planets and then form multiple major weapons to attack Earth, all under the influence of the Sphere Builders. This includes the prototype weapon that kills 7 million people in the initial attack of Earth, as well as a bio-weapon and the ultimate weapon that leads the Enterprise to track down the Xindi to stop the threat.
QUOTE (from Harbinger):
Sphere-Builder Test Subject: "When the Xindi destroy Earth, my people will prevail!"
The key to undermining the Sphere Builders in the time traveling schemes was time agent Daniels, who helps the Enterprise crew by transporting them through time to stop the bio-weapon threat and also helping them uncover evidence to prove the long-term manipulation of the Xindi to the leadership of the Xindi. When this evidence causes some of the Xindi species to turn against the Sphere Builders, a final conflict emerges where the Builders try to destroy Enterprise while the Enterprise crew splits their attention between stopping the ultra weapon and disabling the Sphere Builder network, which creates the trans-dimensional space that allows these time travelers to exist in our realm.
I'll save the final conclusion of that battle to the main show, to avoid major spoilers for Mike and Darrell's trek through Season 3 of Enterprise. But it's a satisfying end to a long story arc.
The concept of a mastermind meddling race causing the conflict between the Xindi and the future Federation is an interesting idea for building a conflict, but unfortunately, this also draws in a metric ton of time-traveling shortcuts from the 26th Century and garbage writing. If you like the time travel stories and conundrums, you will love this. But if you don't, it will be a long road, getting from there to here.
We see five Sphere-Builders on screen, played by Josette Di Carlo, Thomas Kopache, Alina Andrei, Ruth Williamson, and Mary Mara. Kopache has had the most notable career of this group, with a regular role on The West Wing and appearances in movies like No Country for Old Men. However, Andrei has been a top stuntwoman for many years and her most recent work is on The Orville, which launched this week for the sci fi parody laughs.
-----
Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp253
The Sphere Builders are the villains behind the Xindi-Earth conflict that dominates over an entire season of this show. Much like other top villains such as the Borg, the Sphere Builders try to destroy the Federation before it ever occurs because in a future timeline, the Federation foils this group's attempt to invade the Alpha Quadrant. That means lots of time travel mumbo-jumbo is in order to explain this race.
The Sphere Builders repeatedly appear to the Xindi following the destruction of the Xindi homeworld, and the Xindi refer to them as religious figures called The Guardians. The Xindi are guided to survive on habitable planets and then form multiple major weapons to attack Earth, all under the influence of the Sphere Builders. This includes the prototype weapon that kills 7 million people in the initial attack of Earth, as well as a bio-weapon and the ultimate weapon that leads the Enterprise to track down the Xindi to stop the threat.
QUOTE (from Harbinger):
Sphere-Builder Test Subject: "When the Xindi destroy Earth, my people will prevail!"
The key to undermining the Sphere Builders in the time traveling schemes was time agent Daniels, who helps the Enterprise crew by transporting them through time to stop the bio-weapon threat and also helping them uncover evidence to prove the long-term manipulation of the Xindi to the leadership of the Xindi. When this evidence causes some of the Xindi species to turn against the Sphere Builders, a final conflict emerges where the Builders try to destroy Enterprise while the Enterprise crew splits their attention between stopping the ultra weapon and disabling the Sphere Builder network, which creates the trans-dimensional space that allows these time travelers to exist in our realm.
I'll save the final conclusion of that battle to the main show, to avoid major spoilers for Mike and Darrell's trek through Season 3 of Enterprise. But it's a satisfying end to a long story arc.
The concept of a mastermind meddling race causing the conflict between the Xindi and the future Federation is an interesting idea for building a conflict, but unfortunately, this also draws in a metric ton of time-traveling shortcuts from the 26th Century and garbage writing. If you like the time travel stories and conundrums, you will love this. But if you don't, it will be a long road, getting from there to here.
We see five Sphere-Builders on screen, played by Josette Di Carlo, Thomas Kopache, Alina Andrei, Ruth Williamson, and Mary Mara. Kopache has had the most notable career of this group, with a regular role on The West Wing and appearances in movies like No Country for Old Men. However, Andrei has been a top stuntwoman for many years and her most recent work is on The Orville, which launched this week for the sci fi parody laughs.
-----
Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!
Monday, September 4, 2017
Character Insight No. 252: Lewis Zimmerman
Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we return to the land of recurring characters with a profile of Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, from Voyager.
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp252
Lewis Zimmerman is a Starfleet scientist who becomes the leader in the field of holo-engineering. After 12 years of serving at the holo-programming center on Jupiter Station, he becomes the director of the station. His crowning achievement was the development of a long term medical holographic program, the holographic EMH.
We first discover Zimmerman in the Voyager episode Projections, where we learn that all Mark I first generation EMH's were based on him. Thus, we see Zimmerman as an older version of the holographic doctor we know so well.
In the DS9 episode Doctor Bashir, I Presume, we see Zimmerman trying to model Dr. Julian Bashir as the template for an improved EMH. When it is discovered that Julian's parents had him genetically engineered as a child, Zimmerman has to disqualify Bashir from being the template. Which is good because I don't think we could handle any more Julian Bashirs!
Zimmerman has a short dating relationship with Leeta on this episode, and when that breaks off, he has no trouble rebounding when he sees another good thing, as seen here:
QUOTE (from Doctor Bashir, I Presume):
Zimmerman: Perhaps I'm better suited to a life of solitary research...don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Excuse me, are you familiar with the ancient Earth text called the Kama Sutra?
The best episode featuring Zimmerman is Voyager's Life Line, where he is terminally ill and prepares a last will and testament giving everything holographic to Reginald Barclay. Barclay, who had established contact with Voyager, convinces the holographic Doctor to come try and treat Zimmerman. After refusing to be treated by an earlier model of the EMH, Dr. Zimmerman eventually backs down and the EMH cures him, while also showing the personality he has developed in working with the Voyager crew. It becomes almost a father-son relationship, and is another good character beat for the holographic EMH.
Zimmerman was an interesting character much in the vein of Dr. Soong, and his involvement on two concurrent series leads to good character development of Dr. Bashir and the holographic EMH. You can't ask much more than that in a small handful of appearances.
Lewis Zimmerman was played by Robert Picardo, just like the EMH. Picardo still acts today, and he can be found as host of the show The Planetary Post.
-----
Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp252
Lewis Zimmerman is a Starfleet scientist who becomes the leader in the field of holo-engineering. After 12 years of serving at the holo-programming center on Jupiter Station, he becomes the director of the station. His crowning achievement was the development of a long term medical holographic program, the holographic EMH.
We first discover Zimmerman in the Voyager episode Projections, where we learn that all Mark I first generation EMH's were based on him. Thus, we see Zimmerman as an older version of the holographic doctor we know so well.
In the DS9 episode Doctor Bashir, I Presume, we see Zimmerman trying to model Dr. Julian Bashir as the template for an improved EMH. When it is discovered that Julian's parents had him genetically engineered as a child, Zimmerman has to disqualify Bashir from being the template. Which is good because I don't think we could handle any more Julian Bashirs!
Zimmerman has a short dating relationship with Leeta on this episode, and when that breaks off, he has no trouble rebounding when he sees another good thing, as seen here:
QUOTE (from Doctor Bashir, I Presume):
Zimmerman: Perhaps I'm better suited to a life of solitary research...don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Excuse me, are you familiar with the ancient Earth text called the Kama Sutra?
The best episode featuring Zimmerman is Voyager's Life Line, where he is terminally ill and prepares a last will and testament giving everything holographic to Reginald Barclay. Barclay, who had established contact with Voyager, convinces the holographic Doctor to come try and treat Zimmerman. After refusing to be treated by an earlier model of the EMH, Dr. Zimmerman eventually backs down and the EMH cures him, while also showing the personality he has developed in working with the Voyager crew. It becomes almost a father-son relationship, and is another good character beat for the holographic EMH.
Zimmerman was an interesting character much in the vein of Dr. Soong, and his involvement on two concurrent series leads to good character development of Dr. Bashir and the holographic EMH. You can't ask much more than that in a small handful of appearances.
Lewis Zimmerman was played by Robert Picardo, just like the EMH. Picardo still acts today, and he can be found as host of the show The Planetary Post.
-----
Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)