Monday, May 7, 2018

Character Insight No. 284: Michael Rostov

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we'll have faith of the heart and review Michael Rostov, a recurring character from Enterprise.

Rostov is an engineer with the rank crewman second class on Archer's Enterprise.  In his few roles on the show, he appears to be a primary assistant to Commander Tucker.

Rostov's first appearance is likely his most memorable, as he and several other officers, including Captain Archer and Commander Tucker, are caught up in a strange, gooey, fibrous alien creature in the episode Vox Sola.  His good work in this appearance made the showrunners want to bring Rostov back a couple more times as a recurring character.  Scott Bakula is said to have referred to the actor who plays Rostov as "Goo Boy" thanks to the memorable events of this episode they shared together.

Rostov is next seen serving as a shuttle pilot who ferries various crew members between the ship and shore leave on Risa.  I guess he drew the short stick, having to be the Uber driver for all those party animals coming to and from the pleasure planet.  He was to have a couple speaking lines in this appearance, but those were cut in a final edit of the episode.

QUOTE (from The Crossing)

This quote comes from Rostov's final appearance, in which he reports Commander Tucker being taken over by an alien called a Wisp before he is also taken over by one of the creatures.  Some of his dialogue is notable when he is taken over by the Wisp because he claims to not know how to prime the engine pumps because the engine is very complex.  Of course a regular engineering staff member would know how to do this task, so Commander Tucker sees right through the problem and detains Rostov to quarters.

Rostov is referred to a couple more times a season later, but he does not appear on screen any more.  So we will just have to live with alien possession and goo coverage for our memories of this background character.

Michael Rostov was played by Joseph Will.  Will auditioned to be chief engineer Trip Tucker and made it to the final 2 before Connor Trinneer was chosen over him for this role.  That likely explains why this actor was brought back in the engineering department later.  Will continues to act in many TV series today, with recent appearances on American Horror Story and Criminal Minds.

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