Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we cover Mot, a recurring character from TNG.
Mot is the Bolian barber who serves aboard Picard's Enterprise in several episodes. As with today's barbers and hairdressers, Bolian interacts with people all day and so often provides advice to the crewmembers within his chair. We see him do so with Picard, Riker, and Worf in different occasions.
QUOTE (from Schisms)
Although not seen on screen in the Unification two-part episode, it is mentioned that Mot provides the wigs that Data and Picard are to wear when going to Romulus to track down Ambassador Spock. This episode was made into a novel, and in the novel, the interaction with Mot is expanded further. Another novel where Mot and his fellow Bolians on board become more important is the Genesis Wave series, which I personally recommend for those who like multi-novel epic stories.
Although Mot is mentioned as having a reputation as the best barber in Starfleet, he does not appear to be the only Bolian on board who trims hair. We see three different Bolians in the barber uniform in the episodes Data's Day, The Host, and Time's Arrow, Part II. It is unclear whether these were all supposed to be Mot, or if there is a rotating crew of Bolian barbers on board. If it's the latter, it may be an inside joke because Bolians have bright blue heads and no hair.
Another time when Mot is mentioned is when Picard is captured by some mercenaries, and he says he is the ship's barber instead of the Captain.
Characters like Mot and Guinan bring interesting outside perspectives to the main crew and characters we see every episode, just like those same bartenders and hairdressers do this for us in our current lives. His character adds to the feeling that this is a functioning city or society in space on the Enterprise, and if nothing else, it would've been better to see even more of this Bolian in the show.
Mot was played by Ken Thorley. Other than a short appearance in the first Men In Black movie, his acting career over two decades was mostly defined by one-off appearances in various television shows spanning from Baywatch to Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He has retired to other pursuits since 2004.
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