Character Insight No. 262: Azan and Rebi

Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we review Azan and Rebi, twins who were recurring characters on the latter seasons of Voyager.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp262

In the episode Collective, Voyager discovers a Borg cube that is disabled with a pathogen, leaving only five drones in charge.  Voyager rescues these drones and Seven of Nine helps bring them back to individuality, including two twin children Azan and Rebi. 

After rescue, Azan is often seen in a blue shirt and brown overalls, while Rebi is in a red shirt and blue overalls, so they are kind of like an alien Mario and Luigi.  Interestingly, the outfit Rebi wears is the same one Jake Sisko wore in initial episodes of DS9, so that's an interesting legacy of costuming.

While on board, these two twins are only involved in a small handful of episodes and adventures.  One of these is caused by a power failure to the deck with the Borg regeneration alcoves, and Neelix has to keep them company by telling ghost stories.  In another episode, Voyager runs a science fair and the twins initially want to clone Naomi Wildman as their project.  Seven of Nine thankfully steps in and guides them to clone a potato instead.

QUOTE (from Child's Play)
Janeway: Why Potatoes?
Seven: They originally wanted to clone Naomi, but...

Azan and Rebi are Wysanti, and Voyager encounters their original people a few months after rescuing them from the cube.  These twins rejoin their people, along with Mezoti, who decides to help look out for the twins as they grow up in Wysanti culture.  One figures it will be an interesting life re-adjusting to the home culture, just like we saw for Seven.

Although some of the episodes featuring these characters felt a bit like late-season filler, the concept of repeating the success of saving drones from the Borg was a natural conclusion of stories that had stemmed all the way back to TNG.  Reclaiming drones from the Borg Collective is just one of the many ways the Federation gained the upper hand on one of their greatest adversaries.

Azan was played by Kurt Wetherill, who had limited child acting roles before becoming a cinematographer and production assistant from 2001-09.  His actual twin brother Cody Wetherill played Rebi, and Cody also followed a similar career path by working on many of the same projects as Kurt.  Little info can be found on Kurt online, but Cody is living a normal life in Portland Oregon now, as revealed by mother's day and golf outing pictures on Facebook.

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Character Insight No. 261: Ishka

Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we review Ishka, a recurring Ferengi character from Deep Space 9.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp261
https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp261

Ishka, also referred to as Moogie in the show, is the mother of Quark and Rom.  She was introduced in the episode Family Business, in which it is revealed that her business prowess was far superior to Quark and Rom's deceased father, so much so that she conducts many business transactions and accumulates more profit than Quark has in his entire lifetime, contrary to the social rules and norms of the Ferengi race.  She also does not buy into the other seemingly backwards Ferengi norms, like women always being naked and mothers chewing food for their children.

This interesting counter-culture take on Ferengi women was so successful that the character came back in a recurring role in a big way.  To this end, Ishka happens to fall in love with Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Zek, and she ends up assisting him with all business matters behind the scenes when he begins to lose his marbles.  It's as close as she could reasonably come to her dream of a female Grand Nagus, an interesting allegory to the leadership politics that continue to play out in the U.S. and other modern countries.

QUOTE (from Profit and Lace)
Ishka: "I predict that one day, a female will enter the Tower of Commerce, climb the forty flights of stairs to the Chamber of Opportunity, and take her rightful place as Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance."

Based on Zek's love for this different woman and her influence, many cultural reforms were enacted during the waning days of Zek's tenure.  Thus, Ishka is a positive force for change in the Ferengi Alliance, and one of the most unique and interesting characters in a show with a lot of Ferengi stories.  In the final season of this show, she makes sure her son Rom takes over for Zek as Grand Nagus to assure that her reforms remain intact for many years to come.

The character of Ishka provided some real narrative punch that became a prime storyline for the Ferengi in DS9, while also serving as a good allegory or role model for those in oppressive situations.  That makes her one of the most influential characters of the series despite having only about 5 appearances.

Ishka's first appearance was played by actress Andrea Martin, and all further appearances were then played by Cecily Adams because Martin was no longer available.  Both these actresses were in the same age range or much younger than Quark's actor Armin Shimmerman, so both had to wear very heavy and elaborate prosthetics to show their higher ages.  Martin still acts and writes screenplays today, with recent appearances in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Difficult People.  Adams was a successful acting coach until her untimely death at age 46 in 2004 of lung cancer, but her spirit may live on in her now 16-year old daughter Madeline Beaver, who is also pursuing acting.

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Character Insight No. 260: Captain Proton

Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we review another holodeck recurring character: Captain Proton from Voyager.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp260

When we covered holodeck villains at the end of last year, one of those segments was on Doctor Chaotica, from The Adventures of Captain Proton.  Now we cover his foil, the title character of the holographic novel, Captain Proton himself, who is played by Tom Paris in all appearances we see on the show.

Captain Proton can often be seen swashbuckling his way through the plans and evil machines of Doctor Chaotica and Queen Arachnia.  His first appearance is in the episode Night, where he tries to have Seven of Nine experience the holo novel as Proton's secretary Constance Goodheart, who is often the damsel in distress in these stories.  It doesn't go well, but when the ship is attacked and all power is lost, trapping them in the holodeck, Seven proves a good ally to have in overcoming the all-too-familiar holodeck-gone-rogue situation.

Proton has a sidekick, like all super heroes, the one being Buster Kincaid.  When Harry Kim joins Tom Paris on these adventures, Harry plays the role of Buster.  In addition to having this be another way these two close friends spend time together, the holo novel provides a place of escape for Tom Paris when events in real life are too tough to handle.  Tom and Harry often refer to their escapades in this holodeck program in other episodes throughout seasons 6 and 7 of the show.

Of course, sometimes real life invades this holodeck, as in the episode Bride of Chaotica.  Aliens mistake the holodeck for real existence, and Tom and Harry must figure their way out of the mess that causes.  Captain Janeway joins the acting fun in this particular episode.  Although this episode was very close in time to the first two episodes involving this holo novel, the real story is that this episode was crafted to keep action or scenes on the actual bridge of Voyager at a minimum to allow time for repair to a set damaged by fire in real life.

QUOTE (from Night)
Dr. Chaotica: Captain Proton!
Tom Paris: Spaceman First Class, Protector of Earth, scourge of intergalactic evil - at your service.
Captain Proton was intended in part to be a parody of Flash Gordon, and a 1930s comic book character.  We see many of the same character traits in these holodeck scenes.  Captain Proton was not just another escape for a Voyager crewman on the long journey home, but instead, an opportunity to dive deeper into the Harry Kim-Tom Paris relationship and an opportunity for the show actors to have fun playing some campy scenes.

Interestingly, Captain Proton has been the subject of one story written in the real world, by regular Trek author Dean Wesley Smith.  He wrote the story to fit in as the background material that Tom Paris would eventually base his holo adventures off of.  If you want to look this up, it's called Captain Proton: Defender of the Earth.

Captain Proton and Tom Paris are played by Robert Duncan McNeill, who has served more as a director in Hollywood since his days on Voyager.  He was offered the chance to direct a season 1 episode in Discovery, but timing did not work, so maybe we will see his return to the series as a director in season 2.

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Character Insight No. 259: What the Renewal of Discovery means for Character Development

Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we respond to this week's news that Star Trek Discovery will get a second season with a look at what that means for character development in this show.  This segment will not contain significant spoilers for the current run of Discovery, just some general information.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp259

According to the showrunner Alex Kurtzman, the primary story idea for a second season developed from a big idea that emerged in the middle and late parts of season 1.  As these episodes have not really aired yet, nobody can guess yet where the plot of this next season will take viewers.  However, it is clear that as long as there are interesting stories to tell, and more importantly, viewers tuning in to CBS All Access, this show will continue on.  Hey, at least this won't be like Firefly!

So far on Discovery, we have about 6 main characters and a lot of recurring characters in the mix, as the show runners tell us the story of the USS Discovery and the Klingon-Federation war.  Most of those 6 main characters have had individual character beats to help explain their background and where they may be headed as officers and people.  Obviously there's a heavy focus on the primary protagonist Michael Burnham, but the show has not lacked for development of the other crew around her, at least so far.

By providing another set of episodes and a second large story arc for these characters, there will be much more time to learn about these main characters in depth.  Conflicts between the characters can have time to develop and fully resolve, which may not have been truly possible with only a 15 (and honestly 13) episode run in season 1.  While season 1 will likely maintain a high level of focus on Michael Burnham, a second season may provide opportunities for deep dives into one or more other main characters, whether they be new or in the current 6.  Alternatively, if the character path for Burnham becomes as complex and interesting as other TV characters like Walter White on Breaking Bad, the focus could remain on her...but that just depends on the stories to be told.

Additionally, a second season and possibly more than that will allow for recurring characters to come and go with more regularity, which adds depth to the universe we focus on in the bridge crew of one ship.  As evidenced by how many different characters I've been able to cover on Character Insight for shows like Enterprise and TOS, it does not take long to make a canvas of characters worthy of in-depth analysis.

While it will be awhile before this segment covers these new Star Trek characters in detail, it is good to know we will be receiving enough of this series to have sufficient complexities and top moments to cover for a multitude of characters.  So your humble segment host, just like most of you out there, is jumping for joy on the news of the second season renewal.

We'll be back next week with a regular segment.  If you want to Choose Your Pain as the Klingons say, send in those characters you love that I have not covered yet, Discovery excluded of course.

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Character Insight No. 258: Edward Jellico

Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we review Captain Edward Jellico, who appeared in the iconic two-parter Chain of Command, Parts I and II in TNG, and as requested by frequent show contributor Chris on Twitter.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp258

Jellico is the captain of the USS Cairo, after beginning his career as a shuttle pilot.  He is given command of the Enterprise when Admiral Alynna Nechayev wants a Cardassian expert to lead the flagship in a critical juncture of conflict between the Federation and the Cardassians.  At the same time, Captain Picard is assigned to an undercover mission that leads to his abduction and torture by the Cardassians.  You know, this one...

QUOTE (from Chain of Command, Part II):
Picard: "There are Four Lights!"

But this segment isn't about what happened to Picard, but instead, what happened to his ship and crew when Jellico took over.  Jellico was a stern authoritarian who demanded peak efficiency from his crews.  This led to some pushback from Commander Riker, who did not like many of the changes that Jellico put into place.  Indeed, Riker eventually is relieved of duty when his insubordination reaches too high a level for Jellico, following disagreements on what to do about Picard's abduction.

Jellico ends up working things out with Riker when Geordi insists that Riker is the best pilot on board and should be involved in a mission of planting mines on Cardassian ships hiding in a nebula.

QUOTE (from Chain of Command, Part II):
Captain Edward Jellico: Let's drop the ranks for a moment. I don't like you. I think you're insubordinate, arrogant, willful, and I don't think you're a particularly good first officer. But you are also the best pilot on the ship.
Commander William T. Riker: Well... Now that the ranks are dropped, Captain, I don't like you either. *You* are arrogant, and closed-minded. You need to control everything and everyone. You don't provide an atmosphere of trust, and you don't inspire these people to go out of their way for you. You've got everybody wound up so tight, there's no joy in anything. I don't think you're a particularly good captain.

After planting the mines on the Cardassian fleet, Jellico is able to negotiate from a position of absolute power.  He convinces the Cardassians to eject their phaser coils and retreat, while also returning Picard to the Federation.

Admiral Nechayev then restores Picard's command, sending Jellico back to the Cairo.  Jellico presents a very interesting contrast for what Star Trek TNG could have been like if the same crew has a very different style of captain.  One wonders how Riker, Troi, and the others would have made it long term on the Enterprise with the difference in command style, but it helps fuel the fire of great debates like Kirk vs. Picard.  Jellico does have the distinction of being one of only 3 people to have a Captain's Log on TNG.

Captain Jellico was played by Ronny Cox, and the character can be found in many Star Trek novels for those who want more authoritarianism.  Cox is in the end of a 40 year acting career, with appearances in big movies like Deliverance, RoboCop, and Total Recall.  Cox is also an avid musician, playing about 80 gigs per year and having 5 records released in the jazz and folk genres.

INSERT RONNY COX MUSIC (Silver City)

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Character Insight No. 257: J. Hayes

Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we review J. Hayes, a MACO officer who appears on several episodes of Enterprise.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp257

Hayes is the commanding officer of the detachment of MACO officers who serves aboard the Enterprise during the mission into the Delphic Expanse during the Xindi conflict.  Hayes is a hardened military man who values consistency and the chain of command above all else, likely a result of his upbringing and his training at West Point on Earth.  He also was a veteran of lunar survival training, one of the most grueling training regimens of the era.

The most notable part of Hayes and his story on Enterprise is an ongoing conflict from the moment he comes aboard with Malcolm Reed, the chief armory officer on the ship.  This conflict builds over a couple episodes and then erupts after Hayes recommends and the Captain agrees to start a series of tactical drills with all senior officers on staff.  Reed felt that he should have been consulted instead of circumvented, and they end up in an all-out brawl until interrupted by a hostile alien attack on the ship.  Captain Archer was not amused, as evidenced in this meeting in his ready room following the incident in the episode Harbinger.

QUOTE (from Harbinger):
Captain Jonathan Archer: Don't try to tell me who started it! I don't know what the problem is between you two, and to tell you the truth I don't care, but I want it settled right now! SETTLE IT! That's an order!
Lieutenant Malcolm Reed: There's no problem, Captain.
Major Hayes: It's settled, sir.
Captain Jonathan Archer: How are the drills going?
Major Hayes: Good, sir.
Lieutenant Malcolm Reed: Very good, sir.
Ironically, another serious fight a month later between Reed and Hayes is what helps sort out the differences between these two.  Hayes and the MACOs were placed in charge of the ship when Archer was under the influence of a neurochemical and the regular senior staff has to fight the MACOs to get back control of the ship.  Hayes admits to Reed that following the chain of command is never as simple as it seems.

In his final appearance, Hayes lead a boarding party to rescue Hoshi Sato, who had been abducted by the Xindi Reptilians.  He is shot during transport off the ship and dies shortly thereafter.  It was an honorable ending for a commanding military personnel.

Hayes was played by Steven Culp, who continues a prolific television acting career today, with highlights in long runs on JAG and Desperate Housewives.  He described that an LA Times article on a young soldier in Iraq who had a troubled childhood but found himself in the military inspired his performance of the Hayes character, and it all grew from there.  It's funny where inspiration comes from when actors are given a relatively blank character slate.

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Character Insight No. 256: Kasidy Yates

Welcome back to Character Insight!  This week, we review Kasida Yates-Sisko, a recurring character from the latter few seasons of Deep Space 9.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp256

Kasidy Yates is initially introduced to Commander Ben Sisko by his son Jake, as Jake thought his dad needed romantic companionship.  The romance heated up quickly, with Kasidy sharing Ben's love of baseball and moving her freighter captain role to work for the Bajorans so that she could stay close to Ben permanently.  As an independent civilian and freighter captain, she's a highly motivated and confident character that makes for a perfect foil to the likes of Commander Sisko.

The romance has a hiccup caused by the episode For The Cause, where Kasidy is hoodwinked into smuggling multiple loads of cargo to the Maquis.  She takes full responsibility for the actions of her crew, who rejoin the Maquis while she goes off to a prison sentence.  But that prison sentence ends a year later, and Ben Sisko clearly doesn't mind what happened or the brief interruption as shown by their warm greeting in her initial return in the episode Rapture.

Yates then temporarily serves as a convoy liaison officer aboard the Defiant, but she's not a big fan of all the Starfleet paperwork.  Some of the dialogue from this episode, The Sound of Her Voice, shows how close Sisko and Yates had become, as they know each other like a married couple.

QUOTE (from The Sound of Her Voice):
Kasidy Yates: [about Bashir, who is sparing with words] There was a time when you couldn't get him to shut up.
Captain Sisko: I think I like him better this way.
Kasidy Yates: That's mean.
Captain Sisko: I was just kidding.
Kasidy Yates: No - you weren't.

In the final few episodes of the show, when character development and relationships raced ahead as fast as the Dominion War conclusions, Sisko proposes to Yates and they get married.  They end up getting pregnant a few episodes later, as Sisko apparently forgot to renew his contraception injection on time...yes folks, the pill is a guy thing in the 2300's.  The future of Yates and her unborn child is left as a loose end in the finale, with Sisko joining the Prophets in the Celestial Temple and vowing to return someday.

Kasidy Yates-Sisko was played by Penny Johnson, who has had many major roles on TV series of the last 25 years, including on Castle, the Larry Sanders Show, and 24. (Insert 24 noise)  She is also now back in the sci fi mainstream as Dr. Claire Finn on The Orville, which would basically be the closest thing to Star Trek if we didn't also have Discovery.

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