Character Insight No. 349: Dr. Bruce Maddox

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we profile Dr. Bruce Maddox, who starred in one of the most memorable episodes of TNG and reappears in the plot of Star Trek Picard.  Note that like we have with other recent segments touching on elements of Picard, we will avoid major spoilers for those who haven't yet watched.

https://archive.org/details/characterinsightep349 

Dr. Maddox was born in San Francisco on Earth, so it should come as no surprise that he eventually becomes involved in Starfleet.  To this end, he is a cyberneticist that works his way up the ranks of the Daystrom Institute.  He eventually becomes the Chair of Robotics at Daystrom.

Once Maddox learns of Dr. Nooian Soong and his androids like Commander Data, he becomes inspired to make it his life's work to continue improving the field of androids to help humans and other races when in dangerous situations.  His goals sounded good on first blush, but as Captain Picard would contest in the trial in the episode The Measure of a Man, his vision of duplicating androids as forced labor could also be argued to be nothing more than slavery of a sentient android race.

In that aforementioned episode of TNG, Dr. Maddox is a young Commander in Starfleet and has earned Admiral Nakamura's blessing on a plan to disassemble and reverse-engineer Commander Data.  Data objects to the plan because he believes Maddox will not be able to preserve the important nuances of his positronic brain that defines who he is.  Maddox orders Data to be transferred to his command, leading to Data's resignation from Starfleet and an eventual trial to determine if Data is a sentient lifeform allowed to make such a decision.

QUOTE - "You are imparting Human qualities to it because it looks Human – but I assure you: it is not. If it were a box on wheels I would not be facing this opposition."

Of course, Captain Picard is successful in a trial against the arguments of Maddox in front of one of the Captains serving in the Judge Advocate General's office.  So Data is deemed to be a sentient being, a critical moment that really begins his character development arc for the remainder of TNG.  Despite the loss, Maddox remains dedicated to his goals of continuing Dr. Soong's research, including by learning more about Data through correspondence with him, as we also see in the episode Data's Day which the main show covered a couple weeks ago.

The story of Maddox and his research is then left as one of many open ends in TNG, and it's one that fits neatly into the Star Trek Picard story, which centers around synthetic life forms.  Thus, it should be no surprise that Dr. Maddox re-appears in the new show, but you'll have to watch for yourself to see where Dr. Maddox's story goes from there.

Bruce Maddox was played by Brian Brophy in his TNG appearance, and although we don't cover details of the new Picard stuff yet here, John Ales is the actor who picked up the role this year.  Brophy has been largely retired from acting since the early 2000's, but you can spot him in small roles in great films including The Shawshank Redemption and Armageddon.  He is currently the director of theater at the California Institute of Technology.

-----

Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!

Character Insight No. 348: Tal Shiar

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we profile the Romulan group Tal Shiar.

https://archive.org/details/characterinsightep348

The Tal Shiar is a Romulan intelligence agency, a sort of secret police force as understood by the Federation.  Like the Federation's Section 31 or the Cardassian Obsidian Order, this largely covert group works to ensure loyalty to the Romulan Star Empire while also pushing agendas in foreign lands as opportunities arise.  It has been posited in Star Trek Picard that this organization is a front for a much older Romulan cabal, but as that is still speculative and in spoiler territory, we'll leave that to our imagination for now.

The Tal Shiar was introduced as a concept in TNG, most notably when an underground movement has Deanna Troi go in Romulan disguise and pose as a well-known Tal Shiar leader to help some Romulan defectors escape to the Federation.  We also learn that the Romulan military and the Tal Shiar distrusted each other, leading to competition and deception even between their respective fleets of warbirds.

The Tal Shiar take a much more important central role in the Dominion War storyline on Deep Space 9.  The Tal Shiar worked with the Obsidian Order to try and carry out a preemptive strike on the Founders homeworld before the war began in earnest, but the Founders had infiltrated the Tal Shiar already and that led to the ambush and massacre of their combined forces in the Battle of the Omarion Nebula.  This ended the Obsidian Order, but the Tal Shiar rose from the ashes and rebuilt itself.

We then see the new leader of the Tal Shiar Koval as he works with the Romulan Continuing Committee as well as with Section 31 as a Federation collaborator.  You can truly never trust the Tal Shiar, as evidenced by how much they secretly collaborate with other covert operatives and organizations.  But they are always there in the background, ready to be an integral part of any story involving high level issues with Romulans and their Star Empire.

As mentioned previously, we will see how the Tal Shiar plays into Star Trek Picard.  This organization provides a nice foil to others in the Star Trek universe and for those who love spy stories and plot twists, the Tal Shiar never fails to provide.

-----

Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!

Character Insight No. 347: Sarina Douglas

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we profile Sarina Douglas, a recurring character from a couple episodes of Deep Space 9.

https://archive.org/details/characterinsightep347

Sarina Douglas was a human augment thanks to her parents putting her through an illegal genetic manipulation procedure called accelerated critical neural pathway formation when she was a child.  This advanced her intelligence level to beyond genius, but her visual and auditory systems could not keep up with her enhanced cerebral cortex in her brain.  As a result, she couldn't focus on the outside world and this made her appear to be a non-responsive mute.

Eventually Sarina ends up at a Federation special needs institute where her and several other augments receive treatment.  She was primarily supervised and treated by Dr. Karen Loews over 15-plus years, and Loews eventually becomes Sarina's legal guardian as well.

We first meet Sarina when Dr. Loews brings her and the small group of augments the doctor manages to Deep Space 9 to be studied and perhaps helped by Dr. Bashir, a fellow genetically-enhanced augment.  During this three weeks on board the station, Sarina helps the Federation efforts in the Dominion War by figuring out a way to negotiate with Weyoun to get the Dominion to cede more territory back to the Federation.  However, this turns south when the augments calculate that the Federation will lose the war and lots of lives will be sacrificed in the losing effort.

The augments put a plan into motion to contact the Dominion and provide them with critical information on how to win the Alpha Quadrant with minimal loss of life.  However, Bashir gets through to Sarina before the plan is implemented and the augments leave the station without further interference in the war.

A year later, Sarina is brought back to Deep Space 9 to undergo a new treatment he had developed to try and allow her brain to properly handle information from her senses.  This treatment is successful and we get to watch Sarina re-learn how to speak and interact with her surroundings.  Sarina also falls in love temporarily with Bashir, but as Bashir's romances often end up, it goes too quickly and she leaves, heading to an internship at a research center.

QUOTE

Sarina serves as another of many examples where genetic engineering goes wrong in the Trek universe, but her story has a happy ending while allowing Dr. Bashir to have some further important character development, including some further insight into his own augment history.  Her return in the episode Chrysalis is one of the more positive one-off episodes in the middle of the mostly-dark Dominion War story arc.

Sarina was played by Faith Salie in both appearances, although after not having any dialogue in her first appearance, the show producers auditioned her before the second episode to make sure she would shine in a dialogue-heavy episode.  Salie has not acted in about 15 years, but she has gone on to better fame in radio as a host and producer of the NPR show Fair Game from PRI with Faith Salie.

-----

Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!

Character Insight No. 346: Remembering Rene Auberjonois and His Roles

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we catch up on the sad news during my recent break and do a memorial segment honoring the life and career of Rene Auberjonois, who passed away in December.

https://archive.org/details/characterinsightep346


Auberjonois became the first regular cast member of any Trek spinoff show to pass away at the end of last year, and his contributions in acting will stand the test of time well beyond our realm of Star Trek. His family background is very interesting as his mother was a princess descended from the family of Napoleon Bonaparte. He grew up in New York City as the son of a journalist and the grandson of a painter, so his passion and connection to the arts began early in life.

As with many actors, he began his career on Broadway in many plays of the 1960's and 70's. His first breakthrough television role was as the memorable Clayton Endicott III on the comedy series Benson in the 1980's. During this time and the following years, Auberjonois became a regular face in many films and television shows, though mostly in smaller roles. One such small role was as Starfleet Colonel West in Star Trek VI, but his scenes were cut from the theatrical release of this film.

That opened the door of Trek to him, and he quickly earned the role of Odo, the chief of security aboard Deep Space 9. As the changeling Founders became a core nemesis in the DS9 story arc, it allowed Auberjonois to really stretch his legs in character development as we learned more about the other side of the conflict through Odo's own discovery of his kind. Although he had to endure long days in the makeup chair, usually alongside close friend Armin Schimmerman, he added a lot of gravity and acting chops to the show that raised the game of everyone else in the cast.

Auberjonois was considered strongly for the EMH role in Voyager, but his only other Trek role came in a guest appearance as a character named Ezral in Enterprise. Around this same time, he got to co-star with William Shatner in Boston Legal, which was a legal comedy spun off from another show he appeared in called The Practice. If you want to enjoy more of Auberjonois's work, I recommend this show highly, even as an attorney who generally dislikes legal shows.

Auberjonois was married for the final 56 years of his life and leaves behind two children, Tessa and Remy, who have also dabbled in their father's acting craft. As someone who was very quotable, we'll leave you with two of his quotes about life and acting:

- "If you do your job properly you usually learn a lot about yourself from any role you play."
AND
- "The best part is the part I'm working at the moment."

Rest in peace, Rene, and thank you for your great contributions to the growing tapestry of Star Trek.

-----

Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!

Character Insight No. 345: Prepping for Star Trek Picard

Welcome back to Character Insight! I apologize for my absence over the holidays and past few weeks as I dealt with a bug that took my voice away with coughing fits most days, but I'm back for the new year just in time for new Trek.  To that end, This week, we provide some guidance on what to re-watch in preparation for Star Trek Picard, which launches later this week.

https://archive.org/details/characterinsightep345 

Whether you are binging some content before Picard begins or you are seeking some filler to spend the long hours between each week's episode release, a good way to spend this time is watching the best Picard content previously released.  So with that in mind, and looking at some of the characters and themes that appeared in the trailers for the new show, here are some suggestions for episodes and movies to catch up on.  I've split these by some themes rather than by chronological order, as you may want to focus on particular themes especially after they come up in the new show.

Picard

Family, TNG S4

Tapestry, TNG S6

Starship Mine, TNG S6

All Good Things, TNG S7

These Picard-centric episodes provide some of the best glimpses we have into the multi-faceted Captain.  Family is probably the must-watch here for the new series, but the TNG finale also provides a similar future vision to what it appears we will end up with in the new series.  

Borg

Q Who, TNG S2

Best of Both Worlds, TNG S3/4

I, Borg, TNG S5

First Contact (movie)

For the Borg, these selections hit the beginning and the high points of Picard's interaction with them.  As it is confirmed that the former Borg drone Hugh will be in the series, the one episode you should definitely refresh is I, Borg.

Data

The Measure of a Man, TNG S2

Data's Day, S4

Descent, TNG S6/7

Nemesis (movie)

Turning to Data, I've selected a sampling showing the many investigations we have into Data's journey and desire to become more human.  The new series will certainly pick up on the threads left by Data's demise in Nemesis, but even the other movies Generations and First Contact are helpful in refreshing yourself on Data's storyline.

Romulans

The Defector, TNG S3

Unification, TNG S5

Face of the Enemy, TNG S6

Inter Arma Eni Silent Leges, DS9 S7

Star Trek (2009 movie)

Reading the earl grey tea leaves, it seems the Romulans will play a central role in the new series following the events of the Abrams 2009 movie, so that's required viewing.  Just like Klingons in Discovery, it may be helpful to have some background on what we know about how Romulans work, and that's why these episodes have been identified.  Of course, I would also expect the new series to provide its own background on Romulans if relevant.

Seven of Nine

Scorpion, VOY S3/4

The Gift, VOY S4

One, VOY S4

Infinite Regress, VOY S5

Finally, we also know Seven is coming back, and much like the Borg episodes, this selection both shows the high points of her character development and more background on the all-important Borg.  

Even if some of this material is not that relevant to the new series, it will be enjoyable to visit these high points in the series coming back together in the new show.  For those of us who grew up on TNG and the like, this is what we've been dreaming of, so let's get excited and enjoy the next chapter for our Captain and the rest.

-----

Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!

Character Insight No. 344: Ilia and Star Trek: TMP

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first Star Trek movie by sharing my experience of seeing the movie for the first time, and then we do a character profile on Lieutenant Ilia from that movie.

https://archive.org/details/characterinsightep344 

My personal first Trek movie experience was seeing The Final Frontier when it hit television, shortly before seeing The Undiscovered Country.  Needless to say, the sixth movie in the theater was far more impressive to a young BuckeyeFitzy than the What Does God Need With A Starship movie.  That led me to seek out a box set of the other movies at the ripe old age of 9 or 10, and so my first experience with The Motion Picture was on a fuzzy small TV screen and a VHS tape.  Given that this movie is more about the amazing big screen visuals than characters and action, that kind of made TMP a heavy disappointment, especially as compared to Wrath of Khan and Voyage Home.  But I admit, I didn't have a chance to appreciate it on the big screen as it was intended.

TMP opened the door for what is now 12 other movies and 6 future TV shows, so the original return of Trek is something we should all be thankful for.

Today's short segment will focus on Lieutenant Ilia, who was a Deltan female conn officer on the Enterprise during what becomes the V'Ger mission.  Deltans are known for their sexuality and strong affect on other races like humans, so in order to be a Starfleet officer, Ilia had to take a vow of celibacy.  This is a bit awkward as she had previously on her home planet had relations with Commander Will Decker, who is also on Kirk's Enterprise.

We don't see much character development of Ilia beyond this background, as she is killed in the movie by the V'Ger probe.  The V'Ger probe then creates an artificial life form in the guise of Ilia to act as a liaison to the "carbon units" infesting the ship.  Although the probe replicated her memories and personality, V'Ger suppresses these aspects of Ilia, which reveals that Ilia really is gone.  Nevertheless, Will Decker decides to sacrifice himself to join what's left of her and the V'Ger probe at the end of the movie, opening these roles on the ship to once again be filled by the TOS regulars in future films.

As you likely know, TMP was a replacement for a Phase II scrapped television project, and some of the general concepts from Phase II did live on when a second TV show eventually aired 8 years later in The Next Generation.  Once of these general concepts was an ESP and sex-positive attitude character who serves on a bridge crew with a commander who had a past romantic relationship with her, AKA Deanna Troi is based on Ilia while Commander Will Riker is a small leap of letters away from Will Decker.  They even named the Betazoid race in a similar fashion as Ilia's Deltans, based on the Greek alphabet.  So while Ilia and Commander Decker only show up in The Motion Picture, the general concepts and underlying character threads were more than fully developed, just with modified characters in TNG.

Persis Khambatta played Ilia, and she had a short unsuccessful Bollywood career in India before establishing herself primarily as a US television actress. TMP was one of her only breakout movie roles.  Khambatta passed away in 1998 at the age of 49.

-----

Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!

Character Insight No. 343: Persis

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we wish everybody in America a Happy Thanksgiving and follow up with another augment character from Enterprise related to Malik, who we covered last week.  This week's subject is Persis.

https://archive.org/details/characterinsightep343
  

Persis is one of 20 human augments raised by Arik Soong, the great grandfather of Noonien Soong, who would perfect artificial lifeforms.  As this elder Soong did not have the technology available for such innovations, he had to rely on human augments like Persis and genetic engineering, which he had access to as a chemist working on Cold Station 12.

Persis was beautiful and used that to put herself in a position close to power, by being the consort to augment leader Raakin.  However, she proves in what we see in this series of episodes that she is cunning and has high intellect, allowing her to be a natural leader herself.  She plays a key role in overthrowing Raakin when she decides to side with Malik, who she had also fallen in love with.  She goads Raakin into making a first move against Malik, leading to his capture and later death.

QUOTE

Persis also leads the assault on the Enterprise to rescue Soong, who was being held by the Enterprise crew to try and lure and trap these augments.  She succeeds in returning Soong to the augments, where Soong and Malik begin plotting to steal another 2000 augment embryos from Cold Station 12.  While Persis helps Malik again in taking command back from Soong, who had taken over, she ends up releasing Soong and hiding his escape path by disabling internal ship sensors.  Malik kills Persis for this betrayal once he figures it out.

Persis first appears as just a pretty face and a consort to a male leader, but we quickly see that she is the one pulling the strings to shift the balance of power when she deems it necessary.  Her character has more depth than the savagery of Malik, which makes it sad to see her get killed in this storyline.  Arik Soong believed that augments could be much better members of society than Khan, and in the case of Persis, he may have had a perfect example.

Persis was played by Abby Brammel, who continues to act today in small roles, mostly on television.  Her most notable recurring role outside Trek was on The Unit in the late 2000s, but she can more recently be seen as a recurring character on the popular Fox drama 9-1-1.  Brammel turned 40 just this year and has recently had her first child, so we can likely expect more out of this actress as the years go on.

-----

Contact me with segment suggestions @BuckeyeFitzy on Twitter! Thanks!