Character Insight No. 228: William McKenzie

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we review William McKenzie, a crewman engineer who is a background character on Voyager.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp228

William McKenzie is a regular background character in the engineering department during the seven-year stranding of the Voyager ship in the Delta Quadrant. He appears in 34 episodes, ranking him among the most regular faces in the crowd on a show where regular background characters were used a large amount.

Although most appearances show McKenzie in civilian garb or with no rank pips, which indicates his crewman status, there are a couple episodes including Jetrel where the character is shown with Lieutenant pips. Thus, we do not know exactly what this character's rank status is. 

However, it is clear he is an engineering specialist, as a good number of his appearances are as a worker in the background when notable events happen in engineering. These include when a photonic life form breaks out of the ship in the episode Heroes and Demons, when a console explodes in that department in the episode Investigations, and during the multiple tests of transwarp drive capabilities. His other appearances is as one of the most familiar faces during crew celebrations and assemblies.  The most notable of these is when he blows the boatswain's whistle when Captain Janeway hallucinates her own death and funeral in the episode Coda.

Unlike Crewman Fitzpatrick, whose best "quote" was this whistle when we covered him a few months ago, we do hear or see McKenzie referred to by name verbally or visually in a couple episodes.  Although he has no real speaking lines like most background characters, at least we know his name, and it's consistent.

As mentioned on profiles of other Voyager background characters, this show needed to keep a more consistent set of people in the background in view of the lack of potential transfers to and from the ship when stranded in the Delta Quadrant. This was a nice touch, and it gave character stand in actors a chance to have other roles on the show as well.

McKenzie was played by Richard Sarstedt, who was Robert Beltran's stand in when the real Choktay was unavailable.  Sarstedt also played a long running background ensign on TNG and other background characters in Trek series and movies, which are his only credited roles in acting.  His last work was in Enterprise, but perhaps this is the type of guy who shows up in Discovery at some point based on his long history with many versions of Trek.

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Character Insight No. 227: Vice Admiral Chekote

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we review Vice Admiral Chekote, a senior Starfleet Officer who appears in episodes of TNG as well as DS9.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp227


Chekote first appears in Deep Space Nine in an episode where Bajoran extremists try to seize control of the station.  The Admiral orders Sisko and his crew to leave the station, despite evidence that this faction was backed by Cardassians.  His reasoning is that the Prime Directive applies and forces Starfleet to take a non-interfering position, which is one of the stronger interpretations on the Prime Directive seen on screen.  He appears to be mournful of the potential loss of the wormhole and Bajor, but nevertheless, the order was given.

QUOTE - "Hell of a Turn" (The Circle, DS9)

The next time we see Vice Admiral Chekote, he appears as a supervisor to the Enterprise-D.  Unlike his first appearance, where he is the usual unsympathetic admiral, in this appearance he allows Commander Riker to delay a mission and investigate a mysterious apparent death of Captain Picard.  Of course, Picard turns out to not be killed in the archaeological expedition, proving the Admiral's instincts right on this occasion.

Chekote is one of only five characters to appear on Deep Space Nine before appearing on TNG.  Of those characters, he is the only non-regular and non-regular recurring face on Deep Space Nine, giving this character a unique aspect different than all other such characters.  He does not really have a unique story though, as we receive another typical jerk admiral story as mentioned before. 

Nonetheless, it's good to see the overlap in these shows with overlapping timelines, even though the show writers did not take advantage of crossovers much. Would the shows have been better with more crossover? Definitely food for thought in view of this character.

Chekote is played by Bruce Gray, who still acts today and has been a prolific TV actor for four decades.  One of his most recent appearances is in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, because we needed another one of those.

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Character Insight No. 226: Sick Week look back at Segment 1 on Sisko

I'm sick this week, so rather than give you new bad voice quality, let's take a look back almost five years ago to where this segment started, with a sample of Episode 1 on Benjamin Sisko. A good recall before we begin the Best of Series for Deep Space Nine.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp226

Character Insight No. 225: Darien Wallace

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we review Darien Wallace, a lieutenant crewman who is a regular background character in The Next Generation.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp225


Unlike most background characters, Darien Wallace has a fairly full history fleshed out in canon of the show thanks to his personnel file being shown on a screen in the season 7 episode Eye of the Beholder. He ends up being a core person in that story about Deanna Troi suffering from alien-induced hallucinations.

However, before this moment, all we knew of Mr. Wallace was his last name and his role aboard Picard's Enterprise, which was as the team leader and specialist regarding the life support systems in engineering. We learn from his personnel record that he won some bioengineering awards before joining the crew, perhaps regarding developments in the life support systems he manages.

Wallace appears in 66 episodes and the movie Generations, making him one of the Top 5 most recurring characters on this version of Star Trek. Ironically, just like Diana Giddings of last week, these highly recurring roles do not come with much in the way of spoken lines, just a consistent background presence. His only true spoken line is one word in an episode called The Next Phase. However, we do see him promoted from crewman to ensign to lieutenant as the show progresses.

That background presence is most often seen in engineering, which makes sense, as well as on specific away missions where his expertise can be used to help colonists or aliens on other planets. Outside a three-episode switch to command division and a red uniform in season 4, Wallace is consistently presented as an expert in his field, and that is indicative of the care the show writers took with some aspects of TNG.

Other than the aforementioned Eye of the Beholder, Wallace's most notable appearances include Descent from season 6, where we first learn his name; and Power Play, in season 4. His red jumpsuit uniform from All Good Things was cut up and put on trading cards, so you may have a piece of Darien Wallace sitting around your collectibles!

Wallace is played by regular background extra Guy Vardaman, who was also the stand in photo double for Data and a research consultant for Gene Roddenberry. When not using his hands to re-create button pushing actions of Data and other characters, Verdaman worked on other shows such as Matlock and Cheers, and he later became Vice President of Production at Warner Brothers Online.

Rest in peace, Ralff...the community will miss you.

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Character Insight No. 224: Diana Giddings

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we review Diana Giddings, a lieutenant engineer who is a background character in The Next Generation.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp224

Giddings has 58 appearances spanning all 7 seasons of the show, and she starts as primarily an engineering background grunt. Most of her first season appearances are on the bridge or in main engineering, typically in the memorable skant dress uniform from that season. In a more notable moment, she is one of the crew members affected by polywater intoxication and that causes her to get amorous with a male crewmate in engineering...just in time for Valentine's Day!

In the second season, this background character switches to sciences division and a blue uniform. She is most often seen in sickbay or in scenes with Dr. Pulaski. Much like Dr. Pulaski, the second season doesn't end well for her, as she is apparently demoted by the time she appears as a regular crewman in season 3.

Her appearances thin out as the seasons go along, but one of her normal roles was as a close personal friend to the O'Brien family in the middle seasons. She takes care of Molly on occasion for the new parents, which dovetails nicely with her continued duties alongside Nurse Ogawa and Ensign Martinez in sickbay.

Ironically her appearances ramp back up in the final season, but most of these appearances are off duty in Ten Forward. She's an easy recognizable face in the crowd to insert in many situations when another extra would've been cast but the show runners preferred some continuity. She still does not receive any significant dialogue, much like some other characters we've covered, including the aforementioned Ensign Martinez.

Giddings is played by Lorine Mendell, who was also the stand in for Gates McFadden. That's probably why it was convenient to make her a medic after season one. She also appears in Star Trek Generations, but only has two other small acting credits to her name beyond the Trek connections.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone, and here's to more love and Star Trek in the world. Happy Birthday to Simon Pegg as well, who was born on this day in 1970 long before becoming a movie writer and the new generation of Scotty.
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Character Insight No. 223: Best of Captain Archer

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we wrap up the "Best Of" series for Enterprise with a profile of Captain Jonathan Archer.  Lots to cover, so we'll skip the theme song for once.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp223

In the season 2 episode A Night in Sickbay, Archer must deal with watching his dog Porthos suffer from complications of an away mission while also overcoming some serious pent-up sexual tension as well. We learn the background of how he and his companion Porthos came to be:

Captain Jonathan Archer: An old girlfriend's mother had... this beagle I was crazy about. Even after her daughter and I broke up, we stayed in touch. When the dog got pregnant, I was the first one she called. Four males in the litter - the Four Musketeers. I've had Porthos since he was six weeks old.

In the season 2 episode First Flight, we see Archer as a commander competing with a friend and colleague A.G. Robinson for the right to lead the initial warp flight projects and starships. When Robinson gets the initial upper hand for a warp 2 flight, Archer shows how difficult he would be to console if it hadn't turned out the other way when Enterprise comes along:

Ruby: [trying to comfort Archer] They'll need a pilot for the next flight.
Commander Jonathan Archer: D'you remember what Buzz Aldrin said when he stepped on the moon?
Ruby: No.
Commander Jonathan Archer: Nobody does. Because Armstrong went first.

In Season 2's Cogenitor, the Enterprise crew helps establish what will become the Prime Directive when it interferes with a culture during an otherwise positive first contact mission. Trip finds the enslavement of a third gender of the Vissian race unacceptable and he educates it regarding human culture, which leads to it's suicide and this outburst from Captain Archer:

Captain Jonathan Archer: I might have expected something like this from a first-year recruit. But not you. You did exactly what I'd do? If that's true, then I've done a pretty lousy job setting an example around here. You're a senior officer on this ship. You're privy to the moral challenges I've had to face. You know I've wrestled with the fine line between doing what I think is right and interfering with other species. So don't tell me you know what I would have done when *I* don't even know what I would have done!

Finally, the season 4 two-part episode Demons/Terra Prime before the series finale was a high point for Archer's character and the show as a whole, as Archer fights for a different vision of how humans will interact with other worlds in the proposed Federation as compared to John Paxton, a xenophobic terrorist played by Peter Weller and intent on banishing all non-humans from Earth. Archer provides the following speech in one of many things he does to try and realize his dream for the future of Earth:

Captain Jonathan Archer: [speaking to the alien delegates] Up until about a hundred years ago... there was one question that burned in every Human - that made us study the stars and dream of traveling to them: "Are we alone?" Our generation is privileged to know the answer to that question. We are all explorers, driven to know what's over the horizon, what's beyond our own shores. And yet... the more I've experienced, the more I've learned... that no matter how far we travel, or how fast we get there... the most profound discoveries are not necessarily beyond that next star. They're within us - woven into the threads that bind us - all of us - to each other. The final frontier begins in this hall. Let's explore it together.

Captain Archer may not be considered one of the strongest lead characters in Star Trek history, but Scott Bakula did well when provided good scripts to develop his character. He's definitely one of the bright spots in Enterprise...not to be confused with the theme song, which we must never forget as we wrap up our series on Enterprise main characters... [FAITH OF THE HEART]

Character Insight No. 222: Joseph Sisko

Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we review Joseph Sisko, a recurring character from Deep Space Nine.

https://archive.org/details/CharacterInsightEp222

Joseph Sisko is the father of Commander Ben Sisko and the grandfather of Jake Sisko, two of our main characters in this series. Joseph was initially alluded to be dead in the premiere Emissary, but that turns out to not be the case when he shows up in 6 episodes of the series later. That makes him a unique character as the only living parent of a commanding officer seen interacting with that officer during command (all other captains had deceased or not shown parents in their shows).

Joseph is written as an interesting character thanks in large part to the mysterious background that leads to Benjamin being the Emissary of the Prophets. To this end, Joseph's first wife Sarah was occupied by a Prophet to cause the Emissary to be born, and then Sarah and the Prophet disappear shortly after Ben's birth. There's a notable allegory to religion for you, as is common with the Bajorans in this series. Joseph re-marries and has three more children, and Ben does not discover that he has a different mother until the episode Image in The Sand, an episode where Ben finds his way again following the death of his close friend Jadzia Dax.

Joseph remains passionate about his restaurant and cooking, earning a reputation as one of the finest Cajun chefs on Earth. He passes this desire for cooking on to his son Benjamin and his grandson Jake as well, sharing the family tradition in the form of jumbalaya. Indeed, Ben was raised to work in Joseph's vegetable gardens and as a taste-tester for all kinds of new recipes.

Once this background with Joseph is established, this character comes in to interact with Ben on a couple occasions as a moral compass and guide of sorts. In the episode A Time to Stand, Joseph resists new Federation orders to blood test all Starfleet officer family members to detect any Dominion and Founder incursions. His complaints about loss of freedom at the hands of the government is an interesting allegory for where we stand today as a nation.

QUOTE:
Joseph Sisko: You know, there's something I just don't understand. You're always telling me that space is big, that it's an endless frontier, filled with infinite wonders.
Captain Sisko: It's true.
Joseph Sisko: Well, if that's the case, you would think it would be more than enough room to allow people to leave each other alone.
Captain Sisko: It just doesn't work that way. It should; but it doesn't.

Also during the Dominion War, Jospeh leaves Earth for the first time to see his son and grandson on the space station in the episode Far Beyond the Stars. Anybody with parents or grandparents who don't travel much and then are curmudgeons can relate to this story.

Joseph might have some stereotypical parent features, but he is useful in explaining what makes Commander Sisko the man that he is. Overall, this is the type of recurring character that is mixed in just enough to be memorable, while not overdoing it on silly stories. His highlight was certainly as a refuge for Ben when Ben escapes to Earth for a while following the death of Jadzia, and that is another important turning point in the DS9 Dominion story.

Joseph Sisko is played by Brock Peters, who you would also recognize as Admiral Cartwright from the Star Trek 4 and 6 movies. He also appeared in famous movies To Kill A Mockingbird and Soylent Green.
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