TNG "The Defector" plot thread continued in DS9 "The Search"

[datalogan]

Remember the Romulan Subcommander T’Rul? She appeared on DS9 3rd season episodes “The Search, parts 1 & 2” as the Romulan advisor that came to DS9 to oversee the use of the Romulan cloaking device on the USS Defiant.

I’ve always thought it was too bad that she didn’t stay around as a regular reoccurring character. Not only did I like her addition to the cast and her initial gruff interactions with the crew, I really think she could have been a great character over time if we had even seen her again. We could have learned more about the Romulan people. There has never been a real long-term Romulan character that evolved over many episodes/seasons. Excepting maybe Tomalak or Sela, but they were out-and-out bad guys and this character would have been part of the crew.

And one more thing I thought of recently. What if this T’Rul character was somehow connected or related to the Romulan Admiral Alidar Jarok that we saw in TNG “The Defector”? What if she, in fact, was the daughter that Jarok spoke of? Wouldn’t that be cool?

I was just recently reminded of the plot thread of Jarok’s message to his daughter that was left hanging at the end of “The Defector”. And the character of T’Rul, that I thought could have been so much more if they had continued her. And why couldn’t they have been related?

Plus, T’Rul was played by played by Martha Hackett, who also played Seska on ST:Voyager. She’s a good actress. Of course, that would have meant that she would have been playing regular reoccurring roles on 2 different Star Trek shows at the same time.

[Pavonis]

There wasn't anything for T'Rul to do, though. She was there to "operate" the cloaking device, and that's not enough to justify keeping the character around. It's not enough for her to do. She'd have to contribute to the plots, somehow. I just don't see what she'd bring to DS9, which was already packed full of characters.

[SchwEnt]

DS9 had no problem accommodating tons of characters. They could have found something for T'Rul to do. Even if they didn't, they could have had a first with a continuing Romulan character.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I don't think T'Rul could be Jarok's daughter, because IIRC she was supposed to be a small child by the time "The Defector" took place. Wasn't she?

[SchwEnt]

...as far as continuing the plot threat from "The Defector", I can't believe TNG dropped the ball on this.

That last line from Picard, about someday bringing Jarok's letter home to his family...

And then Picard GOES to Romulus after all and NOPE... nothing about Jarok's final letter.

Even a throwaway line about it would have made a huge impact, at least to me. Would have been a great epilogue to a great eps "The Defector".

[Mr. Laser Beam]

SchwEnt wrote:

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And then Picard GOES to Romulus after all and NOPE... nothing about Jarok's final letter

Maybe Picard was waiting until he could deliver the letter in person. He probably thought he owed it to Jarok.

[DS9forever]

I know some people will immediately turn their noses up when I mention Star Trek literature, but the short story "Suicide Note" features Picard handing Jarok's letter to his family; it is set during the Dominion War:

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Suicide_Note

[Tora Ziyal]

^I'm glad someone did something with that story line.

[The Wormhole]

datalogan wrote:

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Plus, T’Rul was played by played by Martha Hackett, who also played Seska on ST:Voyager. She’s a good actress. Of course, that would have meant that she would have been playing regular reoccurring roles on 2 different Star Trek shows at the same time.

Which may well have been a factor with why nothing was done with T'Rul. Since DS9 and Voyager were filming at the same time, it could have been quite difficult trying to accomdate the same actress with recurring roles on both shows. Seska was the one they had story material for, therefore that's the character they chose to develop.

[Tosk]

I doubt that had much to do with it. Seska didn't show up until months after The Search, so she'd already gone AWOL from DS9 when she started her VOY gig.

[Trek Survivor]

The Wormhole wrote:

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Which may well have been a factor with why nothing was done with T'Rul. Since DS9 and Voyager were filming at the same time, it could have been quite difficult trying to accomdate the same actress with recurring roles on both shows. Seska was the one they had story material for, therefore that's the character they chose to develop.

Well, they didn't have much of a problem with Weyoun and Brunt, who even appeared in the same episode as I recall!

[The Wormhole]

Trek Survivor wrote:

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Well, they didn't have much of a problem with Weyoun and Brunt, who even appeared in the same episode as I recall!

That's different. That's two characters in the same show, that's easier to work out. When the same actor/actress has a recurring role on two shows which are filming simultaneously, it gets a bit more difficult. What happens when they need to do a key scene with T'Rul on DS9 but can't because unplanned reshoots are being done on Voyager of equally important scenes involving Seska.

Stargate ran into just that very problem when an Atlantis character was to cameo on SG-1. But he was needed for unplanned reshoots on Atlantis requiring a change at the last minute on SG-1, the character became an unnamed nobody played by one of the producers. They got lucky that, but there's no guarantee you'd always be able to find such an easy get out of jail card.