What If...A Season 2 Onwards Musing

[Bry_Sinclair]

I am a big fan of "What If..." scenarios in the world of Trek, and this one has just come to me.

Everything in S1 is pretty much the same, up until "Skin of Evil" where, instead of Yar, Troi is killed by Armus just to toy with the crew (though not quite so early in the episode). I thought of this as the character was at risk, having not appeared for several episodes and the writers not really knowing what all to do with her.

I can imagine this would've sent Riker on a big revenge kick for the remainder of the episode and would've become somewhat more broody afterwards, having lost the greatest love of his life. But how would removing Troi affect such things as the other characters and even the sets themselves?

1. Would another character have been created to fill a similar sort of role to fill her empty chair, one that was possibly more diverse/distinct--so the character would have plenty to say and do, rather than being limited by the 'counsellor' title. Or would they have removed the chair and given Picard and Riker a more Voyager layout?

2. With Yar still at tactical and after Geordi's promotion to Chief Engineer, Worf would be the next logical candidate to take the conn. From there he could be used as added muscle on away missions, carry out Data's functions at ops (when he was off the bridge) without having to hire a speaking extra, as well as have plenty of storylines about his family feud with the House of Duras, etc (none of which was dependent on him being Security Chief).

3. With Worf at the conn, might the bridge have gotten its Generations refit, to have consoles down both sides in order to give Wesley a more prominent place at a science station (one that wasn't tucked away at the back of the set)? Wesley taking on a more sciency role which fits better with him being a child genius, rather than just manning the helm.

I'm sure there are more changes that would've happened over time with the change in character dynamic, but these are just the ones that have formed in my head initially.

 

[cgervasi]

Wesley taking on a more sciency role which fits better with him being a child genius, rather than just manning the helm.

I remember thinking this about the helm and navigation role after the episode with the binars showed that the ship could pilot itself. It wasn't to maintain course. It could leave space dock, fly to a planet, avoid any common perils, and put itself in orbit of the destination planet. Then what did those guys at helm and nav do?

It made sense the autopilot technology would have improved, and it was good for the stories because it encouraged the people at helm to be extras or actually get involved in the story rather than just providing exposition.

This is tangentially related to another problem with the series. Usually the show involves a small handful of people and they have to create plot elements to separate them. In some ways the show would have been better if the ship had a crew of a dozen.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Troi was an extension of Riker. They were two halves of a whole. She ended up seeing Worf, this is true, but the whole time, it was clear that she really belonged to another. At the same time, it did create some 'distance' betwixt the Imzadi couple and I'm sure that had Troi been killed off, that she'd be referenced every now and again, but ... in the end? Moving on for Riker would've been most easily achieved. This is a Man who seduces leaders of worlds, like the achingly beautiful Mistress Beata.

Until "Insurrection," Riker never had to settle on a woman in his entire life. He'd had his pick of the hottest women of the entire Galaxy. But by the time INS came around, Riker was getting long in the tooth ... he couldn't pull, like he used to. It was time to settle down, lest he risk living alone and lonely. And who to settle down with? Now, there's a question and a half, isn't it? As it turned out, The Briar Patch refreshed, rejuvenated and revitalised those feelings from so very long ago, for these star-crossed lovers. But he had the right idea, though: if having kids isn't a big deal to you, then the time to get married is when you're old, like that. Until then, live it up ... to the very last drop!