Honorable mention to
Tim Russ playing the changeling Tuvok and shifting from convincing Tuvok persona to malicious villain effortlessly
The better "good man gone bad": Tuvok or The Doctor?
- Thread starter Ragitsu
- Start date
Nope.
And I think it could have given some measure of weight to the predicament that Voyager supposedly was in.
Respectfully, more than one person would have noticed and cared a great deal. It appears you would be part of the, perhaps numerous, audience members who would not have noticed and/or cared or would have viewed it as in service to good plot development but the answer to Oddish’s question cannot be “Nope” when everyone’s responses are taken into account.
Oh, believe me, I am part of the extreme minority who minds minor characters dying. But that does not meant the notice would have been in the story. My answer can be "Nope" in the broadest of strokes.
Exactly. Like in that horrible shocking moment in the first season of "Game of Thrones" when people realized that no one was safe.
There are times in a character's journey when it's just better to eliminate them. For me, there are two main reasons: one, when I see no path to a happy ending for them. Best example I can think of is Mullibok in "Progress". Obviously, Kira wasn't going to crank her phaser up to maximum power and vaporize him where he stood... but it would have been far less cruel.
Second main reason for eliminating a character is when their death has greater value as a plot device than their survival. With the Maquis domesticated and a romance with Janeway off the table, Chakotay had little purpose in the greater plot of the series. Once the decision was made to make his character (who was practically made for development) absolutely static, Harry was pointless as well. Yeah, some people liked them, but much of the time they were doing little more than delivering lines that could have been passed off to another character or an extra. But if he had been killed off, we could see Tom's sorrow at the loss of a friend, Janeway's devastation at losing someone so young... even Tuvok might be affected, since he and Harry played kal-toh together. And again, when a main character was placed in jeopardy in an episode, the tension would be higher... because you just never knew.
Yes, people who liked the actors and characters would have been upset at their departure... but is it a good thing to keep characters around that become either an afterthought or a laughingstock? Chakotay has been regularly compared to a potted plant, here as well as in other places. And "poor, dumb, eternal ensign Kim" has become so popular a mantra, the Picard showrunners were going to feature a future version of him with a successful Starfleet career behind him... but they presumably chickened out.
If there is one major insight these Trek actor’s podcasts have given me, it is that a regular role in a long-running television series is a coveted thing to achieve for 95% of actors in Hollywood. Yes, a few of our beloved Trek actors have gone on to bigger and better things either in front of or behind the cameras but for quite a number of them, Trek is the jewel in their crown. Because of this knowledge, I can’t blithely assert any regular cast member should have been killed off to add stakes or heighten emotions. Were Chakotay and Harry grievously underutilized? Most definitely. Were the underlying issues innate to a show destined to double (or more) profits through syndication going to be done away with via the sacrifice of one or more actor’s steady paycheck? Nope.
Also of note, Garrett Wang has said that Harry Kim “belongs” to Prodigy which is why he wasn’t allowed to be in Picard. I think Prodigy will be a wonderful home to the further exploits of Harry Kim in his successful Starfleet career.
The (erroneous) takeaway of many was "Wow, Tuvok is that aggressively evil behind his practiced stoicism.", but they forget the fact that the Vulcan's psyche was colored by Suder's hitherto latent murderous streak.
I'll address the last about Harry and Prodigy in its propriety topic... while I'm happy to yak about the crappy way he and other characters were treated, others might not like having the subject discussed everywhere.
If we're going to evaluate "good character gone stone killer" bits, there are several Janeway bits as well. How do you think she compares?
If we're going to evaluate "good character gone stone killer" bits, there are several Janeway bits as well. How do you think she compares?
Yes. Best not to harry others over the hairy state of affairs surrounding Harry.
Janeway beats out both of them.
She temporarily disabled her own ethical subroutines.
Good example. My personal favorite is in "Unimatrix One" when Janeway just grabs a bat'leth and knocks down a drone like it's nothing. It's quite a sight.
