SNW needs an alien crew member

[Therin of Andor]

We have seen a Tellarite crewman and three Andorians, all in recent episodes.


Tellarite crewman in "Subspace Rhapsody" by Ian McLean, on Flickr


Three background Andorians in "Subspace Rhapsody" by Ian McLean, on Flickr

Waiting for Australia...

Nella Daren, Picard's crew-woman love interest in "Lessons", was portrayed by the late Australian actor, Wendy Hughes. Maybe she was also playing an Australian?


Nella Daren in TNG: "Lessons" by Ian McLean, on Flickr

 

[Death Ray]

. Where's the gender diversity and spectrum of sexual orientation?

On Discovery!

(Also, I think that they are hinting that Una is a lesbian. And while this may not count, don’t you think that Pike is kind of gay coded? That may yet be a reveal! Hell… now I am rooting for it!)

I too am in the “give me a new alien” category. Spock is way overused in these shows, and honestly, it was Leonard Nimoy who made the character iconic. I am cool towards this endless resurrection of the Spock character as if he were the be-all-end-all of Trek.

 

[Death Ray]

Star Trek usually took a great mileage out of it's non-human/alien characters - be it the original Spock, Data, Worf, Odo, Quark, even Neelix or Phlox.

Would sure like a Phlox guest appearance!

 

[Death Ray]

Trek's much-vaunted allegorical approach to dramatizing issues of the day was offered with the justification that network strictures on storytelling required such subterfuge and that American audiences were unwilling to confront controversial topics other than in some sort of disguise. Neither of those things are true now, nor have they been true for decades.

The topics that had to be sugarcoated then may not have to be hidden under makeup now, but there are always new topics that could benefit from that approach, topics that even you may find too hot to touch directly. I have already said it several times, but these NuTreks lack the storytelling gene, especially when it comes to allegory.

Shoving us the very white and heteronormative Kirk and Scott in the face is IMO hurting the diversity quota much more than adding an alien crewmember. The cast as set up in the season premiere was much more diverse than it feels now.

Speaking of diversity, have you ever noticed that when it comes to shows like Rings of Power or Shadow and Bone, the “diverse” solution is always to make these shows look like a Benetton ad? Wouldn’t genuine diversity mean a complete cast of homogenous non-white actors? When white do-gooders try to fix social representation, they always choose the most awkward solution.

 

[Nerys Myk]

We have seen a Tellarite crewman and three Andorians, all in recent episodes.


Tellarite crewman in "Subspace Rhapsody" by Ian McLean, on Flickr


Three background Andorians in "Subspace Rhapsody" by Ian McLean, on Flickr



Nella Daren, Picard's crew-woman love interest in "Lessons", was portrayed by the late Australian actor, Wendy Hughes. Maybe she was also playing an Australian?


Nella Daren in TNG: "Lessons" by Ian McLean, on Flickr

Three finger Tellerite?

 

[Death Ray]

Three finger Tellerite?

Mitch McConnell has prettier hands than that Tellerite!

 

[137th Gebirg]

I don't know about that...

 

[fireproof78]

So, we've got an Illyrian and a Vulcan. That's 25% of the regular characters...

Indeed.

People try way to hard to mix things up. Just work with the characters already there.

 

[Death Ray]

Illyrians aren't really aliens. Una is not significantly different than a regular human to count as "alien", IMHO.

 

[fireproof78]

Neither are Vulcans yet we somehow had two shows with Vulcan main characters filling out the ranks as part of the alien mix of the crew.

SNW is back to Star Trek's roots, and all that comes with it.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Neither are Vulcans yet we somehow had two shows with Vulcan main characters filling out the ranks as part of the alien mix of the crew.

SNW is back to Star Trek's roots, and all that comes with it.

Three

 

[Death Ray]

I mean… alien is as alien does. If Una is considered human, looks human, and has no distinctive cultural differences, then she is no more an “alien” to the casual viewer than Julian Bashir was.

I think by “alien” we are all thinking of someone who is non-human in origin, and ideally, looks the part.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I mean… alien is as alien does. If Una is considered human, looks human, and has no distinctive cultural differences, then she is no more an “alien” to the casual viewer than Julian Bashir was.

I think by “alien” we are all thinking of someone who is non-human in origin, and ideally looks the part.

TOS managed to get by with countless (well I’m not gonna count them) aliens who looked human. Even the Klingons looked human back then.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Modern audiences demand higher production values. Not saying it's always right, just saying that is the way of things now.

 

[fireproof78]

Three

How did I forget about ENT?

TOS managed to get by with countless (well I’m not gonna count them) aliens who looked human. Even the Klingons looked human back then.

Yes, indeed. If SNW is steering in to TOS' strengths, and TNG's too, then the human looking aliens are par for the course. We can't sit there an say "be more like old Star Trek" and glare at Discovery and Picard, and then be surprised when it looks a lot like older Star Trek.

Modern audiences demand higher production values. Not saying it's always right, just saying that is the way of things now.

All the production values went to the bridge set.

And Pike's hair.

And costumes.

 

[Death Ray]

TOS managed to get by with countless (well I’m not gonna count them) aliens who looked human. Even the Klingons looked human back then.

Alien, however, has to mean that she feels alien to the viewer. No one thinks Una is alien, nor is she even considered alien according to the shows own logic. She’s human.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Alien, however, has to mean that she feels alien to the viewer. No one thinks Una is alien, nor is she even considered alien according to the shows own logic. She’s human.

Explain. She was outed as an Illyrian. So to the crew and anyone who bothers to check she’s an alien. What “show logic” says otherwise?

 

[Death Ray]

Explain. She was outed as an Illyrian. So to the crew and anyone who bothers to check she’s an alien. What “show logic” says otherwise?

Isn’t Illyria a human colony?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Isn’t Illyria a human colony?

No. They are an alien species first encountered in the 22nd Century, Are you watching the show?

 

[137th Gebirg]

From MA:

The Illyrians were a spacefaring humanoid species native to the former Delphic Expanse. Their original settlement was located in the Vaultera Nebula, though they also had colonies across a wide swath of space, including one located at Hetemit IX.

Not human, but humanoid.