Number One's Character Development

[david kelly]

Hey, guys!! This is my first post on the board. Well, I've watched the "Cage" pilot several times over, and I'm always fascinated by the character of Number One. I just love the enigmatic qualities of her character: logical, highly intelligent, unemotional--basically the protoTOS Spock. How she in-universe grew to that is intriguing. There's just so much of her back history that is so much a blank. Even in the original bible for Star Trek, GR doesnt give any details of the nature of her character and her history--only that she likes to play it expressionless and is Pike's superior in knowledge of ship operations, that's it. I know DC Fontanna tried to add some background to Number One in Vulcan's Glory(and of course that comic series).
I just feel there so much lost when her character for various reason was excised. Personally, I think Majel did a good job with the character--definitely there was some rough edges to the performances which wouldve been smoothed out as she got a handle, even Nimoy smiled a lot early in series one for an emotionless being. TOS definitely wouldnt have had the sexist criticism leveled against it--but that all depends on how she was written. The fact she doesnt have a name outside of Number One(GR never got farther than that moniker in his bible)makes the nature of the character more curious: Is she human or something else? (Majel thought she was cloned oglr genetically engineered). After all, Pike said she was different after making a sexist remark about women on the bridge.

I know I've been over long in my post and I aplogize. I'm so thoroughly intrigued by her. So if TOS had kept her, how do you think she would have evolved as a character and what would her backstory eventually have been?

 

[Tenacity]

The fact she doesnt have a name outside of Number One

I've never took that for a "name," more a term for her position in the chain of command. When she was a green ensign just out of the academy, I very much doubt her first captain called her number one.

If after being told by the NBC executives that they liked the idea of a woman first officer, but didn't like Majel Barrett in the role, Roddenberry had simply recast the role I'm sure that there would have been character development.

What direction that would have taken is hard to say, a lot would have depended on which actress eventually got the part. And how the writers built the character too. Personally I like the idea that she (like Spock) was a non-Human.

 

[borgboy]

A character who is strongly implied to be Number One is prominent in the New Frontier novels.

 

[david kelly]

I've never took that for a "name," more a term for her position in the chain of command.

In Vulcan Glory, DC Fontanna writes Number One is the character's actual name, because her character came from a planet that genetically engineered their populace and she was the best of her birth year. I know that novel isnt canon, but it is an interesting way to develope her character. You could use her character to further explore the positive and negative implications of a society of genetically engineered people.

I know that Number One is an old naval term for the first officer; Picard used the term for Riker. But the difference is only Picard called Riker that and everyone else called him Commander Riker. In the Cage, no one calls her anything else but that except Pike referring to her as by rank. GR reused the term for Riker but in all of the series bibles he gives him a proper name, but for the Cage character he chooses not to. Why is that? For me it's just a matter of my imagination firing up trying to come up with interesting fictional reason for it.

Maybe I should rephrase my question, if you were writing the character how would you develope her? Would you go the DC Fontanna route or a different way? Would she be human or a part of an alien race? How would you explain her more logical, stoic characteristics?

 

[david kelly]

The first paragraph was Tenacity. The rest was me.

 

[Pauln6]

I think that Number One's strength lies in her being 'unemotional'. They felt the need to do that so she isn't a hysterical wreck at the first sign of trouble. Actually, all three women in the pilot fare better than most of the women that came later whose emotions frequently impaired their ability to follow orders, make reasoned decisions, or to function at all without being propped up by a man. I would have loved to see more of her.

 

[Timo]

I never got the impression that Number One would have been nameless in "The Cage". Her name just happened to go unmentioned in her first appearance. It would no doubt have been all over the dialogue of the second episode in the series, had there been such a beast. Similarly, the Chief Engineer would have gained a name; the guy supposedly named Garrison would have been actually called that on air; Colt would have gotten a first name; and for all we know, Spock would have gotten one, too.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[jwb]

I never got the impression that Number One would have been nameless in "The Cage". Her name just happened to go unmentioned in her first appearance.
Timo Saloniemi

It is true that "Number One" wasn't her real name, however it was no accident that she was referred to only as such in the pilot. In the original version of the series outline the document stated;

The Executive Officer
Never referred to as anything but "Number One", this officer is female. Almost mysteriously female, in fact – slim and dark in a Nile Valley way, age uncertain, one of those women who will always look the same between years twenty and fifty. An extraordinarily efficient officer, "Number One" enjoys playing it expressionless, cool – is probably Robert April's superior in detailed knowledge of the equipment, departments, and personnel aboard the vessel. When Captain April leaves the craft, "Number One" moves up to Acting Captain.

I absolutely adored the character as well, and I wish we could have seen more of her. (Macross has a similar character, though she's a little more spunky, first officer Misa Hayase.)
Unfortunately, both men and women seem to have difficulty with women in leadership positions. If a guy is compassionate, it's considered as asset to his leadership. If a woman is, she's a weak leader. If a male leader is tough, people say, "he's tough, but he has a tough job." If a woman acts the same way, people say, "Who does she think she is?" So it leaves no room for a woman to be a leader and be respected.

Then again, Margaret Thatcher, Kate Janeway, and some others do manage to defy the order of things.

 

[Tenacity]

. They felt the need to do that so she isn't a hysterical wreck at the first sign of trouble.

But how would number one have reacted when Khan began to restyle her hair?

 

[david kelly]

Unfortunately, both men and women seem to have difficulty with women in leadership positions. If a guy is compassionate, it's considered as asset to his leadership. If a woman is, she's a weak leader. If a male leader is tough, people say, "he's tough, but he has a tough job." If a woman acts the same way, people say, "Who does she think she is?" So it leaves no room for a woman to be a leader and be respected.

That's something I wish Trek could have addressed: the double standard for men and women in leadership roles. I dont think that was ever explored in Voyager, which could have been interesting for Janeway to contend with a rigidly patriarchal culture that they have to ally with. They could have explored that with Number One, especially since "the Cage" shows some sexism exists in the future.

 

[Warped9]

John Byrne also wrote a miniseries that explored Number One from graduating the Academy to being posted to the Enterprise. It was called Crew and it was a decent read.

She doesn't come across as emotionless, but she never loses her head particularly in a crises.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

That's something I wish Trek could have addressed: the double standard for men and women in leadership roles.

You should go to youtube and watch an episode of Star Trek Continues called "Embracing the Winds." It's about that exact topic. I'm not saying it's a fantastic episode, but it's watchable.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

John Byrne also wrote a miniseries that explored Number One from graduating the Academy to being posted to the Enterprise. It was called Crew and it was a decent read.

She doesn't come across as emotionless, but she never loses her head particularly in a crises.

Yeah, Number One struck me as cool under pressure, not unemotional. She is certainly taken aback when the Keeper says, "And she too has fantasies involving you." (Although, I hate that line because all the women in the episode have it for the big, strong captain.)

Majel is a very nice person. I got to meet her once at Comic Con. However, she isn't a strong actress, and you'd want a stronger actor in what was potentially the co-star of the show.

My vote has always been for Eartha Kitt (so that we could meet NBC's request for a more diverse cast—read: less lily white). Or even Nichelle Nicholas in that part. She not as strong as Kitt but she's more charming and has more presence than Majel.

 

[Pauln6]

But how would number one have reacted when Khan began to restyle her hair?

She would have humoured him and then made a full report to the captain. Then she would have gone back to Khan to keep an eye on him.

Actually, I don't think Khan would have liked her dispassionate interrogation. He probably would have dismissed her as he grew weary at her constant questioning. The real question is how Yeoman Colt's unusually strong female drives would have fared against Khan's personal magnetism.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

John Byrne also wrote a miniseries that explored Number One from graduating the Academy to being posted to the Enterprise. It was called Crew and it was a decent read.

She doesn't come across as emotionless, but she never loses her head particularly in a crises.

Crew presents Number One as evolving over the course of several years into the more restrained character we see in "The Cage." Around issue 3 or 4 there's a reference to her reading Vulcan philosophy and it having an effect on her.

 

[Warped9]

I like the broad strokes of Crew and Marvel's Early Voyages on giving us more of the Pike and pre TOS era. Toss in DC Fontana's Vulcan's Glory to tantalize us with what adventures in the Pike era could be like.

Sorry, Christopher, but I didn't care for Burning Dreams.

 

[Tenacity]

They could have explored that with Number One, especially since "the Cage" shows some sexism exists in the future

"Some?" You sir have a talent for understatement.

My vote has always been for Eartha Kitt

Six inches shorter than Shatner, would have gotten his vote.

 

[Warped9]

A number of women were considered for Number One including Jeanne Bal who later portrayed Nancy Crater in "The Man Trap."

 

[locutus101]

I never got the impression that Number One would have been nameless in "The Cage". Her name just happened to go unmentioned in her first appearance. It would no doubt have been all over the dialogue of the second episode in the series, had there been such a beast. Similarly, the Chief Engineer would have gained a name; the guy supposedly named Garrison would have been actually called that on air; Colt would have gotten a first name; and for all we know, Spock would have gotten one, too.

Timo Saloniemi

I got the impression that Spock WAS his first name.

 

[Warped9]

For a time my impression was Spock was his only name.