Selar Question

[CorporalClegg]

I watched The Schizoid Man this morning and got to thinking about what her purpose was. Plot wise, she (and the whole Constantinople sub-plot) was totally superfluous. There's no reason why it couldn't have been Pulaski all along.

I know about the whole planned Worf/Selar relationship, but even that seems like a weak reason to include her. Even if it was a time/availability issue with Muldaur, there's no reason she couldn't have filmed the extra few scenes the day she was already there.

So I was wondering, was there more to the Worf romance--like, was she "plan B" for the future CMO? It always seemed to me like they planned on Muldaur as being temporary at best, and, at the time, no one knew of McFadden's eventual return. So was Selar supposed to be some sort of contingency in case Muldaur (and McFadden) didn't come back?

EDIT: Mods feel free to move this to TNG. Posted in wrong forum.

 

[StarryEyed]

I have a hard time imagining Suzie Plakson playing a character like Selar long-term. The actress excels playing flamboyant rolls, not emotionless ones. I suppose her options are limited because of her height but I can't see her being happy as a regular playing a Vulcan.

 

[SchwEnt]

You know, you're right.

The whole sub-plot about the Constantinople was to no effect.
We saw no scenes, only a few lines of dialogue. So what WAS the purpose?

We could have easily had the whole eps play as is (with NO Constantinople sidebar)
and have Pulaski beam down to Grave's World, and everything play out as it did (sans Selar). What would be the difference, as far as Data and Graves and their whole storyline is concerned?

If the point was to introduce Dr.Selar (for whatever ultimate purpose), they really came up with a strained roundabout way of doing it.
And really, to no purpose anyway.
She doesn't much factor in the rest of the eps, much less the rest of the series.

(Which is too bad, cuz I LIKE Selar).

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

Maybe Diana Muldaur just wasn't available on the day that they were shooting, so they created Selar.

Of course, I liked the idea of multiple doctors on the ship, just out of the virtue of how Doctor Crusher/Pulaski shouldn't realistically be considered the only voice of medical authority on a ship of 1,000+. Particularly in times of crisis, the CMO can't be everywhere, so there should be some medical authority to deal with things when the CMO is busy elsewhere.

 

[Tiberius]

It was for a story purpose, I think.

They couldn't have the Enterprise sitting up in orbit, because then graves would have been in sickbay with doctors around him the whole time and no chance to be alone with Data to do the mind swap thing.

So, they needed to take the Enterprise out of the equation. What could get the Enterprise away? Ship in distress. Of course, the CMO needs to go where she can do the most good, which is helping out with all the injured people on the ship, not looking after one grumpy old man, so she has to stay on board. Hence, they needed another doctor. That's why we got Selar.

 

[Timo]

It might also have helped the plot if the medic were less competent than the CMO heroine, so the secrets of Graves would stay secret longer. Thankfully, we didn't get that angle: Selar got just as much information out of Graves as Pulaski would have, and got a chance to exhibit some cunning, too.

I just wonder why they didn't pull this sort of a stunt more often. A "mediumweight" guest character in the away team would have been a fresh approach, especially if she or he didn't die horribly...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Therin of Andor]

I just wonder why they didn't pull this sort of a stunt more often. A "mediumweight" guest character in the away team would have been a fresh approach, especially if she or he didn't die horribly...

Well, all ST series have had the odd strong guest (eg. Wendy Hughes in TNG) who appears to be just a regular crewmember we've never seen before. The problem is that those actors are often very reluctant to commit to being available, or are simply not available, whenever a sequel episode comes along.

I got a chance to spend a weekend at a small ST convention in New Zealand with Tracy Tormé - which is where he broke the news of the intention to set up an arc (over at least three episodes) where Worf and Selar are eventually revealed as lovers.

IIRC, Dr Selar came from the "What are we going to do to replace Crusher this season?" talks and Tormé was pressing for an alien doctor, while Roddenberry wanted a crusty old human doctor, essentially a female version of McCoy who would be a foil for both Picard and Data. Tormé was story editor and reluctant to lose his alien doctor concept. Note "The Schizoid Man" was a Manning & Beimler story but a Tormé script. He was also reluctant to lose the romance idea (hence K'Ehleyr) and ditto Suzie Plakson!

 

[Pauln6]

I would have preferred a few more guest crew as well to mix things up - I liked having Ro, O'Brien, Barclay etc. I also like Selar but agree she was pretty superfluous to that particular plot. I wouldn't have objected to her being a recurring guest star in one or two episodes per season, although a Worf-Selar relationship sounds like a terrible, terrible idea.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

EDIT: Mods feel free to move this to TNG. Posted in wrong forum.

OK

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Perhaps given Muldaur's age, the idea was to have younger women present to play into Grave's "old misanthrope who likes much younger women" character.

 

[Timo]

Fair enough. Although it would have been fun to have Graves put on his best moves with Pulaski as the target - she was a younger woman as far as the old lecher was concerned!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[CorporalClegg]

Fair enough. Although it would have been fun to have Graves put on his best moves with Pulaski as the target - she was a younger woman as far as the old lecher was concerned!

Timo Saloniemi

I agree.

It would have been a lot more fun. Because even had he tried to make a move on Selar, he reaction would have probably been kind of sterile. Pulaski, on the other hand, is feisty.

 

[Malleus]

So I was wondering, was there more to the Worf romance--like, was she "plan B" for the future CMO? It always seemed to me like they planned on Muldaur as being temporary at best, and, at the time, no one knew of McFadden's eventual return. So was Selar supposed to be some sort of contingency in case Muldaur (and McFadden) didn't come back?

I have a hard time imagining Suzie Plakson playing a character like Selar long-term. The actress excels playing flamboyant rolls, not emotionless ones. I suppose her options are limited because of her height but I can't see her being happy as a regular playing a Vulcan.

I'm pretty sure that Selar as a long-term character would have been a turn-off. She may have been hot and sexy, but as was the case with the full-Vulcan T'Pol, there was no smartness with which the audience can connect. I'm also sure that Suzie Plakson would have been subject to unnecessary criticism.

 

[StarryEyed]

Worf: My blood boils for you!

Selar: inadvisable. Such an elevation of blood temperature would cause your death.

Worf attempts to back-hand her but Selar blocks him with one hand and neck-pinches him with the other.

Selar: Further attempts at violence would be illogical.

Yeah, really hot.

 

[SPCTRE]

I would have preferred a few more guest crew as well to mix things up - I liked having Ro, O'Brien, Barclay etc. I also like Selar but agree she was pretty superfluous to that particular plot. I wouldn't have objected to her being a recurring guest star in one or two episodes per season, although a Worf-Selar relationship sounds like a terrible, terrible idea.

I would have enjoyed a Vulcan/Klingon romance, if done right. Then again, I also liked the T'Lana/Worf relationship

 

[Pauln6]

I'm pretty sure that Selar as a long-term character would have been a turn-off. She may have been hot and sexy, but as was the case with the full-Vulcan T'Pol, there was no smartness with which the audience can connect. I'm also sure that Suzie Plakson would have been subject to unnecessary criticism.

Actually, I found T'Pol to be one of the most relatable characters in Enterprise. Maybe it's because I'm English but I found too many of the crew whiny, ill-disciplined, and annoying. Archer had a laissez-faire attitude towards command and he often gave his friends special treatment.

T'Pol was my kinda gal. I think the only thing I liked about Trip was his relationship with T'Pol. Somehow McCoy, as a doctor could get away with irascible and both he and Pulaski knew where to draw the line. Trip needed a punch or a spell in the brig more than once.

Selar seemed a lot more buttoned up and drier than T'Pol but Suzie Plakson is a versatile actress. I think she could have make Selar pretty cool.

 

[Malleus]

The thing with full-blooded Vulcans is that they're not supposed to display feelings much. Suppression of emotions is more natural than with cases like Spock, who in his later life flips back and forth between witty logic and feeling cool, but still in between two extremes. T'Pol's bouts of emotion are a bit too extreme.

I think the case of Tuvok is the best case of how one develops a full-blooded Vulcan character. Have an odd episode or two where the emotional control breaks down, but at least stick with witty logic.

 

[Pauln6]

Yeah I didn't mind T'Pol being a rare emotional Vulcan but just about every Vulcan in Enterprise looked really pissed off all the time and just about ready to snap someone's neck.

 

[Timo]

...Which, I thought, was how Vulcans were established to be in TOS? Utter savages barely held in check by rigid rules of asceticism, even their so-called diplomats casually throwing their foreign counterparts across rooms and reminding them that murder is always an option for the logical mind?

It is perfectly fine and well that Vulcans in TNG or DS9 would be more like slightly reserved humans, and less like chillingly calm psychopaths. After all, these spinoff shows would represent a further century of coexistence with other species, and feature those individual Vulcans who had become accustomed to the company of those species and to their social norms. But ENT would by the same token give us Vulcans who are even more arrogant and savage than those we saw in TOS.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Pauln6]

That sounds cool - Vulcans more dangerous than Klingons because you'll never know when they might snap! No wonder they stuck to Vulcan only ships in TOS.