What would a fourth season have looked like?

So, in a Phase II series where Decker is now Captain, and Kirk has gone of to do occasional guest star type stuff, my question is this: who would have been Decker's First Officer? One of the regulars gets promoted - which one? New character?

 

Ilia was also a Phase II character, right? How was she described in the Phase II Writers' Bible?

 

Nice fro, bro.

 

It could be worse. Imagine if Paramount hadn't allowed the movies, and instead, circa 1987, we get a reboot with Bruce Willis as Kirk, Jeff Goldblum as Spock, and for diversity's sake, a woman (I'm thinking Barbara Bosson from Hill Street Blues) as McCoy.

 

From http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Phase_II

Gene Roddenberry's and Jon Povill's 1977 writers/directors guide described her as:
"...a young female of Planet 114-Delta V, which has recently joined the Federation. The Deltan race is much older than Humans, with brains much more finely evolved in areas of art and mathematics. These abilities make her a superb navigator and her artistic abilities are evident in her sure, flowing precision at this task.
"Her face is breathtakingly beautiful. But like all Deltans, she is completely hairless except for the eyes. Her smooth, slender bare head has the almost sensually quality of delicately contoured nudity, always hidden before in other women. It gives her a striking, almost "Egyptian" look, particularly when wearing a Deltan jewel-band head ornament.
"Ilia's intelligence level is second only to the Science Officer, and she has also the esper abilities common on her planet. Unlike the mind-meld of Vulcans, it simply is the ability to sense images in other minds. Never words or emotions, only images... shapes, sizes, textures. On her planet, sexual foreplay consists largely of lovers placing images in each other's minds.
"Just as Vulcans have a problem with emotions, Ilia has a problem which accompanies her aboard the starship. On 114-Delta V, almost everything in life is sex-oriented; it is a part of every friendship, every social engagement, every profession. It is simply the normal way to relate with others there. Since constant sex is not the pattern of Humans and others board this starship, Ilia has totally repressed this emotion drive and social pattern."

 

Thank you, @mb22. I didn't know that page was at Memory Alpha.

 

The writer's Bible version of Ilia is a bit messy but Deltans have the makings of a complex, interesting race. I think the intention was for her to become an unofficial counsellor , which is why she evolved into Counsellor Troi. I think the TOS obsession with psychology, especially female psychologists/psychiatrists is odd but it's a thing (Denher, Noel, Jones, and even other disciplines showing more knowledge of psychology than their own area of expertise - Mulhall, Palamis, Chapel; plus McCoy obviously).

I think focusing on Deltan pheromones is a more interesting take. They emit powerful pheromones so presumably they are sensitive to pheromones. Might it be this that gives them an empathic sense of people nearby? Might it be using pheromones to stimulate brain chemistry that reduces (or increases) sensitivity to pain or increases pleasurable sensations. Could it be the risk of biochemical imbalance from prolonged exposure that requires the oath of celibacy?

Way more interesting than, oh, another telepath IMO. Troi was rather dull.

 

^ Just to clarify, biorhythms are pseudoscience. There are no scientific theories regarding them, despite whatever terminology their adherents use or have used. Cf astrology.

In that vein, we had mood rings.

 

Did we ever see another Deltan in the franchise after Ilia? I've seen at least one source refer to the bald humanoid serving on the Excelsior bridge in TSFS as a Deltan officer but has that ever been confirmed? Is it just a fan theory since he was a bald humanoid in a Starfleet uniform and the only other one in recent memory had been Ilia?

If so then Star Trek III gave us a Deltan male that had a more enlarged cranium than Ilia's. Unless that was the actor's actual head shape, in which case: sorry. What did you expect someone to say?

 

The MA articles:

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Deltan
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Unnamed_Deltans

I remember speculation that Darwin from STID might have been Deltan, but evidently not.

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Darwin

 

Thanks! I didn't realize the Deltan in TSFS was played by an actress. Cool!

You can clearly tell she's wearing a prosthetic bald cap, though.

 

It's eggsquisite.

 

It was actually the Deltans in the TWok novel that made me fall in love with the species.

 

That writers bible description is mildly creepy in a GR/sex/70s vein. Like one "pretty maid" in a row. Just need Rock Hudson with a big 'stache.

 

Roddenberry was obsessed with actresses walking 'like a strip tease Queen'. It made it into several character bios. You can imagine Crusher rushing onto the bridge to treat an injured crewman and Roddenberry shouting, "Cut! Can you do it again, honey, and this time, walk more like a slut ."

If a Decker character were to be introduced as a regular, would he have been more like Picard to Kirk's Riker?

 

I would scratch the word mildly, myself.