Why did Lieutenant Yarr die?

[jeskawest]

I'm currently rewatching the series and am about to finish the first season. I just watched the episode where Yarr is killed, and I'm wondering, why? (I did a quick search of the forum and didn't see this specific topic, so I apologize if it's been discussed ad naseum already.)
My question is mainly focused on the factors behind her death, show-wise, not technically what happened in the episode. Did she ask to be written off? Was she written off for some other purpose? Just curious, as it seems very strange to kill off a main character in the very first season, in a seemingly unimportant episode.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

Avast, she was havin' to walk the plank for various reasons, I imagine. It probably weren't one reason alone - after all, any self-respectin' salty producer of the seas has got to have good reason to switch up the cast of a TV show, especially be it a franchiiiiise like Starrrr Trek. But in the long run, it didn't seem a harmful decision to kill Lieutenant Yarr.

 

[Trilliam]

"In story" reason - because Space (indeed Life) is not always benign. Even in the 24th Century. That was what I took from that episode. That really, it would be just as dangerous being in 24th C StarFleet as it was is the 1960s.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

Did she ask to be written off?

This. Denise Crosby felt that her character wasn't being developed well by the writers, and asked to be written off the show.

 

[T'Girl]

What's always got me about that explanation is the speed of her removal. Skin of Evil was only episode 20 after the pilot, Crosby would have needed time to decide she wasn't being properly developed, communicate her desire to leave to the producers and then have a episode written to "kill her off."

Skin of Evil appears to have been specially written just for her and her departure. She (it seem to me) would have had to of decided to leave the show after only eight to ten episodes. Is it just me, but it doesn't seem like that's enough time to make that big of a choice. Other job offers weren't exactly kicking down her door, like for example with Kristie Alley.

Why did she decide so quickly?

.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Don't mean to be a downer, but isn't this like, the 3rd or 4th thread related to Denise's leaving the show in the last month?

Edit: Yeah, here they are-
http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=136215
http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=137011
http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=135790

Man, we really need some new Trek.

On the subject, so many actors/actresses get it in their head that they're being typecast, or they believe they can "do better" then find out they really aren't that in demand nor that they have that much to do with a show's success.

Look at McLean Stevenson & Gary Burghoff from M*A*S*H. Stevenson left after 3 seasons, did a few other shows, all of which were pretty much failures and we never heard from him again. Same with Burghoff, though he left after 7.5 seasons, did one show (AFAIK) and then disappeared.

 

[Green Shirt]

Avast, she was havin' to walk the plank for various reasons, I imagine. It probably weren't one reason alone - after all, any self-respectin' salty producer of the seas has got to have good reason to switch up the cast of a TV show, especially be it a franchiiiiise like Starrrr Trek. But in the long run, it didn't seem a harmful decision to kill Lieutenant Yarr.

You are bad.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Fat lot of good it did her, that decision.

In any case, I never missed her character. Yar was annoying and pretty pointless, not to mention too over-the-top as an actress. Yeah, I know, she's not the only one, but her character was unlikeable...which makes for a pretty awful combination.

 

[Joshonator]

Yeah it was because she didn't want to be on the show anymore. I always thought there were too many humans on the enterprise-D anyway. Maybe the producers thought that her death would prove to the audience that anything can happen, even a main character can die .

 

[CommanderRaytas]

True. In all honesty I was awaiting a major deus ex machina during the entire episode.

 

[Chick_McGeester]

I think it would be more bold if TPTB came out and said that she was planned to die from the beginning. I wonder how that would change the discussion?

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Dunno. Her character added zilch to the show. But I don't really think that people would buy it, if tptb were to come out and declare something like this.

 

[Chick_McGeester]

I know, Im just thinking off the wall. It would be interesting if they had done that tho...

 

[CommanderRaytas]

If they had done it right after she died, and she had not said anything.... they might have been able to pull it off. I would have liked that.

 

[BriGuy]

I was pretty sure everyone knew Yar was killed off because Crosby wanted out. What I recall is she got tired of standing there saying "Hailing frequencies open."

But, what I think often isn't remembered about this, is we're talking first season of TNG. Back then, there was no guarantee that TNG was going to live past its first season, to say nothing of going seven and launching a "rebirth" of Trek. It was a "great experiment" and could've failed right then and there. Didn't Stewart say once that he was living out of a suitcase, because he didn't expect the show to run very long.

I'm sure if Crosby had any sense that the show was going to be the success it became, she never would've left. And why she came back. If the show had tanked, then her leaving would've been a wise career move.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Don't mean to be a downer, but isn't this like, the 3rd or 4th thread related to Denise's leaving the show in the last month?

Edit: Yeah, here they are-
http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=136215
http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=137011
http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=135790

The OP did run a search (although the threads were right on the top page here), but in my experience the search engines on forums aren't very good.

 

[AntonyF]

I was pretty sure everyone knew Yar was killed off because Crosby wanted out. What I recall is she got tired of standing there saying "Hailing frequencies open."

But, what I think often isn't remembered about this, is we're talking first season of TNG. Back then, there was no guarantee that TNG was going to live past its first season, to say nothing of going seven and launching a "rebirth" of Trek. It was a "great experiment" and could've failed right then and there. Didn't Stewart say once that he was living out of a suitcase, because he didn't expect the show to run very long.

I'm sure if Crosby had any sense that the show was going to be the success it became, she never would've left. And why she came back. If the show had tanked, then her leaving would've been a wise career move.

I agree wholeheartedly with this.

She didn't like that basically you get one episode which was 'yours' but then many of doing nothing.

But I think the fact that the show was so destined to fail made her want to jump ship.

Of course it took off, and she claims she still would have left... but you know, her wage packet and fame would have rocketed. Coudla shoudla woulda.

And of course she was the one that suggested coming back as her own daughter, which says a lot.

 

[Alrik]

^

I guess Pet Cemetery didn't quite give her that push to stardom that she was looking for.