Linda Park - Underutilized?

[marlboro]

I think so. Her character was showcased in the series second episode, but after that it seems like her character got the spotlight in only a couple of episodes that had weaker scripts like "Exile" and "Vanishing Point. ". I thought Hoshi was very relatable as an "everyman" type character, and I think Park played the role very well.

In a way she reminds me of Roxann Dawson and Tim Russ. Actors capably playing characters with tons of potential, but the writers never seemed to know what to do with them.

 

[The Wormhole]

Still utilized more than Anthony Montgomery.

 

[marlboro]

Still utilized more than Anthony Montgomery.

Well, that's undoubtedly true, but I don't think he was a very good actor. I've been given to understand that he's improved a lot over the years, but back then I can see why he was sidelined.

 

[Farscape One]

I think she was underutilized, yes.

And I hate to say this, but I think the reason Anthony Montgomery didn't get more to do was because he just didn't have the ability. It's likely the reason why in "TWILIGHT", he was the ONLY one of the leads who was killed before the rest of humanity was. Unfortunately, the episodes that centered on him just... bored me.

Linda got more than him because she had more talent.

 

[marlboro]

They should have killed him off in "Regeneration."

The episodes about the Boomers would have been better if the freighters didn't seem so clean and new and populated by handsome young people. Your telling a story about a dying way of life - lets see some people and ships that have both seen better days.

 

[tomalak301]

I would have loved to see more "empress" Sato to our universe Hoshi than we got. Park was underutilized, and In the Mirror Darkly showed Park was up to the task if they wanted her to do more.

 

[Tenacity]

but I don't think he was a very good actor

YMMV, to me his preformance was understated and enjoyable so, which some people didn't see with Montgomery standing next to Bakula chewing the scenery.

 

[Dukhat]

Everyone in that show was underutilized, because the showrunners and the network it was on cared more about showing the cast in their underwear than actually developing that cast.

 

[Mage]

Linda Park has shown in several episodes that she certainly had skill. I'd say she's certainly underutilized a lot.

But as @Dukhat stated, they weren't concerned with the cast and characters, except the main three. And even then, it wasn't all that well developed. Basic angst stories, complicated love. Things that generally sell in tv-shows.

 

[FederationHistorian]

Yes, she was underutilized.

And that was partially because they were trying to recapture the TOS feel by focusing on three main characters. When the show probably needed to lean more toward TNG/DS9 and focus on several main characters.

They should have killed him off in "Regeneration."

The episodes about the Boomers would have been better if the freighters didn't seem so clean and new and populated by handsome young people. Your telling a story about a dying way of life - lets see some people and ships that have both seen better days.

He should have been killed off during “Azati Prime.” Or just not return after "Horizon."

 

[Kpnuts]

Still utilized more than Anthony Montgomery.

Thankfully. A few minutes of Montgomery's "acting" an episode was enough.

 

[Saul]

Everyone but Trip, Archer and T'Pol were underutilized.

 

[valkyrie013]

Well, based on the past shows, if you know your not in the Main 3, your going to be set dressing with just a few lines for most episodes. You push for more, hope you do well and stand out so they can write more for you.

I'm convinced that the Doctor from Voyager wasn't a main character until Picardo just started to shine and chew the scenery, then he got more shows since they could write for him.

The boomer story should have been more, showed him kind of like a Nelix character of a local guide, knowing the area, knowing what to expect etc. but he ended up just the Bus Driver.
Hoshi should have been the first contact specialist, and been down on more away missions. Being a communications officer on a ship that has no previous contact with other aliens, alot of story ideas.

Well.. Both of them got better than the Bridge Crew of the Discovery.. THEY are underutilized.. and to be honest, except for Dietmier and the robo chick.. I still don't know there names!

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Still utilized more than Anthony Montgomery.

He was really just a glorified extra.

 

[DarKush]

I do agree that Park was underutilized, like everyone else, but especially Hoshi, Travis, and Malcolm. I'm not on board with those who feel that Travis should've been killed off. What purpose would that have served? Especially since he was already underutilized anyway. It reminds me of a similar story in Discovery's second season, though that fated character got even less focus than Travis, Hoshi, or Malcolm.

Travis's plight reminds me of a bit of Harry from Voyager. They didn't know what to do with him and largely kept him in place. The Boomer concept wasn't explored enough, and I think when they put T'Pol on the ship she undercut the use of both Hoshi and Travis. What good is Boomer know-how when T'Pol can just go to her trusty Vulcan information? And while they did find someways to use Hoshi's abilities with language I felt they could've gone further if they didn't have T'Pol, and the information she already had there.

I liked T'Pol, but was just thinking if her role had been rethought to carve out more space for Hoshi and Travis we could've gotten more of an ensemble series. But as others have already suggested, ENT was seeking to emulate the TOS approach and IMO failed to grasp that contemporary audiences were more on board with ensemble series, especially since TNG, DS9, and VOY were all more ensembles. I also would've been okay with there not being a Vulcan character on ENT either. Casting Blalock as a human character would've worked for me. I think ENT could've stood out if it had been an all human cast, or maybe just had Phlox as the only alien onboard.

Also, I thought Hoshi and Travis had nice chemistry and the opportunity to have them in a relationship was missed, or even a triangle among Travis, Hoshi, and Malcolm.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Looking at how Travis was used in the show, the character reeks of "token black guy". The most experienced spacer among the human crew, whilst also being one of the youngest in the cast, could've been really interesting to play on. If they'd made more of him actually being a boomer, born and raised in space and been to more worlds than anyone (bar T'Pol and Phlox) then the character could've really stood out and had a lot to contribute, but the attempt to make a new "big three" shot him (and the others) in the foot.

Also, I thought Hoshi and Travis had nice chemistry and the opportunity to have them in a relationship was missed

They had some great scenes together, and there was a spark of chemistry between them, though even if they'd just let them become buddies that would've been great to see more of them together--especially if there was an episode where they had to be paired up on an away mission.

 

[DarKush]

Looking at how Travis was used in the show, the character reeks of "token black guy". The most experienced spacer among the human crew, whilst also being one of the youngest in the cast, could've been really interesting to play on. If they'd made more of him actually being a boomer, born and raised in space and been to more worlds than anyone (bar T'Pol and Phlox) then the character could've really stood out and had a lot to contribute, but the attempt to make a new "big three" shot him (and the others) in the foot.


They had some great scenes together, and there was a spark of chemistry between them, though even if they'd just let them become buddies that would've been great to see more of them together--especially if there was an episode where they had to be paired up on an away mission.

Unfortunately I also got the whiff of tokenism when it came to Mayweather's character. I agree a lot with what you said, though to make Travis stand out more I would've had him visit more worlds than T'Pol, and maybe Phlox even. That way you could juxtapose his real world experience with T'Pol's encyclopedic, yet theoretical knowledge. Though that might have created a dynamic too similar to her and Trip.

I also felt there was chemistry between Hoshi and Travis. I remember when she thought about him when they had encountered that mysterious alien during the Xindi arc, and I liked that Mirror Travis was working with the soon-to-be Empress Sato. We just didn't get enough of those moments. It's a shame that either Berman and Braga or the studio just didn't know what to do with the cast they had. I've been watching some of Season 1, trying to go through it all for the first time, and this was a good cast and there were seeds and little character moments there; even Archer wasn't as stiff as I remembered. But yet, they never really invested in making these characters memorable enough. And I also remember how they just made Hoshi a martial artist out of nowhere in the last season. I think they even should've hinted at Malcolm's ties to Section 31 much earlier in the series though I got the impression that they just created his involvement on the fly too.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

And I also remember how they just made Hoshi a martial artist out of nowhere in the last season.

Yeah that was baffling, especially how in S1 she almost seemed to be the resident "damsel in distress".

 

[FederationHistorian]

Travis's plight reminds me of a bit of Harry from Voyager. They didn't know what to do with him and largely kept him in place. The Boomer concept wasn't explored enough, and I think when they put T'Pol on the ship she undercut the use of both Hoshi and Travis. What good is Boomer know-how when T'Pol can just go to her trusty Vulcan information? And while they did find someways to use Hoshi's abilities with language I felt they could've gone further if they didn't have T'Pol, and the information she already had there.

Boomer life wasn’t really fleshed out as a whole though. We got a couple of glimpses of it – and Mayweather being a peacemaker of sorts between Boomers and Starfleet – but nothing major. Its something that would have worked really well as a three part story arc displaying long simmering tensions between the two coming to ahead.

There is a case to be made that Mayweather, like T’Pol in the beginning, should not have had a commission with Starfleet. Instead, he should have been there as a representative of the Earth Cargo Service, to help them find new cargo routes. Sato should have had a commission with the United Earth Diplomatic Corps and been a liaison for them on the ship, which would have made sense given her background of linguistics and her being dismissed from Starfleet. And could have fleshed out Starfleet’s relations with the rest of United Earth, which was only touched upon in their interactions with the MACOs.

I think they even should've hinted at Malcolm's ties to Section 31 much earlier in the series though I got the impression that they just created his involvement on the fly too.

It would have probably been better if it was established that Reed had worked as both a member of Starfleet Security and Starfleet Intelligence early on.

 

[DarKush]

Boomer life wasn’t really fleshed out as a whole though. We got a couple of glimpses of it – and Mayweather being a peacemaker of sorts between Boomers and Starfleet – but nothing major. Its something that would have worked really well as a three part story arc displaying long simmering tensions between the two coming to ahead.

There is a case to be made that Mayweather, like T’Pol in the beginning, should not have had a commission with Starfleet. Instead, he should have been there as a representative of the Earth Cargo Service, to help them find new cargo routes. Sato should have had a commission with the United Earth Diplomatic Corps and been a liaison for them on the ship, which would have made sense given her background of linguistics and her being dismissed from Starfleet. And could have fleshed out Starfleet’s relations with the rest of United Earth, which was only touched upon in their interactions with the MACOs.



It would have probably been better if it was established that Reed had worked as both a member of Starfleet Security and Starfleet Intelligence early on.

Liking your ideas here. I know that Starfleet predated the Federation, but did we need to have Starfleet already formed on ENT? Starfleet could've been created out of the Coalition of Planets. And ENT's first seasons could've really dug into the prequel concept by allowing us to even see that happening, as we see different strands coming together that would've eventually merge into Starfleet and then the Federation. I really liked Friedman's Starfleet: Year One book and how he took the differing philosophies and how eventually they blended.

I've been thinking more of Reed being a MACO the whole time while he was on the NX-01. I also liked the idea that was in the "Star Trek: The Beginning" Romulan War film that had a United Earth Stellar Navy. I wish they had gone with that idea for ENT and we could've seen that evolution. And found some way to throw the United Earth Space Probe Agency also in the mix.

ENT undercut its premise by being too familiar at times. Already there was Starfleet, we had TNG Klingons, and eventually TNG Romulans, etc. Even Nausicaans.