Linda Park - Underutilized?

[Oddish]

She was better developed than Uhura, Scotty, Checkov and Sulu were.

A lot of characters were. The Original Series was really just a three-man show. TNG was a bit more of an ensemble cast, but some characters were relegated to the back burner. Samecwith Enterprise and Voyager. Deep Space 9, whatever its flaws, spread the character development out.

 

[Yanks]

The Original Series was really just a three-man show.

They were going for the same thing with Enterprise (Archer/T'Pol/Trip)

 

[IMC Headquarters]

I love how Archer convinced her to join the mission. Real clickbait! The crew needed her expertise. Never mind T'Pol--Hoshi Sato is the one with the special ears in this series!

 

[Oddish]

They were going for the same thing with Enterprise (Archer/T'Pol/Trip)

And the show was worse for it.

 

[Yanks]

And the show was worse for it.

In your opinion.

 

[Sci]

It's pretty popular to say she was "underutilized". I love Hoshi and loved how Linda played her, but she is no different that any of the other Star Trek secondary main characters.

She received significantly less development than the supporting characters on TNG, DS9, and even VOY.

She was better developed than Uhura, Scotty, Checkov and Sulu were.

Damning ENT with faint praise.

Sorry, but TOS and ENT were made in completely different eras of TV. It's not appropriate to compare the amount of screen time an end-credits day player in 1966 got to the amount of screen time a main titles principle cast member got in 2001.

The Original Series was really just a three-man show.

They were going for the same thing with Enterprise (Archer/T'Pol/Trip)

Then they shouldn't have put anyone except Bakula, Blalock, and Trinneer in the main credits, and should have contracted Billingsly, Park, Keating, and Montgomery as end credits day players. It would have saved Paramount Television money, would have freed up the supporting cast members to find additional work, and it wouldn't have created an obligation to explore those characters that the writers weren't able or willing to fulfill.

The Original Series was really just a three-man show.

They were going for the same thing with Enterprise (Archer/T'Pol/Trip)

And the show was worse for it.

In your opinion.

Well it was cancelled after only four seasons, so, y'know, maybe "that's just, like, your opinion, man" is not a strong defense of the writing quality.

 

[Yanks]

is not a strong defense of the writing quality.

I wasn't defending anything. I just don't think it's the end of the world. I liked the format.

 

[Sci]

I wasn't defending anything. I just don't think it's the end of the world. I liked the format.

Oddish said, "And the show was worse for it." You were defending the quality of ENT's writing. Which, y'know, if it worked for you personally, fine. But when a show can't keep enough people watching to survive, then there's objectively a problem.

 

[Oddish]

In your opinion.

Very true. Some might like the tighter focus on fewer characters.

 

[Yanks]

Oddish said, "And the show was worse for it." You were defending the quality of ENT's writing. Which, y'know, if it worked for you personally, fine. But when a show can't keep enough people watching to survive, then there's objectively a problem.

There was a steady decline in viewers for Star Trek starting with the 6th season on TNG. Was it the "writing" in TNG, DS9 and VOY too?

 

[Oddish]

DS9 was ahead of its time, with its serialization, edginess, and darker tone.
Voyager's writing was actually pretty slipshod; it ignored inconsistencies that could have been resolved with seconds of dialogue.
Enterprise... a lot of theories were put forward: franchise fatigue, unwillingness to commit to its premise, or some lousy episodes early on to name a few.

 

[FederationHistorian]

The blame lies with TPTB and their tendency to interfere with creative decisions for Enterprise.

• Berman wanted a year off and was denied, as TPTB were going to continue with or without him
• Writers wanted ENT to be like the Right Stuff for the first season, as depicted in “First Flight” and were denied.
• Writers didn’t want transporters or Klingons in the show, and were told to add them in because “that’s what Star Trek is.” And then when the transporter is adding in, had it wrote about in a timid way.
• Introduced space boomers, early freighters, and space pirates, and visited this topic for a grand total of…two times in 98 episodes.
• Interesting ideas about the characters were left on the cutting room floor i.e. Trip being from Oklahoma, Mayweather meeting the Andorians first before Archer, Sato being a 30-something Latina and having experience in her role, T’Pol originally being T’Pau.
• Added the Temporal Cold War, to capitalize on Bakula’s past role on Quantum Leap, even though the arc was of out of place and had an underwhelming ending.
• Writers wanted the Romulan BoP to have the bird on its hull, an important aspect both aesthetically and for continuity as it’s a prequel, and were denied
• Wanted more action for S3 and beyond, but the episode that sets that up itself cuts the relevant character building and worldbuilding moments to make room for the Duras subplot. When the Duras subplot itself would have made more sense for the first half of S3, and provided the action that the TPTB were looking for.
• Plans for first contact with the Orions in the Expanse were changed to the Osaarians – another alien of the week, instead of fleshing out an established species from TOS as was expected
• Cancelled ENT right before it gained syndication and could be viewed by a wider audience beyond UPN. And before the UPN/WB merger, which would have a larger audience under CW.
• And the sexuality on the show, which actually did have a place despite the complaints regarding the decon chamber and the outfits, was not executed well and at times was juvenile.

How could the show live up to its potential when its potential was being undercut all the time? TPTB just wants something that could milk more money from the franchise for another few years.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

Timid Hoshi Sato is the first human female to stand in the Klingon High Council and live to tell the tale.

Quite an honor for Linda Park!

 

[tomalak301]

Both Park and Montgomery were underutilized. It was probably the main criticism I had about the show, despite finding new things to like about it over the years.

At least Park got to show her abilities as Empress Sato in In a Mirror Darkly.

 

[Farscape One]

She was underutilized, but I would argue she was the best at using what little she was given.

If you watch "FIGHT OR FLIGHT" and "TERRA PRIME" back to back, you see a clear difference in her tone, posture, assertiveness. She goes from being afraid of the deck plate rumbling at warp to standing her ground against the Earth President when he tried to relieve her.