SNW needs an alien crew member

[Rahul]

Now this seems to be a bit strange, since technically we already have three aliens in the main cast.

However, one of them is Spock, a character so humanized at this point, he barely feels alien anymore. And the other two are literally two completely human looking females, whose backstory is that they were hiding among humans and have only one alien trait each (super strength or longevity).

Basically, to be convincing as a science fiction show where humans and truly alien aliens can cooperate peacefully, there needs to be a real alien in the main cast. An actor in full make-up, that has some truly alien characteristics, traits, abilities, and who absolutely couldn't pass as a human.

It's double infuriating, as SNW started out with Hemmer, who fit the bill perfectly and was season 1s breakout character.

Star Trek usually took a great mileage out of it's non-human/alien characters - be it the original Spock, Data, Worf, Odo, Quark, even Neelix or Phlox.

Basically: Give SNW it's own new Saru or Hemmer. Please.

 

[valkyrie013]

1000% agree with you.
Doesn't have to be a "main" character, but fill out some of the background characters with with Character Actors. Something like Babylon 5 had like a small cadre of actors that played all the aliens in the background. sometimes they get to say something,but you could see them.
For Example, have an andorian man the Engineering station, show them ocasionally, even have them talk, hell give them an name like TOS had with Kyle or Leslie. Everyone on the bridge is.. well.. "Human"
Usually we have 2 characters in make up that comprise the Main crew, Data, Worf, Odo, Quark, Worf, Neelix, Beilana, Tpol, Phlox.
Get some people who are comfortable in make up, and get them on the darn ship!

 

[flandry84]

And except as a sort of reverse “fridge”motivation for Uhura,why get rid of Hemmer anyway?

 

[Racefuel]

It can be hard to do aliens as main cast since it means extensive time in makeup. There are some exceptions, like Doug Jones who has spent most of his professional career in full makeup

 

[Dar70]

I agree.

Also lets hope they get rid of every single TOS character at this point. It's getting so forced at this time. Are they chronicling Pikes Crew or Kirk and his future crew??? Little name, character and story drops from previous shows are not doing a damn thing for my enjoyment of this show. If anything it's making it less enjoyable for me.

 

[Mudd]

No. Spock is enough.

Trek got overrun in the Roddenberry/Berman era by actors with rubber glued to their foreheads. Then, because they weren't allowed to write human beings as relatable characters, writers gravitated toward "dilemmas" for the so-called aliens that consisted of making up some vexing supposed cultural issue that had to be explained to their human companions.

It became off-putting with repetition very quickly.

There are billions of humans on this planet from vastly different backgrounds, from places and living in cultures that Star Trek has never begun to touch. Where are all of them in the future?

Now, never mind all of that for a moment. Here's a far more important issue than a topic about whether there are enough bumpheads on the Enterprise:

I love SNW dearly, more than any other Star Trek at this point, including TOS. But it's easily the least diverse version of contemporary Trek where the regular series cast is concerned.

No, plastic aliens are not "diverse" in and of themselves.* Human beings of different ethnic, racial and national backgrounds are meaningfully diverse. Where's the gender diversity and spectrum of sexual orientation?

The passing inference in a single episode that Chapel might maybe be a little queer is not really much of anything, is it?

And the fact that the show is so front-loaded with "legacy characters" isn't much of an excuse. Neither Chapel nor Uhura nor M'Benga nor Una came into this series with any substantial personal information established about them.

Well, maybe they'll get around to it in season three. Not holding my breath. But at the end of two years, it's a pretty peculiar situation given that this series has probably devoted more screen time to the personal romantic relationships and sexual attractions of its core characters than any other version of Trek has.

"The Human Adventure Is Just Beginning."

*A minor bit of progress in the Berman era was the end of racially homogenous casting for members of alien species.

 

[FederationHistorian]

I do think it should be possible to get a recurring Tellarite and/or Saurian character on the show.

But for a main character, maybe those purple skin aliens seen in "Journey to Babel" would work (MA calls them Volis' species, while STO called them Violacean). It wouldn’t be any different than doing makeup for an Orion or a Soong android.

 

[Ithekro]

M'Ress and Arex? Both were TAS characters who's species are rarely seen. Lower Decks had returned both species to the scene.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

There are billions of humans on this planet from vastly different backgrounds, from places and living in cultures that Star Trek has never begun to touch. Where are all of them in the future?

Aliens with alien problems in the future are allegories for humans with human problems now.

But honestly, non-sci-fi stories handle this just fine with fables, fairy tales, parables. I guess it's that degree of separation that simultaneously lets an issue sneak past our filters and defenses so we can hear the message, but unfortunately, also allows us to say, '"that is them and this is us/that was then and this is now" if we don't like what we hear.

As far as aliens to add (and legacy characters), how about Arex? Nothing on TAS says he didn't previously serve aboard Enterprise.

 

[valkyrie013]

How about some Ithenite's? Get some little people in the cast. Maybe Bynars?
And if were' going for Earth Diversity, whatever happened to the Indian Cadet from the Short Treks??

M'Ress you could get away with practical effect/mask.
Arex would almost have to be CGI.

 

[Weyoun 251]

You'd think aliens such as Mordok would be relatively easy to have as recurring type aliens - not bumpy headed, but also not needing as complex make up as some of the others we have had

 

[Mudd]

Aliens with alien problems in the future are allegories for humans with human problems now.

What is wrong with just, you know, telling stories about humans with human problems?

Trek's much-vaunted allegorical approach to dramatizing issues of the day was offered with the justification that network strictures on storytelling required such subterfuge and that American audiences were unwilling to confront controversial topics other than in some sort of disguise. Neither of those things are true now, nor have they been true for decades.

The only remaining reasons for the unconvincing aliens that populate Star Trek are familiarity and, somewhat contradictorily, the appeal of a touch of the exotic. Nothing wrong with either of those two things, but neither are sufficient reason in themselves to dress a series regular in this particular funny hat.

Hemmer would have been just as good a character and would have served his story function with Uhura just as well if he'd been human (and remember that it was her story, not his; he was a recurring support character rather than a viewpoint character). The ways in which his being Aenar figured into dialogue and situations were trivial. So, his Andorian attributes were there mostly for the fannish excitement occasioned by seeing a familiar alien.

 

[Rahul]

No. Spock is enough.

Trek got overrun in the Roddenberry/Berman era by actors with rubber glued to their foreheads. Then, because they weren't allowed to write human beings as relatable characters, writers gravitated toward "dilemmas" for the so-called aliens that consisted of making up some vexing supposed cultural issue that had to be explained to their human companions.

It became off-putting with repetition very quickly.

There are billions of humans on this planet from vastly different backgrounds, from places and living in cultures that Star Trek has never begun to touch. Where are all of them in the future?

Now, never mind all of that for a moment. Here's a far more important issue than a topic about whether there are enough bumpheads on the Enterprise:

I love SNW dearly, more than any other Star Trek at this point, including TOS. But it's easily the least diverse version of contemporary Trek where the regular series cast is concerned.

No, plastic aliens are not "diverse" in and of themselves.* Human beings of different ethnic, racial and national backgrounds are meaningfully diverse. Where's the gender diversity and spectrum of sexual orientation?

The passing inference in a single episode that Chapel might maybe be a little queer is not really much of anything, is it?

And the fact that the show is so front-loaded with "legacy characters" isn't much of an excuse. Neither Chapel nor Uhura nor M'Benga nor Una came into this series with any substantial personal information established about them.

Well, maybe they'll get around to it in season three. Not holding my breath. But at the end of two years, it's a pretty peculiar situation given that this series has probably devoted more screen time to the personal romantic relationships and sexual attractions of its core characters than any other version of Trek has.

"The Human Adventure Is Just Beginning."

*A minor bit of progress in the Berman era was the end of racially homogenous casting for members of alien species.

Shoving us the very white and heteronormative Kirk and Scott in the face is IMO hurting the diversity quota much more than adding an alien crewmember. The cast as set up in the season premiere was much more diverse than it feels now.

They got rid of their legally blind crew member, and the only one with no connection to Earth. And if you can't see that Ortegas is the one who is set up to represent a sexual minority I can't help you.

Also - what kind of logic is that - the show is too heterosexual so don't add an alien to the mix??? What.

 

[fireproof78]

So, his Andorian attributes were there mostly for the fannish excitement occasioned by seeing a familiar alien.

Well, part of Star Trek's appeal is that it uses aliens to fannish delight.

As silly and nonsensical as it might seem, many like Trek because of the aliens, whether or not humans would fit in just as good.

And of course, the casuals might not care (probably don't care). Even Levar Burton was thought to be an alien by one casual production team member.

 

[Mudd]

Shoving us the very white and heteronormative Kirk and Scott in the face is IMO hurting the diversity quota much more than adding an alien crewmember. The cast as set up in the season premiere was much more diverse than it feels now.

Absolutely. And it wasn't very diverse then.

They got rid of their legally blind crew member

Still making my point for me...

and the only one with no connection to Earth.

Una has no connection to Earth; she's an Illyrian raised far from there in a non-human society. And they did get a dynamite episode out of her culture's conflicts with Starfleet.

What you're apparently looking for isn't so much a representative alien on the crew as just someone who's visually unusual; a cast member in "alien" drag.

And if you can't see that Ortegas is the one who is set up to represent a sexual minority I can't help you.

What you or I infer is beside the point. RIght now, there's no representation in that regard. If one day they let Ortegas do or be something besides the ship's pilot, that'll be real swell.

Also - what kind of logic is that - the show is too heterosexual so don't add an alien to the mix??? What.

That's not "the logic" at all. But if I wanted to be as dismissive as you just were, I might put it this way: "And if you look at this cast and the important thing you see missing is fake noses and antennae, I can't help you."

 

[Rahul]

What you're apparently looking for isn't so much a representative alien on the crew as just someone who's visually unusual; a cast member in "alien" drag.

(.....)

That's not "the logic" at all. But if I wanted to be as dismissive as you just were, I might put it this way: "And if you look at this cast and the important thing you see missing is fake noses and antennae, I can't help you."

I mean... yeah, absolutely.

If you're having a sci-fi show, full of colourful aliens, preaching about diversity and inclusivity, and DON'T have a member that's distinctively non-human looking...
... that feels like a sitcom set in modern New York with a white-only cast. Sure they can preach inclusivity and diversity. But the actions show something else.

(Btw said alien should also be alien in performance, not just visual. Ethan Spock acts waaaay too human for me).

 

[fireproof78]

TOS would never make it nowadays.

... that feels like a sitcom set in modern New York with a white-only cast. Sure they can preach inclusivity and liberal ideas. But the actions show something else.

So, Star Trek for the last several decades?

 

[Odo]

Agreed. Wish they hadn’t killed Hemmer, but ah well. I had always wanted an Andorian regular and was happy to have an Aenar. Hope they get another alien - heck make up a whole new species - develop a whole new alien race. I really liked Saru and his backstory (though was mixed by what they did in DISCO S2 with him).

I really would love to see a deep dive into Andorians (like in the DS9 book relaunch)

 

[Uhura's Song]

Let us take a look:

TOS: Spock (half-human) is the only alien crew member. Kirk, McCoy, Scottie, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, Chapel & Rand are 100% human. Sarek as recurring alien.

TNG: Data (android) & Worf (Klingon) are the only non- human apoearing aliens on the crew. Tasha & Troi are human appearing alien females, and Tasha only lasted 1 season. Guinan certainly merits mention, as another female/human looking alien. Many more recurring alien characters (Q, Galron, etc).

DS9: Kira & Dax as the human looking female aliens while Odo as the only non-human crew. Though I guess Nog counts later on. Many more non-human non-crew characters: Quark, Rom, Ferengi, Bajorans, Garrick, etc. But it was a station, not a ship.

VOY: Tuvak + Neelix and Kes as the human looking alien female.

ENT: All human save for Phlox & T'Pol. Though Schran was recurring.

DISCO. All human save for Saru (in Year 1) and the part human/android officer. S2 gives us Spock & then ee go to the future.

PIC: All human save for the android (human looking hot female).

SNW. Hemmer + Una (hot human looking alien female) + now Pelia.

Just saying that 2-3 seems like the norm, with 1 (or more) of those a good looking human-ish female who is not of this earth: Tasha, Troi, Kira, Dax, Kes, T'Pol, Soji, Una.

 

[Odo]

Tasha’s a human not from Earth I’m pretty sure, with a half-Romulam daughter