Tim Russ was brilliant as Tuvok

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

Tuvok was my favorite on the show by far, though I do like everyone in the main cast. There was just something fun about Tuvok and how Tim Russ played him. Whereas Spock overcompensated for being half-human, Tim Russ played Tuvok brilliantly as the porr irritated Vulcan who just wanted to mediate in the corner and dodge Neelix. I loved the Tuvok-centered episodes, the Tuvok goes crazy episodes, and I loved it when Tuvok had that "someone, anyone, rescue me, please" look going on, trying desperately not to tell people where to shove their tricorder. My favorite Tuvok episode was S6's "Riddles" where Tuvok was disabled due to a brain injury and became "best friends" with Neelix. Such a genuinely moving episode, and I think it revealed deep down that while Tuvok sometimes legitimately wanted to murder Neelix (LOL), he also genuinely cared for him as his "best friend" even if he can't admit that and has to be all Vulcan-like.

Spoiler: 7-23 "Homestead"

When Neelix left Voyager, I think his hardest goodbye was with Tuvok.

 

[Oddish]

Probably my favorite Tuvok moment is in "Hunters", when Tuvok gets the letter from his family. He then does the logical thing, returning to his immediate duties... then he looks at the letter. Then he picks it up, and goes and sits down snd starts reading. In that moment, we see logic and emotion battling inside him... and emotion winning.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

Probably my favorite Tuvok moment is in "Hunters", when Tuvok gets the letter from his family. He then does the logical thing, returning to his immediate duties... then he looks at the letter. Then he picks it up, and goes and sits down snd starts reading. In that moment, we see logic and emotion battling inside him... and emotion winning.

What I love about Tuvok is that he's very Vulcan, but he also seems to be a bit more emotional than most Vulcans, but in that this is why they needed Surak and logic kind of way. He was always like one step from crazy, but we love him anyway. Knowing all of that makes the scene you described that much more interesting for the character. It shows there's a balance between the man he tries not to be (emotionally bonkers), the Vulcan he wants to be (no emotion, total logic, lots of solitude), and the man everyone knows him to be (somewhere in between).

 

[Oddish]

The place where we see his emotions shine through the most (aside from Neelix) is where his family is concerned. He is a devoted husband and a loving father, even if he's not obvious about it.

In one of the post-VOY novels, we see Tuvok a few hours after Voyager makes it home, when he reunites with his eldest son, Sek. Their greetings are very Vulcan, very proper. But, when we see the mind-meld, which very successfully cures Tuvok's illness, we see the depth of their feelings for each other.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

The place where we see his emotions shine through the most (aside from Neelix) is where his family is concerned. He is a devoted husband and a loving father, even if he's not obvious about it.

In one of the post-VOY novels, we see Tuvok a few hours after Voyager makes it home, when he reunites with his eldest son, Sek. Their greetings are very Vulcan, very proper. But, when we see the mind-meld, which very successfully cures Tuvok's illness, we see the depth of their feelings for each other.

What did you think of the episode "Riddles" from S5 or 6? Tuvok got mentally handicapped due to a brain injury and became "best friends" with Neelix, helping out in the mess hall. The ending brought me as close as TV can to tears.

 

[Oddish]

It was a very good episode, hampered only by Voyager's relentlessly dancing on the Reset Button. Can you imagine if they had had to live with the "new" Tuvok for a few episodes? Or if shades of him remained, even after the Doctor was able to repair his injuries?

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

It was a very good episode, hampered only by Voyager's relentlessly dancing on the Reset Button. Can you imagine if they had had to live with the "new" Tuvok for a few episodes? Or if shades of him remained, even after the Doctor was able to repair his injuries?

OK, I've heard about the reset button for 20 years now. What the hell is the reset button, if you do not mind my asking?

 

[HIjol]

His bearing, his voice, its cadence…he really was great in the part…plus, the eyebrow raise!

I find it good to watch him in Generations. Just a year before he was cast as Tuvok, but I can see why he got the roll.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

His bearing, his voice, its cadence…he really was great in the part…plus, the eyebrow raise!

YES!

I find it good to watch him in Generations. Just a year before he was cast as Tuvok, but I can see why he got the roll.

He's also on TNG, DS9 (twice, the second time as Tuvok), Picard, and Lower Decks.

 

[HIjol]

 

[Relayer1]

I'm happy that Voyager isn't completely unloved. I enjoyed it, although not as much as other Trek shows.

The reasons are several - the abandonment of the inter crew strife, the "forgetting" of supply shortages, the handwaving of torpedo / shuttle numbers and similar are obvious and well chewed over. But also it had the least attractive characters (I'm not on about physically) and cast.

It's easy to dump on Neelix, but he was awful in concept and writing. I think it's an enormous compliment to Ethan Phillips talent that he managed to make the character at all sympathetic. And he did.

The two I could never warm to were Janeway and Tuvok. Issues with writing, certainly (especially Janeway) but I disliked both portrayals, by Mulgrew and Russ.

I still don't like them. It's unlikely to change.

 

[HIjol]

It's easy to dump on Neelix, but he was awful in concept and writing. I think it's an enormous compliment to Ethan Phillips talent that he managed to make the character at all sympathetic. And he did.

Absolutely!!!

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

I'm happy that Voyager isn't completely unloved. I enjoyed it, although not as much as other Trek shows.

It's one of the better TV shows out of the 90's, no?

The reasons are several - the abandonment of the inter crew strife, the "forgetting" of supply shortages, the handwaving of torpedo / shuttle numbers and similar are obvious and well chewed over. But also it had the least attractive characters (I'm not on about physically) and cast.

I think the Starfleet-vs-Maquis thing could have gone a season or two, but more than that would get tiresome. Did the show not do several trade-themed episodes? The torpedoes would have been easy to solve, have an episode where they learn to make more or trade for more. Simple. Lost shuttles were rebuilt, but the shuttlebay was always changing and never more than a quick thought. Least attractive characters? Eh?

It's easy to dump on Neelix, but he was awful in concept and writing. I think it's an enormous compliment to Ethan Phillips talent that he managed to make the character at all sympathetic. And he did.

What was so bad about Neelix?

The two I could never warm to were Janeway and Tuvok. Issues with writing, certainly (especially Janeway) but I disliked both portrayals, by Mulgrew and Russ.

Why?

 

[Relayer1]

What was so bad about Neelix?

I got to babysit visiting Trek cast at their local signing sessions on occasion (perk of working in a comic shop) and I remember Ethan saying quite bluntly "Brits don't like Neelix, they really don't". It was said without bitterness (he really is a very nice guy) but he obviously knew - he was bang on. Neelix wasn't a popular character over here.

Why ? Irritating I'd say.

Why?

Mulgrew just grates - the voice, the hair, the dime store Hepburn schtik...

Russ ? I can't really put my finger on it. I just didn't warm to him. I know Vulcans are a bit "mannered" but I didn't fully buy into him in the part.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

I got to babysit visiting Trek cast at their local signing sessions on occasion (perk of working in a comic shop) and I remember Ethan saying quite bluntly "Brits don't like Neelix, they really don't". It was said without bitterness (he really is a very nice guy) but he obviously knew - he was bang on. Neelix wasn't a popular character over here.

Maybe, but Voyager was made for an American audience, not for the Brits. What's the problem?

Why ? Irritating I'd say.

Why is Neelix irritating?

Mulgrew just grates - the voice, the hair, the dime store Hepburn schtik...

I love Kate Mulgrew, she's campy, but that's what makes her fun to watch.

Russ ? I can't really put my finger on it. I just didn't warm to him. I know Vulcans are a bit "mannered" but I didn't fully buy into him in the part.

I loved how Tim Russ played Tuvok as the "irritated" Vulcan. You got a sense that he spent most of his day thinking wanting to launch himself out the nearest airlock.

 

[Relayer1]

Why is Neelix irritating?

Discuss...

That is an essay question, isn't it ?

Primarily because I found him irritating. One fan is a bit subjective though - I'll throw that one open to the room.

Any takers ?

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

That is an essay question, isn't it ?

Primarily because I found him irritating.

Difficult to articulate?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Russ ? I can't really put my finger on it. I just didn't warm to him. I know Vulcans are a bit "mannered" but I didn't fully buy into him in the part.

I agree. He seemed to lean into a Spock impersonation and never made Tuvok unique.

 

[FredH]

OK, I've heard about the reset button for 20 years now. What the hell is the reset button, if you do not mind my asking?

The reset button is when a show insists on putting everything back to the way it was, instead of letting the consequences of the episode’s events change things. Obvious example would be how at the end of “The Year of Hell”, the effect on the show as a whole is as if all that hadn’t happened. This time because it literally no longer did, but any episode would qualify where you watch it and you’d think things would somehow be different from then on — but they aren’t, and in the next episode it’s basically as if the previous one hadn’t happened, for all the difference it makes.

To some degree, traditional television used to always do this.

 

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

The reset button is when a show insists on putting everything back to the way it was, instead of letting the consequences of the episode’s events change things. Obvious example would be how at the end of “The Year of Hell”, the effect on the show as a whole is as if all that hadn’t happened. This time because it literally no longer did, but any episode would qualify where you watch it and you’d think things would somehow be different from then on — but they aren’t, and in the next episode it’s basically as if the previous one hadn’t happened, for all the difference it makes.

To some degree, traditional television used to always do this.

Oh, reset button means episodic TV?