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Goodbye Ensign Cutler

By Tattoo , November 16, 2003 in Trek News

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Tattoo    0.

35-year old actress Kellie Waymire, best known to Star Trek fans as Elizabeth Cutler on Enterprise, passed away Thursday evening through causes that are as yet unknown.

Waymire first appeared in Star Trek: Voyager in the sixth-season episode "Muse", playing the role of Lanya. During Enterprise's first season, she had a recurring role as Crewman Elizabeth Cutler, the love interest of Dr. Phlox, appearing in episodes "Strange New World", "Dear Doctor" and "Two Days and Two Nights". Waymire told Cult Times that she enjoyed appearing on Enterprise, as she had childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut, and liked working with actor John Billingsley (Phlox).

Besides Enterprise, Waymire had a recurring guest role on Six Feet Under, playing Brenda's escort friend Melissa, and appeared on shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, NYPD Blue and Friends. She was a regular cast member of the short-lived shows Wolf Lake and The Pitts, the latter of which was cancelled by Fox earlier this year after only a few episodes.

Of late, Waymire had been performing in a production of the play 'Kate Crackernuts' by the 24th Street Theatre, playing the role of Anne. The play was scheduled to run through the end of this month, and the 24th Street Theatre has announced its final performances of the play will be dedicated to the memory of Waymire, with her part being taken over by Ryan Templeton. "Without her genius and professionalism, we never could have created this kooky world of 'Kate'," the cast and crew of the play posted on the 24th Street Theatre web site.

A public memorial for Waymire is being planned, but as yet no further details about this are known. Our thoughts are with Waymire's family and loved ones at this difficult time.

R.I.P Crewman you were very pretty.

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Link to post, share on other sites, vabeachguy    12.

That's a shocker and sad. I had always hoped she'd return to Enterprise. We have discussed her character on a few occasions here. Here's a link to one of the topics where I included some screen captures of her from Friends.

http://www.startrekfans.net/index.php?act=...st=0#entry78821

Mike    5

That is very sad news indeed. I liked her. I had high hopes of Ensign Cutler returning to Enterprise..She was so young. Such a tragedy.. :blink:

VBG, I feel that you should do a tribue in the portal. She was beatiful and this maybe why the fans loved her so. I found this also at trektoday. A little info here, she died in New York and was doing a play. http://www.24thstreet.org/home.html this is a site that was posted.

I've been searching the net looking for details and cen't find anything at all. The only place I see anything at all is TrekToday ( http://www.trektoday.com/news/161103_04.shtml ). You would think there would be some kind of news snipit or story someplace.

B4_    0

Its always unfortunate to hear of a passing,especially when it occurs within one's own community.She was so young.

I have no words,really.Just that I am sorry that we will not be able to enjoy her on screen anymore.She was a fine actress,and her character was appealing.

Indy    8

How very sad. She brought a lot to the Enterprise episodes she was in, as she did the other roles she has been in. She seemed to be a very talented young woman. It's so hard to understand why some people have their lives cut inexplicably short.

trekzone    0

OMG, thats a shock...i think there could have been a few roles for her in the Expanse......and why the heck wasnt she in season 2? (or was she?)

mr_tinkles    0

I didn't get a chance to know her character all that well,but still,she will be missed.

Tank    0

That's really sad. I always thought she was the best of the minor characters and had hoped that they would give her more air time.

According to startrek.com she died of natral causes. I think she will be young forever. She is now an angel.

removed    0

That's terrible. She'll be in our hearts forever.

trekkiebabe    0

May God bless her and keep her.

WildStar    0

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A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

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Elizabeth Cutler

Cutler was a diligent, enthusiastic scientist who was also a keen gourmet cook and amateur bartender. She avidly sought out special assignments, and was knowledgeable of exobiology , biology , and geology in addition to her home specialty, entomology. ( CCG set: The Enterprise Collection )

• 1.1 Early life
• 1.2.1 Enterprise
• 1.2.2 Endeavour
• 2 Alternate timeline
• 3.1 Connections
• 3.2 Appearances and references
• 3.3 External link

Biography [ ]

Early life [ ].

Elizabeth Cutler was born in the year 2117 . As a child, she spent many weeks playing role-playing games with her friends via computer networks; this later inspired her to study as a scientist and seek adventure in space. ( ENT novel : By the Book )

Starfleet career [ ]

Enterprise [ ].

By the year 2151 , she was an enlisted crewperson in the Earth Starfleet, with the rank of crewman 1st class.

Cutler was assigned to the Enterprise during its maiden voyage - Humanity 's first long-range mission of space exploration. Three weeks after Enterprise 's departure from Earth , Cutler was assigned to a landing party assigned to explore a recently discovered class M planet , later known as Archer IV . Sub-Commander T'Pol , who appointed the landing party members, selected her for her specialty in entomology; the planet had a diverse insect population.

Cutler explored by herself for several hours, then returned to the shuttlepod that was to return the landing party to Enterprise . At T'Pol's request, she and Crewman Ethan Novakovich remained on the planet overnight to study several nocturnal marsupials that had been identified by the landing party. They were joined by Commander Charles Tucker III and Ensign Travis Mayweather , who asked permission to sleep on the surface.

As the landing party's camp site was struck by a storm, Cutler, Novakovich and Tucker began experiencing hallucinations, caused by exposure to psychotropic tropolisine blown down from the mountains. After some difficulty, the party was transported back aboard the Enterprise , where Cutler was treated by Doctor Phlox , and ultimately pronounced unaffected by the compound. ( ENT episode : " Strange New World ")

A few weeks later, Cutler created a role-playing game she thought might help pass the evenings aboard Enterprise . After some initial difficulties, Hoshi Sato , Travis Mayweather , Novakovich, and James Anderson , began to play it frequently. Not long after this, Cutler led an exploration team to the surface of the planet Fazi to investigate the species on the southern continent. During the mission, Crewman Jamal Edwards was attacked by one of the creatures. ( ENT novel : By the Book )

In fall of the same year, she accompanied Phlox to the surface of the planet Valakis , where he sought to discover a cure for the virulent pathogen ravaging the Valakians , one of the planet's two indigenous sentient species. ( ENT episode : " Dear Doctor ")

In January 2152 , she was present in the launchbay when Ensign Alana Hart was brought back from a moon's suface with extreme seizure. ( ENT novel : What Price Honor? )

Around the end of 2156 , during the Earth-Romulan War , Cutler was seriously injured during a battle with the Romulans and had needed several months to recover. She was offered an honorable discharge, but declined and instead enrolled in Starfleet's officer training programme, broadening her scientific knowledge.

Endeavour [ ]

After the founding of the Federation in 2161 , she continued her service in the Federation Starfleet . By September 2162 , she held the rank of lieutenant and was serving as chief science officer aboard the Federation starship Endeavour under Captain T'Pol. She was happy serving with some of her old crewmates again, and they often had poker nights.

Cutler played a vital role in resolving the Vertian crisis in the following year. She uncovered evidence that the USS Thejal wasn't destroyed by "Mutes" as Dular Garos claimed. At the final confrontation with the "Mutes", Cutler discovered that Garos used his transporters to withhold his Vertian prisoners in an attempt to further escalate the situation. ( ENT novel : A Choice of Futures )

Alternate timeline [ ]

In an alternate timeline in which John Frederick Paxton destroyed Starfleet Command and ended the talks for the Coalition of Planets in 2155 , Cutler lived to the age of 147 years, finally dying of natural causes at her home in Tycho City in 2264 , surrounded by five generations of her family. She was the last surviving human crewmember of Enterprise while T'Pol, who was then 176 years old, was the last altogether. ( TOS - Myriad Universes novel : A Less Perfect Union )

Appendices [ ]

Connections [ ], appearances and references [ ], external link [ ].

• Elizabeth Cutler article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 2 USS Voyager (NCC-74656-A)
• 3 Lamarr class

Why Wasn't Admiral Janeway in Star Trek: Picard?

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Picard showrunner terry matalas wanted admiral janeway in picard season 3, admiral janeway is already appearing in star trek: prodigy, did star trek: picard suffer because admiral janeway didn't appear, could star trek make a janeway series like the one centered on picard.

The third wave of Star Trek series have tried to strike a balance between telling new stories with new characters and honoring the legacy figures from the universe originally created by Gene Roddenberry. Star Trek: Picard brought back characters from both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager , but Admiral Kathryn Janeway never appeared. She was mentioned a number of times, and the character appears in the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy . Still, while Picard producers wanted to bring Kate Mulgrew back as Janeway, a combination of real-world factors prevented it. Outside of her cameo appearance in Star Trek: Nemesis , Admiral Janeway and then-Captain Picard didn't have an established relationship.

Of all the past characters from Star Trek 's second wave to appear in Picard , Janeway wasn't originally one fans expected. However, the inclusion of Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine in all three seasons of Picard made it seem like only a matter of time before Seven's first captain showed up. Yet, it never happened. Instead, Janeway is mentioned a few times by characters in passing, establishing only that she's still alive and has a continued relationship with her former crew. Simply put, Janeway only gets mentioned because both time and budgetary limitations meant a cameo appearance wasn't possible. There is also the fact that Janeway was appearing on Star Trek: Prodigy , which was airing its first season when Picard Season 3 was filming. There was likely a sense that using Janeway in the 25th Century story in Picard might undercut the 24th Century adventure in Prodigy .

Star Trek: Picard Showrunner Joins Remake of 1980s Sci-Fi Film

Terry Matalas' next project will reimagine a sci-fi classic from 1985.

A veteran of the second-wave series, Terry Matalas helmed Picard Season 3 as both showrunner and fan. In the final episodes, Starfleet gathers all its ships near Earth to celebrate Frontier Day, the launch of the first warp-five ship as seen in Star Trek: Enterprise . Not only was Janeway considered for a cameo, but so was Garrett Wang's Harry Kim and other Star Trek legacy characters from other series.

"I would have had as many as we could get. I would have made that Star Trek Avengers: Endgame . I would have made Frontier Day with many ships… I would have Kira [Nerys from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ] there, even if all you get is a bridge shot. But all of that is very expensive. We were already way too ambitious," Matalas said via TrekMovie.com . In the same interview, he revealed Paramount was skeptical the show could pull off what was scripted based on the budget and schedule.

One of the best moments in Picard Season 3 is when Tim Russ's Tuvok denies Seven of Nine's resignation because she is being promoted to captain. Matalas originally wanted Admiral Janeway there to do it. They "couldn't afford Kate even if we wanted," he said, adding that making that scene Janeway's Picard debut could've made the scene more about her than Seven's journey from Starfleet outcast to captain of the USS Enterprise-G.

Why Wesley Crusher Left Star Trek, and Why He Came Back

Wil Wheaton's Wesley Crusher disappeared from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but he came back for select episodes, movies, and Picard. Here's why.

While Star Trek: Picard offered fans a sequel story to Voyager for Seven of Nine, the universe's animated series for all ages does that, too. Star Trek: Prodigy is essentially a Voyager sequel , especially in Season 2, because the characters are traveling on the USS Voyager-A. Janeway appears both as a holographic training program on the (now destroyed) USS Protostar, and the very human Vice Admiral Janeway is also a regular character. In fact, that Prodigy introduced the next ship to bear the name "Voyager" helps explain why some of Picard 's returns didn't happen.

The inclusion of Harry Kim would've promoted Star Trek 's "forever ensign" to the captain of the USS Voyager-B, according to Matalas. Had this happened, it would've stepped on the toes of Prodigy 's toes by putting an expiration date on their new hero ship. Also, if Prodigy wanted to bring in Kim's character, they would be pigeon-holed into ensuring he ended up where Picard 's storytellers put him. While the mere mention of Janeway means she survives whatever Prodigy throws at her, that's really all fans know.

Janeway is alive and still a high-ranking admiral in Starfleet, but beyond that, anything is possible. She could be in the 25th Century version of one of those Christopher Pike life support units. While it would've warmed the hearts of all Star Trek fans to see Janeway and Seven (as well as Kate Mulgrew and Ryan) on screen together again, it limited what Prodigy could do with the character. Prodigy's showrunners want seven seasons of adventures (and then feature films). Keeping Janeway out of Picard gives them maximum freedom to tell their story and imperil Vice Admiral Janeway .

Every Episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Ranked

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 was a varied and emotionally heavy season, and here's how critics and fans ranked each episode in the time-travel saga.

On one hand, the lack of any appearance by Admiral Janeway feels like how Supergirl Season 1 treated Superman . The storytellers want to ensure audiences understand the character is around and has a close, important relationship with characters in the show. However, because the actor couldn't appear, that has to be done through dialogue exclusively. It has the unfortunate side effect of making Janeway feel distant or even uncaring. After all, Tuvok was kidnapped by Changelings, and Seven of Nine was on-the-run with her supposed friend and fellow admiral, Jean-Luc Picard.

Just as it stretched suspension of disbelief that Superman didn't fly over to help his cousin, Janeway was notable for her absence. However, a Star Trek captain who led a series is a powerful figure in the mythology of this universe. Matalas is correct that if Admiral Janeway showed up to promote Seven of Nine, her presence would've overtaken the scene . Just by nature, viewers would be more focused on the return of the beloved Voyager captain than the series regular who just helped save Earth from the Borg. Tuvok doesn't dominate the moment, in large part because he is unemotional. It allows all the feeling in that scene to come from Seven of Nine.

Their shared history on Voyager is nonetheless relevant, and it's still meaningful her promotion comes from a member of that family. Yet, Tuvok and Seven were peers on the ship, despite Seven holding no actual rank. The dynamic between Seven and Janeway was too big for just one scene. Even if Mulgrew was able to deliver a performance that kept Seven's experience in the spotlight, it simply wouldn't be enough to do justice to that reunion. A reunion could still happen in Prodigy , or it could happen if Star Trek: Legacy ever happens at Paramount . Picard wasn't the right venue for it, at least not if the Janeway appearance was a cameo.

'Keep Being Noisy': Picard Star Provides Star Trek: Legacy Update

Star Trek: Picard's Ed Speleers shares how fans can help get Paramount to greenlight the proposed sequel spinoff series, Star Trek: Legacy.

Despite shows like Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Lower Decks ending, the universe still spins on. Starfleet Academy is the next series coming to Paramount+, and Strange New Worlds is still going, too. If Prodigy does well for Netflix, the streamer could order a third season of the show (or more). In fact, for those who want a Janeway series, Star Trek: Prodigy is a must-watch show. Vice Admiral Janeway is a central figure in Season 2, and her guidance is crucial to shaping the new cast of characters into bona fide Star Trek heroes. However, when it comes to this universe, fans should learn to never say "never."

There were apparently already talks for a Janeway spinoff series , according to Kate Mulgrew . As Paramount deals with economic realities, there is a limit on how many ongoing projects the studio can support. Yet, given the success of Picard , it is not inconceivable that a series centered on Admiral Kathryn Janeway could happen in the future. However, with a mini- Voyager reunion already happening on Prodigy , a live action series might not be what fans expect. After all, despite the near-universal praise for Picard Season 3, its first two seasons were less warmly received as actor Patrick Stewart wanted to do something new. Mulgrew might similarly want a live-action return to look forward for the character rather than backwards .

Still, Star Trek: Prodigy is an excellent series to tide Janeway fans over, because the character appears (in one form or another) in every single episode. Robert Beltran reprised his role as Chakotay for Season 1, and he returns along with Robert Picardo's holographic Doctor in Season 2 . While the target audience for Prodigy is younger viewers and their families, the story serves all Star Trek fans, especially those who want more Kathryn Janeway.

Star Trek: Picard streams on Paramount+, while Star Trek: Prodigy Seasons 1 and 2 stream in their entirety on Netflix as of July 1, 2024.

Star Trek: Picard

Retired Admiral Jean-Luc Picard is drawn back into action when a mysterious young woman seeks his help, triggering a journey that leads him to confront the ghosts of his past. As he assembles a new crew to uncover the truth behind a dangerous conspiracy, Picard navigates a galaxy that has changed significantly since his days aboard the Enterprise.

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Published Jun 20, 2024

The Official Trailer and Key Art for Season 2 of Animated Series Star Trek: Prodigy Is Here

Season 2 will premiere with all 20 episodes on July 1 exclusively on Netflix in the U.S. and select countries around the world.

StarTrek.com

CBS Studios debuted the official trailer and key art for the second season of the original animated kids' series, Star Trek: Prodigy . The hit series will premiere all 20 episodes on Monday, July 1 on Netflix in select countries around the world. Season 1 episodes of the series are currently available on Netflix.

In Season 2, these six young outcasts who make up the Prodigy crew are assigned a new mission aboard the U.S.S. Voyager -A to rescue Captain Chakotay and bring peace to Gwyn's home world. However, when their plan goes astray, it creates a time paradox that jeopardizes both their future and past.

The Star Trek: Prodigy voice cast includes Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway), Brett Gray (Dal), Ella Purnell (Gwyn), Rylee Alazraqui (Rok-Tahk), Angus Imrie (Zero), Jason Mantzoukas (Jankom Pog), Dee Bradley Baker (Murf), John Noble (The Diviner), and Jimmi Simpson (Drednok).

Season 2 recurring voice cast members include Robert Beltran (Captain Chakotay), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Jason Alexander (Dr. Noum), Daveed Diggs (Commander Tysess), Jameela Jamil (Ensign Asencia), Ronny Cox (Admiral Jellico), and Michaela Dietz (Maj’el).

Developed by Emmy Award winners Kevin and Dan Hageman ( Trollhunters and Ninjago ), along with Alex Kurtzman and his team at Secret Hideout, the CG-animated series Star Trek: Prodigy is the first Star Trek series aimed at younger audiences and follows a motley crew of young aliens who must figure out how to work together while navigating a greater galaxy, in search of a better future.

"We deeply appreciate our fans who have stood by us and our passionate crew who made this all possible. The work speaks for itself, but it's the heart that will endure," said co-showrunners Kevin and Dan Hageman about the Season 2 release.

Star Trek: Prodigy received a 2023 TCA Award nomination for "Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming" along with a 2022 Children's and Family Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Animated Series, and production designer, Alessandro Taini, won the award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation.

Star Trek: Prodigy is from CBS' Eye Animation Productions, CBS Studios' animation arm; Nickelodeon Animation; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers, alongside co-showrunners Kevin and Dan Hageman. Ben Hibon directs, executive produces and serves as the creative lead of the animated series. Aaron Waltke and Patrick Krebs also currently serve as co-executive producers. Star Trek: Prodigy is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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Star Trek: Prodigy will stream on Netflix globally (excluding Canada, Nordics, CEE, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Belarus and Mainland China) and Season 1 is currently available on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Central and Eastern Europe with Season 2 coming soon. Season two has launched in France on France Televisions channels and Okoo.

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories .

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Graeme McMillan

Travis Mayweather

Travis Mayweather was a Human Starfleet officer who served as the primary watch helmsman during the historic voyage of Enterprise NX-01 , holding the rank of ensign .

• 1 Early life
• 2.1 The Xindi mission
• 2.2 The return
• 5 Alternate realities and timelines
• 6.3 Romance
• 7 Hobbies and interests
• 8.1 Appearances
• 8.2.1 Reception
• 8.3 External links

Early life [ ]

Mayweather was born in 2126 , aboard the cargo ship ECS Horizon , halfway through a cargo run from Draylax to the Vega colony . Having been raised on a cargo freighter, Mayweather was commonly known by those who had not spent their lives in space as a " space boomer ." ( ENT : " Broken Bow ", " Fortunate Son ", " Dead Stop ")

The ECS Horizon

Having grown up on starships , Mayweather could fly nearly any make or model. During his childhood, he visited several planets and moons , including Trillius Prime , Draylax, and both Teneebian moons . One of his favorite places to relax was what he called a ship 's " sweet spot ." ( ENT : " Broken Bow ", " Horizon ")

As a child, Mayweather took great interest in the mystery surrounding the Terra Nova colony and he promised his father to see this place someday. ( ENT : " Terra Nova ")

During his youth aboard the Horizon , Mayweather locked himself in a cargo container , an embarrassing incident that he did not live down for many years. ( ENT : " Horizon ")

On another occasion, he and Nora deactivated the grav-plating aboard the Horizon and jumped on the bed , which lead to them being grounded . ( ENT : " Horizon ")

In 2141 , the Horizon encountered a group of Deltans . Mayweather, who was fifteen at the time, described them as "very attractive" and "very open." His father had Mayweather join him in hard workouts to keep his mind and body occupied. ( ENT : " Bound ")

During flight studies, Mayweather memorized a statement Chuck Yeager had said, which inspired Mayweather to overcome fear of tense piloting situations; he never allowed himself to become afraid in such scenarios, but instead concentrated on the flying. ( ENT : " Demons ") With Mayweather having grown up on cargo ships, though, Malcolm Reed once suspected that he "must've felt like having lead in [his] boots" when he arrived on Earth , due to the comparatively heavier gravity on the planet, especially as Mayweather's father had liked to keep the artificial gravity low. ( ENT : " Broken Bow ")

Prior to his assignment to Enterprise , Mayweather had seen snow only twice in his entire life. ( ENT : " Breaking the Ice ")

Mayweather entered Starfleet as a recruit around 2149 . During his training, he was inspired by the pictures of various Starfleet captains at the entrance to Starfleet Command . ( ENT : " Rogue Planet ", " Horizon ")

Aboard Enterprise [ ]

Mayweather joined the crew of Enterprise as helmsman in April 2151 and he befriended Malcolm Reed . Later, he was part of a landing party looking for Klaang . Reed and Mayweather were persuaded, by a man who claimed that he had seen Klaang, to watch a pair of alien females performing with butterflies . The pair of officers doubted the man's honesty and soon left. ( ENT : " Broken Bow ") Mayweather's quarters were located on C Deck . ( ENT : " Shockwave, Part II ")

During one of Starfleet's first explorations of a new world later known as Archer IV , Mayweather was a member of an Enterprise away team that stayed overnight on the surface of the planet. He was accompanied by Sub-Commander T'Pol , Commander Charles Tucker III , Crewman (First Class) Cutler and crewman Ethan Novakovich . Mayweather was along more for the adventure than the research, as was Tucker. Over a campfire, Mayweather attempted to frighten his colleagues by narrating a "ghost story" concerning George Webb , a character who supposedly was a friend of Travis' uncle . Because of a sudden storm, the party retreated inside a cave for protection. Later, the team was infected by the pollen of some plant life on the planet. This caused extreme paranoid and delusional behavior, to the point where Mayweather believed the other members of the away team were trying to kill him. ( ENT : " Strange New World ")

Mayweather also was part of a landing party on Terra Nova , a lost Earth colony which had had no contact with Earth for many years . The landing party was greeted with hostility by the Novans . Mayweather analyzed a communications tower which contained a message indicating that the colonists blamed Earth for an attack that had poisoned their atmosphere . The crew was able to convince them otherwise, and relocated them due to the fact that their underground water supply was also contaminated. ( ENT : " Terra Nova ")

Together with Malcolm Reed , Mayweather became one of the first two Humans to walk on a comet . He and Reed became stranded, and were saved by the Vulcans , who had tractor beam technology . ( ENT : " Breaking the Ice ")

Enterprise intervened when a freighter manned by Humans sought revenge against Nausicaan pirates . The ship was extremely similar to the one Mayweather had grown up on. He gave a tour of Enterprise to one of the crew, Matthew Ryan , in order to show how far he had come. Instead, Ryan chastised Mayweather for leaving his family ship in order to seek glory. Despite this, Mayweather was later able to convince Ryan to halt his attempted attack on a Nausicaan ship by pointing out that his actions would actually endanger other freighter crews by encouraging the Nausicaans to seek vengeance for Ryan's attack. ( ENT : " Fortunate Son ")

Mayweather was also arrested and jailed with Archer in a Tandaran prison camp for the Suliban . They were accused of collaborating with the Suliban against the Tandarans, who were at war with the Suliban . The Suliban who were being held were detainees, and innocent of any crimes or acts of war . Mayweather's preconceptions of the Suliban were changed because of the time he spent with them in the camp. He was beaten up by the Tandaran guards but he and Archer then helped the heretofore imprisoned Suliban escape. ( ENT : " Detained ")

When some of the crew were captured by a mysterious entity that had slipped on board from a Kreetassan ship that had recently docked with Enterprise , Mayweather was the only senior staff member available to apologise to the Kreetassans for the crew's "offense" of eating in public in the mess hall, assuring the Kreetassan captain that the Humans had no idea that such an action would be offensive to their visitors. The Kreetassan captain accepted his apology, and provided Enterprise with coordinates for the entity's homeworld. ( ENT : " Vox Sola ")

During a rest stop on Risa , Mayweather was injured in a rock climbing accident at Galartha where the cliff face changes pitch while you climb. He almost died when given medication by the planet's doctors . After being shuttled back to Enterprise , Dr. Phlox cured him. ( ENT : " Two Days and Two Nights ")

He and Archer aided T'Pol in the capture of a Vulcan rogue agent named Menos who had become an arms dealer. When Menos proclaimed that he was innocent, Mayweather discovered Menos was hauling large containers of bio-toxins hidden by a force field . ( ENT : " The Seventh ")

In 2152 , Mayweather's skills as a pilot came in handy when he had to traverse a deadly Romulan minefield in space. A mine had attached itself to the hull, and when Malcolm Reed tried to disarm it, a spike punched out of the mine and through Reed's leg, pinning him to the ship's hull. Mayweather had to pilot the ship through the minefield, but as gently as possible, while Archer attempted to free Reed. He also had to avoid a Romulan ship that was attacking Enterprise . ( ENT : " Minefield ")

After the Starfleet vessel was damaged by the minefield, its crew took Enterprise to an automated repair station . Mayweather was found dead, during the course of repairs. While conducting an autopsy on the corpse, Phlox discovered that the body was not actually Mayweather, but a duplicate . Searching the station, the crew found Mayweather suspended from harnesses with electrodes in his brain . The station was using his synaptic pathways, along with those of other humanoids , as part of its program. The crew was able to free him and escape the station. ( ENT : " Dead Stop ")

Later in the year, Mayweather helped in bringing a Suliban cell ship 's cloaking device on-line, so it could be used to rescue Archer and Reed, who were sentenced to death on a planet they had visited. A pass near a black hole affected the crew members due to heavy radiation , causing obsessive behavior. Mayweather went to Phlox because of a headache , and Phlox wanted to do brain surgery . He knocked Mayweather out, and would have operated if T'Pol had not intervened. Mayweather also helped rescue a group of Denobulan scientists from the planet Xantoras , whose government had ordered all aliens off the planet. ( ENT : " The Communicator ", " Singularity ", " The Breach ")

When Takret military personnel boarded Enterprise to capture refugees , Archer ordered Mayweather to steer the ship into a destructive eddy, in order to force the Takret from the ship. After they left, it was Mayweather's superior piloting that saved the ship from the eddy. ( ENT : " The Catwalk ")

He and Reed lead a rescue party to save Archer and Tucker from a penal colony ship transporting the latter officers to Canamar . During an attempted takeover of not only Enterprise but also of the crew member's bodies by alien entities, it was Mayweather who discovered a method of protecting the crew. As he was chased by an alien wisp, the alien did not enter the catwalk , because there was a component that repelled it. Hearing this, Archer ordered all unaffected crew members to the catwalk. ( ENT : " The Crossing ", " Canamar ")

Near the end of the year, Mayweather paid a return visit to the Horizon , the ship he had been born and raised on. There, he came into conflict with his brother, Paul . Their father had just died and Travis' brother, Paul, had taken over as captain. The ship was being attacked by pirates who had attached a homing device to it. Paul intended to dump some of the cargo and try to make it to their next stop. Without Paul's knowledge, Travis made upgrades to the ship, including to its weapons system. When the alien ship arrived, it not only wanted the cargo but the ship, also. With the new upgrades, the Horizon was able to defeat the pirates and protect itself. The two brothers then reconciled their differences. ( ENT : " Horizon ")

Immediately before entering the Delphic Expanse , Enterprise was pursued by a Klingon Bird-of-Prey . Mayweather used a fearless maneuver to position Enterprise behind the Klingon ship, which Enterprise destroyed, before continuing on its mission. ( ENT : " The Expanse ")

The Xindi mission [ ]

Mayweather's skills as a pilot were invaluable during the mission. He was able to steer the ship through the Delphic Expanse into Xindi territory.

Mayweather, with Commander Tucker, on an asteroid in the Delphic Expanse

While mining for trellium-D , a substance that could protect Enterprise from the Expanse's anomalies, they were nearly destroyed by a massive asteroid and had to return to the ship. ( ENT : " Impulse ")

During an encounter with a Xindi-Insectoid hatchery, Archer was infected with a neurotoxin that rendered him delusional. He believed he was the caretaker of the Insectoid eggs , and endangered the ship. He relieved the senior officers and placed the MACOs in command. Mayweather, along with the other officers, retook the ship, and Archer was treated and cured. ( ENT : " Anomaly (ENT) ", " Hatchery ")

Mayweather piloted a shuttlepod and helped tow Enterprise out of a polaric field where it had become stuck. ( ENT : " Similitude ")

Mayweather during the battle at Azati Prime in 2154

Mayweather and Charles Tucker III tried to scan the Xindi weapon from a salvaged Xindi shuttle. Mayweather discovered the location of the weapon, which was underwater. He was able to collect information, but as they returned, Enterprise was attacked by the Xindi and Archer was captured. After the attack, Mayweather discovered a message from Degra aboard an escape pod that Archer used to escape the Xindi. Degra wished to meet with Archer. ( ENT : " Azati Prime ", " Damage ")

During Archer's meeting with the Xindi Council , Mayweather accompanied Sub-Commander T'Pol, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and MACO Corporal F. Hawkins to a sphere to try and gather information about the Sphere-Builders , aliens behind the Xindi plan to attack Earth. During the inspection, the sphere's defenses came on-line and Hawkins was killed, but Mayweather, T'Pol and Reed escaped. Mayweather piloted Enterprise to Sphere 41 on a mission to eliminate the Sphere-Builders. ( ENT : " The Council ", " Zero Hour ")

The return [ ]

When Archer was captured by aliens who were trying to change the timeline by helping the Nazis conquer America in 1944 , Mayweather was sent on a rescue mission. He and Tucker were captured and used as hostages in order to get to Archer, who had escaped. They were able to foil the aliens' plan and the timeline was restored. Following the restoration of the timeline, Enterprise returned to Earth, to a hero's welcome. However, while the starship remained at the planet, Mayweather defended Phlox against a xenophobic man who attacked Phlox in a bar . ( ENT : " Storm Front ", " Home ")

During the Vulcan Awakening , Mayweather was sent to rescue Archer and T'Pol from The Forge on Vulcan . He was unsuccessful, as he had to turn back, due to Vulcan attacks. His body was taken over by aliens, who wished to observe and experience Human ways. ( ENT : " Awakening ", " Observer Effect ")

Gannet in 2155

Mayweather met with an old romantic friend, Gannet , during the first conference to set up a coalition of planets . She was exposed as a spy for Terra Prime , an organization dedicated to removing all aliens from the planet. It was later revealed that she was a double agent working for Starfleet Command. Mayweather helped foil the Terra Prime plot to sabotage the conference, at one point managing a difficult shuttlepod flight from space to the surface of Mars. ( ENT : " Demons ", " Terra Prime ")

Travis continued to serve aboard Enterprise until 2161 , when the ship was decommissioned shortly before the signing of the Federation Charter . During this time, he was seen to still be wearing the rank insignia of an ensign. While en route to Earth, Enterprise took a brief detour to Rigel X to rescue Talla , the daughter of Shran , an Andorian and former member of the Imperial Guard who the Enterprise crew had crossed paths with, many times before. Mayweather was among the participants in the rescue efforts, which were a success. However, soon after he and his shipmates returned to Enterprise , Commander Tucker was forced to sacrifice himself to save Captain Archer when Talla's kidnappers boarded the ship.

A few days later, Mayweather was in attendance at the historic founding ceremony of what would become the United Federation of Planets . He had been offered an assignment by Captain Stillwell but had postponed accepting the offer, pending Captain Archer's next assignment. ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ")

Holographic representation of Mayweather in 2161

Mayweather's template was used as part of an historical holodeck program depicting the final voyage of Enterprise NX-01 and her crew, a program that was available for use aboard Federation starships in the 24th century . Commander William T. Riker accessed this program aboard the USS Enterprise -D in 2370 , in hopes that it would help him through a moral dilemma. In the program, Riker assumed the role of a MACO and joined Mayweather and the other crew members on the mission to rescue Shran's daughter. Riker also assumed the identity of the Enterprise chef and interacted with the holographic Mayweather, in order to learn more about Commander Tucker, whose sacrifice helped Riker realize the choice he had to make with his own dilemma. ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ")

According to Erica Ortegas , Mayweather would have at least one middle school gym named after him that she knew of, having attended that school herself. ( SNW : " Those Old Scientists ")

Alternate realities and timelines [ ]

Travis is killed by the Xindi in 2154

In the alternate timeline where Captain Jonathan Archer was infected by interspatial parasites , Mayweather was killed in a Xindi attack on Enterprise in 2154 . ( ENT : " Twilight ")

In a different timeline – in which Enterprise traveled to 2037 – Mayweather eventually married MACO Corporal J. McKenzie . This version of Mayweather had died by 2154. ( ENT : " E² ")

Relationships [ ]

Travis Mayweather's grandfather held the record of most number of simultaneous jobs aboard the Horizon : five, including two bridge positions.

Travis' mother, Rianna , was the medic and chief engineer aboard the Horizon . She often acted as "referee" between Travis and his brother, Paul, when the two got into arguments.

Travis' father became captain of the Horizon when he was a year younger than Paul was in 2153 . Travis was expected to carry on as the freighter's captain and his father was not happy with his son's decision to join Starfleet. The two ended up parting on bad terms. That, however, did not prevent the father from whole-heartedly recommending Mayweather for the helm position on Enterprise . Nonetheless, the two barely spoke with each other, since Travis left in 2149 .

Another family member Travis alienated by joining Starfleet was his brother, Paul. He believed Travis had abandoned his family to serve with Starfleet, leaving despite the fact that their father was ill.

Travis' father passed away in late 2152 , about six weeks before Travis visited his family's ship while on leave from his tour of duty on Enterprise , in January 2153. That visit was the first time he had seen his family in four years. During the visit, Travis came into conflict with his brother, now captain, as the ship was attacked by pirates. Paul felt slighted when Travis attempted to make upgrades to the ship's systems without his permission. Travis felt that Paul was not ready to be captain. The dangerous encounter with the marauding aliens forced the brothers to work together and brought them closer. ( ENT : " Horizon ")

Friends [ ]

One of Mayweather's childhood friends, while growing up on the Horizon , was Nora . In their youth, the two of them got into trouble, on at least one occasion, for turning off the ship's gravity plating and jumping on their beds in their quarters . ( ENT : " Horizon ")

Another friend aboard the Horizon was Juan . Even into adulthood, Juan refused to let Travis forget the incident in which the latter had been trapped inside a cargo container. ( ENT : " Horizon ")

Romance [ ]

Mayweather was romantically involved with reporter Gannet Brooks at some point before his assignment to Enterprise . Brooks tried to keep Mayweather from accepting a position aboard the ship. Eventually, she and Mayweather made a mutual decision to end their relationship.

Brooks was present at the talks for the formation of the Coalition of Planets when she met Mayweather at the ceremony. The two become romantically involved again. Brooks stated that she wanted her relationship with Mayweather to continue. She told him she was now a reporter and wanted to visit Enterprise . During a tour of the ship, Travis and Brooks slipped into a shuttlepod, where they could be alone. Brooks told Mayweather that she was still attracted to him and began kissing him.

After the couple spent some time in the shuttlepod, they returned to Mayweather's quarters, but Gannet was arrested as a spy for Terra Prime and was consequently thrown in the vessel's brig. Later, it was revealed that she was working undercover for Starfleet Intelligence.

After this incident, Brooks stated that she could not give up her job, and since Travis was not willing to leave Enterprise , they parted yet again. ( ENT : " Terra Prime ", " Demons ")

Hobbies and interests [ ]

Besides piloting, Travis also had an interest in rock climbing and spelunking . His experience with these activities allowed him to be chosen by Captain Archer to assist Tucker and Reed in rescuing Denobulan geologists from the caverns beneath Xantoras . His assistance not only allowed the other two officers to rescue the Denobulans, but his quick thinking also saved their lives, albeit at the cost of a broken leg. ( ENT : " Two Days and Two Nights ", " The Breach ")

Mayweather was also known to play practical jokes from time to time. He once tricked Hoshi into attempting to communicate with strawberry gelatin by telling her it was a gelatinous lifeform . ( ENT : " Dead Stop ")

In contrast to some of the crew, Mayweather expressed curiosity about the possibility of going through a transporter for the first time, speculating about the reported feeling of being in two places at once when the subject was mid-transport. ( ENT : " Fortunate Son ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " Broken Bow "
• " Fight or Flight "
• " Strange New World "
• " Unexpected "
• " Terra Nova "
• " The Andorian Incident "
• " Breaking the Ice "
• " Civilization "
• " Fortunate Son "
• " Cold Front "
• " Silent Enemy "
• " Dear Doctor "
• " Sleeping Dogs "
• " Shadows of P'Jem "
• " Shuttlepod One "
• " Rogue Planet "
• " Acquisition "
• " Detained "
• " Vox Sola "
• " Fallen Hero "
• " Desert Crossing "
• " Two Days and Two Nights "
• " Shockwave "
• " Shockwave, Part II "
• " Minefield "
• " Dead Stop "
• " A Night in Sickbay "
• " Marauders "
• " The Seventh "
• " The Communicator "
• " Singularity "
• " Vanishing Point "
• " Precious Cargo "
• " The Catwalk "
• " Cease Fire "
• " Future Tense "
• " Canamar "
• " The Crossing "
• " Judgment "
• " Horizon "
• " The Breach "
• " Cogenitor "
• " Regeneration "
• " The Expanse "
• " The Xindi "
• " Anomaly (ENT) "
• " Extinction "
• " Impulse "
• " The Shipment "
• " Twilight "
• " North Star "
• " Similitude "
• " Chosen Realm "
• " Proving Ground "
• " Stratagem "
• " Harbinger "
• " Doctor's Orders "
• " Hatchery "
• " Azati Prime "
• " The Forgotten "
• " The Council "
• " Countdown "
• " Zero Hour "
• " Storm Front "
• " Storm Front, Part II "
• " Borderland "
• " Cold Station 12 "
• " The Augments "
• " The Forge "
• " Awakening "
• " Kir'Shara "
• " Daedalus "
• " Observer Effect "
• " Babel One "
• " The Aenar "
• " Affliction "
• " Divergence "
• " Terra Prime "
• " These Are the Voyages... "
• VST : " Holograms All the Way Down " (background hologram)

Background information [ ]

Travis Mayweather was played by actor Anthony Montgomery .

The character of Mayweather was invented by Star Trek: Enterprise creators and Executive Producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga . The concept of the character stemmed from them deciding that, in an era when there were many Earth spaceships which were traveling extremely slowly, the first people born in space were probably in their twenties by the time the series began, in 2151 . Braga later said, " The idea of a space boomer came eventually [...] and so we decided to have someone on the ship, Travis Mayweather, who knows space travel better than anybody [...] although Mayweather is very young and a wide-eyed enthusiast. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 9 , p. 21)

Originally, Mayweather was intended to have the first name "Joe" and the rank of lieutenant. At that stage of development, a character description of him was written in the ENT series bible. There, he was described as " African-American. Helmsman. Mid-twenties. A unique product of 22nd century life, Mayweather was raised on a long range transport vessel. 'I was born and conceived during a two year run somewhere between Alpha Centauri and Artcuris Prime .' As a result, Joe is more 'interstellar' than even the Captain. He's travelled to dozens of planets and met many different alien species [....] Mayweather knows the best place on a ship to watch the stars rush by, or feel the vibrations from a passing pulsar. He prefers to sleep in a 'zero-g' environment. Every night before he goes to bed, he deactivates the gravity plating in his quarters, and his cocoon-like hammock floats up on its tether. Mayweather will prove to be a valued member of the crew, a talented pilot with an 'instinct' for space-travel that few Humans possess. This will help Captain Archer through situations where intellect and protocol alone won't suffice. "

While Mayweather was still planned to have the first name "Joe" and the rank of lieutenant, a character breakdown sheet sent from Paramount to talent agents, upon seeking an actor to play the role, described the character thus; " Helmsman. African American. Mid to late 20s. A unique product of 22nd Century life, Mayweather was raised on cargo ships. As a result Joe is more 'interstellar' than even the Captain. He's traveled to dozens of planets and met many different alien species. Mayweather has an 'instinct' for space-travel that few Humans possess. " [2]

In the series bible and the character breakdown, Mayweather was described as having a very close friendship with Tucker, who was originally given the rank of commander and was actually identified as Mayweather's closest friend in the latter document. The series bible commented about the pair, " Similar in age, rank and spirit, these two men will spend their off-duty hours finding new ways to enjoy life in space. Whether they're test-flying a new shuttlecraft, or exploring the possibilities of interspecies 'dating,' they're always looking for the next adventure. " The same document also referred to Mayweather having once had a Terrelian girlfriend and Tucker being endlessly fascinated by that. In describing the friendship between the two males, the character breakdown took its cue somewhat from the series bible. However, partly because Tucker's rank had been changed to commander, the description of their bond was slightly different, merely stating, " Similar in age and spirit these two will spend their off-duty hours finding new ways to enjoy life in space. " [3] Shortly following the start of ENT Season 1 , Brannon Braga commented about Mayweather, " We're finding that he's kind of a buddy for Trip. " Braga also remarked that, due to Mayweather having much more experience of alien cultures, there was "an interesting dynamic" between him and Tucker. ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 9 , p. 21)

Mayweather's first name was eventually switched from "Joe" to "Travis". The change was listed as one of six revisions of character names in a one-page "script note" at the start of the final draft script of ENT pilot episode " Broken Bow " (the page was dated 1 May 2001 ).

By the time the revised final draft script of "Broken Bow" was submitted (on 11 May 2001), even though Mayweather's first name had changed to "Travis", his rank remained that of lieutenant. When he was introduced in the same draft of the teleplay, he was described thus; " Mayweather is an African-American in his 20's. " [4] Subsequent script sources usually used Mayweather's surname to refer to him, even in the script of " Horizon ", the episode which most predominantly features other members of the Mayweather family.

Later, it was decided the character's rank would be reduced to ensign. Montgomery prepared to portray the character by researching previous Star Trek episodes. Upon requesting advice from the production crew about which installments to watch, Montgomery told the members of creative personnel, " I want helmsman episodes because I'm the helmsman! " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 7 , p. 24)

Early in the series run of Star Trek: Enterprise , Anthony Montgomery felt Mayweather had a similar personality to his own but was unsure how Mayweather should change, apart from continuing to develop. " I haven't thought about what I'd like them to do with him, " the actor conceded. " I just want him to keep growing – I never want to come to the set and just go, 'OK, an ion storm up ahead, captain!' As long as I can keep discovering things, I don't really care where the character goes. As long as we fit in this Star Trek universe, I'm fine. Travis is going to have some fun; don't worry about that! " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 7 , p. 24)

According to a deleted scene from the episode " Fight or Flight ", Travis once traveled from a planet called Livinius to another called Belarn Prime as a child aboard the Horizon . The distance between the planets was two and a half light years , a voyage that lasted nine months , during which time the cargo ship made no contact with anyone else. His mother and the First Officer taught Travis and the other children on board how to play a geography/alphabet game to keep them occupied. This scene can be found on the ENT Season 1 DVD .

In dialogue that was included in the final draft script of ENT : " Detained " but not in the final version of that episode, Mayweather told a Suliban girl named Narra that he lived on Earth. However, this is not true of his backstory.

In a similarly omitted line of dialogue from the final draft script of " Chosen Realm ", Mayweather used the term " practice makes perfect ". If the line had been included in the final version of the episode, Mayweather would have become the only character in the entire Star Trek franchise to use that phrase in canon .

Reception [ ]

One of the criticisms of Enterprise was that characters like Mayweather were not developed as much as other characters on the series. For example, in the reference book Beyond the Final Frontier (p. 380), critics Mark Jones and Lance Parkin remarked that Mayweather had been "practically invisible" during ENT Season 2 .

According to author David Greven, " Ensign Travis Mayweather, the helmsman, is African American and a complete blank, rarely given even one non- technobabble line an episode; without the slightest exaggeration, it is entirely accurate to say that Nichelle Nichols 's Uhura on Original Trek had more lines of dialog. " ( Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek , p. 123)

External links [ ]

• Travis Mayweather at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Travis Mayweather at Wikipedia
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)

Star Trek's Best Ensigns

Star trek 's best ensigns.

Next week, Star Trek: Lower Decks kicks off , giving us a whole show in the canon dedicated to the most unsung Starfleet officers of all: the Ensigns. The bright-eyed, bushy-tailed young officers just starting off their careers are the stalwarts of any good Trek . So before they get their moment in... some kind of spotlight , let’s remember the best of the not-yet-best.

Walking Bear

Long before Lower Decks , Star Trek: The Animated Series provided a chance to bring much more variety to the crew of the Enterprise than the live-action Trek ’s budget could at the time. We got Lieutenants M’Ress and Arex, alien bridge officers, unlike anything we’d ever seen in the show before. But the show also occasionally let the series strive for more of that egalitarian future Roddenberry’s vision purported to believe in, even if on-screen it came in fits and starts . Case in point: Ensign Dawson Walking Bear, Trek ’s first Native American officer.

Ensign Walking Bear only appeared in one episode—“How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth”—but he played a vital role, navigating the history of the Kukulkan for the officers around him who couldn’t recognize its roots in some of Earth’s oldest civilizations and cultures.

Wesley Crusher

Yeah, it’s cool to hate on Wesley. Even his peers went about yelling at him to shut up. But a) he’s a child, Picard should know better, and more importantly, b) he’s a child and he still got to operate on the bridge of one of the most important flagships of Starfleet . First as acting, and then provisional Ensign, Wesley got to do the actual job of people way older and more experienced than him, and was only a snotty brat about it... let’s go for a good 60% of the time. But hey! He’s a kid doing the job of an adult while also, like, being on the bridge of a starship during first contact and combat situations?

And that was before he even actually went off to the Academy! He may have only been a provisional ensign on the Enterprise , but he was an actual ensign in our hearts.

Roger Lemli

Poor Lemli. Out of his many appearances as a background character in the original series, he has a single line of dialogue in the very last episode of the show. He barely even had his name mentioned on-screen, with Kirk and the crew simply calling him Ensign more often than not. But you don’t make 33 appearances in classic Trek as an Ensign—a security Ensign!—and come out of the other end of it having not been killed off on an away mission without doing something right. That’s not just consistency, that is a killer survival instinct aboard the Enterprise .

Samantha Wildman

The life of an Ensign is hard enough, given all the menial tasks you need to do but with none of the recognition, regardless of your division. But Samantha Wildman had to do all that while also becoming a vital guinea pig in Voyager ’s long trek home: having become pregnant before the ship was sent into the badlands (and promptly flung into the Delta Quadrant), Sam had to go through pregnancy while on the job—that job being her normal job and also “Oh god, survive in space 70 years away from Earth with no support and with occasional angry aliens trying to steal your ship or kill you”—give birth to her daughter, Naomi, and be a mom that had to prove whether, should the need have arisen, Voyager was capable of being a generational vessel. You do you, Ensign Wildman.

A lot of the Ensigns we’re highlighting here are on the list because they’re the very model of what good Starfleet Ensigns should be, but Ro Laren is on here for being... well, the opposite. And cool as hell .

A Bajoran who grew up at the height of the refugee crisis created by the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, Ro’s career in Starfleet was a wild one, to say the least. Originally court-martialled for disobeying orders that got multiple people killed on an away team, Ro was re-recruited first as an undercover officer on the Enterprise before Picard saw her potential and asked her to stay on board after her real mission came to light. That push and pull between the trauma of her upbringing and the desire to live up to that potential defined Ro’s arc on TNG , and even when she ultimately left Starfleet behind, it made her one of the most fascinating Ensigns the franchise has ever given us.

Enterprise thrust some of the most vital tasks on its lowest rung on the chain of command (shoutout to poor Ensign Mayweather, the helmsman that the show... mostly forgot about?). Hoshi wasn’t just an important part of the bridge crew as the NX-01's comms officer, sometimes, she was literally a universal translator, using her xenolinguistics background to step in where tech failed. An Ensign! Guys, I get you’re meant to be scrappy humans badgered by snooty Vulcans at this point, but c’mon. Give these Ensigns more respect.

Also, she did all this despite spending early parts of Enterprise absolutely out-of-her-mind petrified of being on a spaceship. Which, to be fair, would probably be most of us on one of humanity’s first long-range exploration missions into the great beyond Trek ’s earth had found itself flung into. But Hoshi grit her teeth and got on with it regardless.

Pavel Chekov

Ah, Trek ’s first “hero” Ensign! Chekov may have often been portrayed as the naive young kid aboard the Enterprise bridge, helping Sulu at the helm, but he was absolutely just as heroic as any one of the original show’s legendary stars. Chekov set the standard for all Ensigns to come after him, that playful mix of inexperience and knowledge that thrust him at the heart of the action, showing more often than not that he could stand shoulder to shoulder with his higher-ranked peers.

On DS9 , Nog faced many prejudices—from his Federation peers to his own family—when he revealed his desire to join Starfleet. But not only did he defy those prejudices to nail his entrance to the Academy, he found himself flung into the heart of the Dominion War, one of the most hellish conflicts the Federation had seen in centuries, as a newly commissioned Ensign. Nog’s early life in Starfleet wasn’t doing menial tasks for the officers around him, it was fighting on the front lines, watching the officers above him get blown apart or crumble under the strain of war. He faced tragedy himself, learning to cope with the trauma of survival, all while he was practically still a kid, barely out of training. It was the least they could to make him a Lieutenant in the finale, frankly.

Sylvia Tilly

Sure, sure, Tilly captured our hearts as a Cadet before she got promoted for like, you know, helping end a war that nearly destroyed the Federation. Plus, she’s always got her eye on the next rank up, eager to become a Captain much more than she ever was an Ensign.

But Tilly represents that eager, excitable wanderlust that defines the very best of Starfleet’s junior officers: she can’t hold in her passion for the work she does, even if sometimes that passion and can-do attitude mean she like, gets bonded with weird fungal aliens from a layer of subspace from time to time. God bless you, Tilly. Hopefully, now you’re far-flung into the future someone will see that you’re well due for that promotion.

Ah, Harry. Harry, Harry, Harry. If all the other Ensigns on this list have been emblematic of the Ensign rank’s most noble traits, Harry is emblematic of Ensigns because... well, he did so much shit while Voyager was stranded in the Delta Quadrant and never got credit for it!

Imagine watching all your friends around you on the bridge getting promotions despite being zillions of lightyears from Starfleet command. Imagine dying like, what, a year into the whole ordeal and getting replaced by an alternate reality version of yourself? Imagine going up against that weird horny fear clown ! Imagine watching Tom Paris—Actual Convict—get promoted over you, demoted , and then re-promoted above you. Harry went through all that, and more, and you know what? He did it with a smile. Sure, he’s a bit of a dweeb at times, but he never got frustrated that he was seemingly perpetually doomed to never get his due—Harry still persevered. That is an Ensign spirit. Ensigns get the job done, even if they don’t always get the recognition for it.

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Dear Doctor

Star trek: enterprise.

• Captain Jonathan Archer : Someday... my people are going to come up with some sort of a doctrine, something that tells us what we can and can't do out here, should and shouldn't do. But until somebody tells me that they've drafted that directive... I'm going to have to remind myself every day... that we didn't come out here to play God.
• Dr. Phlox : Are you married, Crewman?
• Crewman Elizabeth Cutler : Course not! I would've told you.
• Dr. Phlox : I'm married.
• Crewman Elizabeth Cutler : You are?
• Dr. Phlox : Three times.
• Crewman Elizabeth Cutler : So, you have... two ex-wives?
• Dr. Phlox : I have three current wives, and they each have two husbands, not counting myself.
• Crewman Elizabeth Cutler : Is that considered normal for Denobulans?
• Dr. Phlox : Quite.
• Dr. Phlox : [ voice-over ] I've noticed how the Captain seems to anthropomorphize his pet. He even talks to the creature, although I'm fairly certain it has no idea what he's saying. Then again, I've been known to speak to my Pyrithian bat on occasion.
• [ the crew is watching a romantic movie ]
• Crewman Elizabeth Cutler : We can go if you're bored.
• Dr. Phlox : No, no, I'd like to stay and see what happens.
• Crewman Elizabeth Cutler : You won't be disappointed. The ending's classic.
• Dr. Phlox : [ chortles ] Not the film. I'm sensing a rising emotional undercurrent in the room. I'm curious to see if it culminates in some kind of group response.
• Dr. Phlox : [ voice-over ] It's remarkable, Doctor, even fictional characters seem to elicit Human compassion. My shipmates have calmly faced any number of dangers, and yet a simple movie can bring tears to their eyes.
• [ Sato is exercising her Denobulan language skills, commenting about Phlox's developing relationship with Cutler ]
• Dr. Phlox : [ in Denobulan ] Do you have any advice?
• Ensign Hoshi Sato : [ in Denobulan ] I think you make a very cute... washboard.
• Dr. Phlox : I beg your pardon?
• Ensign Hoshi Sato : [ laughing ] Couple! A cute couple!
• Dr. Phlox : Evolution is more than a theory. It is a fundamental scientific principle.
• Dr. Phlox : [ voice-over ] I never thought I'd meet a species that forges such intimate bonds with lesser creatures. It's surprising, the things you Humans choose to invest your emotions in.
• [ on Archer's relationship to his dog ]
• [ Archer realizes that the Valakians don't have the expertise to develop a warp engine on their own ]
• Captain Jonathan Archer : We could... stay and help them.
• Sub-Commander T'Pol : The Vulcans stayed to help Earth ninety years ago. We're still there.
• Captain Jonathan Archer : I never thought I'd say this, but... I'm beginning to understand how the Vulcans must have felt.
• Captain Jonathan Archer : A cure, Doctor? Have you found a cure?
• Dr. Phlox : [ after some hesitation ] Even if I could find one, I'm not sure it would be ethical.
• Captain Jonathan Archer : Ethical?
• Dr. Phlox : We'd be interfering with an evolutionary process that has been going on for thousands of years.
• Captain Jonathan Archer : Every time you treat an illness, you're interfering. That's what doctors do.
• Dr. Phlox : You're forgetting about the Menk.
• Captain Jonathan Archer : What about the Menk?
• Dr. Phlox : I've been studying their genome as well, and I have seen evidence of increasing intelligence - motor skills, linguistic abilities. Unlike the Valakians, they appear to be in the process of an evolutionary awakening. It may take millennia; but the Menk have the potential to become the dominant species on this planet.
• Captain Jonathan Archer : And that won't happen as long as the Valakians are around?
• Dr. Phlox : If the Menk are to flourish, they need an opportunity to survive on their own.
• Captain Jonathan Archer : Well, what are you suggesting? We choose... one species over the other?
• Dr. Phlox : All I'm saying is that we let nature make the choice.
• Captain Jonathan Archer : The hell with nature. You're a doctor. You have a moral obligation to help people who are suffering.
• Dr. Phlox : [ firmly ] I'm also a scientist; and I'm obligated to consider the larger issues. 35,000 years ago, your species co-existed with other humanoids, isn't that correct?
• Captain Jonathan Archer : [ sighs ] Go ahead.
• Dr. Phlox : What if an alien race had interfered and given the Neanderthals an evolutionary advantage? Fortunately for you, they didn't.
• Captain Jonathan Archer : I appreciate your perspective on all of this. But we're talking about something that might happen. *Might* happen thousands of years from now. They've asked for our help. I am not prepared to walk away, based on a theory.
• Dr. Phlox : Evolution is more than a theory. It is a fundamental scientific principle. Forgive me for saying so - but I believe your compassion for these people is affecting your judgment.
• Captain Jonathan Archer : My compassion guides my judgment.
• Dr. Phlox : Captain...
• Captain Jonathan Archer : Can you find a cure?
• [ Phlox hesitates ]
• Captain Jonathan Archer : Doctor?
• Dr. Phlox : [ after a long pause ] I already have.
• Crewman Elizabeth Cutler : They don't have movies where you come from, do they?
• Dr. Phlox : Well, we had something similar a few hundred years ago, but they lost their appeal when people discovered their real lives were more interesting.
• [ from a letter from Dr. Lucas to Dr. Phlox ]
• Dr. Lucas (voice) : It's mating season, so you know how that goes. I thought Human reproduction was complicated. You Denobulans make us look like single-cell organisms.
• Dr. Phlox : [ voice-over ] Since we were on the subject of mating, I think Crewman Cutler may be romantically interested in me. I can't be certain, however; the pheromones of Human females aren't as potent as Denobulans'.
• [ Dr. Phlox is scanning a Menk, on which the latter asks something in his language ]
• Ensign Hoshi Sato : He wants to know what you're doing.
• Dr. Phlox : Have you learned enough Menk to explain a molecular bio-scan?
• [ Sato replies to the Menk in Menk ]
• Crewman Elizabeth Cutler : What'd you say?
• Ensign Hoshi Sato : Told him the Doctor was looking inside of him.
• Dr. Phlox : [ voice-over ] Despite the Menks' insistence that they're treated well, my Human crewmates seem to see things differently... They think the Menk are being exploited by the Valakians. So their first instinct is to rise to their defense, despite the fact that the Menk don't appear to need or want a defender.
• [ from Phlox's reply to Dr. Lucas, his Human colleague ]
• Dr. Phlox : You'll be pleased to hear that the crew finally seems to be growing accustomed to an alien doctor on board. I must admit, I wasn't planning to stay this long, but the opportunity to observe your species on their first deep space venture has proven irresistible.
• Dr. Phlox : Denobulans require very little rest, unless you count our annual hibernation cycle.
• Captain Jonathan Archer : Am I gonna be without my doctor this winter?
• Dr. Phlox : Only for six days.
• Captain Jonathan Archer : Maybe I'll join you.
• Esaak : [ to Archer and T'Pol ] You two are not from the same planet?
• Sub-Commander T'Pol : No. We may look alike, but the similarity ends there.
• Dr. Phlox : [ voice-over ] I had meant to transmit this letter by now, but the Valakian epidemic has been taking up most of my time. Working with the physicians here has been quite fulfilling. I suppose it's the reason we joined the Interspecies Medical Exchange. But I worry about falsely raising their hopes. Despite Captain Archer's confidence in me, I'm afraid the scale of the disaster may outweigh our best intentions.
• Dr. Phlox : [ voice-over ] Two days ago, when we first discovered the alien shuttle, I had no idea that I'd be facing a dilemma of this magnitude. For the first time, I find myself in conflict with my Captain. But he is my Captain, and he's placed a great deal of trust in me. I believe I owe him the same.
• Dr. Phlox : [ voice-over ] I'd like to think, Doctor Lucas, that if I'd had a chance to talk to you face to face, you would have never let me even consider withholding my findings from the Captain. But I'm ashamed to say, I almost did just that.
• Dr. Phlox : [ about the heart ] Physiologically, it is nothing more than a very efficient pump. What could possibly make you people think it is the source of all emotion?
• Crewman Elizabeth Cutler : Now, you may know about our cardiopulmonary system, but you have a lot to learn about the human heart.
• Ensign Hoshi Sato : Tik-tik.
• [ Menk for 'Thank you' ]
• Dr. Phlox : [ voice-over ] If I hadn't trusted him to make the right choice, I'd have been no better than the Vulcan diplomats who held your species back, because they felt you couldn't make proper decisions on your own. I came very close to misjudging Jonathan Archer. But this incident has helped me gain a new respect for him. Happiness and health to you, Doctor. Your, erm... dedicated colleague Phlox.
• Captain Jonathan Archer : [ When the Valakian requests warp capability so they can seek help on their own ] You may not find that everyone you meet wants to help you.

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Star Trek Characters Who Disappeared Without Explanation

In the canon of  Star Trek , starships and space stations vary in size and population from that of a large office to that of a small town. For example, the USS Enterprise -D from  The Next Generation is home to over 1,000 officers, crew, and families, and on a ship that big, it's easy for someone to get lost in the crowd.  Star Trek is full of characters who show up to play a specific role in one or two episodes, and then they disappear into the background, presumably always there waiting for the next time the story might call for their specific skills or quirks. So, we can hardly expect to learn the ultimate fate of each one of these people (though they're likely to reappear in one of a hundred non-canonical licensed novels).

Now and then, however, a character is introduced on  Star Trek who the audience has every reason to believe is sticking around ... and then they drop right off the map. They may play an important role on the ship, or they might be given a strong character introduction or relationship to one of the series leads. And then, suddenly, they've been replaced without explanation or simply returned to the sea of uniforms from whence they came. Recent  Trek series are plotted and produced season by season, which has so far avoided any sudden character disappearances, but previous TV and film series have each contributed at least one "missing" poster to our wall.

Dr. Mark Piper was on Star Trek before Bones

Star Trek famously holds the distinction of having two pilot episodes with two almost entirely unique casts. The effort to reconcile these early efforts formed the roots of  Star Trek 's mythology, as both stories are acknowledged to have happened within the timeline of the show. 

The first pilot, "The Cage," is set 13 years before the first season, explaining why the USS Enterprise would now have an almost entirely new crew. The second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," introduces a few of the characters who would become the classic series regular cast — Chief Engineer Scott, Lt. Sulu, and of course, Captain Kirk . But among the senior staff of the Enterprise is also Dr. Mark Piper, portrayed by actor Paul Fix. Dr. Piper would've been the ship's elder statesman, but after actually seeing him on camera in the second pilot, series creator Gene Roddenberry decided that he wanted a younger actor for the ship's doctor once Star Trek was picked up for a full season order.

In keeping with his tradition of creating new characters rather than simply recasting, Roddenberry came up with the role of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy for DeForest Kelley. By the next produced episode, which is set just one year after the second pilot, McCoy has already comfortably settled in as the chief surgeon of the Enterprise , and he has a very familiar relationship with Captain Kirk. Dr. Piper is never heard from again.

Yeoman Janice Rand disappeared after a horrible real-life incident

When Star Trek went to series, Yeoman Janice Rand was envisioned as one of the show's lead characters. Actress Grace Lee Whitney portrayed Rand in eight of the first 11 episodes produced for the first season, and she had a more prominent role than half of the actors who fans now consider to be the first generation of Star Trek royalty. She's the ship's everywoman, a regular working stiff among trained astronauts, and a "will they/won't they" romantic foil for Captain Kirk.

However, Rand disappeared without fanfare about midway through the first season. The writers and network reportedly had soured on the idea of a recurring potential love interest for Kirk, and she was written out of a number of episodes, most importantly " Dagger of the Mind ," which would've further solidified them as a potential couple. Whitney was released from the show shortly after, and Rand wasn't mentioned again until her cameos in the film series and Star Trek: Voyager .

As told in her 1998 memoir , Grace Lee Whitney was informed that she'd been fired a week after being sexually assaulted by one of the show's producers (who she chose not to name). Having been given no official explanation for her dismissal and, in 1966, little chance at justice, Whitney was forced to assume a causation between the two events, and she struggled with substance abuse for years after. This led to false rumors after the fact that she'd been fired for drinking on set.

Where did Lt. Saavik go?

Introduced in 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Saavik is Spock's young half-Vulcan, half-Romulan protégée aboard the Enterprise , which is now a training vessel for young cadets. Saavik is a pretty meaty role, and since this was expected to be Leonard Nimoy's final performance as Spock, she may well have been meant to fill his shoes in future sequels. Saavik was originally portrayed by Kirstie Alley , a lifelong Trekkie for whom  Star Trek II  was her big break into film, but a botched contract negotiation led to Saavik being recast with Robin Curtis late in the preproduction of  Star Trek III : The Search for Spock .

In Star Trek III , Saavik and Kirk's son, David Marcus, are the ones to discover the presumed dead Spock on the Genesis Planet, revived but rapidly aging back into his middle-aged self. When Spock reaches adulthood and suffers through pon farr —  the agonizing Vulcan drive to mate — Saavik couples with him to save his life. This would've explained her smaller role in  Star Trek IV , as drafts of the script explicitly state that Saavik is pregnant and chooses to remain on Vulcan rather than journey with the rest of the crew to Earth, where the bulk of the story takes place. These lines were cut from the final film , leaving fans to wonder why she stays behind. Despite plans for her to return in  Star Trek VI , Saavik is never seen nor mentioned again.

TNG had four chief engineers before Geordi took over

At the start of the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation  ( TNG ) in 1988, viewers learn that Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) has been promoted from helmsman to chief engineer of the USS Enterprise -D. La Forge retains this position for the rest of the series and into the  Next Generation films, and he's so synonymous with the role that one can be forgiven for thinking he'd been the engineer from the beginning. Aiding this perception is the fact that, prior to La Forge's promotion, four different, barely remembered characters were identified as the chief engineer over the course of  TNG 's first season, and no explanation is ever given as to what happened to any of them.

Lieutenants MacDougal (Brooke Bundy), Logan (Vyto Ruginis), and Lynch (Walker Boone) each only appear in a single episode and are never mentioned again in dialogue. In between the introductions of MacDougal and Logan, Lieutenant Argyle (Biff Yeager) racks up an impressive four episodes before his disappearance. When Argyle is introduced in "Where No One Has Gone Before," Commander Riker calls him "one of [their] chief engineers," implying that more than one officer fills this role aboard the  Enterprise -D, and that all four of these officers could conceivably have served concurrently. However, once Geordi La Forge takes over, no mention is ever made to there being more than one chief engineer on this or any other starship throughout the rest of the  Star Trek canon.

Ensign Sonya Gomez was dropped after some miscommunication

In "Q Who," the second season episode of  TNG that introduces perennial  Star Trek antagonists the Borg , actress Lycia Naff guest stars as Ensign Sonya Gomez, a quirky and clumsy junior engineer who's just joined the crew of the  Enterprise . Gomez is mostly a foil for Lt. Commander La Forge, coming across as a mentee or a younger sister in this and the following episode, "Samaritan Snare." Unfortunately, this wasn't what the writers were looking for, as — according to Laff in a 2012 Vulture interview — their plan was for La Forge and Gomez's relationship to turn romantic in her next appearance, and the chemistry didn't appear to be there. Laff and LeVar Burton can hardly be blamed for this, as the actors were never informed of these plans or directed to read their scenes in that way. The creators abandoned the idea, and Gomez along with it.

It's disappointing to see any storyline or character dropped due to such a preventable miscommunication within the production, but with the benefit of hindsight, setting Geordi up with a recurring love interest would've definitely altered the kinds of stories that were told with the character later in the series. As  TNG  wears on, Geordi's difficulty navigating flirtation and romance becomes one of his defining characteristics. Still, Gomez could've remained even without the romantic angle. Instead, she could've worked as an awkward comic relief character in the vein of Lt. Reg Barclay, who's introduced during the following season.

Lt. George Primmin disappeared without a trace

In "The Passenger," a lackluster episode from the first season of  Deep Space Nine , Starfleet assigns their own security officer to the station to look over the shoulder of Constable Odo. This officer, Lt. George Primmin (James Lashly), is somewhat condescending towards Odo, much in the way that federal agents are often portrayed talking down to local cops on shows like  Justified or  Brooklyn Nine-Nine . Odo won't stand for this interference with his work, even threatening to resign as head of station security, but eventually, he and Primmin learn to respect each other and work together to catch a dangerous criminal who's brain-jacked Doctor Bashir.

As the episode wraps up, there's an implication that Primmin will be sticking around, an implication reinforced by Primmin's casual presence in Ops during the next episode, "Move Along Home." But evidently, he was totally forgotten about somewhere along the way. Stranger still, at the start of season three, the idea of a Starfleet security officer being permanently assigned to Deep Space 9 and butting heads with Odo is reintroduced in the form of Michael Eddington, who gets a three-year character arc.

Subcommander T'Rul wasn't interesting enough for Deep Space Nine

Deep Space Nine goes through the its first major shake-up in its third season, beginning with the two-part premiere "The Search," which introduces new characters and new concepts that would stick around for the rest of the series. Chief among the show's new additions is the USS Defiant , the tough little ship that makes berth at Deep Space 9 for the next four years. The  Defiant 's most unusual trait is its Romulan cloaking device, on loan from the Romulans themselves. In "The Search," we're told that the  Defiant is permitted to house this cloaking device under two strict conditions — that it only be used on the other side of the Bajoran wormhole, and that a Romulan officer — Subcommander T'Rul — be stationed aboard to protect it. T'Rul is terse and "not here to make friends," and we don't get to know her very well in the season opener, which turns out to be her only appearance. The cloaking device sticks around, but its Romulan guard is missing hereafter.

According to the official  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , T'Rul was envisioned as a recurring character, while one of the episode's other guest characters, Lt. Michael Eddington, was meant to be a one-off, but the writers became more interested in Eddington, and T'Rul never appeared again. However, this wasn't goodbye for the character's actress, Martha Hackett, who very shortly thereafter would be cast as Seska on  Star Trek: Voyager , where she would be featured in 13 episodes.

Lt. Joe Carey comes and goes on Star Trek: Voyager

One would think that the premise of  Star Trek: Voyager   — a Starfleet ship is lost in a far-off region of space with no contact with the Federation at large — would make it less likely for characters to be randomly introduced or forgotten than on other  Star Trek series. After all, unlike the  Enterprise or Deep Space 9,  Voyager can't be trading personnel with other ships and starbases between episodes. But regardless of how contrary it seems to the premise of the show, new junior officers appear and disappear on  Voyager about as often as they do on  The Next Generation , and the most glaring example of this is Lt. Joe Carey.

Lt. Carey (Josh Clark) first appears in "Parallax," the second episode of the series, as the ranking Starfleet engineer who loses the position of chief engineer to his more ingenious and improvisational Maquis counterpart, B'Elanna Torres. Carey remains a member of Torres' engineering team, appearing in three of the next eight episodes. After this, Carey drops off the map, but curiously, he makes two appearances in seasons five and six, both in time travel stories set during or before the first season. Carey's later appearances are Easter eggs for longtime viewers, but they also seem to imply that Carey has been deliberately absent from the series for years. Had Carey died off-screen at some point?

Nope. Carey reappears without comment in one of the series' final episodes, "Friendship One," in which he's killed on an away mission.

The Equinox survivors evidently didn't survive for long

In "Equinox," an epic two-parter in  Star Trek: Voyager that bridges seasons five and six, the titular ship encounters the USS Equinox , another Starfleet ship lost in the Delta Quadrant that's had it a lot harder than Voyager . While both ships have seen their share of scrapes,  Equinox lacks whatever TV magic allows  Voyager to start nearly every episode in perfect working condition and has turned to drastic, extremely unethical means to keep themselves alive and expedite their return to the Alpha Quadrant. The crews initially cooperate, but this proves to be a ruse by the  Equinox crew to sacrifice  Voyager to advance their own journey home.

Equinox is destroyed at the end of the two-parter, with most of her remaining personnel perishing along with her. However, five survivors from the  Equinox make it back to  Voyager and are inducted into her crew by Captain Janeway, albeit stripped of rank and with reduced privileges due to their betrayal. Among the newcomers are two characters who are featured guest stars in the arc — Ens. Marla Gilmore (Olivia Birkelund) and Crewman Noah Lessing (Rick Worthy) — and three more officers who are given names but are portrayed by extras and stunt actors and have no lines.

"This time, you'll have to earn our trust," says Janeway, before dismissing the new crewmen, seemingly setting up a plotline to be revisited later in the season. Of the five characters, only one is ever seen again — one of the extras — and the events of "Equinox" are never revisited.

Crewman Elizabeth Cutler vanished from the show after a real-life death

Like  Voyager before it,  Enterprise takes place on a smaller starship with no opportunity to transfer new crew members on or off for long stretches of time. This leads to a handful of recurring characters outside of the main cast, including Crewman Elizabeth Cutler, portrayed by Kellie Waymire. Cutler is an entomologist, and she serves as one of the  Enterprise science division's resident exobiologists. She participates on away missions, but her most memorable moments on the show come from her relationship with Dr. Phlox. Cutler initially has a romantic interest in Phlox, but she's surprised to learn that Phlox's culture is polyamorous and polygamous. Deciding that she's not interested in becoming "Wife #4," Cutler easily shifts into a warm platonic friendship with Phlox.

Cutler appears in three episodes of the first season, and she's absent during the second. She's mentioned in dialogue in the third season episode "Rajiin," confirming that she's still a member of the crew and implying that she could still appear in future episodes. Sadly, this wasn't to be, as actress Kellie Waymire died suddenly in 2003 at the age of 36. It seems unlikely that there were plans for Crewman Cutler to return, but the producers chose not to recast or acknowledge the character's absence in future episodes.

Dr. Carol Marcus has disappeared from Star Trek twice

Originally introduced in  Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch) is a brilliant scientist, Admiral James Kirk's estranged ex, and the mother of their child, David Marcus. Dr. Marcus leads the team that develops the Genesis Device, which can reshape a lifeless planetoid into one capable of sustaining life but can also be weaponized, as the villainous Khan attempts to do in the film. Despite Star Trek III  continuing the story of her invention and its inadvertent product, the Genesis Planet, Dr. Marcus doesn't appear, and her prerecorded explanation of Project Genesis from  Star Trek II is even redone, now performed by Kirk. 

Dr. Marcus reappears 30 years later in 2012's  Star Trek Into Darkness , which takes place in an alternate timeline from the rest of the  Star Trek canon. Now portrayed by Alice Eve, Dr. Marcus boards the  Enterprise to stop a conspiracy involving her father, Admiral Alexander Marcus. In the film's final moments, she's welcomed into the  Enterprise family and sets off with them on their five-year exploratory mission. But, once again, Carol is left out of the sequel, as  Star Trek Beyond co-writer Simon Pegg admits that he simply didn't have anything for her to do, and dialog explaining her absence was eventually cut from the script.

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Captain janeway’s star trek: voyager coffee obsession explained (& why she switched to tea).

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10 Best Captain Janeway Episodes Of Star Trek: Voyager & Prodigy

I’m sad how star trek: voyager wasted john rhys-davies, the boys season 4 episode 5 trailer confirms 3 gen v character returns.

• Star Trek: Voyager's Captain Janeway loves coffee like other Star Trek captains have their beverage of choice.
• Janeway's love for coffee runs deep, helping her stay alert and focused as she leads her crew.
• Admiral Janeway switches to tea in Star Trek: Prodigy for health reasons, but returns to coffee for her love of it.

There's no doubt that Star Trek: Voyager 's Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) loves coffee. Other Star Trek captains also have beverages of choice to fuel their exploration of the final frontier. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) famously sips on "Tea, Earl Grey, hot," on Star Trek: The Next Generation , Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) enjoys a raktajino now and again on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and Star Trek: Enterprise 's Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) likes sweet tea. Like them, Captain Janeway has been inextricably linked with her favorite drink: coffee, black .

Captain Janeway's love for coffee was established fairly early in Star Trek: Voyager . When the USS Voyager crew was trying to conserve energy by offering replicator rations in Star Trek: Voyager season 1, episode 6, "The Cloud", Neelix (Ethan Phillips) helpfully created an "even better than coffee substitute" that poured like motor oil and probably tasted about as good. Janeway's struggle between leading by example and reserving replicator rations seemed solved when a nebula contained omicron particles that could top up Voyager's energy reserves, leading Janeway to proclaim, "There's coffee in that nebula." From there, the association stuck. But why does Janeway love coffee so much?

Captain Janeway was a determined, selfless Starfleet captain who would do anything for her crew, as seen in her best Voyager and Prodigy episodes.

Captain Janeway’s Coffee Obsession In Star Trek: Voyager Explained

"coffee: the finest organic suspension ever devised.".

Captain Janeway's obsession with coffee in Star Trek: Voyager runs deep. In her own words, Janeway explains in Voyager season 4, episode 15, "Hunters", that coffee "got me through the worst of the last three years," and adds, "I beat the Borg with it." In the Delta Quadrant, lack of contact with Starfleet Command means all decisions on the USS Voyager naturally fall to Captain Janeway, so coffee keeps Janeway alert and ready to take action . Instead of strictly replicating individual cups, Janeway sometimes pours coffee from a set, like a personal ritual connected to Earth that keeps Kathryn grounded and focused on Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant .

Coffee keeps you going, whether it's through the night or through the Delta Quadrant.

Coffee as a choice of beverage says a lot about who Captain Kathryn Janeway is as a person. Like Janeway, black coffee is strong and assertive. The right roast is bold. The lack of cream and sugar is straightforward. For those who share Janeway's passion for the brew, morning coffee is non-negotiable, and Captain Janeway is similarly unlikely to be swayed once her mind is made up . Coffee keeps you going, whether it's through the night or through the Delta Quadrant, and it's easy to believe that with enough coffee, the Borg really can be defeated. A delicate tea like Picard's Earl Grey just wouldn't be the same. And yet ...

Why Admiral Janeway Switched To Tea In Star Trek: Prodigy

"admiral, you're not drinking coffee".

In Star Trek: Prodigy season 1, episode 12, "Let Sleeping Borg Lie", Admiral Janeway cites "doctor's orders" as the reason for requesting black tea from the USS Dauntless' replicator instead of her usual coffee, but tells Ensign Ascencia (Jameela Jamil) she needs "a second opinion". Over time, the high amount of caffeine in Janeway's coffee habit would have increased the side effects of stress , leading to an elevated heart rate and sleepless nights. Black tea has about half the caffeine as the same amount of coffee, so it's a smart move for Janeway to drink tea instead when the life of a Starfleet Admiral is already pretty stressful.

Admiral Janeway from the alternate future in Star Trek: Voyager 's series finale, "Endgame", has also given up coffee in favor of tea -- also on doctor's orders -- but goes back to coffee after going back in time.

In Star Trek: Prodigy season 2's trailer , Admiral Janeway is briefly seen pouring herself a warm, dark beverage, as the Doctor (Robert Picardo) looks on. It doesn't appear to be tea at all, and looks more like the black coffee that Kathryn Janeway is known for loving. Knowing that Janeway needs coffee to function, the Doctor might have been able to provide the second opinion that Janeway wanted in Star Trek: Prodigy season 1. A brief stint with tea to reduce overall caffeine intake would prevent withdrawal symptoms like irritability, and prepare Admiral Janeway to reunite with her true love from Star Trek: Voyager : coffee. (Now in decaf!)

Star Trek: Voyager

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Star Trek: Prodigy