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By Chris Snellgrove
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It’s clearly not a requirement that each Star Trek actor be an knowledgeable within the franchise…the truth is, among the finest actors had been relative newcomers to the universe that Gene Roddenberry constructed. Nonetheless, as followers, we like to see when certainly one of our favourite performers not solely is aware of his stuff however fights again in opposition to something that might change current canon. And that’s precisely what occurred with the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Cathexis” when Tim Russ fought in opposition to a script change that might have ignored Vulcan lore about these pointy-eared aliens having an interior eyelid.
Tim Russ Is aware of His Trek Lore
The episode has a battle scene on the bridge of the ship, and the unique script had Tuvok getting blinded by a phaser blast. That may appear completely wise to a really informal viewer, however Tuvok performer Tim Russ was an enormous fan of The Authentic Collection and informed govt producer Jeri Taylor (as quoted within the Captains’ Logs Supplemental – The Unauthorized Information to the New Trek Voyages) that they couldn’t embody this plot level. “Vulcans have a secondary eyelid to guard them, and that’s been established,” he stated, referencing basic Spock lore.
In the event you’re not as versed within the first Star Trek show as Tim Russ, you’re most likely questioning what the heck this bizarre Vulcan lore is all about. In The Authentic Collection episode “Operation–Annihilate!”, Spock willingly lets himself get hit by a blinding mild in an effort to show that this method might drive out some pesky invasive aliens from himself and anybody else who had been contaminated.
It labored, however earlier than the primary officer may very well be fitted for some fashionable sun shades, he revealed that his species has a particular interior eyelid that retains them from getting completely blinded.
Modified Cathexis
Weirdly sufficient, Tuvok discovered himself dealing with a barely related scenario in “Cathexis”…specifically, that he had been contaminated with a malicious alien. Nonetheless, Tim Russ’s contaminated character is extra akin to somebody possessed by a malicious ghost, and it takes the efforts of the bridge crew to cease him earlier than the entity will be pushed out of his physique and away from the ship. His Vulcan character was initially going to be blinded by phaser fireplace throughout this scuffle, however the actor citing the deep lore successfully saved that from occurring.
Whereas we’ve got nothing however love for Tim Russ for pointing this out to Voyager’s producers, he claims that episode director Kim Friedman additionally deserves credit score for understanding the lore and making an attempt to maintain the phaser blinding out of the script. Russ says the producers initially ignored her quotation, one thing he discovered fairly stunning. Later, this second was minimize from the episode, however whether or not or not it was because of how badly it might violate current Vulcan lore stays unknown.
Actors Who Are Additionally Followers
At any charge, this story offers us simply another reason to like Tim Russ (not that we have been hurting for causes earlier than). He is not only a Star Trek actor but in addition a fan, and he did his finest to maintain Voyager from violating Vulcan lore in a approach that might have angered half the individuals watching. Due to this, Tuvok and Spock alike would possibly agree that chopping the phaser blinding from “Cathexis” was essentially the most logical factor the present might do.
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