We broached this subject two posts ago regarding being a 2nd
in command to the main antagonist and how their screen time should be valued,
for it is limited.
Crew members on the Starship Enterprise understandably know the
risk of their commitment to Starfleet and the ship they serve. For the unlucky crew members that are
profiled in brief, their fate is sealed.
They fare a little better than the SOSDF in Grease, but despite their character’s
best intentions, they can’t escape their cinematic death.
The Family Guy does a good take on this, admittedly better than us
editors. But we’ll give it our best to
expound upon this idea for you.
Exhibit A: Midshipman 1st
Class Peter Preston (Ike Eisenmann) – Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (1982). Scotty’s right-hand man for the training promptly
answers to Admiral Kirk’s1 questions of readiness. But Preston was not ready for the attack from
Khan, which left the ship damaged and crew members wounded or dead, including
him.
A grief-stricken Scotty claims, “He stayed at his post. When the trainees ran.” For all intents and purposes, Preston
fulfilled his duty of a Midshipman on the Enterprise and as the crew member
chosen to die.
Exhibit B: Fast forward to
Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and Lt. Hawk (Neal McDonough) is ordered to accompany Picard and Worf to fix the Enterprise while magnetically grounded to its
exterior and avoiding cyber-henchmen trying to... 2
The point is, Picard and Worf aren’t getting killed off. As a result, one of the evil cyborgs lifts Hawk
off the magnet and throws him into the vacuum of outer space.
Sorry Hawk and Preston, but that’s the breaks. Read the fine print on your signed Entrance Waiver
to Starfleet3.
1 In Wrath of Khan, Kirk has now been promoted
to Admiral. He will be demoted in StarTrek 4: The Voyage Home (the one about
traveling back in time to save a whale), lest you forgot.
2 Maybe a Trekkie can get up off their mom’s
couch and let us know exactly what the heck Picard, Worf and Hawk were doing on
the outside of the Enterprise? Please
and Thank You.
3 Does a Trekkie out there have a copy of the
signed waivers by Hawk and Preston where it says that The USS Enterprise is
always subject to the evils that roam the galaxy and prisoners are not taken? They have to exist.
