A Forgotten Star Trek Legend Was Criticized for Not Taking a Critical Test
By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Older Star Trek fans tend to dive into the Alex Kurtzman era of the franchise for many different reasons, some for better than others. Perhaps the most common complaint is that the writers, actors, directors, and showrunners who bring NuTrek to life don’t take everything seriously enough. Diehards still see this business as Gene Roddenberry’s baby, and they don’t like the idea of other creators coming in and treating Star Trek as absurd and silly (like, say, having the main character break down as a joke multiple times).
However, there are times when Star Trek delivers better not taking everything seriously. For example, some of the best episodes of the franchise are absurdist comedies, incl TNG bangers like “Rascals” and “Qpid.” After TNG after all, one of the franchise’s most underrated icons actually got the job by not taking his interview seriously. Dominic Keating, who played Malcolm Reed Businesshe never received the prop that the producers sent for his audition. But that’s okay, because he was actually hired after pretending the water bottle was a plasma coil.
H2O, No
Opened BusinessDominic Keating plays Malcolm Reed, the ship’s weapons officer. Although he had some fun moments of comedy with his friend and Connor Trineer’s Trip Tucker character (the adventures of which now continue off-screen on the actors’ podcast D-Con Chamber), Reed was a reserved and secretive character for most of the show. In fact, he may be shy at times. When you learn how Keating actually landed the gig, however, you’ll understand that the actor is anything but.
Paramount was supposed to send Keating a plasma coil prop to use as part of his experiment. Sadly, someone made a mistake, and the actor was sent the wrong thing instead. This left him with a dilemma: should he complain to someone about getting the wrong prop, or maybe go outside and try to somehow make the prop he was sent work? Instead, Keating adopted a third option: he simply used a water bottle he brought to the Paramount lot as a stand for the plasma coil. Despite (or maybe because of) the water bottle shenanigans, Keating got the job and joined Business the family.
Tinker, Tenor, Starfleet, Spy
Interestingly, this interview compilation seems to be referenced in the first episode Business. In “Broken Bow,” there’s a scene where Malcolm Reed has to find plasma coils and discover something completely different. No one ever claimed responsibility for stepping on Dominic Keating in that scene, so its inclusion in the script may have been a coincidence. However, it seems more likely that the writers and producers of Business decided to include a nod in the development of the actor’s interview.
Reed’s character developed a lot over time Businessand finally he was assigned to Section 31. From everything we know about this shady organization, they could probably teach the master of weapons all kinds of tricks, including how to kill someone using only his thumb. But if Reed is like Dominic Keating, he had his own special trick to teach these Starfleet secret agents: how to land the biggest job of your life using only a bottle of water!
