A Beloved Actor Saved an Episode by Throwing Out Star Trek’s Biggest Tradition
By Chris Snellgrove | Published
One of the reasons Star Trek became such a huge cultural phenomenon is that it invented sci-fi tropes that resonated deeply with mainstream audiences. The transporter, for example, was such a cool concept that “Beam me up, Scotty” soon became part of our everyday language. Similarly, the speech of Dr. McCoy saying “You’re dead, Jim” became a common phrase in households around the world (even non-geeky ones). Arguably, though, Star Trek’s most enduring trope is the idea of the redshirt. You know, those hapless security guards who end up being killed by the church’s monstrous monster so Kirk can strike a heroic pose over his corpse.
The redshirt concept has continued in future Trek shows, although the same color has changed. In shows like The Next Generation, Deep Space Nineagain Voyagersecurity officers wore yellow instead, but the idea was the same: any of them (including main characters like Tasha Yar!) could be killed at any time. However, Scott Bakula, the biggest star of Businessthey actually forced the writers to ditch the “Strange New World” title, a decision that saved the episode and established Archer as the safest captain in Star Trek history!
Canonical First Red Shirt?
The episode “Strange New World” lives up to its title, as the Enterprise decides to explore a planet with an Earth-like atmosphere. Unfortunately, things go south when a storm forces the Away Team into a cave where they see terrifying alien stone monsters. However, that turns out to be just an impression caused by some extraterrestrial pollen. In addition to creating negative impressions, it caused some of the Away Team to be wary of T’Pol’s true intentions. Their paranoia was for naught, however, as he was able to cure everyone infected, bringing them back to their right minds.
The unknown pollen in “Strange New World” is no joke, and it almost kills Novakavich, one of the low-level players who joined the Away Team. Fortunately, Dr. Phlox is able to heal him before that happens. Well, as it turns out, Novakavich it was who was supposed to die in the original script, which would have made him the first red shirt to be killed in this new Star Trek spinoff. However, that death was written because of the game’s biggest name: Captain Archer actor Scott Bakula.
Scott Bakula Gives the Script a Second Look
Columnist Mike Sussman revealed in an old interview with Larry Nemecek what Bakula hated about the article. I The Quantum Leap The star objected to the idea of killing a member of the Enterprise crew as if he were wearing another red shirt The Original Series. Bakula felt that something like this is big so the workers will need to mourn the dead and process what happened. “At the time it was felt that the death of the crew would take time to show Archer and the team the loss, and there was no time for such an incident,” Sussman said. The producers were convinced by Bakula’s argument, and Novakavich lived, although he was never seen again.
Although this was not Scott Bakula’s intention, his resistance to the death of this red shirt ended up making him the safest captain in Star Trek history. After saving Novakavich from his written death, it was not to be two years later (in the episode “Anomaly”) that Archer has lost an employee! Love him or hate him, that makes this Business captain a away a safer person to work for than Kirk, Picard, Sisko, or Janeway, which is all the more impressive given his limited expertise and lack of space travel experience.
Of course, some fans would have liked “Strange New World” to include some of these tragic, unexpected deaths The Original Series it was very popular. Personally, I like that Business episode defied expectations, another indicator (as if the theme song wasn’t enough!) was that this show was unlike any Star Trek series we’ve ever seen. And thanks to Scott Bakula, Archer bravely achieved what no other captain had achieved before: a clean OSHA certificate!
