ensign russell star trek

Character Insight

BuckeyeFitzy's audio segments have become a staple of the This Week in Trek podcast, and this is where you will find my reviews and thoughts regarding all types of characters in the Star Trek universe. Trekkies and Trekkers Unite!

Monday, February 15, 2016

Character insight no. 178: ensign russell, no comments:, post a comment.

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.

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)
• 3 Jamaharon

Star Trek: Every Ensign Ranked From Worst To Best

It's time to give Starfleet's lower deckers the attention that they deserve.

Typically, when someone graduates from Starfleet Academy in Star Trek, the first rank they are given is ensign. The title originates from traditional naval ranks, and is one rank below lieutenant or lieutenant junior grade.

In Starfleet, the role of an ensign is usually to assist senior officers with assignments in a department they specialised in while at the Academy, and to learn and grow their skills. This isn't always the case though. Some ensigns, like Pavel Chekov and Harry Kim were even given permanent postings on the bridge once they proved themselves capable.

In this list, we're going to rank every ensign from the main casts of all of the Star Trek series in order of how well they performed and how much they accomplished while they were ensigns. As Lower Decks has shown us, captains and commanders love to take all the credit, but they'd be hopeless without talented junior officers.

11. D'Vana Tendi

Few ensigns embody the unapologetic optimism of Starfleet as much as D'Vana Tendi from Lower Decks. Even when put in an uncomfortable situation (like being forced to manually pump a crewman's heart with her own hands), she always did it with a smile.

In her past, Tendi was an Orion pirate known as The Mistress Of The Winter Constellations, but she soon decided to leave her homeworld to join Starfleet, as she didn't feel like she fit in with her fellow Orions. She actually got rather upset when people would compare her to other Orions, who were known as pirates and smugglers throughout the Alpha Quadrant. This gave her a strong desire to prove herself.

Upon arriving at the Academy, she became so engrossed in her studies that she didn't even get a chance to explore places on Earth outside of San Francisco. She graduated as a member of the sciences division and eventually became one of the top junior medics on the Cerritos, and also worked on plenty of side projects like her genetically modified dog.

The only reason she's placed at the bottom of this list is because her achievements (so far, at least) are the least impressive out of all of the main character ensigns.

Marcia Fry is a writer for WhatCulture and an amateur filmmaker.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)

Debbie david: ensign russell, borg, photos .

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Star Trek: Who Is Ensign Sito Jaxa & What Happened To Her?

E ven though actor Shannon Fill's time on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" as Sito Jaxa was brief, the Starfleet ensign left a lasting impression on the franchise. In 1994, the character debuted in "The First Duty," when the Bajoran is still just a cadet at the Academy. While studying to boldly go where no one has gone before, her exceptional skills as a pilot earn her a spot on Nova Squadron, a gifted group of trainees that includes Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) and Nick Locerno (Robert Duncan McNeill), the leader. But everything changes when they attempt to cover up a tragic death that occured while the group tried the Kolvoord Starburst maneuver. Not even Nova Squadron can fly under the radar of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), who eventually convinces Wesley to come clean. Locarno takes the fall, but Sito's career will always be weighed down by her illicit actions.

Looking to atone for her past, the character returns in the episode "Lower Decks" assigned to Enterprise-D, thanks to Picard, working in security under the tutelage of Worf (Michael Dorn). But her quest for redemption is cut short when she embarks on a covert mission to aid a Federation informant in reaching Cardassian space while disguised as a terrorist. After the job, Sito was supposed to return, but unfortunately, only the remains of her destroyed escape pod are ever found. In response to the loss, Picard reveres her strength and bravery, saying, "She was the finest example of a Starfleet officer ... Her loss will be deeply felt by all who knew her." The Starfleet captain probably has no idea how right he is when he makes that heartfelt statement.

Read more: Star Trek Stories That Are Actually Horrifying

Sito's Legacy And Death Heavily Influenced Beckett Mariner

Even though many characters from "The Next Generation" die throughout the series, something about the death of Sito Jaxa didn't sit well with fans, which people behind the scenes didn't ignore. In the book "Star Trek: The Next Generation 365," one of the program's writers, Rene Echevarria, revealed, "There was a lot of talk about bringing her back, but we never got around to it." "Deep Space Nine" writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe also mentioned that he was developing an episode that would unveil the truth about what happened to Sito, but it ended up getting rewritten. It wasn't until "Star Trek: Lower Decks" that Sito finally beamed back to the franchise.

Fans weren't the only ones affected by the death of Sito. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), the rebellious ensign from the animated series, looked up to her at the Academy. In Season 4, Episode 9 ("The Inner Fight"), it is revealed that Mariner was devastated when she learned Sito was killed during a spy mission, and her reckless behavior stems from the loss. It also leads Mariner to struggle with her promotion, wanting to stay an ensign so she won't have to one day send her friends to a similar fate, but she eventually comes to terms with losing her. Inspired by Sito's devotion to Starfleet once again, Mariner successfully helps stop Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeil)  and the Nova Fleet from causing more problems. 

Before that, in the opening moments of the Season 4 finale, the character returns triumphantly in a flashback scene, and some Star Trek fans may have noticed she sounds a bit familiar.

They Found The Right Person To Fill The Role

The voice actor playing Sito Jaxa in the animated series "Lower Decks" does sound a lot like the live-action character from "The Next Generation," and it isn't a transporter clone; it's actually Shannon Fill. After taking a 35-year break from the world of acting, Fill instantly became a favorite among those involved when she returned to Star Trek in arguably her most notable role. "She was the nicest, sweetest human being," "Lower Decks" creator Mike McMahan said in an interview with StarTrek.com . "She brought her daughter to watch her record. It was such a blast. My producer still texts with her. We love her. ... We need her to come to conventions and see how much the fans love Sito."

Following Fill's long absence from acting, reuniting her with the Bajoran ensign for "Lower Decks" was a rewarding experience for the team. "It was like we're trying to recapture a performance that she gave that makes you feel like there's one more," McMahan said. "I like finding performances that are like, 'Wow, I can't believe this exists.' There's one more little moment for this character to shine. It was really cool to get to do that." It appears things went well bringing Sito and Fill back to the franchise behind the scenes, and fans haven't been shy about expressing how they feel regarding the ensign's comeback on "Lower Decks."

Fans Were Psyched About Sito's Surprise Return

Many "Star Trek" fans have not forgotten about the fallen ensign and were more than excited to see Sito Jaxa in the Season 4 finale of "Star Trek: Lower Decks,"  pleased with the classic casting choice. Redditor  u/AeroPilaf  posted, "Shannon Fill coming back for a brief time to reprise Sito was a delightful surprise." 

Others, while glad to get another glimpse at her days at the academy, were hoping she would still be alive, like u/jjj585 , who wrote, "I thought we were going to have a redeemed Locarno team up with Becket[t] to rescue not-dead Sito Jaxa. The episode was great, but I wanted a rescue." 

But that wasn't the consensus, because some were glad that any route resembling that outcome wasn't taken, such as u/MaskedMagi1 , who posted, "I loved that they found a way to bring Sito back without invalidating the significance of her death."

While many people voiced their opinions, some fans went a bit deeper with their reasoning for why bringing back Sito for "Lower Decks" was a significant moment. Redditor  u/Stingra87 put it best in a stirring post, saying, "Ensign Sito was one of the original Lower Deckers of the franchise, and having her still matter, after all these years, is just a love letter to how important those characters are to us." Thanks to the honored legacy of great ensigns like Sito Jaxa, fans will never forget the efforts and sacrifices made by the heart of Starfleet — those who serve on the lower decks.

Read the original article on Looper .

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Why Star Trek Uniform Colors Changed From the Original Series to Next Generation

The uniforms on Star Trek have changed over time, but for reasons that make a lot more sense behind the scenes than on the Enterprise bridge.

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Even if you don’t know an El-Aurian from an Illyrian, even if you can’t tell the original Enterprise from the Enterprise-D, you’re probably familiar with one of the fundamental rules of Star Trek : redshirts always die.

Unlike many of the popular misconceptions about the series (Kirk doesn’t actually chase women, for example), the redshirt stereotype does have grounding in the show. Over the course of three seasons in The Original Series , 26 characters wearing red tunics died, as opposed to 15 wearing gold and blue combined. But that trend stopped with the Star Trek movies, and continued to fall away with The Next Generation and the spinoffs that followed.

Why, you ask? Because the costume colors signify a crewman’s role on their particular ship, and the color scheme changed between TOS and TNG .

Although some Trekkies hate to admit it, Star Trek didn’t really have much in the way of canon in its first few episodes. Leaving aside the infamous grinning Spock in the original pilot, it took several episodes to decide on the name of Starfleet or the Prime Directive. The same was true of the uniforms, as demonstrated by the luscious green shirt that Kirk sometimes sported.

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By the end of the series, however, the three main colors solidified into the following divisions: those in command wore gold, people such as Kirk and Sulu. Science officers and doctors, namely Spock and Bones, dressed in blue, while everyone else had red shirts. And by everyone else, that includes engineers like Scotty and security personnel, which is why they tended to get killed.

But as is so often the case with all things Trek , the uniforms weren’t entirely what creator Gene Roddenberry had in mind. Most notably, the gold uniforms were actually intended to be green, but read on camera as the color that we know today. During production of the never-released follow-up show, Star Trek: Phase II , Roddenberry wanted continuity between TOS and the new series, not only in terms of the cast, which mixed Kirk and Sulu with newcomers, but also production. In particular, Roddenberry brought back his original series costume designer William Ware Theiss.

However, when production shifted and Phase II became Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Theiss was replaced by Robert Fletcher, who designed costumes for the movie crew through Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . Fletcher maintained some of Roddenberry’s vision for TMP , which tried to match ’70s aesthetics by giving the crew pastel pajamas. But when Nicholas Meyer took over for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Fletcher designed military-inspired uniforms to match the director’s naval warfare vision.

Although most Trekkies prefer the Meyer movies, Roddenberry hated the militarization of Starfleet and, equally important, resented the way his franchise was taken from him. So when Roddenberry regained some power for The Next Generation , he sought to right the ship, so to speak, by making Starfleet explorers again. And with it, he brought back Theiss.

For the most part, Theiss succeeded where Roddenberry and Fletcher failed in TMP . The TNG uniforms feel like ’80s versions of the ’60s original, especially after they were revised in season 3. However, with the emphasis on division colors came a confusing switch. Once again, science officers and doctors wore blue, but command now wore red while operations wore gold. Also, there’s the skant, but only Lower Decks talks about that now.

So why did the colors change? Once again, the answer is simple and almost mundane. Patrick Stewart apparently didn’t look commanding enough in yellow, while Brent Spiner , in his pale Data makeup, didn’t look good in red.

Roddenberry and the producers may have also been amenable to these changes because of the public’s changing perception of the aesthetic of Star Trek at the time. It was the massive success of Star Trek IV that gave Roddenberry the green light for TNG , and in that movie the crew wore the same civilian clothes that they sported in The Search for Spock , but during the first three Trek movies, Kirk wore red (as did Spock and the rest of the crew, because everyone wore red in Meyers’ more militarized uniforms).

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So in the eyes of casual fans, the Captain wore red. And even Trekkies had seen enough of Kirk in red that the idea didn’t seem outlandish.

The Trek uniforms have been altered many times since. TNG and Deep Space Nine later limited colors to the shoulders, a look continued in Voyager . The TNG movies then introduced darker uniforms in Star Trek: First Contact , with division colors on the underliner, a look adopted by later seasons of Deep Space Nine .

These stories adhere to the division colors from TNG , but whenever the franchise goes back to pre- TNG era — including the J.J. Abrams reboot movies or Strange New Worlds — the TOS colors come back into play. Even the prequel series Enterprise , in which the crew of the NX-01 wears blue jumpsuits with TOS division colors on the piping. And then there’s Discovery , which began with blue uniforms and a different division color scheme, but that show started out as its own thing, anyway.

Rest assured, writers both official and on the internet have offered in-Universe explanations for the evolution of the costumes. But the best explanation is that Star Trek , as an ongoing story over six decades old, had evolved and mutated over the years, sometimes in ways that don’t make sense. And as long as some unnamed operations ensign gets killed now and again, that’s just fine.

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!