12-27-2022, 05:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-28-2022, 12:36 AM by FaceInTheCrowd.)
Alley's Saavik made sense when the character was supposed to be only half-Vulcan. Once that was thrown out, a lot of it just seems like she's not getting the whole "Vulcans trying not to be emotional" concept. But it wasn't that the actor didn't get it, it was that the director didn't want it. And I've never seen any explanation for why the half-Romulan thing was deleted, it was just one single line of dialog as far as I know.
Saavik is basically the Chekov replacement/audience surrogate. In STII the character of Chekov is no longer a young, inexperienced ensign, is not on the ship at all at first, and when he is he's at the weapons station rather than in the navigator's seat. But there still needs to be a warm body with less experience than the rest of the main crew on the bridge so there's someone who needs to have things explained to him/her. Otherwise, you end up with characters needlessly dialoguing with each other about things they should already have the experience to know because the audience needs to hear the explanations. She fills the same role in STIII, otherwise the only way we'd know why the Genesis planet is tearing itself apart is if David spills his guts to the Klingons (the Ponn Farr scene is pretty much superfluous). And yes, in STIV, she really doesn't have anything to do because they're going to the 20th century where there's another audience surrogate character (Gillian) waiting for them.
The crew's attitude toward the Klingons is especially inconsistent when you consider how STV ended. It would have made more sense if Kirk and co had started out as the only people in the mission briefing who were open to the peace initiative, and that was what made Enterprise the conspiracy's choice of a ship to frame as Gorkon's attackers.
Saavik is basically the Chekov replacement/audience surrogate. In STII the character of Chekov is no longer a young, inexperienced ensign, is not on the ship at all at first, and when he is he's at the weapons station rather than in the navigator's seat. But there still needs to be a warm body with less experience than the rest of the main crew on the bridge so there's someone who needs to have things explained to him/her. Otherwise, you end up with characters needlessly dialoguing with each other about things they should already have the experience to know because the audience needs to hear the explanations. She fills the same role in STIII, otherwise the only way we'd know why the Genesis planet is tearing itself apart is if David spills his guts to the Klingons (the Ponn Farr scene is pretty much superfluous). And yes, in STIV, she really doesn't have anything to do because they're going to the 20th century where there's another audience surrogate character (Gillian) waiting for them.
The crew's attitude toward the Klingons is especially inconsistent when you consider how STV ended. It would have made more sense if Kirk and co had started out as the only people in the mission briefing who were open to the peace initiative, and that was what made Enterprise the conspiracy's choice of a ship to frame as Gorkon's attackers.