By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Beyond the debates about which games and movies were the best, it’s pretty easy for Star Trek fans to agree on one thing: that the ’90s was the franchise’s golden age. It was during this time The Next Generation hit the ground running, fan-favorite spinoffs Deep Space Nine again Voyager introduced, The Original Series films were wrapped, and even small towns had their own conventions. However, Star Trek: Voyager Actor Garrett Wang’s recent comments about being dropped by the producers are a painful reminder that the franchise’s “golden” era was incredibly dark.
Recently, the Star Trek veteran sat down with CinemaBlend to discuss his excitement about returning to the competition. Lowe Decksbut Garrett Wang could not say anything about how long this road has been. He described watching his riders like Jeri Ryan and Robert Duncan McNeill receive invitations to return to the business and listed at least seven missed opportunities to bring his character, Harry Kim, back into the fold. It’s interesting that he would have returned to the franchise sooner if the opportunity hadn’t been taken away from him, but he remains tight-lipped about the details.
Apparently there was some sort of unnamed Star Trek project in the works that would bring back Garrett Wang’s character Voyager faster than his last appearance Lower Decks. According to the actor, “something happened, but then something else happened beyond my control…And that promise was canceled in a way.” Perhaps because of the NDA or perhaps because he didn’t want to waste repeated tea, Harry Kim’s character ended this train of thought with a simple, “That’s all I can say.”
As long-time Star Trek fans know, Garrett Wang has never hesitated to spill the beans before about how he’s been mistreated. Voyagerproducers. For example, he alleges that he was prevented from ever directing an episode, something that some of Trek’s leading actors have always been able to do if asked. He was also thrilled that his character was never promoted, relaying a sad story to CinemaBlend that he was so desperate about it that he once appeared outside Kate Mulgrew’s trailer and begged her to help Harry Kim finally get promoted.
Perhaps the worst Star Trek story passed down by Garrett Wang is that he and Robert Duncan McNeill were singled out and ridiculed for putting on extra weight during the show’s production. This ended up with the two actors getting belts in their trailers one day and their actors even getting a dialogue where they teased each other for being out of character.
When Wang objected to the abusive conversation, executive producer Brannon Braga allegedly told her in front of the cast and crew “if you and your castmates are going to eat the same way you’ve been eating for the past two years, we’re going to go.” you’ll have to change the name of the show to ‘Star Trek: Voyager – Pigs in Space.” This terrible body shaming is an example of how the golden age of Star Trek is disturbingly dark and painful.
Despite how much he loved his time on Star Trek, Garrett Wang has never been afraid to name names when it comes to those who wronged him. This includes the desecration of Brannon Braga’s body and another alleged incident in which Braga explained to Kim that he had never been promoted to a position that breathed “well, it has to be somebody.” He had some beef with legendary executive producer Rick Berman, who he said told the cast to “play down our human characters” (ie, make them boring) to make the aliens seem real.
Now, it’s worth mentioning that these guys are basically Star Trek royalty: as writer and producer Braga has worked The Next Generation, Voyageragain Business and he also helps to write Star Trek: Generations again Star Trek: First Contact. Another producer and frequent writing partner Rick Berman was an even bigger part of the franchise, producing TNG before putting together DS9, Voyageragain Business. Berman is also a controversial figure, accused by veteran Trek writer David Gerrold of being “flamingly gay” and accused by Jadzia Dax actor Terry Farrell of “mistreating women” and their looks.
Fans who read about this often argue about who is the “real” Braga and Berman. After all, they’ve created some of the best Trek content ever (including TNG’s famous “All Good Things” ending), but they also seem to have hurt some of our favorite characters. This includes Star Trek favorite Garrett Wang, and his stories about these inventors are a reminder that these men can be talented and flawed, capable of creating great power and capable of causing great pain.
The golden age of Star Trek has a hidden dark side, but the men who supposedly caused it have already given us a perfect way to examine its creative legacy. In First Contact (written by Braga and produced by Berman), Commander Riker gives Zefram Cochrane advice about his future: “don’t try to be a great man, just be a man…and let history make its own judgments.” The golden age of Trek itself has passed into history, and only time will tell how future fans and creators remember its greatest and most flawed designers.
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