By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Obviously it's not a requirement that every Star Trek actor be an expert in the franchise…in fact, some of the best actors were newcomers to the universe created by Gene Roddenberry. However, as fans, we love to see when one of our favorite players not only knows his stuff but fights against anything that could change the roster. And that's exactly what happened with Star Trek: Voyager the episode “Cathexis” where Tim Russ wrestled with a script change that would have ignored Vulcan lore about these pointy-eared aliens with inner eyelids.
Tim Russ Knows His Trek Lore
The episode has a battle scene on the ship's bridge, and the original script had Tuvok blinded by a phaser blast. That might seem perfectly reasonable to casual viewers, but Tuvok singer Tim Russ was a big fan of The Original Series and told executive producer Jeri Taylor (as quoted in Captain's Logs Supplement – The Unofficial Guide to the New Adventure) were unable to cover this structural point. “The Vulcans have a second eyelid to protect them, and that's been confirmed,” he said, referring to Spock's past.
If you're not as familiar with the original Star Trek show as Tim Russ, you're probably wondering what this weird Vulcan theory is all about. In The Original Series In the episode “Working—Renew!”, Spock willingly allows himself to be struck by a blinding light to prove that this technique can repel other alien invaders from him and anyone else who was infected.
It worked, but before the first officer was fitted with the stylish sunglasses, he revealed that his species had a special inner eyelid that made them permanently blind.
Altered Cathexis
Ironically, Tuvok found himself in a somewhat similar situation in “Cathexis”…namely, he was possessed by a malevolent alien. However, Tim Russ's infected character is more like a malevolent ghost, and it takes the efforts of the bridge crew to stop him before the entity is removed from his body and off the ship. His Vulcan character was originally going to be blinded by phaser fire during the ordeal, but the actor citing deep theory kept that from happening.
Although we have nothing but love for Tim Russ for pointing this out VoyagerThe producers, says episode director Kim Friedman, also deserve credit for knowing the myth and trying to keep the creator from seeing the scripts. Russ says that the producers initially ignored his words, which he found very surprising. Later, this moment was cut from the episode, but whether it was because of how badly it would break Vulcan lore is unknown.
Players Who Are Fans Also
Either way, this story gives us one more reason to love Tim Russ (not that we've been bothered with reasons before). He's not only a Star Trek actor but also a fan, and he's done everything he can to keep up Voyager in breaking Vulcan lore in a way that would enrage a portion of the onlookers. Because of this, Tuvok and Spock would both agree that cutting the phaser blinding from “Cathexis” was the most logical thing for the show to do.
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