Punch It: Writing in Star Trek

Deep character analysis of Miles Edward O'Brien from Star Trek: TNG and DS9

Lieutenant, Chief, Non-Com, Enlisted, whatever you want to call him, Miles Edward O'Brien is a great character. Maybe only next to Worf, he is one of the most explored characters in all of Star Trek who've we've spent the most time with. We first saw him in 1987 and last saw him in 1999. That's a long time to play one character consistently. A musician, a war hero, a tactical officer, a pilot, a transporter chief, chief of operations, and a professor. O'Brien is clearly a talented renaissance man.

In this episode, we take a look at how he was written over the course of his entire tenure. How consistently was he written? Was he believable as a character? Did he fit in with the rest of the crew? We ask all these questions as well as put our own Punch It flare in the gaps.

Here is the audio play mentioned in the show.

We fill in some much needed Sarek and Michael backstory with Star Trek: Discovery?

We have stayed away from writing or rewriting Star Trek: Discovery for obvious reasons. It is currently ongoing, we don't know the characters that well, and so much is not known that will most likely come about. So we tried to find an area to explore and develop that wouldn't contradict anything.

In this week's episode, the plan was to focus on Michael Burnham. Instead, we used her as a focal point to explore her relationships with her family, mainly Sarek. When did Sarek discover he had a mental connection with Michael and how did it make him feel?

Why don't we see Denobulan's in other iterations of Star Trek?

The real world reason is obvious; Denobulans weren't created until Star Trek: Enterprise came around and they were an original species. But where is the fun in that? We as Star Trek fans love creating and theorizing in-universe reason for mistakes, retcons, and absences all the time. So why don't we see Denobula or Denobulans in the 23rd and 24th century?

In this episode, we do a "what if" scenario featuring Phlox's home planet as well as a lightning round of "what if" possibilities on a vast array of Star Trek topics, all submitted by listeners like you.

We look at the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Brothers" at a different angle

Whenever we rewrite an episode, we have a rule: it won't be a horrible episode, it won't be a great episode. Right down the middle is where we operate; thus "punch up". However, we decided to let an app choose an episode at random for us and Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Brothers" is what popped up.

Now, this is not an all-time great but it is a solid episode where Spiner plays three characters. That alone makes it impressive. This week, we try to keep the themes while at the same time try to come up with a new perspective on how the story could have gone down.

Was romance in Star Trek well written?

There was a lot of coupling in Star Trek but was there a lot of romance and was it well written? Star Trek isn't exactly known for its romance and has in fact been criticized for its lack of believability or motivation within a relationship. But is this a fair criticism?

Char and Tristan take a look at all of Star Trek and try to cover as many couples as they can and figure out if they are well written, believable, as well as necessary.

What are some of your favorite Star Trek couples?

What if Voyager didn't make it back home in Endgame?

This fantastic listener suggestion posed the question of what would happen if the Voyager crew remained in the Delta Quadrant at the end of the series finale: Endgame. Now, Endgame is a divisive episode, to say the least, with some loving it and some hating it but a very common thread is everyone wishing they could have seen more of an epilogue. We are giving that epilogue but just not in the way you think.

How would the 8th season of Star Trek: Voyager look in the Delta Quadrant? Listen and find out.

What if Janeway made the decision to not split Tuvix back to Tuvok and Neelix in Star Trek: Voyager?

Inspired by last week's episode asking about what if Tasha Yar lived, we continue this trend in the Star Trek: Voyager realm with Tuvix. Made famous over 20 years ago, Tuvix was the result of a transporter accident joining Tuvok and Neelix into one body and one personality. Weeks went by with no cure and he integrated himself into the crew. Then the Doctor found the way to bring Tuvok and Neelix back but Tuvix did "not want to die." Janeway made the tough call to save two lives over one. This decision has been debated, contested, and screamed over for the past 20 years. 

This episode, we postulate what might have been if Tuvix did not "die" in that episode and in fact thrived on the U.S.S. Voyager. What would happen to him? Would he stay on board? What would Kes do? How would the crew react?

Listen to us discuss this and let us know what you think.

What if Tasha Yar survived Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1? What would that look like?

"What if?" is one of our favorite questions. This week we apply that to Tasha Yar. A fan favorite in the Riddell household and they never really let go of that anger of seeing Tasha die in season one. But what if she never died? What if she survived and thrived and stayed on for the entire seven-year run? 

How would she grow? What would happen to Worf? Would Best of Both Worlds end differently? Where does that leave Yesterday's Enterprise?

We muse on all this and a whole lot more.

Punching up one character from each iteration of Star Trek

Not every character in a franchise will be perfect and Star Trek is no exception. While we love almost all main characters in our beloved space saga, some could use a few tweaks here and there. Nothing major, no drastic paradigm shifts of personality, we just punch it up here and there. We each select one character from each iteration and explain our choices.

Which character tweaks would you perform if you were in the writer's room?

What happened to Tuvok after Voyager got home?

There are several novels and even Star Trek Online that covers what happened to Tuvok but of course nothing on screen. But that isn't stopping the Punch It crew from writing their own story about Tuvok's post-Voyager career. 

All will say is this: Tuvok and Red Squad.

Listen and find out.