Star Trek‘s Harry Kim was finished soiled by Voyager many occasions all through the sequence. He was killed, given an alien illness, and, worst of all, remained on the rank of Ensign for the whole lot of the sequence. So, when CinemaBlend spoke to actor Garrett Wang about his emotions throughout that on the time, he was candid about how displeased he was, how his perspective modified over time, and the way he made a wild plea to Kate Mulgrew.
I had an opportunity to speak to Wang forward of his return within the Star Trek: Decrease Decks episode “Fissure Quest” (which you’ll stream now with a Paramount+ subscription), and we additionally chatted concerning the previous WTF moments of Voyager in addition to Harry by no means being promoted. Despite the fact that it was a personality on the present, I requested the actor if he ever felt “miffed” about Harry by no means shifting to that subsequent stage. To my gentle shock, he was so labored up about it that he ended up outdoors Kate Mulgrew’s trailer at one level. Here is what he mentioned:
I used to be miffed for a really very long time. I used to be miffed for a really, very very long time. I keep in mind knocking on Kate Mulgrew’s trailer door, pleading to the actress enjoying the captain to advertise me. I mentioned, ‘That is ridiculous. I have not been promoted but. I’ve finished all these items for the crew. I’ve helped save the day a couple of occasions.’ And Kate was like, ‘I do know, I do know.’ So she was sympathetic, however foolish me, I used to be so determined. I went to the actress enjoying the function of captain to attempt to get promoted. And so yeah, I used to be miffed to start with.
Mulgrew was on the high of the decision sheet, however even then, she was additionally working on the will of the writers and the showrunner. Not like upcoming Trek reveals, the largely episodic construction of The Subsequent Era period meant sustaining the established order. Nonetheless, even then, the sequence discovered a method to demote and reinstate Tom Paris, so I can perceive why Garrett Wang was so pissed off.
Provided that, one may assume Star Trek: Decrease Decks‘ “Fissure Quest” so instantly poking enjoyable on the multiverse of Harrys being shocked over one’s promotion may sting slightly. Nonetheless, Wang assured me that is not the case nowadays, and he discovered to embrace that a part of his character that made him stand out amongst among the finest Star Trek characters on the market:
I discovered to just accept it. And that is the lesson there for all human beings that we’re all in a state of affairs at one level or one other. Whether or not it is work or college the place we’re caught in a rut the place we’re not advancing and we’re feeling like every little thing is towards us. And that is actually Harry. Harry is the punching bag of Voyager. Harry is the Rodney Dangerfield of Voyager. ‘No respect,’ for these of you on the market who perceive that reference. As time went on, I accepted it and realized that, ‘Hey, this occurs to Harry, and it occurs to folks in actual life. And what do you do? You would sit there and complain about it and get grey hairs over it or recover from it.’ As a result of that is the factor: stress and trauma trigger sickness within the physique, proper? Or, you’ll be able to waft, and I’ve really owned it to the purpose the place my tag each time I play any on-line video games and my gamer identify is Without end Ensign. So, I’ve already adopted it. I’ve embraced it.
It is of little shock to me that Decrease Decks creator Mike McMahan helped create a script that Garrett Wang was snug with and was the primary to characteristic the character once more within the new period. That mentioned, the actor did verify to CinemaBlend that it wasn’t his first invite again to Star Trek, however that is all we learn about that.
Harry Kim was the villain of types in Star Trek: Decrease Decks‘ “Fissure Quest,” however he was additionally the hero. A promoted Harry tried to move all the opposite Harrys to his universe the place they could possibly be their finest selves, solely to be thwarted by his different selves as a result of none of them needed that.
Positive, the acknowledgment of onerous work would’ve been good, however in a post-scarcity society how a lot ought to folks worth a promotion? They’re all getting a meal of their selecting from the replicator the identical as anybody else, so perhaps rank and status aren’t so beneficial till it will get to a sure level. Perhaps the finale of Star Trek: Decrease Decks will go deeper on that concept too, as a result of if I’ve discovered something, it is to anticipate the well-thought-out surprising with this present.
Catch the finale of Decrease Decks when it airs on the 2024 TV schedule Thursday, December nineteenth on Paramount+. I am thrilled to see the conclusion of the sequence, although I’ve to say it will be extra thrilling to see the sequence get picked up by one other streamer and make an enormous return.