Tasha Yar
Natasha Yar | |
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Lieutenant |
Natasha "Tasha" Yar is a fictional character that mainly appeared in the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Portrayed by Denise Crosby, Yar is chief of security aboard the Starfleet starship USS Enterprise-D and carries the rank of lieutenant.
The character first appeared in the series' pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint". After Crosby decided to leave the series, Yar was killed in the episode "Skin of Evil" near the end of the series' first season. She was written back into the series for a guest appearance in the third season episode "Yesterday's Enterprise", in which her character was still alive in an alternate timeline, and again in the final episode of the series "All Good Things...", which included events set prior to the pilot.
Yar was described as a forerunner to other strong women in science fiction, such as Kara Thrace from the 2004 version of Battlestar Galactica, while providing a step between the appearances of female characters on The Original Series to the command positions they have on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Voyager. Questions were raised over the sexuality of the character, and it was thought that the events in the episode "The Naked Now" were designed to establish her heterosexuality.
The manner of Yar's first death was received with mostly negative reviews. One critic called it typical of the death of a Star Trek security officer, and the scene was also included in a list of tasteless sci-fi deaths.
Concept and development
Inspired by Vasquez in
Lt. Natasha "Tasha" Yar
The starship Security Chief, Tasha, who performs that same function both aboard ship and on away missions. Born at a "failed" Earth colony of renegades and other violent undesirables, she escaped to Earth in her teens and discovered Starfleet, which she still "worships" today as the complete opposite of all the ugliness she once knew.
Gene Roddenberry, Tasha Yar's description, Star Trek: The Next Generation Writer/Director's Guide, March 23, 1987.[4]
By the time that the writers' and directors' guide for the series was published, dated March 23, 1987, the character was named Natasha "Tasha" Yar.
In April 1987, Lianne Langland,
Resolution
Before the end of the first season, Crosby asked to be released from her contract as she was unhappy that her character was not being developed. She later said "I was miserable. I couldn't wait to get off that show. I was dying".[8] Roddenberry agreed to her request and she left on good terms.[9] The final episode she filmed was "Symbiosis", which was completed after Yar's death in "Skin of Evil". Her last scene was during the final act of the episode, in which a holographic farewell recording of her is played for the bridge crew. After her departure, archive footage of Crosby as Yar was used in the episodes "The Schizoid Man" and "Shades of Gray".[10][11]
Crosby was happy to return in "
Appearances
Natasha Yar's origins are explained in the season four episode "
Yar appeared for the first time in the pilot episode of
Yar forms part of the away team that beams down to Vagra II to rescue Deanna Troi from a crashed shuttlecraft in "Skin of Evil". She is killed by the creature Armus in a display of his power. The crew hold a memorial service for her on the holodeck, and Worf replaces her as chief tactical and security officer.[21] After her death it is revealed that Data keeps a small hologram of her in his quarters.[22] Despite Data's lack of emotions, he is described by reviewers as being sentimentally attached to her image.[23] During the court hearing on Data's stature as a sentient being in "The Measure of a Man", he explains that he and Yar were intimate and that she was special to him.[22]
After the
Yar's half-Romulan daughter
The series finale "All Good Things..." includes Yar's final appearance, in scenes that take place prior to and in the early parts of "Encounter at Farpoint". As most of the bridge crew are yet to join the Enterprise-D in the scenes, Yar is one of the senior members of the crew under Captain Picard in the earliest of the three timeframes in the episode. She needs to be convinced by Picard to put the ship in danger in order to destroy the temporal anti-time anomaly that threatens to prevent life from evolving on Earth.[27]
Yar appeared for a brief but prominent moment of Picard, Season 3, episode 8 "Surrender" as a visual representation of Commander Data's memory.
Reception and commentary
The loss of Yar is unfortunate. While it's true the character as portrayed didn't live up to the character as envisioned—Yar was the most interesting person in the TNG bible—that's also true of a lot of characters. Denise Crosby has never been the best actor in the universe, but Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, and Marina Sirtis weren't any great shakes in the first season, either, and their characters didn't blow the doors off. They got better with time, and there's every reason to believe the same would've been true for Crosby had she remained.
Keith DeCandido, July 25, 2011[28]
Science fiction writer Keith DeCandido considered Yar the most interesting role to appear in the "writer's bible",[28] while Hal Boedeker characterized her as "forceful" in an article on women in Star Trek for Knight Ridder.[29] A Den of Geek article by Martin Anderson also about women in Star Trek described the character as a predecessor to Kara "Starbuck" Thrace in the 2004 re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica.[30] A Post-Tribune review of the series following the pilot described Yar as a "tough cookie" and the reviewer's favorite crew member.[31] Frank Oglesbee, in his article on Deep Space Nine's Kira Nerys, outlined the progression of female roles in "gender assumptions" from The Original Series where women were on the bridge, through Tasha Yar in The Next Generation where they were in command positions, to Deep Space Nine and Voyager where women were in lead roles. He noted specifically that women appeared in command positions more regularly as main and supporting characters, and were portrayed as more assertive and combative, with leading roles in action sequences.[32]
Reviewers have questioned the character's sexuality since the end of the series.
Fans responded negatively to the departure of Yar as they felt that the character had potential for future expansion.
In 2017, IndieWire ranked Tasha as the 15th best character on Star Trek: The Next Generation.[40]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c Nemecek (2003): p. 15
- ^ a b Nemecek (2003): p. 13
- ^ a b "Star Trek: TNG: An Oral History". Entertainment Weekly. September 25, 2007. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
- ^ a b Roddenberry (1987): p. 6
- ^ a b Roddenberry (1987): p. 30
- ^ Keller, Joel (August 26, 2010). "'Star Trek: The Next Generation' Casting Memo: Reggie Jackson as Geordi La Forge and More Goofiness". AOL TV. Archived from the original on September 25, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
- ^ a b Nemecek (2003): p. 18
- ^ a b "Catching Up With Denise Crosby, Part 1". Star Trek.com. CBS Productions. March 13, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
- ^ a b c "Catching Up With Denise Crosby, Part 2". Star Trek.com. CBS Productions. March 14, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
- ^ Tormé, Tracy; Manning, Richard; Beimler, Hans (January 23, 1989). "The Schizoid Man". Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 2. Episode 6.
- ^ Hurley, Maurice; Manning, Richard; Beimler, Hans (July 17, 1989). "Shades of Gray". Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 2. Episode 22.
- ^ Carmody, John (December 5, 1989). "The TV Column". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2013. (subscription required)
- ^ Green, Michelle Erica (September 6, 2007). "'New Voyages' moves ahead with 'Blood and Fire'". TrekToday. Christian Höhne Sparborth. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
- ^ Petitte, Omri (January 30, 2013). "Star Trek Online three-year anniversary beams up guest appearance by Denise Crosby". PC Gamer. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
- ^ a b Menosky, Joe (October 29, 1990). "Legacy". Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 4. Episode 6.
- ^ a b Duane, Diane; Reaves, Michael (October 26, 1987). "Where No One Has Gone Before". Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 1. Episode 6.
- ^ Fontana, D. C.; Roddenberry, Gene (September 28, 1987). "Encounter at Farpoint". Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 1. Episode 1.
- ^ Black, John D. F.; Bingham, J. Michael (October 5, 1987). "The Naked Now". Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 1. Episode 3.
- ^ Powers, Kathryn; Baron, Michael (October 12, 1987). "Code of Honor". Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 1. Episode 4.
- ^ Manning, Richard; Beimler, Hans; Hurley, Maurice; Lewin, Robert (April 11, 1988). "The Arsenal of Freedom". Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 1. Episode 21.
- ^ Stefano, Joseph; Shearer, Hannah Louise (April 25, 1988). "Skin of Evil". Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 1. Episode 23.
- ^ a b Snodgrass, Melinda M. (February 13, 1989). "The Measure of a Man". Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 2. Episode 9.
- ^ Hanley (1997): p. 105
- ^ Behr, Ira Steven; Manning, Richard; Beimler, Hans; Moore, Ronald D.; Ganino, Trent Christopher; Stillwell, Eric A. (February 19, 1990). "Yesterday's Enterprise". Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 3. Episode 15.
- ^ Hanley (1997): p. 213
- ^ Moore, Ronald D. (September 23, 1991). "Redemption (Part II)". Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 5. Episode 1.
- ^ Braga, Brannon; Moore, Ronald D. (May 23, 1994). "All Good Things ...". Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 7. Episode 25/26.
- ^ a b c d DeCandido, Keith (July 25, 2011). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "Skin of Evil"". Tor.com. Tor Books. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
- ^ Boedeker, Hal (September 7, 1994). "'Star Trek' will cross into new frontiers with 'Voyager'". Knight Ridder. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2013. (subscription required)
- ^ Anderson, Martin (March 28, 2008). "Women in Star Trek". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
- ^ "New 'Star Trek' Series May Not Get Lost in Space". Post-Tribune. Merrillville, IN. November 12, 1987. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2013. (subscription required)
- doi:10.3828/extr.2004.45.3.06. Archived from the originalon April 11, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2013. (subscription required)
- ^ Sherwin, Jenny (June 1, 2009). "Top 51 closeted TV lesbians". Curve. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2013. (subscription required)
- ^ a b c Tulloch & Jenkins (1995): p. 260
- ^ Wagner & Lundeen (1998): p. 112
- ^ Jenkins (1992): p. 103
- ^ Westfahl (2000): p. 61
- ^ Golder, Dave (June 12, 2012). "21 Naff Sci-Fi Deaths". SFX. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
- ^ "10 Episodes Fans List". Chicago Sun-Times. May 19, 1994. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2013. (subscription required)
- ^ Miller, Liz Shannon (September 30, 2017). "'Star Trek: The Next Generation': Ranking the Crew, From Picard to Pulaski". IndieWire. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
References
- Gross, Edward; Altman, Mark A. (1995). Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages. Boston: Little Brown & Co. ISBN 978-0-316-32957-6.
- Hanley, Richard (1997). The Metaphysics of Star Trek. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-09124-9. (subscription required)
- Harrison, Taylor; Projansky, Sarah; Ono, Kent A.; Helford, Elyce Rae (1996). Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-2898-0. (subscription required)
- Jenkins, Henry (1992). Textual Poachers: Television Fans & Participatory Culture. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-90571-8. (subscription required)
- Nemecek, Larry (2003). Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (3rd ed.). New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-5798-6.
- Reeves-Stevens, Judith; Reeves-Stevens, Garfield (1998). Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Continuing Mission (2nd ed.). New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-671-02559-5.
- Roddenberry, Gene (1987). Star Trek: The Next Generation Writer/Director's Guide (PDF). Hollywood, CA: Paramount Domestic Television.
- Tulloch, John; Jenkins, Henry (1995). Science Fiction Audiences: Watching Doctor Who and Star Trek. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-99339-2. (subscription required)
- Wagner, Jon; Lundeen, Jan (1998). Deep Space and Sacred Time: Star Trek in the American Mythos. Westport, CT: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-96225-8. (subscription required)
- Westfahl, Gary (2000). Space and Beyond: The Frontier Theme in Science Fiction. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-30846-8. (subscription required)