#I'm obsessed with majel's number one

[neuroprincess]

Una Chin-Riley/Number One | Star Trek TOS

[taraljc]

I agree with you on Chapel although I admit I was never all that interested in Chapel in the original series despite the fact that she was also played by Majel.

I pretty much obsessed over every single second of 'The Cage' for over a decade, and I agree that Number One needs to fulfill a role in the story apart from the cool logical one. But I always thought there was more to her, especially once they're actually down on the surface. Especially considering it was her idea to overload the phaser to show the Talosians how passionately they rejected life in a gilded cage, and would prefer a death of their own choosing to a life being lived out for the entertainment of others.

When Pike first appeared on Discovery he was so amiable and so happy-go-lucky I had first was like ok I can see why you would want to stay outright that this is not the same Pike who is questioning his career (though not his duty) after it was implied the losses on Rigel VII were very personal. Christopher Pike on Discovery is a ray of goddamn sunshine and I love him for that.

But there's so much more to take away from that pilot. I actually do think Number One has a lot of personality in the pilot. She's not completely stoic, she expresses irritation and humour and other emotions throughout the episode. It just happens to also coincide with her being calm, cool, collected and very much respected when she is in charge once the captain has been abducted.

I can't remember which parts of the pilot were cut from 'The Menagerie' because I haven't watched the original release of 'The Cage' with the black and white and colorised footage since it was released back in the late 80s. But it's not surprising to me that Pike was remembered by fans as very serious and almost grim at times. because it's what people remember more than what was actually presented. The same way that people remember Kirk as being a womaniser when in the text he's presented as a total bookworm nerd, not some horny frat boy.

I freely admit a lot of my characterisation of Number One is owed to Dorothy Fontana and Majel Barrett's interpretation, and what made it into Vulcan's Glory.

But what concerns me is that the show pushes Pike and Spock's relationship in lieu of Pike and Number One's relationship rather than giving both of those relationships the same weight but differentiating them.

I admit, when I posted last night I was frustrated because I was looking at the first four episodes and the only episode where Number One is integrated into the cast and plays a formative role with Pike and the women and men under her command is actually the second episode. Because in the third episode, apart from the very beginning of the first act, it's primarily from Number One's point of view and the audience sees her in a way that no-one else in the ship does because they're confined a quarters or unconscious in the Sick Bay.

I'm fine with Number One taking on the relationship that Boyce had in the pilot as Pike's confidant, his intimate,the person with whom he can be honest about his fears, his expectations, and things that he would not disclose to anyone else. Because there is that bedrock of trust there. That's why the very last scene in the third episode actually was the best part of it for me because Number One feels she has betrayed that trust, and Pike refuses to accept her resignation. But neither does Pike really accept her for who she is just yet because he doesn't know who she is. She's hidden that part of herself completely from everyone she knows and cares about in her life.

And following those bombshells at the end of episode 3, to have her sidelined completely in episode 4 and none of those important relationship dynamics explored any further frustrated me. That was more than anything the source of my dissatisfaction with what is otherwise absolutely delightful and enjoyable series. I love the new characters and I have despite what someone else said in a different response zero problems with Ortegas and Uhura and La'an having the spotlight shone on them.

I was just using La'an as an example of a new character that I already felt we knew more about as a character after only three episodes then we do Number One after all of her appearances on Discovery, and the first four episodes of Strange New Worlds. and the fact that she's the damsel in distress in the first episode definitely does not help. Because it then comes with all of these questions like did she end up injured because she was trying to hide her augmentations and held back?

And apart from her miraculous immune system and her physical strength and stamina, there's no questioning the parameters of how her genome was augmented. What are all 9f her strengths?

In all of the comics and novels featuring the character it's always been her intelligence that was her defining character trait. That she was Spock's equal in intelligence, and that he greatly respected her because of it.

So when she had to ask for clarification from the member of the Discovery bridge crew to translate science into 'plain English', I was massively disappointed because if there was any character in the history of Star Trek who would have known exactly what Detmer was talking about, it should have been Number One.

It's moments like that that I was hoping we wouldn't see again after Q&A because Q&A was my Number One right there on the screen. I wasn't expecting the singing I'll be completely honest about that. But apart from her sudden obsession with populist 19th century music hall productions, that was her. That was everything I could have ever asked for.

I just was let down by the third episode literally banishing her from the bridge completely.

(I also have a lot of issues with her no longer being the helmsman, and the XO manning navigation/tactical since I still think of it as a junior crew members' station since Pavel Chekov, Wesley Crusher, and Harry Kim were pretty damn green? but I absolutely love Ortegas and would not trade her for the moon right now because she is fantastic I just wish she could have been Tactical instead of Helm.)

I just want to see Number One be as much a part of the story as Suru or Stamets are on Discovery. And I know I need to cool my jets because we are less than halfway into the season and my fears have yet to be realised. They are just fears.

But I have them because literally this is the character of my heart. I'm relatively certain at least 90% of the Star Trek fanfic I have written in my entire adult life is about Number One. so I'm super super invested and therefore more sensitive about how she treated in canon, while still being ridiculously over the moon that for the first time since 1964 we actually have new canon.

One thing that I'm finding slightly worrying on Strange New Worlds is the amount of time Number One is spending sidelined. Obviously outside of episode 3 which is all about her. But it feels like they haven't quite figured out how she fits into the picture. Having her take over Boyce's role as Chris' confident and bestie is an excellent start. But I feel as if La'an has more character development in four episodes then Number One has had in twice that many. I want to see her evolve into nuanced character with depth and breadth the way that DISCO and SNW have been able to flesh out Pike! Number One deserves more than she's getting currently, and I really hope she doesn't spend any of the remaining episodes of the 10 episode run stuck in sick bay or a jail cell.

So far the best Number One I've seen has been in the Short Trek Q&A. I wish so much we could see more of that Number One.