Here’s why Star Trek Enterprise’s Trip Tucker was my favorite Starfleet engineer.
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First of all, I reckon a lot of Star Trek fans are going to disagree with this one but hear me out! The role of chief engineer on every Starfleet ship has been pivotal in every single incarnation of Star Trek. In direct control of the ships warp core, weapons and life support, every living being on board the ship has their life in the trusted hands of the Chief Engineer. Every single Chief Engineer has saved the ship countless times using their unparalleled resourcefulness and quick thinking. All of the Chief Engineers were brilliant, of that there is no doubt. Scotty was the first in the role and set the standard extremely high. He was asked to do the impossible and often did it, even when he didn’t have enough power. He did however, admit to over-exaggerating issues to make them himself seem better. Geordi La Forge continued the role and took it forward but as with everything in TNG he was a little bit too perfect. Miles O’Brian was great as the engineer on DS9 but his ‘bromance’ with Dr Bashir was a bit too much to handle at times. B’Elanna Torres was a very resourceful engineer and credited with keeping the ship together in the darkest of times, miles away from home with limited resources. It was just a shame that many feel she never developed fully as a character.
Those are personal opinions and critique me by all means! But my favourite chief Engineer is Commander Charles Tucker III and here are my reasons why!
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Next: 1. He was new to the business
- He was new to the business
Charles Tucker III was an entirely different engineer to all the others in every sense of the word. First of all, the other engineers benefitted from hundreds of years of engine development and testing. Warp drive hadn’t been around too long before Trip Tucker got his hands on a warp engine so he had to be super resourceful in order to maintain the ship. He ended up writing half of the books that allowed the other engineers to push their ships to new lengths and new speeds.
In a similar sense to automobiles, cars nowadays are capable of self-driving, self-parking and telling us exactly what is wrong with them. A century ago, they ran the risk of exploding on short journeys and they wouldn’t travel faster than a brisk walk. But, those early pioneers were resourceful and allowed us to develop and get where we are today.
Next: 2. He got into awkward situations
2. He got into awkward situations
In an early episode, Tucker went over to a friendly alien ship in order to help make some repairs to their warp engine. Whilst having a little downtime, he managed to get himself pregnant by putting his hands in some crystals during a game. T’Pol was less than pleased and teased the Commander in her usual wry style but it all worked out for the best in the end.
T’Pol: Three days. You were only there for three days, and you couldn’t restrain yourself.
Trip: [to Archer] I’m telling you, Captain, I was a complete gentleman the entire time.
T’Pol: I imagine that’s a question of how you define ‘gentleman’.
The directors, writers and producers loved to put Trip in awkward situations and see what happened. Brannon Braga said:
"“It’s fun to put Trip into awkward situations. You can’t go wrong with him because Connor Trinneer’s such a talented actor. “Connor Trinneer is so much funnier than we thought he would be. And he’s funnier not when he’s making a wisecrack, but when he’s put in uncomfortable situations, which we didn’t know until he got the role.“"
Next: 3. He had one of the best romances
3. One of the best romances
There are many lists of the best Star Trek romances and for me, Trip and T’Pol come out on top every time. Like everything with Trip, it was different to the other romances that had taken place and felt awkward yet natural. Tom Paris and B’Elanna Torres felt forced to me, although they were both great characters, and I didn’t feel the passion between them. Trip and T’Pol were always awkwardly in love, right from the moment the doctor prescribed Vulcan neuropressure to help Trip sleep; it helped him to do a lot more than that!
Trip: I don’t like pushing the engines this hard. The injectors are running 110 percent.
T’Pol: They’re rated for 120.
Trip: Yeah, and my underwear is flame-retardant. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna light myself on fire to prove it.
Next: 4. He seemed like a genuine person
4. He seemed like a real person
It wasn’t all fun and games with Trip Tucker as he did have emotional episodes and he was heavily involved in some of the best bits of Enterprise. One of the things I found about Trip was that he seemed like a person we can relate to. He was naïve at times, believing everything people told him and he suffered personal loss when the Xindi attacked Earth. He got angry and emotional sometimes, he misunderstood things and he was a human being. Sometimes the engineers from other series felt and acted like people from the future, and yes, Star Trek is a vision of the future, but Trip Tucker often made it feel a little bit more natural and a little closer to now.
Next: 5. Pan-fried Catfish
5. His favourite food is pan-fried catfish
Have you ever tried pan-fried catfish? It’s pretty awesome, and another example of how Trip was a real person with real traits and characteristics. I met Connor Trinneer at a Star Trek convention in London back in 2012 and he was a genuinely nice guy. We had a really good chat and he was one of the most down-to-earth characters I have ever met.
Captain Archer: If I asked your parents what you like to eat, would they be able to tell me?
Commander Charles ‘Trip’ Tucker III: Are you kiddin’? My mom would give you her recipe for pan-fried catfish and wouldn’t let you go till you promised not to screw it up.
Next: 50 Actors Who Could Be The Next Star Trek Captain
So what do you think? Do you think Picard is the best Star Trek Engineer? Let us know on Facebook, or in the comments below.