Lillyan Ratcliffe has degrees in history and Library Information Sciences. She is a newish Trekkie, but she's enthusiastic about seeing the franchise become even more diverse and inclusive.
“Space Seed” introduced Khan Noonien Singh, who has become one of the premiere villains of the franchise, showing up in films from two separate timelines, becoming a meme even non-Trek fans know, with a descendant introduced in Strange New Worlds.…
Introduced in the The Next Generation episode “Haven,” Lwaxana Troi, the mother of Counselor Deanna Troi, often divided fans—some saw her as a great character that let Majel Barrett-Roddenberry have fun, while others saw Lwaxana as little more than a…
Star Trek might be considered a franchise built on found family as every crew seems to form deep bonds after serving together, but it is the found family between Tekeny Ghemor and Kira Nerys on Deep Space Nine that means…
The holodeck often provides great chances for the characters to explore their inner fantasies and the writers to explore the characters’ lives outside of their jobs, yet there is something very striking about the early holodeck episodes—how very Caucasian the…
While the main plot of the Voyager episode “Flashback” is about Tuvok mind melding with Janeway to work through a repressed memory, the episode also highlights a friendship that could have developed two characters who were underserved in The Original…
As Picard airs its last episodes, fans are saying goodbye to beloved characters, yet one of the most important—Tasha Yar—is missing from the series except as a fleeting image in Data’s memory. Even though she originally died in the…
Deep Space Nine premiered thirty years ago. Although it divided fans as it was very different from prior Trek, the evolution of the Ferengi from semi-feral aliens to a species that was meant to satirically reflect the audience is widely…
Star Trek is well-known for creating positive representation of diverse characters, yet early Trek seems to have an odd prejudice against the Irish, with beloved Irish engineer Miles O’Brien not seeing most of his character development until Deep Space Nine.…