By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Gene Roddenberry did not like the idea of conflict between people, believing that in the distant future, everyone would have evolved beyond that. Ironically, the Star Trek franchise has always been full of conflict that many fans have never seen. I am talking, then, about the fight between writers and producers.
Several Trek writers (especially in the early days of The Next Generation) had shocking stories about how their documents were changed by the leadership; in fact, this happened to Tracy Tormé so often that she started writing under a pen name before fleeing the franchise altogether. At that time Deep Space Nine when it comes around, things tend to be more consistent between the creative team and the production team. But in the memorable episode of “Melora,” one forgotten writer secretly called out the producers for ignoring the needs of those in wheelchairs!
Scotty, Ramp Me Up
To understand this bonkers tale, you’ll need to know a little about “Melora” and the thought process behind creating the episode. You see, the title of the episode refers to Melora Pazlar, an alien Starfleet officer who has trouble navigating gravity in places like Deep Space Nine. Because of this, he uses a special machine to get from Point A to Point B. Although characters like Dr. Bashir uses a lot of technical jargon to describe the equipment, what you really need to know is the wheelchair of the future.
When Deep Space Nine still in development, the producers considered creating a wheelchair-bound officer as the game’s chief science officer, but were concerned about the costs involved. That’s why the chief scientist was Jadzia Dax, a powerful Trill with generations of memories. However, showrunner Michael Piller really liked the idea of finally having such a character, even if it was just for a one-shot episode. Because of this, writers were encouraged to create a story featuring such an officer in a wheelchair, and “Melora” is the fruit of their labor.
Script Downhill First
Evan Carlos Somers was a Writers Guild student DS9and he knew of their desire to make such an episode. When he was allowed to release episodes of the second season, he pitched “Melora” while revealing that he could bring some knowledge to the episode that no one else could. After all, Somers used a wheelchair, so he could write the name Melora (not to mention the reaction of others when they see a disabled person at the station) more authentically than anyone else.
However, Somers rushed the script, writing “Melora” in about a week and a half. Several people helped rewrite the script, including Michael Piller. While Somers doesn’t like all rewrites, he did enjoy how the final episode kept one thing he secretly wrote into the script: his own difficulty navigating the set!
They saw him rolling
In the 24th century, you’d expect a character like Melora to have a pretty cool set of wheels to get around. In fact, it shouldn’t have had wheels at all. Producers originally intended to reuse the antigravity chair from the TNG episode “Too Short a Season,” but it was too large to be used on smaller sets. DS9. So, the script hand-wrote an explanation of how Federation anti-grav technology doesn’t work with Cardassian technology, forcing Dr. Bashir to match Melora’s very simple wheelchair design.
According to the Star Trek: The Deep Space Nine CompanionSomers actually channeled his frustrations with working on the show into his script. While working on Star Trek, he had to constantly leave an ancient office that initially had no wheelchair spaces, and he had to use “the smallest elevators in the world.” Things weren’t much better on the actual set, either, but Somers got the last laugh by giving the fictional Melora her real struggles.
“So Bashir should model a simple wheelchair for him,” he said, referring to the chair he helped design. “And you run into all the problems I did whenever I went down to DS9 and watched them.” In this way, the anonymous author secretly showed that the producers of the most progressive franchise in the history of television were not considerate of the needs of the disabled.
Despite the Infinite in Infinite Combinations
Personally, I love an inspired writer though, and it turns out that Evan Carlos Somers also used his “Melora” script to call out the Star Trek writers. As reported by The Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine MagazineSomers hated “Ethics,” the TNG the episode where Worf becomes paralyzed and, in Klingon tradition, contemplates suicide. The writers say he is “offended by the ‘Ethics’ message that Worf is useless as a cripple and should kill himself.”
Accordingly, he wrote “Melora” with a very good message. The titular character is offered a cure for his disability, but refuses, a moment that Somers describes as “the real force that drove me to want to do this episode.” In this way, the most forgotten episode remains one of the best Star Trek stories ever written. As for Somers, he proved that no disability can stop him. In fact, he could do all the things brutally, which is a good thing for him, especially when it comes to producers!
