Star Trek's Harry Kim was done dirty by Voyager many times throughout the series. He was killed, given an alien disease, and, worst of all, remained at the rank of Ensign for the entirety of the series. So, when CinemaBlend spoke to actor Garrett Wang about his feelings during that at the time, he was candid about how displeased he was, how his perspective changed over time, and how he made a wild plea to Kate Mulgrew.
I had a chance to talk to Wang ahead of his return in the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode "Fissure Quest" (which you can stream now with a Paramount+ subscription), and we also chatted about the past WTF moments of Voyager as well as Harry never being promoted. Even though it was a character on the show, I asked the actor if he ever felt "miffed" about Harry never moving to that next level. To my mild surprise, he was so worked up about it that he ended up outside Kate Mulgrew's trailer at one point. Here's what he said:
I was miffed for a very long time. I was miffed for a very, very long time. I remember knocking on Kate Mulgrew's trailer door, pleading to the actress playing the captain to promote me. I said, ‘This is ridiculous. I haven't been promoted yet. I've done all these things for the crew. I've helped save the day a few times.’ And Kate was like, ‘I know, I know.’ So she was sympathetic, but silly me, I was so desperate. I went to the actress playing the role of captain to try to get promoted. And so yeah, I was miffed in the beginning.
Mulgrew was at the top of the call sheet, but even then, she was also working at the will of the writers and the showrunner. Unlike upcoming Trek shows, the largely episodic structure of The Next Generation era meant maintaining the status quo. However, even then, the series found a way to demote and reinstate Tom Paris, so I can understand why Garrett Wang was so frustrated.
Given that, one might think Star Trek: Lower Decks' "Fissure Quest" so directly poking fun at the multiverse of Harrys being shocked over one's promotion might sting a little. However, Wang assured me that's not the case these days, and he learned to embrace that part of his character that made him stand out among some of the best Star Trek characters out there:
I learned to accept it. And that's the lesson there for all human beings that we're all in a situation at one point or another. Whether it's work or school where we're stuck in a rut where we're not advancing and we're feeling like everything is against us. And that's truly Harry. Harry is the punching bag of Voyager. Harry is the Rodney Dangerfield of Voyager. 'No respect,' for those of you out there who understand that reference. As time went on, I accepted it and realized that, 'Hey, this happens to Harry, and it happens to people in real life. And what do you do? You could sit there and complain about it and get gray hairs over it or get over it.' Because that's the thing: stress and trauma cause illness in the body, right? Or, you can go with the flow, and I've actually owned it to the point where my tag whenever I play any online games and my gamer name is Forever Ensign. So, I have already adopted it. I've embraced it.
It's of little surprise to me that Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan helped create a script that Garrett Wang was comfortable with and was the first to feature the character again in the new era. That said, the actor did confirm to CinemaBlend that it wasn't his first invite back to Star Trek, but that's all we know about that.
Harry Kim was the villain of sorts in Star Trek: Lower Decks' "Fissure Quest," but he was also the hero. A promoted Harry attempted to transport all the other Harrys to his universe where they could be their best selves, only to be thwarted by his other selves because none of them wanted that.
Sure, the acknowledgment of hard work would've been nice, but in a post-scarcity society how much should people value a promotion? They're all getting a meal of their choosing from the replicator the same as anyone else, so maybe rank and prestige aren't so valuable until it gets to a certain point. Maybe the finale of Star Trek: Lower Decks will go deeper on that idea too, because if I've learned anything, it's to expect the well-thought-out unexpected with this show.
Catch the finale of Lower Decks when it airs on the 2024 TV schedule Thursday, December 19th on Paramount+. I'm thrilled to see the conclusion of the series, though I have to say it would be more thrilling to see the series get picked up by another streamer and make a big return.
