By Chris Snellgrove
| Revealed
Star Trek is a franchise that has at all times been identified for its colourful villains: from the Klingons to the Borg, episodes have at all times given us over-the-top unhealthy guys like nothing the viewers had ever seen earlier than. Nonetheless, probably the most iconic villains of a beloved spinoff had been really modeled after a sort of real-life prison that the viewers is all too acquainted with. In Star Trek: Voyagerthe alien Kazons had been initially modeled after the road gangs of Los Angeles, however it took over a whole season earlier than one author helped form them into this very particular mildew.
Throughout the improvement of Voyagerproducers Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor wished to create a brand new type of villain that nonetheless represented very up to date issues. As quoted in Captains’ Logs Supplemental – The Unauthorized Information to the New Trek VoyagesTaylor stated that “We felt with the Kazon we would have liked to handle the tenor of our occasions and what…was occurring in our cities and recognizing a supply of hazard and social unrest. We wished to do this metaphorically.”
The Bloods, The Crips, And The Kazon
Piller (who nearly singlehandedly reworked Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology into must-see TV) preferred the thought of villains who embraced anarchy and would possibly battle amongst themselves as a lot as they battle with Captain Janeway. He and the opposite producers retained the LA gang metaphor, internally evaluating the differing Kazon factions to the Bloods and the Crips. They had been all in on these new unhealthy guys, which is why the Voyager premiere episode and its first season offered varied Kazon factions as an ongoing concern in our crew’s quest to navigate the Delta Quadrant and ultimately make their means dwelling.
Sadly, audiences type of hated the Kazon in Season 1, and Michael Piller got here to imagine that the writers had failed to show these aliens into one thing actually distinctive. After Ken Biller wrote an preliminary draft of the Season 2 episode “Initiations,” Piller known as him and (as reported initially by Cinefantastique) expressed his concern that the viewers noticed the Kazon as “warmed over Klingons.” With a purpose to get these villains again to their roots, Piller gave Biller a reasonably wild homework project: to go speak to precise gang members and report on “what you discover out from the road.”
Biller didn’t take this frankly harmful recommendation, however he did go purchase a replica of Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Memberwritten (inside a jail cell, no much less) by Sanyika “Monster” Shakur. Insights from the e book helped the author create a greater Star Trek: Voyager episode, and Piller was fairly happy with the ultimate draft of “Initiations.” However what happy him much more was that Biller went on to go above and past the decision of responsibility with a view to breathe new life into the Kazons.
The Secret To Constructing A Higher Villain
You see, Biller wrote a type of mini-Kazon Bible that outlined their customs, historical past, and different main sociological factoids. This proved to be invaluable as a result of Star Trek: Voyager had already deliberate to commit its second season to the Kazon, basically giving itself a second likelihood to make an excellent impression on the viewers. At any time when the writers needed to craft a Kazon-heavy episode (like “Alliances”), they relied on Biller’s bible, one which lastly made the Kazon really feel like one thing apart from Temu Klingons.
To today, the Kazon aren’t essentially followers’ favourite villains, however they’re arguably probably the most iconic Star Trek: Voyager unhealthy guys. In a present that will come to be dominated (or ought to that be assimilated?) by Borg episodes, the Kazon stay an unique creation who helped form Voyager into one in every of Trek’s most beloved spinoffs. However that by no means would have occurred if Michael Piller and Ken Biller hadn’t teamed as much as do the inconceivable: get these angsty aliens again to their inexplicable gangbanger roots.