Forgotten Star Trek Character Secretly Written As Villain
During the long wait for more Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds, we’ve been taking the time to rewatch some of our favorite Star Trek episodes. That led us to some often-overlooked classics, including “Progress,” a Deep Space Nine episode with a heavy focus on Kira. She ends up bonding with an elderly Bajoran named Mullibok, but the writer for this episode was disappointed because he wanted this gruff old guy to be more of a villain.
Wanted Something Different For Mullibok
The general arc for Mullibok is one that should be familiar to most genre audiences. He begins the episode as a gruff old man whose prickly nature eventually helps Kira bond with him. However, episode writer Peter Allan Fields was ultimately disappointed with this onscreen portrayal and was quoted in the Deep Space Nine Companion as saying “I wanted a strong guy who did not change at the end.”
To hear Fields describe it, he wanted Mullibok to be very distinct from similar characters that audiences might be familiar with. “There are too many old guys in television dramas who start out nasty and then get meek and gentle at the end,” he said, clarifying “that’s not what I wanted.” This would have been perfectly in line with his character, incidentally, as he expounds upon the virtues of being stubborn and never backing down in conversations with Kira.
Fields explained what he meant about Mullibok by highlighting a scene where this character asked Kira for her name. The writer pointed out that the original script made the character’s malicious intent very clear: “he said it because he was trying to con her.” In the episode as broadcast, however, it seems like a warm question that the older character poses to Kira because he is growing fond of her.
With all that being said, Fields was quick to point out that he had no problem with the performance of Mullibok actor Brian Keith. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that the actor made this character far more sympathetic than he was intended to be. The final result is that he was “less of an adversary than he ought to have been,” rendering him “less of a mountain for Kira to climb.”
Could’ve Completely Changed The Episode
While Fields would know more about Mullibok’s intended characterization and motivations than anyone else, we’re not entirely sure how effective “Progress” would be as an episode if this elderly character was angry and unrepentant throughout.
After all, the episode culminates with Kira’s shocking decision to blow up the man’s kiln and set his cottage on fire as a way of getting him to evacuate the moon so Bajor could use it as a power source. Her decision to do her duty hits that much harder after watching her bond with the older character throughout the episode.
Deep Space Nine Made The Right Call
Had Mullibok been presented as a stubborn and intractable villain throughout the entire story, then Kira’s actions might have been mistaken for some kind of revenge or retribution. As filmed, though, we can better see what kind of interior conflict this is for Kira and the emotional price she pays for doing the right thing. With respect to Fields, it is Keith’s gentle and eventually heartwarming performance that makes Kira’s conflict pop.
Compared to many other Star Trek characters, Mullibok is someone who has been largely forgotten. That’s a shame, though, as he is part of an ambitious Kira episode that helps determine her arc for all of Deep Space Nine. And had he been a villain as originally written, Kira’s killer characterization might have ended up being his first victim.
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