Sonequa, Their characters are fantastic as are all the others. How does Tillys scientific mind come into play in solving the crisis of the anomaly in season four? I let go of my preconceptions about what star trek is. Mary Wiseman as Tilly in episode 402, Anomaly. Shaming is one thing. Except that would imply that her being there was the exception rather than the rule. but it looks like she did simply did it because she was her friend and room mate. Some folks here like this nu trek because it lowered standards to make them feel better about themselves. Even Picard has his own show. Paramount+'s Star Trek: Discovery is the flagship of the modern-day Star Trek television franchise, premiering in 2017 and about to launch its fourth season on November 18. Well, the entire point is she absolutely looks the way I expect her to. The entire point of Tillys character is that shes a Starfleet officer that doesnt have to be a supermodel like so many Trek characters before: Troi, Seven, TPol, Jadzia perfect golden cut supermodels. Yeah, self absorbed is an excellent way to describe her character, Id never thought of it that way. Theres a little Harley Quinn. Tilly should have been introduced as female Barclay or a less extreme version of junior lieutenant Picard in Tapestry (the alternate timeline where his career stalled after avoiding getting stabbed in the heart). Thank you for your counter opinion. Its not celebrating obesity to say that her body is her business and nobody elses. Fan favourite is a bit of a stretch..quite possibly the most irritating character in Trek history Marys my TV crush for the last 3 years. Being encouraged to eat only what ones body needs is another thing entirely. If anything is being celebrated, or, at the very least, encouraged, its simple human decency and not judging people by physical attributes alone. Weight Gain Explained Rumors are going on that Mary Wiseman is pregnant and she has gained weight. Development for the fifth season of Discovery is well underway, with production expected to begin in June. In fact this is Discoverys success is showing human emotion as another frontier to cross because it is in fact the major component in value choices and decisions that are an unrecognized part of strategic and political decisions as per our many current political divides in US. Imo, this show tries so overly hard to be socially progressive, its the very thing that makes it a turn-off. the only one worth saving.. quite possibly the most irritating character in Trek history. Andrew: Great, perceptive, thoughtful post! That was why she was never in uniform the first few seasons. Fitness may be in the eye of the beholder, as hes commented himself that contempories his age have to hit the head just a bit more often. Most actresses on TV, if theyre 58 probably weigh 120# or less. Thats the thought I had last season, when they had the perfect chance to wirte out Burnam (I believe it was Reunification III or the one after that) and they just didnt follow through at the end. It is constantly exposing the never ending struggle of smart and talented woman of color. KevinB: I let go of my preconceptions about what star trek is.. However, I do struggle with popular media normalizing unhealthy weights whether over or underweight because they are health risks. It inspired her to switch careers. Im glad we are finally seeing it. Samarkand? Understanding? Nah Book is Boba Fett and I want to see the spin-off series THE BOOK OF BOOK :-). To even suggest that is stupidity writ large. STAR TREK and its various marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. 2023 CBS Studios Inc./Paramount Pictures Corp. 2006-2023 SciFanatic Network | Legal/Privacy Info, Copyright 2023 | MH Newsdesk by MH Themes, Podcast: All Access Dives Into The Latest Episode Of Picard And Probes Star Treks TV (And Movie) Future, BREAKING: Star Trek: Discovery To Conclude With Season 5, Review: Star Trek: Picard Runs Deep In Seventeen Seconds, Watch Picard And Riker Reverse Their Classic Roles In Star Trek: Picard Episode 303 Clip, J.J. Abrams Talks Compelling Story For Star Trek 4; Chris Pine Expresses Frustration Over Wait, Just when it looks like the character has finally grown as a person and doing her own thing, comes right back., I love how Disco has put the human back into the human experience. And I agree wholeheartedly. Episodes will be. Just blows my mind. Such use is more overt in DISCO, but it is by no means out of the ordinary. I hope Mary Wiseman is okay or has a good reason for her weight gain since S1. Tilly is a wonderful incarnation of our inner geekdom, a person you would find at conventions or in fanfiction I love this character so much because she isnt perfect. I mean, there could have been but it was never seen or talked about. This post (handouts bad habits yada yada yada) is your latest misogny, homophobia and white supremacy , and I am sick and tired of it. IMHO, if she usually eats well, trains and commits to staying healthy, then life can be a lot of fun leading an active adventurous life while still enjoying food and fine dining and it is irrelevant what people say about her looks. out of shape for the job shes in and the role she wanted to perform. Hey writers room go back to TNG and see how a child became an honourary bridge officer on the Enterprise D. (something equally puzzling to say the least) Picard did it because the Traveller who could traverse space time and see the future and past told Picard it was extremely important to encourage the boy. Makes sense. I would encourage her to do the same. How is she supposed to sound considering nobody knows what people in the 23rd century will talk like? I look at Disco as adding a new flavor to the existing universe. Star Trek: Discovery's Mary Wiseman and Blu del Barrio reflect on their character's journeys and the possibilities ahead. Too nervous and anxious. But the characters are pitch perfect. But how the women look?! But to play the Devils Advocate here for a moment Tilly as she was originally presented and continued to be for quite some time is not something most women would aspire to be I should think. From the next episode on season 3 which was at least okay up to that point started to completely fall apart. Roddenberrys imprint on Next Gen made the characters not flawed enough for some tastes, granted, but Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise have countless examples of human foibles and emotions sure, not to the degree as Discovery, with its ship full of Barclays as one commenter put it, rhetorically. Its her, Adira, Stamets, and Reno who are the really hard science people. But Tilly and the nervous mess Adira has devolved into? Happy to have your wit, enthusiasm, & talent as part of the franchise. Just more pandering. Acceptance? In season one and early season two, I was finding it credible as a case of someone who had unresolved PTSD and was unmoored from the culture that had encouraged her to supress her trauma. In this week's episode of Star Trek: Discovery season four, we saw Tilly leaving her crew and heading to the academy in order to foster young minds. Speaking to Glamour UK, Sonequa Martin-Green revealed that she has dealt with body image issues too: Back in the mid-to-late eighties, early nineties, everything I saw, with hip hop, was all curvy, curvy, big butt, she recalls. "Hope springs eternal" was the central thesis for Star Trek: Discovery's Season 4 finale . I know everyone is different but for me, once I hit my mid-30s my metabolism slowed down, so I had to cut back on the amount of food I ate compared to when I was 25. Heck I think it was more unrealistic when some chick was upset he wasn't ready for sex. Right? I LOVE the future! Its participation trophy trek. This sounds kind of racist. So I was also just very excited for the fans. Stupid decision to bring her back. Jake is about 45-50 and one of the two lead characters. These are not well-written or well-acted characters, and they weaken the series every time they show up. By: TrekMovie.com Staff I like her personality though, mostly. Loved that show, so did my wife. It's mostly the super-hero genre where you see this. First of all, because theres more options for cosplay now, because she changed her hair. There is a great scene back in S1 when Tilly and Burnham are doing cardio training and post workout are eating their protien, carbs and fat nutrition, something that the body requires after a hard cardio workout. Not liking a character doesnt make a person a troll, so Im not even sure what that nonsensical comment was supposed to mean. I recall when Trek featured a French captain with an English accent. WTF this is why Ive been following Star Trek since the original in 1967 when I saw Nichelle Nichols. Just like every other character in a show that generally is badly written. Mary Wiseman is a good actress but even with that, if Star Trek Discovery was shot in 80s or 90s producers would probably force her to go on a diet or even fire her. Good for Mary! Her message was not that its okay to be overweight (and shes really not that overweight, nor should it really matter), but simply thats it okay to be her flaws and all. As you put it: I love how Disco has put the human back into the human experience. And I agree wholeheartedly. I have nothing against Mary Wiseman. She is relatable and human and wonderful. In fact, at least on this website, I often see the contrary. I thought her arc was going to end with her being booted from the service for repeatedly failing physical fitness tests? So many characters, and all were very well developed with interesting stories. Everybody loves Tilly. Except the writers of course. So her appearances ended up not being 100% awful. lol ;). Find more stories on theStar Trek Universe. Between 2011 through 2015, she attended Juilliard School's Drama Division, where one of her students was future Star Trek: Discovery actress Mary Chieffo. Mary shouldnt listen to the haters and Sonequa, I never noticed she looked any different than she did before, body wise. If that happens, I'm betting she'll be a part of it. | March 22, 2022 | Respectfully, to anyone somehow offended by that. I have to agree. Then maybe I would actually remember his name! A person who we see strive to make themselves a better person. Be sure to watch Mary Wiseman "Killying it" as Ensign Sylvia Tilly on Star Trek: Discovery. And I want to take care of me so I can continue to be me. We love that someone who isnt super fit was cast, especially that its a woman. The reason why Troi was on the bridge all the timewas that she was a betazoid. Overweight and obesity are not a matter of looks or body shape, and those who feel free to body-shame are off-side and frequently unkind. As long as Wesley Crusher exists she will always be in a race for that title. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Ive never liked Tilly. Thats not a leader. Everyone in the world do not look and act the same if it was for me, it would be a very boring uninterested world. Assuming you are American, Im from outside America where it makes a huge difference in how the characters comes across.America is not the world as Morrissey once said. Sincerely, obesity is defined in terms of the proportion of body fat associated higher risk of illness. advantage. The doctor was usually the therapist. This is not a good show and not a good Star Trek Show too. In general, the Litverse kicks off with the TNG A Time to series that fills in events between the movies Insurrection and Nemesis. I cant spoil anything into season five, except to say that we love Tilly. What was your point to this comment, anyway, except to minimize and dismiss support for plus-size women? That is assuming the this Starfleet Academy show is set in the 32nd century. Would a woman watching this aspire to be a Tilly or aspire to be a Dax, Kira or Janeway? It included a lot of the old characters too like Chakotay, BElanna, Tuvok with a lot of new characters. Mary Wiseman and David Ajala with their co-stars Wilson Cruz, Sonequa Martin-Green, Blu del Barrio, and Anthony Rapp at NYCC 2021, (Trailer also available for international viewers onInstagramandstartrek.com). Its shall we say very variable. I assume my feelings towards them are what Wesley-haters endure. Ive seen people here and on other message boards body-shame Ms.Wiseman, and its disgusting. This was her character and then had perhaps one or two incidents where she became a little more focused and then off screen came back a different person. Of all the issues I have with Star Trek Discovery, Mary Wiseman/Tilly is definitely not among them. The laughing, alone, is far more damaging and shameful and disgusting and disrespectful than obesity itself. New episodes ofStarTrek: Discoverypremiere on Thursdays onCBS All Accessin the U.S. andonCTV Sci-Fi Channelin Canada, where its also available to stream onCrave. Tons do, yes. David Ajala: I would be very dangerous. I dont love her the way I love Saru or Pike, or Janeway or Seven or Picard or Spock. So when very capable people feel un-capable, crazy things happen. So many jerks in this world, its good to see decent people. Funny enough, I have never had a problem with Wesley. Keep up with all the news and reviews from the newStar Trek Universe on TV at TrekMovie.com. She is super meta. Plus, TNG literally had a therapist as part of the bridge crew. Paradise was most likely referring to the shows production and creative teams. Im proud to be here and I am proud to wear my skin-tight costume and proud of my body. Shes responsible for her subordinates and to lead by example. But its at least nice they came to their senses with that ridiculous story turn (unlike Kirk). Not sure what the formal CBS/Paramount process is for publishing that kind of stuff, but the story was so detailed that I genuinely wanted to begin looking into it. Tilly is Trekdom. And now, with only three years under her belt in the field, From future Starfleets POV, thats 900 years! Bad writing, illogical story arcs, unbalanced tempo, underdeveloped characters or sudden jumps in character development. Weight gain from thyroid issues, anti depressants, steroids, is a fairly small percent of the population. Barclay was funny and silly but relatable due to his social anxiety. Where I live people compete on the merits and are proud of their professional or intellectual achievements not their bad habits, bad health or even born with attributes such as divergent sexual orientation that they had no influence over whatsoever. Overall, I like the fun character of Tilly (too bad the writers room made her first officer). For me, DS9 was the best Star Trek Show for character development. Mary Wiseman. No one can argue that Shatner is anything less than fit at whatever age. For people who dont know, it had to do with Voyager leading a fleet of ships going back to the Delta Quadrant a few years after Voyager arrived home. David Ajala: I think its made Cleveland Booker even more attracted to Michael Burnham because I think he looks and goes Oh, scrumptious. They should have tried to make Tilly more credible first. Im proud to see that shes proud of herself. A Stitch in Time kicks off the Garak/Cardassian books and is excellent. He also has emotional intelligence. | November 13, 2021 | I suppose thats why some places are rising and others are very visibly in decline. Not everyone is skinny and not everyone likes skinny. There are characters you really cherish and others that are fun but ultimately nothing special. They told us and a handful of other outlets what to expect for their characters and more. Me thinks that your issue is not that fans of nu trek are pandered to to feel better about themselves. Mary Wiseman is a beautiful lady as is Sonequa Martin-Green. But I have to say, when they named her Killy, it made the already off-kilter character even more ridiculous. Good for her, and I love the character! You misunderstood. Why do you think being nervous or anxious means that you can not graduate from the academy? The mirror Tilly and the ISS Discovery appear in the "Mirror of Discovery" storyline in Star Trek Online, as part of the game's 9th anniversary in January 2019; she is voiced by Mary Wiseman, who also . I feel bad saying this but Ive never a read a Star Trek novel in my life lol. That said, the stolid approach to characterization has its benefits as well when an emotional outburst happens it can be devastating (see: Picards breakdowns in the likes of Family, Chain of Command, First Contact), but it also allows for subtler moments to have outsized impacts (Odo asking Garak to breakfast, Seven revealing her favorite color, Picards 1/4 smiles when no one is looking, Spocks eyebrow etc), which is also quite true to life. Shes not going anywhere. Do I want to be Sisko or Picard or Archer then most likely yes. I find her character interesting, but inconsistent. By indicating that shes not ashamed of her body? Her character, Sylvia Tilly, has had plenty of opportunities to shine without giving anything away, and Wiseman has risen to the occasion. It took this for me to finally accept who I am. I highly doubt the writers decided to just write her off for the hell of it (especially given how much everyone in the cast and crew love her). The Trek Collective has a flowchart for the Litverse which is helpful. Ive re-learned through life experiences how to stop and smell the roses again you might say, among other things. At the end of season three, I felt that she became captain not because she had earned it, but because the time had run out on the series plan for her promotion. I will have to go check it out. Tilly once thought being captain was her biggest dream, but after a . My personal opinion is, if you see ribs in their low decolletage, they are probably not so healthy. I agree with you on principle as far at this being fine on a fictional Star Trek show. No spoilers in case I ever decide to actually the write the thing, but youd love it as a DS9 fan. And others opinions dont factor in. Sure, its not perfect, we all have a nitpick here and there, but as long as it has a message, it revolves around people, and some cool science stuff, its trek to me. She makes it all look so easy. The actress also discussed how Killy inspires some fans: Killy is somebody whos very important to a lot of fans, especially my curvy women out there who like to see another full-figured, fat, curvy, chunky woman get to feel powerful and use that size to command authority, said Wiseman. Background information. Diplomacy? Jerks. Tilly got fat, that is inexcusable. Took time to reset the franchise. I'm finding Star Trek Discovery to be incredibly dull and childish. BTW, I know this is waaaaaay off topic, but since you are the literary Trek lover on this site and keep up with a lot of the books, do you think Prodigy is going to use some of Kirsten Beyers Full Circle Voyager story lines? She hopped over those 900 years. Mary Wiseman: Right, when you use empathy for evil, its manipulation. I think that in a world thats so repressed and violent, violence becomes these peoples only outlet for pleasure and release. At the other end, underweight is also unhealthy and associated with other risks, but gets less negative attention in entertainment. Maybe Saru wont be on the ship as much but Im guessing they are going the same direction. Remember , they had steroids and thyroid problems in the 80's, but the majority of people were off normal weight, which today would be called skinny. Im reaally hoping season 4 will be smoother, Im holding thumbs here. But Barclay is just irritating as hell. Harry wasnt annoying. And to get to see that visually, that was a very gratifying moment for me to see, Okay, somebody different showed up., Mary Wiseman as Tilly and Oded Fehr as Admiral Vance in Coming Home. Actress Mary Wiseman did a series of media . No, from Starfleets POV its 3 years. And to be honest, she never really helped him out all that much. Learning? Mary Wiseman: Well what is like the same root of Book but like the polar opposite expression of it? Season four of Star Trek: Discovery arrives on Thursday, November 18 on Paramount+. Where are they!? It would definitely be great if Rhys was promoted to first officer. For what its worth Picard has an excellent cast, male and female, it just feels they are one or two notches above their discovery peers, maybe again due to writing/direction. That finale appearance was basically a cameo. Wiseman had other things to do. The Enterprise D was the only place we saw a councelor. Just a heads up (even more way off topic), for those who liked SG , IMO the Atlantis book Legacy series was quite good, telling the story of what happened after the finale. And another way to look at it: at least its not another hour of tv taken by a reality show, right? A statistical average does not justify shaming or ridiculing anyone. My preference would be to set it post TUC but quite frankly any other established era would be fine. :P (I know the whole thing of having a *ships* councilor is inherently different from what real therapists do on dry land, but yeah its super weird. That could explain the weight gain. As far as science fiction most Trek shows have normal looking ppl. Barclay was another unrealistic character that never shouldve made it in to Starfleet. I like the way you think! One reason why I think people gravitated towards Trip the most on Enterprise was that the combination of writing and performances created one of the most believable humans in Star Trek this side of Dr. McCoy and Chief OBrien. And to be honest, her character has regressed significantly over the past few years. Well, Renos really more engineering. I would imagine those who liked Barclay probably include a large portion of those who like Tilly. ;). And Books starshipthink of it as Star Treks answer to the Astro Megaship from Power Rangers in Space.