Summary
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds can bring back and diversify yeomen, offering a respected place in Starfleet.
- Yeomen can build on Yeoman Nguyen's story and introduce a more inclusive, complex position.
- The return of yeomen can set up the future of classic characters like Janice Rand and expand the list of current ranks in Star Trek.
Star Trek: Stange New Worlds should bring back the prominent rank featured in Star Trek: The Original Series and use the position to revitalize important and unexplored aspects of Starfleet. In Star Trek: The Original Series, yeomen were played by female actors and depicted a yeoman as an administrative type of rank in Starfleet. Despite the Star Trek timeline including many progressive themes, this lack of female representation was the norm when Star Trek premiered in the 1960s. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds could officially bring back and diversify yeomen and give them a respected place in Starfleet.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds started as a spin-off of Star Trek: Discovery but quickly became a staple in the modern Star Trek canon. Strange New Worlds often brings back classic Star Trek by reintroducing characters from The Original Series, including Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and Lieutenant James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley). Since both of these characters have yeomen assistants, including new (and possibly old) characters with the rank of yeoman seems like the logical next step for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 3 and beyond.
How Star Trek: Bringing Back Yeomen In Strange New Worlds Can Work
The unused rank can be more than a one-episode plot device
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds included a brief segue into what a Star Trek yeoman is in the season 2 episode "Among the Lotus Eaters." Captain Pike discovers Yeoman Zac Nguyen, who had served on the USS Enterprise until the yeoman's apparent death on Rigel VII, is still alive. However, the episode doesn't reveal exactly what the position is commonly used for in Starfleet in relation to other lower ranks, like Cadets or Ensigns. Instead, Yeoman Nguyen serves mostly to further the plot of the episode and give Captain Pike more development.
Yeomen in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds could build on Yeoman Nguyen's story and introduce a more inclusive, complex position.
With at least a brief yeoman introduction under its belt, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds could easily bring in a yeoman to join the USS Enterprise crew. In doing so, the forgotten Starfleet rank could make a comeback and set up the future of classic characters who held the yeoman position in other Star Trek projects. Instead of being female clerical workers, yeomen in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds could build on Yeoman Nguyen's story and introduce a more inclusive, complex position beneficial to Starfleet's upper ranks.
Yeomen On Strange New Worlds Can Set Up Star Trek: TOS's Janice Rand
Star Trek: The Original Series' Janice Rand deserves a new beginning
By bringing back the Star Trek yeomen rank, Strange New Worlds can save Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney) and redeem the classic character whose unfair exit marks one of Star Trek's darkest events. During Strange New World's timeline, Rand would be the appropriate age for a Cadet, a position for students enrolled in Starfleet Academy. This way, Cadet Rand could have a fresh start aboard the USS Enterprise, and Strange New Worlds could offer a sneak peek into the future of the yeoman position.
Both Strange New World's Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and Lt. Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (Martin Quinn) have benefited from the show's foreshadowing techniques, since their Star Trek:The Original Series counterparts have been major parts of some of Star Trek's biggest events. Since Star Trek: Strange New Worlds often hints at future events that tie into older shows, adding yeomen back to Starfleet could expand the list of current ranks and diversify characters in upcoming Star Trek TV shows and movies.
