The average Star Trek redshirt is known for having a non-existent sense of danger and the physical fortitude of a wet Oreo, but that's nothing compared to Olsen from J.J. Abrams' 2009 movie reboot. While the term is now used broadly across movies and TV, "redshirt" originated wholly because of Star Trek. The original 1960s series faced a dilemma: characters needed to die to make the bad guys look bad, but Star Trek's main cast members were clad head-to-toe in plot armor.
To navigate this issue, the likes of Captain Kirk and Spock would typically be accompanied by Enterprise security personnel during their adventures. Said security officers would routinely get killed off before long, and usually wore red shirts as per Starfleet uniform regulations. Hence, the "redshirt" was born, and the term can now refer to any fictional character introduced primarily for the purpose of dying. Redshirts exist in Star Trek's Kelvin Timeline too, and if Olsen was any indication, are even more hapless than their Prime Universe counterparts.
Olsen From Star Trek's 2009 Movie Must Have The Franchise's Dumbest Redshirt Death
As Redshirt Deaths Go, Olson's Was Not One To Be Proud Of
More often than not, a Star Trek redshirt dies simply because they stand in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Sometimes they might wander too close to a concealed enemy, or get a little overzealous with their phaser. On many occasions, the redshirt will simply have the misfortune of being sent into an unexplored area ahead of Captain Kirk and the higher-ranking Enterprise officers.
Olson from Star Trek's 2009 movie was a breed apart. Not only was his death entirely avoidable, Olson himself was the singular cause. The doomed redshirt somehow managed to die with zero interference from alien enemies, deadly flowers, exploding rocks, or rogue blobs.
An easily forgettable character, Olsen was the third member of the Enterprise's diving party on Vulcan. He joined Chris Pine's Kirk and John Cho's Sulu parachuting down to a platform surrounding Nero's drill. Olson, of course, never reached said platform, as the tragic engineer opted not to release his parachute until the final few meters. Inevitably, Olson crashed too hard onto the metal structure and quickly got himself incinerated by the drill's engine.
Why Olson Isn't The Average Star Trek Redshirt
The More You Think About Olsen's Death, The More Ridiculous It Gets
A few other factors must be considered before Olson is granted the title of Star Trek's dumbest redshirt. Firstly, Olson's parachute did not fail - the redshirt deliberately avoided deploying it because he was having so much fun during the fall. Secondly, Olson was, at the time of his jump, carrying the explosive charges his party was supposed to use as a means of blowing up the drill, meaning a rough landing could have been a fatal, fiery disaster for everyone.
The entire population of Vulcan was relying on the Enterprise disabling Nero's planet-destroying machine.
Finally, Olson didn't just release the parachute a fraction later than Kirk and Sulu - he waited so long that a safe landing became almost a mathematical impossibility. Kirk himself is a renowned risk-taker in Star Trek's various movies and TV shows, and notoriously loves a good time, but even he knew not to take chances with parachutes and gravity.
One might argue that the thrill-seeking Olson made his choice, knew the risks, and was entitled to gamble with his own life just like any other extreme sports enthusiast. Of course, that argument ignores how the entire population of Vulcan was relying on the Enterprise disabling Nero's planet-destroying machine. Star Trek's redshirts are traditionally unreliable and slow-witted, sure, but Olson endangered an entire race purely because he did something that carried a very obvious and very high chance of death - and then died.
How Star Trek 2009 Subtly Subverted The Redshirt Trope
You May Not Have Realized Olson Was A Redshirt Right Away
An act of stunning stupidity is not the only thing that separates Olson from the standard Star Trek redshirt. When the character first appeared as a member of the jumping party, the sight of an unfamiliar face rubbing shoulders with Chris Pine and John Cho gave an immediate signal that the newcomer was soon to die. Star Trek then dropped another big clue by having Olson boldly proclaim in one of his precious few lines of dialogue, "I can't wait to kick some Romulan arse." Nothing screams "redshirt" like a character expressing excitement for combat with racially-charged undertones.
Rather than a regular security grunt sent to protect Kirk and Sulu, Olson was technically the Enterprise's chief engineer.
Cleverly, however, Olson was not actually wearing a red shirt, as the nature of the mission meant Kirk's team was dressed in futuristic spacesuits during the jump. In a twist that kept the original trope alive but in a fresh way, these metallic outfits were still tinted in each officer's corresponding Starfleet colors. Olson may not have been a redshirt in the literal sense, therefore, but he was a "redsuit," playfully toying with the audience's expectations.
The other subversion was Olson's surprisingly lofty rank. Rather than a regular security grunt sent to protect Kirk and Sulu, the character was technically the Enterprise's chief engineer - the same rank as Montgomery Scott. Holding such a high position within Star Trek's fictional hierarchy may have convinced some viewers that the Olson character would survive. Alas, his astounding capacity for recklessness ensured otherwise.
