The Only Major Star Trek Character Who Never Got A Good Story Of Their Own

The third season of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" debuted in September of 1989, and it represented a sea change for the series. Longtime writers and producers Michael Piller and Ronald D. Moore were brought onto the staff, and they instilled a new character-based approach to the series, allowing each individual member of the ensemble to have their very own episodes. Prior to Season 3, most of the "Star Trek" stories were a little more ensemble-based, or merely focused on Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). After, there were Geordi episodes, Worf episodes, Dr. Crusher episodes, etc. 

This character-by-character approach carried on through the rest of the era's "Star Trek" shows, serving as the basis for both "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Star Trek: Voyager." It even reached into the final series of producer Rick Berman's era, "Star Trek: Enterprise," which lasted from 2001 to 2005. "Enterprise" was a little more ambitious than the shows that preceded it, as it leaned into more multi-episode story arcs and season-long dramas, but it still often had character-forward episodes to explore the backgrounds and relationships of the crew of the USS Enterprise NX-01. We got to know about the transporter anxieties of Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda Park), the bizarre alien pregnancy of Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer), and the medical ethics of Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley), one of the best characters in all of "Star Trek." 

But one character we got to know almost nothing about was Ensign Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery), the single most underwritten main character in all of "Star Trek." Ensign Mayweather was the navigator and helmsman on the Enterprise, and his only character trait seemed to be that he was young. He had one (1) episode to himself. 

The creators of "Star Trek: Enterprise," Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, came up with an interesting backstory for Travis Mayweather, but it didn't seem to inspire them to write him any specific stories. "Enterprise," to remind readers, was set about a century before the events of the original "Star Trek," and a century after humans had first come into contact with Vulcans. Humans had already developed faster-than-light travel, but were prevented from going on long-term missions of exploration by the Vulcans, who were concerned humans would louse everything up in the galaxy. 

By then, however, humans had already been going on long-term space missions on slower cargo vessels, and there was a robust community of space-freight drivers who had lived most of their lives in space. Travis was what they called a "boomer," which is to say he was born in space, and was raised on a cargo vessel by his pilot parents. Because he had spent so much time in space, he was technically more experienced as an explorer than all of his superior officers, including the Enterprise's captain, Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula). 

This might have made for an interesting power dynamic on the bridge, with Travis Mayweather actively second-guessing all of his captain's orders, and the captain having to begrudgingly admit that Travis is right about everything. Instead, Travis' role on the crew was to ... just sort of smile and be gentle and not get into any trouble. Travis was sweet and well-behaved, and underwritten to the point of almost being a nonentity. This was not actor Anthony Montgomery's fault, of course. He played the part as written, like a true professional. But the writers never figured out what sort of relationship he had with the other crew members. 

Ensign Mayweather had one notable story all to himself, and while it tried to do justice to the character, it ended up being kind of forgettable. The episode was called "Horizon," and it involved the USS Enterprise coming upon the ECS Horizon, the ship that Mayweather was raised on. Mayweather asks for a leave of absence and shuttles over to the Horizon to visit his father. Sadly, Mayweather's father passed away six weeks earlier. The young ensign is crushed. 

His mother Rianna (Joan Pringle) welcomes Mayweather on board, but his brother Paul (Corey Mendell Parker) is merely stressed out, having had to assume their father's captainly duties when he died. Paul proves to be a less-than-stellar commanding officer, usually fearful and uneasy. Travis tries to help out by upgrading the ship's systems based on his knowledge of the newfangled Enterpise, but Paul is nervous about such things. And, wouldn't you know it, the Horizon soon encounters some pirates, and the two brothers begin butting heads. Should they fight back like Travis wants, or surrender the cargo and flee like Paul wants? 

You'll notice that the plot of "Horizon" is more about the character development of Paul than of Travis. Travis reconciles with his brother, but learns no real lessons. It's also worth noting that the B-plot of "Horizon" involves Trip Tucker arranging a movie night back on the Enterprise. Even when Mayweather got his own episode, he was robbed of screen time by a screening of "Frankenstein." Mayweather had little personality, sub-par dialogue, and no real character arc to speak of. 

Perhaps if "Enterprise" had lasted longer (or had a smarter finale episode that people liked), Travis would have had more chances to shine. As it stands, he was largely ignored. It's a pity.