The universe created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s is home to a wide variety of characters, locations, and even some of the greatest unsolved mysteries in science fiction history. The show has changed a lot since The original series, with varying degrees of respect for Roddenberry’s take on the show. But at its core, it’s still a program that focuses on people and the relationships and issues between them. Each show has a diverse and complex cast, from many walks of life and their own in-depth backstories. For the most part, they fulfilled their role aboard their ships to the fullest. There are exceptions, however, such as counselor Deanna Troi.
Troi is one of the main crew members and part of the protagonist circle in The next generation. She appears in most episodes, either as a side character or as the main focus of the episode. While her presence aboard the ship is always considered important, there are some important facts about her that question the extent to which her abilities are actually used. Troi is part human and part Betazoid, a race of humanoid aliens who have a natural affinity for telepathy. In the Star Trek universe, telepathy is something capable of any organic life form, including humans – but some races are more naturally adept at it than others. Despite being only half Betazoid, Troi possesses these abilities and has a keen sense of the emotions in others.
Aboard the USS Enterprise D, her role is the ship’s advisor. Given her abilities, this is the perfect role for her. She is said to be an incredible counselor and is shown to have made it through the show (with only a few minor hiccups). When you look at what the crew of the Enterprise do almost every day, it’s easy to forget that it’s not a military ship; rather, it is a scout ship going out to explore new lands and civilizations.
Despite this rather pacifist mission, they run into a lot of trouble along the way, which makes the presence of a highly skilled counselor all the more important. The need for her services seems to be highly valued by the abundance of traumatized crew members – after all, a high percentage of the crew were not Starfleet officers, but in fact civilians. However, Troi seems to spend most of her time not in her offices or quarters helping these people, but sitting on the bridge next to the captain. Troi spends about 90% of her time sitting next to Picard, waiting for an alien to come by so her (admittedly, very useful) abilities would come in. She has no formal role on the bridge and is unable to give orders or assist like the rest of the crew there. Instead, she literally sits there and waits, unless of course there’s a specific Troi-related plot point or story going on in a particular episode.
When given the chance to help, her main role is to detect or sense life forms, and gauge if there is anything they are hiding. Most of the time, these moments seem obvious to the audience, with a scruffy-looking, problematically stereotypical Ferengi on screen swearing he’s telling the truth. It’s important to note that Troi can’t really read minds (if she could, it might make things even more awkward with Riker), but rather gives her a sense of what someone is thinking and feeling, giving her an understanding of the situation on the based on a fairly accurate gut feeling.
If Troi was a full Betazoid, perhaps her abilities would have been better suited to the bridge, as she was able to read the minds of those with whom she communicates or negotiates. However, she lacks this ability, and as such her time and actual skills would be much better suited elsewhere. This is not meant to be a case of getting rid of her, banning her from the main action, as Deanna Troi is a delightful addition to the show. But there are several other important characters who don’t just spend their time on the bridge; this is not the only place where protagonists can shine. The heroic, visor-wearing engineer Geordi LaForge is considered a main character on TNG, and he spends his time where he is most useful: in technology. The same goes for Dr. Crusher, the chief doctor aboard the Enterprise, who spends her time in the infirmary.
One of the reasons the writers wanted Troi to constantly spend her time on the bridge is because that’s where most of the action takes place, and therefore where most of the filming takes place. They wanted her to be seen, admired – partly as an incredibly dated sex symbol, but also to bring a little femininity to the otherwise male-dominated room.
Creating this diversity is great, but it would have been much better if her presence there was more important. It would have been more impactful if her role on the bridge had been more active, as was Tasha Yar’s before her untimely passing. As it stands, Deanna Troi spends most of the franchise offering Picard fairly limited help, her otherwise important role aboard the ship being relegated to eye candy.
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