Meet Janice Lester: The Maligned ‘Star Trek’ Character Who Deserves Redemption

[TMC]

http://uproxx.com/gammasquad/2015/06...ek-redemption/

We don’t know a whole lot about the next Star Trek movie, but here is what we do know: Idris Elba might be in it, Bryan Cranston might be in it, and there are apparently three major female roles in it, one of whom is possibly being played by Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: Her Majesty’s Secret Service). Who are these women? According to the rumors, they are an ex-wife of Dr. “Bones” McCoy, the President of the Federation of Planets, and a starship captain who is being set up as Captain Kirk’s match. No names have been released, but I have a pretty great idea for who that starship captain should be. She’s a woman from Star Trek: The Original Series who deserves the utmost redemption in the Star Trek universe because in her short time on the show, she was treated like garbage. Her name is Dr. Janice Lester.

Who is Dr. Janice Lester? Fans of Star Trek: The Original Series will recognize her name from the show’s final episode to air, “Turnabout Intruder,” which ran on June 3, 1969. The premise was set around Lester (played by Sandra Smith), a Federation scientist who was leading an expedition to Camus II, where she discovered an ancient device capable of “life energy transfer,” which does exactly what it says on the tin: it transfers someone’s consciousness into another body. Upon making this discovery, Lester lured Captain Kirk and the Enterprise to Camus II after killing her entire crew except for her companion, Dr. Arthur Coleman. Here is the very simple reason why she did that: she wanted to use the machine to switch bodies with Kirk. Why? So she could be a starship captain.

So, here we have an accomplished woman who has been through Starfleet and then became a scientist. She also worked alongside Kirk for about a year, during which time they had an affair that ended poorly. She was ambitious and smart, and by all accounts, she was competent. But Starfleet, as a rule, at least in the canon of TOS, did not make women starship captains. Janice Lester had a dream that was impossible to realize — until she discovered a way to take over a starship captain’s body. And that particular captain did her wrong, so he was a good target.