10 Star Trek Characters With Wasted Potential

At first a non-comm and Kirk's yeoman, and later shown to be a (lieutenant) commander in Voyager's Flashback, Janice Rand was a fundamental part of Star Trek before The Original Series had even aired. Conceived by Gene Roddenberry to play more of a "trusted advisor" role for Kirk, actress Grace Lee Whitney appeared as Rand in a good deal of promotional material for the show, alongside Kirk and Spock. She was set to be a regular, recurring character, featuring far more prominently in TOS than was finally the case.

As the series began, Rand's role was reduced or written out of more and more episodes – she was supposed have more scenes in The Corbomite Maneuver and to have a part in Mudd's Women, Court Martial, and The Galileo Seven, for example. The character was completely dropped after merely eight episodes. Rand's last appearance in TOS was a fleeting, wordless moment in The Conscience of the King. Officially speaking, the reasons for the character's exit were 'budgetary' and the network's wish to see Kirk have his 'conquest of the week,' at the expense of his budding relationship with Rand.

Unfortunately, Rand's (forced) departure took a severe toll on Whitney's mental health, and the actor fell further into alcohol addiction. In her autobiography The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, Whitney also discussed the terrible sexual assault she suffered at the hands of an unnamed Star Trek executive.

Later, Whitney would go on to help others struggling with addiction problems and was popular at Star Trek conventions. Roddenberry also called Rand's departure from TOS "the dumbest mistake". The character then appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and in the Voyager episode mentioned above. In theory, Rand was also in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, although Whitney was only credited as "Woman in Cafeteria". Her cameo in that film was made at the request of director Leonard Nimoy. Whitney would also reprise the role in Star Trek fan productions, proving there was a demand for this once woefully wasted character.