And not only is she Voyager‘s Spock, she’s actually the best Spock-type since Spock.
Yeah, the article’s writer was really grasping at straws with this one.
interesting read, and in fairness i skipped parts that pertained the episodes i haven’t seen yet (working my way through now), but i’m not sure i agree with the premise. B’Elanna is an outsider because she’s an academy dropout and maquis, but not because of her Klingon heritage- there are no aspects of being human she doesn’t understand and no one treats her differently than if she were fully human. take away the ridges and infrequent cultural mentions and she’s indistinguishable from a human with a slightly hot temper. she is a great character, but i think her appeal comes from the many ways she’s relatable moreso than the ultimately cosmetic ways she’s alien
I’d never considered Data to be an inversion, but rather, the analogous carryover from TOS. Much in the same way that Pulaski is seen as another Bones.
Regarding the main argument that B’Elanna is his relative equal at least has some teeth. For the most part, she rejects the need to have a particular connection to her Klingon or Human heritage. That part I actually like better then feeling obligated to being beholden to either… (cough, Worf, cough)…mi scusi. She draws upon both as needed, like in s6e14 “Prophecy”, where she goes along with the notion that her unborn child was to be heralded as the savior to a band of refugee Klingons. She’s an engineer at heart, and as such, is more pragmatic about what part her lineage plays in her life.
