Harry Groener

Production Report: Peter Weller Stars in "Demons"

SPOILER ALERT!!!

RoboCop himself has blasted his way into the Star Trek universe. For the third-to-last episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, Peter Weller plays the heavy in a two-part story showing that humanity’s final obstacle to the future is humanity itself.

The episode is called "Demons," written by Manny Coto and directed by LeVar Burton (part 2 is called "Terra Prime," in production now). In the story, Enterprise and her crew are back home on Earth (for what - the third time this year?) to take part in talks with delegates of several other worlds to form a new "Coalition of Planets." During a formal assembly at Starfleet Command, a mortally wounded woman approaches T’Pol with evidence of a startling secret. Investigation of this evidence and the woman unveils the dangerous plans of a human isolationist movement called Terra Prime, which is based at a mining colony on the Moon called Orpheus.

In a recent STARTREK.COM interview, Coto explained that the title of the episode "refers to our own personal demons. Humanity is having one last hurdle to overcome in forming the Federation; in fact we find that the last hurdle isn’t going to come from Romulans, it isn’t going to come from Klingons, it comes from our own last vestiges of intolerance. There is a charismatic leader on Earth who is opposed to the forming of the Federation - who is a student of history and is taking his lessons from Colonel Green - who will be played by Peter Weller. Who, by the way, is perfect for this part."

The character played by Weller is named "John Frederick Paxton," who is formulating his scheme from the lunar mining colony (not Earth, specifically). Weller is certainly a favorite among genre fans, having achieved stardom from his title roles in "RoboCop" and "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension," along with "Naked Lunch" and numerous other credits. But his part on Enterprise probably has something to do with the fact that he starred in Odyssey 5, a Manny Coto creation.

Playing "Nathan Samuels," an Earth dignitary leading the coalition talks who is rather full of himself, is Harry Groener, another familiar face in genre fare including Star Trek. Groener was the Betazoid "Tam Elbrun" in The Next Generation’s "Tin Man"; he also appeared as the "Magistrate" in Voyager’s "Sacred Ground." One of his most memorable roles was that of the evil mayor of Sunnydale in the third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - the one who, on Graduation Day, turned into a giant snake and ate Armin Shimerman.

This Friday we will meet the shady character "Harris" (in "Affliction," returning next week in "Divergence"), played by Eric Pierpoint. He will reprise that role in "Demons." Another Enterprise alumnus in this show is Tom Bergeron, the Hollywood Squares host who appeared in "Oasis" as "D’Marr." Here he plays a "Coridan Ambassador."

Principal photography on "Demons" went the usual seven days, from Friday, February 4, through last Monday, Valentine’s Day. While Marvin Rush was shooting an extra day on "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" (related story), LeVar Burton started on "Demons" - with Doug Knapp serving as director of photography - doing scenes involving Anthony Montgomery as "Travis Mayweather" and an old flame who is a reporter at the conference, played by Johanna Watts.

The second day of the schedule also had overlaps with previous episodes. After eight hours of shooting in the Conference Room set on Stage 8 for "Demons," the company moved to the Bridge set on Stage 18 to greet the three green girls from "Bound" (related story), whereupon they spent four more hours doing re-shoots of the climactic scene of that show. Meanwhile on another soundstage, visual effects supervisor Dan Curry was directing numerous last-minute inserts for "Affliction" and "Divergence." Mostly these were angles on screens and monitors, utilizing hand doubles (human and Klingon) and stand-ins, though Connor Trinneer did take part in one visual effects shot.

After three days of shooting on the usual ship sets - Bridge, Sickbay, etc. - Burton and company moved into the standing cave sets of Stage 9, which had been white for several weeks since shooting of "The Aenar," but now they were painted gray to depict the tunnels and caves of the Orpheus lunar mining complex. Another swing set built on Stage 8 was the Orpheus Control Center, and those locations totaled another three days.

On Friday, Feb. 11, Scott Bakula had a rare day off from filming but came to the lot anyway to grant STARTREK.COM users a live chat in our offices (see related link below). During the chat he received a surprise visit from his own publicist, Jay Schwartz, who, unbeknownst to Scott, was working as a background extra on the moon-cave sets that day. Jay was costumed as a miner, with his face smudged by "lunar dust."

There was one exterior location in this schedule, but it was only a few steps away from the Star Trek soundstages. Reed meets Harris in an alleyway by the San Francisco bay, and that alley was depicted in Paramount’s Wood Mill - which is already adorned with a variety of Starfleet signs and logos from past shows, though they were not included in the shots. (This location was also used in Deep Space Nine’s "Little Green Men.") Optical effects in post-production will add in the view of Starfleet Command and the 22nd-century Frisco skyline.

Production climaxed on Day 7 of the schedule, last Monday, when the company took over the Paramount Theater, the same venue where Enterprise has held all its premieres, including "Broken Bow" in 2001 and "Storm Front" last year (along with many other Trek-related screenings over the years). Now instead of hosting a post-screening reception, the theater’s lobby served as the Assembly Hall of Starfleet Command where the interstellar conference takes place. This beautiful set (see pictures on left) was occupied by quite the contingent of humans and aliens. A couple of dozen extra makeup artists, hair stylists and costumers were hired to help fill the set with Andorians, Tellarites, Vulcans, Denobulans, Rigellians (first shown in "Affliction"), and a few new species. The human extras consisted of four reporters (aside from Johanna Watts) and several "Starfleet Brass." One of the admirals in dress uniform is Steve D’Errico, one of the most durable faces on the Star Trek sets for years. He and working partner Lazard ("L.Z.") Ward comprise the security team guarding the sets and actor trailers for Enterprise, and before that, Voyager. You might have seen Steve at the Grand Slam conventions in Pasadena, taunting his actor friends on stage.

Shooting at the Paramount Theater stretched into Tuesday, for both this episode, #96, and Day 1 of "Terra Prime." In addition, the teaser of "Demons," taking place in a "Secret Facility" set on Stage 9, was shot on Tuesday before production of #97 commenced.

One question probably on your mind is, do we see Colonel Green in this episode, and if so, who’s playing him? Colonel Green, as a reminder, was introduced in "The Savage Curtain" in the Original Series, played by Phillip Pine, as a notorious historical figure who led a genocidal war on 21st-century Earth. Weller’s Paxton gains inspiration for his cause from archival footage of Green making a speech - so yes, the character is seen on a monitor. However, that footage has not been shot yet, and as far as we know, the part has not yet been cast. On set for that scene with Weller, a greenscreen was placed on the monitor for insertion of that footage later.

This is the second episode of the season for director Burton, who last took the reins on "The Augments." He managed to finish this production just in time to celebrate his birthday, which was this past Wednesday.

"Demons" is tentatively set to air April 29, with "Terra Prime" scheduled for May 6 and the season finale on May 13. Watch Episode Detail for updates.

At this time, the airdate schedule from UPN remains largely the same as previously reported, with one minor change: After "Divergence" airs next week, Enterprise will be pre-empted the following Friday, March 4. That weekend, though, the third-season "Hatchery" will be available to UPN affiliates to air per their local schedules.

The following Friday, March 11, "The Forge" will repeat, with another rerun the week after (probably "Awakening," but that’s not official yet). Then "Bound" will air on March 25, followed by two more weeks of reruns. The final five new episodes will commence on April 15 with "In a Mirror, Darkly." All scheduling information is subject to change.