In the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “The Enemy” (November 6, 1989), the Enterprise investigates a crashed Romulan vessel on a radioactive, storm-wracked planet called Galorndon Core. Several Enterprise crew-members are able to beam down and rescue one Romulan survivor, but the storms and radiation prevent everyone from returning. Geordi (LeVar Burton) is left behind, as is a second Romulan survivor named Bochra (John Snyder). At first, the injured Bochra claims Geordi as his hostage, but Geordi explains that the radiation will soon make them sick and that it would be wiser for them to work together to escape. 

The bulk of “The Enemy” is devoted to their rescue. Up in orbit, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) has to do some clever negotiating with a Romulan Commander (Andrea Katsulas), while Geordi and Bochra find ways to survive below. It’s an okay episode. 

It seems, though, that it was meant to be much more interesting. In the original draft of the script (credited to writers David Kemper and Michael Piller), it seems that both Geordi and Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) were supposed to be stranded on Galorndon Core with Bochra. The idea was that the radiation interfered with Geordi’s VISOR, rendering him blind, leaving (the mysteriously British) Deanna Troi to command the mission. Not only that, but the ordinarily collected and emotionally in-touch Troi was going to have a badass fight scene wherein she would incapacitate Bochra. Sadly, through the usual re-writing process, Troi’s part was cut, and Geordi and Bochra were left alone. 

In the oral history book “The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J.J. Abrams,” edited by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, Sirtis expressed some disappointment that her character was axed from “The Enemy.” The actress confessed that she was looking forward to kicking some butt.

It should be recalled that Troi wasn’t often given stories of her own on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” She typically served as a consultant and personal therapist to Captain Picard, and offered a compassionate viewpoint during staff meetings. It’s a pity that Troi rarely had a chance to be a supra-diplomat in desperate circumstances, as her empathic abilities certainly would have aided her during touchy negotiations. At the very least, Troi could have appeared in an epilogue for every single episode, asking other characters what they might have learned that day. 

Even rarer was when Troi got to kick butt. She wasn’t a very aggressive character, so she rarely got to ball up her fists and get into a fight like, say, Worf (Michael Dorn). “The Enemy” was supposed to be her chance. Not only would she lead Galorndon Core scenes, but would get to hit a guy. Sadly, the script was changed at the last minute, and Sirtis was understandably bummed. She said:

“In the original draft of ‘The Enemy,’ which I happened to read, it was Troi and Geordi stranded on the planet, and because Geordi was blinded by the electromagnetics preventing his VISOR from working, when we came across the Romulan, it was actually Troi who incapacitated him. I felt very excited about this. I finally got to do something interesting and different and, of course, when the final script came, not only was I not on the planet, but I had one line at the end of the show … and that was actually cut.”

Script alterations of this nature were evidently common on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” with major last-minute re-writes being turned in all the time. Troi had a chance to star in an episode in a command capacity — and she got to throw a punch — but it was all nixed for one reason or another. 

She eventually got a chance to do a stunt years later, although she injured her coccyx in the process.