The cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation became a tight-knit crew after years on the acclaimed series, but the first season had some big hurdles. For instance, the Enterprise's original security chief, Lt. Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby), departed before the end of the show's inaugural outing. Tasha didn't get much to do during the series' premiere season, leaving Crosby frustrated. Gene Roddenberry would kill Tasha off in "Skin of Evil," after Crosby requested a departure. The actress left on friendly terms, and she eventually found a way back through clever use of Star Trek's alternate timelines -- and the Romulan Empire.
Crosby made a surprise return in the third season's "Yesterday's Enterprise." A sudden ripple in time alters the universe, leaving Guinan as the only person with a clue as to what's happened. Now the Enterprise-D is built for war, and the presence of an out-of-time Enterprise-C leaves everyone confused and dismayed. But at the tactical helm of Picard's grimmer command is Tasha Yar, and she eventually chooses a heroic death to spite the pointless one she's meant to suffer. In the end, only Guinan remembers what happened and the crew that Yar joins is presumed dead, their actions stopping a near-apocalyptic war with the Romulans.
Like the original Star Trek, The Next Generation was an anthological series, although changes in behavior or past events offered a sense of time. That meant there was no easy way to tell that "Yesterday's Enterprise" ended up planting the beginnings of a story arc. Crosby enjoyed her guest appearance and looked for more ways to return. According to James Van Hise's Trek: The Next Generation Crew Book, she pitched the original idea of a woman named Sela, who was raised by Romulans after her mother, the alternate history Tasha Yar, was captured and eventually killed by the Romulans.
The production team liked the idea but made some changes. The crew that Tasha Yar assists in "Yesterday's Enterprise" would be revealed to have survived the Romulan clash and been taken prisoner, as Crosby suggested. But in a darker twist, Sela would be half-Romulan, the daughter of an enemy general who took Tasha Yar as a barely-willing consort. Yar later attempted to escape with her daughter, but Sela's cries alerted the guards. With her mother's execution, Sela might have human traits, including her mother's light blonde hair, but she had chosen the Romulan way of life.
Sela first became a shadowy influence working against the Enterprise-D in Season 4's "The Mind's Eye." Voiced by an uncredited Denise Crosby, a female Romulan Commander oversees the Manchurian Candidate-style brainwashing of Geordi LaForge. Like the classic film, Geordi is urged to assassinate a Klingon politician. If the plot succeeds, relations will strain between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, creating an imbalance where the Romulans could thrive. The episode never fully unveils the Commander behind the plan, but she's not done trying to break the Klingons.
Two episodes after Geordi's brainwashing attempt, the Worf-centric two-parter "Redemption" brings Sela into the spotlight. The shock of seeing a Romulan that looks and sounds like Tasha pauses Picard, and it's only Guinan's memories of that alternate history that can verify that Sela's story about her origins is true. Tasha is dead twice over, and her daughter is a threat to the Federation. While her plans to use the Duras sisters, Lursa and B'tor, are ultimately stymied just before the finish line, Sela's not done yet.
Sela returned in Season 5 for another one of Next Generation's biggest two-parters, the Spock-centric and critically acclaimed "Unification" event. Attempting to turn Ambassador Spock's mission to end the hostilities between Vulcan and Romulus against itself and kick off her own invasion, Sela was again only foiled in the nick of time. A final showdown between Sela and Data leaves the Romulan commander unconscious via a Vulcan neck pinch, yet incapacitated enough to never return. It's another dangling thread of Star Trek history that deserves another tug.
The depth and variety of Romulan beliefs and appearances became a highlight of Picard's premiere season. Through Elnor and the sect of philosophical warrior women that raised him, audiences got a new look at the way Romulans were raised. By "Absolute Candor," Sela wasn't the only blonde Romulan, either. Yet, the fate of Sela is a mystery, one Picard might have room to answer. There's no hint of the show making its once-deadly opponent a priority, but with the dangers of Romulan Intelligence still fresh in Picard's mind and the weight of history looking to be a feature with new Season 2 teasers, it might be worth hoping that fans will see Commander Sela one more time.
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