LogFAQs > #884898614

#58. Harry Kim

I'm not gonna lie, the reason my momentum has completely stopped is that I'm having trouble even thinking of anything to say about Harry Kim. Garrett Wang has some good moments here and there, but Harry Kim is a character who's almost exclusively defined by the people around him, making the episodes where he's the central focus... not very good, generally. Hell, one of his most memorable moments in the whole series is in the excellent “Deadlock,” where he gets replaced by a Harry Kim from another universe and it never gets mentioned again. Pretty hilarious, but doesn't do much for the argument that Harry Kim adds that much to the show. Some of his actual feature episodes are truly awful, too – remember that time he was abducted by a race of sex ladies who claim he's their long lost “Favorite Son”? Or how about that long list of ill-advised romances that Tom Paris brings up every chance he gets once we get a few seasons in. He fell in love with a hologram, the wrong twin, a Borg... I remember this specifically because Tom Paris won't shut up about it.

And there's the other problem. Sometimes it seems like Harry Kim's only reason for existing is to give Tom Paris a bromance. This guy enables Tom Paris to get screen time – a definite negative. Their missions together tend to also be among the bottom-of-the-barrel hours of the show (although, credit where credit's due, there is actually one good example of a Tom/Harry bromance episode in Season 3's “The Chute”. But wow, when I have to point out the one episode where something works... that's a good sign that it doesn't work in the long run).

He seemed to finally find a bit of an upward trajectory in the last couple seasons. Not that he got that much more of a spotlight or anything like that, but Garrett Wang's performance starts to really shine through – especially in the final scene of the series finale, where he brings tears to my eyes by having tears in his eyes. His crush on Seven of Nine also leads to some pretty funny moments. In large part, though, Harry Kim is kinda like Travis Mayweather – a charater that, through seven seasons, never lived up to his potential. Hell, he never made it past ensign for the entire series run. Even Tom made it past ensign. Twice.

Best Episode: Deadlock (lol)
Worst Episode: Favorite Son

PS: Though I do like the episode “Timeless” and it's almost certainly Harry's best feature episode, it also has too much Chakotay for my tastes so I can't call it one of my favorites in good conscience, hence why it didn't get mentioned. Shout-out to Old Harry, though!