George Primmin

Species:	Human
Affiliation:	Starfleet Security
Rank:	Lieutenant
Status:	Active (2369)
Played by:	James Lashly

George Primmin was a Human male who served as a Starfleet security officer during the late-24th century.

Starfleet career

Primmin became a security officer in 2363. (DS9: "Move Along Home")

As a Lieutenant, in 2369, he was assigned to the Bajoran space station Deep Space 9 to ensure a deuridium shipment from the Gamma Quadrant passed through the station safely. Constable Odo, the station's Bajoran security chief, took Primmin's assignment there as an insult, believing Starfleet had no faith in his abilities. The Constable initially offered his resignation because of the issue, but soon came to respect Primmin after the Starfleet officer discovered a subspace crossover shunt, placed there by the Kobliad criminal scientist Rao Vantika. Had the device been activated, it would have crippled the station for close to an hour, thereby giving Vantika time to steal the deuridium shipment. (DS9: "The Passenger")

Shortly after these events, Primmin was the only senior officer left after the Wadi transported Sisko, Dax, Bashir, and Kira into Chula, one of their game environments. Primmin initially thought that the senior staff partied with the Wadi all night, until Odo alarmed him and ordered Primmin to sweep the station to locate them. (DS9: "Move Along Home")

Primmin left the station shortly after this incident. (DS9: "The Nagus", "Vortex", "Battle Lines" et al.)

Memorable quotes

"It's not the way they taught us at the Academy, is it, sir. If you want my opinion."
"Actually, I don't. You and I are guests of the Bajorans, Lieutenant. You don't have to forget what you learned at the Academy, you just don't throw it in anyone's face here. If you're really smart, you might even learn a few new things about station security from our Constable. Clear?"
"Very clear, sir."

- George Primmin and Benjamin Sisko, of Odo's security methods (DS9: "The Passenger")

"What the hell are you doing in there? I told you to sweep the docking bay again."
"I took a cue from you."

- Odo and George Primmin, on discovering Vantika's sabotage (DS9: "The Passenger")

"How long have you been a security officer, Lieutenant?"
"Six years. Why?"
"Lost many Commanders?"
"Lost?"
"Because you've lost one now. Sisko's off the station, missing. All of the senior officers may be missing. I want a sweep of this station, and if the others are missing too, I want to know the last time anybody saw them. I'm going to contact all ships that have departed since last night. Understood?"
"Yes, Constable."

- Odo and George Primmin (DS9: "Move Along Home")

"I think we better go take a look."
"No, wait a minute, Odo. You can't just go storming onto their ship without their permission."
"Oh, is that Starfleet policy?"
"That's right."
"Well, I'm not in Starfleet. Set the coordinates to midway down the second deck corridor. Is it against Starfleet rules to press a few buttons?"
"Energising."

- Odo and George Primmin (DS9: "Move Along Home")

Appendices

Background information

The invention of the Primmin character came about because Colm Meaney was about to become absent, unable to appear as Chief Miles O'Brien. Michael Piller noted, "We had always talked about this Primmin character because Colm was going away to do a movie." (The Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Magazine, Vol. 3, p. 12) Robert Hewitt Wolfe recalled, "We needed someone there for people to talk to, and we wanted to show what the chain of command was, as far as station security is concerned. The Primmin story did that." ("Robert Hewitt Wolfe - Writer/story editor", The Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Magazine, Vol. 8)

The script for "The Passenger" states the pronunciation of Primmin's name as "PRIH-muhn". It goes on to describe him as, "a Starfleet security officer in his mid-thirties. He has a friendly face, an easygoing smile and a passing resemblance to a teddy bear." This would put Primmin's year of birth around 2334. [1]

Primmin became a suspect in "The Passenger" while the episode was being written. "What we didn't realize, until I started going into my rewrites, was that Primmin would be a good red herring," said Michael Piller. (The Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Magazine, Vol. 3, p. 12)

Primmin was played by actor James Lashly.

Primmin was included in "Move Along Home" as Colm Meaney remained unavailable, still filming a movie. Following the making of "Move Along Home", Robert Hewitt Wolfe stated about Primmin, "I like that character. He's sort of the good ol' boy. I don't know if he'll be back; we have no plans to do so right now." ("Robert Hewitt Wolfe - Writer/story editor", The Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Magazine, Vol. 8)

Though Primmin only appeared in two episodes of Deep Space Nine's first season and was not seen again during the series' run, a similar character, Michael Eddington, later debuted in season three premiere "The Search, Part I" and became a recurring character. Eddington was another Starfleet security officer, and Odo initially had the same reaction to him as he does to Primmin in "The Passenger".

In his review of "The Passenger", Star Trek author Keith R.A. DeCandido wrote that he would have liked to have seen more of Primmin in future episodes, particularly in relation to the conflict with Odo, and also thought the character was, "the only compelling element of a very run-of-the-mill plot." [2]

Apocrypha

In the Pocket DS9 novel The Big Game, Starfleet posts a communique for a Human fugitive named L'sthwan which Primmin then briefs to Odo. Though the communique is very vague, the crew of Deep Space 9 become concerned that L'sthwan might be on the station when a Romulan female who had arrived to play in The First Annual Deep Space Nine Poker Tournament is murdered while in a practice poker session. Despite Primmin's objections, Odo participates in the game, and is able to capture L'sthwan. Following this, Odo asks Primmin to guard him in the station's brig.

Primmin's mirror universe counterpart is also mentioned as being a member of the Terran Rebellion in the novella "Saturn's Children".

External links

• [3]
• George Primmin at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works