Star Trek: Strange New Worldsis finally makingStar Trek: Enterprisemore important. Originally airing from 2001 to 2005,Star Trek: Enterpriseattempted to beat franchise fatigue with a prequel series set earlier in theStar Trektimeline.Star Trek: Enterprisestarred Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer in command of the previously unknown NX-01 Enterprise in the 2150s.Archer was joined by new characters in crew positions that were already familiar toStar Trekfans,like Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda Park) handling communications, Chief Engineer Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer), and Ensign Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) at the helm.
AlthoughStar Trek: Enterprisefollowed a familiar format,Enterprise’s awkward position as aStar Trekprequel meant it had a hard time fitting intoStar Trek’s shared universe organically.Star Trek: The Next Generation,Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, andStar Trek: Voyagerbenefited from a shared timeline,Star Trekcharacter crossovers, and reverence forStar Trek: The Original Series.Star Trek: Enterprisecouldn’t easily reference series that took place later without shoehorning, and its characters couldn’t have been mentioned in shows that were produced earlier. Without the same success,Enterpriseisn’t remembered as fondly as earlier series.
Star Trek: Enterprise Got Long Awaited Respect From Strange New Worlds
Strange New Worlds Shows How Archer’s Enterprise Fits Into Star Trek’s History
Star Trek: Enterprisegot long-overdue respect fromStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 2, episode 7, “Those Old Scientists”. After being surprised by hero worship from 24th-century Ensigns Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid),Captain Christopher Pike’s (Anson Mount) Enterprise crew imagine meeting their 22nd-century heroes. Finding a piece of Archer’s Enterprise within Pike’s Enterprise, they discover Pike’s admiration for Captain Archer is matched by Ensign Nyota Uhura’s (Celia Rose Gooding) respect for Hoshi Sato, and Lieutenant Erica Ortegas' (Melissa Navia) appreciation for Travis Mayweather. Even the NX-01’s grapplers earn a nod.
1 Big Lesson Strange New Worlds’ Captain Pike Learned From Enterprise’s Archer
Captain Christopher Pike is a sociable Captain in Strange New Worlds and he must have emulated crew dinners from Archer on Star Trek: Enterprise.
The conversation givesStar Trek: Enterprisea historical context that wasn’t possible in earlierStar Trekshows. Instead of being the oft-forgotten characters of theStar Trekfranchise’s black sheep,the crew of Archer’s Enterprise are just as important to theStar Trek: Strange New Worldscharacters as the crew of Pike’s Enterprise are to Mariner and Boimler fromStar Trek: Lower Decks. That reverence speaks to just how significant the NX-01 and its crew are to theStar Trekuniverse, and always have been, even if they couldn’t have been referenced inStar Trek’s 1990s trifecta.
Why Scott Bakula’s Enterprise Is So Important To Star Trek
Star Trek: Enterprise Laid The Groundwork For Star Trek As We Know It
Scott Bakula’sStar Trek: Enterpriseis important toStar Trekbecause Archer’s Enterprise helpsStar Trek’s idealized future come into being.On humanity’s first warp-5 capable starship, the galaxy is a much larger place for Captain Archer, whose reckless optimism is as admirable as it is flawed. The rules that guideStar Trekcaptains, likeStarfleet’s Prime Directive, have yet to be invented—and Archer helps to invent them. Archer’s friendships with T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) and Thy’lek Shran (Jeffrey Combs) are a precursor to humans, Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites allying to form the United Federation of Planets.
The actors fromStar Trek: Enterprisehave yet to reprise their roles in canonStar Trekstories, but Connor Trinneer did return to voice Commander Trip Tucker for the “anything but canon” animatedStar Trek: very Short Treksepisode, “Holograms All The Way Down”.
As the audience whose first introduction toStar Trekmight have beenStar Trek: Enterpriseages into adulthood,it’s easier forStar Trekto retroactively build on the groundwork thatStar Trek: Enterpriselaid down. Far from beingStar Trek’s forgotten series,modernStar TrekreferencesStar Trek: Enterprisemore frequently than you might think. From casually mentioning Trip Tucker to revealing the profound effect of the Temporal Cold War,Star Trek: Strange New Worldsconfirms Captain Archer and the NX-01 crew’s place inStar Trek’s history as true pioneers worthy of respect.
