Star Trek: Enterprise in season 4, concluding 18 years of executive producer Rick Berman's franchise stewardship that began with Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, there were plans in place for Star Trek: Enterprise season 5 from showrunner Manny Coto and the prequel series' creative team.
One of the biggest changes to Star Trek: Enterprise's legacy, if season 5 had happened, is that Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and his crew to mere holograms in Riker's story.
Star Trek: Enterprise's finale is reviled to this day, but if Star Trek: Enterprise season 5 had taken place, Enterprise season 4's ending would likely have set up the next season, and not killed off the popular Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) for shock value. From interviews given by the late Manny Coto, Enterprise writer Mike Sussman, and others on the show's creative team, there were three major story threads Star Trek: Enterprise season 5 would have delivered on, and it's a real shame that they didn't see the light of day.
Star Trek: Enterprise Season 5 Would Have Laid The Foundation For The Romulan War
We Know Little About Starfleet's Conflict With The Romulan Star Empire
One of Star Trek: Enterprise's prime directives was to show how Captain Archer's voyages leading the NX-01 Enterprise forged the crucial alliances that would result in the creation of the United Federation of Planets. The Federation's rise as a galactic power is something the Romulan Star Empire would have opposed. Star Trek: Enterprise season 4 established that the Romulans had infiltrated the Vulcan High Command and installed a puppet government led by V'Las (Robert Foxworth).
Star Trek: Enterprise’s 4 Seasons Ranked, Worst To Best
Star Trek: Enterprise changed a lot throughout its four seasons, but not every season of Scott Bakula's prequel series was equal.
The Romulan War, beginning or being waged in Star Trek: Enterprise season 5, would have delivered a Star Trek canon event that has yet to be seen. In "Balance of Terror," Spock (Leonard Nimoy) gave a brief rundown of the 22nd century conflict between Earth and the Romulans, which was fought with "primitive atomic weapons." Enterprise would likely have retconned this, and possibly also how no human had supposedly ever seen a Romulan before "Balance of Terror."
Todd Stashwick, who went on to become the popular Captain Liam Shaw in Star Trek: Picard season 3, played Talok, a Romulan operative posing as a Vulcan, in Star Trek: Enterprise season 4.
Making the Romulan threat even more personal, Star Trek: Enterprise writer Mike Sussman pitched the revelation that Subcommander T'Pol's (Jolene Blalock) unseen father would be unmasked as a Romulan. This would, of course, make T'Pol half-Romulan, to explain some of her character's divergences from the typically stoic portrayal of Vulcans. A half-Romulan T'Pol would have also manifested Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan's unrealized plan to make Lieutenant Saavik (Kirstie Alley) half-Romulan.
Star Trek: Enterprise Season 5 Would Have Returned To The Mirror Universe
Could William Shatner's Enterprise Appearance Have Happened In Season 5?
Star Trek: Enterprise season 4 showrunner Manny Coto was a fan of the Mirror Universe, which resulted in Enterprise season 4's two-parter, "In a Mirror, Darkly." Enterprise's romp in the evil alternate timeline answered the question of what happened to the Constitution Class USS Defiant, which vanished in Star Trek: The Original Series' "The Tholian Web." The Mirror Universe's Captain Archer hijacked the Defiant and tried to make a bid for ultimate power in the Terran Empire. However, Archer was betrayed by his mistress, who declared herself Empress Hoshi Sato (Linda Park).
Enterprise season 5 would have delivered the follow-up to Hoshi's rise as Terran Empress.
Manny Coto had plans for more Mirror Universe stories in Star Trek: Enterprise season 5. "In a Mirror, Darkly" took place entirely in the alternate reality, but Enterprise season 5 might have seen Captain Archer and the NX-01 Enterprise cross over from Star Trek's Prime timeline. Enterprise season 5 would have delivered the follow-up to Hoshi's rise as Terran Empress, which raised questions that Star Trek has left unanswered 20 years later.
38 Years Later, William Shatner’s Rejected Star Trek: Enterprise Appearance Would’ve Explained Kirk’s Mirror Universe Mystery Weapon
William Shatner didn't appear on Star Trek: Enterprise, but his rejected role would have also answered a Mirror Universe mystery from 1967.
Perhaps William Shatner's rejected Star Trek: Enterprise season 4 appearance playing Tiberius Kirk could have even happened in season 5, given that a renewal would have shown UPN had faith (of the heart) in its Star Trek prequel. In The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek by Peter Holmstrom, Coto believed UPN didn't want Enterprise to be saved by a William Shatner ratings boost. A scenario where Enterprise season 5 existed might have welcomed William Shatner to the Star Trek prequel, instead.
Shran Would Have ed Captain Archer's Crew In Star Trek: Enterprise Season 5
Jeffrey Combs Would Have Been Recurring Or A Series Regular
Another exciting development planned for Star Trek: Enterprise season 5 was that Commander Thy'lek Shran (Jeffrey Combs) would have ed the NX-01 Enterprise's crew, either as a recurring character or as a series regular. Star Trek: Enterprise's cast held at seven main characters for all four seasons, relatively one of the smallest in a Star Trek series. The addition of Shran not only would have raised that number but also placed a proven fan-favorite Jeffrey Combs Star Trek character on Captain Archer's bridge.
Shran might have inherited T'Pol's role of noting the strange and reckless behavior of the humans aboard Enterprise.
Captain Archer and Shran began on opposing sides, but as Star Trek: Enterprise continued, the Andorian Commander developed a respect for the "pink skin" human Captain of the Enterprise. Shran also would have injected a new alien presence to create conflict since, by Enterprise season 4, T'Pol had established her loyalty to Starfleet over Vulcan, and Archer's crew no longer saw her in a prejudicial way. Shran might have inherited T'Pol's role of noting the strange and reckless behavior of the humans aboard Enterprise.
Captain Archer Did 6 Amazing Things That Star Trek: Enterprise Didn’t Show
Star Trek: Enterprise only lasted four seasons, and audiences never got to see Captain Archer's accomplishments that happened after the NX-01.
Commander Shran in Star Trek: Enterprise season 5 could have marked the first time Jeffrey Combs became a series regular on a Star Trek show after distinguishing himself in numerous guest spots like Weyoun and Liquidator Brunt on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Star Trek: Enterprise season 5 never happening is a loss for the fans who were on board with Captain Archer's voyages on UPN and the next generation that came to love Star Trek: Enterprise in the two decades since its cancellation.
Source: The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek by Peter Holmstrom
Star Trek: Enterprise
- Release Date
- 2005 - 2005-00-00
- Showrunner
- Brannon Braga
- Directors
- Brannon Braga
Cast
John Billingsley
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Brannon Braga
- Franchise(s)
- Star Trek
- Creator(s)
- Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Gene Roddenberry
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