Jeffrey Combs Shran was nearly a great regular for Star Trek: Enterprise

Had Star Trek: Enterprise had gotten a fifth season, iconic Trek actor Jeffrey Combs would’ve seen his character Shran upgraded to a regular.

Jeffrey Combs is known for many things. He was the voice of The Question on the iconic Justice League Unlimited cartoon. He played Weyoun on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and starred opposite of Michael J. Fox in the mid-1990’s black comedy classic The Frighteners. He’s beloved by the fanbase and for good reason. He’s always a scene-stealer no matter the role he plays. One of his best roles, however, was as Thy’lek Shran on Star Trek: Enterprise.

Shran was an Andorian commander, who had a natural distrust of the Vulcans, something that over the course of Enterprise was proven to be for good reason. Shran, however, was not as quick to react as his fellow soldiers, instead opting to put his trust in Captain Johnathan Archer on several different occurrences. Shran and the crew of the Enterprise would work together more and more as the series rolled on.

So it’s not surprising that the plan for season five was to put Shran on the Enterprise bridge more often in an Andorian advisor role or as an auxiliary officer, making him a regular character on the series. A move that would’ve made for some impressive television. Not only did Combs steal scenes like a world-famous cat burglar, but the prosthetics and special effects for Combs’ Andorian design were some of the best on the show, with his antenna even moving to help showcase and express Shran’s emotional disposition.

Had the plans for season five seen the light of day, then his role would’ve been most valuable as the main threat for the season was supposed to be the Romulans. One of the more feared and tenacious group of aliens in all of Star Trek, the move would’ve seen the military-minded Shran giving the Enterprise much needed help in the battle with the sly and calculating Romulans.

The entire fifth season sounds wonderful on paper, which included a mini-arch involving the mirror universe to boot. Yet, it’s Shran’s involvement that should make Star Trek fans disappointed the most about not getting a fifth season of Star Trek: Enterprise.