Star Trek: Lower Decks has hinted at bringing in Star Trek: Enterprise characters, but let’s hope they don’t.
Star Trek: Lower Decks has developed a habit of bringing back past franchises and more popular characters to bolster their show. We can debate the reason why, but the fact is Lower Decks is now more known for its cameos from other characters than it is for its own characters or plots. And that seems to be the trend creator Mike McMahan wants to go in next season.
While we don’t know if the proposed season five will ever actually happen, Prodigy’s cancelation on Paramount+ proved that no show is safe, we do know that McMahan is already writing again for the fifth season. And he may have some big returns planned.
Speaking to TrekMovie.com, McMahan revealed that Enterprise may be represented on the show, with the series creator saying;
"It’s hard to get Enterprise. Because Enterprise is so proto, it’s so before TOS. It’s so tempting because it feels like TNG and that’s the world I play in and I love Enterprise. And that’s been the hardest, but I think in season 5 I figured out—if the deals work out, there is some Enterprise love in season 5. We are early enough so I could be wrong about that so tune in next year."
A Star Trek: Enterprise return needs to be handled with more sincerity
And listen, whether you like Lower Decks and its distancing from how Star Trek is usually presented, or not, is irrelevant. McMahan loves the franchise. It’s clear that he does. That said, his show is pretty much a joke about Trek at times, and that’s not what fans of Enterprise (myself included) want to see for the show.
The way Enterprise was canceled and subsequently wrapped up in a poor series finale means that if any aspect of the show were brought back, it’d have to be brought back with the utmost sincerity. That’s not Lower Deck’s bag.
It’s Strange New Worlds’, however, but even then if you’re going to bring Enterprise back, it should be in its own mini-series, so that the show can get the proper send-off it deserves and the cast can get one last go around with their characters.
Trip Tucker included.