Throughout the history of Star Trek, two rules have always been the key for each and every show. Have a captain, and have a ship. That has adjusted, slightly with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. After all, Benjamin Sisko started off as a commander and they were on a space station. But, it's close enough. Every show after has followed the same path, until Star Trek: Discovery.
There, the main character was an insurrectionist, but hey, they had a ship. And like Sisko in Deep Space Nine, the main character of Discovery (Michael Burnham) eventually became a captain. Ok, so things are roughly the same.
Then, enter Lower Decks, who turned the whole thing upside down. Gone were the focus on the senior officers, the true heartbeat of the ship, and the brains that make things fly. In were, well, not them. Less impressive officers are goofing around and doing very little in reality to help things move forward.
Also gone, the bridge. We saw it from time to time, and we saw several Federation ship's bridges as well. Yet, it was never the true focus of the show, at least, until now. In the latest episode from Lower Decks, entitled, "Upper Decks", we finally see the goings-on of the bridge crew. The secondary characters, who would usually be the main characters in any other show, took center stage.
Something Jerry O'Connell was very happy about. Playing the wise-cracking, jocky-like commander Jack Ransom, O'Connell has stolen so many scenes in the show but always as a secondary character. Well, in "Upper Decks" he got a chance to shine, a chance he was all to happy to have. Speaking with the All Access Star Trek podcast (via TrekMove.com), O'Connell gushes about having the spotlight on the bridge crew, saying;
"I thought, ‘Finally we’re getting on the bridge!’ It’s been it’s about time. I know the show is called Lower Decks, but let’s be real. Star Trek is all about what goes on on the bridge. That’s where the real decisions are made. That’s where the grown-ups are… I understand Lower Decks is about the shenanigans that happen in the lower decks—by the way, they have to sleep like four to a bunk whatevs. Get us to the bridge. That’s what it’s all about."
In a way, I'd like to see what O'Connell could do in a live-action show as Ransom. He's clearly a fan of the franchise, and he's aware of the history and lore that surrounds the significance of the bridge crew. Not to mention it's a family affair for O'Connell. His wife, co-stars on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. She is of course Rebecca Romijn and she plays Una Chin-Riley, a featured and standout character on the show.
It'd be great to see what O'Connell could do in a more live-action sense, and considering we've already seen members of his cast appear on Strange New Worlds, why not him as well?