Star Trek: Lower Decks got off to a bit of a rough start with the fandom. At first, it looked like a crasser version of Family Guy set in the Star Trek universe and existing only to take shots at the tropes and cliches of the property. Thankfully, the series majorly improved over its run, celebrating Star Trek rather than mocking it, and it became a favorite of fans.
In an interview with ScreenRant, Nana Visitor was told that because Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ended in 2375 and the Lower Decks episode she participated in was set during 2381. That meant, all told, her character, Kira Nerys, had been running the station for eight years, which is even longer than Captain Benjamin Sisko. Visitor responded by saying:
"That's right, and that feels right to me. I like that story that I was still there, because I think I would be. I think a major storyline would be between Jake Sisco and me. I would imagine that I remained a mentor to him."
Visitor reprised her role as Colonel Kira Nerys in the Lower Decks episode “Hear All, Trust Nothing.” The crew of the USS Cerritos stopped off at DS9 marking the first time the space station was seen in the franchise since Deep Space Nine left the airwaves in 1999.
It was a fun episode with Kira and Quark mingling with the crew. A great bit was how Kira and Cerritos security chief Shaxs had worked together in the Bajoran resistance, trying to one-up each other on who had saved whom.
When it comes to the Dominion War and the status of Bajor, fans could even believe that Bajor joined the Federation, particularly with several Bajorans in Starfleet. Visitor, however, has a slightly different idea. The actress said during the same sit-down:
"I think it's interesting too, and I think it's interesting if maybe they didn't [join the Federation], and just kept their independence, and they worked with the Federation from there."
The idea of Bajor staying independent does make sense. They saw firsthand how the Federation had more than its share of faults and politics interfering with affairs. There’s also how the Bajorans always had pride in doing things their own way. They didn’t spend years fighting for their freedom from Cardassia just to turn around and let some other government dictate laws to them.
We may have to wait for another Star Trek series to explore this idea and an entire show set on Bajor, and its struggles, which is very intriguing. As it is, Visitor’s words make fans appreciate Bajor and Kira even more to mark a classic Star Trek series.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Lower Decks are now streaming on Paramount+. And for more Star Trek content, visit the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.