11 Years Later, Scott Bakula's Enterprise Paid Off A Riker Reference From Star Trek: The Next Generation

After it aired in 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation ushered in a golden age for the franchise as a whole, paving the way for follow-up shows like Star Trek: Enterprise. From the late 80s through the early 2000s, Star Trek TV series were consistently airing, and, as the title of the show suggests, introducing the next generation of fans to Star Trek as a franchise. Even now, almost 40 years after The Next Generation first aired, modern shows like Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Prodigy are still built on references to that era of Star Trek.

Part of what made that era of Trek so iconic was the shows’ ability to reference each other and include crossovers. Once The Next Generation ended, for example, Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) transferred to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Similarly, Star Trek: Voyager began by referencing events from Deep Space Nine. But perhaps the best references were the subtle connections that made the universe of Star Trek feel more real and connected. Since Enterprise was a prequel show, it had the opportunity to show the history of all the events shows like The Next Generation could take for granted.

Enterprise Paid Off Star Trek: TNG’s Archer IV Reference 11 Years Later

That Reference Connects The Two Shows Even Though They Released Separately

Despite the fact that The Next Generation finished airing in 1994, 7 years before Enterprise, the prequel show was nevertheless able to pay off references from The Next Generation. In season 3 of The Next Generation, the episode "Yesterday's Enterprise" takes place mostly in an alternate timeline, where the Federation is at war with the Klingon Empire. In that timeline, Lt. Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) comments that the Klingons, "shouldn't be so confident after the pasting we gave them on Archer IV."

This single line of dialogue was presumably a throw-away line at the time, but it ended up being the first reference to Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) in Star Trek. “Yesterday’s Enterprise” aired in 1990. 11 years later in 2001, Enterprise introduced the planet Archer IV and revealed its connection to the captain in the season 1 episode "Strange New World."

In "Strange New World," Archer IV was the first M-class planet that the USS Enterprise encountered, so naming it after Captain Archer was clearly meant to honor the long-time Captain's contribution to Starfleet. By revealing the backstory for Archer IV, Enterprise built up a clear connection to earlier Star Trek shows. Even though the timeline of our reality made it impossible for The Next Generation to consciously reference Enterprise, moments like this made it clear that the two shows were, in fact, connected. It also reveals that even after Enterprise, Captain Archer was honored by the Federation he helped to found.

Enterprise’s Captain Archer Has 2 Star Trek Planets Named After Him

An Honor No Other Captain Shares

But Archer IV is not the only planet named after Captain Jonathan Archer. There is also a planet in the Gamma Trianguli sector named after Captain Archer: Archer's Planet. But Archer's Planet has a more nebulous Star Trek origin than Archer IV. Near the end of season 4 of Enterprise, the Mirror-Universe version of Captain Archer reads Prime-Universe Archer's Starfleet biography, which mentions Archer's Planet as the second planet named after the famous Captain. (Although the fact that it's called Archer IV does raise questions about potential Archers I, II, and III.)

The Federation has never forgotten Captain Archer's contributions.

Captain Archer's two eponymous planets are an honor unmatched in the rest of Star Trek. Despite how long Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) served Starfleet, and despite Captain James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) heroism in Star Trek: The Original Series, neither of them has even one planet named after them, let alone two. Captain Archer's honor means that even if Star Trek: Enterprise came out after Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Federation has never forgotten Captain Archer's contributions.