As heartbreaking as her Star Trek: The Next Generation death was, I'm glad Star Trek: Lower Decks chose not to resurrect this character. Throughout Star Trek: The Original Series, unnamed crew members were regularly killed on away missions to illustrate how dangerous the situation was for the main characters. This happened to red-shirt-wearing security officers so often that it became a trope referenced throughout popular culture. I appreciate that Star Trek: The Next Generation began to make Star Trek deaths matter.
Like many science fiction and fantasy properties, Star Trek has developed a habit of bringing characters back from the dead. I don't necessarily dislike this trope, as it can sometimes work well, like with Data (Brent Spiner) n Star Trek: Picard season 3, but it can also feel like a cheat. In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 15, "Lower Decks," Ensign Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill)was killed on her first real mission. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 finally connected the series back to the TNG episode that inspired its name, but I'm glad they didn't resurrect Stio Jaxa.
I’m Glad Star Trek: Lower Decks Didn’t Resurrect TNG’s Ensign Sito
Sito's TNG Death Meant Something
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 revealed that Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) attended Starfleet Academy with Sito Jaxa. I enjoyed seeing Sito's brief return via flashback in Lower Decks season 4's finale, "Old Friends, New Planets," and I'm glad the episode stopped there. While at Starfleet Academy, Sito had been a mentor and friend to Beckett Mariner and Mariner took her death particularly hard. Sito's death informed Mariner's tendency toward self-destructive behavior, as she never wanted to become a senior officer who would send ensigns to their deaths.
As Sito's Star Trek: The Next Generation death was never shown on screen, Star Trek: Lower Decks could have revealed she survived, but I'm glad the show chose to let her be. TNG's "Lower Decks" remains one of Star Trek's saddest episodes, as Sito died before her Starfleet career truly began, highlighting the dangers of life in Starfleet. The tragedy of it all is what makes "Lower Decks" such a powerful episode. While Lower Decks could likely have found a way to make Sito's return work, it would have lessened the impact of TNG's original "Lower Decks" and changed Mariner as a character.
Sito Being Alive Would Have Created Questions Star Trek Can’t Answer
Where Had Sito Been All That Time?
Sito Jaxa's return in Star Trek: Lower Decks would have raised a lot of complicated questions. Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Lower Decks" took place around 2370, while Star Trek: Lower Decks' season 4 finale took place around 2381, leaving eleven years unaccounted for. Sito's escape pod was reported destroyed while she was on a covert mission to Cardassian space. If she had survived, she would likely have been captured by Cardassians. I would not wish that fate on anyone, and it would have been unnecessarily cruel to heap more suffering on top of Sito's character.
Shannon Fill returned to voice Sito in Star Trek: Lower Decks' flashbacks.
Star Trek: Lower Decks would have had to devote time to explaining where Sito was all that time. What had she been doing during the Dominion War, for example, and why did she never contact Starfleet? If there had been any evidence that Sito had survived, Starfleet would have searched for her. Plus, Starfleet would likely have heard something during the Dominion War if Sito had been a prisoner of the Cardassians. While I would have been happy to see Sito alive again, her surprise survival would have raised too many complicated questions and undermined an excellent episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
