Of All Star Trek's Major Character Deaths, This Is The One That Really Made Me Go "WTF?"

Out of all the character deaths in Star Trek, there's one that's always made me go "WTF?" more than all the others. When Star Trek gets it right, killing off a beloved character is poignant and heartbreaking — after all, who among us hasn't shed a tear at Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) noble sacrifice at the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan? But Star Trek is also guilty of killing characters for pointless behind-the-scenes reasons, like Lieutenant Tasha Yar's (Denise Crosby) death in Star Trek: The Next Generation or Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax's (Terry Farrell) senseless murder in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

One of the worst series finales in Star Trek is that of Star Trek: Enterprise, "These Are the Voyages," which ended the 22nd-century adventures of Captain Jonathan Archer's (Scott Bakula) NX-01 Enterprise crew in its fourth season. It's framed as a Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) holodeck adventure during The Next Generation, so these aren't even the real versions of Enterprise's characters. But I think the most mind-boggling part of the Enterprise finale is the completely random death of Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer).

Trip Tucker's Death Was The Most Pointless & Confusing In Star Trek

Star Trek Has Not Been Able To Recontextualize Trip's Death

Trip Tucker's death has to be the most confusing and pointless death in all of Star Trek because it means nothing. Trip doesn't die to sacrifice himself for a noble cause, or even to prove the might of a powerful enemy. No, Trip dies because he willingly causes a plasma explosion to keep alien intruders from getting hold of Shran (Jeffrey Combs) and his daughter, Talla (Jasmine Anthony). After the explosion, Trip's body is carted off to sickbay. It's a bizarre scene that plays out like it's tacked on... especially because Shran and Talla aren't even there.

Worst of all, Trip's death remains unaddressed, because it happened in Enterprise's series finale. Tasha Yar died in The Next Generation season 1, so there was plenty of time to rectify it, and TNG made good on that by giving Tasha a fitting end in "Yesterday's Enterprise." Dax's death has an impact on DS9 season 7, with characters mourning; and Dax lives on through Ezri Dax (Nicole de Boer). Even Lt. Commander Data's (Brent Spiner) Star Trek: Nemesis death was recontextualized in Star Trek: Picard. But Trip Tucker hasn't been so lucky.

Is It Possible That A Future Star Trek Series Could Resurrect Trip?

Commander Trip Tucker Might Not Really Be Dead

If modern Star Trek revisits the Enterprise era, it's possible Trip Tucker could join the list of Star Trek characters who have been resurrected. Trek tech boasts plenty of ways to bring characters back to life — but the key to Trip's survival might be in Star Trek: Voyager, which used Borg nanoprobes to bring Neelix (Ethan Phillips) back. Enterprise's Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley), known for collecting unconventional medical treatments, encounters nanoprobes in SEnterprise season 2, episode 23, "Regeneration." A dose of nanoprobes might be all Trip needs to recover after a stint in Enterprise's imaging chamber.

But the best way to "resurrect" Trip Tucker would be to reveal that Trip never died at all. One convincing Star Trek theory posits that the events of Enterprise's finale didn't actually happen as portrayed, because "These Are the Voyages" was one of Riker's holodeck programs. If that's the case, Trip could be alive and well, like the version of Trip that lived a long, happy life with an alternate universe's T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) in Star Trek: Lower Decks. Ironically, the very thing that made this Star Trek finale so reviled could also actually save the episode.