Although Star Trek: Enterprise creatively hit its stride in season 4 under showrunner Manny Coto, the writing was on the wall for the first Star Trek prequel series. Enterprise's producers, cast, and crew learned the series was canceled during the production of "In a Mirror, Darkly," Enterprise's two-part saga set in the Mirror Universe. This meant there were only 3 episodes left in Star Trek: Enterprise's 22-episode season 4 order to wrap up the series, which was gradually building toward depicting the founding of the United Federation of Planets.
Star Trek: Enterprise's executive producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga's solution to how to end the series was novel, to say the least. Intended as a "Valentine to Star Trek fans," Star Trek: Enterprise's series finale, "These Are The Voyages..." backfired badly with audiences, and even the cast of Star Trek: Enterprise, hating the final episode. After all, Enterprise's finale wasn't about Star Trek: Enterprise's characters at all... it was really about Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Commander Riker's Star Trek: The Next Generation Dilemma In Star Trek: Enterprise's Finale Explained
Riker Consulted Enterprise's Crew In The Holodeck On Troi's Advice
Star Trek: Enterprise's series finale, "These Are The Voyages..." takes place within Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 12, "The Pegasus." All of the scenes involving Commander Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) happen during "The Pegasus," and the conceit is Riker, following Troi's advice, consulting the holographic record of the NX-01 Enterprise crew's final mission together. By watching Captain Archer and his crew, Riker sought clarity about whether he should tell Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) the truth about the USS Pegasus.
In Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The Pegasus," Riker's former commanding officer, Admiral Erik Pressman (Terry O'Quinn), comes aboard the USS Enterprise-D for a mission to locate the missing USS Pegasus. Ensign Riker served aboard the Pegasus and was one of the few survivors when the crew mutinied. But Riker knew the truth Pressman was hiding from Picard: the Pegasus housed an illegal cloaking device that violates the Treaty of Algernon with the Romulans. Ultimately, Riker told Picard the truth, and Admiral Pressman was arrested.
Enterprise ultimately inspired Riker to do the right thing.
Star Trek: Enterprise's Final Mission Was Rescuing Shran's Daughter
Enterprise Had To Return To Earth For The Founding Of The Federation
The holographic scenes of the NX-01 Enterprise in Star Trek: Enterprise's series finale were set in 2161, 10 years after the NX-01 Enterprise launched, and six years after Enterprise's penultimate episode, "Terra Prime." Commander Riker witnessed Captain Archer's final mission, which was a detour from the course to Earth, where Archer was to give a speech during the signing of the charter that would give birth to the United Federation of Planets.
If Star Trek: Enterprise season 5 had happened, Jeffrey Combs' Shran would have joined Captain Archer's Enterprise crew as a recurring character or a series regular.
However, the aliens caught up to and boarded the NX-01 looking for Shran and his daughter. To save Captain Archer's life, Commander Trip Tucker tricked the aliens by setting off an explosion that killed the intruders and himself. Trip sacrificed his life so that Archer could attend the founding of the Federation, knowing how important his Captain is to the new coalition of planets. Thanks to Trip, Enterprise did make it to Earth on time, and Archer gave his speech that would set the Federation into motion.
Why Star Trek: Enterprise Killed Off Commander Trip Tucker
Killing Trip Was A Big Mistake
Once the die was cast regarding the creative direction of Star Trek: Enterprise's finale, the decision was made to kill off one of Enterprise's main characters: Commander Trip Tucker. According to executive producer Brannon Braga when he was interviewed on The Shuttlepod Show in 2022, Trip was chosen because he "would be the most heartbreaking character" for fans. Read Braga's quote below:
He didn’t [have to die]… He just… would be the most heartbreaking character to kill off in some way. But I don’t remember why [we wanted to kill Trip off]... I don’t think killing Trip was necessary. To answer the question, I don’t think it had the impact we intended, and I don’t think it was necessary.
In hindsight, Brannon Braga agreed with the fan uproar regarding Trip's unceremonious death. Trip's demise comes out of left field, and it was played for shock value in an episode already based around an unwelcome premise that Enterprise's finale would be about Riker and not Captain Archer's crew. Braga and Rick Berman have since claimed that if Star Trek: Enterprise season 5 had happened, they would have brought back Trip, which would have been easy since Trip's death happens 6 years in the future from where "Terra Prime" left Enterprise.
What Were Star Trek's Producers Thinking By Making Enterprise's Finale About Riker?
Enterprise's Finale Was A Way To Show The Founding Of The Federation
Star Trek: Enterprise's executive producers went into the series finale without ill intent towards Captain Archer and Enterprise's characters, but their decision to center "These Are The Voyages..." around Commander Riker and essentially turn it into a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode was misguided. As a guest on The Shuttlepod Show in 2022, Berman took "full responsibility" for Enterprise's finale and tried to explain his choice to set "These Are The Voyages..." in TNG's era. Read Berman's quote below:
There was no other way to show the Federation being founded and to show Benjamin [sic] Archer doing a grand speech when we had four or five weeks to wrap it up, and we were in the middle of a totally different wave of stories. So we came up with the idea of, “Let’s get The Next Generation a hundred years [sic] later to look back and to see exactly what happened so that we could tell the story of the ending [of Enterprise] from the future as opposed to from… with four weeks of writing and shooting to get us to that point.
As Rick Berman explained, jumping to Star Trek: The Next Generation's 24th century allowed them to look back at Captain Archer's speech that founded the Federation. The noble intent was for TNG icons like Riker and Troi to acknowledge the importance of the NX-01's achievements to the Federation and validate the importance of Enterprise to the greater Star Trek canon. However, it didn't achieve the goals they aimed for, and Star Trek: Enterprise's finale did not work for the audience.
Star Trek: Enterprise Has Aged Well, But Its Series Finale Hasn't
Enterprise Fans Still Hate "These Are The Voyages..."
"These Are The Voyages..." was staged as a farewell to Rick Berman's 18-year stewardship of the Star Trek franchise, not to Star Trek: Enterprise itself.
However, Star Trek: Enterprise's finale still rankles audiences 20 years later. "These Are The Voyages..." doesn't play as a respectful exit that honors Star Trek: Enterprise, its characters, or its story. Ultimately, "These Are The Voyages..." was staged as a farewell to Rick Berman's 18-year stewardship of the Star Trek franchise, not to Star Trek: Enterprise itself.
If "These Are The Voyages..." did not end the series, and a 'Riker visits Enterprise on the holodeck' episode had aired at some other point during Star Trek: Enterprise's run, it might have been warmly received by Star Trek fans. Instead, Star Trek: Enterprise's finale was no way to say goodbye to Captain Archer and the NX-01.
