Star Trek: Enterprise Season 5 Would Have Fixed One Problem With Captain Archer’s Crew

If Star Trek: Enterprise had gotten a fifth season, one problem with Captain Jonathan Archer's (Scott Bakula) crew would have been solved. Seven main characters comprised the cast of Star Trek: Enterprise, but instead of giving each character equal time in the spotlight, Enterprise narrowly focused on Captain Archer, Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer), Subcommander T'Pol (Jolene Blalock), and Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley). Despite being series regulars, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating), Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda Park), and Ensign Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) just didn't get as much screen time as the main quartet.

Although Star Trek: Enterprise was canceled after only four seasons, plans were already in the works for how season 5 would bring big changes to the show. The Romulan War, referenced in Star Trek: The Original Series, would have been one planned story arc in Enterprise season 5, like season 3's Xindi arc and season 4's Temporal Cold War. That year also would have seen Captain Archer making moves towards Star Trek: Enterprise's overall series arc, which would have culminated with humans, Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites becoming the four founding species of the United Federation of Planets.

Star Trek: Enterprise Season 5 Would Have Added Shran To Captain Archer’s Crew

Shran Would Have Provided The Andorian Perspective In Enterprise's Fledgling

If Star Trek: Enterprise had continued past season 4, Thy'lek Shran (Jeffrey Combs) would have been added to Captain Archer's crew as a series regular. Like T'Pol's original role on the NX-01 Enterprise as a Vulcan advisor, the plan was to have Shran assist Archer as a non-Starfleet Andorian outsider. Both T'Pol and Shran were initially hostile towards — or at least skeptical of — humans, but Archer's bold optimism and collaborative spirit eventually changed their perspectives. Shran's addition would have been a major step in showing how Archer brought Andorians into the fold as one of the Federation's founding species.

Andorian culture probably wouldn't have still been woefully underdeveloped if Shran had been a series regular on Star Trek: Enterprise. Other Star Trek shows developed alien cultures more thoroughly by having series regulars from non-Federation species. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine did wonders to make Klingons, Ferengi, and Bajorans relatable, and Star Trek: Voyager explained Borg philosophy through Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). Star Trek: Lower Decks developed Orions from their own perspective, thanks to D'Vana Tendi (Noël Wells). Shran would have done the same to make Andorians much more understood as Star Trek aliens.

How Adding Shran Would Have Helped Star Trek: Enterprise Season 5

Shran Would Have Shaken Up Star Trek: Enterprise's Cast Dynamics

The addition of Shran as a series regular would have helped Star Trek: Enterprise season 5 by shaking up the cast dynamics on the NX-01 bridge. The quartet of Archer, Trip, T'Pol and Phlox had a chokehold on Star Trek: Enterprise's storytelling by season 4, and the series needed a major shakeup to keep from getting too stagnant. Like Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) did for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Seven of Nine did for Star Trek: Voyager, Shran would have been a mid-series addition to a Star Trek show that benefited existing characters by introducing conflict.

Perhaps paradoxically, adding Shran could have helped Malcolm Reed, Hoshi Sato, and Travis Mayweather develop as characters. While not a guarantee that Enterprise's neglected characters would have had more screen time, Shran would have had to learn how to interact with Archer's whole crew, not just Archer himself. Enterprise would have had more opportunities to actively show how the kind of cooperation that the Federation is all about actually starts with understanding each other's differences, whether that's Commander Shran accepting the Enterprise crew's "pink skins", or vice versa.

Shran also would have benefited Star Trek: Enterprise simply by offering a new perspective. T'Pol's original status as Enterprise's outsider character was changing by that point in Star Trek Enterprise's overall storyline, as T'Pol not only came to understand humans, but also developed a relationship with Trip Tucker. As an initially xenophobic Andorian, Shran would have taken T'Pol's spot to keep Archer's crew on their toes. If a Star Trek: Enterprise reunion ever happens in modern Star Trek shows, I hope Shran is a part of it, because he would have been a great addition to Archer's crew.