Strange New Worlds Is Finally Making Star Trek: Enterprise More Important

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is finally making Star Trek: Enterprise more important. Originally airing from 2001 to 2005, Star Trek: Enterprise attempted to beat franchise fatigue with a prequel series set earlier in the Star Trek timeline. Star Trek: Enterprise starred Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer in command of the previously unknown NX-01 Enterprise in the 2150s. Archer was joined by new characters in crew positions that were already familiar to Star Trek fans, like Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda Park) handling communications, Chief Engineer Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer), and Ensign Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) at the helm.

Although Star Trek: Enterprise followed a familiar format, Enterprise's awkward position as a Star Trek prequel meant it had a hard time fitting into Star Trek's shared universe organically. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager benefited from a shared timeline, Star Trek character crossovers, and reverence for Star Trek: The Original Series. Star Trek: Enterprise couldn't easily reference series that took place later without shoehorning, and its characters couldn't have been mentioned in shows that were produced earlier. Without the same success, Enterprise isn't remembered as fondly as earlier series.

Star Trek: Enterprise Got Long Awaited Respect From Strange New Worlds

Strange New Worlds Shows How Archer's Enterprise Fits Into Star Trek's History

Star Trek: Enterprise got long-overdue respect from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 7, "Those Old Scientists". After being surprised by hero worship from 24th-century Ensigns Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), Captain Christopher Pike's (Anson Mount) Enterprise crew imagine meeting their 22nd-century heroes. Finding a piece of Archer's Enterprise within Pike's Enterprise, they discover Pike's admiration for Captain Archer is matched by Ensign Nyota Uhura's (Celia Rose Gooding) respect for Hoshi Sato, and Lieutenant Erica Ortegas' (Melissa Navia) appreciation for Travis Mayweather. Even the NX-01's grapplers earn a nod.

The conversation gives Star Trek: Enterprise a historical context that wasn't possible in earlier Star Trek shows. Instead of being the oft-forgotten characters of the Star Trek franchise's black sheep, the crew of Archer's Enterprise are just as important to the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds characters as the crew of Pike's Enterprise are to Mariner and Boimler from Star Trek: Lower Decks. That reverence speaks to just how significant the NX-01 and its crew are to the Star Trek universe, and always have been, even if they couldn't have been referenced in Star Trek's 1990s trifecta.

Why Scott Bakula’s Enterprise Is So Important To Star Trek

Star Trek: Enterprise Laid The Groundwork For Star Trek As We Know It

Scott Bakula's Star Trek: Enterprise is important to Star Trek because Archer's Enterprise helps Star Trek's idealized future come into being. On humanity's first warp-5 capable starship, the galaxy is a much larger place for Captain Archer, whose reckless optimism is as admirable as it is flawed. The rules that guide Star Trek captains, like Starfleet's Prime Directive, have yet to be invented—and Archer helps to invent them. Archer's friendships with T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) and Thy'lek Shran (Jeffrey Combs) are a precursor to humans, Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites allying to form the United Federation of Planets.

As the audience whose first introduction to Star Trek might have been Star Trek: Enterprise ages into adulthood, it's easier for Star Trek to retroactively build on the groundwork that Star Trek: Enterprise laid down. Far from being Star Trek's forgotten series, modern Star Trek references Star Trek: Enterprise more frequently than you might think. From casually mentioning Trip Tucker to revealing the profound effect of the Temporal Cold War, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds confirms Captain Archer and the NX-01 crew's place in Star Trek's history as true pioneers worthy of respect.