Unveiling the Untold Secrets: Star Trek Executive Producer Reveals the True Meaning and Backstory Behind Enterprise's Controversial Finale

Summary

The final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, titled "These Are The Voyages...", sparked controversy among fans and cast members due to its focus on characters from The Next Generation instead of the main cast of Enterprise.

UPN's sudden cancellation of Enterprise left the producers with a tight deadline to tie up the show's overarching narrative of the United Federation of Planets' inception and resolve an ongoing subplot. The decision to utilize The Next Generation's holodeck enabled them to fast forward a century and have Frakes and Sirtis' characters observe past events from Enterprise's timeline. This clever use of resources provided a manageable and effective way to convey the story within the limited timeframe.

Star Trek executive producer Rick Berman recently discussed the reasoning behind the much-disliked finale of Star Trek: Enterprise, titled "These Are The Voyages..." In this episode, the finale of Enterprise is portrayed as a lost episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, featuring Commander William Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi. This decision was met with disappointment from fans and the cast of Enterprise, who felt that it was disrespectful for the series' conclusion to focus on TNG. Many viewed it as an attempt by Berman to wrap up his long-standing involvement with Star Trek, but he clarifies that there were practical considerations behind this choice.

During an interview on The Shuttlepod Show in 2022, Berman explained that when UPN canceled Star Trek: Enterprise, he and executive producer Brannon Braga found themselves with only weeks, instead of the anticipated seven years, to bring the show's overarching storyline, which explored the foundation of the United Federation of Planets, to a close. Complicating matters further, the series was in the midst of a different narrative that had to be abruptly concluded. Berman provided further insight into the underlying rationale for the Enterprise finale in the following quote and video, starting at the 30:58 time stamp.

I take full responsibility for the idea, as it was widely disliked. However, I do not blame my partner Brannon for it. The concept was to utilize The Next Generation holodeck, which would allow characters played by Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis to witness events from the time period of Enterprise. This was necessary because we had limited time and were in the midst of other storylines, making it impossible to depict the founding of the Federation and Benjamin Archer's grand speech in a different manner. Therefore, we decided to have The Next Generation characters look back a hundred years into the past to accurately portray the conclusion of Enterprise, rather than trying to accomplish it within the tight timeframe of four weeks for writing and shooting.

Star Trek: Enterprise's Finale Is Still Controversial

Star Trek: Enterprise's finale, "These Are The Voyages...", remains a controversial topic even after 18 years since its airing. The presence of Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis in the episode is particularly contentious, causing dissatisfaction among fans. During an episode of The Shuttlepod Show, Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating revealed that Scott Bakula, who is typically easygoing and amiable, was actually angered by the finale. However, Rick Berman, the show's producer, explained that the intention behind the episode was not to disrespect Enterprise but rather to provide a glimpse of the planned true ending, which would have unfolded had the show run for a full seven years.

Nearly 20 years later, there is a glimmer of hope for the return of Star Trek: Enterprise's characters in some form on Paramount+'s Star Trek. There are potential avenues to undo the demise of Commander Trip Tucker, portrayed by Connor Trinneer, and to reintroduce the older versions of these characters, such as in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks, or Star Trek: Prodigy. A reunion of sorts is something that most of the cast would likely be interested in, and it could greatly contribute to the redemption of Star Trek: Enterprise's controversial finale.

Source: The Shuttlepod Show