We’re sort of in a Star Trek lull right now. Sure, Lower Decks is currently airing its fourth season, but it’s been a minute since the third (and final) season of Picard wrapped (a show I labelled the most depressing entry in Trek’s lengthy and growing catalogue). Strange New Worlds completed its second season a few months ago and we have no idea when (and where) we’ll see the reportedly completed second season of Prodigy (Paramount canceled the show last spring). We haven’t been given a solid air date for Discovery’s final season and because of the current Hollywood strikes we have no idea when our favourite Trek shows will go back into production for more. We have no idea when to expect rumoured shows like Michele Yeoh’s Section 31 (now reportedly a movie) and the oft-rumoured Starfleet Academy one. We’ve had to go two years between seasons sometimes; what kind of turnaround will we be looking at considering the current labour disruptions? So having all this Star Trek downtime can only mean one thing; now is the perfect time to drag out my soap box and preach why the next new Trek show we get has to revolve around the freshly promoted Seven of Nine commanding the newly minted U.S.S Enterprise G.
What’s funny is that when Picard’s final season premiered I was planning to explain why the best thing the show could do on its way out was set up a new Trek series with Seven of Nine captaining her own ship. I should start buying more lottery tickets because it turned out that may be exactly what happened. In Picard’s final episode everyone’s favourite reformed Borg wasn’t just promoted to Captain but was also awarded the chair of the new Enterprise G (a refitted U.S.S. Titan). Keep in mind that season three of Picard was both a love letter to Star Trek: The Next Generation and a final, ultimate farewell to Next Gen’s cast (especially since the final TNG movie left a sour taste in most fans mouths). Put a pin in that for a now because it’s an important bit for later.
The appetite for a Captain Seven show was hardly restricted to little old me. An online fan movement demanding that Seven get her own show was gaining steam online within minutes of Picard’s series finale. #StarTrekLegacy trended worldwide for days and it felt a lot like the fan effort that demanded Christopher Pike get his own show following Discovery’s second season (we got Strange New Worlds as a result).
While we’ve all heard the biggest reason that Paramount should green light a Star Trek: Legacy show (aside from pleasing the fanbase) is the continued progression of Seven of Nine’s character, I have two other pressing needs that can only be achieved by a Legacy show. The first is it gives the characters who started out at Picard’s side during his solo show their due respect.
Remember, Picard’s final season was always meant to reunite as much of the original crew as possible to give them a proper send off (again, most fans were unhappy with the goodbye they got in Star Trek: Nemesis). But bringing back the golden oldies in Picard’s final season meant that nearly all the characters that started out with Jean-Luc in his first two seasons got pushed aside to make room for the Next Gen alumni. While Seven and Raffi played big parts in season three, all of Picard’s other original band mates were MIA with nary a whisper or even a mention of their fate.
But Star Trek: Legacy could fix that.
We already have the big three in place. Seven of Nine, now embracing her Borg past, as Captain. Raffi (a kick ass Section 31 operative and Seven’s on again off again lover) is her Number One. And Jack Crusher, the love child of Jean-Luc and Beverly Crusher who was fast tracked through Starfleet Academy, is the ships’s advisor/counsellor. But after that?
Remember Soji? She was a member of the synthetics that were descended (kind of) from Data. She lived almost her entire life thinking she was flesh and blood because of the Federation’s official phobia of synthetics (in the Federations’ defence, the synths did kind of blow up Mars). It turned out she was part of an entire community that lived in hiding, a community that had been outed by the end of season one. In season two we got a glimpse of Soji and some of her fellow synthetics trying to foster normal relations with the Federation (who were protecting them from what was left of the Roman Empire) but then nothing but radio silence. You’d think the discovery of a civilization of advance androids living in secret, with potential sleeper agents secreted among the general populace, would be a pretty big discovery. A seismic discovery even. Especially given the back story that explained the Federation’s contempt of artificial intelligence and the knowledge that there was some sort of organic hating super AI out there that made the Borg look like kittens. But that was all glossed over.
But what if a program was created allowing a synthetic to join Starfleet in an advisory capacity as part of the ongoing efforts by the Federation and the new synthetics to become allies? And what if that opened the door for Soji to become Seven’s new science officer as well as the chief liaison between the two governments?
And what about Enron, the young Romulan swordsman that drew plenty of Lord of the Rings jokes? He also drew a lot of blood with that sword of his (not to mention the skills behind it). We saw him enlisted in Starfleet Academy at the end of season one and then saw him for all of twenty minutes in season two. Let’a assume he was stationed on one of the ship’s hijacked during the Borg’s attempted coup in season three. Let’s say he saw some serious space kaka hit the space fan. Let’s say he was decorated for bravery and promoted to Lieutenant as a result. And let’s say that’s enough to get him stationed on Seven’s Enterprise. He had a strong mother-son relationship with Raffi (who could pull some strings to get him on the Enterprise) and he could be Legacy’s version of Worf, a warrior fleshing out Romulan culture in a way we haven’t seen before.
Throw in Laforge’s two daughters (as chief engineer and chief helm respectively) and one or two new regulars and you have a kick ass crew that can give all others a run for their money.
You could even give Jurati, now the queen of Borg 2.0, a cameo or two. And while it may be impossible to include Rios in any episodes (he was left in the 21st century during season two) you could reference him a few times. Maybe even have an episode (or an entire arc) where he left a message in time for his former Picard colleagues. (On that note, can we all just agree that Picard’s second season was purely bonkers?) Legacy could even give Seven and her new Enterprise a particular mandate, investigating unknown threats in a dangerously unstable landscape while Starfleet recovers from the Borg’s latest attempt to crush the Federation. It would allow the writers to outfit the Enterprise with a bunch of shiny new toys to fulfil its special missions (including a handy state-of-the-art cloaking device).
Legacy could also grab the nostalgia baton from Picard, giving nods to previous Trek shows and giving us a final look at beloved characters. Legacy could tell us what became of Chakotay and the budding romance between him and Seven during Voyager’s conclusion (though Robert Beltran is something of a pariah these days with his opposition to the SAG strike). What’s the Doctor up to and could he provide any insight into the new synthetics? On that note, how did sentient holograms fare during the Federation’s prohibition on that technological front? What happened to B’Lanna and Tom and their new family? What about the surviving gang on DS9? Is Chief O’Brien still teaching at the Academy? Is Quark still running schemes out of his bar? And most importantly, did Daniel Kim ever get promoted above Ensign?
It also became apparent that Q still has some big plans for the Picard bloodline, turning Jack into his new nemesis/plaything. Perhaps the trial judging humanity never came to an end and Jack is now the one defending the human race against the Continuum’s scrutiny?
Picard answered precious few questions about the current state of the Federation beyond its prohibition of AI tech and the collapse of the Romulan Empire. What are the Klingons up to? We know that Changelings are active again with various factions in play; what does that look like? While Discovery has mentioned other powers in passing, they’ve never even hinted at how the Cardassians fared after the attempted genocide they suffered at the hands of the Dominion. What about the Ferengi? If Soji does become a member of Seven’s crew, let’s not forget she has a Romulan super spy stalking her and his vendetta is personal. What about that super computer that was trying to contact the synthetics? We could see some more of that now that the Borg have been removed from the board. Imagine the possibilities if the Enterprise G does indeed become the Federation’s point on intergalactic craziness.
The second reason we need a Star Trek Legacy show in our lives? Jeri Ryan herself. Seven of Nine was introduced during Voyager’s fourth season for one primary reason; to attract more male eyes to the show. Ryan spent three years in a skin tight cat as a result. But a funny thing happened on the way to becoming a mere sex symbol; the character grew. By the time Captain Janeway and her band of lost souls returned home, Seven of Nine had become a valuable member of the Voyager crew and a trusted member of its family. We saw her character grow more during Picard, demonstrating a spirit as unbreakable as it was defiant, a thinly veiled resentment for authority, a powerful sense of loyalty and a compulsion to stand up for those who couldn’t stand up for themselves. A Legacy series could complete her character’s trilogy so to speak, and gives her a seat at the conversation about who Trek’s best Captain is. Could you imagine Legacy ending with her promotion to Admiral? Seven’s growth is a testament to both Trek writers and Ryan herself. The writers took Seven more seriously than producers probably intended and Ryan skillfully brought her and all of her nuanced flaws and potential to convincing life.
Whether or not Paramount plays ball is up for debate. Despite having the planet’s biggest movie in 2022 (Top Gun: Maverick) and some of streaming’s hottest shows (Yellowstone, The King of Tulsa), the studio lost a tonne of money last year. Like the GDP of Texas kind of money. Most of those losses were attributed to Star Trek’s current streaming home, Paramount Plus. Combine that with the fact that Paramount has a lot of box office disappointments so far in 2023 (Mission Impossible 7, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, etc.) and toss in the current strikes and any new Trek show could face one hurdle too many. Nor would it be out of the realm of possibility that Paramount (or any studio for that matter) holds Jeri Ryan’s leadership in the actor’s guild against her.
But Star Trek: Legacy could tie up up a lot of loose ends and honour some ignored characters while giving us a final glimpse at some classics. All while opening up fresh, new storytelling horizons. Not to mention the fact that both Seven of Nine and Jeri Ryan herself deserve it.
So do the fans.
Image via Trek Central
