A big part ofStar Trek’s 22nd century history could have been answered ifStar Trek: Enterpriseseason 5 had happened. United Paramount Network (UPN)canceledStar Trek: Enterpriseafter season 4due to myriad factors, such as low ratings and a shift of network priorities.Enterprise’s cancellation marked the end of executive producer Rick Berman’s 18-year stewardship of theStar Trekfranchise.
While the writing was on the wall regarding the fate ofStar Trek: Enterprise,season 4’s showrunner, Manny Coto, and his writing staff had preliminary ideas brewing forStar Trek: Enterpriseseason 5. Coto was a fan ofStar Trek: The Original Series' Mirror Universe, and he planned to return to the alternate reality to follow upEnterpriseseason 4’s “In a Mirror, Darkly” two-parter. Commander Shran (Jeffrey Combs) would also have become the first Andorian to joinCaptain Jonathan Archer’s (Scott Bakula) NX-01 Enterprise crew.
Star Trek: Enterprise Season 5 Would Have Told The Romulan War Story Hinted At By The Original Series
Star Trek: Enterpriseseason 5’s central story might have been the Romulan War waged between Starfleet and the Romulan Star Empire.Star Trek: The Original Seriesseason 1’s classic episode, “Balance of Terror,” introduced the Romulans and revealed that, in the 22nd century,a war between humans and the insidious aliens was fought “with primitive atomic weapons.“However,Star Trek: Enterprisewould likely have simply retconned this, placing Captain Archer and the NX-01 Enterprise on the front lines.
Star Trek: Enterpriseseason 4 already planted the seeds for the Romulan War. An arc set on Vulcan saw Captain Archer andSubcommander T’Pol (Jolene Blalock)help T’Pau (Kara Zediker) reveal that Romulans had infiltrated the Vulcan High Command. Administrator V’Las (Robert Foxworth) and his government were set up as a puppet government by the Romulans, aiming to take control of Vulcan. T’Pau and Enterprise’s heroes exposed the Vulcan and Romulan treachery, butthere was certainly more of this story to be told.
Todd Stashwick, who played Captain Liam Shaw inStar Trek: Picardseason 3, portrayed a Romulan operative named Talok who posed as a Vulcan inStar Trek: Enterpriseseason 4.
Star Trek: Enterprisewriter Mike Sussman also wanted to pitch thereveal that T’Pol’s unseen father was a Romulan. This would have canonically established T’Pol to be half-Romulan, and it would have retroactively explained aspects of T’Pol’s atypical behavior as a Vulcan in previousseasons ofStar Trek: Enterprise. However, since this Romulan story was never told becauseStar Trek: Enterpriseseason 5 didn’t happen, T’Pol remains canonically a full Vulcan.
Enterprise Has Retconned Before
IfStar Trek: Enterpriseseason 5’s Romulan War story took place, the prequel would have had to retcon a major discrepancy fromStar Trek: The Original Series'“Balance of Terror.“Before Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) came face-to-face with the Romulan Commander (Mark Lenard), no human had ever seen what a Romulan looked like, according to Spock (Leonard Nimoy).Enterpriseseason 5 would likely have done away with this. Technically,Captain Archer and T’Pol already met a Romulan, Talok (Todd Stashwick), in the 22nd century.
Of course,retcons were nothing new toStar Trek: Enterprise.Captain Archer’s NX-01 encountered the Ferengi inStar Trek: Enterpriseseason 1, centuries beforeStar Trek: The Next Generation’s era, although Enterprise’s crew never learned the name of the capitalistic race.Enterprisealso brought in the Borg, who tried to assimilate the NX-01. Again, Archer failed to learn the name of the deadly cyborg race before destroying them.
There may be a chance Star Trek fans could see the Romulan War depicted on the big screen.
WhileStar Trek: Enterpriseseason 5’s plans are unlikely to ever come to fruition now that it’s been two decades since Scott Bakula’s prequel ended, there may be a chanceStar Trekfans could see the Romulan War depicted on the big screen. Director Toby Haynes pitched aStar Trek Originmovie set decades before J.J. Abrams’Star Trek(2009), and it could take place in the era of the Romulan War. However, the status of Haynes’Star Trek Originprequel is unclear, and it may joinStar Trek: Enterpriseseason 5 as aStar Trekproject that doesn’t bring the Romulan War to fruition.
