Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 delivers a moment that never happened inStar Trek Generations.Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, which premieres on October 24, is the animated comedy’s final season on Paramount+. In a new clip fromStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5’s premiere, “Dos Cerritos,” the USS Cerritos led by Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) crosses into a quantum fissure in space. Newly arrived in an alternate reality,the Cerritos meets another USS Cerritos, but commanded by Captain Becky Freeman (Tawny Newsome).
Released in November 1994,Star Trek Generationsis best remembered as the movie where Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) fromStar Trek: The Original Seriesmet Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) ofStar Trek: The Next Generations,as well as thedeath of Captain Kirk. The two Captains of the USS Enterprise teamed up to stop a madman named Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell) from destroying a star.Star Trek Generations' poster was even shared by Kirk and Picard, with the memorable tagline,“Two Captains, One Destiny.“However,Star Trek Generationsnever got to deliver Kirk and Picard’s Starship Enterprise crews meeting.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Delivers A Moment Star Trek Generations Never Delivered
Two USS Cerritos meet
Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 kicking off with the USS Cerritos and its crew meeting their exact doppelgängers brings to mind how a similar event didn’t happen inStar Trek Generations.However,Star Trek Generations' screenwriters Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga originally hadan ambitious idea for Captain Kirk’s crew to meet Captain Picard’s crew, with their iconic Starship Enterprises"locked in battle.“In an interview withTrekMovie, Braga explained:
I think Ron and I envisioned the two Enterprises kinda locked in battle and somehow they would meet, but they would get together and fight the bad guy, and Kirk would go down on his bridge, instead of a bridge falling on him.
Ultimately,Star Trek Generations' big selling point was Captain Kirk and Captain Picard, which was enough of an event in and of itself. Although James Doohan and Walter Koenig also signed on to reprise Scotty and Chekov, they only appeared inStar Trek Generations’prologue.Kirk never even comes aboard the USS Enterprise-DinStar Trek Generations.Star Trek: Lower Decks' season 5premiere doesn’t make the same mistake as both USS Cerritos crews - including mother and daughter named Captain Freeman - actually meet.
Why Star Trek Generations Didn’t Show Two Enterprises Meeting
Only Captain Kirk met Captain Picard
Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga wanted to deliver on their vision of two USS Enterprises meeting inStar Trek Generations, butLeonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley had other ideas.Nimoy hatedStar Trek Generations’script and declined the director’s chair as well as reprising Spock. Kelley felt similarly, with both actors deciding Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy had better farewells inStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. However, Moore and Braga’s script and its plot points dictated by Paramount Studios would not be changed. Nimoy and Kelley declining to return as Spock and Bones instantly killed any chance of the crews of the Starship Enterprises meeting.
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Star Trek Generationswas always meant to focus onStar Trek: The Next Generation,andStar Trek: The Original Series' icons wouldn’t be more than cameos. Despite Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga’s initial hopes,there would be no full team-up ofTOSandTNG’s casts,althoughCaptain Kirk and Captain Picardmeeting was enough to compel moviegoers into theaters.Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5’s meeting of the two USS Cerritos is a cool event to see how different the alternate reality Cerritos crew is from their Prime Universe counterparts. The two Starship Enterprises never did meet inStar Trek Generations, but the two USS Cerritos meeting inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 is bound to be hilarious.
