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Miles O'Brien

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Senior Chief Petty Officer Miles Edward O'Brien was a 24th century Human Starfleet non-commissioned officer who, following his service during the Federation-Cardassian War , served as transporter chief on board the USS Enterprise -D for several years before being promoted to chief of operations aboard starbase Deep Space 9 . After the Dominion War he accepted a professorship at Starfleet Academy on Earth .

• 1 Early life
• 2.1 The USS Rutledge
• 2.2 The USS Enterprise -D
• 2.3.1 Service during the Dominion War
• 4.2.1 Julian Bashir
• 4.2.3 Benjamin Sisko
• 4.2.5 Kira Nerys
• 5 Interests and hobbies
• 6 Holograms
• 7 Alternate realities and timelines
• 8.1 Appearances
• 8.2 Background information
• 8.4 Problematic rank history
• 8.5 Apocrypha
• 8.6 External links

Early life [ ]

Miles O'Brien was born in Ireland , Earth , in September 2328 . ( DS9 : " Homefront ", " Whispers ")

O'Brien claimed he could trace his ancestry back to the 11th century Irish king Brian Boru (whom he occasionally played in a holosuite program). Another notable O'Brien ancestor was Sean Aloysius O'Brien . ( DS9 : " Bar Association ")

O'Brien was proud of the fact that he was raised on real food as his mother believed that replicated food was less nutritious. When preparing meals for her family, his mother would handle and cook meat . ( TNG : " The Wounded ")

O'Brien had two brothers . His mother passed away in 2368 and his father, Michael , remarried a year later, though Miles never met his new stepmother . ( DS9 : " Invasive Procedures ", " Whispers ") His relationship with his father had been a somewhat rocky one during Miles' adolescence; Michael had pushed Miles to pursue his music career , making him practice the cello at least once a day, and was somewhat upset by his son's enlistment in Starfleet. When Miles was seventeen years old, his father sent a recording of his work to the Aldeberan Music Academy . O'Brien declined the offer of admission to the Music Academy and enrolled in Starfleet – against his father's wishes. The two later reconciled their differences and O'Brien's father was eventually extremely proud of his son and his accomplishments. ( DS9 : " Shadowplay ")

As a child, O'Brien had a morbid fear of spiders . Following a mission on Zayra IV where O'Brien was forced to make a critical repair in a Jefferies tube containing Talarian hook spiders , he found that his fear had lessened, and he later kept a Lycosa tarantula , named Christina , as a pet aboard the Enterprise -D. ( TNG : " Realm Of Fear ")

Starfleet career [ ]

In 2345 , at the age of 17, O'Brien joined Starfleet as an enlisted crewman, where he attended Engineering School . ( DS9 : " Shadowplay ", " Treachery, Faith and the Great River ")

As of stardate 49648, O'Brien had served aboard a half dozen starships, participated in 235 separate combat engagements , and been decorated by Starfleet on fifteen occasions. Because of his impressive military record, O'Brien was recognized by a Starfleet formal inquiry at the request of the Klingon attorney, Ch'Pok , as an expert in starship combat. ( DS9 : " Rules of Engagement ", " Broken Link ")

O'Brien's career was so well respected that Captain Keogh of the USS Odyssey considered the chief's experiences an asset before launching a rescue mission for Commander Benjamin Sisko in the Gamma Quadrant in 2370 . ( DS9 : " The Jem'Hadar ")

The USS Rutledge [ ]

Benjamin Maxwell, Miles' former commanding officer in 2367

One of his first assignments was aboard the USS Rutledge under the command of Benjamin Maxwell , where he served as junior tactical officer during the Cardassian War . A year later, O'Brien was present at the aftermath of the Setlik III massacre , where his technical skill was useful in repairing a field transporter , allowing him and thirteen other Starfleet personnel to escape a Cardassian patrol. This earned him a promotion to primary tactical officer. O'Brien also served as part of a squad to aid the survivors of the massacre, as Cardassians were still patrolling the settlement; he helped a group of women and children but was ambushed by two Cardassians. He was able to incapacitate one of them, but in fighting with the other one he accidentally killed his assailant when a phaser passed to him was set to maximum. Until then, O'Brien had never killed anything or anyone (he was even worried about swatting mosquitoes as a child) and the incident left him with a deep-seated resentment towards Cardassians, bordering on outright racism on occasion. He often referred to them by the derogatory term " Cardies ". ( DS9 : " Emissary ", " Captive Pursuit ", " The Homecoming ", " The Siege ", " Tribunal ") Many years later, he remarked to Glinn Daro that it was not Cardassians that he hated, but rather the person he became because of them. ( TNG : " The Wounded ")

O'Brien was even styled "the hero of Setlik III" due to his actions in an engagement with Cardassian forces on that planet, a title he seemed to tolerate rather than enjoy. During a salvage mission to Empok Nor , Elim Garak challenged O'Brien to a game of Kotra , saying he would love to play against the "Hero of Setlik III." ( DS9 : " Empok Nor ")

The USS Enterprise -D [ ]

O'Brien transferred to the USS Enterprise -D in 2364 with the rank of chief petty officer , under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard . During the Farpoint Mission , he was assigned as relief flight control officer . He also stood duty in the security department, but was most often seen working as transporter chief, where he was involved in, among other events, the rescue of Captain Picard from the Borg in 2367 . ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", " All Good Things... ", " Lonely Among Us ", " Unnatural Selection ", " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II "; DS9 : " The Way of the Warrior ")

Miles O'Brien in 2367

O'Brien's shoulder gets healed by " John Doe "

In 2367 , Miles was forced to confront his former commanding officer when Captain Maxwell went rogue, launching attacks on Cardassian outposts and ships in spite of a peace treaty between the Federation and Cardassia . O'Brien's knowledge of transporter systems allowed him to beam aboard Maxwell's ship, the USS Phoenix , while her shields were up, giving him a chance to reason with Maxwell, ultimately preventing further bloodshed. ( TNG : " The Wounded ")

Miles, arguing with his wife Keiko while the Enterprise was trapped inside a Tyken's Rift

During the Klingon Civil War , O'Brien also made use of his training as a tactical officer following Lieutenant Worf 's resignation from Starfleet. As a result, he was heavily involved in the deployment and maintenance of the tachyon detection grid that ultimately decided the conflict. ( TNG : " Redemption II ")

O'Brien with Captain Picard

In 2368 , a quantum filament caused major damage to the Enterprise . Unable to communicate with the rest of the crew, O'Brien, together with Lieutenant Commander Deanna Troi , Ensigns Ro Laren and Mandel , was trapped on the bridge , while his heavily-pregnant wife Keiko was stuck in Ten Forward . The quantum resonance of the filament caused a polarity shift in the ship's antimatter containment fields, leading to a progressive degeneration in the fields, threatening the ship. Ro suggested a saucer separation to save the primary hull , while sacrificing the stardrive section . O'Brien strongly opposed this plan and stated that it would be a "pretty cold-blooded thing to do." Eventually, thanks to his prowess in keeping the containment field stable long enough, Troi rejected Ro's proposal, and the antimatter containment was fully restored by Commander Riker and Lt. Commander Data shortly before Keiko delivered her baby in Ten Forward. ( TNG : " Disaster ")

O'Brien, while addicted to the Ktarian game in 2368

Later that year, O'Brien, along with Troi and Data, was taken over by an alien lifeform which forced them to take hostages to use as a bargaining chip in negotiating with Picard. Among the prisoners were Molly and Keiko O'Brien. Eventually, the lifeform left when it was discovered that the moon was actually a penal colony and that this was an attempt for the lifeform to escape. ( TNG : " Power Play ")

Deep Space 9 [ ]

O'Brien in 2369

By 2369 , O'Brien had been serving in Starfleet for 22 years. In that year, O'Brien left the Enterprise , transferring to Deep Space 9 with a promotion, and was assigned the role of chief of operations. His primary task during the early days of his posting was to repair the damage done during the withdrawal of the Cardassians from the station. He was instrumental in moving the station from its orbit of Bajor out to the Denorios belt , following the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole . ( DS9 : " Emissary ")

On Deep Space 9, O'Brien had a half dozen new problems every day to fix as the station's combination of Cardassian, Bajoran and Federation technologies weren't meant to work together and would constantly break down. But he much preferred his busy schedule on the station; finding it easier to when he was serving aboard the Enterprise where he would get bored spending most of his time waiting around the transporter room for something to break down and that the station needed him. ( DS9 : " Bar Association ")

Not long after his arrival, O'Brien received a note on his record for violating the Prime Directive , after assisting in the escape of a Tosk , one of the first contacts from the Gamma Quadrant , disobeying direct orders from Commander Sisko . Tosk was a being raised to be the prey in a hunt by those known as the Hunters . ( DS9 : " Captive Pursuit ")

He later found himself entangled in local Bajoran politics and folklore when visiting a remote village on the planet. Following the death of the local Sirah , O'Brien was thrust into the role, forcing him to try and maintain the unity and strength of the inhabitants against a Dal'Rok . ( DS9 : " The Storyteller ")

In 2369 , O'Brien's assistant Neela attempted to assassinate Vedek Bareil . O'Brien discovered the plot and informed Sisko just in time to save Bareil's life. ( DS9 : " In the Hands of the Prophets ")

He assisted Kira Nerys in rescuing Li Nalas from the Hutet labor camp , and defended the station against the Circle , a Bajoran terrorist group who wanted the Federation to leave the sector . ( DS9 : " The Homecoming ", " The Circle ", " The Siege ")

In 2370 , O'Brien was assisting the T'Lani and Kellerun militaries in disarming and neutralizing their harvester weapons when a sabotage attempt exposed him to deadly nanobiogenic gel . In the resultant escape and rescue, he almost succumbed to his injuries, but was saved by Julian Bashir , an act which developed their friendship (see Personal , below). Several months later, while assisting in preparations for a Parada peace conference on Parada II , O'Brien was kidnapped and replaced with a replicant , created to disrupt the conference. The duplicate O'Brien later died after others became aware of the threat he posed, and the real O'Brien was recovered by DS9 personnel. ( DS9 : " Armageddon Game ", " Whispers ")

Later that year, Quark tried to use Bashir and O'Brien in a racquetball scam. He had fixed the game in O'Brien's favor and with everyone betting on Bashir, intended to clean up. ( DS9 : " Rivals ")

O'Brien became stranded with Sisko on an Earth colony, where an energy dampening field made it impossible to communicate with the orbiting runabout to leave the planet. O'Brien found out that it was an artificial field and was able to turn it off. ( DS9 : " Paradise ")

Sometime around stardate 47944, O'Brien was arrested by Cardassian forces and put on trial for allegedly supplying weapons to the Maquis , based on, among other evidence, a falsified voiceprint . He was sentenced to execution. The charges were later discovered to be part of a conspiracy by the Cardassians to discredit the Federation and give the Cardassian Union a stronger position from which to negotiate, and O'Brien was released when Commander Sisko implicitly threatened to publicly expose the plan. ( DS9 : " Tribunal ")

In 2371 , O'Brien helped disable a self-destruct mechanism on the station left by the Cardassians. He helped rescue Sisko from the past, and also worked with a group of female Cardassians on a science project on the station. One of the scientists wanted to become romantically involved with him, but he refused. ( DS9 : " Civil Defense ", " Past Tense, Part II ", " Destiny ")

O'Brien defends his post

When the Klingons attacked and invaded Deep Space 9 in early 2372 , O'Brien defended Ops against boarding parties, suffering minor injuries in the attack. At the time of the attack, O'Brien had been completing the retrofit of the station's weapons arrays. ( DS9 : " The Way of the Warrior ")

His image was accidentally used in a holo-program by Julian Bashir and Garak when a runabout he was on was destroyed by Cardassian terrorists. The computer, under direction of Michael Eddington , stored his physical image in the open holosuite program (as the evil assassin Falcon ) while his conscious mind was stored in DS9's computer core. ( DS9 : " Our Man Bashir ")

Miles O'Brien after twenty years in a simulated prison

Later that year, O'Brien had been falsely accused of espionage , and was given the simulated memory of a twenty-year prison sentence following a visit to the planet Argratha . Upon returning to the station, O'Brien became paranoid and emotionally distressed which caused angry outbursts. He even began experiencing hallucinations of his cellmate Ee'char . Miles was temporarily relieved of his duties by Captain Sisko, on the recommendation of Doctor Bashir. As O'Brien's condition deteriorated, he attempted suicide , but was stopped by Bashir. ( DS9 : " Hard Time ")

In late 2372, O'Brien commented that his career had included service on half a dozen ships. Even though none of those vessels had cloaking devices , O'Brien eventually became so used to the USS Defiant being cloaked that he felt vulnerable aboard uncloaked ships.

He took part in the joint effort between the Federation and Jem'Hadar to track down a group of renegade Jem'Hadar soldiers that captured an Iconian gateway . ( DS9 : " To the Death ")

O'Brien surgically altered to appear Klingon

In 2373 , O'Brien took part in an infiltration mission to the fortified Klingon moon of Ty'Gokor in an attempt to expose Gowron as a Changeling . For the mission, Miles had to be surgically altered to appear Klingon. ( DS9 : " Apocalypse Rising ")

O'Brien, as part of a Defiant away team , discovered a crashed Jem'Hadar ship on a planet. When a Vorta and a team of Jem'Hadar came to retrieve the ship, a fight broke out. A crewman O'Brien had become close to, Enrique Muniz , also died as a result of wounds he received in battle, and this affected O'Brien deeply. ( DS9 : " The Ship ")

O’Brien meeting Kirk

While away on Bajor, Keiko became possessed by a Pah-wraith . It threatened to kill Keiko unless O'Brien helped it to blow up the wormhole. He tricked it on the way to the wormhole and used the very energy beam it intended to kill the Prophets with to kill it instead, saving Keiko. He also went back in time to the original Enterprise and met Captain Kirk , helping to stop a Klingon named Arne Darvin from assassinating Kirk and changing history. ( DS9 : " The Assignment ", " Trials and Tribble-ations ")

On an assignment to Empok Nor to get a part necessary for the station, he and his team found two Cardassians in stasis. Upon waking, they murdered some of the team before Garak killed one of them. Garak became infected with a drug in the Cardassians' systems and turned into an insane murderer, killing the other soldier and one of O'Brien's crew before O'Brien was able to disable him and return him to the station for treatment. ( DS9 : " Empok Nor ")

Service during the Dominion War [ ]

O'Brien was partly responsible, along with Rom and Jadzia Dax , for creating and deploying the self-replicating minefield that blocked Dominion ships from entering the Alpha Quadrant , an event which precipitated the Dominion War . Miles abandoned the station with the rest of the station's Starfleet complement, taking station aboard the Defiant , where he remained for the first three months of the war. ( DS9 : " Call to Arms ")

Along with the rest of the DS9 command crew, O'Brien was pulled from front-line duty to take a captured Jem'Hadar vessel behind enemy lines. Despite his love of field rations , O'Brien bemoaned the lack of a replicator aboard the commandeered vessel. When the vessel crash-landed shortly after achieving its objective, O'Brien tore his uniform, much to his chagrin and the amusement of his colleagues. ( DS9 : " A Time to Stand ")

He was part of the away team that confronted the Jem'Hadar on a planet after both sides crashed. The Jem'Hadar were betrayed by their Vorta and led into an ambush. The Vorta was about to run out of ketracel-white and feared the Jem'Hadar would kill him. ( DS9 : " Rocks and Shoals ")

Following their rescue by the Rotarran , Miles took part in Operation Return , which successfully recaptured the station. He resumed his duties aboard the newly-retaken Deep Space 9. Shortly thereafter, he played a ceremonial role in the wedding of Jadzia Dax and Worf. ( DS9 : " Sacrifice of Angels ", " You Are Cordially Invited ")

When the Defiant was captured by Jem'Hadar forces during a scientific mission, O'Brien was able to help Ensign Nog gain control of the ship from engineering by re-routing the bridge access codes. ( DS9 : " One Little Ship ")

O'Brien with his contact Chadwick from Starfleet Intelligence during a covert mission on Farius Prime in 2374

In mid- 2374 , O'Brien was recruited by Starfleet Intelligence to infiltrate the Orion Syndicate arm on Farius Prime . During the mission, Miles grew friendly with Liam Bilby , a Syndicate operative. After Bilby was killed attempting to assassinate the Klingon ambassador, O'Brien took in his cat , Chester , as a family pet, and paid money into an account for his wife. ( DS9 : " Honor Among Thieves ")

In late 2374, Molly fell into a time portal placing her three hundred years in the past. Upon being rescued, she was a teenager who had lived her life in a prehistoric era. She was unable to cope, and when returned into the portal found herself as an eight year old, where she helped guide herself back to her parents. ( DS9 : " Time's Orphan ")

Following the death of Jadzia Dax in late 2374, O'Brien took part in the Rotarran 's successful assault on the Monac shipyard , a mission intended by Worf to get his wife into Sto-vo-kor . ( DS9 : " Shadows and Symbols ")

Later in 2375 , Miles disappeared on New Sydney while attempting to track down Morica Bilby , Liam's wife, who had disappeared from her home on the planet. O'Brien's mission was unauthorized, and he received a reprimand as a result. ( DS9 : " Prodigal Daughter ")

Shortly before the final battle of the war, O'Brien took part in the attempt to restore Vic Fontaine 's casino . It had been taken over by Chicago gangsters . ( DS9 : " Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang ")

Shortly before the end of the war, O'Brien accepted a position at Starfleet Academy as a professor of engineering. Following the Battle of Cardassia , O'Brien departed Deep Space 9 for Earth, to take up this new role. Immediately prior to leaving, he was still considering where exactly his family would settle on Earth. His crewmates all gave suggestions: Worf was particularly insistent he look at Minsk . ( DS9 : " What You Leave Behind ")

Chief O'Brien's holostatue

In the far future , O'Brien was remembered as a notable Starfleet officer, alongside Brad Boimler . An educator instructing a classroom of children remarked that "[He was] perhaps the most important person in Starfleet history" and displayed to the class a holographic statue depicting O'Brien standing at a transporter console . ( LD : " Temporal Edict ")

Personal relationships [ ]

O'Brien's wedding ceremony

He married Keiko Ishikawa aboard the Enterprise on October 24th , 2367 , and the couple had their first child, Molly , the following year. ( TNG : " Data's Day ", " Disaster ") Both joined O'Brien aboard DS9, albeit reluctantly on Keiko's part, where their second child, Kirayoshi , was born in 2373. O'Brien had a difficult time dealing with this pregnancy, mainly as a result of the baby's forced 'relocation' to Kira Nerys in late 2372, which saw the two struggling with a mutual attraction – one which both agreed to put aside. ( DS9 : " Body Parts ", " Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places ", " The Begotten ")

As a ritual before going into battle, O'Brien recorded a "goodbye" message for his family in the event of his death. Each time he did so, he believed it would be the one they would hear. Between 2367 and 2372, he had recorded a total of eleven messages. ( DS9 : " To the Death ") He also regularly wrote " sexy letters " to Keiko. ( DS9 : " Whispers ")

O'Brien described marriage as " the greatest adventure of them all. It's filled with pitfalls and setbacks and mistakes, but it's a journey worth taking because you take it together ". ( DS9 : " Armageddon Game ")

Friends [ ]

Although an enlisted crewman with little official standing in his posts, O'Brien has regularly shown a talent for connecting with his commanding officers; Captain Benjamin Maxwell once described O'Brien as the finest tactical officer he ever had, and Captain Picard noted that Transporter Room Three – O'Brien's favorite room – wouldn't be the same without him. O'Brien generally reciprocated this respect, noting once in a conversation with Picard when discussing his past service with Captain Maxwell that he considered himself fortunate to have served under Starfleet's two finest captains, and later demonstrating the same respect to his new commanding officer, Benjamin Sisko. ( TNG : " The Wounded "; DS9 : " Emissary ", " The Adversary ", " The Way of the Warrior ")

Julian Bashir [ ]

O'Brien and Bashir sing " Jerusalem " together

Aboard Deep Space 9, O'Brien forged a strong friendship with Julian Bashir , the station's chief medical officer . Even though Dr. Bashir did take a liking in O'Brien, that sentiment was not reciprocated at first as Miles considered him arrogant and too talkative. He was also not looking forward to calling him by his first name as he had asked him to. Mutual respect developed when the two had to work together to survive on T'Lani III . When the two thought they were about to be killed, O'Brien admitted it was an honor to serve under the doctor. ( DS9 : " The Storyteller ", " Armageddon Game ")

A friendly rivalry developed between the two in racquetball , darts , and other activities. The two were frequent users of the station's holosuites , usually for historical reenactments of events such as the Battle of Britain and the Battle of Clontarf , and even created their own programs, including an accurate depiction of the Alamo . ( DS9 : " Rivals ", " Visionary ", " Accession ", " Bar Association ", " The Changing Face of Evil " et al. )

Their friendship grew so close that O'Brien considered Bashir as important to him as his wife. While drinking and trying to cheer up Bashir about not being noticed by his Academy rival, Elizabeth Lense , O'Brien came close to admitting that he loved Bashir. On another occasion, O'Brien inadvertently expressed the wish that Keiko was more like Bashir. O'Brien was eventually able to accept that he could be close to both his friend and his wife. ( DS9 : " Explorers ", " Hippocratic Oath ", " Extreme Measures ")

O'Brien also thought very highly of Bashir. While he was talking about how much he loved his children, O'Brien even told Bashir that he thought Julian would make a great father. Doctor Bashir jokingly admitted that he wasn't the family type. ( DS9 : " Doctor Bashir, I Presume ")

The friendship was strained at times. When Bashir and O'Brien were trapped on a planet with some rogue Jem'Hadar, Bashir decided to help their leader Goran'Agar find out why he was no longer addicted to the white. O'Brien was vehemently against such a proposal, noting that the Jem'Hadar were enemies of the Federation, and that freeing them of the white would make them a larger threat to the Alpha Quadrant. He was further resentful when Bashir ordered him to help. On another occasion, Bashir and a group of genetically-engineered Humans predicted that the Federation was doomed to lose the Dominion War . Miles was angry at the sheer arrogance shown by the group, noting that they were not as smart as they thought they were. ( DS9 : " Hippocratic Oath ", " Statistical Probabilities ")

The friendship helped the two through troubled times. When O'Brien was given twenty years of prison memories for a crime he did not commit by the Argrathi and could not adjust, he attempted to kill himself. One of the false memories was that he had killed his best friend in prison, even admitting that had it been Bashir in the cell with him, he would have killed the doctor as well. It was Bashir who was able to talk him out of the attempt and get him help. ( DS9 : " Hard Time ") Later, as Bashir became desperate to find a cure for Odo 's morphogenic virus , O'Brien came up with the scheme to lure a Section 31 operative onto the station, capture him, and then probe his mind for knowledge of the cure. Then, when Bashir decided to delve into Luther Sloan 's dying mind for the knowledge, O'Brien insisted on going with him, which proved critical in keeping Bashir focused on obtaining the cure even when faced with the possibility of acquiring information that could allow him to shut down Section 31. ( DS9 : " Tacking Into the Wind ", " Extreme Measures ")

Worf with Chief O'Brien aboard the Enterprise -D

Miles O'Brien and Worf knew each other from their early days on the Enterprise , although their relationship was that of a noncom and his superior. The two would play together in the crew's poker games. O'Brien participated in Wesley Crusher 's Age of Ascension recreation for Worf, where he commented on the power of the Klingon painstiks . ( TNG : " The Emissary ", " The Icarus Factor ")

O'Brien was the first person, besides Worf, to greet the Klingon's adoptive Human parents, upon their arrival on board the Enterprise , Worf's adopted father noting that he had served in O'Brien's position during his own Starfleet career. ( TNG : " Family ")

Although Worf had to man the bridge at O'Brien's wedding to Keiko, he gave O'Brien a Klingon weapon as a wedding gift. In 2368, when the Enterprise was damaged by a quantum filament , Worf was forced to deliver Keiko's baby daughter, Molly, something apparently found quite stressful. He humorously noted that Molly resembled Miles. ( TNG : " Data's Day ", " Disaster ")

O'Brien welcoming Worf aboard DS9

The friendship strengthened when Worf transferred to Deep Space 9 in 2372 . O'Brien was the first person to greet Worf when he arrived. Later, he introduced Worf to the game of darts , describing it as "poker, but with pointed tips." When Worf accepted the position of strategic operations officer (with a change of uniform from yellow to red), O'Brien commented how good Worf looked in red. ( DS9 : " The Way of the Warrior ")

O'Brien "argues" with Worf

When the Defiant was damaged by the Jem'Hadar during their Karemma negotiations, and Worf found commanding the engineering team difficult, O'Brien helped Worf take a different approach to command. ( DS9 : " Starship Down ")

When Worf discovered that the O'Briens were having another child, he altered his holiday plans to coincide with the birth, just so there would be no chance that he would have to deliver the baby (as he did with Molly). ( DS9 : " Accession ")

During Worf's trial that demanded his extradition to the Klingon Empire , O'Brien described Worf as "an honorable man". In turn, Worf described O'Brien as an "outstanding officer" and a friend, relaying their mutual respect out loud. ( DS9 : " Rules of Engagement ")

Worf incited a riot against the Jem'Hadar, Toman'torax , in retaliation for threatening O'Brien. ( DS9 : " To the Death ")

The two did occasionally experience conflict. During the 2372 Guild of Restaurant and Casino Employees strike against Quark's Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade , Worf attempted to patronize the bar. A strong advocate for the interests of labor over capital, O'Brien intercepted Worf and attempted to persuade him not to cross the picket line. Their discussion became heated, escalating into a shouting match. When Dr. Julian Bashir attempted to intervene, a table was inadvertently shoved and Bashir ended up with a cut on his forehead. Worf, O'Brien, and Bashir were arrested by station security for brawling and spent the night in a holding cell. ( DS9 : " Bar Association ")

Worf and O'Brien perform the ak'voh for Muniz

In 2373 , Worf and O'Brien participated in recovering a Jem'Hadar ship from Torga IV . Although Worf believed that Enrique Muniz would not survive from his wounds, O'Brien did not agree and clashed with Worf's pessimism. Worf was later proved right and Muniz did pass away. Once the mission was over, O'Brien and Worf performed the Klingon tradition of ak'voh in front of Muniz's casket. ( DS9 : " The Ship ")

O'Brien had to undergo a ritual fasting with Julian Bashir and Sisko as part of Worf's Kal'Hyah ceremony, which was different than what he thought it would be. He couldn't last the four days (even vowing to kill Worf at one point), and when he heard the wedding ceremony was called off, he and Bashir immediately ordered a large feast of Terran and Bajoran food. Sisko stopped them and helped put the wedding back on track. ( DS9 : " You Are Cordially Invited ")

At one point, Worf and O'Brien, while watching Jadzia and Quark playing a game of tongo against each other and a group of Ferengi waiters, Worf made a bet that Jadzia had the game in hand. He wagered to O'Brien that if she won, he would owe Worf a bottle of bloodwine. If Jadzia lost, Worf would then owe the chief a bottle of Scotch whiskey . In the end, Worf ended up saying that he would need time to come up with O'Brien's payment. ( DS9 : " Change of Heart ")

After Jadzia Dax died at the hands of Gul Dukat, O'Brien was one of the first people who attempted to cheer up Worf. While drinking bloodwine and reminiscing about old crewmates from the Enterprise (most notably, Reginald Barclay ), O'Brien found out what was bothering Worf – the fact that his wife did not die an honorable death, and thus could not enter Sto-vo-kor . O'Brien then directed Martok to help Worf, who assigned him the mission to destroy the Monac IV fleet yards. ( DS9 : " Image in the Sand ")

A short time later, O'Brien helped Worf ease his hostility to Ezri. Over a bottle of bloodwine, O'Brien asked how Jadzia would feel if she knew how poorly Worf treated Ezri. When Worf claimed that there was no way to know, O'Brien refuted the claim, suggesting he talk to the one person Worf had been avoiding. After keeping her in Starfleet, Worf and O'Brien attended Ezri's promotion party. ( DS9 : " Afterimage ")

When O'Brien's authorization code was used to access sixteen cases of bloodwine sent to Martok by Sirella, Martok, and Worf had to quiz O'Brien on where the cases went. O'Brien had to explain to Worf and Martok that Nog must have taken the bloodwine to barter for a graviton stabilizer . Worf and Martok gave O'Brien one day to find the bloodwine. Fortunately, Nog had returned with sixteen cases of 2309 bloodwine bought from his cousin Gant , an even better vintage than the ones Nog took. Both Klingons gave O'Brien a bottle of the bloodwine as an "apology". ( DS9 : " Treachery, Faith and the Great River ")

Benjamin Sisko [ ]

O'Brien's relationship with Benjamin Sisko could be described as a classic example of a crewman's loyalty and devotion to a commander. And this relationship developed quickly. O'Brien respected Sisko from the first, and Sisko came to rely on Miles to keep Deep Space 9 running in the earliest days of his command.

Sisko and O'Brien talking about Jake

Sisko was quick to reprimand O'Brien, after the Tosk incident, even though he approved of O'Brien's actions on a personal level. ( DS9 : " Captive Pursuit ")

Aside from this incident, Sisko seemed to have developed a very casual friendship with O'Brien, despite the difference in their ranks and the fact that Miles was an enlisted crewman and Sisko an officer. And O'Brien was unswervingly loyal to his commander. They both would talk about their respective roles as fathers. ( DS9 : " Call to Arms ")

Sisko verbally threatened the Cardassians should any harm come to O'Brien, who was held under false charges. Upon concluding the Cardassians' plot regarding the Maquis, he pulled a few strings and extended O'Brien's vacation time. ( DS9 : " Tribunal ")

O'Brien volunteered to remain behind on Deep Space 9 to help Sisko, Li Nalas , and a handful of others retain control of the station after Starfleet was ordered off by the Provisional Government, under the influence of The Circle. He did this even though it could have meant the end of his Starfleet career and over the strenuous objections of his wife. ( DS9 : " The Siege ")

Sisko was sympathetic to O'Brien after his daughter Molly was thrown in a time portal. Once the incident ended, he volunteered to represent his engineer at a Starfleet hearing, and defended his actions at a hearing. ( DS9 : " Time's Orphan ")

Miles O'Brien and Odo had a good working relationship. Odo volunteered to represent O'Brien when he was tried in a Cardassian court, successfully proving O'Brien's innocence despite the Cardassian legal structure regarding the trial as a mere formality for a pre-determined sentence. This trial gave Odo the opportunity to get to know O'Brien better and develop an admiration for his strong sense of duty when he proclaimed that he had always tried to be somebody his children could be proud of. A couple of years later, he allowed the O'Briens to return the temporally-displaced Molly O'Brien to Golana , even though they broke her out of a holding cell. He joked that he was actually disappointed as he expected O'Brien to succeed in breaking someone out of the station without being discovered. ( DS9 : " Tribunal ", " Time's Orphan ")

At one point, Garak makes mention that O'Brien shares "human crime novels" with Odo; he states that they may be influencing Odo's thinking. ( DS9 : " The Die is Cast ")

O'Brien and Odo once went kayaking in a holosuite ; an activity Odo found "quite enjoyable". ( DS9 : " Heart of Stone ")

Kira Nerys [ ]

O'Brien with Kira in 2373

O'Brien's relationship with the Bajoran first officer of Deep Space 9 started out rocky. Kira did not trust Starfleet, or the presence of the Federation on DS9. But, O'Brien earned her trust, and her friendship.

The turning point in O'Brien's relationship with Kira came when he helped her rescue Li Nalas from a Cardassian prison camp. From this point, Kira began to view O'Brien as someone she could trust, and someone she could rely on in a dangerous situation. ( DS9 : " The Homecoming ")

Kira carried Miles and Keiko O'Brien 's baby to term following a runabout accident that threatened Keiko's pregnancy. The fetus was transferred to Kira's womb under the emergency circumstances so that both mother and child might live. During Kira's pregnancy, she and Miles formed a close, even intimate personal relationship. Kira was invited by Keiko to live in the O'Brien's' quarters, and Miles helped Kira with the pregnancy's physical discomfort with massages and other Bajoran treatments. The physical and emotional closeness of this time caused O'Brien and Kira to struggle against romantic feelings that developed between them, although in the end they were able to put those aside and remain friends, Kira retaining an aunt-like relationship with O'Brien's children. ( DS9 : " Body Parts ", " Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places ")

Interests and hobbies [ ]

During his childhood, Miles developed keen construction skills. Despite doing poorly in mechanical aptitude tests, he spent many hours constructing model starship engines, models of subspace transceiver assemblies and ships in a bottle. He also did a great deal of hiking, climbing mountains in his native Ireland . ( DS9 : " Paradise "; TNG : " Booby Trap ", " All Good Things... "; DS9 : " The Ship ")

O'Brien's one continuing passion was kayaking , and he frequently found himself visiting sickbay or the infirmary for shoulder injuries sustained during programs. ( TNG : " Transfigurations "; DS9 : " Shakaar ", " Inquisition ") This eventually resulted in humoral socket replacement surgery in 2371 (although the injury that necessitated the operation was not sustained through the sport). This did not end O'Brien's shoulder problems – he suffered a torn rotator cuff four years later, while practicing baseball with the Niners . ( DS9 : " Take Me Out to the Holosuite ") He enjoyed singing while kayaking, which he felt helped establish a good paddling rhythm. ( DS9 : " Heart of Stone ")

O'Brien created a detailed model of the Alamo in his quarters, which he left to Julian Bashir after he left for Earth in 2375

Together with Julian Bashir , O'Brien pursued several other hobbies like racquetball , darts and historical reenactments in the holosuite of events such as the Battle of Britain , the Battle of Clontarf , or the defending of the Alamo , of which he even created a detailed model in his quarters. ( DS9 : " Rivals ", " Visionary ", " Accession ", " Bar Association ", " The Changing Face of Evil " et. al )

He maintained his love of music, playing the cello in a string quartet aboard the Enterprise . ( TNG : " The Ensigns of Command ", " Sarek ") O'Brien was also a fan of detective fiction novels, particularly Mickey Spillane and his character Mike Hammer , a preference he passed on to Odo , to whom he frequently loaned books. ( DS9 : " Field of Fire ")

O'Brien was literate in the Trill language . ( DS9 : " Prodigal Daughter ")

A favored drink of O'Brien's was coffee : Jamaican blend, double-strong, double-sweet, as well as just black and double-sweet. He was in the habit of drinking it throughout the day, although until 2370 Keiko was under the impression he didn't drink it in the afternoon. ( DS9 : " Whispers ", " Babel ", " Armageddon Game ")

O'Brien was a fan of Starfleet combat rations , and that those rations were the only thing that he missed about the Cardassian front. ( TNG : " Rascals "; DS9 : " The Siege ")

According to Sarina Douglas , she thought O'Brien would be a fitting replacement for Greek god Atlas if he ever got tired, adding that "he would do it with a smile on his face." ( DS9 : " Chrysalis ")

Holograms [ ]

Falcon with O'Brien's appearance

Miles O'Brien has been holographically duplicated on a number of occasions.

• A recreation was used by Romulans to see if a brainwashed Geordi La Forge would kill on command in 2367 . ( TNG : " The Mind's Eye ")
• A recreation was created by the personnel of Deep Space 9 in order to lure Bajoran soldiers into a holosuite during the coup d'état attempt by The Circle . ( DS9 : " The Siege ")
• A transporter accident in 2372 aboard Deep Space 9 resulted in transporter patterns that would normally be stored in the pattern buffer to overwrite some of the characters in the Julian Bashir, Secret Agent 1960s holoprogram . The character of Falcon was overwritten with the appearance of O'Brien. O'Brien later willingly played the character of Falcon with Bashir during their off hours. ( DS9 : " Our Man Bashir ", " A Simple Investigation ")
• Luther Sloan recreated the entire station, and staff, of Deep Space 9 in 2374 as part of his investigation into Julian Bashir. This program had a recreation of O'Brien. ( DS9 : " Inquisition ")

Alternate realities and timelines [ ]

• In the anti-time past created by Q , O'Brien was puzzled by Captain Jean-Luc Picard 's knowledge of his hobby building model ships in 2364 . The time traveling Picard learned this information about O'Brien in a conversation two years later. ( TNG : " All Good Things... ", " Booby Trap ")
• In an alternate timeline created when the USS Defiant crashed on Gaia in the 22nd century , O'Brien married Rita Tannenbaum and they had many descendants, including Miranda O'Brien and their great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter Molly . The name "Molly" was passed down through the O'Brien family over the course of approximately two hundred years. ( DS9 : " Children of Time ")
• In the first timeline, O'Brien was killed by a high-energy laser . After witnessing the event, O'Brien and Odo checked out the location, but found no sign of the device having been planted yet. A surveillance device was eventually discovered implanted in the bulkhead by a Klingon covert strike force. Aware of his fate in this timeline, O'Brien made sure to avoid this location at the time that he would die. ( DS9 : " Visionary ")
• In the second timeline, O'Brien died due to the damage that the radioisotopes did to the basilar arteries in his brain stem which was not discovered until Dr. Julian Bashir performed an autopsy on him. Bashir warned the time-displaced O'Brien who had the past Bashir perform a basilar arterial scan , allowing him to fix the damage in time. ( DS9 : " Visionary ")
• In the third timeline, O'Brien witnessed the destruction of DS9 and his future self leading survivors to safety in the station's runabouts . ( DS9 : " Visionary ")
• In the fourth timeline, O'Brien deliberately contaminated himself further in order to determine the exact cause of events he had witnessed, traveling into the future by 3.5 hours and witnessing the warbird destroying the station. However, the original O'Brien succumbed to the radiation poisoning and he was replaced by his counterpart from the timeline that he had visited. Thus, events that occurred to O'Brien from this point on involved the future version, rather than the O'Brien from the original timeline. By warning the crew about the warbird attack, O'Brien was able to avert this timeline. ( DS9 : " Visionary ")
• In an alternate timeline created by Q where Earth had become the Confederation of Earth , Miles O'Brien was a general in the Confederation Corps and by 2401 , was the field officer fighting the Dominion Alliance War . ( PIC : " Penance ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " Encounter at Farpoint "
• " Lonely Among Us "
• " The Child "
• " Where Silence Has Lease "
• " Loud As A Whisper "
• " Unnatural Selection "
• " A Matter Of Honor "
• " The Measure Of A Man "
• " The Dauphin "
• " Contagion "
• " The Royale "
• " Time Squared "
• " The Icarus Factor "
• " Pen Pals "
• " Up The Long Ladder "
• " Manhunt "
• " The Emissary "
• " Shades of Gray "
• " The Ensigns of Command "
• " The Bonding "
• " Booby Trap "
• " The Enemy "
• " The Price " (voice only)
• " The Hunted "
• " A Matter of Perspective "
• " Tin Man "
• " Hollow Pursuits "
• " The Most Toys "
• " Transfigurations "
• " The Best of Both Worlds "
• " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II "
• " Brothers "
• " Remember Me "
• " Data's Day "
• " The Wounded "
• " Night Terrors "
• " Half a Life "
• " The Mind's Eye "
• " In Theory "
• " Redemption II "
• " Disaster "
• " The Game "
• " Power Play "
• " Realm Of Fear "
• " Rascals "
• " All Good Things... "
• " Emissary "
• " Past Prologue "
• " A Man Alone "
• " Captive Pursuit "
• " The Nagus "
• " Battle Lines "
• " The Storyteller "
• " Progress "
• " If Wishes Were Horses "
• " The Forsaken "
• " Dramatis Personae "
• " In the Hands of the Prophets "
• " The Homecoming "
• " The Circle "
• " The Siege "
• " Invasive Procedures "
• " Cardassians "
• " Rules of Acquisition "
• " Necessary Evil "
• " Second Sight "
• " Sanctuary "
• " The Alternate "
• " Armageddon Game "
• " Whispers "
• " Paradise "
• " Shadowplay "
• " Playing God "
• " Profit and Loss "
• " The Maquis, Part I "
• " The Maquis, Part II "
• " The Wire "
• " Crossover "
• " The Collaborator "
• " Tribunal "
• " The Jem'Hadar "
• " The Search, Part I "
• " The Search, Part II "
• " The House of Quark "
• " Equilibrium "
• " The Abandoned "
• " Civil Defense "
• " Meridian "
• " Defiant "
• " Fascination "
• " Past Tense, Part I "
• " Past Tense, Part II "
• " Life Support "
• " Heart of Stone "
• " Destiny "
• " Prophet Motive "
• " Visionary "
• " Distant Voices "
• " Improbable Cause "
• " The Die is Cast "
• " Explorers "
• " Family Business "
• " Shakaar "
• " The Adversary "
• " The Way of the Warrior "
• " The Visitor "
• " Hippocratic Oath "
• " Indiscretion "
• " Rejoined "
• " Starship Down "
• " Little Green Men "
• " The Sword of Kahless "
• " Our Man Bashir "
• " Homefront "
• " Paradise Lost "
• " Crossfire "
• " Return to Grace "
• " Sons of Mogh "
• " Bar Association "
• " Accession "
• " Rules of Engagement "
• " Hard Time "
• " Shattered Mirror "
• " The Muse "
• " For the Cause "
• " To the Death "
• " The Quickening "
• " Body Parts "
• " Broken Link "
• " Apocalypse Rising "
• " The Ship "
• " Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places "
• " Nor the Battle to the Strong "
• " The Assignment "
• " Trials and Tribble-ations "
• " The Ascent "
• " Rapture "
• " The Darkness and the Light "
• " The Begotten "
• " For the Uniform "
• " In Purgatory's Shadow "
• " By Inferno's Light "
• " Doctor Bashir, I Presume "
• " A Simple Investigation "
• " Business as Usual "
• " Ties of Blood and Water "
• " Ferengi Love Songs "
• " Soldiers of the Empire "
• " Children of Time "
• " Blaze of Glory "
• " Empok Nor "
• " In the Cards "
• " Call to Arms "
• " A Time to Stand "
• " Rocks and Shoals "
• " Sons and Daughters "
• " Behind the Lines "
• " Favor the Bold "
• " Sacrifice of Angels "
• " You Are Cordially Invited "
• " Resurrection "
• " Statistical Probabilities "
• " The Magnificent Ferengi "
• " Who Mourns for Morn? "
• " One Little Ship "
• " Honor Among Thieves "
• " Change of Heart "
• " Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night "
• " Inquisition "
• " His Way "
• " Profit and Lace "
• " Time's Orphan "
• " The Sound of Her Voice "
• " Tears of the Prophets "
• " Image in the Sand "
• " Shadows and Symbols "
• " Afterimage "
• " Take Me Out to the Holosuite "
• " Chrysalis "
• " Treachery, Faith and the Great River "
• " Once More Unto the Breach "
• " The Siege of AR-558 "
• " Covenant "
• " It's Only a Paper Moon "
• " Prodigal Daughter "
• " Field of Fire "
• " Chimera "
• " Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang "
• " Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges "
• " Penumbra "
• " 'Til Death Do Us Part "
• " Strange Bedfellows "
• " The Changing Face of Evil "
• " When It Rains... "
• " Tacking Into the Wind "
• " Extreme Measures "
• " The Dogs of War "
• " What You Leave Behind "
• LD : " Temporal Edict " (holographic statue)

Background information [ ]

Miles O'Brien was played by Colm Meaney in all appearances. When asked what he thought O'Brien brought to the show, during an interview in November 2009, Meaney replied, " I don't know. I think… you know, because of that world that we inhabited, with all of these extraordinary characters who could do extraordinary things, there was a terrific kind of humanity in O'Brien… and that's due to the writing, of course, but it's also in every sense, in that he was humanoid! But I think he brought that kind of contemporary sensibility to an extraordinary world, and it's nice to be able to say that. And, of course, we had the storylines with Rosalind Chao, who played my wife, Keiko, which were great, just to be able to play those storylines of domestic tension or the problems facing a kid in that environment. " [1]

Prior to revealing his first name "Miles" in the TNG fourth season episode " Family ", Ronald D. Moore and the other writers considered "Aloysius" as a first name for O'Brien. ("Namely O'Brien", The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 14 , p. 30) Commented Rick Berman , " I named him after my nephew, whose name is Miles O'Brien. " ( The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years , p. 442)

On bringing Meaney and thus O'Brien to DS9, Michael Piller stated, " We've always thought he was a terrific performer and now we're giving him something much more interesting to do as a leading character on the new show. He is pulling hair out from one minute to the next because everything is breaking down. He can't get the replicators to make a good cup of coffee; his wife Keiko is terribly unhappy about having been taken off the Enterprise and over to this dreadful station. So he finds himself in an uncomfortable position. " ( Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Unauthorized Story , p. 11) Contrasting the portrayal of O'Brien in TNG with how the character is depicted in DS9, Meaney himself commented, " He's essentially the same character [….] I haven't really changed my approach to playing the character. He's just the same guy trying to deal with many more problems. " ( The Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Magazine issue 1 , pp. 22 & 23)

According to DS9 executive producer/writer Ira Steven Behr , " O'Brien is every man. In a show about humans and aliens, he's as Human as you get. " Similarly, Behr's writing partner for the first four seasons of the show, Robert Hewitt Wolfe , says, " He's just a regular guy, a guy doing his job. He's just the most unlikely of all heroes because he's a family man with a daughter and eventually a son and a wife and they have arguments and a real relationship, and he's just a working class schmo, I mean obviously he's a really bright guy and very good at what he did, but basically, a working class schmo just trying to get through his day. " ( Crew Dossier: Miles O'Brien , DS9 Season 5 DVD , Special Features)

The DS9 writing staff had a running joke where the character would suffer significant trauma in at least one episode per season. Among these were " Whispers ", " Tribunal ", " Visionary ", " Hard Time " and " The Assignment ". ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion  (pp. 328 & 389)) According to Ira Behr, " Every year in one or two shows we try to make his life miserable, because you empathize with him. " Robert Hewitt Wolfe further explains, " If O'Brien went through something torturous and horrible, the audience was going to feel that, in a way they wouldn't feel it with any of the other characters. Because all the other characters were sort of, I wouldn't say larger than life, but nobler than life, but O'Brien was just a guy, trying to live his life and so if you tortured him that was a story. " ( Crew Dossier: Miles O'Brien , DS9 Season 5 DVD , Special Features)

The relationship built up on DS9 between O'Brien and Bashir was very important to all of the writers, as well as both actors. According to Ronald D. Moore , after the scene where they sing the British patriotic hymn " Jerusalem " together in DS9 : " Explorers ", all of the staff writers wanted to write scenes involving their friendship. Alexander Siddig says, " it's been said, by even the producers, that O'Brien and Bashir are the only real friendship that's ever happened on Star Trek . These two really are friends. It's not like some kind of odd couple scenario, like Spock and Kirk . It's a real friendship. These people talk about inane things, and I think that's been really refreshing. " Robert Hewitt Wolfe elaborates, " It was just great. There was just great chemistry between the two actors, great chemistry between the two characters. It was brilliant of Michael and Rick to create these two characters as foils for each other. And to then see this relationship develop over the years till they're best friends, till Miles actually likes Bashir kind of almost better than his wife some days, which is very real, I mean there's days that everybody, you know, it's easier to be friends with a friend than with your wife some days. " ( Crew Dossier: Miles O'Brien , DS9 Season 5 DVD , Special Features) Ira Behr goes even further, and cites it as his favorite relationship in all of Star Trek ; " The relationship between Bashir and O'Brien is the best relationship, the best friendship, in the history of the franchise. Spock and Kirk were still about the captain and his number one. This is a friendship with two equals, two guys. It's a wonderful thing to watch how this relationship has grown. " ( Crew Dossier: Julian Bashir , DS9 Season 6 DVD , Special Features)

O'Brien is one of two enlisted characters in Star Trek to have received any significant character development, the other being Yeoman Janice Rand .

O'Brien is one of five characters to appear in two series premieres played by the same actor: ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint " and DS9 : " Emissary "), the others being Quark , Morn , and Broik (in both DS9 : " Emissary " and VOY : " Caretaker "). Jean-Luc Picard is the only one to appear in three ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", DS9 : " Emissary ", and PIC : " Remembrance ").

O'Brien is one of four characters to appear in two series finales ( TNG : " All Good Things... " and DS9 : " What You Leave Behind "), the others being Worf (same episodes as O'Brien), William T. Riker and Deanna Troi (both in TNG : " All Good Things... " and ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ").

O'Brien is the only character to appear in two series premieres and two series finales, ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint " and DS9 : " Emissary "), and ( TNG : " All Good Things... " and DS9 : " What You Leave Behind ").

Problematic rank history [ ]

The character of Miles O'Brien, and the exact rank he held in Star Trek , has a history of its own spanning the length of the character's existence.

In thirteen years of the character's appearances, only in the last four was his rank established to be presumably senior chief petty officer (although this term was never directly used on screen). Through various other stages of the character's development, O'Brien was referred to as a crewman , a lieutenant , and various script notes indicated he was a "warrant officer." The novelization of Emissary indicated O'Brien held a rank known as "ensign junior grade".

The exact history of O'Brien's ranks are as follows:

1987 : Appears in " Encounter at Farpoint " and is referred to as "Conn" (not as a name, but showing he was conducting the movements of the ship). In this episode, O'Brien wears the single pip of a Starfleet ensign (1) and a red command division uniform. In " Lonely Among Us " he appears again, with no apparent insignia, credited as First Security Guard and in the corresponding yellow operations division uniform.

1988 : Appears in " The Child ", credited as Transporter Chief. He wears the two pips of a Starfleet lieutenant (2). In " Where Silence Has Lease " he appears wearing the same uniform and insignia as "The Child" and is directly addressed by Commander Riker as "lieutenant", seemingly indicating that O'Brien is an officer.

1989 : O'Brien's surname is mentioned for the first time in " Unnatural Selection ". He is wearing the two pips of a Starfleet lieutenant again and is addressed as chief .

1989 : Appears in " The Emissary ", again wearing two pips. Toward the end of the episode, then Lieutenant junior grade Worf gives him transporter coordinates. After entering them, Worf says " I relieve you ", to which O'Brien replies, " Well I… yes, lieutenant ", which is the correct way to formally address someone of inferior rank (if Worf had been his superior, it would likely have been "sir"). There have been multiple examples in Starfleet of position trumping rank, such as a bridge officer being left in command of a ship, even when a superior officer is on duty in engineering.

1990 : Appears in " Family " and is addressed as "another chief petty officer" by Sergey Rozhenko , even though he is shown wearing lieutenant's pips, and is given a first (and middle) name, three years after his first appearance. From this point on, O'Brien's character is developed as a senior enlisted member of the Enterprise crew, although he continued to wear the lieutenant's insignia.

• Ronald D. Moore commented, " O'Brien was originally just a day player on TNG and very little, if any, thought went into his rank or background for quite a while. He officially became a Chief Petty Officer in "Family" when I wanted he and Worf's adoptive father to both be non-coms in contrast to Worf. Making him an enlisted man seemed to give us another color in the show and to open up another window into Starfleet that we hadn't explored before. " ( AOL chat , 1998 )

1991 : Appears in " Data's Day " wearing his usual uniform and insignia. At the end of the episode, O'Brien wears a dress uniform also with the two pip insignia of a lieutenant. Later in " Clues ", he mentions Ensign Locklin to be "one of his technicians", once more suggesting a higher rank in line with his two rank pips.

1992 : Appears in " Realm Of Fear " where O'Brien is given direct orders by Reginald Barclay (who is a lieutenant junior grade ) thus firming up the idea that O'Brien is a noncom as opposed to an commissioned officer. This episode marks the first time that O'Brien wears the single black pip with his regular uniform (3). (The Star Trek Encyclopedia  (2nd ed., p. 211) defines this as the insignia of a "chief warrant officer", although the term is never used on-screen.)

1993 : Appears in " Emissary ", where he transfers to Deep Space 9 to take a new position as its "chief of operations". In " A Man Alone ", this transfer is described as a "promotion". For the next three years, O'Brien wears a single black pip insignia with his rank again very much in question. Script notes from several Deep Space Nine episodes indicate he is a "warrant officer", while the pilot's novelization states O'Brien is an "ensign junior grade" (3).

1994 : Appears in " Paradise " where he briefly describes the history of how he became tactical officer and "got [his] gold suit" on the USS Rutledge . In the next episode, " Shadowplay ", his title is stated to be senior chief specialist . He appears also in the past segment of " All Good Things... " wearing the single pip of a Starfleet ensign, which is consistent with what was worn during "Encounter at Farpoint" (1). The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 301) incorrectly reports that O'Brien wears a single hollow pip during the episode.

• In " Tribunal ", O'Brien told Raymond Boone he was Chief Engineer of Deep Space 9, rather than Chief of Operations .
• In " Facets ", after Nog passes the entry exam for Starfleet Academy, O'Brien mentions to Bashir that if Nog graduates from the Academy, he [O'Brien] will have to address Nog as "sir." Despite this, Nog (upon becoming an ensign) still referred to the chief as "sir."

1995 : In " Past Tense, Part I ", when the other officers are lamenting having to attend a formal Starfleet function, O'Brien is asked if he would like to attend. He half-jokes, " Full dress uniform, fine table linens, a different fork for every course? No thanks, that's why I stayed an enlisted man. They don't expect me to show up for these formal dinners. "

1995 : By the time of " Hippocratic Oath ", O'Brien has begun to wear a new insignia reminiscent of the chevron rank used by modern-day master chief petty officers in the US Navy (4). In this episode, a Jem'Hadar familiar with Starfleet insignia identifies it as a chief petty officer insignia. Presumably it was actually senior chief petty officer, as the word senior was used in "Shadowplay", so the Jem'Hadar presumably simply left out the distinction. His dress uniform in " Crossfire " displays no rank insignia, but in " Rules of Engagement " it has the single black pip.

Some additional inconsistencies with the character of O'Brien include references to the backstory seen in " The Wounded " which reveals that O'Brien was once a senior department head officer under the command of Captain Benjamin Maxwell , a position normally reserved for an officer. Under wartime conditions, however, lower ranked officers and non-commissioned crew members do hold such positions, as seen throughout the Dominion War .

Additionally, O'Brien appears to have had officers working for him. Such was the case in " Clues ", in which O'Brien states that an ensign was "one of his technicians". This may be explained by O'Brien holding a type of "positional authority" which would grant him authority to officers due to his position as transporter chief, even though he was militarily junior. This continued well into his tenure on Deep Space 9, with an ensign in " Emissary " addressing him as "sir", several members of his staff appearing to be ensigns or lieutenants and Nog clearly being subordinate to O'Brien despite holding the rank of ensign.

Julian Bashir further remarked in " Trials and Tribble-ations " that O'Brien had attended Starfleet Academy , which is a training school for commissioned officers and not noncoms. Ronald D. Moore remarked, " This is a mistake, plain and simple. If you want to rationalize it, I suppose we could say that the enlisted training program also takes place at the Academy. " ( AOL chat , 1998 ) The idea of Starfleet Academy training enlisted personnel was also backed up by statements of Simon Tarses in " The Drumhead ".

Apocrypha [ ]

In post-finale novel Unity and novella The Lotus Flower , O'Brien relocates from Earth to Cardassia in the year after DS9 ended.

In the Star Trek: Typhon Pact novel Raise the Dawn , O'Brien is reassigned as chief engineer following the destruction of Deep Space 9 in 2383 of both the ground-based facility that substituted for it and supervising the Starfleet Corps of Engineers in the construction of the new, replacement station.

In the Star Trek: The Fall novel Revelation and Dust , O'Brien takes over as chief engineer of the new Deep Space 9 after its construction was completed.

Miles O'Brien of the alternate reality

The alternate reality version of Miles O'Brien appears in the Star Trek: Ongoing story arc The Q Gambit in which he is a member of the Free Federation Resistance with the rank of lieutenant and is first officer of the USS Defiant , with his wife Keiko as captain of the Defiant . He rescues Sisko, Odo, James T. Kirk , Montgomery Scott , and Nyota Uhura from Changelings after they had murdered Chancellor Worf using a shuttle and when they get back to the Defiant , O'Brien is assisted by Scott in fixing the ship's warp drive during which the two of them discuss and bond over their mutual love of engineering.

External links [ ]

• Miles O'Brien at StarTrek.com
• Miles O'Brien at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Miles O'Brien at Wikipedia

Colm Meaney Weighs In On O'Brien Coming To Star Trek: Picard - Exclusive

The first season of  Star Trek: Picard brought back a number of characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation , including William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), and Data (Brent Spiner), along with notable Borg guest star Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) and even Star Trek: Voyager crew member Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). So it stands to reason that more characters from previous Trek shows could potentially join Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) for the series'  upcoming second season , right?

Seven of Nine is already confirmed to come back, and  Whoopi Goldberg is slated to return as Guinan, but other callbacks to The Next Generation , Voyager, and/or  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine remain under wraps for now. One character fans would like to see in  Star Trek: Picard season 2  is Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney), whose illustrious career included a stint as both the Enterprise 's Transporter Chief on The Next Generation and Chief of Operations for the title space station on Deep Space Nine .

When  Looper asked in an exclusive interview with Colm Meaney whether there have been any discussions yet about O'Brien appearing on  Picard , the actor gave an honest answer: "There's no talking that I'm aware of, no." As for whether he'd be interested in returning as the character, Meaney said, "If there's a good and valid reason for him to pop up, and it makes dramatic sense and all that, yeah."

Chief O'Brien holds a notable distinction in Star Trek history

Chief O'Brien made his debut in the very first episode of Star Trek:  The Next Generation , entitled "Encounter at Farpoint," although his actual name wasn't given until the season 2 entry "Unnatural Selection." His character was developed further over subsequent seasons, with O'Brien appearing in more than 50 Next Generation episodes until he moved over to Deep Space Nine , where he was a regular cast member for the entire 176-episode run of the series. He closed out his Star Trek involvement to date on the DS9 series finale "What You Leave Behind."

Along with Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn), O'Brien is one of just two characters who joined the Deep Space Nine  cast from The Next Generation. His 225 total appearances across both shows are the  second most in the entire Star Trek franchise , behind only Worf himself, who's also shown up in several of the movies.

It's an impressive feat, but Meaney admitted that he has "no idea" what to say about the milestone. "I was only ever recurring in Next Generation . I wasn't a regular on the show, so I only became a regular when I went over to DS9 , which was '92 to '99, I think. So I only did seven years really as a regular, the same as anybody. All those shows did seven years, pretty much," he explained. "So I don't think of it that way. I probably did a lot of Next Generation , a number of episodes certainly, but always as a guest."

Meaney has residences in both Los Angeles and Spain, and he's spent the last year in the latter country to ride out the pandemic — but as a result, he hasn't gotten a chance to watch any episodes from the first season of Star Trek:  Picard yet. Still, he told  Looper he'd be willing to board the series if the chance arises.

"If there was an opportunity for O'Brien to show up, sure," he affirmed. "I'd be happy. I'm very fond of Patrick. It would be lovely to see him, lovely to work with him again. But no, there's no talking [about it] that I'm aware of."

Meaney is currently promoting  his latest movie  Pixie , which is out in theaters and on digital and on demand now. The second season of Picard is tentatively slated to premiere sometime later this year.

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Published May 30, 2023

Miles O'Brien: The Most Important Man in Starfleet

Series creator Mike McMahan explains the 'Temporal Edict' easter egg with Below Deck with Lower Decks.

StarTrek.com

The most important man in Starfleet history is… Miles O’Brien ?

Star Trek: Lower Decks swings big with this one in “ Temporal Edict ,” the third episode of the animated series. You may know and love Star Trek ’s Irish ‘everyman,’ Chief O’Brien, who served on the U.S.S. Enterprise -D , Deep Space 9 space station, and the U.S.S. Defiant during his runs on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , but did you ever think he’d earn himself a statue?

StarTrek.com asked series creator Mike McMahan to give us a little insight into what makes Miles O’Brien so important, and why he wanted to honor the chief engineer on Lower Decks .

“So why did we put that statue at the end of the episode? If you ask the common fan on the street to name the most important Star Trek character, they’ll probably say Picard or Kirk. Us Lower Deckers would like to offer a different answer," shares McMahan. "Chief O’Brien is the original Lower Decker, moving from an enlisted crewman all the way to professor of engineering at Starfleet Academy. We experienced his full life in Starfleet — his marriage and relationship with Keiko, being a dad and moving up in rank and location, the dynamic between enlisted crew and officers through his friendships with Bashir and Sisko, and the trauma he experienced being a veteran of the Federation-Cardassian War. One could argue Miles O’Brien is the most fully realized character in Star Trek , and we ask, no, demand he be given a statue."

"While a nod to Miles might be seen as slight by a casual fan," continued McMahan, "those of us who spent years watching him grow across two television series know he is, without a doubt, the most important person in Starfleet History.”

Can't argue with that! Want to know more about Miles? You can read about his career , friendships , his famed mishaps , and more , right here on StarTrek.com.

This article was originally published on August 21, 2020.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel. The series will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Italy, France, the Caribbean, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and South Korea.

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Star Trek: Picard finale post-credits scene explained: Showrunner confirms big things to come

Showrunner Terry Matalas says Ed Speleers is gonna be a busy man after Picard.

Warning: Spoilers from Star Trek: Picard 's series finale are discussed in this article.

There might be another Star Trek series coming our way — or at the very least, another home for Ed Speleers ' Jack Crusher.

The series finale of Star Trek: Picard , which dropped on Paramount+ Thursday, came with a post-credits scene that teases big things ahead for the character. Showrunner Terry Matalas confirms in an interview with EW, "Jack's got a lot to do, let me tell you."

He wouldn't tell us exactly what, of course, but the producer — who has guided the Patrick Stewart -led spin-off to break into the Nielsen Top 10 ratings for the first time with season 3 — confirms his story isn't over.

After Jean-Luc Picard (Stewart) and Beverly Crusher ( Gates McFadden ) save their son from the Borg Queen with help from their longtime comrades, the finale episode jumps forward a year to see where these characters ended up. Among the reveals is the U.S.S. Titan, which has been rechristened as the Enterprise-G in recognition of Picard and his crew's efforts.

Seven of Nine ( Jeri Ryan ) has been promoted to captain, with Raffi (Michelle Hurd) as her No. 1. A few members of the Titan join them, including Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut). Jack is now Ensign Jack Crusher, as he was placed on an accelerated track by Starfleet.

The post-credits scene cuts to Jack in his quarters on the Enterprise-G. He settles into his room when Q (John de Lancie) makes a surprise appearance.

"Young mortal, you have much ahead of you," he tells Jack.

"You told my father that humanity's trial was over," the young Crusher replies.

"It is... for him," he clarifies. "But I'm here today because of you. You see, yours, Jack, has just begun."

Matalas had the idea for this moment deep into season 2 when he was mapping out the trajectory of season 3. "Once I had the genesis of this idea and I knew it would be about Picard's son, I had envisioned a post-credit sequence in which you passed the torch to [him]."

He points to "Encounter at Farpoint," the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1. "The first major interaction is Q and Picard," he says. "Where better to end than at the beginning?"

A Star Trek: Legacy series has been rumored for some time, with a few of the Picard actors teasing how season 3 leaves the door open to continue that story with the next generation of characters. Alex Kurtzman , who's been shepherding the new golden age of Trek, had even teased during San Diego Comic-Con last year that fans should expect more shows with female leads. So, perhaps, we're getting a Seven of Nine series for Ryan, with Jack as part of her crew.

The only new Trek titles that have been formally announced so far are Star Trek: Starfleet Academy , which Matalas says is part of a different timeline than Picard ; and Star Trek: Section 31 , the event movie starring Michelle Yeoh as Emperor Philippa Georgiou from Star Trek: Discovery .

Matalas won't disclose what the plans are for Speleers as Jack moving forward, only that he knows what they are. "Oh yes. I do [know]," he says. "Oh yes."

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Picard: Who Wasn't Mentioned in That Season 3 Teaser

The cast of TNG is returning for Picard Season 3, but a few names were off the list. Could some of them make a surprise appearance?

The surprise teaser for Season 3 of Picard sent Star Trek fans into orbit, promising the return of the bulk of the crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation for one final get-together with their captain. Considering that Picard was always intended to end after Season 3 – and considering that Patrick Stewart will most likely be done with the role for good once it ends – their inclusion merits special attention.

As intriguing as the list of names is , however, it contains a few absences: either because the character weren’t deemed sufficiently central to the story or because Picard is saving them for a surprise appearance once Season 3 begins . Here are the five most noticeable names not featured in the teaser.

RELATED:  Picard Adds Burton, McFadden, Dorn and More Star Trek: TNG Stars for Final Season

Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz) Is Helping Voyager Get Home

Lt. Barclay was one of Star Trek ’s original “lower decks” crewmen: an insecure and anxiety-laden diagnostic engineer with an unhealthy fixation on holodeck scenarios first introduced in The Next Generation Season 3, Episode 21, “Hollow Pursuits.” He quickly became one of the most beloved members of the crew, appearing five times in The Next Generation as well as a cameo in Star Trek: First Contact before shifting to Star Trek: Voyager . He was instrumental in the Pathfinder Project used to help bring Voyager home, and was present when the ship returned during the Voyager series finale : Season 7, Episode 26, “Endgame, Part 2.” That still leaves over 20 years between then and the beginning of Picard , so if Barclay were to return, his subsequent career and interests would likely be explored.

RELATED:  Picard's Watcher Is the Successor to a TOS Character's Legacy

Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) Is Maybe Back at Starfleet?

Wes is one of the more intriguing absences from the list, and while Wheaton denies being involved in Picard , the rumors likely won’t end until the series does. He officially departed from Star Trek canon in a big way: resigning from Starfleet to follow the Traveler to other planes of existence in The Next Generation Season 7, Episode 20, “Journey’s End.” He appears in a deleted scene in Star Trek: Nemesis , where he states that he has returned to Starfleet and will be serving under Riker aboard the Titan . The scene didn’t make it into the theatrical release of the film, but is widely available. Its canonical status is unconfirmed, though it’s likely that – if Wes appears in Picard – it will be acknowledged as such.

Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) Is Teaching at Starfleet Academy

O’Brien is better known for his run on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , where he appeared as a series regular for all seven seasons. Before that, however, he was a regularly recurring member of the Enterprise -D’s crew, which could facilitate a return in Season 3 of Picard. O’Brien departed Deep Space Nine for Earth in Season 7, Episode 26, “What You Leave Behind, Part 2,” where he took a post teaching at Starfleet Academy. His presence there – assuming he hasn’t left – would be justification enough for a return, since Picard ’s first two seasons have included a number of scenes at the Academy.

RELATED:  Picard Just Referenced Two Forgotten Figures from Star Trek History

Dr. Pulaski (Diana Muldar) Is Whereabouts Unknown

Katherine Pulaski is one of Star Trek ’s great lost characters . She was brought in to replace Gates McFadden, who left after Season 1 over concerns about on- and off-camera sexism. But she struggled to gel with the rest of the cast and McFadden was brought back after just a single season with Pulaski. She last appeared in Season 2, Episode 22, “Shades of Grey” – an infamous clips show created out of necessity when the second season ran over budget – and was replaced by Crusher during the Season 3 premiere with a little hand-waving dialogue about medical research. She remains well-liked among the fans however, and a cameo simply to explain her life after leaving the Enterprise would go down well with the Star Trek faithful.

Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) Is Dead

Of all the Enterprise crew members that the teaser doesn’t mention, Tasha Yar leaves perhaps the biggest shadow. She was unceremoniously disposed of in The Next Generation Season 1, Episode 23, “Skin of Evil” after actor Denise Crosby expressed concerns about the production’s treatment of women. Yet the character continued to haunt the crew long after she left, and she returned in triumph in the beloved Season 3, Episode 15, “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” That, in turn, spawned a new character – Yar’s half-Romulan daughter Sela – who became one of the series’ recurring villains. Considering the Romulans’ place in Picard , and the loss of the Enterprise -D's security chief (which reverberated throughout the series), leaving her out of Season 3 would be a wasted opportunity.

KEEP READING: Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 5, "Fly Me to the Moon," Recap & Spoilers

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Star Trek: Picard – Where Have Worf, LaForge, and Crusher Been?

Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, and Levar Burton are set to join the cast of Picard season 3, but what have their characters been up to since Star Trek's Next Generation days?

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At the start of Picard season one, the disgraced Admiral begins assembling a team to help him investigate his old shipmate Data. But when his new crew included Captain Rios and former Starfleet officer Raffi, both the characters in the show and its fans had a question: Why not bring back the old crew? Over the course of season one and season two, members of that crew slowly came back together, starting with his number one Will Riker and counselor Dianna Troi, and continuing to Data and Guinan. 

For the show’s third and final season, the remaining members of the Enterprise crew will finally rejoin their erstwhile captain. According to Variety , Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, and Levar Burton have been added to the cast of the upcoming season. Give or take a Wesley Crusher, Miles O’Brien, or Tasha Yar, and these additions complete the main cast of The Next Generation . As we’ve already seen Riker, Troi, and the others, much has changed since that group was last seen together in 2002’s Nemesis . So what have the returning characters been doing for the past twenty years? 

In Nemesis deleted scenes, Dr. Crusher returns to her post as the head of Starfleet Medical. Presumably, she resolved whatever issue caused her to leave that position before the start of The Next Generation season three, when she reclaimed her job as Chief Medical Officer from Dr. Pulaski. If aspects of the future glimpsed in “All Good Things…” remains in place, Crusher is on her way to a marriage (and divorce) from Picard, and preparing to captain her own ship, The Pasteur .  

“All Good Things…” also revealed matrimony in Geordi La Forge’s future, as he has started a family with Dr. Leah Brahms in that timeline. Another possible future, as seen in the Voyager episode “Timeless” finds La Forge serving as captain of the USS Challenger . But the most in-canon look we’ve seen of La Forge occurs in the Picard prequel comic book Countdown . There, Commander La Forge works at the shipyards on Utopia Planatia, helping create a new fleet to aid the evacuation of Romulus.  

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Of the three returning characters, fans have seen the most of Worf, thanks to his service on the starbase Deep Space Nine . Worf left DS9 to become the Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire, working closely with Chancellor Martok. In “All Good Things…” Worf remained among the Klingons, eventually becoming Governor of H’atoria. But in Star Trek novels, Worf returns to the Enterprise-E as First Officer, replacing Riker after he becomes Captain of the Titan. When Picard leaves the Enterprise to take the rank of Admiral, Worf becomes Captain, the first Klingon in Federation history to hold that rank. 

While the time shenanigans of season two can change any of these plot points, modern Trek has been glad to incorporate aspects from novels and comics. In the same way that Riker’s captaincy on the Titan has become a common part of the mainline Trek canon, the histories of these characters may be realized in full during the last season of Picard . 

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

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How ‘star trek picard’ showrunner terry matalas captured the series finale’s most important scenes.

The writer-director talks the high stakes of the finale, the emotions that flowed on set, and his dreams of continuing the story with a new series.

By Phil Pirrello

Phil Pirrello

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[This story contains spoilers for Picard season three’s final episode.]

Star Trek Picard ’s third season finale takes the Next Generation crew back to where it all began — though showrunner Terry Matalas was too busy capturing its key scenes to take in the wonder of being on the bridge of the Enterprise-D nearly 30 years after TNG went off the air.

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During the heartstring-tugging climax, the Enterprise literally swoops in above Picard and Jack to save the day, and it was during post-production on the making of this cinematic moment where all the creative intentions and goals Matalas had hoped to achieve for season three coalesced into one frame. 

“I didn’t think we would pull it off,” Matalas tells The Hollywood Reporter. “But when the visual effects came in, and once Stephen Barton’s incredible score was added, seeing the Enterprise appear above the characters like that, that’s when I let myself consider the possibility that, ‘Hey, I think maybe we did it.’”

But getting to see the crew where they began, back on their Next Gen flagship – on a very expensive set for a brief amount of time – involved some logistic pressure. 

“The studio was all for it,” Matalas explains, “but it just came down to time and money. They were like: ‘You have to find a way to pay for it.’ But it was one of the first ideas I had; it was part of my initial pitch to Patrick. The appearance of the ship was part of the pitch to LeVar and to the rest of the cast, in that during the last two hours we would be on the Enterprise-D. So right from the moment that the season started, we were figuring out how to build that in time for the finale.”

Helping production designer Dave Blass and his crew ensure that the set would be completed on time were TNG veterans Michael and Denise Okuda. They and Blass’ team consulted the original TNG bridge’s blueprints to physically re-create the set. Once it was completed, there was very little time for anyone – including lifelong Trek fan Matalas – to bask in the glow of what would become a fan-favorite accomplishment. 

Also on Matalas’ mind was finding the best way to start the episode after episode nine, “Vox,” ended with the Enterprise warping off to once again save Earth. (Picard’s order in that scene – “Set a course for Earth, maximum warp” – is Matalas’ homage to the exact same line Stewart says in the 1996 feature Star Trek: First Contact ). “Last Generation” starts with the first few seconds of The Next Generation ’s famous opening title sequence: A brief flight through space, toward a bruise-colored streak of nebula, before a blinding star fills the frame with white. But the script originally had a different scene.

“What was scripted, actually, was to reprise the first shot of Picard from the TNG series premiere [‘Encounter at Farpoint’],” Matalas remembers. “It was going to be Picard walking up to the D’s observation lounge windows, stepping forward into the shot, and then we were going to transition from that to modern day Picard. But the cost of using that footage and up-resing it proved prohibitive. But I still wanted, by the time we were changing it all, to honor Next Gen . So we thought: ‘Well, what if we use that famous space shot from the titles, only we continue on with it and reveal the Enterprise?’ And it worked.”

“Initially, I wanted to have Walter on camera for that scene. We were going to see President Chekov on the viewscreen deliver that message,” Matalas says. Sadly, the production ran out of time for that. “But, later on, when we were in post, we agreed it would still be amazing and powerful to hear him.” 

Also powerful was seeing the Enterprise get its own “hero moment” on par with those of her crew: In order to rescue Picard and his son, Data pilots the Enterprise on a Death Star-esque trench run through the Borg cube’s vast, jagged interior. 

“That’s all CG. The ship looks like the model in some shots, especially like the smaller, more-detailed model [ TNG ] used after season three, but that’s a testament to our brilliant visual effects team led by Jason Zimmerman and Brian Tatosky.” 

The VFX team could not use ILM’s previous CG version of the Enterprise-D created for brief shots in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations feature film, so the production had to build a new one from scratch. While no models were used, the team did, however, get a chance to reference a physical piece of the Enterprise for their digital recreation: The saucer section model that famously crashes on the planet Veridian III in Generations. (Ironically, Geordi La Forge salvages that crashed saucer section for his friends’ “Last Generation” mission.)

“That was actually the most fun I had [shooting] on the bridge,” Matalas says. “Shooting Beverly at tactical, firing phasers, and seeing Geordi in the Captain’s chair, and Marina and Brent back at their usual stations – all of that was very exciting.”

It was another moment that proved stressful.

“Shooting the initial reunion, when they first walk on to the bridge, that I felt stressed. Because I knew if I had messed that up, it would have risked ruining it for fans,” says Matalas. “But that great emotional moment Marina has as Troi, when she can sense her husband is in danger, or Brent’s great performance asking the crew to trust his ‘gut’ for the first time – those were the moments that were most exciting for me.”

As exciting as the aforementioned action is, Matalas and his writing staff made sure the emotional drama was always fueling such scenes – never superseded by them. Especially a short but compelling beat aboard the soon-to-be-destroyed Borg cube, where Riker has a very “this is it” moment in the form of saying his goodbyes to his wife, Troi. It’s another powerful dramatic turn from Frakes this season, but according to Matalas, it was also a scene that the production raced the clock to get. 

Time and family – what we leave behind and how it shapes what lies ahead – are at the forefront of both “Last Generation” and season threeas a whole, with those thematic auspices culminating in one more final showdown between Picard and his nemesis, the Borg Queen. 

“It was always going to be the Borg Queen,” Matalas explains. “From the initial pitch, to the story break in the writers room, we had to have her because if the show is going to be about what you pass on, this idea of one’s legacy, then a key piece of Picard’s is the role she has had in it. And if we’re going to do a story about Picard as a father in that way, then it had to lead to the Borg Queen in another way, as in: ‘Hey, I’m a parent, a mother, too, aren’t I? I have a maternal stake in this as well.’ Only it’s one with an evil motivation to it. It’s also a generational story in that Jack is the key to the evolution of the Borg. Sort of an unintended consequence of what happened to Picard as Locutus.’”

As for what will happen to Picard, Jack, and the rest of the Enterprise crew in terms of more adventures featuring them on Paramount+ , that remains surprisingly ambiguous – especially given the critical and ratings success of Star Trek Picard season three. (Recently, Picard entered the Nielsen Top 10 Streaming Shows for the first time – a Trek first.)

“I am very, very grateful that the fans want to see more of this very special and talented cast – so do I. At the moment, Star Trek Legacy is just a pie-in-the-sky wish of mine. There is nothing like that in development, currently. But one day, I hope. It would be an amazing thing to do.”

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“I think I stole them”: Marina Sirtis Stole 2 Star Trek Props, One of Which She Ended up Wearing 18 Years Later in ‘Picard’

O ne of the very few franchises that have been able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Star Wars  since the dawn of the modern science fiction era in cinema is Star Trek  and it has been a battle worthy of being dubbed as the Space Race of Hollywood. However, where  Star Wars  has remained at the top of its game since the advent of A New Hope , the same cannot be said for its contemporary show, The Next Generation.

Star Trek:  Nemesis Comes to the Rescue of  Star Trek:  Picard

Fans will do very well to remember that Sir Patrick Stewart reunited with his old castmates in Picard after 26 long years. In that time, while Stewart built on his portfolio with a pronounced presence in the X-Men films, the other Next Generation actors, such as Marina Sirtis , languished on the outskirts of Hollywood.

As such, every opportunity to revive their old roles in the  Star Trek  universe, not only brought back a spark of life into the dreary pace of their lives but also gave them a sense of renewed purpose.

For Sirtis, that purpose took on another meaning entirely after she literally saved the day due to a prop she stole from the sets of  Star Trek: Nemesis 18 years ago. As Sirtis recalled, the costume department on Star Trek: Picard was completely unprepared regarding her props before filming was scheduled to begin, and to make a whole new set of wigs and costumes for Sirtis would have been a burden that could have significantly delayed production.

In a January 2020 interview with  TrekCore , Sirtis admitted:

I called and I said, ‘You do know that I wore a wig and black contact lenses.’ They went, ‘What?’ I was like, ‘Do you know what? I think I stole them so I think I have them. So let’s just get the contact lenses cleaned because they’ve been sitting in a lens case for 15 years, and I have the wig – [both] that I wore in Nemesis. ’ I’m a bit of a tea leaf as they say in England. I’ll have that, thank you very much, which was really good that I did. Trust me, they wouldn’t have had time to make a $10,000 wig. I was in England doing a play anyway. I wrapped on Saturday and was at Universal on Monday having traveled from England on Sunday. I wasn’t even here. It would’ve been like wig, contact lenses, what? It was lucky that I did pilfer them.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode That Was So Controversial the UK Banned it

Although Marina Sirtisʼs timely pilfering did save the day 18 years later, stealing a piece of prop from movie sets has become a common ritual among actors and actresses. From iconic costumes to vintage cars, celebrities have been known to carry home an object which their on-screen character is closely associated with as a token of appreciation for their work on the show or film.

Marina Sirtis Compares Herself to Carrie Fisher in Star Wars

The legacy that was established by Carrie Fisher due to her Star Wars  arc is one that can neither be imitated nor replicated even under the most controlled environments. As such, Fisher remains one of the most enigmatic and admired actresses of her generation and beyond for revolutionizing not only the genre of science fiction but also the portrayal of women in a different light in cinema.

Marina Sirtis, in a similar fashion, feels almost equal to Carrie Fisher due to their shared experience of reprising their most iconic roles in their 60s. Sirtis thus recalls her return to the sets of  Picard , saying:

As Carrie said when she went back to Star Wars, I remember seeing her on the Today show. The interviewer said to her, ‘Was it a difficult choice to resuscitate Princess Leia?’ Carrie said, ‘I’m a 60-year-old actress in Hollywood. People aren’t exactly throwing scripts at me’ which is kind of the place I’m in.

Patrick Stewart Had to Go to Some Extremely Dark Places for One of Best Ever Star Trek Episodes That’s Beyond Normal

Marina Sirtis who played the role of Counselor Deanna Troi appeared in four additional  Star Trek  films, including Star Trek: Nemesis  (2002) after her initial arc in The Next Generation. Star Trek: Picard , the latest of the bunch, ran for 3 years from 2020 to 2023.

Star Trek: Nemesis and  Star Trek: Picard  are available for streaming on Max and Paramount+ respectively.

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Star Trek: Discovery boldly goes where no Trek has gone before by saying religion is... OK, actually

‘Whistlespeak’ breaks from Trek tradition to be pretty chill about believing in a higher power

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Star Trek’s future is a secular one. Franchise creator Gene Roddenberry was an avowed atheist , and the series and its spin-offs have routinely criticized organized religion as manipulative, illogical, and detrimental to the evolution of a society. Individual members of the human race may have an undefined spirituality, a curiosity about the afterlife, or a sense of wonder at the unknown or unknowable, but specific religious beliefs are typically reserved for alien cultures.

But, if Trek’s fervently pro-science and anti-superstition has remained constant, so have the attempts by different storytellers within the franchise to approach religion from other, more tolerant angles. And the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery , “Whistlespeak,” may present Trek ’s most even-handed take on faith to date.

Religion as childhood fantasy

Somewhat restrained by the standards and practices of 1960s television, Star Trek: The Original Series used sci-fi allegories to criticize religion as an institution that stifled advancement and expression. In two episodes (“The Return of the Archons” and “The Apple”), Captain James T. Kirk and his Enterprise crew encountered a planet where a population was cowed into willful ignorance or repression by a deity that turned out to be a computer, which Kirk summarily destroyed.

In the 1980s, however, Star Trek’s writers were free to take the gloves off and criticize religion directly. In the 1989 Next Generation episode “Who Watches the Watchers,” Captain Jean-Luc Picard is mistaken for a god by a Bronze Age civilization for whom religion is already a thing of the past. Picard is mortified to be the catalyst for what he, in no uncertain terms, views as a societal regression, and steps in to reveal the truth to his new worshippers, even at the risk of his own life.

The position of “Who Watches the Watchers,” and of Star Trek at large, is that people turn to the supernatural when there are questions they can’t answer, but that the answers will always come, eventually. The willingness to pursue those answers and the patience to avoid drawing rash conclusions is a sign of maturity. By contrast, inventing digestible but unsupportable explanations for life’s mysteries is a sign of immaturity , a phase to be grown out of.

Other people’s gods

After Gene Roddenberry’s death in 1991, there was a gradual shift in the way Star Trek stories approached religion. The human species had still exited the evolutionary stage at which religion was practiced, but many of their peers in the galactic community — such as the Klingons and the Bajorans — held strong religious beliefs. And these beliefs began to be explored in much greater detail.

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , the human members of the command crew go to great lengths to not only respect but participate in the Klingon rituals of their comrade, Lt. Commander Worf. Ahead of Worf’s marriage to Jadzia Dax, his colleagues Captain Sisko, Chief O’Brien, and Dr. Bashir join him for four days of fasting and physical exhaustion (though not without complaint). When Jadzia is murdered and Worf fears her death has not earned her a place in the Klingon Valhalla of Sto-Vo-Kor, Bashir and O’Brien follow Worf on a potential suicide mission to win glory in her honor. Worf’s friends are content to take Klingon religion at face value, and the existence of Sto-Vo-Kor is never questioned.

During this era of Star Trek, alien religious beliefs were not merely tolerated, but validated. This is an important wrinkle in the case of the Bajoran religion on Deep Space Nine , whose worshiped Prophets are undeniably real: a species of non-corporeal beings who live outside of time and periodically intervene in the development of the nearby planet Bajor. Whether or not the Prophets have done the things the Bajorans worship them for is not up for debate, only whether or not they should be treated with religious reverence. Through DS9 ’s exploration of Bajoran politics, religious power is as dangerous as the person wielding desires it to be — not inherently malevolent or infantilizing towards its people. But, of course, since the existence of the Bajoran gods can be scientifically proven, their value as an analog to real-life religion is limited.

Discovery’s middle way

The streaming era of Star Trek under executive producer Alex Kurtzman, which began in 2017, has seen some new, minor references to religious practices in human society. For example, an unnamed background character serving aboard the USS Cerritos on Star Trek: Lower Decks can be seen wearing a hijab, indicating that some semblance of Islamic tradition is still observed in the 24th century. Not long after we meet Captain Christopher Pike during the second season of Star Trek: Discovery , we learn that his father taught both science and comparative religion.

But “Whistlespeak,” which comes midway through Discovery ’s fifth and final season, returns fully to the Original Series’ territory of a classic “weird alien religion” episode, and with a much more multi-faceted approach. Captain Burnham and her crew visit the planet Halem’no. which is nigh-uninhabitable except within the radius of a tower-like device that was secretly installed by a Federation scientist centuries earlier. The planet’s surviving inhabitants are a peaceful and friendly pre-warp civilization who believe that the towers are temples built by their gods.

Disguised as locals, Burnham and her friend and shipmate Lt. Sylvia Tilly join the faithful Halem’nites for a ceremonial marathon up to the towers as tribute to their divine saviors. It’s a joyful ritual that brings the entire community together, but there’s a shocking twist the Starfleet visitors only learn after the race is finished. Tilly and the marathon’s other winner, a Halem’nite named Ravah, are locked inside the tower, where they will eventually asphyxiate; a sacred sacrifice to keep the planet’s terrible storms at bay.

Though Starfleet officers are forbidden to interfere in the development of pre-warp civilizations, Burnham isn’t about to let Tilly (or Ravah) die to satisfy some arcane ritual. However, rather than tearing the whole society down like Kirk might have done, Burnham appeals directly to the community’s leader — Ravah’s father, Ohvahz — and implores him to stop the sacrifices, explaining the tower will do its work whether or not his child gives their life. Ohvahz is, naturally, open to the idea of not killing his child, but fears that revealing that their temple is actually an alien artifact will shatter his community and lead to violent conflict. What is their civilization without their faith and traditions?

“Better off,” is how Picard would probably answer. But Burnham’s response is more measured.

“There is still what you believe. Nothing we’ve shown you means gods don’t exist… it’s just that you know that there’s also us… Beliefs can evolve. Denying that can cause almost as much chaos as the worst storm.”

It’s probably no accident that Ravah, the teenager who’s supposed to be sacrificed in this episode, is gender non-binary, a trait which is not controversial for the Halem’nites but is condemned by many conservative religious groups here on present-day Earth. There’s also a parallel to the climate crisis, as the Halem’nites will need to learn to maintain the alien weather tower in order to keep their world safe. Would Christianity collapse if their leaders recognized that some of their flock don’t fit into the gender identities described in their holy texts, or that human intervention is required to undo human-made damage to the Earth? Probably not, and their inflexibility is only doing harm to their community. It’s not necessary to hold onto harmful policies or practices, nor is it necessary to throw out an entire system of beliefs because of new, contradictory, or unanticipated information.

Meanwhile, aboard Discovery, Dr. Hugh Culber has been trying to make sense of his own spiritual awakening, a feeling of connection to a higher power that has lingered with him since an out-of-body experience on a recent away mission. As a scientist, Culber’s first instinct is to investigate, understand, and catalog this sensation, but the explanation eludes him. He seeks the advice of his friend Cleveland Booker, a non-human with his own spiritual life, who essentially asks him, “Why do you need to understand it?” With this guidance, Culber decides that the value of his new spirituality is in how it feels, not where it comes from.

The approach to religion in “Whistlespeak” does not broadly condemn religion like The Original Series or The Next Generation , or rationalize and tolerate faith as a quirk of the other, like Deep Space Nine . Instead, “Whistlespeak” questions why a philosophy that is rooted in the unknowable should be attached to absolutes. Spirituality is what you make of it, whether that’s on an individual or community level. Religion can do harm, but it doesn’t have to, so long as its leaders and its believers are willing to embrace uncertainty. In this way, at least, science and religion can find some common ground.

Star Trek: Discovery is cracking open a box Next Gen closed on purpose

Star trek: discovery is finally free to do whatever it wants, the 10 horniest episodes of star trek, ranked by cultural impact, loading comments....

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• May 14, 2024 | IDW Celebrating 500th Star Trek Comic With Big Era-Spanning Anthology

IDW Celebrating 500th Star Trek Comic With Big Era-Spanning Anthology

| May 14, 2024 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 28 comments so far

IDW has been publishing Star Trek comics since 2007 and their 500th release is coming this fall with a special anthology issue chock full of Trek characters from across the franchise.

IDW’s 500th

Star Trek #500  arrives just before Star Trek Day in September. The issue features seven different stories and includes one that sets up a crossover event IDW is planning for Star Trek comics in 2025. Writers for the oversized issue include Trek comics vets like Chris Cantwell ( Star Trek: Defiant ) as well as new writers like Mags Visaggio (Star Trek: Celebrations) and actor Patton Oswalt.

The celebration issue includes four different covers, from artists Joëlle Jones, Jake Bartok, J.K. Woodward, and Chris Fenoglio.

Cover A by Joëlle Jones

Here is the official blurb:

Celebrate IDW’s 500th issue of Star Trek comics (and an early Star Trek Day!) with this landmark oversized anthology issue! This collection of seven short stories spans through fan-favorite eras of the beloved franchise from Lower Decks to Strange New Worlds , legacy characters from The Next Generation and the original series, written and illustrated by Star Trek comics veterans and new voices alike. Plus, don’t miss out on the prelude to 2025’s big Star Trek and Defiant comic crossover event written by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, and Christopher Cantwell!

Cover B by Jake Bartok

IDW group editor Heather Antos previewed Star Trek 500 (via Nerdist ):

“The sending to print of any single comic is a feat in and of itself. To hit a landmark like 500 issues with any franchise is a true accomplishment to be celebrated. This Star Trek Day IDW is excited to present not only a look back at some of our favorite characters and series from over the years, but also a look forward on what is to come in the future for our Eisner-nominated Star Trek and Defiant series. If you’re only getting one Star Trek book this year, this is not one to miss out on!”

Cover C by J.K. Woodward

It was just two years ago that IDW celebrated their 400th issue of Star Trek, showing just how much they have increased their output of Trek comics recently. Writer Jackson Lanzing weighs in on this new milestone:

“In Star Trek #400, we began a journey that changed the face of Star Trek comics and carved out a whole new line for readers of every generation. I don’t think any of us could have imagined what would follow. From all the incredible interlocked series to the first Star Trek summer event to the first Eisner nominations in Starfleet’s history. Now, one hundred issues later… it’s time to push things even further.”

RI cover by Chris Fenoglio

Star Trek #500 arrives on September 4, 2024. It isn’t yet available for pre-order but you should soon be able to reserve a copy at TFAW . Or pick up individual  digital editions at Amazon/comiXology .

Keep up with all the Star Trek comics news, previews and reviews in  TrekMovie’s comics category .

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Absolutely no love for Star Trek: Enterprise apparently. Not one of the 4 covers acknowledges it in any way. Even the case with the crew figurines from all of the shows leaves them out. Pretty egregious misstep IMO.

I stand to be corrected, but I don’t believe that Enterprise ever featured in the comics?

Enterprise appeared in comics in MAD Magazine in 2002.

Star Trek: Enterprise was featured in IDW’s Star Trek Waypoint #4. I think this was Enterprise’s first appearance in a comic.

It’s the forgotten show. Seems to get very little coverage which is a shame in my view. I’d take it over Discovery by quite a bit (with exception of Season 2 when Pike et al showed up).

…when I quit DSC at the end of S2 I went back and revisited ENT. ENT is vastly superior, imo. Shame it wasn’t added here.

I did a complete re-watch during lockdown and enjoyed it quite a bit. The HD visuals were good for the era and generally the show looked great.

Yeah, noticed that. Really bad form.

You can blame Scott Backula for that – he won’t let his likeness be used…I wonder why – he had no problem in the early 1990’s for the QL comic…

I wonder why too. I’m surprised by this as Archer is a Star Trek property, so I assumed signing on to Star Trek meant signing onto your likeness being part of franchise publication rights.

That was my immediate reaction. Poor Enterprise, Q doesn’t even want their figures…

The only thing oversized there is Picard!

Wow, they have Captain Georiou who was Captain in two or three episodes and Captain Shaw on the cover, but no Captain Archer that had an entire series?? Huge disrespect.

I also noted that in the recent Peabody award summary, they went to the trouble of naming all the Captains from Kirk through the Berman era with exception of Archer. As I said in my post above, it’s the forgotten show which again seems very unfair and I agree, somewhat disrespectful.

They have ____ but not ____! Verily, I am outraged! 

oh look – another era spanning series…how original.

What’s with the Borg Corgi? What am I missing?

That was from the DS9 series a while back set during the Dominion War.

The Dog of War….if you really want to subject yourself to it

JUSTICE FOR ENTEPRISE!

JUSTICE FOR THE NX-01 CREW!

It seems to be the World War 1 of Trek shows. Regrettably forgotten.

Yep. See my post above about the Peabody award Star Trek summary. It’s as if Enterprise never existed.

I actually quite like Enterprise , but I genuinely think the ending was so hated that people have erased it from their personal canon. That finale killled the whole series!

the craptastic theme song from the very first episode killed that series

Lest we forget!

I’VE GOT FAAAAAAITH OF THE HEART!!

#NeverForget

If only I could…

Didn’t we have issue #400 not so long ago?

I love anthology comics, so this might be a must have for me. Would love a Star Trek anthology TV series. Eras-spanning crossover stories though … not so much anymore.

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All 9 battlestar galactica 2004 actors who also appeared in star trek.

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Battlestar Galactica: Why Only Gaius Baltar Can See Number Six

7 biggest problems with battlestar galactica's final five cylon twist, battlestar galactica's 10 best cylon characters, ranked worst to best.

• Battlestar Galactica crossed over with Star Trek multiple times, with connections becoming more pronounced in the 2004 reboot.
• Various actors from Star Trek have appeared in Battlestar Galactica, including James Callis, Michelle Forbes, and Callum Keith Rennie.
• The interchange of actors like Rekha Sharma and connections between the two franchises add depth to both sci-fi universes.

Given that its creator, Ronald D. Moore was a key creative force behind the Star Trek franchise in the 1990s, it's hardly surprising that multiple Trek actors have appeared in Battlestar Galactica . However, even before its 2004 reboot, Battlestar Galactica crossed over with Star Trek multiple times. Star Trek: The Original Series ' OG Klingon actor, John Colicos played Battlestar Galactica 's original Baltar , while Star Trek: The Next Generation 's Q actor John de Lancie had a minor role in the original BSG during his early career.

However, Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica reboot made the connections with the Star Trek franchise more pronounced . The former Star Trek: Deep Space Nine writer and producer named Kara "Starbuck" Thrace after DS9 's Kira , and that was just the start. The Battlestar Galactica reboot brought in multiple actors from the 1990s Star Trek era in which Ronald D. Moore came to prominence, while also making names of up-and-coming actors who would go on to appear in Star Trek 's revitalized modern era.

Star Trek: Voyager Frustrations Led To Creation Of Battlestar Galactica

Ronald D. Moore clashed with Star Trek: Voyager's writers, but channelled those frustrations into creating the acclaimed Battlestar Galactica reboot.

9 Callum Keith Rennie in Star Trek: Discovery

Cylon number two is captain burnham's number one.

Callum Keith Rennie played the various incarnations of Leoben throughout Battlestar Galactica . Callum Keith Rennie's performance made the Number Twos more sympathetic than some of their fellow Cylons, though his obsession with Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) was unnerving. Thanks to his role in Due South , Callum Keith Rennie was a well-known face by the time he joined BSG in 2004, and only strengthened his reputation as a character actor between the end of Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: Discovery season 5.

Star Trek: Discovery

*Availability in US

Not available

Star Trek: Discovery is an entry in the legendary Sci-Fi franchise, set ten years before the original Star Trek series events. The show centers around Commander Michael Burnham, assigned to the USS Discovery, where the crew attempts to prevent a Klingon war while traveling through the vast reaches of space.

Given Callum Keith Rennie's extensive list of roles in popular cult shows like 24 , and The Umbrella Academy , it's surprising that it took so long for him to appear in Star Trek . Rennie made his Star Trek debut as Commander Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 1, "Red Directive", and has been bumped up from Cylon Number Two to Number One. Callum Keith Rennie has freshened up the Discovery cast, so it's disappointing that the show's cancelation means that Star Trek fans won't get to see more of Rennie's Commander Rayner.

8 James Callis in Star Trek: Picard

Gaius baltar actor played jean-luc picard's father..

James Callis brilliantly played the vain, cowardly Gaius Baltar in all four seasons of Battlestar Galactica. Baltar's arc was fascinating, starting out as a traitor and Cylon collaborator, before becoming a failed politician and cult leader. While Baltar in BSG is Callis' best-known role as an actor, he's gone on to appear in movies and TV shows as diverse as Bridget Jones' Baby and Rick and Morty . James Callis also appeared in five episodes of 12 Monkeys , co-created by Terry Matalas, who went on to showrun Star Trek: Picard season 3.

Star Trek: Picard

After starring in Star Trek: The Next Generation for seven seasons and various other Star Trek projects, Patrick Stewart is back as Jean-Luc Picard. Star Trek: Picard focuses on a retired Picard who is living on his family vineyard as he struggles to cope with the death of Data and the destruction of Romulus. But before too long, Picard is pulled back into the action. The series also brings back fan-favorite characters from the Star Trek franchise, such as Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), Worf (Michael Dorn), and William Riker (Jonathan Frakes).

However, it was Star Trek: Picard season 2 in which James Callis appeared, playing Maurice Picard, the father of Jean-Luc . In Picard season 2, episode 7, "Monsters", Jean-Luc is trapped inside his memories, interacting with a Starfleet psychiatrist who has the face of his father. In later flashbacks, Maurice Picard rises above his bad reputation in Star Trek: The Next Generation , by gaining context from both Callis' nuanced performance, and the revelations about Jean-Luc's mother.

Baltar seeing visions of Six is one of the unanswered mysteries of Battlestar Galactica, but it secretly ties to the show’s original inspiration.

7 Dean Stockwell in Star Trek: Enterprise

Grat in season 1, episode 21, "detained".

Despite an incredible career working with auteur directors like David Lynch and Wim Wenders, Dean Stockwell is best known as Al from Quantum Leap . When his co-star Scott Bakula was cast as Captain Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise , a Dean Stockwell guest appearance became a forgone conclusion. Dean Stockwell played the tyrannical prison warden Grat in Enterprise season 1, episode 21, "Detained", a brutal and xenophobic man who went toe to toe with Archer over the treatment of his Suliban prisoners.

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Enterprise acts as a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, detailing the voyages of the original crew of the Starship Enterprise in the 22nd century, a hundred years before Captain Kirk commanded the ship. Enterprise was the sixth series in the Star Trek franchise overall, and the final series before a twelve-year hiatus until the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery in 2017. The series stars Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer, with an ensemble cast that includes John Billingsley, Jolene Blalock, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery, Linda Park, and Connor Trinneer.

Years later, Dean Stockwell was cast as John Cavil, the key architect of the Cylon plan in Battlestar Galactica . Stockwell's performance as Cavil was more like the brutal prison warden from Star Trek: Enterprise than Sam Beckett's charismatic best friend in Quantum Leap . Cavil was the most memorable BSG villain, so vicious was his hatred for the human Colonists and anyone who dared to cross him.

6 Kate Vernon In Star Trek: Voyager

Commander valerie archer in season 5, episode 4, "in the flesh".

Long before she played Ellen Tigh in Battlestar Galactica , Kate Vernon had appeared as Commander Valerie Archer in the Star Trek universe . In Star Trek: Voyager season 5, episode 4, "In the Flesh", the USS Voyager encounters a fully functioning replica of Starfleet Headquarters. It is quickly revealed to be a staging ground for a future invasion of Earth by the Species 8472 aliens against whom Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) had previously sided with the Borg Collective. Janeway eventually negotiates peace with Species 8472, given hope by the romance that blossomed between Archer and Chakotay (Robert Beltran).

Star Trek: Voyager

The fifth entry in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Voyager, is a sci-fi series that sees the crew of the USS Voyager on a long journey back to their home after finding themselves stranded at the far ends of the Milky Way Galaxy. Led by Captain Kathryn Janeway, the series follows the crew as they embark through truly uncharted areas of space, with new species, friends, foes, and mysteries to solve as they wrestle with the politics of a crew in a situation they've never faced before. 

As a member of Battlestar Galactica 's Final Five Cylons , Kate Vernon played a similar role as Ellen Tigh. As one of the earlier humanoid Cylons, Ellen played a key role in creating a new breed of Cylon that was organically indistinguishable from humans. These humanoid Cylons then infiltrated all levels of life in the Twelve Colonies ahead of the devastating attack in Battlestar Galactica 's 2003 pilot miniseries. Unlike in Star Trek: Voyager , peace could not be found ahead of the devastation caused by Battlestar Galactica 's Cylons.

The Final Five was the biggest swing taken by Battlestar Galactica's 2004 reboot, and the twist created a range of narrative and character problems.

5 Nana Visitor In Star Trek: DS9

Battlestar galactica, season 4, episode 6, "faith".

As well as inspiring Starbuck's real name, Kara Thrace, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's Major Kira actress Nana Visitor also had a guest role in Battlestar Galactica . Ronald D Moore played a major role in shaping the story of DS9 from season 3 onward, so it was hardly surprising that one of Deep Space Nine 's regulars appeared in BSG . Nana Visitor was cast as Emily Kowalski in BSG season 4, episode 6, "Faith", in which she formed a bond with the terminally ill President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell).

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.

Emily Kowalski and President Roslin bonded while they were undergoing treatment for cancer, and discussed matters of faith and mortality. Those were both key themes of Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , so Nana Visitor's casting was a perfect way to maintain continuity. While Nana Visitor only appeared in one episode of BSG , she had a pivotal role in Roslin's story, as she helped the President to confront her own mortality.

4 Rick Worthy In Various Star Trek Roles

Cylon model #4 has been in multiple star trek movies and tv shows..

Rick Worthy played Cylon Model #4, a.k.a. Simon O'Neill in Battlestar Galactica , but he had played multiple roles in Star Trek in the years before BSG . In a role that may have been prophetic, Worthy played the Automated Personnel Units in Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 13 "Prototype". After appearing in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Klingon Warrior Kornan, Rick Worthy returned to Voyager as Noah Lessing, one of the wayward Starfleet officers from the USS Equinox in the season 5 finale.

Rick Worthy also made a brief appearance as an Elloran officer, working on Ru'afo's starship in Star Trek: Insurrection .

The most notable of Rick Worthy's Star Trek roles was the one in which his face was hidden underneath layers of prosthetics. In Star Trek: Enterprise , Rick Worthy played Janaar, a Xindi Arboreal scientist , who - like BSG 's humanoid Cylons - posed an existential threat to humanoid life in the galaxy. Janaar appeared in 10 episodes of Enterprise season 3, during the acclaimed Xindi War arc. It's just a shame for Worthy that his face was encased in heavy prosthetic makeup and tufts of gray hair to give him his arboreal appearance.

While Battlestar Galactica’s Cylons were among the series’ most interesting characters, some had far greater impact on the story than others.

3 Mark A. Sheppard in Star Trek: Voyager

Leucon in season 6, episode 19, "child's play".

Not to be confused with Mark Allen Shepherd, who played Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's beloved barfly Morn, Mark A. Sheppard has been in everything from Supernatural to Doctor Who . So it's no surprise that as well as being one of many actors in both Star Trek and The X-Files , Sheppard also played a substantial role in Battlestar Galactica . Mark A. Sheppard was cast as Romo Lampkin in Battlestar Galactica seasons 3 and 4 , defending Gaius Baltar in court for effectively selling out the Colonists on New Caprica to the Cylons.

Mark A. Sheppard's father, W. Morgan Sheppard has played multiple roles in the Star Trek franchise, including Ira Graves in TNG 's "The Schizoid Man" and Qatai in Voyager 's "Bliss".

Years earlier, Mark A. Sheppard had appeared as Leucon in Star Trek: Voyager season 6, episode 19, "Child's Play" . Leucon sacrificed his own son, Icheb (Manu Intiraymi), to the Borg Collective to stop repeated attacks on their planet. Leucon and his wife Yifay (Tracey Ellis) had genetically altered Icheb to have anti-Borg pathogens so that he could infect the Collective. Leucon again tried to sacrifice Icheb when the USS Voyager reunited father and son, making Mark A. Sheppard's character not unlike Battlestar Galactica 's self-serving sell-out Gaius Baltar.

2 Rekha Sharma in Star Trek: Discovery

Battlestar galactica had a big influence on discovery season 1..

Rekha Sharma played Tory Foster in Battlestar Galactica , advisor to President Laura Roslin, and a member of the Final Five. Tory was responsible for one of Battlestar Galactica 's most devastating deaths , when she ejected Cally Tyrol (Nicki Clyne) from an airlock. Tory was one of the least apologetic of humanoid Cylons, and never felt guilt over the murder of Cally. Rekha Sharma would again draw on her abilities to play cold, pragmatic characters when she was cast in Star Trek: Discovery season 1.

Rekha Sharma also played Avi Samara in "Still Treads the Shadow", an episode of the fan-made webseries Star Trek Continues .

Rekha Sharma played the USS Discovery's chief of security, Commander Ellen Landry in Star Trek: Discovery season 1, episodes 3 and 4, "Context is for Kings", and "The Butcher Cares Not For The Lamb's Cry" . A stern presence aboard Discovery, Landry distrusted mutineer Commander Michael Burnham, to a fault. The darker tone of Discovery , and storylines involving humanoid characters being alien enemies in disguise drew clear parallels between the Star Trek show and Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica reboot.

1 Michelle Forbes In Star Trek: TNG/Picard

From ensign ro to admiral helena cain.

One of the Battlestar Galactica reboot's best characters, Admiral Helena Cain, was played by Michelle Forbes. An incredibly talented and in-demand actress, Michelle Forbes' acting roles encompass everything from the beloved sitcom Seinfeld to more challenging fare like Kogonada's Columbus . Cain was a weighty role for Forbes, and she was an excellent foil for Edward James Olmos as Captain William Adama. Ronald D. Moore must have known Forbes was the right person for the role, thanks to their prior working relationship on Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

Like the arrival of Admiral Helena Cain in Battlestar Galactica , the arrival of Ensign Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) in Star Trek: The Next Generation threw the show's existing dynamics into disarray. Michelle Forbes was excellent at portraying how Ro's tragic upbringing and failures as a Starfleet officer put her at odds with the crew of the USS Enterprise-D. Eventually, Ro betrayed Captain Jean-Luc Picard, a cliffhanger that wouldn't be resolved until she returned to Star Trek: Picard season 3.

In light of Ro Laren's TNG arc, the casting of Michelle Forbes as Helena Cain in Battlestar Galactica is one of the finest examples of the elements that Ronald D. Moore brought over from Star Trek for his acclaimed reboot. By rebooting Glen A Larson's kitschy sci-fi show for a new generation with a host of talent from his time on Star Trek , Ronald D. Moore effectively showed the way forward for the modern franchise. As a new Battlestar Galactica reboot is currently in development, it will be interesting to see how it interacts with the current Star Trek franchise.

The Battlestar Galactica reboot is currently being developed at Peacock.

Battlestar Galactica

The 2004 science fiction TV series Battlestar Galactica is a reimagining of the 1978 series of the same title. Created by Glen A. Larson, the original Battlestar Galactica features a fictional human civilization living in a distant star system called the Twelve Colonies. They are in constant battle against a cybernetic race called the Cylons, who want to exterminate the human race. A massive attack was launched, and only those who made it onboard the Battlestar Galactica and its fleet survived. They navigate space in search of the mythical 13th colony called Earth. Battlestar Galactica is under the command of President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) and Colonial Fleet Officer, Admiral William Adama (Edward James Olmos).