star trek next gen bridge

Designing the Next Generation Bridge

Andrew Probert’s first job as senior illustrator for Star Trek: The Next Generation was to provide concepts for the new bridge.

The reason, he told Trek Brasilis in 2001, was that “the bridge was going to be the central set,” and Gene Roddenberry and his team “wanted to make sure they were very happy with it, and they wanted to have plenty of time to make any changes they needed to.”

An early writers’ bible described the bridge as combining “the features of ship control, briefing room, information retrieval area and officers wardroom. In other words, much the same kinds of things happen here as in the old bridge, but with less emphassis on the mechanics of steering the starship.”

This approach inspired the presence of couches and even a conference table in early sketches.

The couches were Probert’s idea, “to provide more face-to-face conference environment.” But he didn’t care for the table, which was the producers’ suggestion. It didn’t make sense “to furnish a table where everyone would gather to discuss their situations” on the bridge, he told Forgotten Trek in 2005 .

The upper, or mezzanine, level in his early-December 1986 designs would have contained various work stations. “When Gene was first talking about having a very large area, and he was looking at an information retrieval area, I just imagined a huge area that would have all these stations where all this information could come in and then it would somehow be passed on down to command people,” Probert recalled in another interview years later.

Such stations were later put at the back of the bridge, and they were reduced in number to give Picard’s Enterprise a more sophisticated appearance than Kirk’s. In order to show that technology had advanced in the century since The Original Series , the new Enterprise would be controlled by fewer people.

Gene [Roddenberry] really wanted the ship run by only the “Conn” and “Ops” positions, forward, with a bridge officer in charge… a total of three people.

In the event of a crisis, Probert explained, “more people would report to their rear bridge stations.” This was seldom shown on screen.

Two other elements that were never used were the panels on either side of the bridge, which Probert imagined contained emergency equipment and supplies, and the food replicators. On The Original Series , Kirk and his officers had sometimes been served coffee on the bridge. Picard took tea in his ready room.

Ryan T. Riddle and Mark Farinas took Probert’s two-level design as inspiration for the bridge of their Ambassador -class starship in the webcomic “ The Word of God ”.

Tadeo D’Oria created his own version of this design:

The set of the Enterprise bridge was erected on Paramount’s Stage 8. During the first season, the bridge and officers’ quarters were the only Star Trek sets on that stage. Ten Forward was added the following year, as was a separate observation lounge. During Season 1, sickbay had doubled as observation lounge.

Unlike the in-series configuration, the observation lounge set was never linked to the bridge. This is why we didn’t see continuous scenes between the two. Presumably a ramp, or small staircase, connects the bridge to the observation lounge in the Star Trek universe. See The Unseen Enterprise -D for more.

Generations upgrade

Several changes were made to the set during the seven-year run of The Next Generation . The small seats on either side of the three large chairs in the command area were changed several times, as did the carpeting. The wooden panels on the sides of the bridge were replaced with beige fabric in Season 2 and grey fabric in Season 3. The Conn and Ops consoles were tilted outward to place them parallel to the viewscreen and given swivel chairs that allowed the actors to sit up straight and turn around. Tadeo D’Oria and Bernd Schneider have kept track of all these changes at Ex Astris Scientia .

For Star Trek Generations , Production Designer Herman Zimmerman and Art Director Sandy Veneziano darkened the set’s colors and added more tones to its palette. They also chose richer textures.

According to John Eaves, who was invited to the Generations art team by Zimmerman, the idea was to make the bridge appear more functional. “To accomplish that,” he writes in Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook, The Movies , “we raised the captain’s chair slightly (symbolically putting his authourity higher than those sitting in the two chairs flanking him).”

For functionality, we also split the ramps on either side of the command center. We still had a ramp going down, but added two elevated stations, one against either wall, where crew members could work. We also replaced an alcove filled with lockers and storage panels with a new graphics station.

“At one point,” Eaves recalls, we had added some new standup stations behind the captain’s chair, where Worf works.” They liked the design, but it would have been too much of a change from the television series.

I like how they gave Worf/tactical a little chair to sit on in Generations . Poor guy had to stand for seven straight years. I wish we had seen the side bridge stations on TV vs. just in one film, but I’ve read it would have cost too much to keep them staffed with extras.

It’s weird to have to point this out, but you got my name wrong on the article lol The 3D models I made and that are seen on the EAS piece were originally done for Stage 9, so that also reflects the care and research that went into that project.

Sorry! That must have been a typo on my part. I’ve corrected it, thank you for pointing that out.

Haha, no problem!

Glad they abandoned that table, a captain does not sit behind a table. What do you need a briefing room for then? It would have been neat if they incorporated a stainless steel and leather work into the ship. (See Sovereign ready room.) Today real steel interior pieces are cheap and easily available

Gene wanted only three people? Really, that just shows how his TNG ideas really weren’t great. I love the bridge as is, and even in the Probert early sketches

Well, I don’t know, Gene created two shows that are very popular to this day. None of the sequels have yet to achieve the same. It was never as simple as one person. Gene was the driving force, but he didn’t have complete control. He also had to feel out what Paramount would be willing to spend. Believe it or not, an early TNG concept was no Enterprise at all. The crew would have been on Earth and used transporters to go everywhere. Very much a budget option I’m glad they didn’t pursue.

You’d be surprised how many people are on the bridge on real ships. Very often it’s just the officer of the watch and a lookout.

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Star Trek: 10 Secrets Of The Next Generation Main Bridge

1. generations' second generation bridge.

The Enterprise-D's bridge went through several minor updates over the course of Star Trek: The Next Generation's seven years, but the set was given an extensive overhaul courtesy of production designer Herman Zimmerman and illustrator John Eaves for Star Trek Generations. According to Eaves:

Herman wanted to make the bridge more functional. To accomplish that, we raised the captain's chair slightly (symbolically putting his authority higher than those sitting in the two chairs flanking him). For functionality, we also split the ramps on either side of the commander center. We still had a ramp going down, but added two elevated stations, one against either wall, where crew members could work. We also replaced an alcove filled with lockers and storage panels with a new graphics station (courtesy of Mike Okuda). At one point, we had added some new stand-up stations behind the captain's chair, where Worf works. It was a nice design, but it wound up being simply too much of a modification, so we dropped it.

While the modifications the bridge went unmentioned in the film (audiences just had to assume the Enterprise got some upgrades after "All Good Things..."), the reasons for the revamp were practical. Though highly detailed, the Enterprise-D sets were built to look good on TV, not projected on 90-foot theater screens. The wider aspect ratio also inspired Zimmerman to rework the bridge, adding those stations and computer terminals to either side of the bridge allowed the set to better fill the widescreen format.

Ultimately, the redesigned and upgraded bridge didn't last long, receiving heavy damage in the battle with the Duras Sisters and subsequent crash sequence before being unceremoniously torn down after production on Generations wrapped.

Some elements of the bridge were saved, including Worf's "horseshoe" tactical console and the command chairs, which were sent to be displayed at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum until it closed in 2007. The remaining elements of the Enterprise-D bridge now reside back at home in Paramount Studios' archive.

I played Shipyard Bar Patron (Uncredited) in Star Trek (2009).

How ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Resurrected an Iconic Set

By Scott Mantz

Scott Mantz

• ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Team Built a ‘Museum Quality’ Enterprise D to Make Things as ‘Cinematic as Possible’ 11 months ago
• How ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Created the High-Tech Bridge of Its Newest Starship 1 year ago
• How ‘Babylon’s’ Cocaine-Snorting Opening Sequence Came Together 1 year ago

SPOILER ALERT:   This story discusses major plot developments in Season 3, Episode 9 of “ Star Trek: Picard ,” currently streaming on Paramount+.

All season long, the producers of “ Star Trek: Picard ” have boldly pulled out all the stops to make the third and final season one for the books. To that extent, it seemed like only a matter of time until we finally got to see the Enterprise — that is, the Enterprise-D, the Galaxy-class starship that made its first appearance in 1987 with the premiere episode of “ Star Trek: The Next Generation .”

Popular on Variety

Executive producer Terry Matalas went through hoops to make sure history never forgot the name Enterprise. Speaking with Variety, and sharing photos of “The Next Generation” cast on the ship, Matalas says, “Everyone tried to talk us out of doing this, because financially it’s a nightmare, and the timing was tight. To the moment we started filming, we were still gluing pieces together. But you can’t have a ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ reunion without one of its major characters, which is the Enterprise.”

As for how it was even possible for the Enterprise-D to exist after it was virtually destroyed in 1994’s “Star Trek: Generations” (only the top saucer section was still intact after crash-landing on the planet Veridian III), it turns out Geordi La Forge took it upon himself to completely restore it for the Starfleet Museum.

However, despite the prominent presence of the Enterprise-D bridge on seven seasons of the TV series that ran from 1987 to 1994 (as well as the 1994 “Generations” feature film), construction guidelines were scarce for production designer Dave Blass and art director Liz Kloczkowski, who spearheaded the project.

Blass pivoted to another invaluable resource when he recruited “Star Trek” legends Mike Okuda and Denise Okuda (from Herman Zimmerman’s “Next Generation” production design team) as consultants.

“The Enterprise from ‘The Next Generation’ was the first Enterprise on which I was the principal graphic designer,” Okuda says. “I got to work with [‘Star Trek’ creator] Gene Roddenberry on making that bridge come to life.”

But even with that deep-dive knowledge and experience, finding the source materials to reconstruct the bridge still proved to be a daunting challenge.

“The first thing we did was to go in the garage and dive into boxes and see what we still had,” Okuda says. “We had some original drawings and art, but large chunks of it disappeared. You realize you’re going to have to reconstruct a lot of this from scratch.”

It took three months and a team of around 50 people to completely rebuild the bridge, which was a physical build and not done on a green screen or in VFX. It measured exactly the same as the original set: 50 feet wide and 100 feet long.

All this work was in addition to every other set built for Seasons 2 and 3, which were shot back to back. “We were doing all the interiors of the starship Titan – like the bridge, the transporter rooms, the crew quarters, the hallways and sickbay – as well as [the enemy ship] the Shrike, Daystrom Station and the Borg,” says Blass. “So, all that all on top of each other.”

The goal was to re-create the look of the LCARS panels, as closely as possible to their appearance in “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

“We took advantage of the huge advances in real-world computer display technology to make a few subtle upgrades to the displays,” Okuda says. “In a scene where one of our officers is using the science equipment, if the director wanted to show the scan itself, we would have had to insert the animation in post-production, back in the day. Now, it’s easy to do the animation and have it play back on the set, so the cast could see it in real-time.”

When it came to challenges, Blass says, the wood archway was one of the hardest pieces to recreate. “It’s a complex curve that arches and changes thickness,” he explains. “You can only get so much information off a blueprint. The construction team printed out a full-size paper plan to lay it out and then used a number of templates to shape the final piece.”

The chairs were another set piece in recreating the Enterprise-D that needed to be taken into consideration. “We had to sculpt the right shape based on the basic form, then do a deep dive on the right materials that have the right color and texture,” Blass says. “Each chair has four different materials.”

Blass adds that the infamous carpet, referenced by Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard in the episode, “was very hard to find as it’s a pattern that has been out of stock for decades.”

“That was tricky because you’re talking about lighting that was much more intrinsic to the 1990s,” Matalas says. “Now we have different cameras in a different cinematic style to the show. We had to find a hybrid of the old style and the new with our director of photography, John Joffin, and I think we found a really great sweet spot.”

When the cast saw the bridge for the first time, they got right down to business.

“This season was so ambitious, and we only had two days to shoot on this thing,” Matalas says. “It was literally, like, get everybody on, you got your four minutes of nostalgia, and then we have to boogie. But it was all very natural for them. It was like being back on Stage 8 at the Paramount lot. Patrick Stewart even did the ‘Picard maneuver,’ which he was very proud of.”

And what of the ship today?

Their work remains intact. “There were lots of interested parties who wanted to save the set,” Blass says. “Luckily it has a home in the Star Trek archives.”

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Star Trek: Bridge Crew The Next Generation DLC Review - To Boldly Go In VR

When most people think of Star Trek and virtual reality, they’re imagining the holodeck, a staging environment that lets users seamlessly travel to other realities as if they were real. Many companies are on quests to realize something like that with modern VR technology, but Ubisoft isn’t one of them. Instead, in partnership with Red Storm Entertainment, they’re setting their sights on the bridge experience instead.

But in terms of Star Trek as a whole, there is nothing more iconic than the shot of a crew sitting on the bridge of a powerful starship. With last year’s release of Star Trek: Bridge Crew , Ubisoft was successful in delivering one of VR’s most memorable and immersive multiplayer experiences to date. There’s nothing quite like barking orders at your friends, sitting side-by-side as things go spectacularly wrong, or valiantly triumphing over dastardly enemies in the final frontier of space.

When it debuted, you could take command of a crew aboard the new Aegis ship, which is themed as a futuristic vessel with lots of whites and grays and sleek designs similar to the modern era of Star Trek films, or the original Enterprise from the very first Star Trek TV show. But it was missing something extremely important: The Next Generation .

As perhaps the most popular era of Star Trek as a whole, The Next Generation’s bridge and crew are immediately recognizable. So in the form of a DLC pack which includes brand new Ongoing Voyages missions, new enemies, a new player race, a new role to play, and yes, TNG’s iconic bridge, Bridge Crew is getting a major overhaul.

The main draw of this DLC is going to just be the experience of sitting on TNG’s bridge, feeling like your part of the crew, and that general sense of presence that only VR can afford — but that’s only a brief slice of what this expansion offers.

Functionally, the TNG bridge is pretty much identical to the Aegis bridge with regard to the captain, tactical officer, and helm positions, but Engineering has been totally overhauled. Instead, you’ll take on the role of Operations, which is what Data did in TNG’s show. And along with that inclusion is the ability to create Android avatars as well (shown below).

In the Ops role, you’ll not only have to do all of Engineering’s job through re-routing power to different subsystems, charging warp coils, and transporting things onto the ship, but now you’ll also have to manage the NPC crew across the entire ship to send them out to different areas and start repairs. It’s a game of predictive micromanagement that adds a ton of chaos and helps liven up an otherwise boring role.

The romulans are a fun new enemy to deal with, as they can actually target parts of your ship to disable during fights. Since the player has always been able to do that, this feels like an evening of the scales a little bit. Combat certainly feels more lethal this time around. Romulans can also flee and cloak themselves now as well, making it tough to keep track of them if you’re not agile.

But the real highlight of the new enemies has got to be the borg. There is an entire new mission type that’s specifically focused on fighting an enormous borg cube, fleeing to upgrade your ship, fighting it some more, fleeing to upgrade your ship, and so on until it’s been defeated. And each time you flee the cube gets stronger from learning your tactics making it one of the more intense ways of challenging yourself.

All of the additions that this DLC makes feel great and welcome, but ultimately it’s not that large of an overhaul. The campaign is still untouched, Ops, even after its changes, is still probably the least fun role to play, and the new enemies mostly feel just like the Klingons with a few minor changes. This isn’t to say TNG is a bad piece of DLC — it improves the game and gives us more of what we loved — but it’s also not going to really draw in a new audience other than those holding out for TNG’s bridge to begin with.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew’s The Next Generation DLC is pretty special. The attention to detail afforded to the Enterprise-D is mind-blowing, the overhaul to Engineering (now Ops) is much-needed, and the expansion of Ongoing Voyages missions and new enemies add variety to an experience that can otherwise grow stale over time. However, it doesn’t do enough to really shake up or improve the core experience enough to elevate the game as a whole. It’s basically more of the same with slight alterations. Unless you’re a massive fan of The Next Generation and are desperate for more Star Trek: Bridge Crew, you’re not missing out on too much if you give this a pass.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew’s The Next Generation DLC releases today exclusively for PSVR and non-VR PS4 players for a limited time. The Next Generation DLC will also be available for Rift, Vive, Windows VR, and non-VR PC players starting July 21st.

Read our Content Review Guidelines for more information on how we arrived at this score.

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Star Trek: Bridge Crew Puts You and Your Friends in the Heart of a Starship

As officers of the Federation, every action and decision you make together will determine the fate of your ship and crew. Available for play with VR headsets and without, the Virtual Reality mode developed for Star Trek: Bridge Crew offers a true-to-life level of immersion in the Star Trek universe.

The Next Generation DLC

The voyage continues! Tackle missions aboard the USS Aegis or the original bridge of the USS Enterprise!

Game Overview

A new playable ship: the enterprise d.

The Enterprise D can be used in any of the existing Ongoing Voyages modes, plus the two new modes. Players appear in authentic TNG uniforms when on this bridge, and experience the full audiovisual treatment to make everything look and sound like the TNG show.

New Avatar Option: Android

You can choose and customize any of several Android avatars.

New Enemies: The Romulans and The Borg

The Romulans are deadly and devious, making heavy use of surprise attacks. And the infamous Borg Cube poses a nearly unstoppable threat.

A New Player Role: Operations

On the Enterprise D, instead of Chief Engineer, you play as Operations. The signature feature of Operations is assigning NPC crew members to jobs throughout the ship. How Ops assigns crews at any given moment modifies the ship’s capabilities.

New Ongoing Voyages Mode: Patrol

Investigate activity throughout the Trench, flying to your choice of star systems and encountering random events and challenges along the way. Can be played with any of the three playable ships.

New Ongoing Voyages Mode: Resistance

A Borg Cube is tracking your ship, and you must locate a series of prototype defenses in order to survive your final encounter with it. At every step, the Borg are tracking you and trying to disrupt your efforts. Resistance is a tough challenge mode for dedicated players! Can be played with any of the three playable ships.

New Ship Capabilities

To counter Romulan stealth tactics, the Enterprise D can deploy Proximity Torpedoes; a well-coordinated Bridge Crew can use them like depth charges to neutralize a cloaked enemy. And to hold out against deadly singular threats like the Borg, the Enterprise D also features Shield Modulation and Precision-Fire Phasers.

Latest News

Select your platform, select your version, select your edition, star trek: bridge crew.

Star Trek™: Bridge Crew puts you and your friends in the heart of a starship. As officers of the Federation, every action and decision you make together will determine the fate of your ship and crew. Available for play with VR headsets and without, the Virtual Reality mode developed for Star Trek: Bridge Crew offers a true-to-life level of immersion in the Star Trek universe.

Release Date:

May 30 , 2017

VR / Simulation / Strategy

Red Storm Entertainment

Star Trek Bridge Crew is Available on:

VR / PC / PlayStation 4

Star Trek Bridge Crew is rated:

TM & © 2016 CBS Studios Inc. © 2016 Paramount Pictures Corp. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved. Game Software © 2016 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries.

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Star Trek™: Bridge Crew The Next Generation Bundle

• PS Plus required for online play
• In-game purchases optional
• Supports up to 4 online players with PS Plus
• Online play optional
• PS4 Version PS Camera required
• DUALSHOCK 4 vibration

Star Trek™: Bridge Crew

Global player ratings.

Immerse yourself in the complete Star Trek experience with Star Trek™: Bridge Crew, including The Next Generation expansion. Share your galactic adventure with up to four friends, with cross-platform co-op gameplay. Playable in VR or non-VR. Includes the original Star Trek™: Bridge Crew and The Next Generation expansion. OPERATE AS A CREW – Take command of the bridge or coordinate roles with up to four of your friends in co-op gameplay. A UNIQUE SHIP – Take command of the USS Aegis, the first starship of her kind, with cutting-edge Starfleet technology. A SHARED GALACTIC ADVENTURE – Communication, trust, and close crew coordination are the keys to victory. Features: The Enterprise D, Operations command role, Romulans, and Borg.

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‘The Next Generation’ cast is back on the bridge of the Enterprise-D in new ‘Star Trek: Picard’ photo gallery

Ahead of this Thursday’s Star Trek: Picard series finale , Paramount+ has released a sepia-tone-themed collection of photos of the cast on the bridge of the USS Enterprise-D.

The new photos feature former Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members Patrick Stewart , Jonathan Frakes , Marina Sirtis , LeVar Burton , Brent Spiner , Gates McFadden and Michael Dorn , along with Star Trek: Picard season three regulars Jeri Ryan , Michelle Hurd and Ed Speleers .

Check them out below.

Star Trek: Picard series finale publicity photos:

Patrick stewart as jean-luc picard.

Jonathan Frakes as William Riker

Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi

LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge

Brent Spiner as Data

Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher

Michael Dorn as Worf

Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine

Group photos

The Star Trek: Picard season three finale “The Last Generation” streams Thursday, April 20th on Paramount+.

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The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard reunites the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation and stars Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn as Worf, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Brent Spiner as Data/Lore, Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, Michelle Hurd as Raffi, along with Amanda Plummer as Vadic, Todd Stashwick as Captain Liam Shaw, and Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher.

Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news related to Star Trek: Picard , Star Trek: Discovery, S tar Trek: Strange New Worlds , Star Trek: Lower Decks , Star Trek: Prodigy , and more.

You can follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram .

Founded TrekNews.net in 2011. UX, visual designer, and published photographer based in the Boston area. Connoisseur of Star Trek, sci-fi, '80s horror, synthwave sounds, and tacos. You can follow Brian on Twitter @brianwilkins .

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Continuing Mission

A Fan Site for the Star Trek Adventures RPG by Modiphius

Bridge Roles Reference: The Next Generation (And Status Tabs)

My group ( U.S.S. Sojourner NCC-75370 ) has been using the original Bridge Roles Reference that I created, a one-page summary of the key Tasks available in a starship battle. It has become the reference sheet they go to the most. Now that they have gone through several engagements and missions, they had some battle-tested feedback to improve the reference sheet. I’ve included their suggestions and expanded on several items, so that we won’t have to keep looking things up.

Also, the ship stats are now form-fillable. Simply type in the stat and it will populate all cells with that System or Department. I made a conscious choice not to make the character stats form-fillable, because in play there tends to be a lot of Overrides and different activated crew. You can likely cram in stats for several characters in a single line like our group does, with a sharp pencil.

As an added bonus, here are Status Tabs , hexagonal cut-outs you can use to place under a starship model (or one of our handy hex-coasters ), to track whether a ship has the following statuses active: Shields Up, Modulated Shields, Attack Pattern, Evasive Action, if it  Scanned for Weakness,  or has been  Blocked by another ship (see the Command Division supplement). Simply cut these out, and fold the tabs underneath when they are not active.

Let us know what you think!

EDIT: typo in Sensor Sweeps difficulty fixed.

Status Tabs (PDF)

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This is great Tony, thanks for sharing!

looks great! Only comment I would have is that it would be nice for the Difficulty of each bridge task (if known) could be included as well.

They are there in subscript before the first Attribute.

Your difficulty for Evasive maneuver is listed as 2 but the book lists it as 1. Checked the rest of the sheet and I don’t see anything else wrong.

Thanks. The most up-to-date version is the Klingon Battlestations version, which has incorporated some recent changes to Difficulty.

https://continuingmissionsta.com/2020/07/12/bridge-roles-reference-klingon-battlestations-edition/

TOP !!! THX A LOT !!!! 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

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Published Dec 9, 2012

Guest Blog: Rescuing The Enterprise-D Bridge Replica

My name is Huston Huddleston. I am the madman behind rescuing the Paramount-built Star Trek: The Next Generation U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D bridge replica from destruction, and attempting to restore it and turn it into a non-profit educational museum. This is a project by fans/for fans, and will be available to anyone who wants to visit, take photos, watch movies, make fan films, have meetings, even get married on the bridge! And admission will be free of charge, with donations given to keep the lights on. Plus, we’ll be doing fundraising for Make-A-Wish and Habitat for Humanity .

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Battle bridge

• View history

Battle bridge, 2364

Battle bridge, 2367

The battle bridge was a secondary bridge located on Federation starships .

• 1 Configurations
• 2.1 Appearances
• 2.2 Background information
• 2.3 Apocryphal
• 2.4 External link

Configurations [ ]

The location of the battle bridge in the secondary hull of the Enterprise-B

The battle bridge on Excelsior -class starships was located forward of main engineering in the secondary hull . In 2293 , the location of the battle bridge was labeled in the USS Enterprise -B master systems display on the ship's bridge . ( Star Trek Generations )

The battle bridge on Galaxy -class starships was primarily designed for the control of the stardrive section in saucer separation scenarios. Located on deck 8 of the secondary hull , the battle bridge duplicated the strategic functions of the main bridge , with command , conn , ops , and tactical stations oriented toward a main viewscreen ; however, it lacked science and engineering stations . ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds ")

The main bridge and battle bridge were connected by a dedicated emergency turbolift which could also be accessed from other decks. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", " Heart of Glory ") The battle bridge could also be entered by a standard turbolift or through a corridor on deck 8. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", " The Best of Both Worlds ") A captain's ready room was located on the port side of the bridge, although it was much smaller than the one off the main bridge, and lacked a window . ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ") The battle bridge could potentially be used to control the entire docked ship in the event of damage to the main bridge, but the practice on the Galaxy -class USS Enterprise -D was to coordinate recovery from main engineering . ( TNG : " Brothers ")

To keep in tune with changing technologies, the battle bridge was modular, like the main bridge. The Enterprise -D had at least two different battle bridges installed during its lifetime. The version launched with the ship had the captain's chair in the center, with conn and ops to the front of the captain, and tactical behind. Two duty stations were located at the back of the bridge, on the port and starboard rear walls. The tactical and rear stations were separated by turbolifts: the standard turbolift on the port side, and the emergency turbolift on the starboard side. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", " The Arsenal of Freedom ") By the time of the Battle of Wolf 359 in 2367 , the battle bridge had undergone a refit . The tactical position behind the captain had been moved to the port station, replaced by expanded information displays. The turbolift alcoves at the back of the bridge were also gone. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ")

Enterprise -D primary school science fair winner Paterson Supra hoped to see the battle bridge as part of a tour conducted by Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 2368 , but was disappointed to learn that the most exciting areas on the tour were hydroponics and astrophysics laboratories . After Paterson and two other children – Marissa Flores and Jay Gordon Graas – showed exceptional bravery during a crisis after the Enterprise -D hit several quantum filaments , Picard decided to take the group on a revised tour, starting with the battle bridge. ( TNG : " Disaster ")

The Sovereign -class USS Enterprise -E had a battle bridge located on deck 18 . ( Star Trek: First Contact )

The Constitution III -class USS Titan -A was equipped with a battle bridge. ( PIC : " No Win Scenario ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " Encounter at Farpoint "
• " The Arsenal of Freedom "
• " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II "
• Star Trek: First Contact

Background information [ ]

The addition of the battle bridge to the Galaxy -class layout was at the urging of concept artist Andrew Probert , while he was planning the saucer separation of the class. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (3rd ed., p. 9)) " Originally, the producers did not want a battle bridge; that was essentially my concept, " explained Probert. ( Star Trek: The Official Fan Club Magazine issue 60 , p. 4)

One concept sketch of the battle bridge was dated 23 March 1987 . ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (3rd ed., p. 9)) A set plan for the area, dated 26 March of the same year, was created by Production Designer Herman Zimmerman and Set Designer Richard McKenzie . The set was built on Paramount Stage 9 . ( TNG Season 1 DVD , special feature "The Beginning" )

Each time the battle bridge appeared, it did so with modifications. Despite the room appearing in only three episodes, the set was redressed for use as the bridge of other ships and miscellaneous rooms, multiple times. The set was built as the refit Enterprise bridge for Star Trek: Phase II , which later became Star Trek: The Motion Picture . ( text commentary , Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition) DVD special features) It was revealed in the sketch from 23 March that the battle bridge set was an inexpensive redress of the film Enterprise 's bridge. Indeed, this set was the Enterprise bridge in the four subsequent Star Trek films as well, until – like most of the motion picture sets – it was remodeled into the Enterprise -D sets for Star Trek: The Next Generation in order to cut costs. By the end of the third season of The Next Generation , the battle bridge set had also been redressed as the bridge of the Miranda -class USS Lantree in " Unnatural Selection ", the bridge of the Ambassador -class USS Enterprise -C in " Yesterday's Enterprise ", Starbase 173 's courtroom in " The Measure Of A Man ", and the cybernetics lab aboard the Enterprise -D in " The Offspring ". ("Yesterday's Enterprise" and "The Offspring" audio commentaries , TNG Season 3 Blu-ray special features)

Restored by Herman Zimmerman as the USS Enterprise -A bridge, the original set had, after the bridge scenes were shot for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , been temporarily stored on the outside studio parking lot, in order to make room for other, new sets for the movie – more specifically, a massive, one-time-use-only shuttlebay set. A freak weather event completely wrecked the set beyond salvation, save for some parts such as the two turbolifts and the bridge platforms. This had necessitated the build of an almost entirely new Enterprise -A bridge set for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . However, once rebuilt, the set had to do double duty as the USS Excelsior bridge as well. It was one of the biggest reasons why Zimmerman was also brought in on the movie, as he had been responsible for the bridge redesign for the previous movie in the first place. In the process, it also explains why the Enterprise -D received a new, updated battle bridge in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II". ( text commentary , Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Special Edition) DVD special features; Cinefantastique , Vol. 22, No. 5, p. 35)

Apocryphal [ ]

According to the comic book " Scotty ", the alternate reality USS Enterprise was equipped with a battle bridge.

External link [ ]

• Bridge comparisons  at Ex Astris Scientia
• 3 Erigah (episode)

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Built with contributions from  Star Trek: The Next Generation vet Michael Okuda, the four builds are the first nearly-completed replications from the forthcoming  Enterprise- D bridge set replica which Cawley projects to be completed for public visitation in the fall of 2023.

The LCARS interface panels on the first  Next Gen console replicas were designed by Okuda himself, Cawley told us this weekend, with live video consoles featuring animated versions of familiar TNG-era display screen graphics recreated by the Set Tour design team — during our inspection, we caught graphics from “Descent,” “Night Terrors,” “A Matter of Perspective,” “Redemption II,” “Ménage à Troi,” and more on the different bridge stations.

Because modern builds use LED lighting which backlights the interface panels very evenly, we learned that Mike Okuda engineered dark gradient ‘falloff’ coloring into the panels to emulate the 1980s-era incandescent internal lighting which lived in the original TNG sets.

The Ops and Conn stations this weekend are missing their upholstered seats, as they are currently being reworked to be more accurate to the Season 7-era looks featured on the series.

A 28,000-square-foot, two-story building adjacent to the Original Series tour complex is set to be the home to the Galaxy -class expansion, which along with the bridge is expected to eventually house an Enterprise- D corridor replica, a recreation of the two-story Main Engineering set, and more as time, space, and budget allows.

Here's some of the new digital displays build into the @startrektour TNG bridge consoles — which episodes can you see represented here? #StarTrek pic.twitter.com/qL0IDLegat — TrekCore.com 🖖 (@TrekCore) August 20, 2022

If you’re in the upstate New York area, you can head to the official Star Trek: The Original Series Set Tour in Ticonderoga, NY, which operates tours six days a week during their main season. The  Star Trek: The Next Generation expansion is projected for a Fall 2023 opening.

• James Cawley
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29 Years Later, Star Trek Just Solved A Massive Starship Mystery

Here's how Terry Matalas brought back [SPOILERS] for Picard Season 3.

Of all the versions of the Starship Enterprise , the one that has appeared the most times in Star Trek canon, is, by far, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D. After 178 episodes of The Next Generation , half of the ship got blown up in the 1994 film Generations .

The other half crashed into the planet Veridian III, but what happened to it after that? In Star Trek: Picard Season 3, we finally have a (very shocking) answer. And within that answer is perhaps the biggest nostalgia play for any science fiction franchise in recent memory.

Here’s how Picard Season 3 pulled off this massive starship comeback, complete with specific details from showrunner Terry Matalas.

Spoilers ahead!

The Enterprise-D , reborn

The Enterprise-D leaves the Fleet Museum in “Vox.”

In Episode 6 of Picard Season 3, Alandra La Forge (Mica Burton) hinted that her father Geordi (LeVar Burton) was hiding something in docking bay 12 of the Fleet Museum. In Episode 9, Geordi reveals that it’s a fully restored version of the Enterprise-D !

Picard asks, pointedly, “But how?” And Geordi reveals that Starfleet removed the crashed saucer section of the Enterprise-D from the surface of Verdian III in accordance with the Prime Directive (that famous Star Trek rule that says Starfleet can’t unduly influence cultures who haven’t yet developed interstellar travel on their own).

So, basically, even though Verdian III was uninhabited , the crashed ship was removed so as to “not influence the system.” In Generations , Data said the neighboring planet, Verdian IV, had a “pre-industrial society.” Meaning that just the presence of advanced technology from Starfleet in a burgeoning star system was enough to yank the ship, which actually makes a lot of sense. (It’s sort of like if an advanced alien race crashed a ship on the Moon during the Stone Age and then decided to yank it to prevent humans from finding it in the future.)

The crashed saucer of the Enterprise-D in Generations .

Since the saucer was only half of the Enterprise-D , Geordi tells the crew he’s been restoring the ship bit-by-bit for the past twenty years. This means that roughly since the end of Nemesis in 2379, Geordi has been, secretly, putting the pieces of the Enterprise-D back together. He reveals that this includes getting the “engines and nacelles from the USS Syracuse. This detail means the entire drive section (or engineering section) of this restored Enterprise-D actually came from a different Galaxy-class ship from which Geordi salvaged for parts.

But it’s not just the outside of the Enterprise-D that looks so familiar. The command bridge of this famous Star Trek ship also looks nearly identical to how the same set looked back in the heyday of The Next Generation from 1987 to 1994.

TNG Bridge For Picard is a real set

The crew of the USS Enterprise-D , back on the bridge.

While some fans might assume aspects of the Enterprise-D bridge in Picard were created by CGI or AR wall technology, the truth is, everything you see here exists in the real world. “Nothing is CGI,” Terry Matalas tells Inverse . “It’s all real.” While both Discovery and Strange New Worlds utilize an AR wall for aspects of filming, the production of Picard does not.

Matalas points out that because nothing was left of the Enterprise-D set from the ‘90s, what you see in Picard Season 3 “was totally rebuilt from scratch.”

This means that Picard production designer Dave Blass , along with Michael Okuda had to utterly remake the entirety of a set that hasn’t existed since 1994. On top of that, even though the lighting of the bridge will remind fans of the brightness of the ‘90s show, Matalas points out that newer camera technology had to be taken into account to recreate the mood we all remember.

“It's a kind of hybrid actually,” Matalas explains. “It's a bit of our Titan lighting mixed with TNG old school. It had to feel authentically the old show but look right with these new cameras.”

Picard’s roundabout connection to Battlestar

In Picard Season 3, the Enterprise-D is a lot like the Battlestar Galactica.

The return to the restored Enterprise-D isn’t just a nostalgia play though. In the context of Episode 9 and the finale, the crew needs a ship that isn’t connected to the new network of Starfleet ships. As Geordi says in the episode they need “...something older, analog, offline from the others...” This specific detail — that the Enterprise-D can survive the new Borg threat because it’s not hooked up to a larger network — might remind sci-fi fans of the basic premise of the rebooted Battlestar Galactica way back in 2003 . Spearheaded by TNG and DS9 veteran Ron Moore, the very beginning of Battlestar makes a point that the titular ship, Galactica , is not networked with other ships in the fleet because it’s much older, which, allows it to be free from the Cylon attack. Because of the writing connections between BSG and Star Trek, and Terry Matalas’ admiration for Ron Moore, was this a specific homage?

“It’s less of a nod, but impossible not to acknowledge Ron's influence on me as a writer and storyteller. No doubt those aspects of BSG are certainly burned into my brain and would be subconsciously part of the recipe,” Matalas explains. And then he goes deep into his history with the Trek franchise. Roughly twenty years ago, Matalas was a production assistant on Star Trek: Voyager , and then Star Trek: Enterprise , and around that time, something interesting happened.

“Funny story: when I was working as an assistant to Bryan Fuller, we went to lunch with Ron as BSG was just in its early stages,” Matalas recalls. “Ron enthusiastically pitched us his take for the [ BSG] miniseries — all the way to Adama's final bluff about Earth. I remember getting goosebumps and just hoping that show got made because if it did, it was like he was writing it just for me. That show would go on to inspire how I approached serialized science fiction in 12 Monkeys and then again here in this final season of Picard. So that's a long way of saying, yes, probably!”

Picard Season 3 was always headed here

Geordi (LeVar Burton) and Riker (Jonathan Frakes) on the bridge of their first Enterprise.

Because the Enterprise-D only appears in the final two episodes of Picard creating this set — in secret — was certainly one of the more costly aspects of Season 3. So, was there ever a backup plan in the writers’ room? Could the crew have ended up on a different retro starship? Was the nostalgia-filled season always going to end up this way?

In various sci-fi shows, it’s common for there to be alternate ways to tell a specific story. But, just like the inclusion of Ro Laren in Episode 5 , Matalas insists this specific reveal; that the Enterprise-D would be back for the final two episodes was one of the first ideas for this season.

“This always felt like the right way to end,” he says. “From the very beginning.”

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams on Paramount+ .

This article was originally published on April 15, 2023

• Science Fiction

Why Wesley Crusher Left Star Trek, and Why He Came Back

Wil Wheaton's Wesley Crusher disappeared from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but he came back for select episodes, movies, and Picard. Here's why.

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Wesley crusher went from boy genius to star trek time-travel god, wil wheaton was the 'big name' on star trek: tng, wesley crusher returned to star trek twice after leaving with the traveler, would wil wheaton return to star trek.

Despite running for seven seasons and keeping a grueling filming schedule, the central cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation didn't experience much turnover. In fact, of the regular cast who appeared in the series premiere and the series finale, only one character was absent. Wesley Crusher (played by Wil Wheaton) left Star Trek: The Next Generation early in the fourth season for a mix of personal and professional reasons. Still, Wesley returned a handful of times, and Wil Wheaton is still an active participant in Gene Roddenberry's universe. Despite Wheaton's unbridled enthusiasm for all things Star Trek and his experiences as part of The Next Generation family, his time playing the character wasn't the nerd's dream everyone thought it was.

The fans were harshly critical of Wesley Crusher , and the line "Shut up, Wesley!" from Season 1, Episode 13 became an early internet meme. In a promotional special, The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next , Roddenberry said the genesis of the character was himself at age 14, and "Wesley" was his middle name. Though, the Great Bird of the Galaxy admitted he was never the genius the eventual Starfleet cadet was in the series. Despite these struggles with Wesley Crusher's character, it was behind-the-scenes problems that inspired Wheaton to leave Star Trek: The Next Generation .

REVIEW: Star Trek: Picard: The Art & Making of the Series Tells the Story Behind the Story

Wesley was the only son of Doctor Beverly Crusher and her late husband Jack, the best friend of Captain Picard. He was a deeply curious boy, but he was often treated harshly by the crew and its captain. In the sixth episode of Season 1, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," Wesley befriends and impresses the mysterious Traveler, an alien with strange abilities. At the end of that episode, despite his disdain for children, Captain Picard promotes Wesley to "Acting Ensign" allowing him to serve on the bridge in advance of his application to Starfleet Academy.

Wesley's time in Starfleet Academy was tumultuous despite his genius and experience serving on the Enterprise. He failed the entrance exam the first time he took it, though so did Captain Picard. Once he was accepted, he left the ship and only appeared in a few episodes. While at the Academy, he joined Nova Squadron led by Nick Locarno . He was part of a cover-up with the squad, hiding the death of a classmate while performing a forbidden flight maneuver. After admitting the truth, he had to repeat that year at the Academy.

In Star Trek: TNG's final season , Wesley Crusher returned to the Enterprise on leave from the Academy. His grades were dropping, and he was in danger of failing out of the program. He challenged Starfleet's and the captain's orders in order to stand up for a colony of Native Americans being forcibly removed from their home to appease the Cardassians. He experienced a vision of his father, Jack, telling him Starfleet wasn't his path. Instead, Wesley joined the Traveler to ascend to "another plane of existence" paying off the arc that began in the first season. What that meant, however, remained a mystery .

How Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Connects to TNG's Biggest Open Mystery

The youngest TNG character went through some changes in development. Legendary Star Trek producer Robert H. Justman lobbied to make "Wesley" into "Leslie," according to Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion by Larry Nemecek, but Roddenberry eventually overruled the decision. They also struggled to come up with a justification for why this young man was so special, earning a coveted position on the bridge. In a memo, Justman wrote that Wesley's youth gave him a brash, assertive nature the adults on the crew lacked, making him "a one-man 'think tank' without pre-conditioned limitations.'"

Despite LeVar Burton's iconic role in Roots and the popularity of Reading Rainbow , it was Wil Wheaton who was the "big name" in the cast . Best known as Gordie in Stand By Me , the burgeoning movie star jumped at the chance to be in The Next Generation . "I was a Trekkie," Wheaton said in The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman. However, Wheaton said that even he was annoyed by how Wesley was written, calling him "pretentious." When he was offered a role in a film directed by Milos Forman, The Next Generation producers wouldn't let him do it. They told him he was going to be in a "really important to the series" episode during the filming window, but Wheaton said the producer "just lied to me." Wheaton also revealed that "years later," Deanna Troi actor Marina Sirtis told him she'd heard the producers were worried the film would make him an even bigger star.

If Wheaton's star rose, "it would have been harder for them to deal with me. I felt so betrayed by that," he said in The Fifty-Year Mission . Despite his love of Star Trek , this slight made Wheaton desperate to leave the series . However, in his memoir, Still Just a Geek , Wheaton detailed how his parents pushed him into acting in the first place, when he wanted "to just be a kid." This neglect, plus instances of abuse on various sets, particularly The Curse , soured him on the profession for many years. Still, Wheaton also maintains his fellow cast on The Next Generation are like family to him. Their love and support helped him and helps explain why he returned to the show for guest-spots. Returning was "like coming home for me," he told Entertainment Tonight in 1992. "I always have a terrific time [on set.] I adore the cast."

How Star Trek: The Next Generation Disserviced This Fan-Favorite Character

Despite leaving Starfleet and going off with the Traveler in "Journey's End," Wesley Crusher almost returned. Wheaton filmed scenes for Star Trek: Nemesis at the wedding of Riker and Troi. Wesley was again a Starfleet officer and slated for duty aboard Riker's ship, the USS Titan. However, the scene was cut from the film . In Still Just A Geek , Wheaton wrote about the experience. Even though it ignored Wesley's final episode on The Next Generation , Wheaton enjoyed the experience working with the cast as an adult. While it might have seemed like another slight by Star Trek producers, cutting the scene worked to the advantage of the character.

In Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Wesley Crusher appeared in the 21st Century to Isa Briones's character Kore Soong. He explained that he was part of a group called "the Travelers" who worked to protect the universe, all of reality from "annihilation." It's a difficult job apparently, since the last time Wesley made a joke he apparently changed a century of history. While the Travelers mostly observe, knowing when to act is a crucial part of their task. He recruited Kore into the group, and when she accepted, they both beamed away. The beaming effect was not like those audiences have seen from Starfleet or other species and organizations in the galaxy.

It seems Wesley Crusher and the Travelers were connected to Talinn, played by Orla Brady, in Picard Season 2 . She watched over Reneé Picard whose destiny was even more important than her famous starship captain ancestor. The group can also trace itself back to the Season 2 episode of Star Trek: The Original Series "Assignment: Earth" that introduced Gary Seven . An attempt at a spinoff series by Gene Roddenberry, Gary was a not-so-ordinary human tasked with protecting the 20th Century, specifically the space program.

Star Trek The Next Generation: When Does TNG Get Good?

Outside of this brief appearance on Picard , Wil Wheaton's involvement with the Star Trek universe has been as a professional fan . As the host of The Ready Room he talks to the actors, producers and others about making this third wave of series. His charm and grace put his guests at ease, because while he's still very much a fan of Star Trek , he's also been where they were. His time on the set and playing Wesley Crusher was both joyous and troubling. Ironically, the character that adult fans hated the most when he debuted is now the best ambassador to the Star Trek fanbase they have.

While Wheaton still does some on-camera work, he's mostly done voice acting of late. Still, Picard Season 3 introduced his half-brother Jack Crusher. Wheaton seemed enthused by the idea of teaming up with actor Ed Speelers for a "Crusher brothers" adventure , either a series or feature. Wesley Crusher's appearance at the end of Season 2 was a lovely coda for a character who deserved better . If that's all fans get, it might be enough. But after all these years, fans would likely be very excited to see Wesley again, especially if he's teaming up with Jack.

Star Trek series are available to stream on Paramount+, and The Ready Room can be found on YouTube.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.

Screen Rant

I've been missing detmer & owosekun in star trek: discovery season 5.

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Where’s Saru? Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Sidelined The Kelpien Hero

Star trek: discovery’s breen go too far beyond other enemy alien ships, star trek: discovery’s 4 starfleet ships saving federation hq identified & they’re not enterprise or voyager.

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery season 5.

• Detmer and Owosekun's absence in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 has been keenly felt by fans and the crew of the USS Discovery.
• Lt. Commanders Detmer and Owosekun have only made brief appearances in two out of the six episodes of season 5 so far.
• Star Trek: Discovery season 5's new bridge characters makes it feel like the USS DIscovery has a new crew.

Lt. Commander Keyla Detmer (Emily Coutts) and Lt. Commander Joann Owosekun (Oyin Oladejo) have been conspicuously absent from Star Trek: Discovery season 5. Both Detmer and Owosekun have been serving on the bridge of the USS Discovery since season 1, as the helmsman and the operations officer, respectively. Although they have not been featured as prominently as some of the other characters, Detmer and Owosekun are compelling characters who have always been a welcome presence . More than any other Star Trek show, Discovery focuses on its lead, Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), but Detmer and Owo have been a part of her story since the beginning.

Star Trek: Discovery season 4 expanded the roles of Lt. Commanders Detmer and Owosekun, as they both helped the USS Discovery uncover the truth about the Dark Matter Anomaly. In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, episode 8, "All In," Owosekun accompanied Captain Burnham on a mission to a black-market casino, where her hand-to-hand combat skills proved incredibly useful in earning money in a fighting ring. Detmer, too, was part of an away team a few episodes later, in Star Trek: Discovery season 4, episode 11,"Rosetta," when Discovery visited the homeworld of Species 10-C. Star Trek : Discovery season 5 is the show's final season, and it's likely Detmer and Owo will return before the end, but their absence throughout much of the season so far has been keenly felt.

Detmer's piloting skills have also come in handy on multiple occasions, and both officers excel when stationed on the bridge.

Despite the potential for a great storyline in season 5, Doug Jones's Saru has been absent for much of Star Trek: Discovery's final season.

Detmer & Owosekun Have Been Noticeably Absent From Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

Detmer and owosekun have only appeared in two out of discovery season 5's six episodes so far..

Detmer and Owosekun have briefly popped up in a couple of episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, but have otherwise been completely absent. Lt. Commander Asha (Christina Dixon) and Lt. Gallo (Natalie Liconti) took over Detmer and Owo's stations on the USS DIscovery's bridge, while Keyla and Joann were only mentioned in dialogue. After the events of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5 , "Mirrors," Detmer and Owo were ordered to polit the ISS Enterprise back to Federation Headquarters. This means they will likely remain absent for the rest of Discovery's search for the Progenitors' technology, which is disappointing, as both characters would be fun additions to this intergalactic treasure hunt.

When Captain Burnham brought Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) aboard as the USS Discovery's new First Officer, he did quick meet-and-greets with the ship's crew members. Detmer and Owosekun were conspicuously absent from these scenes as well, again replaced by Asha and Gallo. Despite all their talk of family, Discovery's crew has not fully coalesced into a solid core group the way other Star Trek casts have. As Star Trek: Discovery season 5 was filming, the cast and crew were unaware that it would be the show's last season, making it all the more unfortunate that Detmer and Owosekun do not have more of a presence in what will be Discovery's final episodes.

Star Trek: Discovery Feels Like The Starship Has A New Crew In Season 5

Star trek: discovery changes its dynamic every season..

Since the days of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his Starship Enterprise crew, most Star Trek shows have featured ensemble casts. While the Captains were more or less the main characters, the other senior officers also featured prominently in certain episodes. Star Trek: The Original Series came to focus on the iconic trio of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), while Star Trek: The Next Generation would have episodes that often showcased one character. Star Trek: Discovery has always centered Michael Burnham by design, but that means some of the other characters have been sidelined.

Discovery has struggled to find its identity, experimenting with different kinds of stories and cycling through crew members.

Over the course of its five seasons, Star Trek: Discovery has struggled to find its identity, experimenting with different kinds of stories and cycling through crew members. When Michael Burnham became Captain of Discovery at the end of season 3, it finally felt like the show had found its rhythm. Star Trek: Discovery season 4 still focused on Burnham, but allowed more of the characters to play a larger role. Burnham is a great character, and she will always be Discovery's star, but the crew felt more like a family than ever in season 4, and Star Trek: Discovery season 5 has shifted the dynamics yet again.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery