Star Trek: Enterprise could have told the ultimate Borg origin story if the Scott Bakula-led prequel had lasted beyond season 4. Enterprise was canceled after only 4 seasons by United Paramount Network (UPN). Although no scripts were written for Star Trek: Enterprise season 5, many intriguing ideas could have become episodes had the series continued.
The late Manny Coto became Star Trek: Enterprise’s showrunner in season 4 and is widely credited with improving the prequel. Coto embraced Enterprise’s connections to Star Trek: The Original Series, and the series began to truly fulfill its potential. Unfortunately, a combination of factors, including a new regime at UPN, doomed Enterprise, which was fortunate to even make it to four seasons.
At Trek Talks 5, which raised over $86,000 to benefit the Hollywood Food Coalition, Star Trek: Enterprise producers and writers Brannon Braga, Andre Bormanis, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Michael Sussman, and Phyllis Strong joined a panel moderated by Diana Keng.
Garfield Reeves-Stevens explained his and Judith’s pitch to bring back Alice Krige from Star Trek: First Contact to tell how she became the Borg Queen. Although Manny Coto wasn’t keen on doing another Borg story, Star Trek: Enterprise executive producer Brannon Braga called it a “cool idea… and a really tempting one.” Read their quotes below:
Garfield Reeves-Stevens: “One [pitch] we thought would be really intriguing was to have another Borg show, but bring in the head of Starfleet Medical, which would be played by Alice Krige. And we would see someone choosing [to be assimilated]. She, of course, goes on to become the Borg Queen, but we would see what goes through the mind of someone choosing to join the Collective. And we thought that would be intriguing,”
Brannon Braga: “That’s a cool idea… We should’ve done that.”
Garfield Reeves-Stevens: “Manny felt that Enterprise has to stand on its own, so let’s not reach back to the other shows too often.”
Brannon Braga: “He’s right, but that’s a really good idea and a very tempting one. Because the Borg are kind of endlessly fascinating, and we only did one episode that, I think, Mike and Phyllis wrote. But the idea of seeing Alice Krige in some capacity before she became the Queen is fascinating.”
Watch the entire 9-hour Trek Talks 5 fundraiser marathon below:
Given Brannon Braga’s enthusiasm for the Borg Queen’s origin, it’s possible, as executive producer, he could have overridden showrunner Manny Coto, and the Borg Queen’s origin might have happened in Star Trek: Enterprise season 5. After all, on Trek Talks 5, Braga mused about how difficult it was to come up with ideas for what was, in that era of television, 22 episodes of Enterprise per season.
The Borg Queen was introduced in Star Trek: First Contact, and the cyborg ruler played by Alice Krige instantly became one of Star Trek’s greatest villains. The Queen was also played by Susanna Thompson in Star Trek: Voyager and by Annie Wersching in Star Trek: Picard, but Krige’s version is the most iconic. Alice also returned as the Borg Queen in Voyager and voiced her in Star Trek: Picard season 3.
The concept for the Borg Queen’s origin, with the head of Starfleet Medical choosing to be assimilated, with viewers experiencing becoming a Borg through her eyes, is compelling. Star Trek: Enterprise could have also revealed whether the Borg Queen already existed and Alice Krige only provided her organic body, or if the will of Alice Krige’s character somehow dominated the Collective to become the Borg Queen.
Along with beginning the Romulan War and laying the building blocks for the founding of the United Federation of Planets, the Borg Queen’s origin is a lost potential story that could have made Star Trek: Enterprise season 5 the best of the prequel. While many fans understandably feel that the Borg have been overused as villains, the Borg Queen’s origin is an intriguing “What If?” story.
Release Date
2001 – 2005-00-00
Network
UPN
Showrunner
Brannon Braga
Scott Bakula
Jonathan Archer
