Star Trek: Picard season 3's loving restoration of the iconic USS Enterprise-D bridge set is proof that a similar resurrection could possibly lead to a revisiting of the cast and central location of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Picard ended its three season run in thrilling fashion, as iral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his colleagues from Star Trek: The Next Generation found themselves as the last line of defense against a catastrophic attack by the Borg against the Federation. With the Borg controlling most modern Starfleet vessels, Picard and friends needed a ship that wasn't networked to the rest of the fleet.
In the Star Trek: Picard season 3 episode "Vox," it's revealed that Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) had spent the better part of two decades restoring the USS Enterprise-D, which was seemingly damaged beyond repair in Star Trek Generations. Perhaps the most emotional moment of the entire series occurs when Picard and his crew enter the refurbished bridge of the Enterprise-D, looking exactly like it did on Star Trek: The Next Generation three decades ago. The bridge set is not only a nostalgic design marvel, it's solid evidence that revisiting Deep Space Nine might not be as impossible as it once seemed.
Picard's Enterprise-D Proved Star Trek Can Return To DS9
The level of detail utilized to make sure the USS Enterprise-D looked exactly like it did in its heyday is, frankly, amazing. It's even more impressive when it's ed that Star Trek: Picard season 3 was made under difficult circumstances, with production taking place near the height of the pandemic and with very real time and money constraints. If Picard production designer Dave Blass and his team could pull off that sort of miracle, it seems plausible they could rebuild the majority of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine sets, given a more normal modern television production cycle.
While it's become one of the most celebrated entries in the entire franchise, there are a few roadblocks to a full on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine revival. Avery Brooks, who brilliantly portrayed Captain Benjamin Sisko, hasn't had an onscreen acting credit since 2001 and has distanced himself from the franchise in recent years. Sadly, the ing of Rene Auberjonois and Aron Eisenberg means the show would be without two of its best characters in Odo and Nog, respectively. The notion of rebuilding the show's elaborate sets always seemed like another massive impediment, but perhaps that's no longer the case.
Why Star Trek Must Return To DS9
The successful returns of Jean-Luc Picard and Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) to the Star Trek franchise - as well as the inherently nostalgic appeal of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - has proved that fans are eager to revisit characters and stories from Star Trek's past. While Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is now routinely hailed for its innovation with serialized storytelling and relatively morally ambiguous tone, it also happened to feature an absolutely fantastic conclusion that seemed to be a definitive end for many of its characters. Also, due to the nature of the show's ending, revisiting Sisko would be decidedly more complicated than revisiting Picard or Janeway was.
And yet Star Trek needs to return to that beleaguered space station. The Star Trek: Lower Decks episode "Hear All, Trust Nothing" gave fans an animated glimpse of life on DS9 a few years after the series ended, still a vibrant, unique little corner of the Star Trek universe, even without the weight of the Dominion War or Pah-wraiths. Fans would likely be delighted to revisit Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in live action, and Star Trek: Picard's lovely nod to its past proves it's possible to see Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) roam the Promenade once again.