WARNING: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 9 - "Vox."The Frontier Day celebration in Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 9, "Vox" pay tribute to Star Trek: Enterprise, finally giving the Star Trek prequel its due. Frontier Day celebrates "250 years of going boldly" by honoring the first voyage of the Enterprise NX-01, commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula). Archer's Enterprise was United Earth's first warp five-capable starship to properly explore the stars, and its mission effectively led to the foundation of the United Federation of Planets.
It's the NX-01 Enterprise's place in Star Trek history that's honored by iral Elizabeth Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy) in her moving speech, delivered aboard the USS Enterprise-F as it embarks on its final flight. For years, Star Trek: Enterprise was often referred to as the show that killed the Star Trek franchise. Now that Star Trek has become a hugely successful franchise again, that reputation is being reconsidered, and iral Shelby's speech ties into this reappraisal.
Picard Season 3 Finally Gives Star Trek: Enterprise Its Due
In her speech, iral Shelby talks of the "83 brave souls" who embarked on Humanity's first exploratory interstellar mission. Referencing a journey of "bravery, persistence, and sacrifice", which tacitly acknowledges the death of Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) in Star Trek: Enterprise's finale, "These Are The Voyages..." The Enterprise finale was controversial at the time because it essentially played out as an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation with Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) observing Archer's Enterprise's final mission from the holodeck of the USS Enterprise-D.
By honoring Captain Archer and his crew, Star Trek: Picard season 3 makes up for the TNG crew overshadowing the Star Trek: Enterprise finale. In having a major Starfleet celebration of the Enterprise NX-01's first flight, Picard re-establishes Enterprise's place in Star Trek mythology. The Enterprise finale attempted to do this by centering on how the adventures of Archer and his crew inspired the solution to Riker's dilemma about his former commanding officer, evil Star Trek iral Erik Pressman (Terry O'Quinn). However, the huge celebrations of Frontier Day and iral Shelby's moving speech is a far better display of the importance of the Enterprise NX-01 in Star Trek canon.
How Star Trek: Enterprise Has Been Reconsidered Since 2005
Despite Star Trek: Enterprise's reputation as being the show that killed the franchise, it considerably influenced the next generation of Star Trek movies and TV shows. Star Trek: Discovery's Mirror Universe storyline heavily referenced the Enterprise 2-parter "In A Mirror, Darkly". Investigating how the USS Discovery could escape back to their own reality, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) consulted information on the ill-fated USS Defiant that crossed through time and realities, to be captained by Archer's Mirror Universe counterpart. A starship named after the NX-01's captain, the USS Archer, was also commanded by Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 1 premiere.
In the real world, Star Trek: Enterprise has had a considerable reappraisal, especially for seasons 3 and 4. Looking back on Enterprise's ambitious storytelling, and the season-long arcs such as the Xindi War, and the political resistance to the establishment of the Federation feel apiece with the more mature, arc-led storytelling of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. As Star Trek: Picard has referenced everything from Deep Space Nine's Dominion War to the whereabouts of Star Trek: Voyager's Captain Tuvok (Tim Russ), it's only fair that the other 1990s Star Trek show gets a richly deserved nod in the final season.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3's finale streams Thursday, April 20, on Paramount+.