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Out of all the character demise inStar Trek , there ’s one that ’s always made me go " WTF ? " more than all the others . WhenStar Trekgets it correctly , kill off a darling character is poignant and heartbreaking — after all , who among us has n’t moult a rip at Spock ’s ( Leonard Nimoy ) noble sacrifice at the conclusion ofStar Trek II : The Wrath of Khan ? ButStar Trekis also guilty of killing type for superfluous behind - the - tantrum reasons , like Lieutenant Tasha Yar ’s ( Denise Crosby ) destruction inStar Trek : The Next Generationor Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax ’s ( Terry Farrell ) reasonless execution inStar Trek : Deep Space Nine .
One of theworst series finales inStar Trekis that ofStar Trek : Enterprise , " These Are the Voyages , " which ended the twenty-second - century adventures of Captain Jonathan Archer ’s ( Scott Bakula)NX-01 Enterprise crewin its fourth season . It ’s entrap as a Commander William Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) holodeck escapade duringThe Next Generation , sothese are n’t even the real interpretation ofEnterprise ’s fictional character . But I think the most idea - boggling part of theEnterprisefinale is the completely random death of Commander Trip Tucker ( Connor Trinneer ) .
Trip Tucker’s Death Was The Most Pointless & Confusing In Star Trek
Star Trek Has Not Been Able To Recontextualize Trip’s Death
Trip Tucker ’s deathhas to be the most puzzling and purposeless demise in all ofStar Trekbecause it means nothing . Trip does n’t die to sacrifice himself for a baronial cause , or even to examine the might of a powerful enemy . No , stumble dies because he volitionally cause a plasma detonation to keep alien intruders from catch cargo deck of Shran ( Jeffrey Combs ) and his daughter , Talla ( Jasmine Anthony ) . After the explosion , Trip ’s body is hale off to sickbay . It ’s a flakey setting that plays out like it ’s tacked on … especially because Shran and Talla are n’t even there .
Connor Trinneer returns as a pre - death Trip Tucker in the animated " anything but canon"very Short Treksepisode " Holograms All the fashion Down , " whileStar Trek : Lower Deckshas often referenced Trip in dialog , but he has n’t actually been back for real .
Worst of all , Trip ’s death stay unaddressed , because it happened inEnterprise ’s serial finale . Tasha Yar drop dead inThe Next Generationseason 1 , so there was plenty of time to refine it , andTNGmade good on that by giving Tasha a fitting end in " Yesterday ’s Enterprise . " Dax ’s death has an impact onDS9season 7 , with characters lamentation ; andDax lives on through Ezri Dax ( Nicole de Boer ) . Even Lt . Commander Data ’s ( Brent Spiner)Star Trek : Nemesisdeath was recontextualized inStar Trek : Picard . But Trip Tucker has n’t been so lucky .
Is It Possible That A Future Star Trek Series Could Resurrect Trip?
Commander Trip Tucker Might Not Really Be Dead
If modernStar Trekrevisits theEnterpriseera , it ’s possible Trip Tucker could join the list ofStar Trekcharacters who have been resurrected . Trektech swash plenty of ways to convey character back to life — butthe Florida key to Trip ’s survival might be inStar Trek : Voyager , which used Borg nanoprobes to bring Neelix ( Ethan Phillips ) back . Enterprise ’s Dr. Phlox ( John Billingsley ) , known for collecting improper aesculapian treatments , encounters nanoprobes inSEnterpriseseason 2 , episode 23 , " re-formation . " A dose of nanoprobes might be all Trip needs to recover after a stint in Enterprise ’s imaging sleeping room .
InStar Trek ’s beta canon , Trip ’s death was a ruse so he could join Section 31.Star Trekhas previously officially canonize beta canon facts , like Number One ’s ( Rebecca Romijn ) name being Una Chin - Riley inStar Trek : Strange New Worlds .
But the good way to " raise " Trip Tucker would be to reveal that Trip never choke at all . OneconvincingStar Trektheoryposits that the events ofEnterprise ’s close did n’t really happen as portrayed , because " These Are the Voyages " was one of Riker ’s holodeck programs . If that ’s the eccentric , Trip could be alive and well , like the version of Trip that lived a foresighted , felicitous life with an alternate universe ’s T’Pol ( Jolene Blalock ) inStar Trek : Lower deck of cards . Ironically , the very matter that made thisStar Trekfinale so vilify could also in reality save the episode .
