John Billingsley shares a different viewpoint on Star Trek: Enterprise’s series finale

John Billingsley shares a different viewpoint on Star Trek: Enterprise's series finale

As a long-time Star Trek enthusiast who has witnessed the evolution of this universe since The Next Generation, I can understand why John Billingsley‘s perspective on Enterprise’s finale resonates with me. The finale might not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but it certainly felt like the end of an era for those who had spent nearly two decades contributing to Star Trek.


The final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise titled “These Are the Voyages…” is generally considered the least favored among all deliberate Star Trek finales. I refer to it as deliberate because Star Trek: The Original Series concluded with an episode called “Turnabout Intruder,” which wasn’t originally intended as a series finale. Since Enterprise ended in 2005, this finale has been criticized heavily, and many Star Trek enthusiasts choose not to watch it. This response is understandable; if you don’t enjoy the episode, then you won’t enjoy it. However, what puzzles many viewers is why the producers decided to end the series on such a note.

In a chat with CinemaBlend, John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox from Enterprise) offered a unique perspective on the series finale. Although it was intended as a conclusion, it’s important to remember that many of the crew members had been involved in Star Trek since The Next Generation. As a result, they carried with them a 17-year legacy connected to the franchise, which was now drawing to a close.

I mean, it was weird when we wrapped that final episode. It was poignant for us as a cast, but we’d only been on the show for four years. The crew had been there since the first days of Next Gen. That crew had transitioned into Deep Space into Voyager and then into our show. So, for many of those folks, it was the end of seventeen to eighteen years of their lives, watching their kids grow up, marriages, divorces, deaths. It felt like the end of an era as much as anything because that group of people broke up. And if you’re in the business, so much of what, you know, makes it feel familial is when you were hanging with the same crowd for an extended period of time. That was where I think it really, for a lot of folks who were associated with legacy Trek, that’s where I think it really felt like, you know, the ax cut.

John Billingsley

As a dedicated fan, I acknowledge Billingsley’s insight that Enterprise, despite its four-year run, didn’t mark the end of an era in quite the same way as the long-term crew did. Instead, the producers decided to enrich the narrative by introducing new characters, each representing different aspects of this Star Trek era. In doing so, they not only concluded Enterprise but also honored the behind-the-scenes team members who had devoted significant parts of their lives to Star Trek.

While this choice may not improve the popularity of “These are the Voyages…”, it does provide an understanding for why the producers decided to follow that direction, as opposed to concentrating on the crew of the Enterprise. Regardless of our personal opinions on their decision.

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2024-09-22 02:23

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