Star Trek: Enterprise’s Unfulfilled Borg Queen Origin Story

by

As a huge Star Trek fan, I always felt Enterprise had so much potential, and it really could have delivered the definitive story of the Borg. It’s a shame the show, led by Scott Bakula, was canceled after just four seasons by UPN. While they never actually wrote scripts for a fifth season, there were so many fascinating ideas floating around that could have made for incredible episodes if the series had been given the chance to continue.

As a big Enterprise fan, I always felt like the show really hit its stride in the fourth season, and a lot of that is down to Manny Coto taking over as showrunner. He understood what Enterprise could be – a show that really connected to the original Star Trek – and finally, we started seeing that potential realized. It’s such a shame that things at UPN changed, because honestly, the show was lucky to get those four seasons at all. It could have ended much sooner!

I was at Trek Talks 5 recently, and it was fantastic! Not only did the event raise over $86,000 for the Hollywood Food Coalition, but I got to hear from some of the key people behind Star Trek: Enterprise. Brannon Braga, Andre Bormanis, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Michael Sussman, and Phyllis Strong – all producers and writers on the show – were on a panel, and Diana Keng did a great job moderating the discussion.

Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Judith Reeves-Stevens proposed bringing Alice Krige, who played the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact, back to the show to reveal her origins. While Manny Coto was hesitant to revisit the Borg storyline, Star Trek: Enterprise executive producer Brannon Braga thought it was a “cool and very appealing” concept. See what they had to say below:

Garfield Reeves-Stevens proposed a new Star Trek show centered around the Borg. The idea was to feature Alice Krige as the head of Starfleet Medical, and explore the story of someone choosing to be assimilated by the Borg. The show would delve into the character’s motivations and thought process as they joined the Collective, ultimately becoming the Borg Queen. They believed this perspective would be a fascinating and unique addition to the franchise.

Brannon Braga: “That’s a cool idea… We should’ve done that.”

Manny believed the new ‘Enterprise’ series needed to establish its own identity and shouldn’t rely too heavily on elements from previous ‘Star Trek’ shows, according to Garfield Reeves-Stevens.

Brannon Braga agreed with the point being made, but added that revisiting the Borg could be a really strong idea. He felt the Borg were endlessly interesting, and they’d only explored them in one episode, written by Mike and Phyllis. He was particularly excited by the possibility of showing Alice Krige’s character before she became the Borg Queen.

Watch the entire 9-hour Trek Talks 5 fundraiser marathon below:

Brannon Braga really liked the idea of explaining where the Borg Queen came from, and as an executive producer, he may have been able to convince the show’s main writer, Manny Coto, to include it in the fifth season of Star Trek: Enterprise. He’s mentioned on the Trek Talks 5 podcast how challenging it was to consistently create enough stories for a 22-episode season of Enterprise.

The Borg Queen first appeared in the film Star Trek: First Contact, and Alice Krige’s portrayal of the cyborg leader quickly established her as a standout villain in the Star Trek universe. While Susanna Thompson and Annie Wersching also played the Queen in Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Picard respectively, Krige’s performance remains the most memorable. Alice Krige reprised her role in Voyager and provided the Queen’s voice in the third season of Star Trek: Picard.

The idea behind the Borg Queen’s beginnings – specifically, a Starfleet doctor willingly joining the Borg and viewers seeing the assimilation through her perspective – is really interesting. Star Trek: Enterprise had the potential to clarify whether the Borg Queen was a pre-existing entity who simply inhabited Alice Krige’s body, or if Krige’s character somehow took control of the entire Borg Collective and became the Queen.

The story of how the Borg Queen came to be is a missed opportunity that could have significantly improved Star Trek: Enterprise’s fifth season, potentially making it the best of the series. Though some fans think the Borg have appeared too often as enemies, the Queen’s backstory is a fascinating idea that never fully materialized.

Read More

2026-04-05 12:09