“Star Trek” fans got a couple fascinating details in a March 27 report by Variety on the future of the franchise on Paramount+. The biggest for sure is that the character of Rachel Garrett, the first female captain of the USS Enterprise, will be appearing in the “Section 31” direct-to-Paramount+ movie that’s going to star Michelle Yeoh.
The actress Kacey Rohl will be playing Garrett, who was the captain of the Enterprise-C in the first half of the 24th century and was the subject of one of the most beloved “Next Generation” episodes ever: “Yesterday’s Enterprise” (she was played by Tricia O’Neal in the original episode).
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That time-travel episode was about how the Enterprise-C was ripped out of history at a battle with the Romulans where it was supposed to have perished; instead the ship was hurled 22 years into the future where it meets Picard’s Enterprise, the Enterprise-D. As a result of the change to history, the Federation is at war with the Klingons, and the only way to set history right is for the crew of the Enterprise-C to agree to go back to their own time, where they all face certain and immediate death.
This is the episode where, once they’ve agreed to face their doom, Picard says, “Let’s make sure history never forgets the name Enterprise.” If Kirk didn’t believe in a “no win” situation, she faced one head-on, making Garrett an especially valiant captain.
In the “Star Trek” timeline, she’s the first female Enterprise captain. In order, the timeline goes: Jonathan Archer of the pre-Federation Enterprise NX-01, James T. Kirk of the Enterprise NCC-1701 and Enterprise-A, Alan Ruck’s Benjamin Harrison of the Enterprise-B (this writer chooses to believe that since the lore does say Harrison came from “a prominent family,” that he is in fact a descendant of Connor Roy, thus winning the ultimate succession: the Enterprise captain’s chair), and then Garrett.
O’Neal was about 44 when she played the character, and Rohl is in her early 30s. So it likely means that the “Section 31” movie will be set in the early 24th Century, well after the events of the Kirk era have concluded. Yeoh’s character, Philippa Georgiou, the central character in “Section 31,” was last seen being flung into an uncertain part of the timeline by the Guardian of Forever on “Discovery.” Now we have a good idea just what part of the timeline she landed in.
One other interesting detail emerged in that report: That the “Starfleet Academy” show, which IndieWire told you a year ago must logically have a 32nd Century setting as a follow-up series to “Discovery,” is in fact confirmed to be set then, but, surprisingly, is being targeted to a “tween and teen” audience.
Jonathan Frakes, who’s directed episodes of every “Trek” series since “Next Gen” in addition to playing Riker on that series and beyond, is quoted in the Variety piece as saying that he thinks the franchise’s audience is older. Franchise mastermind Alex Kurtzman seems to hope that a show like “Starfleet Academy” may reach a new audience altogether.
Reps for Paramount+ did not respond to IndieWire’s request for comment about confirmation of these details.
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