Connor Trinneer didn’t understand Trip’s death

By rachel carrington | aug 6, 2021.

LAS VEGAS, NV - AUGUST 06: Actors Connor Trinneer (L) and Anthony Montgomery attend the 14th annual official Star Trek convention at the Rio Hotel & Casino on August 6, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)

Trip Tucker’s death was a bone of contention

The series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise after four seasons still stands out sixteen years later and not for good reasons. Most everyone disliked the inclusion of characters Will Riker and Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as the jump forward in time and the holodeck simulation. Overall, few fans have “These Are the Voyages” on their to-be-watched-again list. And faithful viewers who had grown attached to all of the characters on Enterprise were livid at the death of Chief Engineer, Charles “Trip” Tucker, III.

Trip had gotten out of a lot of situations in his time as the chief engineer, including almost dying from dehydration in the desert, almost dying aboard a shuttlepod in the freezing cold with Lt. Reed, and being trapped on a planet with an enemy who kept trying to kill him. That was another situation where he almost died from heat exposure. On top of those, Trip had helped get the Enterprise out of some pretty gnarly situations without dying. So what ends up killing him is his decision to blow up intruders on the ship? A fact Connor Trinneer said was “scripted somewhat arbitrarily because “I’ve gotten out of much worse scrapes than that”.”

Trip’s death just didn’t make sense

In reality, Trip was killed because, according to Trinneer, someone was going to die, and he just happened to get in the way.

"“They were going to kill somebody and I just happened to get in the way!”"

But the simple fact was the death was just thrown in with no lasting effects whatsoever. Less than three days later, Hoshi, Reed, and Travis were having a conversation like nothing had happened. Not one of them mentioned Trip. In fact, after Captain Archer’s short conversation with T’Pol in Trip’s quarters, he wasn’t spoken of again. Even Dr. Phlox seemed particularly jovial once the Enterprise had returned to Earth. We didn’t even get a death scene for Trip like they gave Sim in “Similitude.”

A beloved crew member died for no reason. The Enterprise’s crew would have been more than capable of handling the intruders who, by the way, shouldn’t have been able to catch up with the Enterprise and board her without any advance notice anyway. It was a flimsy reason to kill a character, and it’s no wonder it didn’t make sense to Trinneer or any of the rest of us.

Next. Enterprise’s Stigma caused a firestorm among fans. dark

Star Trek: Enterprise Ending Explained: Those Were The Voyages...

Enterprise cast

"Star Trek: Enterprise" — originally just called "Enterprise," – was once considered by many Trekkies to be the black sheep of the pre-Abrams era. While it still had many of the same creative people working behind the scenes (the show was created by longtime Trek honchos Rick Berman and Brannon Braga) it deliberately struck a different tone, exploring the early, raucous days of Starfleet: before the formation of the United Federation of Planets, before the writing of The Prime Directive, way back when there was only one Earth ship trekking through the cosmos. The goal was to create a Trek show that was less anodyne than its predecessors, recapturing some of the frontier spirit occasionally seen in the original 1966 TV series. 

Other changes included an wholly updated aesthetic; the Enterprise looked a lot more like a submarine than a cruise ship, and the crew wore uniforms that looked a little bit like NASA jumpsuits. There were only two alien species aboard this time: Vulcan first officer T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) and the genial Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley), playing the previously unseen species of Denobulan. Additionally, the traditional orchestral opening of the previous five Trek TV shows was replaced by a truly, truly awful Rod Stewart ballad called "Faith of the Heart" a.k.a. "Where My Heart Will Take Me," sung by Russell "The Voice" Watson , written by Diane Warren, and originally included on the soundtrack to "Patch Adams."

"Enterprise" debuted in 2001 and was met with mixed reactions. Some critics, if recall is to be trusted, positively praised its production value and novelty, while others missed the reliable Trek iconography.

It's Been a Long Road...

When it debuted in September of 2001, "Enterprise" struggled almost immediately. Fans weren't taking to the show in the same way they took to "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" or "Star Trek: Voyager" as it was set in a new time frame which required a new push for audiences to refamiliarize themselves. What's more, it was the only Trek show on the air at the time, with "Voyager" having ended its run in May of the same year. Previous Trek shows had been doubling up, and it was the first time since 1993 there weren't at least two "Star Trek" shows on the air at the same time. "Enterprise" had a lot to prove. 

Some of the early story arcs didn't play well to mythos-minded fans, and the Temporal Cold War story, featuring an evil species called the Suliban , is rarely brought up in conversation I have with other Trekkies. A little more attention is given to the Xindi  who, in a story arc beginning in season 3, destroyed Florida in what was very clearly a 9/11 metaphor. Yes, check again the month and year of "Enterprise's" debut. 

"Star Trek: Enterprise" season 4 introduced more multiple-episode arcs, and "Star Trek," along with most TV shows at the time, began to evolve into longer-form stories and season-long arcs rather than stand-alone mini moral dilemmas that had been Trek's stock in trade for decades. But the change was too little, too late, and "Enterprise" was canceled after an inauspicious four seasons. For comparison, "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine," and "Voyager" all ran for seven years each. 

A pity, really, as some have said (anecdotally) that the show was just finding its feet.

Getting from There to Here

The final episode of "Enterprise" was ... Well, it was an interesting choice. A big part of the appeal of "Enterprise" was its placement as a prequel to the original "Star Trek" series, meaning there was a mild thrill in seeing how certain things would come to be. This was, of course, after the same thing was being done with "Star Wars" starting with "The Phantom Menace" in 1999, but before "Batman Begins" pretty much popularized the "reimagined origin story" as a dominant storytelling trope throughout pop media. All of this is to say that "Enterprise" was meant to tie into what good Trekkies knew was coming in the future. 

As such, the final episode of "Enterprise," titled "These Are the Voyages..." (originally aired on May 15th, 2005), had to rush to finally connect series back to the Treks were knew and loved. Enter Jonathan Frakes, Will Riker from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," a series that was set about 200 years after the events of "Enterprise." Rather than merely recite the official denouements of Capt. Jonathan Archer , T'Pol , Trip Tucker , Malcolm Reed , Hoshi Sato , Dr. Phlox , and the memorable, memorable character of Ensign Mayweather , we were given a broader view of "Enterprise" history as seen by William Riker, who was recreating life on the original "Enterprise" via a holodeck some 200 years after the fact.  

In "These Are the Voyages...," Riker imagined himself as the hardworking galley chef on the original Enterprise, a character that was often talked about but never seen. As Riker envisioned it, the ship's chef served as a personal confidant to the crew, allowing him to have elaborate one-on-one discussion with each character. He also wanted to talk to the crew of the Enterprise shortly before the original ship was to be decommissioned, meaning the episode was also a flash-forward. 

In short: "Enterprise" ended with a 200-year-old recreation of the future events of "Enterprise," as interpreted through the eyes of William T. Riker. The final episode of Trek was Mary Sue fanfic written by a Trek character. This is a nerd turducken of the highest order. 

This approach, of course, allowed for a great deal of convenient historical fudging on the part of "Enterprise's" writers. If there was any sort of plot or character inconsistency, a viewer could chalk it up to Riker changing history to fit his own holodeck fantasy. More broadly, it was a comment on how we, as a species, tend to romanticize history, altering our past into heroic narratives and easy-to-consume stories rather than a complex timeline of daily events. 

It's Been a Long Time

A bit of editorializing, if I may...

Reaction to "These Are the Voyages..." was largely negative. The inclusion of Riker, not to mention the eventual addition of NextGen's Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) robbed the "Enterprise" characters of their moment. While one can easily understand that the show's creators wanted to bring the timeline of "Enterprise" to a meaningful conclusion, skipping ahead in time and treating the show's events like a textbook column for other, different characters makes them feel distant and rarified, rather than exciting and immediate. Mild spoiler : The impersonal and abrupt death of one of the main cast members certainly didn't help either. 

If one recalls the ending of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," it was made clear that the adventures of the Enterprise-D would continue — only without us, the audience, being able to see them all. A series needn't definitively conclude if we leave comforted that everything will work out fine for the characters. Perhaps a similar approach would have made for a better final episode of "Enterprise." Please, leave us with comforting send-off that would leave audiences assured that the cast would make it safely into Trek history, even if we don't get to see it.

That second approach would also open up the Trek "expanded universe." That is: Plenty of studio-mandated novels, source books, and speculative fiction writers could fill in any gaps that were left in the narrative. Indeed, given the historical element of "Enterprise," leaving gaps in history would be perfectly appropriate. Sadly, we were left with a final episode of Trek that left a bad taste in our mouths.

Maybe that's why so many audiences embraced the 2009 "Star Trek" feature film. It was an entirely new beverage, but at least it washed away the old one.

Now, where do we rant about the Paramount+ era?

trip tucker death scene

Remembering ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’s Much-Maligned Finale, 15 Years Later

Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise series finale

Between Star Trek: Discovery ,  Picard and the newest forthcoming Star Trek series , all on streamer CBS All Access, it’s a wondrous time to be a Trekker. Fifteen years ago, however, it seemed the sci-fi franchise was ending on a sour note, leaving the airwaves for the first time in 18 years with the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise , which turned out to be an episode many fans and critics flat-out hated .

7 Most Frustrating TV Finales (PHOTOS)

7 Most Frustrating TV Finales (PHOTOS)

“These Are the Voyages…,” the series’ 98th episode, written by Enterprise co-creators Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, aired on May 13, 2005. It opens with Capt. Archer ( Scott Bakula ) piloting the Enterprise (the NX-01) home to Earth in 2161 for the ship’s decommissioning, while gearing up to give a speech at the signing of the Federation Charter. But when the voice of Star Trek: The Next Generation ’s Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) freezes the story, viewers realize that the Enterprise ’s final journey is just a holodeck simulation.

In fact, it is the year 2370, and Commander Riker—troubled by the events of the TNG episode “The Pegasus”—is revisiting the events of the year 2161 at the urging of TNG ’s Lieutenant Commander Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis).

Riker watches as Archer, en route to Earth, gets roped into a rescue mission that ultimately claims the life of Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer). Through these holodeck visions, Riker finds inspiration for how to proceed in the Next Generation timeline.

Indeed, the holodeck contrivance and the nostalgic appearances of Riker and Troi turned off fans and critics alike. “That framing story, which is a self-serving epitaph on the part of TNG producers Berman and Braga, doesn’t do the Enterprise cast justice,” Sci Fi Weekly ‘ s Patrick Lee said at the time. “It reduces them to the status of lab rats, and Riker’s supercilious observation is condescending … It’s not surprising that the epilogue for the weakest Trek series ended up so anticlimactic.”

“For the first time ever in Trek history, a series ends with holographic versions of the real characters fans spent years following,” Phil Pirrello wrote for a Hollywood Reporter retrospective last month. “It’s shocking how much wrong they managed to pack into one normal-sized episode of television.”

Fan reactions at the time ranged from neutral to negative. “That’s how Trek comes to an end after a run of 18 consecutive years—with a somewhat ponderous whimper that still manages to show its self-affection,” fan reviewer Jamahl Epsicokhan wrote after the episode aired. “Maybe too much misdirected affection for TNG . And not enough for the characters we’ve been watching for the past four seasons.”

Commenters on Epsicokhan’s post, however, weren’t so charitable—and expressed vitriol toward Braga and Berman. “It was just a total mess,” one wrote. “Why bring back two TNG characters? Why kill off Trip? Why set it years after the previous episode? The blame lies in the people who wrote the episode, responsible for [ Enterprise ’s] failure in the first place.”

Wrote another, “What exactly did the cast of Enterprise do to deserve this finale?”

New Look, New Name: What to Know About CBS All Access' Rebranding

New Look, New Name: What to Know About CBS All Access' Rebranding

Perhaps some of the cast members were wondering the same thing. Jolene Blalock, who played Vulcan Commander on the show, called the finale “appalling” in an interview with the Toronto Star . Anthony Montgomery, a.k.a. Ensign Travis Mayweather, told TV Zone Special , “I feel there could have been a more effective way to wrap things up for our show as well as the franchise as a whole. It just seemed to take a little bit away from what the Enterprise cast and crew worked so diligently to achieve over the past four years, do you know what I mean?”

For his part, Frakes admitted in 2008 that “everybody probably” feels the episode was a disservice to Enterprise . “The theory was it was a valentine to the fans,” he added in an IF Magazine interview, “but the reality is it was a bit of a stretch to have us shut down their show.” (Less than a year later, he said the episode “stinks.” )

What Patrick Stewart, Kelly Clarkson & More TV Stars Are Doing While Staying Home

What Patrick Stewart, Kelly Clarkson & More TV Stars Are Doing While Staying Home

Braga defended the episode at the time , but at a 2017 panel at the Star Trek Las Vegas convention, he gave fans a mea culpa . “I thought it was the coolest thing ever when we were writing it, the idea of doing a ‘lost episode’ of The Next Generation , but they’re going to the holodeck to look back at Enterprise ,” he said at the time, per TrekMovie.com . “Rick and I thought was a great sendoff to Star Trek , and it didn’t work out so well … It was a kind of a slap in the face to the Enterprise actors. I heard it from everybody. It was the only time Scott Bakula was ever mean to me. I regret it.”

Even a transcription site prefaces its “These Are the Voyages…” transcript with a warning: “Transcriber’s note … Worst Trek Episode Ever!”

Star Trek Ship Starship Enterprise NCC 1701

Luckily, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and producer J.J. Abrams reinvigorated the franchise with the 2009 film Star Trek , which honored the original story while finding a new “final frontier” in an alternate timeline—and kicked off a $1 billion big-screen trilogy. And in 2017, the franchise returned to the small screen with Discovery , the first of many CBS All Access Star Trek series on the air or in the works.

Now that “These Are the Voyages…” isn’t the last story Trekkers will get from the franchise, perhaps they’ll come to view the episode as Sirtis did in 2005: “a good episode” but not “a good last episode.”

What did you think about the Enterprise series ender? Let us know in the comments below.

Star Trek -

Star Trek where to stream

Amazon

Star Trek: Enterprise where to stream

Microsoft

Star Trek: The Next Generation where to stream

Star trek: enterprise, star trek: the next generation, anthony montgomery, brannon braga, jolene blalock, jonathan frakes, marina sirtis, scott bakula.

Most Popular Stories on TV Insider

  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Episode aired Feb 11, 2004

Thomas Kopache in Star Trek: Enterprise (2001)

With Reed and Hayes fighting over a training program and Trip seemingly making T'Pol jealous, Enterprise discovers a dying alien in a pod with technology similar to the Spheres. With Reed and Hayes fighting over a training program and Trip seemingly making T'Pol jealous, Enterprise discovers a dying alien in a pod with technology similar to the Spheres. With Reed and Hayes fighting over a training program and Trip seemingly making T'Pol jealous, Enterprise discovers a dying alien in a pod with technology similar to the Spheres.

  • David Livingston
  • Gene Roddenberry
  • Rick Berman
  • Brannon Braga
  • Scott Bakula
  • John Billingsley
  • Jolene Blalock
  • 9 User reviews
  • 4 Critic reviews

Scott Bakula and Thomas Kopache in Star Trek: Enterprise (2001)

  • Capt. Jonathan Archer

John Billingsley

  • Sub-Cmdr. T'Pol

Dominic Keating

  • Lt. Malcolm Reed

Anthony Montgomery

  • Ensign Travis Mayweather

Linda Park

  • Ensign Hoshi Sato

Connor Trinneer

  • Cmdr. Charles 'Trip' Tucker III

Noa Tishby

  • Amanda Cole

Thomas Kopache

  • Ensign Billy
  • (uncredited)

Evan English

  • Ensign Tanner
  • Private V. Brown

John Jurgens

  • Starfleet Crewman

Andrew Macbeth

  • MACO Private E. Hamboyan

Dorenda Moore

  • Private S. Money
  • Enterprise Sciences Crewman

Paul Sklar

  • Cpl. R. Richards
  • Brannon Braga (showrunner)
  • All cast & crew
  • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

  • Trivia This episode contains the first Star Trek female nude scene presented in a sexual context. Numerous episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) showed or implied nudity, but in strictly non-sexual contexts (e.g. art classes, nudist living, torture, streaking in protest, etc.), and Who Mourns for Morn? (1998) (which featured Quark being seduced by a lady in a bathtub) came as close as being sensual. This episode aired in the United States on 11 February 2004 during the height of controversy over Janet Jackson inadvertently exposing a breast during the Super Bowl halftime show, on a network owned by CBS (which was taking heat for the incident). As a result, the scene in which T'Pol's rear end is exposed was censored in the USA by zooming in on the scene, and keeping her buttocks just out of frame. Canadian broadcasts, however, were uncensored, as were later DVD and streaming editions.
  • Goofs Jolene Blalock 's real eyebrows can be seen curving down under T'Pol's make-up.

[last lines]

Captain Jonathan Archer : You tried to destroy my ship. Why? Answer me!

The Alien : When the Xindi destroy Earth, my people will prevail.

  • Connections References Star Trek: Enterprise: Similitude (2003)
  • Soundtracks Where My Heart Will Take Me Written by Diane Warren Performed by Russell Watson Episode: {all episodes}

User reviews 9

  • claudio_carvalho
  • Feb 21, 2008
  • February 11, 2004 (United States)
  • United States
  • Official Site
  • Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)
  • Paramount Network Television
  • Paramount Television
  • See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

  • Runtime 43 minutes
  • Dolby Digital

Related news

Contribute to this page.

  • IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
  • Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Production art

Recently viewed

trip tucker death scene

Connor Trinneer tells fans to get over Trip Tucker's death

S tar Trek: Enterprise boldly opted to kill off, arguably, the series' most beloved character Charles "Trip" Tucker in the series finale. For some reason, the writers thought that'd go over well. The show was ending, everyone was leaving the show, this wasn't like it was just Tucker's actor Connor Trinneer leaving the show. Then we'd understand.

Yet, after the backlash to killing off beloved characters on The Next Generation (Tasha Yar) and Deep Space Nine (Jadzia Dax), you'd think that Enterprise would've learned their lesson. Nope. So Trip is dead, we're all sad, but at least Trinneer is on our side, right?

Speaking at an event during the Star Trek Cruise, Trinneer, alongside fellow Enterprise actor John Billingsley, Trinneer got candid with the crowd. As Billingsley, who played Doctor Phlox on Enterprise, MC'ed the event, the topic of Trip's death came up. Surprisingly just about everyone, it was Trinneer who told the crowd to "get over it".

Now, we weren't there, it sounds like it was a more humorous take on the event, but it was one of the worst decisions ever made by the show and it's one that fans still to this day cite as a reason, and often the most major reason, that the show's finale was truly terrible.

Though, we can see where Trinneer is coming from. There's something to be said about closing out a story of a character. He got to ride that wave from the pilot to the finale, and his story is wrapped up nicely and neatly. Until they decide to reboot it in an alternate universe, that is. Now, would Enterprise ever be the backdrop for a Kelvin timeline film? Who knows. With so many rumors it's hard to keep up with them but we're pretty sure the next film won't feature the crew of the NX-01 Enterprise.

And if it does? Well, we'll take Trinneer's advice and "get over it".

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as Connor Trinneer tells fans to get over Trip Tucker's death .

Connor Trinneer tells fans to get over Trip Tucker's death

TrekMovie.com

  • March 14, 2024 | Connor Trinneer And Dominic Keating On “Disrespectful” ‘Enterprise’ Finale And Eagerness For More Star Trek
  • March 14, 2024 | Interview: Wilson Cruz On Dr. Culber’s Arc In ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 5 And Who Is Chief Medical Officer
  • March 13, 2024 | ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Cast Pitches Musical Episode And Another ‘Strange New Worlds’ Crossover
  • March 13, 2024 | Interview: Sonequa Martin-Green On The “Big Thing” In ‘Discovery’ Season 5 And Her Potential Star Trek Future
  • March 12, 2024 | ‘Starfleet Academy’ May Not Arrive Until 2026; Alex Kurtzman Talks Bringing In New Star Trek Fans

INTERVIEW: Connor Trinneer Talks Math, Trip’s Pregnant “Enterprise” Days And “Star Trek: Discovery” Possibilities

Connor Trinneer - The Math of Khan at the National Museum of Mathematics

| April 3, 2017 | By: Laurie Ulster 22 comments so far

This week, Connor Trinneer is hosting a special Math Encounters event at New York’s National Museum of Mathematics called “ The Math of Khan .”  Mathematician and Trek fan James Grime will be speaking about the fascinating mathematical ideas featured in Star Trek, including a paradox that upset both 20th century mathematicians and 23rd century androids, the mathematics of alien biology, and the most important question of all: When on a dangerous away mission, does the color of your shirt really affect your chances of survival?

The Math of Khan at the National Museum of Mathematics

Trinneer graciously gave us some of his time to talk about what he expects from the event, and reminisce with us about his days as Chief Engineer Charles “Trip” Tucker on  Enterprise .

The Math of Khan

TrekMovie: How did you get involved with The Math of Khan event?

Connor Trinneer: Well initially I’d met David, who’s one of the board members and founders of the museum. He was in Vegas with his daughter last year, [and I] got to know him a little bit, and then got a call from out of the blue. Cindy, the woman who was organizing this, said they’re doing “The Math of Khan” and would I be interested in doing the intro to this guy’s speech? And I thought, ‘Sure! Why not?’

The funny thing is, most actors are actors because they couldn’t do math.  (laughs) At least I am!

TM: I was just going to ask what your relationship was with math.

CT : Uh … contentious. (laughs)

TM: Did you struggle with it as a kid?

CT: I did yeah, terribly so. But oddly, it skipped a generation, because my son is obsessed with math and science and physics and calculus. And it’s a remarkable thing to watch because he seems to have a sense of understanding that I guess I never had. The older I’ve gotten, the more I can appreciate it, but really, for me,  in terms of getting through school, math was always just…agh…here it comes…an hour of THIS. (laughs)

TM: Do you know what they’re planning for the talk itself? What can you tell us about it?

CT:  I don’t know what this guy’s speech is.  I have a feeling that … there are so many things in culture, science, our lives that Star Trek really introduced, in a way. The way we communicate now, all these things that they were doing, especially in the original series, that didn’t exist, ways in which we can evaluate people in medicine, that I’m sure he’s going to cover. But what I think I’ll do is … one, give my brief history of math in my own personal life (laughs) and share my son’s love for it, and really the parent’s joy in watching somebody do things such as … he’d wake up in the morning, and we have a blackboard in our utility room that he would just fill with these equations, and when he’d get out of the shower he’d do it on the mirror, in the foggy mirror. He probably didn’t understand the totality of the equation itself but it doesn’t matter, it’s the interest.

And I’ve got a couple of anecdotes. You know, the first time I walked into Engineering, which is one of the main sets of any Star Trek show, and you’ve got the nuclear warp core, and all that. And Michael and Denise Okuda , who write the bible for all of the tech for Star Trek , they came down and explained to me how it worked. For a second I was like, “This doesn’t really work-work?” They really diagram the whole thing. It would be one thing to go, “Yeah, this is the engine room,” but they’ve got blueprints, they’ve got, I guess in quotes, “working models.”

They were telling me how the whole warp core works and into the nacelles, and that kind of stuff, and I was blown away and then—I hope I’m not giving everything away from my speech—‘cause then, at the end of it, our lighting designer, Billy, he could tell I was a bit overwhelmed. He was like, “C’mere.” I followed him and he opened this little hatch door on this warp core, which was the size of a really large dump truck. In that was a color wheel with five different gel colors slowly spinning, and light shining on him and he’s like, “That’s your warp core, by the way.” It was like, “Oh. OH! Right! Yeah, okay, I get it!” (laughs) Inside this is kind of a disco dance floor!

TM: That would’ve been fun!

CT:  Right? You’d have to be very short.

Trip Tucker in Cogenitor

The “disco” warp core

Playing George Bush in new Tom Cruise movie

TM:  Tell us about your new movie with Tom Cruise, American Made . You play George W. Bush!

CT: Well, I’ve heard for years, “You should play George W. Bush,” and I’m like, “Shut up.” And you know, when prompted, I can do him, and I went into this audition and sat down and did the scene, and the casting director said, “Do that again.”

I did it again, and she’s like, “Not all the time…” and she points at the tip of her nose: “You can look just like him.” And I said, “Yeah, I’ve heard that.” And she said, “It’s kind of uncanny. I don’t know what’s going to happen here but it’s kind of uncanny.” And I said, “Well, thanks.” You know, at any audition, you do your thing, you walk out, and you try to forget about it.

And then I got it, and was immediately terrified.

Connor Trinneer and George W. Bush

Trinneer’s resemblance to President Bush finally pays off

It’s one thing to play somebody that you’re just creating. It’s a whole nother thing to play somebody who everybody, at least in America, has a really specific idea about. Comics have done him, and you can look him up all over the place. And so I did that, I did research on him.

I didn’t know this –when he was in a new city, he would walk the neighborhoods with Secret Service in tow, and just chat with people. And they filmed it, it’s on YouTube . And you really get a sense of what the guy was like. Because if you put anybody in front of a teleprompter, their personality, unless they’re Bill Clinton, disappears. And that’s what I found whenever you saw him speaking to the press, or when he was giving a State of the Union.  So I used these videos of him just engaging with people in the neighborhoods. And he’s an incredibly charming guy, somebody who you’d want to have a beer with.

And then I got there to Atlanta to shoot and I’d had the script for probably a few months at that time. And I said to myself, “I don’t really care who I work with, I’m not intimidated, I know my stuff, I’m an actor and a professional.” And then, the morning of  — we’d gone the night before to have a rehearsal. And there was a scene, there were a couple of scenes with Oliver North, and the head of the DEA, [director] Doug [Liman] and Tom [Cruise] and the rest of the cast, they’re really just breaking apart this scene. They’re tearing it apart and they’re putting it back together, and the writers, they’re furiously rewriting stuff, and I’m thinking to myself, “This is going to be so great. I’ve got a couple of ideas, I’ve got some notes that maybe we could play with, for my turn.” So we spent two hours in there just working the scenes,  and then it had gotten a bit late in the evening, and then it’s, “Let’s go upstairs and do the other scene,” and we go up there, I’m sitting on a bench, and Tom’s character is sitting on the bench, and we do the scene, and I’m all prepared with my ideas and notes, and we do it, and Doug  walks up to me and he goes, “Louder.”

All right, I’ll do it louder. I did it louder. And he’s like, “All right, we’ll see you tomorrow!” And it wasn’t appropriate to go, “Hang on, I’ve got seven or eight notes here.”

So the next morning, I get in the van to go do my scene and all of a sudden I’m feeling nauseous. And I’m like, “You’re nervous.” Then I thought, “Well you’re not going to throw up, are you?” (laughs) I didn’t.

And then we got there and – I have to say I’ve always been a fan of Tom Cruise’s films and his work, but what a great scene partner. What a real joy to be around, I just can’t say enough kind things about my day with him on that movie. He was just a really giving actor, asked me if I was okay with what we were doing, and it reaffirmed the reason, for me, why he’s so good is that he’s a careful owner of his process, and it was great. In fact, all these things that I’d had in my head, we wound up doing. Because we were just trying to work our way through the scene, but we didn’t have the rehearsal time so we just did it on the day. It was great. I hope it’s in the movie, you never know. Nobody’s told me! (laughs)

Tom Cruise in American Made

Tom Cruise in American Made , which co-stars Connor Trinneer as George W. Bush

The acting process: Trip’s pregnancy, death, duplication …

TM: As Trip Tucker, you faced death, loss, romance, being a clone, pregnancy … what was the biggest WTF moment when somebody handed you a script?

CT: A couple of ‘em. Out of the gate, episode three, I was pregnant.

Pregnant Trip Tucker

Trip Tucker, pregnant, in “Unexpected”

One thing about playing a man who’s pregnant, you want to get that right as best you can. So I really spent a lot of time thinking about what I knew from some of the things that happen to women when they get pregnant. Some of them weren’t in the script and I had them put them in.

TM: Like what?

CT: Well … when he got emotional when he was eating the breadsticks. That wasn’t in the script, that he starts to cry. (laughs)  And they also put in a scene where he’s talking about how it would be really dangerous for a little one, ‘cause there was an elevator that had been worked on, in Engineering, from one floor to another. And I’d expressed some things, like, “I want him to have real emotional concern for the unknown, such as ‘What if a little kid walked in? What if a little one walked in here and had to shut this hatch? He could cut his finger off!’” I’m not sure that’s the exact dialogue but it was something to that effect.

So that was one of those WTF moments of “What am I gonna do here?” And the other one was when I had to play myself when I was cloned . There had to be some subtle nuances that were different enough that you realized what you were watching wasn’t quite Trip. And that’s the minute work of an actor where you find these things; it didn’t even matter if anybody recognized it, I did. And trying to find the click on the dial that’s one off the original character.

But they were absolute joys to do. Anytime you get an opportunity to really make artistic choices in that way, it’s such a joy.

TM: And the Star Trek shows tend to provide some good opportunities, along with all the technobabble .

CT: Yeah. I get asked a lot: what would you have liked them to do more with your character?  I’m always at a loss for words because I always felt like they handed me so much. And I’d get asked by the producers at the beginning of every year and at the end of every year, what are you looking forward to, at the end of the year, how’d you feel about your character development. I was always so impressed with how they handled him. Because early on the series, I got handed some episodes that if I didn’t do them well, they were probably going to write less for me. I don’t know, but I did hear that pretty quickly, the writers heard my voice—the character—and that made it pretty easy for them to write for me. So at the end of every year, I was always impressed and humbled by the things that they’d thrown my way.

Trip Tucker and his clone

Tucker with his clone, Sim, in “Similitude”

Advice for the  Star Trek: Discovery  team

TM: At the beginning of Enterprise , you guys were breaking new ground, risking canon by taking place before the original series. Everyone out there was so antsy about it, and now Star Trek: Discovery is doing it again. What would you tell them about how to handle the pressure and the responsibility?

CT: I forgot about it all. I was just out there, trying to tell a story. And that’s, at the end of the day, what you’re doing. I mean yes, there’s this outside pressure from the fandom, and the responsibilities for carrying on the message through the canon, but just tell the story. Because it takes care of itself, because it’s Star Trek .

I think it’s time to do another one. It’s been, what ten or eleven years, something like that, and from what I’ve heard, don’t write this in stone, each season will be its own thing in that it’s not going to go necessarily in a linear fashion like this happened and then this happened and then this happened, like most of them did. They may jump years, they may do all sorts of things. But the people involved, it’s such an important franchise for [them], that they’ve got a lot of fingers in that pie to get it right.  Sometimes that can be a bad thing but I think that there’s enough people involved that know what they’re doing that they’ll be in good shape. I’m excited about it.

TM: We are too! So what was the biggest surprise for you when you first became a part of this franchise?

CT:  The conventions! (laughs)

In all honesty, the work is the work. You’re an actor, you go in there, you put on your costume, you create a character, and you go do your thing. But it was the conventions that were the big shocker to me, I didn’t know what to expect.

I, in fact, didn’t do one until it was near my hometown. My first one was in Portland, Oregon—I’m from Kelso, Washington, which is about 44 minutes away—and I did that one because (starts laughing) — because my parents would come and I’d feel like I’d have somebody in the audience that still loved me!

But immediately, I was embraced by the fans, and it was a wonderful experience, and that whole world of the Trekkers … I knew nothing about. Zero. Since then, of course, I’ve become pretty well versed in the whole thing, having done a bunch of ‘em, but yeah, it was the outside stuff of the show that I wasn’t prepared for.

The work is the work.

TM: It’s a whole extra world on top of everything else.

CT:  Yeah! I’d almost say equally as important as the show itself.

trip tucker death scene

Missions: New York 2016

Star Trek in tumultuous times

TM: The show premiered during a tumultuous time, politically. Each show has had its own political era, from the original in the 60s to launching new ones in the late 80s & 90s, to Discovery coming now. Enterprise premiered a few weeks after 9/11. Did it affect the show?

CT: 9/11 changed our show. Hands down. Like it changed all of our lives, it could not help but have an effect upon writers, producers, directors, actors. Our season three was a direct response to it. The Xindi arc. Trip’s sister dying in this attack on Florida. I’ve spoken with Brannon Braga about this, and he says 9/11 changed our show. It couldn’t help but.

Pop culture is sort of a fluid thing that is affected by the hardscrabble that happens throughout the world at any given time. Like you said, the 60s with the original series, and every one of them had some element of politics and world events affect them, and the biggest one in my lifetime had a direct impact on our show. I don’t know what it would have been like without it.

When the whole thing happened, we had just started. And at that time I imagine a lot of people were going through a similar thing I was, which was like, ‘What am I doing? I’m an actor, and blah blah blah, who cares? But the world’s changed, and how am I going to be a part of it?’ I remember struggling with this idea that I’m just an actor on a TV show.

And I had a conversation with my father and I expressed these things, and he said, “I actually disagree with you. I think that what you’re doing is absolutely important, and vital, and especially right now, because you’re giving people a way to escape a bit. And you’re doing it in a way that is Star Trek, with that human message, and humanity, and what we can offer to the world and to the universe. And you actually have a responsibility now that you didn’t maybe have before this happened.”

And that really helped me put it into context and made me feel that I was making a difference.

TM: That’s a wise father you’ve got there!

CT: Indeed he is! (laughs) And he was right. And I’ve heard as much since then, I encounter all these people at conventions and anytime I go somewhere, there’s always someone, or several people, who tell me how the show—sometimes my role in particular—affected, changed, and some said saved their lives from whatever they were going through at that time. You know, you really value and hold on to those messages people send you.

trip tucker death scene

Watching the Xindi attack on Florida in “The Expanse”

Trip Tucker or bust!

TM: Let’s move on to something easier, and lighter…

CT:  My favorite color is blue!

TM: Noted! If you could play any character on any of the series, who would you pick?

CT:  I got to play the right guy for me. I really believe that. I hit the lottery with Trip. He had so much going on with him as we went along throughout the series and so many things put in front of him. Real dynamic storytelling was the plate that I ate off of every day. I would not trade having played Trip Tucker for any other part.

Enterprise - Bounty - Trip Tucker

“Bounty,” from Enterprise ‘s second season

Trip Tucker, a  Star Trek: Discovery hologram?

TM: Do you know what they would have done your character with more seasons? You died, but they said that would not have been the case had the show come back .

CT:  I’d almost died a couple of times before that anyway. It’s science fiction, nobody ever really dies in science fiction. (laughs)

I would think that the events that occurred in the finale would not have happened. I imagine that, I don’t know that for a fact. One of the things they had to do was to involve us into the web of the history and the chronology of the show. And one of the ways they did that was by making sure the Captain lived. And why they did what they did, I don’t know.

What would have happened? He would have boldly gone on!

TM: He could go on to Discovery . He could show up there, it would work.

CT:  Anything can happen! I’ve thought about this. I’m like, “Could I be like Obi Wan, or R2D2, or Princess Leia, when they do a little video presentation of certain things you need to know, and all of a sudden Trip’ll pop up?”

He’s dead at that point, but you know … I think it would be no problem whatsoever to incorporate the soul of Trip Tucker into something.

trip tucker death scene

Tucker shares a final drink with Archer in Enterprise finale

If you are in the NYC area you can see Trinneer this Wednesday at the National Museum of Mathematics . For more information on the event visit their “ The Math of Khan ” event page.

Not sure if you should invest in the Star Trek: Enterprise  Blu-ray box set? Read our review .

Related Articles

trip tucker death scene

Conventions/Events/Attractions , ENT

Connor Trinneer And Dominic Keating On “Disrespectful” ‘Enterprise’ Finale And Eagerness For More Star Trek

trip tucker death scene

Conventions/Events/Attractions , Review

The Star Trek: The Cruise VII—A Voyage Like None Other

trip tucker death scene

Conventions/Events/Attractions , Documentary , ENT , Star Trek: Picard , Trek Franchise , Trek on TV

‘Enterprise’ Cast Talks Series “Death Knell,” Crusher Family Comedy Hour, And More Star Trek Cruise Day 4

trip tucker death scene

Celebrity , ENT

Charles Tucker III

  • View history

Commander Charles Tucker III , known affectionately as "Trip" Tucker , was a 22nd century Human male Starfleet officer . He served for ten years as the chief engineer and Second officer of Earth 's first warp 5 -capable starship , Enterprise NX-01 , under the command of his best friend, Captain Jonathan Archer . ( ENT : " Broken Bow ", " These Are the Voyages... ", " Cold Front ", " Affliction ", " Divergence ")

  • 1 Childhood
  • 2.1 Early career
  • 2.2 Assignment aboard Enterprise
  • 2.3 The Xindi mission
  • 2.4 The return home
  • 2.5 Later career and ‘death’
  • 2.6 Tucker's legacy
  • 3 Personal interests
  • 4.1.1 Jonathan Archer
  • 4.1.2 Malcolm Reed
  • 4.1.3 Hoshi Sato
  • 4.2.1 Elizabeth "Lizzie" Tucker
  • 4.2.2 Elizabeth
  • 4.2.3 Lorian
  • 4.3.1 Natalie
  • 4.3.2 Ah'len
  • 4.3.3 Liana
  • 4.3.4 Kaitaama
  • 4.3.5 Amanda Cole
  • 4.3.6 T'Pol
  • 5 Alternate realities and timelines
  • 6 Memorable quotes
  • 7 Key dates
  • 8.1 Appearances
  • 8.2 Background information
  • 8.3 Apocrypha
  • 8.4 External links

Childhood [ ]

Born in 2121 , Charles Tucker III grew up in Panama City , Florida. ( ENT : " Strange New World ", " Fusion ") He was born with a birthmark on the right side of his body. ( ENT : " Similitude ") Tucker acquired the nickname "Trip" due to the fact that he was the third (the "triple") Tucker to be named "Charles", after his father and grandfather . ( ENT : " First Flight ")

Young Trip Tucker

Tucker when he was young

As a child, Tucker read The War of the Worlds with his mother . Growing up, he always wanted to be a starship captain, but his father thought he should be an engineer while his mother thought he should be an architect . ( ENT : " Similitude ")

At the age of seven , Tucker's mother bought him a copy of Emory Erickson: Father of the Transporter , and he made her read it to him every night for a month. It was his childhood admiration for Emory Erickson that made him finally decide that he wanted to be an engineer. ( ENT : " Daedalus ") As Tucker later recalled, he was extremely skilled at taking things apart, but not so good at putting them back together. ( ENT : " Observer Effect ")

Tucker used to take his younger sister, Elizabeth , to a movie theater near their house. He later remembered that she would "scream like a banshee" if he didn't take her. ( ENT : " The Expanse ") Tucker once put a garden snake in his sister's doll house, and his family once had a large dog named Bedford . ( ENT : " Similitude ")

On several occasions, Tucker went on camping trips with his friends. They would spend half the night looking up at the stars and wondering what Earth 's sun would look like from a distant planet . ( ENT : " Strange New World ")

During his early childhood, Tucker attended Bayshore Elementary , where he attended his first dance. He knew before the event that Melissa Lyles , a girl who he had a crush on, would be there, and spent weeks practicing dance steps with his brother in preparation for the event. On the night of the dance, Melissa wore a red dress, and Tucker believed she was the prettiest girl there. He desperately wanted to ask her to dance with him, but he was not courageous enough to approach her. Tucker caught the girl looking at him a few times, but he eventually ended up standing in a corner with his friends. Twenty years later, he still regretted not asking the girl to dance. ( ENT : " Fusion ")

Charles Tucker 17

Tucker as he appeared at age seventeen

In Tucker's tenth grade biology class , a Vulcan scientist who the children referred to as "Mr. Velik " came to teach the class about life on other worlds. Tucker, who had never seen a Vulcan up close before, was terrified of the teacher. Velik often reminded his students, " Challenge your preconceptions or they'll challenge you. " Tucker went on to associate this advice with his memory of Velik. ( ENT : " Strange New World ")

During the late 2130s , Tucker used to drive his car out to Chatkin Point , park along the shoreline, and stare at the moon with his girlfriend. He later compared the size of his first car to that of a Retellian escape pod . ( ENT : " Precious Cargo ")

According to Tucker, his grandmother taught him to never judge a species by their eating habits. ( ENT : " Broken Bow ") His personal favorite food was pan-fried catfish with hushpuppies. ( ENT : " Unexpected ", " Dead Stop ", " These Are the Voyages... ") Tucker had no allergies that he knew of. ( ENT : " Unexpected ")

Early career [ ]

Trip was self-taught, having learned engineering from working on boat engines. Tucker first joined Starfleet in 2139 , at which time he lived in Sausalito , a few blocks from the Vulcan Compound . He subsequently recalled that he "got into a lot of trouble" at Starfleet Training Command . ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ", " Broken Bow ", " Unexpected ", " Observer Effect ")

Trip Tucker, 2143

Lieutenant Tucker in 2143

By 2143 , Tucker was a member of Captain Jefferies ' engineering team, with the rank of lieutenant . After the destruction of warp-2 prototype vessel NX-Alpha in that year, Tucker met Commander Jonathan Archer . He later assisted Archer and A.G. Robinson in stealing a backup warp-2 prototype vessel, the NX-Beta , in an attempt to prove to Starfleet Command that the engine design was sound. ( ENT : " First Flight ") Shortly thereafter, Tucker taught Archer how to scuba dive off the coast of Florida . ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ")

Tucker did his survival training during two weeks in the Australian Outback in a group that included Archer. ( ENT : " Desert Crossing ") Additional Starfleet training simulations familiarized Tucker with mind-altering agents. ( ENT : " Strange New World ")

In 2147 , Tucker was on Titan as part of the Omega training mission , together with Archer. A malfunction with Tucker's environmental suit occurred on Titan's surface, so Tucker desperately tried to take off his helmet, but Archer saved his life by preventing him from doing so. ( ENT : " Strange New World ", " Unexpected ")

Assignment aboard Enterprise [ ]

By 2151 , Tucker held the rank of commander . Renowned as a gifted orbital engineer , he first served aboard the starship Enterprise NX-01 as chief engineer . His quarters were on B Deck , in one of the starboard sections. ( ENT : " Broken Bow ", " Shockwave, Part II ", " Cogenitor ", " Precious Cargo ")

He experienced existence in a weightless environment when Ensign Travis Mayweather showed him the " sweet spot " on Enterprise . Aboard the starship, one of Tucker's self-appointed responsibilities was overseeing movie night . Tucker took part in the efforts to return the Klingon Klaang to his homeworld with information that could avert a civil war , and he and the rest of the crew came into conflict with the Cabal , who were attempting to ignite a war on orders from a strange humanoid from the future . The mission was successful. ( ENT : " Broken Bow ")

Tucker was part of the away team that became infected by the pollen of the plant life on a deserted planet Enterprise was exploring. The pollen caused paranoid and delusional behavior in the away team; Tucker thought that each member was trying to kill him. ( ENT : " Strange New World ")

Ah'len examines Trip

Tucker's pregnancy

In the course of first contact with the Xyrillians , Tucker boarded their ship to fix their engines. The physical environment was considerably different to his usual and Tucker found acclimatisation difficult. During his stay on their ship he developed a relationship with Ah'len , an engineer. After the ship left, Tucker discovered he was pregnant. Although he had not knowingly had a sexual encounter, a game he and Ah'len played that enabled them to read each other's minds may have served as a medium to transfer genetic material. While Tucker was the first Human male to become pregnant, as well as the first known Human participant in interspecies reproduction , Doctor Phlox said the embryo was not techinically Tucker's child, but that he was simply serving as a host. When the ship was tracked down, the embryo was successfully transferred to another host. ( ENT : " Unexpected ")

While visiting a Vulcan monastery at P'Jem , Tucker, along with Captain Archer and Sub-Commander T'Pol , became involved in a dispute between the Andorians and Vulcans. He was held hostage along with the others until they were rescued by Lieutenant Malcolm Reed . It was discovered that the monastery was a front for a listening post operated by the Vulcans. ( ENT : " The Andorian Incident ")

Tucker gave a tour of Enterprise to a group of Borothan pilgrims that included Silik , who was in disguise and tried to sabotage the ship. ( ENT : " Cold Front ")

On a mission to Coridan , Tucker and Reed attempted to rescue Archer and T'Pol from rebel forces, but were captured themselves. They were freed by the Andorian Shran and his men, who helped Tucker and Reed rescue T'Pol and Archer. ( ENT : " Shadows of P'Jem ")

Tucker and Reed became stranded in a shuttlepod after they mistakenly believed Enterprise was destroyed when they found debris at the coordinates where they were supposed to meet the ship. In reality, the debris was from another ship, the crew of which Enterprise had rescued and was transporting back to their planet. With their air running out, Tucker jettisoned the impulse engines as a flare, which Enterprise saw and thus was able to come to their rescue. ( ENT : " Shuttlepod One ")

The Ferengi hijacked Enterprise after rendering the crew unconscious. Tucker, who was in a sealed compartment, was not affected. He woke T'Pol, and both worked to play the Ferengi against each other, trapping them and regaining control of the ship. ( ENT : " Acquisition ")

Tucker was captured by a symbiotic creature which had stowed away on Enterprise . The creature integrated Tucker's nervous system along with other crewmembers it captured to its own system, but after the crew learned that the creature wished to return home to reunite with its main host, it released Tucker and the others. ( ENT : " Vox Sola ")

Tucker, as part of an away team to salvage an abandoned ship on a planet, found that there was a settlement there. They were called the Kantare ; after their ship crashed, they were stranded on the planet. Tucker became romantically involved with Liana , but it was discovered that the settlement was a hologram created by Liana's father, Ezral , to keep his daughter company. ( ENT : " Oasis ")

Tucker and Archer, after helping to repair Zobral 's ship, were invited to visit his village. Zobral was really a rebel fighting against an oppressive government, and when the village was attacked, Tucker and Archer became stranded in a vast desert until they were rescued with help from Zobral. ( ENT : " Desert Crossing ")

Trip and Reed in underwear

Tucker and Reed, after being robbed on Risa

While on shore leave on Risa , Tucker and Reed were robbed by two beautiful aliens who turned out to be morphs using their disguises to lure their victims. ( ENT : " Two Days and Two Nights ")

When Enterprise was captured by Silik and the Suliban , and Archer was transported to the future by Daniels , Tucker helped retake engineering , restore the timeline , and return Archer to his own time. Required to build quantum beacons , Tucker was forced to learn quantum engineering at a level beyond his training. ( ENT : " Shockwave ", " Shockwave, Part II ")

While attempting to discover the powers of an automated repair station Enterprise had entered, Tucker was transported off the station back to Enterprise in an effort to stop the investigation. He later discovered that the station was using humanoid lifeforms to power its computer. ( ENT : " Dead Stop ")

Tucker was affected by a black hole 's radiation, and became obsessed with fixing Archer's captain's chair . ( ENT : " Singularity ")

Tucker trained miners in self-defense on a planet the Klingons were pillaging. He befriended a young child on the planet, and gave him a tour of Enterprise . ( ENT : " Marauders ")

Tucker with cloaked appendage

Tucker with a cloaked appendage

Tucker rescued Archer and Reed from a planet that had given them a death sentence, and modified a Suliban cell ship with a cloaking device in order to save them. While doing so, however, he accidentally "cloaked" his right forearm . ( ENT : " The Communicator ")

Tucker saved an alien princess, Kaitaama , from kidnappers, and had a brief romantic relationship with her during the rescue. ( ENT : " Precious Cargo ")

Tucker and Zho Kaan sweat

Tucker and Zho'Kaan on the moon's surface

Tucker became stranded on a barren moon with an Arkonian who had tried to shoot his shuttle down. At first, they tried to kill each other, but realized that the only way they could survive was to cooperate with each other. Zho'Kaan 's dehydration was causing cellular breakdown, which made using the transporter not an option. Tucker refused to leave him, and cared for him until a modified Arkonian shuttle rescued them. ( ENT : " Dawn ")

When three aliens who boarded Enterprise warned that a deadly neutronic wavefront was quickly approaching and the crew needed to take shelter to be protected from the storm's deadly radiation, Tucker suggested that the one heavily-shielded place on board that might suffice for the eight-day ordeal was the cramped quarters of the catwalk , the maintenance shaft that ran the length of each nacelle . While they were in the catwalk, alien intruders attempted to steal Enterprise , and Tucker helped drive them off. ( ENT : " The Catwalk ")

During a stop at a medical conference, Tucker met Feezal , Phlox's wife. Feezal became attracted to him and tried to seduce him, and when Tucker told Phlox about this, he was told by Phlox that he should have taken advantage of Feezal's offer. While assembling a neutron microscope Feezal delivered, Tucker bragged he could put back together just about any equipment he had ever met. ( ENT : " Stigma ") Later, Tucker and Reed discovered that a derelict ship Enterprise salvaged was from the future. Even the few papers he read on spatial geometry could not explain the ship's dimensions. ( ENT : " Future Tense ")

While investigating an alien ship, Tucker's body was invaded by an alien wisp that began to control his actions. Their plan was to take over the bodies of the crew and steal Enterprise . ( ENT : " The Crossing ")

The Vulcans and Andorians were again involved in a dispute over a planet, Weytahn . While Archer tried to mediate the dispute, Tucker, commanding Enterprise , stopped the ships of both sides from engaging in battle when he steered Enterprise between the two fleets, giving Archer time to settle the dispute. ( ENT : " Cease Fire ")

Tucker and Archer were unjustly sentenced to the penal colony of Canamar . A prisoner, Kuroda , took over the ship and enlisted Tucker and Archer's help in escaping. His plan was to transport off the ship to another he was meeting, and crash the ship along with the other prisoners and guards. Tucker and Archer foiled his plan, and were rescued by Enterprise . ( ENT : " Canamar ")

Tucker led an away team to rescue three Denobulan geologists from the planet Xantoras . The government had ordered all aliens to leave their world immediately, and Tucker had to persuade the geologists to leave. ( ENT : " The Breach ")

Tucker and Reed in Florida

Reed and Tucker look for any sign that his sister might be alive in Xindi-devastated Florida

Tucker's encounter with the Vissians proved costly. The Vissians used a cogenitor , a third gender, to reproduce; these cogenitors were treated as an inferior class with no rights. After meeting with a cogenitor, Tucker found that it had the same mental capabilities as the other Vissians, and took it upon himself to convince the cogenitor he met to fight for her rights. He also secretly taught the cogenitor how to read, play go , and educated it about its rights as an individual. The cogenitor chose the name "Charles" for itself, in honor of Tucker. Later, it asked for asylum on Enterprise , which, after several meetings, was denied. Archer finally decided that to grant asylum would ruin any chance of Starfleet making successful trade with the Vissians. Several days later, Tucker was informed that the cogenitor had killed itself, and blamed himself for the suicide. ( ENT : " Cogenitor ")

Tucker was devastated to learn that his sister, Elizabeth , was killed in the Xindi attack on Earth . ( ENT : " The Expanse ")

The Xindi mission [ ]

Tucker considers loss

Tucker's sleepless nights begin

Tucker became bitter after his sister's death, and was full of hatred and revenge. His mental state led to many sleepless nights. Phlox tricked Tucker into taking Vulcan neuro-pressure from T'Pol; this helped him sleep properly, and moved his relationship with T'Pol to another level. Tucker's first contact with the Xindi occurred at a mining camp where a Xindi, Kessick , was rescued. Kessick was killed in the escape, but gave the coordinates of the Xindi homeworld before he died. ( ENT : " The Xindi ")

Trip Tucker, 2153

Commander Tucker in 2153

An away team consisting of Captain Archer, T'Pol, Lieutenant Reed, and Ensign Hoshi Sato was endangered on the homeworld of the extinct Loque'eque race when a virus left on the planet mutated Archer, Reed and Sato into the lost species. When another alien race landed on the planet, determined to exterminate any of these species, Tucker led a MACO team to stop the alien exterminators and rescue the away team. ( ENT : " Extinction ")

Tucker and T'Pol tried to replicate trellium-D , a substance that would protect Enterprise from the Delphic Expanse 's deadly anomalies. The attempt ended in an explosion. ( ENT : " Rajiin ")

Tucker attempted to "rewrite the book on warp theory " once he realized the Cochrane equation wasn't constant in the Expanse, with spatial gradients destabilizing the warp field. Eventually, he succeeded, as he rerouted the system taps, compressing the antimatter stream before it entered the injectors , thus stabilizing the warp field. ( ENT : " Anomaly (ENT) ", " Similitude ")

Tucker was badly injured, ending up in a coma , due to a primary injector flare during an encounter with a polaric field . He was cloned using a mimetic simbiot in an attempt to harvest brain tissue from the clone in order to save his life. The clone, Sim , attempted to escape Enterprise to save his own life, but decided against it at the last minute and allowed Phlox to transplant the tissue even though it meant his death. ( ENT : " Similitude ")

After recovering a small craft in the Expanse with an unknown alien in it, Tucker determined that the alien was a test subject to see what effects the atmosphere would have on it. This was the first indication that an alien force was behind the Xindi and their attack on Earth. ( ENT : " Harbinger ")

After coming in contact with a Xindi-Insectoid ship, Tucker questioned Archer's ability to captain Enterprise after Archer had been infected with a toxin that made him believe he was the caretaker to the eggs of the Xindi-Insectoids, and was endangering the mission. Tucker led the crew in a mutiny to retake the ship from Archer before he could be cured. ( ENT : " Hatchery ")

Tucker evacuates engineering

Tucker during the Battle of Azati Prime

Tucker piloted a captured Xindi-Insectoid shuttle and discovered the location of the Xindi weapon . In the battle of Azati Prime , Enterprise took heavy damage and lost eighteen crewmen. Tucker was terribly affected, and it did not help when he had to compose letters to the families of the slain crewmembers, a task that reminded him of his sister's death. To make matters even worse for Tucker, he found it extremely difficult to forgive Degra , one of the Council members of the Xindi who had designed the Xindi weapon, and had a couple of tension-filled encounters with him, as Archer was trying to gain Degra's trust. Eventually, however, the experience of consoling others helped Tucker finally deal with Elizabeth's death. ( ENT : " Azati Prime ", " The Forgotten ")

Tucker helped steal the primary warp coil of an Illyrian ship to replace Enterprise 's after it was damaged in the Battle of Azati Prime. ( ENT : " Damage ")

After an accident using Xindi subspace corridors , Enterprise met its future counterpart. Enterprise 's counterpart was captained by Lorian , the son of Tucker and T'Pol. The crew of the future Enterprise helped Enterprise keep an appointment with Degra, so peace could be discussed. ( ENT : " E² ")

Trip uses scope

Tucker destroys one of the Delphic Expanse Spheres

Tucker played a large role in the final battle with the Xindi. He destroyed one of the spheres that disrupted the energy field that the Sphere-Builders , who were behind the Xindi attack, were using to help the Xindi; this gave time for Archer and the MACOs to board the weapon, destroy it and save Earth. ( ENT : " Countdown ", " Zero Hour ")

The return home [ ]

After traveling back in time to 1944 , Tucker was assaulted by Silik , who stole a shuttle . The time shift was part of the Temporal Cold War . Tucker and Reed returned to Earth to try and rescue Archer, but were captured by Nazis and their alien allies, the Na'kuhl . The Na'kuhl were trying to change history by helping the Nazis win World War II . Fortunately, the plot was foiled, and the timeline was restored. ( ENT : " Storm Front ", " Storm Front, Part II ")

On returning home to a hero's welcome, Tucker faced heartbreak when he traveled to Vulcan and witnessed T'Pol 's marriage to Koss . ( ENT : " Home ")

In 2154 , the Augment crisis began. Dr. Arik Soong had genetically-engineered Human embryos; reaching adulthood, these Augments attacked a Klingon ship and killed the crew. When the Klingons demanded justice, Enterprise was dispatched to capture the Augments, with Soong on board to help them. After T'Pol was captured by the Orions and sent to a slave market, Tucker was able to decode a neural restraint and free her. He discovered that the Augments had captured Cold Station 12 , where other Augment embryos were stored, and took part in the operation to retake the Augments' ship and stop the threat. ( ENT : " Borderland ", " Cold Station 12 ", " The Augments ")

Following the destruction of Earth's embassy on Vulcan, Archer and T'Pol searched for the Syrrannites , who were believed to be the perpetrators, on Vulcan's surface, leaving Tucker temporarily in command of Enterprise . With help from Ambassador Soval , Tucker uncovered a conspiracy in which the Vulcan High Command attempted to cover-up the bombing as well as launching a preemptive strike against the Andorians, who they believed had constructed a devastating weapon based on Xindi technology. Tucker warned Shran , and participated in the engagement between the Vulcan and Andorian fleets. ( ENT : " The Forge ", " Awakening ", " Kir'Shara ")

Sato and Tucker under Organian control

Under the control of Organians , Hoshi Sato and Trip Tucker discover they are being watched

Tucker was infected with a silicon-based virus while part of a landing party on a planet's surface, looking for salvage amongst Klingon waste. Although Tucker initially died due to the virus, he was resurrected by two Organian observers, who were watching the crew's reaction to the virus. ( ENT : " Observer Effect ")

On November 12 , 2154, Enterprise was escorting a group of Tellarites to a conference with the Andorians to settle long-standing disputes. However, the Andorian ship was destroyed by what appeared to be a Tellarite ship. Among the survivors was Shran. The Tellarites denied any involvement, and then Enterprise was attacked by an Andorian ship. In reality, the ship was a Romulan drone ship piloted by a neural interface . This was an attempt by the Romulans to start war among potential allies. Tucker and Reed transported over to the ship and discovered that it was unmanned. They attempted to sabotage the ship and after doing so, ejected out into space where they could be transported back aboard Enterprise . Tucker built a telepresence unit for Enterprise in order to prepare it for battle against the Romulan drone ships. The Romulans' plot was foiled with the cooperation of Humans, Tellarites and Andorians; this would be the foundation for a federation of planets . ( ENT : " Babel One ", " United ", " The Aenar ")

Tucker transferred off Enterprise to Columbia NX-02 due to his feelings for T'Pol. He later returned to Enterprise to help them deal with the Klingons, who faced extinction due to a genetic virus caused by their experiments with Augment DNA . ( ENT : " Affliction ") Tucker transferred back to Enterprise permanently shortly after an encounter with Orion females who attempted to take over the ship by influencing the minds of the male crew; he proved to be immune due to his new-found psychic bond with T'Pol. ( ENT : " Bound ")

Terra Prime , a xenophobic terrorist faction led by John Frederick Paxton , threatened to disrupt a conference to form a coalition of planets , and had created a clone using the DNA of Tucker and T'Pol, with the plan of using the child to stir anti-alien feelings. When Tucker and T'Pol tried to infiltrate Terra Prime, they were captured and taken to a secret base on Mars . From there, Paxton threatened to attack Starfleet Headquarters with a laser cannon unless all aliens left the Sol system . Tucker tried to sabotage the weapons system, but was discovered and thrown into a cell. He escaped and was able to meet with a team from Enterprise who had come to rescue him and T'Pol. Tucker led them to Paxton's complex where they were able to deactivate his weapon and end his threat. Sadly, the child, whom T'Pol named " Elizabeth " after Tucker's deceased sister, died due to a flaw in the procedure used in her creation. It was initially believed that the causa mortis was an incompatibility between the Vulcan and Human DNA, a hypothesis Doctor Phlox shortly afterward determined to be wrong. ( ENT : " Demons ", " Terra Prime ")

Later career and ‘death’ [ ]

Trip Tucker, 2161

A holographic representation of Commander Charles Tucker III in 2161

Tucker continued serving as chief engineer aboard Enterprise until 2161 , when the ship was scheduled to be decommissioned prior to the signing of the Federation Charter . En route to Earth to attend the founding ceremony of the alliance that would give birth to the United Federation of Planets , Enterprise made a detour to Rigel X to rescue Shran's daughter, Talla . Tucker participated in the rescue operation. Knowing Archer's importance to the upcoming ceremony, he attempted to persuade Archer to remain aboard Enterprise , as it was safer, but Archer insisted on joining the mission. Ironically, it was Tucker himself who was nearly killed on the mission when the catwalk he was on was shot out from under him. Fortunately, Archer was there to save him, and the mission was successful.

Trip Tucker dies

A holographic representation of Tucker's final moments

Unfortunately, according to Starfleet’s official history, the victory ultimately came at the cost of Tucker's life. Shortly after Enterprise left Rigel X, Talla's abductors somehow managed to board the ship. When the alien trespassers threatened Archer, it is believed Tucker quickly thought up a plan to lure the aliens away from Archer. Despite orders from Archer to remain quiet, he insisted and persuaded one of the aliens to render Archer unconscious. With his captain safe and no longer in the way, Tucker lured the aliens away to a nearby plasma junction, which he claimed was a communications system which he would use to contact Shran in order to bring him to the aliens. With the intruders fooled, Tucker rigged the junction to explode, killing the alien trespassers. It is believed Tucker was also critically injured in the explosion and he ultimately died, having sacrificed himself for his captain. ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ")

Tucker's legacy [ ]

Following Tucker's sacrifice, Archer ultimately went on to be an instrumental figure in the formation of the United Federation of Planets.

In 2370 , Commander William T. Riker of the USS Enterprise -D used historical records of the events surrounding Tucker's death in a holodeck simulation to help sort through a personal moral crisis related to the USS Pegasus , a ship he once served on. The historical events used in the program included the mission to Rigel X to save Shran's daughter and Talla's former captors storming Enterprise . After seeing Tucker give his life to save Captain Archer, disobeying Archer's orders in the process, Riker decided he, too, would do the right thing regardless of the cost. ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ")

Ensign Brad Boimler mentioned Tucker in 2380 , comparing him to Lieutenant Jet Manhaver , specifically, that Manhaver was "like a Kirk sundae with Trip Tucker sprinkles ." ( LD : " Cupid's Errant Arrow ")

Personal interests [ ]

Pecan pie and Trip

Tucker often looked forward to the days when Chef served pecan pie

Tucker had many likes and interests, ranging from personal to professional, especially in the engineering field. He often enjoyed studying alien engines, or even certain Human ones. In 2151 , Tucker was in awe of the Vulcan ship Ti'Mur and its ringed-engine drive. Unfortunately, Vulcan engine schematics were classified. Later that year, Tucker was interested in visiting the legendary Coridanite Fleet Yards, rumored to build starships capable of warp 7 . Other alien species with engines he was particularly amazed by were those of Zobral's species and the Vissians . ( ENT : " Breaking the Ice ", " Shadows of P'Jem ", " Desert Crossing ", " Cogenitor ")

Tucker was also interested in seeing the ECS Horizon 's warp core in hopes that the rumors that Zefram Cochrane had personally signed the inside of the frame were true. ( ENT : " Horizon ")

Tucker's favorite dessert was pecan pie . After a long day of work, Tucker said it was all worthwhile to come to the mess hall for a slice of it. He even suggested that T'Pol might like it. ( ENT : " Breaking the Ice ") On a separate occasion, he noted that his favorite dessert was key lime pie . ( ENT : " Similitude ")

Tucker's favorite food was pan-fried catfish . His mother made it perfectly and if anyone asked his favorite food, Tucker would say that she would "give you the recipe for pan-fried catfish and not let you leave until you promised to cook it right." ( ENT : " Silent Enemy ", " Dead Stop ", " These Are the Voyages... ")

Another of Tucker's favorite foods were Georgia peaches . Before leaving for the Delphic Expanse in 2153 , he made sure to take a crate of them aboard, and also suggested that T'Pol might enjoy them as well. ( ENT : " Extinction ")

Tucker occasionally watched water polo with Captain Archer, who seemed to have gotten him hooked on the sport as he didn't like it so much at first. ( ENT : " Vox Sola ", " The Seventh ") He enjoyed playing the harmonica in his spare time as well. ( ENT : " Precious Cargo ")

Another of Tucker's interests was ancient cinema . Upon signing on to Enterprise , he suggested they have a " movie night ," which often served to help crew morale. Although, since he chose the movies, some of the crew often complained about his selecting what seemed like the same movie plots over and over, often from the middle of the 20th century . ( ENT : " The Catwalk ", " Cogenitor ")

Frankenstein's monster, action figure

Frankenstein's monster figure

Tucker's favorite film was Frankenstein and its two sequels, Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein , which he deemed the "three greatest horror movies ever." He even kept an action figure of Frankenstein's monster in his quarters. ( ENT : " Horizon ", " These Are the Voyages... ")

Hailing from Florida, Tucker went diving in the ocean before he joined Starfleet . He kept a picture of himself scuba diving in his quarters, as well an old-style skin-diving suit helmet. ( ENT : " These Are the Voyages... ")

Some of the ancient books (on paper ) Tucker kept copies of in his quarters included Gulliver's Travels , The Gorilla Hunters , and A Pictorial History of the American Indian . He was apparently an experienced player of an ancient Chinese game called go . ( ENT : " Cogenitor ")

Personal relationships [ ]

Friendships [ ].

Tucker's initial job as first officer was to be the liaison between the captain and the crew. Even though the position was later given to Sub-Commander T'Pol, Tucker was still well-liked by most of his shipmates.

On the first day of Enterprise 's voyage, some friends in the mess hall invited him to sit with them for dinner, but he reminded them that he had plans: dinner with Captain Archer in the captain's mess . ( ENT : " Broken Bow ")

Jonathan Archer [ ]

Tucker pours a drink

Tucker pours Archer a drink in memory of Henry Archer

The two officers met when Jonathan Archer was a commander in the NX Program and Tucker was a lieutenant on Captain Jefferies' engineering team. After the first NX prototype, the NX-Alpha , was destroyed and the project was going to be canceled, Tucker and Archer teamed up with Commander A.G. Robinson to save the program. They launched the NX-Beta , the second NX prototype, without permission, and were ultimately successful. ( ENT : " First Flight ")

Tucker and Archer began to develop a strong bond of friendship, enduring harsh survival training in the Australian Outback together and saving each other's lives many times. During an Omega training mission on Titan , Tucker's EV pack froze up and he got nitrogen narcosis. He tried to remove his helmet, but Archer ordered him to keep it on. Later, in 2152 , Archer saved a delirious Tucker from heatstroke when they were stranded in the Torothan desert. Likewise, Tucker rescued and saved Archer's life quite a few times. He saved him from execution on a pre-warp alien planet, after Archer and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed tried to find a communicator left behind. Tucker also rescued Archer from bounty hunters who wished to turn Archer over to the Klingons . ( ENT : " Desert Crossing ", " The Communicator ", " Bounty ")

Tucker was always there when the captain needed cheering up. When Archer was depressed about Enterprise 's botched first contact with the Kreetassans , his chief engineer lightened the mood with a data module of the Stanford versus Texas water polo match. They ate their meals together, and shared many interests. ( ENT : " Vox Sola ")

This did not mean that their relationship was always stress-free. Tucker once interfered with the Vissians' customs; the Vissians used a third gender, called a cogenitor , for reproduction, and Tucker persuaded one such being that it was being treated unfairly. Archer was furious, and told Tucker that he was in no position to judge the fairness of the Vissians' culture. When the cogenitor was later denied asylum on Enterprise and committed suicide , Archer told Tucker that he hoped he had learned his lesson about interfering. ( ENT : " Cogenitor ")

Malcolm Reed [ ]

Trip and Reed in Shuttlepod 1

Tucker and Reed bond

Tucker and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed formed an unlikely friendship. They were polar opposites: Reed was stuffy and all work as opposed to Tucker's zest for life. When the duo was stranded in a damaged shuttlepod for several days, they initially clashed, but discovered that they had more in common than they thought. At one point, Tucker even tried to sacrifice himself so that Reed would have a better chance of survival. Luckily, they were both rescued by Enterprise . ( ENT : " Shuttlepod One ")

Tucker and Reed shared a unique shore leave together on the pleasure planet Risa when the two went in search of fun at a Risian nightclub and picked up two beautiful aliens. The women turned out to be morphs who robbed them, not only taking their money, but also their clothes. Tucker and Reed managed to escape, but promised not to tell their fellow crewmembers about the incident. ( ENT : " Two Days and Two Nights ")

Hoshi Sato [ ]

Tucker was always jealous of how Ensign Hoshi Sato was able to hear only a few words of a language and suddenly speak it fluently. He and Sato got to know each other a little better while stuck in the decon chamber for several hours while infected with a silicon-based virus in 2154 . ( ENT : " Observer Effect ")

Tucker claimed that Sato was his wife when Enterprise was boarded by Ferengi raiders. ( ENT : " Acquisition ")

Tucker was named after his father, Charles Tucker, Jr. , and his grandfather, Charles Tucker, Sr. Both of his parents were alive as of 2161 , living in Mississippi . ( ENT : " Home ", " These Are the Voyages... ")

His grandma was known for doling out at least one piece of advice to her grandson during his lifetime, specifically to " never to judge a species by their eating habits. " ( ENT : " Broken Bow ")

Tucker practiced the two-step with his brother for weeks in preparation for a school dance. ( ENT : " Fusion ")

Tucker stated in 2151 that his grandfather saw the first transmissions from Terra Nova as a child , sometime around 2078 . ( ENT : " Terra Nova ")

Also in 2151, Tucker had a nephew in the fourth grade , whose class sent drawings to the Enterprise crew. ( ENT : " Breaking the Ice ")

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Tucker [ ]

Trip Elizabeth and Armadillo

A photo Tucker kept of himself and his sister, Elizabeth

Tucker was very close to his younger sister, Elizabeth ("Lizzie"), and was traumatically affected by her death in the Xindi attack in 2153 . ( ENT : " The Expanse ", " The Xindi ") He later recalled he had been so profoundly affected by her death there were times when he just wanted to close up and retreat inside himself. ( ENT : " Daedalus ")

When Crewman Jane Taylor was killed in the Battle of Azati Prime, Tucker found it was his responsibility to write a letter to her family. While writing it, he kept transferring his feelings of loss from Lizzie to Jane, and mentioned how she "died too young." Eventually, Tucker was able to overcome this and finish the letter. ( ENT : " The Forgotten ")

Elizabeth [ ]

Trip seeing baby Elizabeth

Seeing his daughter

Tears

Mourning the baby's death

Upon learning about the existence of his and T'Pol's daughter, Trip was initially surprised, but eventually warmed to the idea, noting that his father had always wanted a granddaughter. He demanded to see her when Paxton informed him the child was safe.

Later, after being informed of little Elizabeth's terminal genetic condition, he approved T'Pol's choice to name the baby Elizabeth after his sister, saying she would have liked that. He stood with T'Pol by Elizabeth's incubator until the child's death, after which he mourned her with tears. ( ENT : " Terra Prime ")

Romance [ ]

Natalie [ ].

Before Enterprise was launched, Tucker was dating a woman named Natalie , from Florida. He was unable to say goodbye to her before the ship launched, but wished he would have gotten the chance to, face to face, after receiving a Dear John letter . He said maybe he would get a chance to, when Enterprise headed home after being rendered defenseless by a mysterious alien vessel. ( ENT : " Silent Enemy ")

In mid- 2151 , Tucker had a brief, unintentional sexual encounter with a Xyrillian female named Ah'len , which resulted in Tucker's inadvertent impregnation. Ah'len assumed that Tucker would be physically incompatible with her people. Tucker became the first Human male to become pregnant, as well as the first known Human participant in interspecies reproduction . ( ENT : " Unexpected ")

Tucker had a brief encounter with the Kantare female Liana . ( ENT : " Oasis ")

Kaitaama [ ]

Tucker had a brief encounter with Kaitaama , the newly-selected First Monarch of Krios Prime . He rescued her from kidnappers, and during the course of the escape, they became romantically involved. ( ENT : " Precious Cargo ")

Amanda Cole [ ]

Corporal Amanda Cole became attracted to Tucker, who had given Vulcan neuro-pressure to her because of headaches. Cole attempted to tell T'Pol that she had a great deal in common with Tucker and was very fond of him. ( ENT : " Harbinger ")

T'Pol performing neuro-pressure on Trip

A neuro-pressure session

When his sister died in the Xindi attack on Earth in 2153 , Tucker experienced difficulty sleeping due to nightmares about the event. He was assisted in recovering from these difficulties by Sub-Commander T'Pol's application of Vulcan neuro-pressure . Over the course of their neuro-pressure sessions, Tucker began to develop feelings for T'Pol. They finally admitted it to one another in January of 2154 , though T'Pol later denied her emotions. ( ENT : " The Xindi ", " Harbinger ", " E² ")

After Enterprise was heavily damaged at Azati Prime in February 2154, Tucker threw himself into repairing the ship, going two straight days with no sleep until Doctor Phlox forced him to take a few hours' rest. He was haunted by visions of Crewman Jane Taylor, a member of his engineering team who had died in the battle with the Xindi. Tucker was supposed to be writing a letter of consolation to her parents, but was unable to do so, as Jane reminded him so much of his sister. Finally, with T'Pol's help, Tucker was able to work his way through the grief he felt concerning both his sister and Crewman Taylor. ( ENT : " The Forgotten ")

When Enterprise returned to Earth, Tucker accompanied T'Pol on a visit to Vulcan and her mother, T'Les . While on Vulcan, he was forced to put his emotions aside and watch T'Pol marry Koss for political reasons. Even when Koss later divorced T'Pol, Tucker was torn as she showed no interest in rekindling their relationship. ( ENT : " Home ", " Kir'Shara ")

T'Pol kisses Trip

T'Pol kissing Tucker in December of 2154

In November 2154, Tucker decided that his unrequited feelings for T'Pol were interfering in the performance of his duties. He left Enterprise , accepting a request from Captain Hernandez to join the crew of Columbia NX-02 , which was launching behind schedule due to engine trouble. With his help, the ship was ready to go in a few days. ( ENT : " The Aenar ", " Affliction ") Shortly after, Tucker transferred back to Enterprise , at the same time as discovering that he and T'Pol shared a psychic bond as a result of their previous mating – which he stated wasn't that big of a deal, although he did insist until she admitted that she wanted him back. ( ENT : " Bound ")

In January 2155 , Tucker and T'Pol discovered that they had a daughter that was created with their stolen DNA by Terra Prime . ( ENT : " Demons ") After rescuing her from Terra Prime, they decided to call her " Elizabeth ", after Tucker's late sister, but they were heartbroken when it was discovered that there was a flaw in the procedure used in creating Elizabeth, and she died. ( ENT : " Terra Prime ")

Alternate realities and timelines [ ]

Trip Tucker, 2165 - alternate timeline

Captain Tucker in 2165

In an alternate timeline where Jonathan Archer was relieved of command in 2153 due to an infection by interspatial parasites , T'Pol became the captain of Enterprise. She turned over command to Tucker in 2156 , when the ship reached Ceti Alpha V with the last surviving Humans . He was killed in 2165 , when a Xindi assault destroyed Enterprise 's bridge. ( ENT : " Twilight ")

In a different alternate timeline where Enterprise was stranded in the year 2037 , Tucker married T'Pol in a traditional Vulcan ceremony; it took Tucker weeks to learn how to pronounce the vows. Afterward, they honeymooned in Cargo Bay 3, which had been filled with sand gathered from an asteroid and a palm tree manufactured by Tucker. They had a son named Lorian , but unfortunately, Tucker died when his son was only fourteen years old. ( ENT : " E² ")

Memorable quotes [ ]

" I assume you were watching the attack – calculating the blast yields. Boy, you must have been pretty damned excited. I mean, that beam cut one hell of a swath through Florida. That's the name of one of the places you destroyed, Florida. Did you actually see the cities burning, the houses, the people being vaporized? You know, I had a sister there… "

" Every time I start, I hear myself saying what a fine young woman she was – how smart and full of potential. And I realize, I'm not thinking about Taylor at all, I'm thinking about Elizabeth . "

" You can all go straight to Hell! "

Key dates [ ]

  • 2121 : Born in Panama City , Florida on Earth to Charles Tucker II and Mrs. Tucker
  • 2139 : Enlisted in Starfleet
  • 2151 – 2161 : Chief engineer of the Enterprise NX-01
  • 2154 : Temporarily leaves Enterprise to become chief engineer of the Columbia NX-02
  • 2161 : Dies by sacrificing himself to save Jonathan Archer

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

  • " Broken Bow "
  • " Fight or Flight "
  • " Strange New World "
  • " Unexpected "
  • " Terra Nova "
  • " The Andorian Incident "
  • " Breaking the Ice "
  • " Civilization "
  • " Fortunate Son "
  • " Cold Front "
  • " Silent Enemy "
  • " Dear Doctor "
  • " Sleeping Dogs "
  • " Shadows of P'Jem "
  • " Shuttlepod One "
  • " Rogue Planet "
  • " Acquisition "
  • " Detained "
  • " Vox Sola "
  • " Fallen Hero "
  • " Desert Crossing "
  • " Two Days and Two Nights "
  • " Shockwave "
  • " Shockwave, Part II "
  • " Carbon Creek "
  • " Minefield "
  • " Dead Stop "
  • " A Night in Sickbay "
  • " Marauders "
  • " The Seventh "
  • " The Communicator "
  • " Singularity "
  • " Vanishing Point "
  • " Precious Cargo "
  • " The Catwalk "
  • " Cease Fire "
  • " Future Tense "
  • " Canamar "
  • " The Crossing "
  • " Judgment "
  • " Horizon "
  • " The Breach "
  • " Cogenitor "
  • " Regeneration "
  • " First Flight "
  • " The Expanse "
  • " The Xindi "
  • " Anomaly (ENT) "
  • " Extinction "
  • " Impulse "
  • " The Shipment "
  • " Twilight "
  • " North Star "
  • " Similitude "
  • " Chosen Realm "
  • " Carpenter Street "
  • " Proving Ground "
  • " Stratagem "
  • " Harbinger "
  • " Doctor's Orders "
  • " Hatchery "
  • " Azati Prime "
  • " The Forgotten "
  • " The Council "
  • " Countdown "
  • " Zero Hour "
  • " Storm Front "
  • " Storm Front, Part II "
  • " Borderland "
  • " Cold Station 12 "
  • " The Augments "
  • " The Forge "
  • " Awakening "
  • " Kir'Shara "
  • " Daedalus "
  • " Observer Effect "
  • " Babel One "
  • " The Aenar "
  • " Affliction "
  • " Divergence "
  • " Terra Prime "
  • " These Are the Voyages... " (hologram)
  • VST : " Holograms All the Way Down " (hologram)

Background information [ ]

Charles Tucker III was played by Connor Trinneer in all ninety-eight episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise . Adam Taylor Gordon played eight-year-old Tucker in a flashback scene in " The Xindi " (though that boyhood version of the character was scripted to be twelve years old, rather than eight) as well as Young Sim in " Similitude ".

The character of Tucker was invented by Star Trek: Enterprise creators and Executive Producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga . Regarding how the character was conceived, Berman noted, " We picked a young country boy. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 7 , p. 20) Braga added, " We knew we wanted a southern guy who is a brilliant engineer but who doesn't have a clue as to how to handle himself with alien races. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 9 , p. 21)

Tucker's nickname was initially planned to be "Spike". ("Broken Bow" audio commentary , ENT Season 1 DVD ) At one early stage, he was also intended to hold the rank of lieutenant. A character description of Tucker was meanwhile written into the series bible for Star Trek: Enterprise , referring to him as having the nickname "Spike" and the rank of lieutenant. The document elaborated by describing him thus; " Chief Engineer. Early 30's. A Southerner who enjoys using his 'country' persona to disarm people. He has an offbeat, often sarcastic sense of humor. Although Spike is a brilliant engineer and an outstanding officer, he has very little first-hand experience with alien cultures, and he's often a 'fish out of water' when dealing with new civilizations. " While Tucker's nickname was still to have been "Spike" though his rank had changed to commander, a character breakdown sheet that Paramount sent to talent agents, upon seeking an actor to assume the role, largely matched this text from the series bible, apart from a couple of formatting tweaks. [2] However, the series bible went further, elaborating, " As a young man, he spent time deep sea diving in the Florida Keys, working on an ocean reclamation project. Bold and fearless, this thrill-seeker didn't stop there. His skills at working in a hostile environment, with no gravity, dependant on artificial life-support, would eventually lead to a career in Orbital Engineering, building starships at Utopia Planetia, where he earned a reputation as a trouble-shooter who would take on challenges that most engineers think impossible […] Spike is a part of our 'troika' [along with Archer and T'Pol]. "

Since there was a character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the name "Spike", this ENT character's nickname was altered before series pilot " Broken Bow " first aired. The change of nickname was just before "the very end" (in Brannon Braga's words) of the development process. (" Broken Bow " audio commentary , ENT Season 1 DVD / Blu-ray ) The nickname was changed to "Charlie", and the alteration was listed as one of six revisions of character names in a one-page "script note" at the start of the final draft teleplay of "Broken Bow" (the page was dated 1 May 2001 ).

In the revised final draft script of "Broken Bow" (dated 11 May 2001), the notion of this character's name being the third consecutive iteration of "Charles Tucker" was not yet established (he was still referred to as having the nickname "Charlie"). When introduced in the same teleplay, he was characterized as being in his "early 30's." The script went on to comment, " [He] is a Southerner who enjoys using his offbeat, often sarcastic sense of humor to disarm people […] He likes to get a rise out of people. " [3] Only later was the character given the full name "Charles Tucker III" and the nickname "Trip".

Immediately upon seeing Connor Trinneer audition to play Charles Tucker III, Rick Berman and Brannon Braga were impressed by him and believed he was right for the part. (" Broken Bow " audio commentary , ENT Season 1 DVD / Blu-ray )

The role of Tucker ultimately came down to Trinneer and another actor, Eric Close. Close was the studio's preferred choice, due to his work on the short-lived CBS series Now and Again , but Braga preferred Trinneer, who ultimately won the role. ( To Boldly Go: Launching Enterprise )

He found that an early challenge of portraying Tucker was dealing with all the technobabble the role required. ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 7 , p. 20)

The way Tucker was depicted was obviously influenced by the casting of Connor Trinneer. Regarding how the actor made an impact on the character, Brannon Braga explained, shortly after ENT Season 1 began, " Connor Trinneer is so […] much funnier than we thought he would be. And he's funnier not when he's making a wisecrack, but when he's put in uncomfortable situations, which we didn't know until he got the role. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 2, Issue 9 , p. 22)

Charles Tucker III was an early favorite ENT main character of the writing staff. Shortly following the start of the first season, Brannon Braga commented, " I think now we're finding, at least early on, that Trip is really a character that's popping out and with whom we're really having a lot of fun. " ( Broken Bow , paperback ed., p. 253)

In fact, Brannon Braga continued to approve of how Tucker further developed. Following ENT Season 2 , Braga stated, " It's fun to put Trip into awkward situations. You can't go wrong with him because Connor Trinneer's such a talented actor. " ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 145 , p. 26) Concerning how the character is portrayed in ENT Season 3 , Braga pointed out, " Trip embodies the idea of people who lost people back on Earth; he's a microcosm of that. " ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 151 , p. 33)

Ultimately, Rick Berman was extremely pleased with Connor Trinneer's portrayal of Tucker. " As the years went by, he just got better and better, " Berman enthused. (" Broken Bow " audio commentary , ENT Season 1 DVD / Blu-ray )

Apocrypha [ ]

Despite the events depicted in "These Are The Voyages…", Charles Tucker III continues – alive and well – in the Pocket Books " relaunch " of Star Trek: Enterprise .

As teased at in Andy Mangels ' and Michael A. Martin 's Last Full Measure , the Enterprise novel The Good That Men Do (also by Mangels and Martin) reveals Tucker's "real" fate. In the novel, an imminent threat forces Tucker to ally himself with Section 31 in order to prevent a Romulan attack on the soon-to-be-formed Coalition of Planets . With the help of Archer, Malcolm Reed and Doctor Phlox , Tucker fakes his own death in a manner similar to what is shown in the Enterprise finale, only six years earlier. With his life on Enterprise behind him, Tucker infiltrates Romulan space to prevent interstellar war. This storyline continues in Mangels' and Martin's Kobayashi Maru .

In addition to upgrading Tucker's status from dead to alive, the novels also expand upon the engineer's background. In The Good That Men Do , Tucker's family life is revealed, with scenes involving his parents Charles "Charlie" and Elaine "Gracie" Tucker. The book also mentions Tucker's brother Albert and Albert's husband, as well as provides him with a middle name: Anthony. The novel Last Full Measure depicts an aged Tucker, mentoring a young Larry Marvick , designer of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) , and, in the final chapter, making his first visit to the Starfleet War Memorial at the same time as 9-year-old Sam and 5-year-old Jimmy Kirk .

External links [ ]

  • Charles Tucker III at StarTrek.com
  • Charles Tucker III at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
  • Charles Tucker III at Wikipedia
  • 3 Hoshi Sato

Scenes Star Trek Actors Regret Filming

William Shatner in Star Trek: Generations

Star Trek can tell us wonderful things about the human condition. It can also be deeply, deeply embarrassing for both fans and the cast. On sheer volume alone, it makes sense that many episodes would be mediocre to bad, but some transcend that. Some caused the actors to silently protest. Others made the cast worry that they'd never live it down. And many are ones that all parties involved — cast, crew, producers, and fans — wish they could forget.

Though cast members may be reluctant to badmouth the show that's paid their bills for years, a few have talked about the Star Trek moments that evoke shame or confusion. A few were only there for a movie or even just one episode. Many others are lifers almost synonymous with the franchise. And thanks to the relentlessness fanbase, the convention scene, and intrepid journalists, we have answers to these shameful questions. Here are scenes that the Star Trek  actors regret filming.

Jonathan Frakes truly regrets that Enterprise finale

Few people have been in more Star Trek projects than Jonathan Frakes as William Riker. This means, despite all the wonderful memories, the actor remembers a whole lot of bad moments. After all, Riker has many an ignoble scene, from becoming a himbo in the Next Generation episode "Angel One" to his time seducing the Space Irish in "Up the Long Ladder." Frakes himself called "Code of Honor" a "horrible racist episode" and allegedly tried to get it pulled from syndication.

However, the scenes he regrets the most aren't in The Next Generation . Instead, they come in his one-episode appearance in  Enterprise , where he provided the framing story for the series finale "These Are The Voyages." He's admitted that his presence was a disservice to the regular cast of the show, as Riker permeates the episode, appearing at dramatic times that should belong to other characters. For example, when Trip is dying, the camera keeps panning to Riker, who's watching in the background. Even the last line of dialogue in the entire series is spoken by Riker — not Archer, not Tucker, not even T'Pol ... but Riker.

Frakes has called it an "unpleasant memory." Sure, he was delighted to work with Marina Sirtis again, but that was a small consolation for an awkward situation. "They said it would be a Valentine to the fans," Frakes said (via High-Def Digest ), "but all of it ended up doing I think was hurting Scott Bakula's feelings." Bakula himself has never spoken about the finale, but writer/producer  Brannon Braga called it "the only time Scott Bakula was ever mean to me," so tensions were there. 

Malcolm McDowell isn't crazy about Kirk's death scene

Malcolm McDowell played one of the most important villains in Star Trek history. As Dr. Tolian Sora in Star Trek: Generations, he was the force that united Jean-Luc Picard and James T. Kirk. He was also the man who, via weird bridge collapse, killed William Shatner's beloved character. While McDowell relishes being known as "the man who killed Kirk," he regrets how the scene went down.

In an interview with StarTrek.com in 2011, McDowell was asked what he thought about Kirk's death. He did not hold back. "If you have – which they had – this icon of American television, why the hell didn't they give him a spectacular death? Why did they give him such a really paltry death? Me shooting the bridge out or some BS whatever it was? They should have sent him off in a glorious fashion, and they didn't."

The scene originally had Soran shoot Kirk in the back before reshoots. McDowell also found this disappointing, and he lamented that they couldn't "have seen Shatner off in a big way." More than anything, he considers it a wasted opportunity. As he explained to Metro ( via io9 ), "It was feeble, I thought, because I thought he deserved better."

Leonard Nimoy was embarrassed during this Star Trek episode

As Spock, Leonard Nimoy was there for many of Star Trek 's greatest moments. It's easy to picture him performing a Vulcan nerve pinch or explaining how the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. But he was also front and center for one of Trek's worst hours, "Spock's Brain," an episode that was deeply embarrassing for him.

Though it aired a half century ago, perhaps no episode has come to symbolize Trek at its worst more than "Spock's Brain." The episode sees Spock's brain surgically removed and kidnapped by an alien species. Vulcan physiology lets their bodies stay alive for 24 hours without a brain, so Kirk goes hunting for it. Even for '60s sci-fi, that was a bridge too far.

In his autobiography I Am Spock , Nimoy singled it out as a particularly painful memory. "Frankly, during the entire shooting of that episode, I was embarrassed, a feeling that overcame me many times during the final season of Star Trek ." It's worth noting that the final season also includes Spock jamming with space hippies, which he's never mentioned, but it isn't one of his finer moments, either.

There are two Star Trek moments that make Avery Brooks cringe

Though Deep Space Nine is considered the gritty Star Trek , it still had a fair number of foolish moments. These even included some from no-nonsense Benjamin Sisko. When asked what his least favorite scenes were, Avery Brooks said it was a tossup between two choices.

The first was in "Move Along Home," specifically the scene in which he and his crew had to sing a song and play space hopscotch to get past a door. "There's nothing wrong with the melody," he said. "It's the hopscotch part." He knew right away that he'd never live it down and jokingly said he's glad he didn't go home to Gary, Indiana, right after that.

The second was "Apocalypse Rising," in which he played a Klingon. This involved enough prosthetics that it necessitated a dentist appointment. But while he didn't want to do it, Brooks had no choice — it was "pay or play" — but he wants fans to know that he didn't like it. As he put it, "The resistance you observe with Sisko playing a Klingon was real ."

William Shatner has some strong opinions about Kirk's farewell

William Shatner has spent more time than anyone as the face of Star Trek . And when you're the head honcho of the USS Enterprise , this comes with many great moments, but it also comes with many deeply embarrassing ones. Some of these were a product of the time period. Others were a product of Shatner's own ego. But the scene he publicly regrets most is his final scene.

Star Trek: Generations ends with Captain Kirk's death, one that never quite sat right with fans. It never quite sat right with Shatner, either. When asked by Crave Online  whether he was satisfied with Kirk's death in Star Trek :  Generations , Shatner said, "No, no, I would have done something else."

According to Shatner, the suits at Paramount figured the Star Trek franchise might make a lot more money (hopefully $200 million) if they included  the Next Generation cast . They also allegedly reasoned that there wasn't much milk left in the Original Series cash cow. So it was a perfect time for Kirk to meet Picard. However, the filmmakers also realized they needed to up the stakes by killing off a character in Generations . And specifically, they wanted to kill James T. Kirk.

So as Shatner explained to TrekMovie.com , he was presented with two options. "It was either I was going to appear and die, or they were going to say he died. So, I chose the more practical of the two." This led to his ultimately unremarkable death scene, where his death is less "noble sacrifice" and more "bridge collapse."

Between the lackluster box office — which hit $118 million, meaning they didn't even break their ceiling — and the pathetic death, Shatner wasn't happy. "I wish," he said, "that there had been more trumpets for the death of the character.

Alexander Siddig absolutely hated a certain DS9 storyline

Dr. Julian Bashir received some backlash during Deep Space Nine 's early days. He was seen as boring, brash, and worst of all, kind of annoying. But while the producers had a plan to make him more interesting, this blindsided actor Siddig El Fadil, who now goes by Alexander Siddig. It started a storyline that he had no say in and wanted no part of, and in fact, he eventually forced the regretful storyline to stop.

"Dr. Bashir, I Presume?" reveals that Bashir was genetically modified as a child, which made him much smarter. But Siddig didn't learn about this plot development until the day before shooting. He was upset that the producers wouldn't go over a major character arc with the actor actually playing the character. This was, in his estimation, a response to the character's unpopularity and an attempt to turn him into another Data.

"I did it the only way that an actor can," he said to TrekMovie.com , when asked how he coped. "I completely destroyed the lines that they gave me regarding the situation." He tanked the storyline, putting no effort into it. One time he "pinned the lines to the back of someone's shoulders" to read them. He also "pinned them around the office as if they were lines needed for daily modification." The producers eventually got the literal and figurative memo, and the story was phased out.

Connor Trinneer majorly regrets his death scene

Though Enterprise is by and large considered a malign part of Trek 's history, fans still have an affection for it. And few characters from the series get more love than Trip Tucker, played by Connor Trinneer. Tucker was front and center for some of the show's best moments, such as dealing with the ethics of cloning in "Similitude," captaining the ship in "Twilight," and getting pregnant in "Unexpected."

He was also there for one of the franchise's worst hours,  Enterprise 's finale, which specifically included his pointless death. And it's been a source of frustration, if not regret.

Trinneer has the same criticisms of "These Are The Voyages" that most fans do. By including characters from The Next Generation , it did a disservice to the Enterprise crew. While it was nice to see Riker and Troi, it meant that the finale was just another TNG episode.

More importantly, Trinneer hates the way Tucker died, nearly blowing himself up to ward off exactly two attackers. He found the death arbitrary and rash, telling Trek Today , "I've gotten out of much worse scrapes than that." Trinneer does count himself as lucky in one way, though — at least he got an ending. As he explained to TV Guide , "I'm the only one who went out with a bang ... no pun intended. I got the goodbye no one else did."

Gates McFadden can't stand that Star Trek episode with the lamp

Every crew member on The Next Generation had a skeptical streak, but few were more grounded than Dr. Beverly Crusher. Spending six seasons as the chief medical officer of the Enterprise demands it. But there's also actress Gates McFadden, who to this day is baffled by what the writers were thinking when they gave her "Sub Rosa."

"Sub Rosa" is often listed as one of the worst episodes of The Next Generation . An attempt at Gothic romance in space, the story — in somewhat reductive terms — involves Beverly falling in love with a ghost inhabiting a lamp. It's worth mentioning that this lamp ghost has also seduced several generations of her family.

As maligned as the episode is, criticism rarely falls to McFadden, who put on a particularly intimate performance without showing anything explicit. That's a credit to her as a performer, and content aside, the nature of the story gave the actress some enthusiasm. She called it "thrilling" to be "outside her uniform" and perform in a more creative way.

Nonetheless, she found the whole concept absurd. The script was written by Jeri Taylor, who some cast members credit with improving the writing for female characters. That seems to have made it more confusing for McFadden. As she explained at the 2012 Austin Comic-Con , "I was reading this, going, 'This woman became a doctor, and she's in love with a lamp ?'"

Armin Shimerman regrets the first time he played a Ferengi

Armin Shimerman is best known as Quark on Deep Space Nine . But years before DS9 was even conceived, he had a part as a Ferengi on The Next Generation . And not just any Ferengi, either, but one of the first ones ever put to screen. 

He regrets every second of it.

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry imagined the Ferengi as the main antagonists for TNG . They were introduced in "The Last Outpost," just a few episodes into the new series. The Ferengi were meant to be menacing, threatening, and anything but funny. Nonetheless, they came across as comical, and the episode is held in low regard to this day. Their credibility as villains tanked, and they were mostly comic relief until Deep Space Nine . Shimerman blamed himself, telling Gamespot that he "failed miserably" and that "no one one bears the brunt of that mistake more than I do."

So Shimmeman approached Quark as an attempt to salvage the Ferengi. "All of my work on Deep Space Nine , for the first four seasons, was me trying to eradicate that original performance from everyone's mind."

Teri Garr doesn't like talking about her Star Trek appearance

One of the all-time comedic actresses, Teri Garr has played in classics like Tootsie , Young Frankenstein , and After Hours . She also played Roberta Lincoln in "Assignment: Earth," the season two finale of The Original Series . It was one of her first speaking parts, and she later credited it in her autobiography with getting her real roles. That doesn't mean she likes it or even wants to talk about it.

Gene Roddenberry intended "Assignment: Earth" as a backdoor pilot to a new series, hedging his bets in case Star Trek got canceled. Ultimately, Star Trek got a third season, and "Assignment: Earth" remained a standalone episode. But years later, when interviewed for Starlog magazine , Garr expressed resentment towards the role. "I did that years ago," she said, "and I mostly deny I ever did it."

Garr is cagey about why it was a negative experience. Part of it likely had to do with Roddenberry, who was especially hands-on in hoping this would get picked up as a pilot. Producer Bob Justman, in his book Inside Star Trek , theorized that a costuming incident may have played a part. Roddenberry allegedly wanted Garr's skirt shortened to be more revealing.

Whatever happened, it was enough to sour her on the whole franchise and fanbase. She was glad "Assignment: Earth" never launched, saying, "Otherwise, all I would get would be Star Trek questions for the rest of my natural life — and probably my unnatural life. You ever see those people who are Star Trek fans? The same people who go to swap meets."

Garrett Wang has regrets about what could've been

Garrett Wang doesn't openly regret many scenes he played as Ensign Harry Kim. Rather, he regrets the scenes he didn't get to play — namely, any as a senior officer.

Wang still takes umbrage with the fact that Harry remained an ensign throughout Star Trek: Voyager . "I mean, come on people!" he said to StarTrek.com . "Kim was probed, beaten, tortured and held the distinction of being the first Voyager crew member to die and come back to life. What more does a guy have to do to get promoted to lieutenant for frak's sake?" This was made worse by the fact that Tuvok and Tom Paris were both promoted during the series, despite being members of the Maquis.

Wang called writer/producer Brannon Braga during the fourth season to ask why Harry hadn't been promoted. He was told, "Well, somebody's gotta be the ensign." He became so frustrated by this that he even appealed to Kate Mulgrew, Captain Janeway herself, about it. He finds this hilarious in hindsight. 

He also regrets that he was never given a chance to direct an episode, saying that he's the first Trek cast member to be outright denied a chance to step behind the camera. Wang thinks the most likely reason for this was an off-the-record comment he made to TV Guide early in the series where he complained that human characters weren't allowed to show emotion.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan didn't enjoy his time on Star Trek: Enterprise

Hold up, Jeffrey Dean Morgan was in Star Trek ? Yup! He appeared as a Xindi-Reptilian in the  Enterprise episode "Carpenter Street." You'd be forgiven for missing him behind all the makeup. He'd also prefer you forget about the role entirely.

Circa 2003, Morgan's career wasn't doing so well. He wasn't in a position to turn down work, so he took a role in Enterprise . Little did he know that later he'd consider this his career low point .

Morgan expected some to do some line readings. He didn't expect four hours in a makeup chair over ten days. "I remember them dripping goop on my face," he told Entertainment Weekly , "and I had straws sticking out of my nose. I couldn't eat lunch. I was claustrophobic. I'd go home in tears." The whole process was so miserable he almost quit acting.

He's not entirely cynical about it, though. He acknowledged that "work begets work," and it helped him pay some bills. A job's a job, and without it we'd probably never meet Negan. That doesn't mean he had to like it, though.

Screen Rant

Trip's enterprise comeback is an even bigger & better star trek reunion.

Connor Trinner's comeback as Enterprise's Trip Tucker turns out to be bigger than expected. He's part of a huge Star Trek reunion in very Short Treks.

  • Commander Trip Tucker makes a long-awaited comeback in the best episode of Star Trek: very Short Treks to date, joined by legacy characters from every other Star Trek series.
  • This fourth installment starts with Commander Trip Tucker aboard Star Trek: Enterprise's NX-01 and turns into a fast-paced and entertaining holographic adventure.
  • Connor Trinneer's return as Trip Tucker is accompanied by an all-star voice cast, including Jonathan Frakes, Armin Shimerman, Noël Wells, and George Takei, among others, creating a fun 2-minute celebration of Star Trek's 50th anniversary.

Star Trek: Enterprise 's Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) finally makes his long-awaited comeback, and it turns out to be part of an even bigger Star Trek reunion. The result is the best episode of Star Trek: very Short Treks to date. Written by Star Trek: Prodigy executive producer Aaron J. Waltke, very Short Treks episode 4, "Holograms All The Way Down," sees Connor Trinneer's Trip joined by legacy characters from every other Star Trek series.

The fourth installment of Star Trek: very Short Treks kicks off with Commander Trip Tucker aboard Star Trek: Enterprise 's NX-01 before it turns into an entertaining series of fast-paced holographic hijinks. Check out "Holograms All The Way Down" below:

Trip Tucker's Star Trek Comeback Is The Best very Short Treks

Not only does Connor Trinneer voice Trip Tucker for the first time since Star Trek: Enterprise went off the air in 2005, but he's joined by an all-star voice cast, including Jonathan Frakes as Commander Will Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation , Armin Shimerman as Quark from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Noël Wells as Lt. D'Vana Tendi from Star Trek: Lower Decks , Angus Imrie as Zero from Star Trek: Prodigy , George Takei as Mr. Sulu from Star Trek: The Original Series , Doug Jones as Captain Saru from Star Trek: Discovery , Bruce Horak as Lt. Hemmer from Star Trek: Strange New World s, Ethan Phillips as Neelix from Star Trek: Voyager, and Bonnie Gordon as the computer voice.

Enterprise 's T'Pol and Lt. Malcolm Reed, TNG 's Counselor Deanna Troi, DS9 's Garak, Lower Decks ' Lt. Beckett Mariner and Lt. Brad Boimler, Prodigy 's Gwyndala and Rojk-Tahk, and TOS ' Lt. Uhura and Mr. Spock also appear in non-speaking roles. Amusingly, "Holograms All The Way Down" contains clever nods to Star Trek: Enterprise 's controversial series finale , "These Are The Voyages...", TNG 's "The Pegasus," and DS9 's Dominion War classic, "In the Pale Moonlight." This Star Trek: very Short Treks episode also melds Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy 's animation styles for a proper celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek: The Animated Series . Fans' reaction to Star Trek: very Short Treks has been mixed, at best, but Trip Tucker's Star Trek comeback is a lot of holographic fun squeezed into a breezy 2-minutes.

Source: CBS Studios

IMAGES

  1. Commander Charles Trip Tucker III

    trip tucker death scene

  2. Charles "Trip" Tucker Star Trek: Enterprise

    trip tucker death scene

  3. Connor Trinneer: What Happened To Him After Star Trek

    trip tucker death scene

  4. The Top 20 most impactful deaths in Star Trek History Ranked

    trip tucker death scene

  5. Trip Tucker Tribute [ENT]

    trip tucker death scene

  6. Trip Tucker

    trip tucker death scene

VIDEO

  1. TUCKER

  2. Tucker death scene (4k ultra hd caught in 4k) {very sad!!!!} ( gone wrong?!?!??) at 3:00 am?!!???!??

  3. Trip Tucker Tribute [ENT]

  4. Enterprise

COMMENTS

  1. Trip Tucker

    Tucker was born in 2121. His nickname "Trip" is short for "Triple", as he is the third generation of his family to be named Charles Tucker. He joined the United Earth Starfleet in 2139 and first met Jonathan Archer around 2143, a decade prior to the launch of Enterprise, when the two worked together on an early warp 2 prototype vessel using the ...

  2. What was the purpose of what happened to Trip in the last episode?

    If your favorite character was Trip, then you might enjoy some books that continue Trip's adventures after his so-called death. These books work on the theory that he didn't actually die, but was tasked with a Section 31 mission into Romulan space and his death had to be faked. You can find some of these novels here under the novels section ...

  3. Section 31 Trip's death

    Should Star Trek Enterprise get a conclusion?Did you know? …that contrary to the belief of visual Star Trek fans around the world, the episode "These are t...

  4. Star Trek: Enterprise's EP Admits Trip Didn't Have To Die In The Hated

    Star Trek: Enterprise executive producer and co-creator Brannon Braga admits that Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) didn't have to die in the series finale. After 4 seasons, Enterprise ended in 2005 with a final episode titled, "These Are The Voyages..."Enterprise's finale angered fans and members of the cast, including series lead Scott Bakula, because it was really about Star Trek: The ...

  5. "He's Mad, Angry, Sad": Star Trek's Connor Trinneer Felt "Very Lucky

    Connor Trinneer feels "very lucky" to have played Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III for 4 seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise, and he essayed the character through many changes. Trip was the Chief Engineer of the NX-01 Enterprise commanded by his best friend, Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula). Trip was also one-third of Enterprise's command ...

  6. How Trip Tucker SURVIVED in Enterprise

    The tragic death of Commander Trip Tucker was one of Star Trek: Enterprise's saddest moments, but did he actually really die in the much-discussed series fin...

  7. Trip Is Dead, "Get Over It" Says Star Trek: Enterprise's Connor ...

    Trip Tucker's death in Star Trek: Enterprise's controversial finale still irks fans almost 20 years later. Connor Trinneer, who played Trip, believes fans should "get over it" and move on from the ...

  8. Star Trek: Enterprise fans weren't alone in hating Trip's death

    Trip Tucker's death was a bone of contention. The series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise after four seasons still stands out sixteen years later and not for good reasons. Most everyone disliked the inclusion of characters Will Riker and Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as the jump forward in time and the holodeck simulation.

  9. Connor Trinneer's Trip Tucker & Star Trek: Enterprise Controversy Explained

    Trip Tucker's death in "Star Trek: Enterprise" remains controversial among fans even 18 years after the show ended. The decision to kill off Trip in the series finale was seen as unnecessary and a creative blunder by the show's creators. Since the cancellation of "Star Trek: Enterprise," actor Connor Trinneer has had a successful career in ...

  10. Star Trek: Enterprise Ending Explained: Those Were The Voyages...

    Rather than merely recite the official denouements of Capt. Jonathan Archer, T'Pol, Trip Tucker, Malcolm Reed, Hoshi Sato, Dr. Phlox, and the memorable, memorable character of Ensign Mayweather ...

  11. Star Trek: Enterprise's Connor Trinneer Gave Conflicting ...

    In a 2020 interview with TrekMovie, Connor Trinneer was asked if he agrees with fan criticisms of the "Star Trek: Enterprise" finale and the actor insisted he was happy with Trip's death ...

  12. Remembering 'Star Trek: Enterprise's Much-Maligned Finale, 15 Years Later

    Fan reactions at the time ranged from neutral to negative. "That's how Trek comes to an end after a run of 18 consecutive years—with a somewhat ponderous whimper that still manages to show ...

  13. The Most Devastating Deaths In The Star Trek Franchise

    Though some "Star Trek" fans point to the death of Charles "Trip" Tucker in the final "Enterprise" episode, "These Are The Voyages," there's another death of sorts for the character that looms ...

  14. "Star Trek: Enterprise" Harbinger (TV Episode 2004)

    Harbinger: Directed by David Livingston. With Scott Bakula, John Billingsley, Jolene Blalock, Dominic Keating. With Reed and Hayes fighting over a training program and Trip seemingly making T'Pol jealous, Enterprise discovers a dying alien in a pod with technology similar to the Spheres.

  15. Connor Trinneer tells fans to get over Trip Tucker's death

    Star Trek: Enterprise boldly opted to kill off, arguably, the series' most beloved character Charles "Trip" Tucker in the series finale. For some reason, the writers thought that'd go over well ...

  16. INTERVIEW: Connor Trinneer Talks Math, Trip's Pregnant "Enterprise

    TM: As Trip Tucker, you faced death, loss, romance, being a clone, pregnancy … what was the biggest WTF moment when somebody handed you a script? CT: A couple of 'em. Out of the gate, episode ...

  17. Why Star Trek Should Resurrect Trip (& Ignore Enterprise's Finale)

    Published Oct 31, 2022. Trip Tucker's death is a problem Star Trek's current shows can fix by ignoring Enterprise's wildly disliked finale and bringing Trip back. Killing off Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) in Star Trek: Enterprise 's finale remains a sore spot, but Trip's death can be fixed, and the Chief Engineer can even return in the current ...

  18. Charles Tucker III

    Commander Charles Tucker III, known affectionately as "Trip" Tucker, was a 22nd century Human male Starfleet officer. He served for ten years as the chief engineer and Second officer of Earth 's first warp 5 -capable starship, Enterprise NX-01, under the command of his best friend, Captain Jonathan Archer.

  19. Connor Trinneer: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

    Here's what you need to know about Connor Trinneer. 1. Trinneer Almost Didn't Act and Almost Wasn't Trip. In an interview with Star Trek, Trinneer says he went to Pacific Lutheran University ...

  20. Scenes Star Trek Actors Regret Filming

    Malcolm McDowell isn't crazy about Kirk's death scene. ... And few characters from the series get more love than Trip Tucker, played by Connor Trinneer. Tucker was front and center for some of the ...

  21. Star Trek Actor Resurrects Fan-Favorite Enterprise Character After 18 Years

    Star Trek's new series of animated shorts, very Short Treks, will be Connor Trinneer's (non-canon) comeback as Commander Trip Tucker after Star Trek: Enterprise was canceled 18 years ago. Trip, a fan-favorite character, was killed off in the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005, a creative decision that angered fans and remains a sore spot nearly two decades later.

  22. First Contact: Connor Trinneer AKA Commander "Trip" Tucker

    http://StarTrek.com talks with Connor Trinneer about his First Contact with Star Trek and the pressure of playing a pregnant Trip Tucker.Subscribe to the Sta...

  23. Trip's Enterprise Comeback Is An Even Bigger & Better Star Trek Reunion

    Star Trek: Enterprise's Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) finally makes his long-awaited comeback, and it turns out to be part of an even bigger Star Trek reunion. The result is the best episode of Star Trek: very Short Treks to date. Written by Star Trek: Prodigy executive producer Aaron J. Waltke, very Short Treks episode 4, "Holograms All The Way Down," sees Connor Trinneer's Trip ...