commander shelby star trek the next generation

Elizabeth Dennehy

Series: TNG

Character(s): Commander Shelby

Elizabeth Dennehy portrayed Commander Shelby in the Star Trek: The Next Generation third and fourth season episodes “The Best of Both Worlds” and “The Best of Both Worlds, Part II”.

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Who Is Picard's Top Starfleet Admiral Elizabeth Shelby?

Star Trek: Picard introduced Starfleet's top admiral, Elizabeth Shelby, a character The Next Generation fans recognize from "The Best of Both Worlds."

The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 9, "Vox," now streaming on Paramount+.

The penultimate episode of Star Trek: Picard introduced Starfleet's top Admiral, Elizabeth Shelby, as she led the fleet exercises on Frontier Day. Shelby is a fantastic Easter egg and payoff to a character who was front-and-center the first time Starfleet faced the Borg.

After Picard introduced Tuvok from Voyager , fans likely hoped the Frontier Day celebrations would be led by Kate Mulgrew's Admiral Janeway. However, given the way those events ended, fans are likely hoping Janeway overslept and is safe on Earth somewhere. In her place is Admiral Elizabeth Shelby who The Next Generation fans will recognize from "The Best of Both Worlds," the two-part episode in which Picard is assimilated by the Borg. Played by Elizabeth Denehy, Shelby was a character who fans thought might be the "new" First Officer of the Enterprise-D. Riker is given the offer of his own command and there were rumors at the time Patrick Stewart was leaving the show. In 2015, writer Ronald D. Moore said they wrote the finale not knowing if Picard would stay Borg. Shelby was likely a candidate for a regular role if that happened. Instead, Picard was saved and Shelby left the show and did not return to the franchise until recently. And she's the perfect character to have in charge at the start of a Borg invasion.

RELATED: Star Trek: Picard Reveals Why Riker Left Deanna Troi

Elizabeth Shelby Is an Ambitious Borg Expert Introduced on The Next Generation

Since the future of Star Trek doesn't involve money, reputation is the currency most favored by Starfleet officers. Sometimes it doesn't spend. Shaw doesn't think Riker and Picard are heroes , after all. If reputation is currency, then Elizabeth Shelby is one of the most money-hungry people in Starfleet. She accidentally offends Riker, telling him she hopes to replace him on the Enterprise. She assumed he was going to leave the ship and captain his own vessel. Nonetheless, she is an ambitious officer who wanted to succeed. However, she is not a villain or antagonist. She is Riker's best ally when it comes to rescuing Picard and defending the Enterprise against the Borg's attacks.

Shelby arrived onboard the Enterprise at the behest of Starfleet, taking on the job of creating a defensive strategy against the Borg. Her methods were effective, to a point. She circumvented Riker to give battle plans directly to Picard. Later, she leads an unauthorized away team mission to try to get data about their enemy. While Picard was "incapacitated," as Riker called it in the Picard Season 3 premiere , he promoted her to Commander and made her acting First Officer once he took command.

After Picard was restored, Shelby moved on, her sights set on rebuilding the fleet after Wolf 359. Later in an episode, a reference is made to "Captain Shelby," which fans can guess is her finally earning her captaincy. Putting her in the Admiral's chair for Frontier Day is a smart move, and not just because it pays off on the character's ambition. She is uniquely equipped to handle a surprise Borg incursion, though she may not have the chance after taking a phaser blast from an assimilated crew member before her video feed cut out. The Borg have a unique interest in Picard, but they also had a score to settle with Admiral Shelby.

RELATED: Picard's Villain Origin Continues New Star Trek's Reckoning With the Past

Elizabeth Shelby Is the Perfect Star Trek Character To Put in Charge of Starfleet

The character of Lieutenant Commander Shelby was created during the early years of Star Trek: The Next Generation when creator Gene Roddenberry still held sway. Without him, Shelby might have been a much different character. He believed that high-ranking members of Starfleet would be beyond petty conflicts over rank and position. So, while Shelby was ambitious and reckless, she was still a "good" person. She risked her life trying to save Picard. Yet, throughout this terrible circumstance, she remained cognizant of how it affected her career.

When Riker, having just lost his friend and captain, says he is considering her for First Officer, she starts campaigning for the job. Still, Riker saw enough of himself in her that he gave her the chance. The freewheeling Riker style only developed after Shelby's introduction. This is perhaps why the writers had Riker take after Jonathan Frakes , but it could be seen as her influence on him. On the loosely canon Star Trek: Lower Decks , then-Captain Shelby appeared at an event for all the ambitious Starfleet officers willing to play politics to gain rank and prestige. In that story, Shelby was in her element.

Still, while Shelby was ultimately a good officer, she made some very bad decisions. She might have been responsible for Starfleet's overly harsh stance against synthetic life in Season 1. She's responsible for the interconnectivity of the fleet that allowed the Borg to so easily take over the ships. If she did meet her end, it's ironic because she spent so much of her life trying to prepare Starfleet to defend itself against the Borg .

Star Trek: Picard debuts its series finale Thursday, April 20 on Paramount+ .

Why ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Built Season 5 Around a Classic Episode From a Legacy Series

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

• Why ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Built Season 5 Around a Classic Episode From a Legacy Series 5 hours ago
• ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Star Sonequa Martin-Green on the Show’s Unexpected Final Season, the ‘Pressure’ of Representation and Taking the ‘Trek’ Cruise 1 day ago
• Jerrod Carmichael Was Terrified of Being Seen, So He Made a Reality Show: ‘This May Be Unhealthy. It Is a Little Dangerous’ 1 week ago

SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in Season 5, Episode 1 of “ Star Trek : Discovery,” now streaming on Paramount+.

By the end of the episode, however, the mission has pushed Burnham and her crew to their limits, including slamming the USS Discovery into the path of a massive landslide threatening a nearby city. Before they risk their lives any further pursuing this object, Burnham demands that Kovich at least tell her why. (MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW.)

Kovich’s explanation evokes the classic “ Star Trek: The Next Generation ” episode “The Chase” from 1993 in which Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) — along with teams of Romulans, Klingons and Cardassians — learn that all humanoid life in the galaxy was created by a single species that existed billions of years earlier, and seeded thousands of planets with the DNA to pass along their legacy. (Along with presenting a profound vision of the origins of life, the episode also provided an imaginative explanation for why almost all the aliens in “Star Trek” basically look like humans with different kinds of forehead ridges.)

Kovich tells Burnham that the Romulan scientist was part of a team sent to discover exactly how these aliens — whom they call the Progenitors — made this happen; the object they’re seeking winds up being one part of a brand new “chase,” this time in the 32nd century, to find the Progenitors’ technology before it can fall into the wrong hands. 

“I remember watching that episode and at the end of it just being blown away that there was this huge idea where we all come from,” Paradise says. “And then they’re going to have another mission the next week. I found myself wondering, ‘Well, then what? What happened? What do we do with this information? What does it mean?’”

Originally, Paradise says the “Discovery” writers’ room discussed evoking the Progenitors in Season 4, when the Discovery meets an alien species, the 10-C, who live outside of the galaxy and are as radically different from humans as one could imagine. “As we dug deeper into the season itself, we realized that it was too much to try and get in,” Paradise says.

Instead, they made the Progenitors the engine for Season 5. “Burnham and some of our other characters are on this quest for personal meaning,” Paradise says. Searching for the origins of life itself, she adds, “feels like a big thematic idea that fits right in with what we’re exploring over the course of the season, and what our characters are going through.”

That meant that Paradise finally got to help come up with the answers to the questions about “The Chase” that had preoccupied her when she was younger. “We had a lot of fun talking about what might’ve happened when [Picard] called back to headquarters and had to say, ‘Here’s what happened today,’” she says. “We just built the story out from there.”

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Star Trek's Next Movie Reveals Shocking TNG Legacy Character In Section 31

• Star Trek: Section 31 connects to The Next Generation through legacy character Rachel Garrett, played by Kacey Rohl in a shocking twist.
• Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and written by Craig Sweeny, the series uncovers the dark secrets of Starfleet's black ops agency.
• Michelle Yeoh's Georgiou time travels to confront the sins of Section 31, adding depth to her character's journey across the Star Trek universe.

Star Trek: Section 31 reveals a shocking connection to Star Trek: The Next Generation in the form of a legacy character who meets Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh). D irected by Olatunde Osunsanmi and written by Craig Sweeny, Star Trek: Section 31 recently wrapped production in Toronto. Yeoh's Georgiou, who was originally a popular part of Star Trek: Discovery, travels through time as she confronts the sins of Starfleet's secretive black ops agency.

A new Variety cover story about the Star Trek franchise reveals that Star Trek: Section 31 new cast member Kacey Rohl plays a young version of Star Trek: The Next Generation legacy character Rachel Garrett , the doomed future captain of the USS Enterprise-C. Check out the quote below:

Georgiou is standing with a young Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), a character first introduced on “Next Generation” as the older fearless captain of the USS Enterprise-C.

10 Section 31 Things To Know Before Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek Movie

Who is rachel garrett in star trek: the next generation & section 31, the captain of the enterprise-c has a secret past.

Rachel Garrett only made one appearance in the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3 episode, "Yesterday's Enterprise." The Captain of the USS Enterprise-C is a tragic character as she and her Ambassador Class starship were doomed to die in order to repair the timeline and ensure a dark alternate reality where the United Federation of Planets loses a war with the Klingons. Captain Garrett was played by Tricia O'Neill in TNG , and she has never been forgotten by Star Trek fans.

Star Trek: Section 31 revealing that the young Garrett encounters Emperor Georgiou and may even be recruited into Section 31 in the early 24th century is a compelling and fascinating twist.

Captain Rachel Garrett's sacrifice was referenced at the start of Star Trek: Picard season 3. A statue of Captain Garrett, known as ''The Red Lady' , stood in front of a Starfleet recruitment center on M'Talas Prime that was destroyed by Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer). However, nothing was known about Rachel's past. Star Trek: Section 31 revealing that the young Garrett encounters Emperor Georgiou and may even be recruited into Section 31 in the early 24th century is a compelling and fascinating twist on this Star Trek legacy character.

Source: Variety

Cast Humberly Gonzlez, Sam Richardson, Omari Hardwick, Robert Kazinsky, Kacey Rohl

Franchise(s)

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

The Best of Both Worlds: Part 2

• Episode aired Sep 22, 1990

Having absorbed Captain Picard and his knowledge, the Borg head for Earth, leaving Riker and the Enterprise desperate for an unanticipated way to defeat them. Having absorbed Captain Picard and his knowledge, the Borg head for Earth, leaving Riker and the Enterprise desperate for an unanticipated way to defeat them. Having absorbed Captain Picard and his knowledge, the Borg head for Earth, leaving Riker and the Enterprise desperate for an unanticipated way to defeat them.

• Gene Roddenberry
• Michael Piller
• Ronald D. Moore
• Patrick Stewart
• Jonathan Frakes
• LeVar Burton
• 21 User reviews
• 10 Critic reviews

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard …

• Commander William Thomas 'Will' Riker

• Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge

• Lieutenant Worf

• Doctor Beverly Crusher

• Counselor Deanna Troi

• Lieutenant Commander Data

• Ensign Wesley Crusher

• Lt. Cmdr. Shelby

• Adm. J. P. Hanson

• Chief Miles O'Brien

• (uncredited)

• Enterprise Computer

• Enterprise-D Ops Officer

• Ensign Russell
• Michael Piller (showrunner)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia Prior to filming, LeVar Burton had surgery and his scenes were carefully filmed after the majority of production was concluded; this is why he only appears in close-ups and not in shots with any of the other main characters. Most of Geordi LaForge's lines were given to Colm Meaney 's Mr. O'Brien.
• Goofs We see the Borg ship approaching Saturn from the side of the planet illuminated by the sun. This would mean the Borg are actually moving away from Earth rather than toward it.

Guinan : Did he ever tell you why we're so close?

Captain William T. Riker : No.

Guinan : Oh... Then let me just say that... our relationship is beyond friendship, beyond family. And I *will* let him go. And you must do the same. There can only be one Captain.

Captain William T. Riker : It's not that simple. This was his crew. He wrote the book on this ship.

Guinan : If the Borg know everything he knows, it's time to throw that book away. You *must* let him go, Riker. It's the only way to beat him. The only way to save him.

• Alternate versions In a 2013 Blu-ray release, this episode and the previous, The Best of Both Worlds: Part 1 (1990) , were edited together into one, feature-length movie. This version is 86 minutes long and was re-released as part of the 2019 Star Trek: Picard Movie & TV Collection Blu-ray release.
• Connections Edited from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
• Soundtracks Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User reviews 21

• whatch-17931
• Jan 24, 2021
• September 22, 1990 (United States)
• United States
• Official site
• Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)
• Paramount Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 45 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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