Star Trek: Enterprise‘s cancelation after 4 seasons curtailed fully exploring Commander Trip Tucker’s romance with Subcommander T’Pol (Jolene Blalock), to the dismay of Connor Trinneer. Trip and T’Pol began a relationship in Star Trek: Enterprise season 3, originally as a means for the Vulcan to help Enterprise’s Chief Engineer process his grief after the death of his sister at the hands of the Xindi. Trip and T’Pol’s love story was controversial at the time, but in the years since Enterprise went off the air, it’s now seen as a romance that didn’t see its full potential explored.
Connor Trinneer was featured in a spotlight interview with Roddenberry Podcasts’ John Champion at TrekTalks 3, which raised over $109,000 to benefit the Hollywood Food Coalition. In a fascinating discussion about Star Trek: Enterprise, Trinneer spoke about how protective he was of Trip Tucker’s character and how he addressed the “imbalance” he saw between Trip and T’Pol in their relationship. Trinneer says he is still “bummed out” that Trip and T’Pol’s romance was a casualty of Enterprise’s cancelation. Check out Connor’s quote and watch his TrekTalks 3 interview at the 4:25:40 time stamp below:
The interesting dynamic about Trip and T’Pol was that they were so different. But ultimately, it’s one of the things that I’m bummed out about. That we didn’t get an opportunity in later seasons that we never had to explore what it would have meant to fall in love with each other.
By the time our show was over, this was a big part of the show. This was an element of the show that we were going to be exploring. They had the baby. It was clear they cared about each other. And to see how that could evolve is probably the one thing about the storyline that we never got to finish that I’m bummed out about.
Seasons 1 through 3, the show was trying to figure out the dynamics of the relationships with everybody. And season 4 was really the season when Trip and T’Pol begin to explore this. Which was fascinating as an actor. The given circumstances being what they are, how you emotionally evolve in that relationship.
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What Happened To Trip & T’Pol When Star Trek: Enterprise Ended
Trip’s death was another big controversy.
The cancelation of Star Trek: Enterprise halted multiple ongoing storylines in season 4, including Trip and T’Pol’s romance. Enterprise‘s controversial series finale, “These Are The Voyages…” was a flash forward to 10 years after the series began, at which point T’Pol and Trip hadn’t been romantic in years although they still cared for one another. However, no real closure was found in “These Are The Voyages…” which was really an extension of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode starring Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes). The crew of Enterprise were holograms in their own finale, and Trip was killed off before the episode was over.
While there is potential for Star Trek: Enterprise characters to return in Star Trek on Paramount+’s series, possibly in the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks or Star Trek: Prodigy, a full-cast reunion – and closure for Trip Tucker and T’Pol’s romance – likely isn’t in the cards. Jolene Blalock has retired from acting, and other key cast members like Scott Bakula have moved on from Star Trek. However, Connor Trinneer hosts his own Star Trek podcast, The Shuttlepod Show, which is keeping the memories of Star Trek: Enterprise alive.
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- Star Trek
