Beloved Actor Saved Episode By Abandoning Star Trek’s Greatest Tradition

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 37 seconds ago

One of the reasons that Star Trek became such a major cultural phenomenon is that it invented some killer sci-fi tropes that really resonated with mainstream audiences. The transporter, for example, was such a cool concept that “Beam me up, Scotty” soon became part of our everyday vernacular. Similarly, Dr. McCoy’s gruff “He’s dead, Jim” became a common phrase in households around the world (even the non-geeky ones). Arguably, though, Star Trek’s most enduring trope is the idea of the redshirt. You know, those hapless security guards who end up getting killed by some horrific monster of the week so that Kirk can strike a heroic pose over his dead body.

The redshirt concept continued in future Trek shows, even though the uniform color changed. In shows like The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, security officers wore yellow instead, but the idea was the same: any of them (including main characters like Tasha Yar!) could get killed at any time. However, Scott Bakula, the biggest star of Enterprise, actually forced writers to abandon this trope for “Strange New World,” a decision that saved the episode and also established Archer as the safest captain in Star Trek history!

The First Canonical Red Shirt?

The episode “Strange New World” really lives up to its title, as the Enterprise decides to explore a planet that has an Earth-like atmosphere. Unfortunately, things go south when a storm forces the Away Team into a cave where they see scary alien rock monsters. However, that turns out to simply be a hallucination caused by some alien pollen on the planet’s surface. In addition to causing hallucinations, it caused some of the Away Team to be wary of T’Pol’s true intentions. Their paranoia was all for naught, though, as she is able to administer a cure to everyone infected, restoring them to their right minds.

The alien pollen in “Strange New World” is no joke, and it very nearly kills Novakavich, one of the lower deckers who joined the Away Team. Fortunately, Dr. Phlox is able to cure him before that happens. As it turns out, though, Novakavich was supposed to die in the original script, which would have made him the first red shirt to get killed in this new Star Trek spinoff. However, that death was written out because of the show’s biggest name: Captain Archer actor Scott Bakula.

Scott Bakula Gives The Script A Second Opinion

Episode co-writer Mike Sussman revealed in an old interview with Larry Nemecek what Bakula hated about this plot point. The Quantum Leap star objected to the idea of killing off an Enterprise crew member like he was just another red shirt on The Original Series. Bakula felt that something like this was a big deal and that the crew would need to mourn the dead and process what happened. “It was felt at the time that the death of a crewmember would require time to show Archer and the crew dealing with the loss, and there wasn’t time for such a scene,” Sussman said. The producers were convinced by Bakula’s argument, and Novakavich lived, though he never appeared again.

While this likely wasn’t Scott Bakula’s intention, his objection to this red shirt’s death ended up making him arguably the safest of the onscreen captains in Star Trek history. After he saved Novakavich from his scripted death, it wasn’t until two years later (in the episode “Anomaly”) that Archer lost a crewman!  Love him or hate him, that makes this Enterprise captain a far safer guy to work for than Kirk, Picard, Sisko, or Janeway, which is that much more impressive given his limited technology and lack of spacefaring experience.

Certainly, some fans would have liked for “Strange New World” to include one of those grisly, unexpected deaths that The Original Series was so famous for. Personally, I love that this Enterprise episode subverted our expectations, a further signifier (as if the theme song wasn’t enough!) that this show was unlike any Star Trek series we had ever seen. And thanks to Scott Bakula, Archer boldly gained what no captain had gained before: a clean OSHA certification!