Follow

Followed

More Action

Sign in now

Close

After 19 Years Away, Star Trek: Enterprise's T'Pol Is Back & It's Perfect

By John Orquiola

Updated Dec 13, 2024

Follow

Followed

Sign in to your ScreenRant

Custom image by Ana Nieves

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 9 - "Fissure Quest"

19 years after Star Trek: Enterprise ended, Jolene Blalock is back as T'Pol in season 5, episode 9 centers on a different starship, the Defiant Class Anaximander led by Captain William Boimler (Jack Quaid), which Section 31 charged with a mission to stop a rogue vessel that's threatening Star Trek's multiverse.

Jolene Blalock portrayed Subcommander T'Pol in all four Star Trek: Enterprise was canceled, it seemed unlikely Jolene would return to Star Trek.

Jolene Blalock's Perfect Star Trek: Lower Decks Comeback As T'Pol Explained

Enterprise's Vulcan Hero Is Just Like Fans Her

Star Trek: Lower Decks' comeback for Jolene Blalock as T'Pol could not have been more ideal. Jolene (who was credited without a surname) slid right back into the role of T'Pol as if 19 years hadn't ed. Jolene's cadences and vocal performance as T'Pol were perfect, and the Vulcan sounded exactly like she did on Star Trek: Enterprise. Star Trek: Lower Decks' animated T'Pol downplayed the Vulcan's signature sex appeal, but this is also logical since, in her alt reality, T'Pol is about 60 years older than the Vulcan heroine on Star Trek: Enterprise.

Captain Becky Freeman and a screaming Lt. Beckett Mariner in Star Trek: Lower Decks

Related

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Cast Guide: Who Voices Each Character In The Final Season

Meet the Lower Deckers and bridge crew of the USS Cerritos as Star Trek: Lower Decks warps into its fifth and final season on Paramount+.

Posts

Even coming from another universe, T'Pol is recognizably the same highly intelligent and perceptive Vulcan, who has learned patience and understanding towards humans after decades of T'Pol being married to Trip Tucker. T'Pol also developed an understated sense of humor, and she has hilarious lines in Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Perhaps Jolene may be even persuaded to play T'Pol again.

Heartwarmingly, T'Pol also values her (one-sided) friendship with Curzon Dax (Fred Tatasciore). The Vulcan makes a great sacrifice by ing the Dax symbiont's memories via mind meld when Curson is seriously injured. It's safe to say, this is one of the best presentations of T'Pol ever seen in Star Trek. Perhaps Jolene may be even persuaded to play T'Pol again.

T'Pol's Return In Star Trek: Lower Decks Makes Perfect Sense

Fans Hoped Jolene Blalock Would Play T'Pol On Strange New Worlds

Lower Decks T'Pol and Multiverse

Jolene Blalock returning as T'Pol in Star Trek: Lower Decks is an unexpected and welcome shocker, but it's logical. In the years since Star Trek: Enterprise's series finale, Jolene left her acting career, married, and started a family. Blalock made an appearance on Star Trek Day 2021 that ignited fans' hopes she would reprise T'Pol, but no live-action Star Trek on Paramount+ series managed to secure Jolene's comeback as the Vulcan. Voicing T'Pol in a Star Trek animated series makes perfect sense for Jolene, since it required a simpler session in a voice recording booth.

Hopefully, Star Trek: Lower Decks' series finale will find a way for T'Pol to meet T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz).

When Star Trek: Strange New Worlds launched as a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, many fans did the math and determined that T'Pol could still be alive in the mid-23rd century. However, Jolene Blalock would have to portray an elderly T'Pol if she ever guest stars on Strange New Worlds. Thanks to the multiverse, Jolene Blalock is able to reprise T'Pol as close to her Star Trek: Enterprise incarnation as possible, and her animated Vulcan arguably stole the show in Star Trek: Lower Decks' penultimate episode.

Can Jolene Blalock & Star Trek: Enterprise's Cast Return In Live-Action?

Star Trek's Multiverse Opens Up A Possibility

The Star Trek Enterprise Cast

Star Trek: Enterprise's status as a 22nd-century prequel seemed to rule out the possibility of a live-action reunion. It didn't seem feasible for Captain Archer's Enterprise cast to come back together, and the controversial death of Trip Tucker in Star Trek: Enterprise's series finale is another hurdle to overcome. Star Trek on Paramount+'s series like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds referenced Enterprise, but actually seeing Captain Archer and his NX-01 crew again outside of animation seemed highly unlikely.

enterprise_castandcrew

Related

Star Trek: Enterprise Cast & Character Guide

Star Trek: Enterprise introduced new faces to the prequel series set a century before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series.

Posts

However, Star Trek: Lower Decks opened the door to the multiverse (as did Star Trek: Prodigy), and suddenly, there could be a way - if there's a will. Star Trek's multiverse means an alternate reality could be presented where Star Trek: Enterprise's cast could return in a timeline where Trip Tucker never died. There's a Quantum Reality where the NX-01's crew could reappear at their current ages after exploring the galaxy for decades.

Maybe a full-fledged, live-action Star Trek: Enterprise return could happen if fans with faith of the heart demand it.

Whether or not Scott Baluka, Jolene Blalock, and the rest of Enterprise's actors would come back - and if Paramount wants to create a Star Trek: Enterprise reunion show or streaming movie - are the big questions. But maybe a full-fledged, live-action Star Trek: Enterprise return could happen if fans with faith of the heart demand it.