Jonathan Frakes Names His Dream Cast For Star Trek: Legacy
At the conclusion of the third season of "Star Trek: Picard," after the villains had been defeated, showrunner Terry Matalas had properly and carefully set up another "Star Trek" spinoff series, should Paramount+ have wanted it. Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) had received a posthumous recommendation for a captaincy from her late commanding officer Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) and was put in command of the U.S.S. Titan-A, now newly rechristened the U.S.S. Enterprise-G. One can perhaps assume that the rechristening was a special favor for the aging Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) now over 100 and happy to have a legacy.
Also serving on the Enterprise-G were a raft of characters seen throughout "Picard," most notably Seven's ex-girlfriend Raffi (Michelle Hurd), who would serve as her first officer. Picard's adult son Jack (Ed Speleers) was hastened through Starfleet Academy and was already serving as an ensign. Also onboard were the Titan's other senior staff, including Lieutenant Matthew Arliss Mura (Joseph Lee), Ensign Kova Rin Esmar (Jin Maley), Ensign Sidney La Forge (Ashlei Sharp Chestnutt), and Dr. Ohk (Tiffany Shepis). Matalas has made no secret of the fact that he would love to feature this crew and the Enterprise-G in a series he would call "Star Trek: Legacy."
In a recent StarTrek.com interview with Jonathan Frakes, longtime "Star Trek" actor and prolific TV director, the veteran talked a little bit about who he would like to see on any potential versions of "Star Trek: Legacy." Naturally, Will Riker — the character Frakes first played on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1987 — would be a regular on the show. In Frakes' vision, Riker would be an admiral and a liaison to the show's younger characters, like Charlie in "Charlie's Angels."
Riker's Angels
Riker appeared throughout the third season of "Star Trek: Picard," and one of the dramatic subplots involved his reconciliation from his wife Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis). The two had become uncomfortable in their relationship since the death of their young son, and it would take a kidnapping and an extreme combat scenario to bring them close again. In the show's final scenes, they even talk about going to Florida on their vacation, a difficult feat, seeing as Florida was destroyed back during the events of "Star Trek: Enterprise."
With their relationship ostensibly patched, Frakes would love to see Riker and Troi back together again and involved in the action. Seven of Nine may be the captain of the Enterprise-G, but, as Frakes sees it, Riker should be there to helm a starship of his own. He said:
"The Rikers' marriage is back on track. In my mind, for the show to be able to move forward, Riker would have to be a captain and have his ship, or he would be promoted to admiral and be a liaison. I'm only half-kidding when I say it would be great for me if the show carries on and I'm like Charlie from 'Charlie's Angels.' They'd have to come to my office one day a week for a meeting with Riker. That'd be perfect. Then I could direct a bunch of the episodes and be around the show."
This all feels a mite cheeky on Frakes' part, and he may only be half-serious. He's been known to make similar suggestions for himself in the past.
Legacy, dammit
This author recalls seeing Frakes speak at a "Star Trek" convention back in the early 1990s, right when "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" had debuted. Frakes was asked by an audience member if anything further would be done with Thomas Riker, a transporter-created duplicate of Will Riker. Frakes smirked and suggested that Thomas should be stationed on "Deep Space Nine." The suggestion was clearly less driven by storytelling requirements and was more a clear plea to get more acting work from the franchise.
So it seems Frakes would cast "Legacy" thus, saying:
"I suspect if it does go forward, it would be Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, and Ed Speelers, who's now in Starfleet, and Mica Burton and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut, who played Geordi's daughters. I would also imagine Lulu Wilson, who played the Rikers' daughter in season one and was so fabulous, could be a part of it. She could come back and maybe be in Starfleet. It feels to me like there's a real opportunity for three of the legacy characters' children to carry on and sort of be the next 'Star Trek: The Next Generation.' It just feels like it's laid out there. It's the blueprint for the next phase."
Mica Burton is the daughter of LeVar Burton who played Geordi La Forge on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Mica played Alandra La Forge, Geordi's daughter, on "Picard." Lulu Wilson played a character named Kestra, who was indeed Riker's and Troi's daughter, but didn't appear in the third season of Picard. Wilson, 17, has also appeared in "Ouija: Origin of Evil" and the two "Becky" movies.
In a series with the word "Legacy" in the title, it seems that scrounging up as many legacy characters as possible may very well be a creative mandate.