A 'Tantrum' Saved Star Trek: Picard's Enterprise-D Set From Destruction
The third season of "Star Trek: Picard" reunited the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" for one final adventure that gave fans a satisfying conclusion to the beloved TV series, and part of that meant returning to the bridge of one of the franchise's most well-known ships. In the penultimate episode, engineer Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) reveals that he's been restoring the Enterprise-D himself. The ship's former crew need a vessel that's not hooked up to Starfleet systems, and the D is perfect because of its retro technology. Even those who found the farewell to "Next Gen" a little too full of fan-service had to be somewhat excited to see the old gang back on the bridge of a ship not seen since "Star Trek Generations." For many sci-fi nerds of a certain age, the Enterprise-D feels like a second home, and it's joyous to see that some things don't ever change, even with the ravages of time.
The bridge of the Enterprise-D was a brightly lit, beige-and-brown return to the aesthetics of a different time, and the set was immaculately re-created. That's a whole lot of work for just two episodes, but production designer Dave Blass made sure that the set was saved so that it might be used again in future "Star Trek" series. It just took a little tantrum, apparently!
Saving the D
In an interview with Screen Rant, Blass revealed that the set is stored in Archives, which is probably something like the warehouse at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" but with old TV and movie sets. The hardest part for Blass, however, was waiting for the world to see his hard work:
"The set is stored in Archives. They decided that they were going to hold on to this. What they're going to do with it and whatever? And again, it's important to know that we did seasons 2 and 3 back to back. So when everyone's watching, Jurati and the Borg Queen running around with Soong in the lab, we're already done shooting for season 2. So no one's sitting there going, 'Oh my God, we have this great set piece!' We had this idea that we had something amazing sitting in the can. And it wasn't until almost a year later that audiences got to see it. And then everyone's like, 'We better have saved the set.' And I'm like, 'Yes, yes. I threw a tantrum and they saved the set.'"
Blass didn't say what they might do with the set, though there's always potential to return to it if "Picard" season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas gets to make his "Star Trek: Legacy" spin-off series. Then again, they could always make a new "Star Trek Experience" complete with a trip aboard the Enterprise-D. People would drop serious platinum to sit in the captain's chair and say, "engage," so never say never!