The Wild Plan That Could Bring Back A Popular Dead Star Trek Character

The third season of "Star Trek: Picard" introduced one of the best new "Star Trek" characters in many years. Captain Liam Shaw, played by Todd Stashwick, was the commanding officer of the U.S.S. Titan-A, a massively retrofitted version of the ship once commanded by Captain Riker (Jonathan Frakes). Shaw was brusque, protective, and had no patience for propriety. When Riker and Picard (Patrick Stewart) — deeply respected throughout Starfleet — ask to borrow the Titan for a secret, personal mission, Shaw immediately refused. No, you cannot use my ship. He then assigns them uncomfortable bunk beds to sleep in. 

Shaw is a bit of an a-hole, but he's not wrong. He is under no obligation to flout the rules for Riker and Picard, and gets furious with them when their personal mission attracts attackers and bounty hunters. He didn't ask for that. Shaw also had a combative relationship with his first officer, Commander Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), formerly of "Star Trek: Voyager." He insisted, quite rudely, on calling her by her birth name. He lives by the book, and is a former engineer who never really wanted to be a captain. That's novel for "Star Trek": the captain who hates his job. He was gloriously cantankerous, and many Trekkies were very, very upset when he died before "Picard" ended. 

Showrunner Terry Matalas, in the final episodes of "Picard," was clearly setting up a backdoor pilot. The series ended with Seven of Nine as the captain of the Titan-A, recently rechristened the Enterprise-G, as she trekked into the stars on her own mission of exploration. This was meant to lead into a spin-off series that Matalas wanted to call "Star Trek: Legacy." Sadly, Shaw would not be part of this new show, as he was dead.

But at a recent Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, Nevada (as covered by TrekMovie), Matalas and Stashwick both went on record as to how Captain Shaw might have returned.

It seems Shaw would have been the Enterprise-G's emergency engineering hologram. It should immediately be noted that Matalas' ploy didn't work. Although he handed Paramount a new series on a silver platter, the company didn't take the bait. "Star Trek: Legacy" was not greenlit, and no official movement was made on production. Many Trekkies wanted "Star Trek: Legacy," and there were letter-writing campaigns supporting Matalas' ideas, but they bore no fruit. Matalas moved on to the series "Vision Quest," and the Shaw character remained forever dead. 

There were some fun fan theories suggesting Shaw would have returned for "Legacy," however, brought back to life by Borg nanites. This would have been an irony for the character, as he always hated the Borg for the untold destruction they wrought on Starfleet. Matalas has been notoriously coy about the state of "Legacy," but the project had been shut down for long enough that he likely felt comfortable speaking about it at a Trek convention. A fan asked if Shaw would have been resurrected by Borg technology for "Legacy," and Matalas said no. He did, however, say that there was still a place for Shaw. In his words: 

"I will say, since we're so far away from the possibility of 'Legacy,' that [Shaw] wasn't going to come back to life with Borg nanites ... He was going to be the Emergency Engineering Hologram who did not want to turn off, and was really pissed off that the Titan was turned into the Enterprise, and would refuse to call it the Enterprise, until late." 

Stashwick added that he would be called the "Shaw-logram." This is perfect for Shaw. 

As mentioned, Captain Shaw was a former engineer. It's explained in "Picard" that he only stumbled into starship command during a high-stakes battle wherein his commanding officer was killed. He seemingly resented being a captain, didn't like high-risk missions, and was way more interested in mechanics and engineering. The idea of having an emergency humanoid hologram on a starship was introduced in "Star Trek: Voyager," when the ship's chief medical officer died and was replaced by a temporary holographic helper. The holographic Doctor (Robert Picardo) eventually gained sentience and formed a personality of his own. 

And if there's an emergency medical hologram, then surely other starship departments would have their own emergency replacements as well. On "Star Trek: Prodigy," there was an emergency command hologram played by Kate Mulgrew, for instance. Why not have a holographic engineer as well? And why not have Shaw's memories and personality implanted in the hologram, effectively resurrecting him? He would be relieved not to be captain anymore, and he would indeed be pissed off that his ship, the Titan-A, was rechristened the Enterprise-G without his say. The dynamic between Shaw and Seven of Nine was fascinating: They had to work very closely together as colleagues, but hated each other personally. With a holographic Shaw, that dynamic could have been maintained. 

But then, this is all academic. "Legacy" remains a dream, and it seems more and more unlikely that it will ever be made. Matalas has been calmly diplomatic about the show, saying: 

"There's still lots of Trek to look forward to. There's the final season of 'Strange New Worlds,' and 'Starfleet Academy.' So I think even we're though we're all on the sidelines, we're still cheering on the franchise."

That's very ambassadorial of him, which is in the spirit of "Star Trek." The fact that we've been robbed of more Liam Shaw stories is another reason to be upset that "Legacy" will never come into being.