How do/did you feel about the return of the Enterprise-D?

[The Wormhole]

I am big fan of the Enterprise D. I loved watching it fly again. However, I also felt that it was unrealistic. Until I thought about the Dominion War. If you look at the US Naval Fleet destroyed at Pearl Harbor in 1941 you will see the monumental effort it took to restore the bulk of that fleet back to active service.

Key word there is that they were restored back to active service. The Enterprise D was extensively restored strictly to be a museum ship.

During wartime money and resources are not considered as much as in peace time and the resources needed to bring the Ent-D saucer back to service could have been allocated.

Except the work wasn't done in wartime. It was started after the Dominion War ended. Indeed, by the time this was started, the Romulan evacuation would have been underway, at which point, those resources are going to be channeled into constructing new mass personnel transports, like we saw orbiting Mars before the attack. Not into restoring a museum piece.

Now, yes, after the destruction of Utopia Planitia when Starfleet's shipbuilding capabilities were severely reduced, restoring older ships back into active service would be a very legitimate option. But again, they did not put the Enterprise D back into active service, but rather left it in the museum.

No, none of this makes any real sense no matter how you look at it.

 

[Trekgeekscott]

return of Enterprise D? Nostalgic overkill. It was completely unnecessary. I rolled my eyes when that came about. The D was lost in Generations. They should have left it buried.

 

[Trekgeekscott]

Hardly. Emotions are welcome from all and hope it happens more.

Certainly I tear up during ST 09 still.

I've seen Wrath of Khan probably 250 + times and I still tear up when Spock
dies. Know it's coming. Know he is resurrected in the next movie. But it's still painful and some of the finest acting Shatner had ever done...which isn't saying much.

 

[Admiral Kirk]

It was started after the Dominion War ended.

What I was trying to say was Geordi began restoring 20 years prior to Picard Season 3 but it may have had some work done to it during the Dominion War and that work was halted when the war was over and then it was transferred to the museum. Geordi eventually takes over as curator of the museum and finishes.

It's not impossible but i agree that the whole thing is hard to swallow.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

It was cheap but enjoyable fanwank. It didn’t really hit me in the feels all that much.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Best "Feels" moment in the show. Even though I knew it was coming.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

I like to think that in the aftermath of “Star Trek Picard” season 3, The Enterprise-D had a whole season of adventures while the fleet was getting rebuilt and decontaminated of youngling viruses or whatever.

Along for the ride? Captain Riker, finally getting the big chair like he always wanted. Troi ever at his side, especially with Kestra off at the academy. Data at ops and in therapy with the best reactivated counselor in the fleet. Commander Seven getting much-needed CO training while serving as first officer. Raffi at tactical. Crash LaForge at the helm.

And, oh, let’s say Ensign Kim too.

Mark

 

[Admiral Kirk]

3, The Enterprise-D had a whole season of adventures while the fleet was getting rebuilt
Mark

The Fleet had taken heavy losses and the crew members aboard had been assimilated. Though released from Borg control and seemingly ok to resume duties they had killed their older experienced officers. There was a huge mess to sort out along with ship repair and replacement.

And who was there to keep the peace while Starfleet got back on its feet? The Enterprise D and the Titan. You can partly see the process of rebuilding at the end of Picard in Seven's promotion, Jacks hasty introduction into an important position on the G, Raffis appointment as first officer, Troi counseling Data, etc. The old crew was needed. The younger crew members were not unimportant or weak, they just happened to be vulnerable/target of the Borgs attack and all that was left was the older officers.

One could suppose it took a year to restore the D completely for its placement in the museum and it spent the year being worked on but why spend the resources to do that when the fleet needs attention? Once placed on display they could tackle repairs and neccessary.

There are some stories for the Big D in that year she had before being mothballed that are begging to be told. Maybe it will only be in books but I would love to read them.

 

[The Wormhole]

I doubt the Enterprise D was up to anything interesting in the missing year. After the immediate aftermath of the Frontier Day fiasco, it probably just spent the year doing a publicity tour of the Federation before returning to the museum.

And indeed, it should be noted the "One Year Later" caption was added in post-production and was not originally intended in the script, as indicated by the fact that in the poker scene, Riker and Deanna still haven't decided to go on the vacation they were discussing just before "One Year Later" popped up.

 

[somebuddyX]

If one uses their imagination a little you can imagine that some Galaxy class lost their saucer section in combat during the dominion war or even in the Battle of Sector 001 in first contact.

Great post! I've thought about this idea myself a bit. I imagined during a Dominion War battle a Galaxy class ship getting shot up and the saucer gets swiss cheesed and they have to separate mid-battle, leaving the stardrive as the only operating piece. I never actually thought about would happen next to the stardrive though!

 

[Commander Richard]

I figure it's the 25th century. There's probably some different technical, social and economic realities that allowed them to restore the ship in a way that's realistic in that era. What are those differences? Don't know. This is where some creative speculation begins.

I didn't find it unrealistic anyway, so I don't think there's much that needs to be a stretch.

 

[Praetor]

Forgive me for making this sound like a Trek Tech thread for a second...

While I enjoyed the D's return as already mentioned, there's definitely a separate discussion that could be had about just how it came about and how plausible that all is given what we see in "Picard."

Some topics that should inform that discussion...

1. Starfleet Shipbuilding - What was the state of Starfleet shipbuilding in the late 24th century? "Picard" S1 seems to imply that it's not great after the loss of Utopia Planitia. Even though Starfleet has other shipyards, this would seem to make sense as I always got the impression that Utopia Planitia had the best minds, facilities and so forth. Not to mention the great amount of resources that were likely redirected there to build the Romulan relocation fleet and then lost when all that was destroyed. Starfleet would have also likely expended a great deal of resources prior to that in the Dominion War and probably hadn't had time to recover. But, we do see a recovery happening in the form of the many new ships we see in "Picard" S2 and S3. I'd say this is overall inconclusive and has little bearing on the return of the D.
2. The Galaxy Class - Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think we see a single other Galaxy-class starship in all of "Prodigy," "Lower Decks" or "Picard." Now, I'm a fan of the design and would like to think. that they all finally got to go on their long delayed deep-space missions once the Dominion War ashes settled but this omission seems a bit ominous. By the time of "Picard" the design is nearly fifty years old, which by "TSFS" the original Enterprise's "day was over" at a rebuilt twenty. That said, the "TNG Technical Manual" postulates a 100-year lifespan for the Galaxy-class and it would be a shame to see this reduced to a mere fifty for some arbitrary reason. It seems particularly unlikely if Starfleet does desperately need any operational ship it can get. I'd say this is similarly inconclusive.
   
3. The Enterprise-D - Down one stardrive, check. But in "Generations" Picard very clearly says "the Enterprise herself cannot be salvaged." He says "cannot" rather than "will not" which suggests there is something about the state of the ship that precludes slapping another stardrive section on the saucer and calling it good. Perhaps there is something that keeps Starfleet from hauling the saucer from Veridian III at all? The "TNG Technical Manual" mentions that an emergency saucer landing "that the vehicle would be a total loss insofar as ever being returned to operational service due to the extreme loads placed upon it, which would result in deep, unrecoverable alloy damage." Nobody ever says, however, that the D should be returned to active duty. After all, she was salvaged for Prime Directive reasons and Geordi was probably only restoring her for use as a museum ship.
4. The Syracuse - When I first watched "Picard" I imagined that the Syracuse "engines and nacelles" were probably from a Nebula-class ship that had had its saucer destroyed and Geordi sourced an interconnecting dorsal from a scrapped Galaxy-class ship from the Dominion War, but this was clearly not the intent. Still, what was the condition of the Syracuse? Geordi's "engines and nacelles" line may have been intended to refer to the stardrive as a whole, but suppose it didn't. Perhaps the core of the stardrive came from another vessel, say the Challenger, and the actual engines came from the Syracuse or similar. In any case, we can suppose the Syracuse was probably a wreck in a way similar to the Enteprise-D. Otherwise, why would the saucer be gone and port nacelle housing be such a mess?

My conclusion is that the combined Syraprise was operational in name but probably a deathtrap for active service. Geordi was restoring her only for the museum as a result and it probably had nothing to do with the state of the rest of the fleet or the Galaxy class at large. The two components were undesirable for service because they were both wrecked, so Starfleet overlooked them and Geordi was able to requisition them and found enough spare resources (from a now mostly recovered Starfleet) to do what he wanted probably from surplus depots and other scrapyards. The successful mission to stop the Borg was a combined testament to Geordi's people's work, the crew operating her, and that plain old dumb luck that seems to alternatingly help and hinder ships named Enterprise.

Even ones only half-named Enterprise.

 

[The Wormhole]

erhaps the core of the stardrive came from another vessel, say the Challenger, and the actual engines came from the Syracuse or similar.

I thought the name Syracuse is actually visible on the ship's neck right next to the forward torpedo tube? That would make it clear the entire stardrive section is from the Syracuse.

 

[TroiFan4ever]

It was cheap but enjoyable fanwank. It didn’t really hit me in the feels all that much.

return of Enterprise D? Nostalgic overkill. It was completely unnecessary. I rolled my eyes when that came about. The D was lost in Generations. They should have left it buried.

These are interesting takes.

I use the word "interesting" because I like hearing from people in this thread on both ends of the stick. Not just from people who did enjoy it (though that seems to make up the majority of users who replied to this thread and even viewers of the show itself) but also from those who actually didn't enjoy it or couldn't care less.

I enjoyed it, not JUST because of nostalgia but also because we saw at the end of Generations D's saucer being removed from Veridian III instead of just letting her rot away there on the planet surface. I'm certain I'm not the only person who'd been occasionally wondering what became of the saucer section.

 

[DonIago]

I enjoyed it, not JUST because of nostalgia but also because we saw at the end of Generations D's saucer being removed from Veridian III instead of just letting her rot away there on the planet surface. I'm certain I'm not the only person who'd been occasionally wondering what became of the saucer section.

Mmmm...no, we saw Our Heroes salvaging materials and personal possessions from the saucer, but there was no effort underway to salvage the bulk of the saucer itself. We definitely did not see the saucer being removed.

That said, I figured Starfleet would retrieve the saucer eventually due to PD concerns if nothing else. I didn't really have thoughts as to whether they'd end up repairing or scrapping it one way or the other though.

 

[Praetor]

I thought the name Syracuse is actually visible on the ship's neck right next to the forward torpedo tube? That would make it clear the entire stardrive section is from the Syracuse.

It is, and I'm very reaching, but who's to say it wasn't pre-cobbled and relabeled Syracuse for... reasons.

It's almost as problematic as the NCC-17744 registry number.

 

[Commander Richard]

How hard is it to just repaint "Enterprise, NCC-1701-D" on the hull?

No paint 'til Tuesday?

 

[somebuddyX]

I think they simultaneously want it to be a part time project Geordi is doing at home in his garage, meanwhile it's at a giant spacedock that seems to be fully automated and run by drones. Does anyone even visit this museum? Surely some in-universe Starfleet/Enterprise fanboy would be having an epic meltdown if they walked past an open window and saw the D just floating there and five seconds later pics of it would be on the Space Internet.

 

[Commander Richard]

^ I thought about that too. Maybe the hanger was closed off. That's a lot of windows, but it's doable. I'd hope.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I seriously wish I could go back and relive it.

Buy the DVD set.

And it was beautiful. A moment of beauty at the end of nearly 40 minutes of escalating horror.