Strange New Worlds Episode Pitch: “Cardassia Prime”

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the following Star Trek productions: Deep Space Nine, Enterprise, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds.

Today I’d like to try something a little different. Rather than talking about Star Trek stories that we’ve already seen, I want to write a “pitch” of my own Star Trek episode. This is a story that I think would be a great fit for a future season of Strange New Worlds – or even to celebrate Star Trek’s upcoming sixtieth anniversary. I came up with the idea a couple of years ago, and I’ve already talked about it more than once here on the website.

In brief, what I wanted to create was a Star Trek story that brings together elements from different parts of the franchise – specifically the three different eras in which Star Trek shows have mostly been set (the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Centuries). Combining these different parts of Star Trek results in what I think would be a really enjoyable episode, one which fans of different Star Trek shows could appreciate. Bringing these different elements together could be a fantastic way to celebrate Star Trek as a whole, too, and with the sixtieth anniversary coming up, part of me hopes that Paramount has planned something along the same lines.

A couple of notes before we get started. Despite the title, this is not an “official” pitch! I’ve never had any official contact with Paramount or the creative team behind Strange New Worlds, and although I enjoy writing and have worked on websites, marketing material, and video games in a professional capacity in the past, I’m by no means a scriptwriter or creative type myself. This “pitch” is just for fun; it’s a concept that I think would make for a great Strange New Worlds episode… but it’s one that will certainly never be made.

And as I always say: this is all just one person’s take. If you don’t like this idea and think it wouldn’t work as an episode of Strange New Worlds, that’s totally okay! The Star Trek fan community is big enough for people to have very different opinions about what does and doesn’t make for a fun story. This is one that I think could work well – but I won’t be offended if you disagree!

So let’s get started by talking about the different elements I’ll be including. This episode, which I’m giving the working title of Cardassia Prime, will bring together characters and factions from three different parts of the Star Trek franchise. Representing the 23rd Century we of course have Captain Pike, Spock, and the rest of the crew of the USS Enterprise! But they aren’t the only familiar faces who’ll be making an appearance this time.

Strange New Worlds is set a century after the events of Enterprise, but with the long lives of several Starfleet races (and even humans in this era) it’s always seemed plausible to me that some characters may still be alive. I wanted to create a story in which an Enterprise character came aboard Captain Pike’s ship – and the most obvious choice has always been T’Pol.

T’Pol was the NX-01’s first officer, science officer, and Vulcan attaché, serving under Captain Archer during that ship’s missions of exploration and first contact. She stood by Archer’s side during the Xindi conflict, and played a role in changes to the Vulcan government in the 22nd Century, too. She was also instrumental in the creation of the United Federation of Planets. Everything we know about Vulcans tells us that there’s a high likelihood of T’Pol still being alive in the mid-23rd Century; both Spock and Tuvok lived exceptionally long lives, so there’s no reason to think T’Pol wouldn’t. She could even still working for the Federation or Vulcan government in some capacity as of the time Strange New Worlds is set.

I’ve taken this as a starting point for T’Pol and given her a job similar to Spock’s in The Next Generation two-part episode Unification. For the sake of this story, we’ll say that T’Pol – who played a major role in deepening the alliance between humans and Vulcans that ultimately led to the creation of the Federation – has since taken on an ambassadorial, diplomatic role for the alliance, and it’s in this capacity that she joins Captain Pike’s ship.

What I’d love to see here, beyond the main thrust of the episode’s plot, is the interaction between an older T’Pol and the younger Spock. As the first Vulcan to work extensively with humans and serve aboard a human starship, T’Pol will surely have pearls of wisdom to impart, and may even look at Spock very favourably as someone following in her own footsteps. Although we’re dealing with two cool, logical Vulcans, I think there’s the potential for some genuinely emotional moments between T’Pol and Spock.

T’Pol will present Captain Pike with his new orders shortly after coming aboard: the Enterprise is to proceed to a region of space where a Federation colony vessel has accidentally caused a diplomatic incident by straying into a star system claimed by an unknown alien power. T’Pol’s orders are to defuse the situation and prevent it from escalating into a conflict; Pike’s are to get her there at top speed and do whatever she needs him to do to make it happen. We could see, in the opening act of the episode, T’Pol arriving aboard a Vulcan shuttle similar to the one used by Spock in The Motion Picture, as I think that would be a neat little callback and a fun visual presentation.

The alien power at the centre of the story will be revealed to be the Cardassian Empire – as you’ve probably already figured out from the title! The Federation colony vessel was apprehended while attempting to scout planets in a star system that the Cardassians claim as one of their own, and this will be how the Federation and Cardassians made first contact – something that has never been depicted or explained on screen before.

By creating this backstory of the initial contact between the Federation and Cardassians, one in which war will be barely averted thanks to the efforts of T’Pol and Captain Pike, I think we can lend a bit of perspective to stories in The Next Generation and especially Deep Space Nine. We’ll uncover another chapter of Federation-Cardassian relations, and show that things got off to a rocky start – perhaps lingering ill-will from this incident even contributed to the border wars that we know the Federation and Cardassians fought in the years before The Next Generation.

Because the Cardassians haven’t been seen in detail in Star Trek’s modern era, I think a lot of fans will be thrilled to welcome them back to the franchise. By setting up the Cardassians as the episode’s adversaries, we continue the theme of seeing them as an enemy that was present in Deep Space Nine, but by making the Federation colony ship the one to have made a mistake, we give them at least the barest bones of motivation for acting the way they do toward Starfleet and our heroes. These are not one-dimensional, “evil-for-the-sake-of-it” baddies, and they are able to be negotiated and reasoned with.

In fact, this episode won’t be violent. Captain Pike won’t have to whip out his phaser – or if he does, he won’t have to fire a shot. In true Star Trek style, communication, understanding, and cooperation will be the order of the day, and once it becomes clear what happened – that the colony ship inadvertently entered space claimed by the Cardassians – a pathway will be present that leads to a peaceful resolution. It will take all of T’Pol’s century of experience to avert a conflict and get these negotiations over the line, but it will be possible. Spock will have a role to play here, too.

As a faction we spent so much time with in Deep Space Nine, we know a fair amount about how the Cardassians operate. They’re secretive, militaristic, and can be xenophobic. They fiercely defend their territory, have no qualms about conquering and subjugating others, and have a rigid legal code in which guilt is usually presumed.

But with more than a century of experience under her belt, T’Pol will be able to find a peaceful solution. Neither side wants war, and it’s ultimately going to be in both parties’ best interests to resolve the current situation peacefully – though both Starfleet and the Cardassians will stringently monitor their borders from this point onwards!

In terms of the structure of the episode itself, I think I’d open with a short teaser in which Captain Pike, Spock, and perhaps other members of the bridge crew are preparing for the arrival of an ambassador. They’d be wearing their finest dress uniforms as the shuttle arrives, and there’d be an “honour guard” similar to the one seen in Journey to Babel. When T’Pol is seen for the first time, that’s when the opening titles would kick in. The next sequence would see Pike assign Spock as T’Pol’s aide while she’s aboard the ship, leading to some scenes between them in which we’d get the aforementioned bonding while en route to Cardassian space.

Spock would be curious about T’Pol; she’s somewhat of a legend in his eyes, as one of the first Vulcans to work so extensively with humans, and he sees parallels to his situation. There’s almost a kind of hero worship in the way Spock views T’Pol – something Chapel or Una might tease him about if they have a moment together later in the episode!

As the Enterprise arrives in this new star system, the ship would be confronted by at least one Cardassian vessel. I’d want this ship to look like a stripped-down Galor-class vessel; different enough to be distinct, but similar enough in style and shape that it would be recognisably Cardassian for returning fans. I’m no graphic designer (as you can probably tell) but I think it’s important given the type of story we’re crafting that the design of the new ship is similar enough that it could reasonably be part of the same Cardassian Union that we’re familiar with.

The same would be true of the Cardassians’ uniforms. I wouldn’t want an exact duplicate of the Cardassian armour that debuted in The Next Generation, but as above with the way their ship looks, uniforms/armour would need to be familiar enough that a returning fan could recognise it and understand that it’s part of the same faction – just from an earlier era.

The Cardassian leader would angrily tell Pike to leave the system, threatening the Enterprise before abruptly ending the communication. Pike would then summon T’Pol to the bridge, letting her take the lead when it comes to speaking to the Cardassians. Long-range scans would be able to detect the colony ship – but it’s under guard, and the Cardassians aren’t going to just let the Enterprise rescue it without putting up a fight. Not wanting to trigger a war – and perhaps thinking back on his experiences in the episode A Quality of Mercy – Pike would talk with La’an and Una about a backup plan… just in case T’Pol’s negotiations fail.

At this point, we’d learn that the Cardassians have long been aware of the Federation – but because of how closed-off their society is, they chose to spy from afar rather than make contact. This revelation would be unsettling; Spock would remark that the Cardassians know far more about them than they do about the Cardassians, leaving them at a disadvantage in either combat or communication.

T’Pol would refute this, saying that she’ll use the Cardassians’ assumptions about humans, Vulcans, and the Federation to undermine their claims and turn things to her advantage. Hailing the Cardassians again, T’Pol and Pike propose face-to-face negotiations; these will take place not aboard the Enterprise, but aboard the Cardassian ship. T’Pol will represent the Federation, bringing with her Spock as an aide, Sam Kirk as an anthropological expert, and Uhura to help with any translation or communication issues.

As the away team heads to the transporter room, Pike convenes a meeting of the remaining senior officers. Pelia will bring Scotty along to the meeting, which is to further explore a backup plan – rescuing, if necessary, T’Pol and the away team as well as the impounded ship. La’an and Scotty will work on a tactical/engineering assignment to bring down the Cardassian ship’s shields; Pike wants to keep something in reserve in case things go off the rails.

The interior of the Cardassian ship will probably have to be just one room to keep the budget down, but with the AR wall I’d hope it could be a decently-sized space with a table for the two delegations to sit at. In keeping with the design philosophy we discussed above, there should be enough familiar elements to be recognisably Cardassian but without being a carbon copy of something from Deep Space Nine. I’m thinking of a familiar Cardassian computer display, perhaps doorway arches that are reminiscent of those aboard DS9, and similar lighting and colour schemes.

The Cardassian leader will argue that, under Cardassian law, the colony ship has been rightfully impounded and they have no plans to release it. They were guilty the moment they entered the system, and the Cardassians believe in the presumption of guilt. Unless T’Pol can actively prove their innocence, he plans to send the crew and colonists to a labour camp and seize the ship.

There will be some difficulty with the universal translator at this point, so the conference will go into recess. Uhura will be confused; the translation stopped working for no reason and she can’t figure out why. Spock begins to examine their equipment, but T’Pol will reveal the ruse: she deactivated the translator to give the team a bit of extra time to prepare a defence.

T’Pol will contact Pike, asking him to scan the system for any sign of a Cardassian presence or any kind of beacon or subspace buoy that could’ve warned the colony ship to keep away. Pike promises to do so and sets the crew to the task. With the translator “repaired,” T’Pol can begin her defence.

T’Pol will argue that the colony ship couldn’t have violated any law as there was no way to tell that the Cardassians have laid claim to this apparently-empty system. There are no Cardassian settlements, no space stations, and no obvious military presence. To any passing ship, the system appeared empty, and the colony ship was well within its rights to enter the system and begin performing scans.

The Cardassians will dispute this, saying that ignorance of the law is not an excuse for breaking the law. The colony ship entered their system, that is beyond dispute. Furthermore, by conducting scans, the ship could’ve been spying for the Federation, trying to discover Cardassian military secrets. T’Pol remarks that, just because that’s how the Cardassians operate, it doesn’t mean Starfleet behaves the same way. She appeals to the Cardassians’ knowledge of Vulcans, reminding them that Vulcans are incapable of lying; if she swears the colony ship wasn’t spying, then it wasn’t.

Pike contacts the away team, confirming that there’s no way the colony ship could’ve detected any Cardassian presence in the system. The Cardassians left no warning, no buoy enforcing their claimed border, and no indication whatsoever that they considered this empty system to be their territory. T’Pol thanks Pike for the information and adds it to her argument. She then chastises the Cardassians for arresting the crew of the ship without cause, and suggests that, if the captain won’t release the colonists, she’ll take the matter directly to the Cardassian government.

The Cardassian captain is clearly rattled by this idea, as he wants to solve the matter himself. Seeing the potential for a career-ending incident, he backs down – but insists that the Enterprise and the colony ship leave the system immediately. T’Pol agrees, noting that the system will be declared off-limits to future Federation vessels heading this way. She adds that, now first contact has been made, it would be logical for both the Cardassian Union and the Federation to designate a formal border; the Cardassian captain nods, and the away team departs.

Back aboard the Enterprise, Scotty and La’an have struggled to find a way past the Cardassian ship’s defences; Scotty remarks that their ship is almost a perfect match for the Enterprise in terms of weapons and shields; a shooting match between them could go either way. Even with Ortegas’ fancy piloting, the vessels would still be evenly matched if a fight were to break out.

With the situation now under control, the Cardassians release the colony ship. Pike gets confirmation that the crew and colonists are all accounted for an unharmed, and the two ships depart the system. First contact with the Cardassians was eventful – but fortunately, non-violent.

In her cabin, T’Pol would be sending a final message to Federation HQ before preparing to disembark. Spock enters, telling her how he appreciated getting to work with her on this assignment – and he will escort her to the transporter room. T’Pol gives Spock some words of advice on working with humans – but as she stands on the transporter pad, she gives Spock a smile before dematerialising. Spock finds this “fascinating,” and the credits roll.

Obviously I didn’t write any dialogue; this is an outline or concept rather than a full script! But I hope I’ve been able to communicate the broad strokes of what this Cardassia Prime episode would look and feel like.

My objective was to bring together elements from the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Centuries, tying together all three of Star Trek’s “main” eras with one narrative arc. This storyline would also avoid treading on the toes of anything previously established in Star Trek; unlike Strange New Worlds’ introduction of the Gorn, for example, or Discovery’s redesign of the Klingons, the history of how the Cardassians and Federation made first contact has never been so much as mentioned. All we know for sure is that, as of the mid-24th Century, there had been a conflict of some kind situated on the border. This story would foreshadow that in a way, while also connecting events in the 24th Century to this earlier time period.

We absolutely could flesh out this story a lot more. In my head, the negotiation sequence is quite tense and takes up much of the middle and latter part of the episode. T’Pol and the Cardassian captain – who could be played by an actor who previously had a role in Deep Space Nine – would talk around each other for several minutes, and there’d be a real sense that she and the away team were in danger. I also wanted to make sure that Pike and the other characters back on the ship weren’t just sitting on their hands – though there could be a lesson there, I suppose!

I was a little hesitant to put this story treatment together for one primary reason: Jolene Blalock, who played T’Pol in all four seasons of Enterprise, had seemingly retired and hadn’t expressed a wish to return to the role. However, Blalock was convinced to reprise her role (albeit in voice form only) in Lower Decks, so I no longer feel it’d be impossible for Strange New Worlds to bring her back for a role like this.

Given the show’s place in the timeline, it’s not completely implausible to think one of the NX-01’s human crew members could still be around – Dr McCoy lived long enough to attend the launch of the Enterprise-D, after all! But given that they’d all be over 100 years old by the time of Strange New Worlds, it seems less likely that any of them would be as involved in Starfleet or as active. We could do something like Relics, bringing in a character who’d been in some kind of stasis for a long time, but when I considered all of the ways to include a character from Enterprise, the most logical choice was T’Pol.

So that’s my “episode pitch!” I hope you didn’t get too attached to it, because it’s never going to be produced. Still, it’s fun to speculate and fantasise, and with Star Trek’s sixtieth anniversary approaching, I’d really love to see at least one episode that really celebrates different aspects of the franchise’s history. Since Star Trek returned to the small screen there have been plenty of moments where characters or factions from past iterations of the franchise have appeared – and that’s fantastic. I haven’t heard much about a potential sixtieth anniversary crossover or special episode, though, and realistically if something like that is gonna happen, production will need to begin fairly soon.

In 1996, Star Trek made a splash for its thirtieth anniversary! Deep Space Nine created the wonderful Trials and Tribble-ations, splicing the new and old footage to transport the cast into a classic episode of The Original Series. And some fans tend to overlook the equally enjoyable Flashback, which saw Captain Janeway and Tuvok pay a visit to the USS Excelsior under Captain Sulu’s command. I was a massive Trekkie back in ’96, and I remember the UK’s official Star Trek magazine ran a special edition for the anniversary. I think I still have my copy in the attic somewhere… I wonder if it’s worth anything?

We’ve veered off-topic somehow! To get back on track, I’d love to see an episode like my imagined Cardassia Prime as part of Star Trek’s sixtieth anniversary celebrations. A story which brings together different parts of the franchise, including a character crossover, feels like the perfect way for the franchise to celebrate all things Star Trek and to write a “love letter to the fans.” I’m glad that I was able to finally put (metaphorical) pen to paper and share the bare bones of this idea with you.

Strange New Worlds’ third season is coming up later this year, so I hope you’ll stay tuned here on the website for my take on the show’s real episodes when they arrive! Until then, I hope this has been a bit of fun. Thanks for joining me on this adventure with Captain Pike and the crew!

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Seasons 1 & 2 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the service is available. The series is also available on DVD and Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including Strange New Worlds and all other properties mentioned above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.