Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 3 – “Jinaal”
Star Trek: Discovery season 5 reveals one of the USS Discovery’s crew was very happy when the USS Enterprise crossed over. In a shocking twist, the Starship Enterprise intercepted the USS Discovery in the final moments of Star Trek: Discovery season 1’s finale. This opened the door for Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) to take command of the USS Discovery in Star Trek: Discovery season 2. Pike, along with Number One (Rebecca Romijn) and Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) proved to be so popular, that they received their own spinoff, which became Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery have left their 23rd-century lives long behind. Now living in the year 3191, Burnham and Discovery are hot on the trail of the Progenitors’ ancient technology that can create life, itself, which was discovered by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the USS Enterprise-D in the 24th century of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Aboard the USS Discovery, Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) is under orders to get to know his new crew, which led to a revelation about Lt. Commander Gen Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon) and his love for Constitution Class starships.
During Lt. Commander Gen Rhys’ extremely brief meeting with Commander Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 3, “JInaal,” he was asked to describe something personal in 20 words or less. The USS Discovery’s Chief Tactical Officer revealed he loves Constitution Class starships. Rhys told Rayner and Lieutenant Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman:
Rhys was the USS Discovery’s Tactical Officer throughout Star Trek: Discovery season 2, and Gen must have secretly been thrilled when the Disco teamed up with the USS Enterprise. The classic Constitution Class Enterprise, NCC-1701, was kept out of the fighting during the Klingon War, but it saw plenty of action when it joined the Crossfield Class USS Discovery in the final battle against Control. Lt. Rhys, as he was ranked at that time, likely enjoyed being so close to the most legendary Constitution Class ship in Starfleet before Discovery jumped to the 32nd century.
Long after Starfleet retired the 23rd century Constitution Class, the USS Enterprise found another admirer in the 25th century: Star Trek: Picard’s Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers). In Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 6, “The Bounty,” Jack confessed his love of Captain James T. Kirk’s (William Shatner) USS Enterprise-A to Commander Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) when the USS Titan-A was docked at the Fleet Museum on Athan Prime:
The reverence Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard have for the 23rd-century Constitution Class isn’t surprising. The Starship Enterprise boasts an iconic design, and it’s one of the most distinctive and unforgettable spaceships in pop culture. Star Trek has featured numerous beautiful starships, but the Crossfield Class USS Discovery and the Constitution Class USS Titan-A are essentially variants of the original USS Enterprise design. The 23rd century Constitution Class USS Enterprise is a true classic, and Lt. Commander Gen Rhys got to see it up close in Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1 and 2.
New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 stream Thursdays on Paramount+