Star Trek: United – President Archer’s Son’s Mother Revealed

Scott Bakula’s proposed comeback series set decades after Star Trek: Enterprise gets an intriguing update regarding President Jonathan Archer’s (Scott Bakula) children, and who the mother of one of Archer’s sons is.

Star Trek: Enterprise writer-producer Michael Sussman, with Scott Bakula, created Star Trek: United, a vehicle that could bring Bakula back to Star Trek, in the same way Patrick Stewart returned as Admiral Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard.

Michael Sussman conceives Star Trek: United as a prestige TV series in the vein of Star Wars: Andor; a political thriller set in the late 22nd century, where Jonathan Archer serves as the first President of the United Federation of Planets.

Star Trek: United is less a sequel to Star Trek: Enterprise than it is a spinoff, and Mike Sussman plans a complex family drama involving President Archer and his four adult children, who pursue different careers of serving the Federation, some perhaps at odds with their father.

Appearing on the Sci-Finatics podcast, Mike Sussman dropped fascinating new details about Star Trek: United, and he also reached out to ScreenRant to confirm the identity of the mother of one of President Archer’s children. You can watch the podcast below:

One Of President Archer’s Children In Star Trek: United Uses His Mother’s Last Name: Hernandez

In Star Trek: United, one of President Archer’s children serves in Starfleet, and he uses the surname “Hernandez” instead of “Archer.” Mike Sussman confirmed that the mother of Archer’s son, who is a Starfleet Officer, is Captain Erika Hernandez (Ada Mariz).

Captain Erika Hernandez was introduced in Star Trek: Enterprise season 4, and she appeared in three episodes, “Home,” “Affliction,” and “Divergence.” Hernandez was the Captain of the NX-02 Columbia, Starfleet’s second Warp 5-capable starship after Enterprise.

Hernandez was also Jonathan Archer’s former flame. The relationship didn’t work out because, as Erika told Jonathan, like him, she is “married to Starfleet.” NX-02 Columbia launched in 2154 thanks to Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer), who transferred to Hernandez’s ship and upgraded Columbia’s warp engines.

Mike Sussman was quick to stress on Sci-Finatics that while Erika Hernandez is the mother of at least one of Jonathan Archer’s children, it doesn’t necessarily mean Erika and Jonathan ever got married. Sussman hopes Ada Maris would reprise Hernandez if Star Trek: United is greenlit.

President Archer’s 4 Children In Star Trek United Explained

Mike Sussman also elaborated on President Archer’s four children he created for Star Trek: United, although Mike only dropped information on three of them and hasn’t named any of Archer’s offspring.

In Star Trek: United, President Archer’s four children have lead roles, but they are scattered across the galaxy. One of Archer’s children is in diplomacy, another works for Federation Intelligence (a separate organization from Starfleet Intelligence), and Jonathan’s son, who uses “Hernandez” as his surname, is in Starfleet.

Sussman also explained that Archer’s son uses “Hernandez” to avoid “preferential treatment” in Starfleet because of his famous father. This is an interesting detail since Erika Hernandez was also a Starfleet captain, of the second NX starship, no less. Perhaps this is a hint of Erika’s career compared to Archer’s.

Intriguingly, there is a fourth Archer child whom Michael Sussman hasn’t described. Mike also hasn’t elaborated on who the mother or mothers of Jonathan Archer’s other children are in Star Trek: United, or whether Archer is married in the series.

However, the fact that Star Trek: United depicts Jonathan Archer has moved beyond the ‘lonely Captain of the Enterprise’ trope and had children is gratifying, as this is a post-Enterprise life that has eluded many of Archer’s successors like Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner).

Star Trek: United Is Not A Real Show (Yet)

Mike Sussman has only revealed dollops of information about Star Trek: United, and Sussman is quick to remind eager fans that Star Trek: United is just “a delightful fantasy” right now and not a real TV show in development at Paramount+.

However, legendary concept artist and designer Andrew Probert has been working with Sussman on designs for President Archer’s new starship, tentatively dubbed ‘Starfleet One’ or ‘Federation One,’ so various details about Star Trek: United are being prepped in case the series is greenlit.

Star Trek: United centers on Jonathan Archer and his family, but Mike Sussman has ideas on how to bring back various characters from Star Trek: Enterprise, depending on the actors’ availability.

This includes Commander Trip Tucker, as Sussman hints that Trip’s death in Star Trek: Enterprise‘s series finale may not have played out like it did in the episode’s holodeck simulation where Tucker sacrificed himself to save Captain Archer from alien marauders.

Mike Sussman first revealed Star Trek: United to TrekMovie at STLV: Trek to Vegas in August, and, since then, the idea has grown like a wildfire. Star Trek’s fandom not only wants Scott Bakula to reprise Jonathan Archer, but the concept of Star Trek: United is powerful, intriguing, and unlike existing Star Trek series.

While Star Trek: United is just an idea and a potential pitch at the moment, fingers are crossed that the new, Star Trek-friendly management of Paramount Skydance will see the merit and potential in Scott Bakula’s Star Trek comeback.

At the very least, fans now hope Star Trek: United gets made to learn more about President Archer’s family, who the mother(s) of his children are, and get a clear picture of Jonathan Archer’s life after his decade as Captain of the NX-01 in Star Trek: Enterprise.

Release Date

2005 – 2005-00-00

Showrunner

Brannon Braga

Directors

Brannon Braga