Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl) appears in Star Trek: Section 31, and I hope her life before Star Trek: The Next Generation keeps being explored. Starring Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh as Emperor Georgiou, Section 31 will take place during Star Trek’s “lost era” of the early 24th century. Although the film’s storyline remains unknown, it appears Georgiou will be recruiting team members for a top-secret Section 31 mission. Based on the teaser, Section 31 looks unlike any Trek that has been done before, and I’m excited to see where the story goes.

Star Trek: Section 31’s new cast looks great. Michelle Yeoh is always phenomenal, of course, but Kacey Rohl’s Rachel Garrett is especially interesting. Originally played by Tricia O’Neill, Captain Garrett was introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 15, “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” as the Captain of the USS Enterprise-C. Although Garrett only appears in a couple of scenes, Rachel holds the distinction of being the first woman to command the Enterprise and I have always wanted to learn more about her. Section 31’s young Rachel Garrett already looks very different from the one we met on TNG, and I want to see the character’s full journey.

Star Trek: Section 31
will flash back to Philippa Georgiou’s childhood, revealing how she became the ruthless Mirror Universe Emperor.

Star Trek Should Tell More Stories About Enterprise Captain Rachel Garrett

Rachel Garrett Deserves To Be The Star Of Her Own Star Trek Story

In only one Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, Captain Rachel Garrett made quite an impression. When the USS Enterprise-C emerges from a rift in spacetime, the USS Enterprise-D suddenly transforms into a battleship involved in a devastating war with the Klingons. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) then has the unenviable task of informing Garrett of her doomed future, as history recorded the Enterprise-C as being destroyed. Even injured and grieving, Garrett realizes that something is off when she is brought to the Enterprise-D. When Captain Picard visits Garrett in sickbay, she questions him until he reveals that she and her ship have traveled 22 years into the future.

Garrett takes this revelation without even flinching, immediately worried about how her crew will take the news. I love the way this one scene paints Garret as a character. She comes across as an incredibly intelligent, skilled, and caring captain even on her worst day. I immediately wanted to know more about her, but Star Trek has revealed very little about Garrett onscreen. While Star Trek: Section 31 will hopefully answer some questions about the oft-forgotten Enterprise captain, I hope Star Trek continues to tell more stories about her beyond the Michelle Yeoh-led Section 31 movie.

Star Trek’s “Lost Era” Is Full Of Fascinating Untold Stories

A Future Trek Project Could Answer A Lot Of Questions

I want to see a future project dive fully into Star Trek’s “lost era.” Any series or film involving the USS Enterprise will find an audience, and I desperately want to see Captain Garrett in command of the Enterprise-C in all its glory. Whether in a full television series, a mini-series, or a series of films, Star Trek could get a lot of mileage out of stories from the early 24th century. For example, I would love to learn what happened to the USS Enterprise-B after Star Trek Generations, or maybe find out how the USS Bozeman got stuck in the time loop seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Cause and Effect.”

A story set during Star Trek’s “lost era” could even check in on Picard during his command of the USS Stargazer. These are the kinds of projects I want to see as a Star Trek fan, ones that tell new stories, but fill in the gaps of established Star Trek canon. It’s difficult to imagine a story flopping when it features a ship named Enterprise and a character as compelling as Rachel Garrett. I really hope Star Trek: Section 31 does well for many reasons, but partly because I want Kacey Rohl to stick around as Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Rachel Garrett.