Jolene Blalock’s Shocking Star Trek Comeback On Lower Decks

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A year ago, Star Trek: Lower Decks delivered what many consider the most surprising and successful revival of the Star Trek franchise on Paramount+. The ninth episode of the show’s fifth season, titled “Fissure Quest,” is a standout of the animated comedy series. Written by Lauren McGuire and directed by Brandon Williams, it first aired on Paramount+ on December 12, 2024.

The second-to-last episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks was likely the best Star Trek crossover event to date. Titled “Fissure Quest,” it featured a journey across multiple universes with Jack Quaid voicing Captain William Boimler and Tawny Newsome playing a different version of Ensign Beckett Mariner. The episode also brought back familiar faces from past Star Trek series, including Alexander Siddig as Dr. Julian Bashir, Andrew Robinson as Elim Garak, Garrett Wang in multiple roles as Harry Kim, and Alfre Woodard as Lily Sloane.

The returning characters in recent Star Trek stories weren’t the same as the ones we knew from Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and First Contact; they were from alternate universes. While those returns were exciting, the most surprising comeback came from a major character on Star Trek: Enterprise.

Jolene Blalock’s Star Trek Comeback Was One Year Ago

It came as a complete surprise to fans when Jolene Blalock reprised her role as T’Pol on Star Trek: Lower Decks. Blalock originally played the Vulcan officer for four seasons on Star Trek: Enterprise. Along with her fellow Enterprise cast members, she hadn’t revisited the character since the show concluded in 2005.

Mike McMahan, the creator of Star Trek: Lower Decks, shared with ScreenRant that he personally wrote a letter to Jolene Blalock, asking her to reprise her role as T’Pol. Blalock was already a fan of Lower Decks and happily agreed to return. She even asked to be credited simply as “Jolene.” McMahan praised her performance, noting that her portrayal of T’Pol sounded just as it did over two decades ago.

Jolene Blalock had stepped away from acting to focus on raising her sons with Michael Rapino, the CEO of LiveNation. Many fans were surprised to see her at Paramount+’s Star Trek Day event in 2021, but it seemed like a single appearance. A full return to her role as T’Pol felt unlikely—until Mike McMahan brought it to life on Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Scott Bakula’s Star Trek Comeback Can Bring Enterprise Back

Jolene Blalock, who played a character on Star Trek: Enterprise, ended the streak of that show’s cast not appearing in newer Star Trek series on Paramount+. This means all the main Star Trek shows now have had actors and characters return in current canon.

In August 2025, a surprise new series arrived: Star Trek: United. Created by Star Trek: Enterprise writer and producer Michael Sussman, and starring Scott Bakula reprising his role as Jonathan Archer, the show was a political and family drama. It followed Archer and his grown children as they worked to protect the United Federation of Planets.

While not a direct sequel to Star Trek: Enterprise, writer Mike Sussman would like to feature actors and characters from that series in Star Trek: United. Many fans would especially love to see Jolene Blalock reprise her role as T’Pol, appearing in live-action within the established Star Trek timeline.

While Star Trek: United is currently just a proposal with a lot of enthusiastic fan backing, Paramount Skydance might actually make it happen. And as Star Trek: Lower Decks recently showed us, with Jolene Blalock unexpectedly returning as T’Pol, anything is possible in the Star Trek universe – it truly lives up to the idea that “There are always possibilities.”

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2025-12-12 14:38