Star Trek: Lower Decks should pay a visit to this forgotten planet from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Under the command of Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis), the USS Cerritos specializes in missions of second contact, following up on the planets previously visited by ships like the USS Enterprise-D. On TNG, for example, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his crew would routinely encounter new planets that were never revisited on the show. The idea of Starfleet ships that perform second-contact missions makes perfect sense, as Picard would sometimes mention that the Federation would be sending representatives after the Enterprise left.
As a staunch believer in the Prime Directive, Captain Picard did not interfere unless he felt it was absolutely necessary, and he usually left planets better off than when he found him. While I enjoyed the episodic nature of Star Trek: The Next Generation, there were several planets introduced over the series that I would have loved to revisit. Star Trek: Lower Decks now has that chance, and has already mentioned numerous planets from Star Trek: The Next Generation (including the infamous Angel One). But there is one planet from TNG that deserves to be revisited, as its fate was left up in the air.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Should Revisit Angosia III From TNG’s “The Hunted”
Did Angosia III ever make it into the Federation?
In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 11, “The Hunted,” Captain Picard and the USS Enterprise-D visit the planet Angosia III, which has petitioned for entry into the Federation. Picard meets with the planet’s leader, Prime Minister Nayrok (James Cromwell), and things seem to be going well until an infamous criminal named Roga Danar (Jeff McCarthy) escapes from a nearby prison. Picard and the Enterprise crew help apprehend the prisoner only to learn that he is a genetically enhanced soldier who was abandoned by his people after the war.
After Danar escapes custody yet again, he breaks out some of his fellow prisoners, and they storm the Angosian capitol. Nayrok asks Picard to help him stop the insurrection, but Picard responds that he cannot interfere. In the end, Picard and his crew leave Angosia with the planet’s leaders and the former soldiers still in a standoff. While the episode suggests that Nayrok should negotiate with the prisoners to avoid bloodshed, there is no indication that this happens. Angosia III was never mentioned again, but I would love to know what became of this planet and whether they helped these former soldiers reintegrate into their society.
Former Soldier Roga Danar Was Mentioned On Star Trek: Lower Decks
Ensigns Boimler and Mariner discuss Roga Danar.
Although the fate of Angosia III remains unknown, Roga Danar was brought up in an episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks. In Lower Decks season 1, episode 8, “Veritas,” Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) mentions Danar when Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) asks him about the “all-time biggest badass.” When Mariner responds that no one has heard of Danar, Boimler insists that everyone knows him, because he “totally outsmarted Picard, and he has amazing hair!” While I enjoy when Lower Decks references obscure characters from previous Star Trek shows, Danar is one I would actually like to learn more about.
I would love for the Cerritos to check up on Angosia III and find Danar possibly in a position of authority on the planet. Not only did Danar single-handedly escape from the Enterprise-D, but his backstory as a soldier would make a compelling story. “The Hunted” does not reveal much about the war that led the Angosians to create genetically enhanced soldiers or how they plan to help them after Picard’s visit. Unfortunately, Star Trek: Lower Decks’ upcoming fifth season will be the show’s last, and if Angosia III doesn’t pop up, I hope a future Trek project revisits this Star Trek: The Next Generation planet.