Not every actor loves the episodes that fans treasure most. For Star Trek: Enterprise star Connor Trinneer — who played Chief Engineer Trip Tucker across all four seasons of the show — the Mirror Universe episodes that delighted viewers in season 4 were, by his own account, something he genuinely hated making and has never watched back.
It’s a candid admission that cuts against the grain of how those episodes are typically remembered. Among the Trek fanbase, the Mirror Universe installments from Enterprise‘s final season are considered some of the most entertaining hours the show ever produced. For the actor at the center of it all, the experience was apparently anything but fun.
Star Trek: Enterprise is currently marking 25 years since it premiered, while the broader Star Trek franchise celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2026 — making this a natural moment to look back at the show’s legacy, including the episodes that divided its own cast.
What Made the Mirror Universe Episodes So Popular With Fans
The Mirror Universe is one of Star Trek’s oldest and most beloved recurring concepts. First introduced in the original series episode “Mirror, Mirror,” it presents a dark, authoritarian parallel dimension where the familiar crew of Starfleet are replaced by their ruthless, often villainous counterparts. It’s an excuse for actors to play against type, for the production design to go darker and more theatrical, and for storylines to push into territory the regular timeline wouldn’t allow.
When Star Trek: Enterprise revisited the concept in its fourth and final season, fans responded enthusiastically. The episodes allowed the cast to shed their usual heroic personas and lean into something far more sinister — exactly the kind of creative detour that tends to generate strong audience reactions and lasting reputations within a show’s run.
But not everyone on set was having as good a time as the audience at home.
Connor Trinneer Said He “Hated Every Second” of Making Them
According to reporting from Screen Rant, Trinneer has been open about his strong negative feelings toward the Mirror Universe episodes — stating that he hated every second of making them and has never gone back to watch them.
That’s a striking position for any actor to take about episodes that have become fan favorites. It also raises an obvious question: what was it about those particular episodes that produced such a strong reaction?
While Acting opposite a mirror version of yourself, playing a character who behaves in ways contrary to everything you’ve built over multiple seasons, and doing so within the pressures of a television production schedule can apparently leave a lasting impression, and not always a positive one.
The Show’s Place in Star Trek History
Star Trek: Enterprise aired on United Paramount Network (UPN) from 2001 to 2005, running for four seasons before it was cancelled. It served as a prequel to the events of the original series, following the crew of the first starship Enterprise under Captain Jonathan Archer.
The show had a complicated relationship with the broader Trek fanbase during its original run — praised by some for its ambition and criticized by others for its storytelling choices. Its fourth season, widely considered its strongest, arrived too late to save the series from cancellation but has since earned considerable respect in retrospect.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Show Title | Star Trek: Enterprise |
| Network | United Paramount Network (UPN) |
| Original Run | 2001 – 2005 |
| Number of Seasons | 4 |
| Actor in Question | Connor Trinneer (Trip Tucker) |
| Episodes Discussed | Season 4 Mirror Universe episodes |
| Show’s Current Milestone | 25 years since premiere |
| Franchise Milestone | Star Trek’s 60th anniversary in 2026 |
Why This Kind of Honesty From Actors Matters
There’s something genuinely refreshing about a performer being willing to say, publicly and without apparent regret, that they disliked some of the work that fans hold in the highest regard. Hollywood tends to encourage a particular kind of promotional diplomacy — everyone loved making everything, every experience was a gift, every project was a dream.
Trinneer’s candor breaks from that pattern. It doesn’t diminish the episodes for the people who love them, but it does add a layer of texture to how we understand what went into making them. Television production is work, often grueling work, and the episodes that feel the most electric to watch aren’t always the ones that felt that way on set.
It also speaks to how differently actors and audiences can experience the same material. Fans watching the Mirror Universe episodes see spectacle and fun. The actor embodying that spectacle may have been dealing with something that felt far less enjoyable in the moment.
What This Means for the Enterprise Legacy at 25
As Enterprise marks its 25th anniversary and the franchise celebrates six decades of Star Trek, conversations like this are part of what makes anniversary retrospectives genuinely interesting. The episodes that define a show’s legacy are rarely simple stories — they involve creative choices that worked for some and didn’t for others, production experiences that varied wildly across the same cast, and audience responses that no one fully predicted.
Trinneer’s admission doesn’t rewrite what the Mirror Universe episodes meant to fans. But it does remind us that the version of a show we love and the version its creators lived through aren’t always the same thing — and that honesty about that gap is worth more than any promotional talking point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Connor Trinneer?
Connor Trinneer is the actor who played Chief Engineer Trip Tucker in Star Trek: Enterprise, appearing across all four seasons of the show from 2001 to 2005.
Which episodes did Connor Trinneer say he hated?
Trinneer has stated that he hated making the Mirror Universe episodes from season 4 of Star Trek: Enterprise and has never watched them back.
How long did Star Trek: Enterprise run?
Star Trek: Enterprise aired on UPN from 2001 to 2005, completing four seasons before it was cancelled.
Why are the Mirror Universe episodes considered fan favorites?
The Mirror Universe concept — a dark parallel dimension with villainous versions of familiar characters — has been beloved in Star Trek since the original series, and the Enterprise season 4 installments allowed the cast to play dramatically against type, which fans responded to enthusiastically.
What anniversaries is Star Trek celebrating in 2026?
The Star Trek franchise is marking its 60th anniversary in 2026, while Star Trek: Enterprise is celebrating 25 years since its premiere.
Did Trinneer explain why he disliked making those episodes?
The specific reasons behind his feelings have not been fully detailed in available reporting, though his dislike appears to be genuine and long-standing given that he has not watched the episodes back.
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