Kate Mulgrew Thinks She And Patrick Stewart Are The Only Real Star Trek Captains
Actress Kate Mulgrew has one of the coolest distinctions of any actor to appear in the Star Trek franchise. As Captain Kathryn Janeway, she played the only leading female commander role of the entire franchise (up until that point). Sure, it was on what is arguably the worst of the Star Trek spinoffs, but still, it was a major landmark in fandom and definitely something to be proud of.
However, at one point, Kate Mulgrew seemed to be confused about her other company in the Star Trek Captains Club. In an interview, she gave a confusing statement in which she seems to argue that only she and Patrick Stewart’s Picard count as real Star Trek captains. She then tries to clarify…and only makes things more confusing.
Kate Mulgrew was speaking to Splitsider about her career in general, and specifically her work on the Adult Swim crime procedural parody, NTSF:SD:SUV (National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sport Utility Vehicle), where she plays Kove, the eyepatch-wearing leader of the anti-terrorism task force.
That show was created by Paul Scheer (Andre from FX’s The League), and the interviewing journalist asks Kate Mulgrew about a statement Scheer made to them, where he claimed that Mulgrew has said there were only two real Star Trek captains: her and The Next Generation’s Picard.
Kate Mulgrew seems hesitant to delve into it since she’s worried her comments will “go viral.” (Too late!) When asked to clarify, Kate Mulgrew said, “Well, there are only two captains who were lost in space who did seven years, okay? Deep Space Nine was a space station. Shatner only did three seasons. [Scott] Bakula was canceled after four.”
The interviewer then incorrectly points out that Avery Brooks was only a commander (he was promoted to captain during season three of Deep Space Nine). Kate Mulgrew then continued, “That’s what I’m saying, it was a space station. He wasn’t in space, lost in space. Patrick Stewart and I – Picard and Janeway – were the only two intrepid, lost-in-space captains. I really think that’s true, right?”
After that, I’m sure many Star Trek fans are right there with me, scratching our heads and wondering what the hell Kate Mulgrew was talking about.
Commanding a space station doesn’t make you a real captain? Or do you have to be “lost in space” on a starship to be a real captain? If so, that description really doesn’t fit any Star Trek captain other than her, right? Star Trek: The Next Generation was a lot of things, but a “lost in space” show wasn’t one of them.
I’m not sure if Kate Mulgrew just wasn’t expecting the question and got flustered trying to answer or if she just failed to communicate what she meant.
Either way, her logic for discounting all the other Star Trek captains other than her and Picard seems inexplicable at best and factually inaccurate at worst. It’s so arbitrary. At this point, she might as well claim that she’s the only real Star Trek captain because none of the others are named Kathryn. It makes nearly the same amount of sense.
Given the meticulous nature of the fans when it comes to arguing about the facts and trivia of the Trek universe, I have a feeling those comments are going to follow her for a long time. If she wants some peace and quiet it might be time to move to the Delta Quadrant.
