Star Trek: Lower Decks ending is a bummer for many reasons, but I'm most upset about less time spent with one of my favorite characters. We've gotten quite a few episodes with Gabrielle Ruiz's T'Lyn since her Season 2 introduction in "wej Duj," but even in Season 5, it only feels like we're scratching the surface with her character. Ruiz told CinemaBlend she's glad fans are pleased, but admitted she was "petrified" before her official debut.
I had a chance to chat with Gabrielle Ruiz while we anxiously await news T'Lyn might be in upcoming Star Trek shows, and I learned a lot about the time before she played the character. I wanted to know if she had any nerves ahead of her Vulcan character's reveal and how the reception of fans would be. Ruiz, who grew up watching The Next Generation, was well aware how the fandom could be:
I was very petrified that there would be a response that wasn't my favorite or a dream. But that didn't happen. The response and the welcoming was so wonderful.
The reception was so wonderful that Ruiz's character was promoted to the core cast in Season 4 and returns in that capacity in Season 5. She's in contention to be added to my list of best Star Trek characters, and I do hope we'll see her in future adventures I can stream with a Paramount+ subscription.
As Gabrielle Ruiz confirmed, I'm not the only fan who loves T'Lyn. While she was petrified that may not be the case, she did have faith that she was doing the right thing. She had faith in Mike McMahan's vision for the character and talked about when it sunk in that her role in Season 2 wasn't just a one-time thing:
I was able to trust that it was possible because this team is remarkable and has such a great reputation with everything else that they've done. I was able to trust them with this character. So yes, I waited with bated breath, and then once the response was so great, I was relieved and then also thinking, ‘Oh, no, I have to learn everything Vulcan now,’ because I really have to know my shit. But luckily the fandom of Star Trek is so wonderful that they're teaching me everything.
Gabrielle Ruiz has the Star Trek fandom to lean on when it comes to things about Vulcans she's in the dark about. Fortunately, she already had the framework of every great actor to play a Vulcan since Leonard Nimoy as well, though he's the inspiration for many.
One may think the actress doesn't have to fret anymore about learning about being Vulcan, but there's always a chance we'll see T'Lyn in a future adventure. We know that Tawny Newsome said she'd love to have Lower Decks characters in the in-development live-action Star Trek comedy series she's writing. T'Lyn could even pop up in the cast of Starfleet Academy, though it would take like a time anomaly or her being a holodeck program to work. I'll let the powers-that-be figure out the logistics, I just want to see more of her as the character in the future.
For now, we can all enjoy T'Lyn in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, which premieres new episodes on Paramount+ on Thursdays. This season is off to a solid start, and I expect it to finish strong with an ending we'll all remember.
