Warning: SPOILERS for the Star Trek: Discovery series finale are ahead!
From the moment he was introduced in Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, David Cronenberg’s Kovich was established as an odd member of Starfleet in the 32nd century, from him wearing glasses in a time period where such optical correction is no longer necessary, to putting in the effort to find a legal pad from the 21st century to write on. Well, by the time the Paramount+ subscription-exclusive show’s series finale, “Life, Itself” was done, viewers finally learned Kovich’s true identity. The character told Michael Burnham that his real name was Daniels, making him the time traveler who’d previously recurred on Star Trek: Enterprise. However, Dominic Keating, who played Malcolm Reed on Enterprise, was not impressed with this reveal, saying that it “pissed” him off.
Keating shared his thoughts on the Kovich twist while being interviewed by TrekNews alongside Connor Trinneer, who played Trip Tucker opposite him for the entirety of Enterprise’s run, and now these two host the web series The D-Con Chamber together. The actor explained that the reason he was dissatisfied with Kovich being Agent Daniels was because it reminded him of when the original version of the character, played by Matt Winston, would show up on Enterprise, that resulted in him and other main cast members being pushed to the side. He explained:
That pissed me off, I gotta say. Well, only the last bit. [Kovich] turns out to be fucking Daniels. I mean, really? That was a slap in the face. I’m gonna be honest with you. I mean, he was a lovely guy, that actor who came on to play the timeline guy… He was a sweetheart and a very good actor. But if I’m gonna be honest, it kind of used to piss me off that they bring him back two or three times a season for really good episodes, and I’d get the ‘Yes sir, no sir, three bags full, sir’ lines.
So as you can see, Dominic Keating doesn’t hold anything against Matt Winston, but after all these years, he’s still annoyed at how often Daniels was utilized throughout Star Trek: Enterprise to the detriment of some of the other series regulars. That said, Keating went on to note that feelings stem on this subject from a larger dissatisfaction from him and other cast members being “underused,” as well as him not enjoying the Temporal Cold War storyline that leaned heavily on Daniels. In his words:
All right. I mean, I was surfing. But there was resentment there, I gotta be [honest]. I wasn’t as resentful as some. They underused us, I think, and Christ knows I’ve watched Enterprise now twice, and if I can understand that temporal timeline storyline, I still haven’t got a clue what the fuck was going on. So the fact that they referenced Daniels at the end of Discovery was like, ‘Whatever’ [laughs]. There you go. I’m being honest. I’d have rather had the baseball.
The baseball refers to how Kovich had several items from past Star Trek TV shows on display in his office, including Benjamin Sisko’s baseball from Deep Space Nine and Geordi LaForge’s VISOR from The Next Generation. By the time the Discovery crew arrived in the 32nd century in Season 3, time travel technology had been banned, so the older Daniels played by David Cronenberg’s temporal missions were long behind him. His true name was also considered a “a bit of a Red Directive,” but he trusted Michael Burnham enough to share that information. She was pleased to hear it, but Dominic Keating, not so much.
Like all the Star Trek shows with the exception of Prodigy (which is now a Netflix offering), Enterprise can be easily streamed on Paramount+. Next up on the Star Trek front is Lower Decks’ fifth and final season, which will premiere sometime on the 2024 TV schedule. If you’re wanting to look further ahead into the future, consult our guide of upcoming Star Trek TV shows.
