Star Trekis one of the most beloved Sci-Fi franchises in the history of the genre, but that doesn’t mean every little thing about it is perfect. In fact, there are a few details that are downright nonsensical, including and especially one that has amounted to little more than a running gagthroughoutStar Trek’s many iterations. But, in the most recentStar Trekinstallment, this particular detail gets a clever fix that actually makes sense.
InStar Trek#26 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Angel Hernandez, the psychopathic android duplicate of Data namedLore has detonated a bomb in the center of all reality, one that will extinguish all life in every universe.Captain Sisko and his crew of the USS Theseusnarrowly escape the destruction of their universe, sliding through time into an alternate past, where they meet variants of Captain Kirk and his crew of the USS Enterprise.
After their ships were face-to-face, the two captains decided to bring their crews together while they figured out what to do next. While Sisko and Kirk brainstormed solutions to this cosmic problem, other members of their crews had casual conversations, and even pointed out some differences between their ships. In fact, one crewmember even points out that this version of the USS Enterprise has floors that seem slippery, to which the person he’s talking to replies, “What would you want it to be, carpet?”.
Star Trek Offers a Brilliant Reason Why Its Starships Have Carpet
Since the start of the franchise and all the way throughThe Next Generation,Star Trekstarships(specifically the USS Enterprise) have had interior carpeting. This admittedly kitsch design choice is the hilarious product of a bygone era, one where people thought shag carpeting was peak interior design. However, kitsch or not, the carpet inside starships actually makes a lot of sense.
The biggest concern that was brought up regarding the floor of this USS Enterprise is that they looked slippery, and given the amount of space battles these ships get into, that’s a valid concern. With ships getting hit by enemy fire, or quickly taking evasive actions, having floors with some traction would be preferable to shiny metal floors, regardless of aesthetic, and carpet certainly offers traction. It’s a fun justification for this silly ‘60s design, but it actually makes sense.
This Star Trek Comic isn’t the Only Time Carpeted Floors were Explained
Star Trek: Lower Deckshas Its Own Hilarious Explanation for Starship Carpets
As previously mentioned,Star Trek’s interior carpeting in its starships has been the butt of many jokes throughout the franchise, including in the animated comedy seriesStar Trek: Lower Decks. In season 4, episode 5, a few characters (who are pretty inebriated) walk into a starship, and one of them says, “Oh, I love your Starfleet carpeting. It’s perfect to pass out on.”According toStar Trek: Lower Decks, the carpet is made for ‘passing out on’, which is actually another practical use for the bizarre interior design choice.
Star Trek Is Ready to Upend Everything We Know About Sisko Because of His Secret Ties to Bajor
An upcoming issue of IDW’s “Star Trek” is seemingly set to make a major change to franchise lore, totally reinventing Benjamin Sisko’s Bajoran legacy.
WhileStar Trek: Lower Decksoffered a valid reason for the starship carpet, that was definitely more of a joke that points out the absurdity of such a design. However, in thisStar Trekcomic, fans actually get a solid reason why there’s carpet in some starships, giving this nonsensical detail a very clever fix.
Star Trek
Star Trek is one of pop culture’s biggest multimedia franchises, spanning multiple movies, TV shows, books, comics, video games, and various other media. The franchise was created by Gene Roddenberry and started with the 1960s TV series starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Over the decades, several equally popular series have come out since as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Discovery.
