Jerry O'Connell is such an advocate for the Star Trek universe, you'd forget he's only been a part of it a relatively short time. In fact, he joined in 2020 after his wife was first introduced as Una in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, so it's funny she wasn't the first to congratulate him when he landed his role in Lower Decks.
The actor voiced Jack Ransom in Lower Decks throughout its run, with the character eventually becoming a Captain in the finale. He's held his Starfleet rank over the head of his wife, Rebecca Romijn, for years, and maybe that's because she wasn't even the first to congratulate him when he joined the Star Trek world, at least via text. He explained to EW that it was actually an old co-star, who is also a part of the sci-fi universe:
My wife had been a commander on the Enterprise, on Strange New Worlds, and my wife wasn't even the first to congratulate me. The first text I got was from Wil Wheaton. Wil Wheaton and I were in Stand By Me together. And it just said, 'Welcome to Starfleet.'
I'm not surprised to hear it was Wil Wheaton, because he might be the only bigger advocate for Star Trek and its fans than Jerry O'Connell. Despite this complex history with Trek via his run as Wesley Crusher on The Next Generation, Wheaton's remained a notable face who feels like the ambassador for the brand, and I can imagine he was legitimately excited to have O'Connell join Lower Decks.
That text might've just helped Wheaton secure a cameo role on Star Trek: Lower Decks, though I'd like to think creator Mike McMahan was already a fan. It's a shame we never got an episode in which Ransom and Crusher had a chance to interact a ton, but who knows what's in store for the future?
It's the question all Star Trek fans are interested in, as the 60th anniversary yielded no announcements thus far about future shows, and only minimal updates on the upcoming movie. The ending of Lower Decks opened the door for both characters to appear in a spinoff series exploring the various universes of Trek, but who knows if we'll ever get to see a follow-up happen.
If not, at least we still have new episodes with Rebecca Romijn's Una to enjoy, as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues to air Season 4. Who knows, maybe before this season or the final season ends, we could see Wil Wheaton back as Wesley Crusher as he's become a Traveler. I'd love to see Jack Ransom, but unfortunately, Jerry O'Connell doesn't look like his character in the series:
I'd be willing to suspend my disbelief, if only to see Jerry O'Connell act in Star Trek alongside Rebecca Romijn. There was an opportunity to pull that off when Lower Decks had its crossover with Strange New Worlds, but only Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome appeared as live-action counterparts of their characters. Fingers crossed there's one more crossover planned for the future that could make this happen.
Watch all the Star Trek you can handle right now on Paramount+. Strange New Worlds is currently running Season 4, with new episodes dropping on Thursdays. This season is already off to a great start, so anyone who hasn't watched yet needs to catch up.
