The folks at /Film have been making the joke that this is the worst week ever for Captain Shaw in terms of everything he’s been through so far. And in this season’s fifth episode, Shaw takes the helm as the Titan flees the Changeling-controlled Starfleet. What was that like to film that moment?
That was so fun because, well, first of all, he’s not going against Starfleet. He’s obviously protecting Starfleet and once again, doing his job. He’s protecting Starfleet against, like you said, bad actors. What was really fun about that scene is that might be one of the first times we see him doing full tilt captaining on the bridge and all of the evasive maneuvers — we were code red, red alert, all of that. Then I have the closest thing that I get to a catchphrase. I say, “Let’s get out of here,” which I like to think that’s what he says every time, instead of “Engage” or “Make it so” or “Hit it” or “Let’s fly.” He just says, “Let’s get out of here,” which is a beleaguered, blue collar way of giving his command.
That scene was really fun because there’s a shot in there that will just live in my little nerdy heart for the rest of my life. It is Shaw in the captain’s seat with Picard on his right and Riker on his left, and just this great framed shot of the three of us. I’m flying my ship with my crew, and it just was peak Shaw.
It was so cool because you get a glimpse of what was a common scene [before Riker and Picard showed up] — to see him step up, him take charge, him running his ship, not handing it over to other people, not waiting for anything, it’s like, “Okay, I’ve made the decision, here we go.” It was really fun.
I know there are a lot of fans who are advocating for a Shaw spin-off show, probably on the Titan, which I’m sure you wouldn’t mind, either. I wondered for you, hypothetically, if there was such a show, who would you want to see on the crew with you? It can be anyone from “Trek,” it doesn’t have to be just “Picard” folks.
Oh, wow. Well, I love all of my bridge. I love them. They’re wonderful humans and I think they’re really compelling characters that we could learn a lot more from and see a lot more from. What I think would be really fun, because of the era that we’re in, is to see episodes with characters from “Deep Space Nine” and episodes with characters from “Voyager.”
We would have to get Ronny Cox back at some point where he comes on to get all Jellico; he’s probably an admiral at this point. And then the evolved version of Shaw would have to connect with him. That would be a lot of fun.
My next question actually relates to Jellico. What captains in the Trek lore do you think Shaw would get along with the most? Except for Jellico, as that’s the obvious one.
Well, I think obviously Sisko, he shares a lot of history with — they may or may not have known each other but they share a common wound, I should say. [Editor’s Note: Both Sisko and Shaw had traumatic experiences with the Borg.] He obviously would connect with Sisko on that level. I also think Janeway. She’s not a space cowboy, not in the Kirk way. I also think his specific beefs with Picard, I don’t know if he would have the same opinion of Picard that he has if it wasn’t for “The Best of Both Worlds” [the “Next Generation” episode where Picard as the Borg attacked Starfleet, killing many, including Shaw’s crew mates]. I think Picard, in many ways, was more similar to Shaw prior to that event.
