Star Trek: Every Bridge Ranked Worst To Best

Since Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was set on a converted Cardassian Mining Station, all of the major storylines involving the command crew would take place at Ops. We didn't really get a traditional bridge set on DS9 until showrunners decided that there needed to be a return to trekking the stars.

Enter the USS Defiant. Unlike any Federation ship before and after, it had no nacelles, pylons, secondary hull... and didn't really look like Starfleet on the outside. For a show that was challenging the franchises intrinsic Utopian values, the Defiant was perfect.

Whilst the exterior was so different, the interior was clearly Federation. In fact, it could be argued that the bridge was even more traditionalist than the Defiant's contemporaries. Unlike the USS Voyager, or Enterprises D or E, the cramped layout invoked those nautical-based feelings of the NCC-1701. The singular command chair, the circular placement of the stations combined with the intimate spacing of the crew felt like a submarine--which, considering the naval traditions and battle influences of the show respectively, was very much on-point.

The Defiant's bridge was still modern though, infusing the colouring and lighting of TNG and Voyager and producing a cool looking hybrid. It was also notoriously difficult to film in, with the cramped nature meaning that even a lighting change (which happens often in every Star Trek series) required every bulb on set to be replaced.

In an unusual twist, the compact layout of the Defiant would actually be the influence of our previous entry--the NX-01 Enterprise.