Star Trek: Lower Decks 2.4 Review - Ups & Downs From Mugato, Gumato
1. KZINTI! - UP
I love the Kzinti. There we are, I've said it. They're giant cat creatures and they're just brilliant. A creation of sci-fi author Larry Niven for his Ringworld series, the Kzinti were loaned to Star Trek back in the early 70s for an episode of The Animated Series. This marked their only on-screen appearance until this week. It was not the only mention of them though.
Had Star Trek: Enterprise returned for a fifth season, showrunner Manny Coto had written a script called 'Kilkenny Cats', which would have seen the return of these beings. Artist Jimmy Diggs had also designed a Kzinti cruiser for the episode as well, although unfortunately, it was not to be. Then, they were called out again in Star Trek: Picard. Will Riker claims that his house is fortified the way it is, as they have been having some trouble with the Kzinti.
The appearance of a member of the race here is, we are sincerely hoping, a tease to a future on-screen appearance as well. For one of the most teased beings in Trek, they have had precious few outings. Let's fix this.
UP - don't tease me, Mike McMahan. Bring them back!