THE PROBLEM WITH STAR TREK
I love Star Trek.
I could literally talk for hours on end about the various versions and specific episodes of Trek. In fact, I have talked for hours about it on several occasions.
At it’s best, Star Trek is an allegorical examination of our world and an exploration of philosophical and ethical concepts, packaged in stories about space explorers. Even Wrath of Khan, mostly remembered for Ricardo Montalban’s flamboyant villain and William Shatner screaming “KHANNNNN!!!” is actually an allegory about getting older and accepting mortality. Khan is actually barely in the movie.
At it’s worse Star Trek is a semi-political mockery of its former glory, packaged in space battles and human melodrama.
I’m not going to talk much about that last bit, except to say that if you’re a fan of the type of storytelling that typifies most of current era Star Trek, that’s okay. I’m not a fan of bashing people’s tastes. What I will say is that there are far better versions of this type of story in the world of Science Fiction. Farscape is easily the best version of Star Wars since Return of the Jedi and one of the best sci-fi/ fantasy shows of all time. Do yourself a favor and watch it.
What I really want to discuss here is what has led to the intellectual decline of Star Trek since the mid-1990’s.
I do want to make clear that I don’t hate every Star Trek show after my childhood. I like parts of Voyager. I like Enterprise quite a bit. Star Trek Beyond was fantastic. I was shocked to find out that I really enjoy Lower Decks and have appreciated the few episodes I’ve seen of Strange New Worlds. And of course, Season 3 of Picard was perfect.
But even though I like all these shows, they still lack one essential ingredient that once made Star Trek great.
RISK.
When Gene Roddenberry pitched The Original Series (or Those Old Scientists, as Strange New Worlds charmingly dubbed it), networks ran screaming in the other direction. There was nothing else like this on television, though other shows such as Lost in Space had been successful before. It featured a racially diverse cast and broke boundaries. It was all very risky. It was only the intervention of comedy legend Lucille Ball that got the show made.
When they decided to make Star Trek the Motion Picture, they went in the opposite direction of Star Wars, the movie that spurred the decision to make it. Instead of an epic tale inspired by old serials, they made a slow-paced, philosophical movie. It was more inspired by Stanley Kubrick than George Lucas. It was a risk.
When they decided to reboot the show with an all new cast, they took a risk. Initially, many fans hated Jean Luc Picard, the polar opposite of their dashing hero, James T Kirk. And the show floundered until the passing of Gene Roddenberry, who wanted the show to mirror his original series. Though his death was tragic, it allowed Star Trek producers to take more risks and let The Next Generation forge it’s own path. As a result, TNG is considered by many to be the pinnacle of Star Trek and a touchstone in science fiction history.
Deep Space 9 took constant risks. The setting of a space station between two hostile alien races in a reconstruction era was a total break from established Trek formula. The writers and showrunner of DS9 also broke tradition by using a serialized storytelling format. They were telling a longform story rather than typical episodic Trek shows. This idea, along with the whole concept of the show and several other concepts such as Section 31 were stolen from J Michael Straczynski’s pitch for what would become Babylon 5. That said, DS9 crafted its own identity and took risks by ignoring the wishes of Star Trek’s powers-that-be. The resultant stories are considered by some, including me to be Star Trek’s actual best representation.
Voyager should have followed in Deep Space 9’s footsteps. It had by far the best premise for any Trek series. A ship on the other side of the galaxy; manned by a crew of Starfleet officers and Maquis terrorists who must work together to survive and make it home. Had the writers and showrunners been allowed to run with their ideas and this concept, Voyager would be the best Star Trek series ever. Sadly, the producers wouldn’t take the risk. By episode 4, the friction between the two crews was erased and they got along fine. Any episode that featured growth of characters was reset and ignored in future episodes. Epic concepts such as the proposed season-long “Year of Hell” storyline were watered down, crushing the spirit of writers who wanted to do more, but were hamstrung my management, who refused to take risks. Voyager still has it’s fans. And it certainly has some great episodes here and there, but the play-it-safe approach has ultimately branded the show a disappointment. Until the modern era, it was largely considered the worst Trek show.
Since then, the people in charge of the franchise have constantly attempted a “back to basics” approach. I really like Enterprise, but it was an attempt to go back to the TOS era, but still try something slightly different. The Kelvin universe movies were a literal attempt to go back to the TOS era, but accidentally made something very different. Star Trek Discovery was initially pitched as a seasonal anthology series that would explore different parts of the Trek universe… but ended up once again going back to the TOS era, but with added retcons. And the same can be said of Strange New Worlds, though it is a better series.
Picard tried to take nostalgia and do something very different that The Next Generation, but the first two seasons are so poorly regarded that it put off many fans. Hilariously, the third season largely goes back to TNG basics, albeit with an eye towards the future, and ended up causing a resurgence in the fandom. But once again, there was no risk there.
The bottom line is that for almost 30 years, no one in charge of the franchise has had any idea what to do with the one of the most beloved science fiction universes of all time. Star Trek is an open playground of storytelling. It is the spirit of exploration. And yet all anyone thinks to do is to retread well-worn territory.
If Paramount and CBS- or whoever owns the damn thing these days- want to make money, it is time to stop playing it safe. Bring in writers with actual stories to tell and questions to ask. Stop spending money on needless special effects. That has never been what drove the franchise. Hell, Deep Space 9 had an actual multi-season, galaxywide war arc and we rarely saw any of the space battles from the perspective of the ships. We didn’t need to!
Go out. Take risks. Explore. BOLDLY GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE.
