Is it just me, or is Star Trek going the wrong way?

[Lynx]

Making another TNG/Voyager-type show is instantly going to run into the problem of how to make it distinct from those two shows without causing the critics to immediately call "seen it all before". And yeah, it might be tempting to say that critics aren't fans, that they don't get it, and we shouldn't listen to anything they say - but casual audiences usually do listen to what they say, and the last time that critics outright bashed a Trek-related work, it was Nemesis. And we all know how that turned out.

Besides, saying a franchise is supposed be X or Y is a pretty narrow-minded view to take. Just to name one other example, James Bond has managed to make it work both as a gritty spy drama and a high-camp adventure series over the years. Sure, there have been times when they've gone too far in one direction or the other and ended up alienating audiences (i.e. Licence to Kill in the case of the serious style, and Die Another Day in the more over-the-top style), but with good enough storytelling, audiences will often let you get away with a lot.

They could make it more like DS9.
That series had some "dark" episodes but those in charge also had the good tste to throw in some lighter episodes here and there and DS9 was never so dull and boring as the current series and most of everything we have to watch on TV today.

DS9 ha the good fortune to have great actors, great characters, great writers and producers who managed to come up with something interesting, exciting and entertaining. But I guess that such things are hard to find in this dystopic world.

I think that Star Trek must stand for what it is supposed to be and don't follow the dystopian trends we see right now.

As for critics, they always hold a finger in the air to feel where the wind blows. I know about a guy who obviously had been a good critic once but when punk rock got its big break in Europe at the end of the 70's, he started to trash all the bands he had written good reviews about before and started to hail punk rock as "the new fantastic thing", just to make it look that he was a part of "the new wave".

Some years passed and all of a sudden, the punk bands this critic had hailed as foreruners of something new and big were gone and the bands he once had praised but then started to trash were now hailed as "rock icons" and legends, especially when hard rock and heavy metal became popular again.

Exit critic! The fans of those old bands never forgave him for what he had written before and when he tried to save his face by starting praising them again, he was revealed as the hypocrite he was.

 

[fireproof78]

New Star Trek is not dystopian. Critics, of all types, need a new word that is accurate rather than hyperbolic.

 

[Nerys Myk]

New Star Trek is not dystopian. Critics, of all types, need a new word that is accurate rather than hyperbolic.

Or at least look up the meaning before using it.

 

[cooleddie74]

That would require actually putting effort into a long-winded post.

 

[fireproof78]

Actually, I think all it requires is being willing to look past momentary feelings and knee jerk reactions to see that Star Trek isn't all about feeling good all the time.

 

[cooleddie74]

Well there goes half of this board's reasons for existence.

 

[fireproof78]

I mean, I can appreciate the value of escapism but there are extreme lengths people go to to avoid any unpleasantness in Star Trek.

 

[cooleddie74]

The dark moments help make it Star Trek for me.

I mean...Christopher Pike in a wheelchair and unable to speak is one of the earliest grim memories of the franchise and it's also one of the most memorable and embedded in pop culture. Without the dark the lighter episodes and films don't work as well.

 

[GNDN18]

The dark moments help make it Star Trek for me.

• Best friend becomes a monster
• Ex-lover becomes a monster
• Teenager is a monster
• Harry Mudd

3 parts monster, 1 part Mudd is the recipe for a successful franchise.

 

[cooleddie74]

-Gul Dukat's daughter being murdered
-Vulcan being destroyed in the Kelvin Timeline
-800 million Cardassians being slaughtered by the Dominion in the closing hours of the war
-"Brain and brain, WHAT IS BRAIN?!?!?"

Similar recipe.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Spock's fiancee

• Tries to get him killed
• Makes his best friend fight him to the death
• Doesn't give a damn about it.

 

[flandry84]

Just referring back to DS9,I love the show but was there ever anything as excruciating as it’s “lighthearted” episodes?

Discovery has its faults yes but where it succeeds is in having a very likeable cast and a can-do optimism.I do wish they had avoided the dumpster fire that is the mirror universe but you can’t have everything.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Kirk has to let Edith die to avoid dystopia. That's not utopia.

 

[GNDN18]

Kirk has to let Edith die to avoid dystopia. That's not utopia.

Spoiler: He knows, doctor. He knows.

 

[The Wormhole]

Just referring back to DS9,I love the show but was there ever anything as excruciating as it’s “lighthearted” episodes?

The Ferengi comedies could be hit or miss. I liked them for the most part, but there were definitely a few that had me wondering "what the fuck were they thinking?" But DS9 had some lighthearted episodes that were truly excellent, like Our Man Bashir or Take Me Out to the Holosuite.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Season 1 Picard may be one of the worst lead Captains in Trek. I'm glad Patrick forced him to evolve as a character because had he remained Season 1 Picard for the entire series he'd be downright insufferable.

I've said this before, but I've never thought -conceptually speaking- Picard was anything special and really kind of a dud. In fact, I'd argue any good qualities people attribute to him are 100% SPS and not at all inherent to the character himself.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

I think that Star Trek must stand for what it is supposed to be and don't follow the dystopian trends we see right now.

Here's the actual definition of what a dystopia is: Dystopia: A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control.

Now using the above definition, please explain how current trek is in any way dystopian. If you can't do that, please learn the meaning of words before using them.

 

[Lynx]

Here's the actual definition of what a dystopia is: Dystopia: A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control.

Now using the above definition, please explain how current trek is in any way dystopian. If you can't do that, please learn the meaning of words before using them.

Would it suit you better if I use the words "doom-and-gloom scenario" for almost everything related to TV and movies in this forsaken century?

 

[fireproof78]

Still hyperbole but at least more honest about the point of view.

 

[cooleddie74]

The nuclear war movie Threads is dystopian. Nothing in Trek is that dark and unremittingly negative so, no, the franchise isn't getting dystopian.