What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?

[Commander Troi]

Sometimes, for the sake of the many, the few get thrown under the bus. Take Mullibok in "Progress". I don't see any path to a happy ending for him, probably died alone and miserable in some third-rate Bajoran retirement facility surrounded by people who truly believed he should be happy that he didn't have to work hard and be self-reliant anymore. But it was either oust him or deny much-needed energy to thousands. What do you choose?

That was the episode that hooked me on DS9. Brian Keith was awesome.

(I freaking LOVE Omega Glory.)

I knew somebody had to...

Only a handfull of ENT's final season are watchable. The rest...watch at your own risk.

It has been some time since I viewed the entire runs of either, but I have no interest in ever watching them from start to finish ever again.

Eh, it's always "at my own risk".

I am considering a DS9 rewatch soon, if only because I can get my hubby to rewatch those with me instead of waiting for time by myself, which is what has kept my TOS rewatch at a crawl.

 

[Tuskin38]

It's particularly irritating not having any legal or practical way of watching TOS without the CGI Enterprise.

The home release of TOS Remastered has both versions.

Sometimes, for the sake of the many, the few get thrown under the bus.

No what Starfleet was doing in Insurrection was wrong period. They didn't have to kidnap them, they could have set something up around the planet.

 

[Tallguy]

they could have set something up around the planet.

Could they? Let's assume the real and scientifically accurate answer was "No, we have to burn the planet for the benefit of MILLIONS of people"? (Which is how it is presented in the movie. Isn't it?)

I mean, maybe the answer IS "No. The Ba'ku stay where they are. No matter the consequence." Maybe they get their own Maquis. I suppose Picard was their Maquis. Wow, he fared better than Eddington. (Look at me, throwing around the Deep Space Nine knowledge!)

 

[Lord Garth]

Despite sticking up for it occasionally, and trying to be fair, I can't fully get onto the SNW Bandwagon. I can only go so far. When I see a direct comparison, I think the TOS version is better overall.

"A Quality of Mercy" (SNW) is now past the six-month mark, so I can post it here in this thread without Spoiler Warnings.

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[Tallguy]

Despite sticking up for it occasionally, and trying to be fair, I can't fully get onto the SNW Bandwagon. I can only go so far. When I see a direct comparison, I think the TOS version is better overall.

"A Quality of Mercy" (SNW) is now past the six-month mark, so I can post it here in this thread without Spoiler Warnings.

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I adore SNW. But A Quality of Mercy tested that. It's one thing to call Kirk some kind of impulsive hot head if you're thinking of some generic cultural perception of Kirk vs. Picard or something. It's another thing when you are literally adapting a specific episode and one where he is cautious, considered, and almost dour. This is not the public perception of the "green woman in every port shoots from the hip space cowboy". But it's KIRK.

I'm willing to put up with every inconsistency from Christine Chapel (um, has that name always rhymed with Sistine Chapel and 50+ years later I'm just noticing it?) because they've made her amazing and awesome. Anson Mount's Pike is the only captain I would want to serve for. There have been so many takes on Spock at this point and none them are exactly Nimoy but Peck is great.

But if this is the Kirk that we're going to see in season 2? Well... To quote Montgomery Scott: "Good luck, gentlemen."

 

[Weyoun 251]

I adore SNW. But A Quality of Mercy tested that. It's one thing to call Kirk some kind of impulsive hot head if you're thinking of some generic cultural perception of Kirk vs. Picard or something. It's another thing when you are literally adapting a specific episode and one where he is cautious, considered, and almost dour. This is not the public perception of the "green woman in every port shoots from the hip space cowboy". But it's KIRK.

I'm willing to put up with every inconsistency from Christine Chapel (um, has that name always rhymed with Sistine Chapel and 50+ years later I'm just noticing it?) because they've made her amazing and awesome. Anson Mount's Pike is the only captain I would want to serve for. There have been so many takes on Spock at this point and none them are exactly Nimoy but Peck is great.

But if this is the Kirk that we're going to see in season 2? Well... To quote Montgomery Scott: "Good luck, gentlemen."

I think the key here is that Pike changes the timeline enough through his actions that certain defining moments for Kirk don't happen, hence his change in personality.

Presumably S2 Kirk will be more closely aligned with our memory of him

 

[cooleddie74]

That's my take. Since Pike is still in command of the Enterprise in 2266 and Kirk never served alongside Spock, McCoy, Scotty and the others his personality never evolved into the TOS Kirk we're familiar with. Alternate timeline Kirk is still closer to "the stack of books with legs" that Gary Mitchell once described. More serious and even more dedicated to the job.

 

[Gary Bitchell]

My apparently controversial Trek take is taht SNW Kirk didn't seem impulsive at all. He listened, he was throughtful, and he came up with an intelligent plan... that might have worked, if Pike hadn't hesitated so damn much.

Pine Kirk was impulsive. This dude? Was not. They did a great job of fighting against that stereotype, tbh.

But Kirk makes decisions. Not impulsive ones, but he makes them. And what he did in SNW was not that much different than what he did in BOT.

The pearl clutching about SNW Kirk being "impulsive" is a criticism I don't think has any basis in reality.

 

[Tuskin38]

Presumably S2 Kirk will be more closely aligned with our memory of him

Season 2 will be set before all those "certain defining moments" you mentioned.

So I'm not sure how?

 

[Oddish]

Does there need to be that much Kirk at all?

In his original work Douglas Adams mentioned a person who did something of great import, then said: "This is not her story". This is the story of Pike, young Spock, younger Uhura, M'Benga, Chapel, La'an, and (hopefully) Una. Kirk will come to precedence later.

 

[Tuskin38]

They said Season 2 is not a Kirk season. He's there, but not a a big part.

is liking the idea of Section 31 considered controversial? I've seen some people protest it, but they're usually a minority, vocally at least.

I don't support Section 31, in-universe I don't think they should exist, but I'm not against them being in stories, as long as they're portrayed as misguided antagonists.

 

[Lord Garth]

I'd take a Section 31 series over SNW. That's my Controversial Opinion.

But, in turn, I'd take an Assignment: Earth series over Section 31. The TOS episode of "Assignment: Earth" showed a lot of potential for a series that was still only touched upon in Picard Season 2.

As far as my comparing "A Quality of Mercy" to "Balance of Terror", I was talking more about a general side-by-side comparison, not necessarily Kirk in particular. They invited the comparison, and I liked TOS's presentation better. I'll reserve judgement on the new Kirk until I've seen more. As of right now, as a "Captain of the Week" he's fine. As a "Young Kirk", no comment.

 

[Oddish]

I see Section 31 as being kind of like your... lower digestive terminus. You might not want to talk about it, but it performs an essential function.

 

[Weyoun 251]

Season 2 will be set before all those "certain defining moments" you mentioned.

So I'm not sure how?

We don't know the time skip from S1 to S2 - could be anything in that space

Could be something in the season too.

Either way, I don't speak with authority, just see this as my likeliest answer

 

[F. King Daniel]

Strange New Worlds is... fine. It's okay. But it's nothing special at all, nothing we haven't seen several times before and I'm somewhat disappointed.

The episode everyone talks about? Is just plain old continuity wank. Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis did sooooo much better with the classic Trek planet-of-the-week formula.

 

[fireproof78]

I'd take a Section 31 series over SNW. That's my Controversial Opinion.

Now that's controversial!

I see Section 31 as being kind of like your... lower digestive terminus. You might not want to talk about it, but it performs an essential function.

I see Section 31 as an outgrowth of human nature when afraid or threatened. One does not need to look far in to Trek to see that reactionary nature in the story, and the tendency to do crazy things in the name of security. It is not a far stretch to imagine them organizing together in light of first contact with alien races, coming on the heals of a devastating war. It isn't hard to imagine, no matter how uncomfortable.

 

[Oddish]

Strange New Worlds is... fine. It's okay. But it's nothing special at all, nothing we haven't seen several times before and I'm somewhat disappointed.

The fact that it's like the Trek many of us came to know and love is what appeals to those of us who like it. It combines the episodic and optimistic Trek of TOS and TNG with DIS/PIC era SFX. And maybe even a dash of DS9 character development thrown in.

 

[Tuskin38]

Other than SNW being episodic, I honestly don't see that much in common with the older episodic shows.

Feels like a completely different series.

but it performs an essential function.

It really doesn't.

 

[Lord Garth]

Now that's controversial!

Well, the vast majority of my first-run Star Trek viewing experience has been DS9/VOY followed by DSC/PIC.

"The brand-new adventures of the Starship Enterprise!" are the exception for me, not the rule. That's where I'm different from a lot of people here. So I'm more open to them doing different things.

 

[plynch]

Comparing 31 to the pooper is apt. It may be necessary, but I sure don’t want to spend an hour every week with my face in it.

YMMV in-universe or irl. You do you.