I'm glad I've gotten this and everything else I've posted off my chest.
Being as I cannot help but feel that alot of this is aimed in my direction, I guess I should respond.
My....malaise over the 24th century, and by extension, the 25th, has little to do with the likes of Rick Berman. My issues with the era have more to do with the general feeling, character attitudes, and design aesthetics that come from the timeframe.
In my opinion, one of the things that made Trek great was the sense of adventure. The exploration of the unknown was both exciting and potentially terrifying. There was a swashbuckling feel to early Trek that has been all but absent from the 24th century characters. The whole era feels like a type of gentrification. Gone is that sense of grand adventure, of wonder, of going
boldly into the unknown. Replaced by characters who somehow manage to make space travel feel.... mundane.
Now this isn't a blanket statement. I've liked a great deal of 24th century Trek. I like ALL Star Trek. But as I've gotten older, I find myself drawn more and more towards "older Trek." By older, I don't mean when it aired, but that older, swashbuckling attitude. TOS had it. Enterprise certainly at least tried to have it. Even Discovery tried, and at times, succeeded in its attempts. And yes, SNW has
it.
I could even argue that the first season of Picard made a real effort, only to be somewhat torpedoed by its own third season.
Also, just from a design point of view, I've become bored with "look" of the 24th century. The ships, the uniforms, the tech, the aliens. I'm ready for something different. For over 600 episodes we've had this design aesthetic. Nothing feels new. It's like looking at an iPhone. Updated ever so slightly with each passing year, and a slightly bigger screen.
One thing I appreciate about Discovery is that they were willing to go with drastically different design aesthetics, in both its eras.
In regards to my desire for perhaps another prequel series, preferably set during the early years of the Federation. Yes, we might know that in the end the Federation will survive and thrive, but I'd personally love to see the hardships and characters involved in getting to that point. It's no doubt a cliché to say, but I'll say it anyway;
It's not the destination, it's the journey. Besides that, any potential series that took place in this era would no doubt have a cast of characters that we've never heard of. We'd have no ideas of what could lay in their futures.
But anyways, I've barely touched the surface of what I'm wanting to convey, but work calls. I'll say this again. I love Star Trek. All of it. Even the stuff I don't like
that much. I'll watch, and probably enjoy, to atleast some extent, anything they throw at me, including a Picard continuation. These are all just
my opinions on what
I want out of Star Trek. They are in no way obligated to appeal to me and me alone.
It takes all sorts of Trek to make the world go round.
)
