Another Wish List for Star Trek 2017

[David.Blue]

The somewhat less serious edition...

1. A lesbian romance between two regulars, a la Clarke & Lexa on The 100 or Root & Shaw on Person of Interest. Quite apart from anything else this is something Star Trek has never really done. One of the things I really liked about VOY (not my favorite series overall) was the slow burn relationship between B'Elanna Torres and Tom Paris.
   
2. How about treating the Prime Directive seriously? C'mon! For years I've been trying to figure out even what the Prime Directive even says, while over and over again it seems to me it means nothing at all. To whom does it apply? I thought officers were supposed to sacrifice their lives and their entire ships rather than violate it. But has any senior officer in Starfleet ever not violated it? And done so with legal impunity?
3. For variety's sake, how about a ship's captain who is deeply unpopular with the crew, who nevertheless respect this person? History is full of such officers, one of the most famous being the religious fanatic/major eccentric "Stonewall" Jackson of the Confederate Army. Wouldn't that be an exciting, dramatic thing to watch?
4. Let something change, and stay changed. Or at least allow consequences for something major proceed. For example, what if the crew of the USS Infallible tried to save a world, and instead managed to wipe out the natives, an act of accidental genocide? Imagine the Federation reacting to such a f*ck-*p, how it would impact absolutely everyone's relations with the known universe? Don't sweep in under a carpet, hold a court martial and exonerate the crew so nobody we care about refuses to accept the verdict! No--that should lead to divorces, to mission failures, to demotion and distrust and overreactions and self-justifications and somebody seeking revenge, etc.

And yeah, I know all of these have been touched upon in single episodes--but my point is all of these would make compelling, entertaining long-term arcs integral to a series. Not to dabble with but genuinely explore, integrating them into the overall dynamics of the characters' lives.

Okay that was a bit more serious than I intended. Mea culpa.

 

[JoeCabby]

1. No comment, doesn't interest me, but won't bother me if it's in there.
2.I think the prime directive needs revamping. It seems like it's just a tool for the writers to add drama to certain decisions. You're out exploring the galaxy meeting new cultures, of course you're going to step on some toes.
3. Maybe someone like House, genius but an ass. It could work.
4. Fully agree, something like DS9 or even Enterprise season 3. Most popular shows nowadays have the long running arcs and I'd be surprised if they didn't go this route.

 

[T'Girl]

A lesbian romance between two regulars, a la Clarke & Lexa on The 100 or Root & Shaw on Person of Interest.

A slow protracted romance (as oppose to a one time casual sex hookup) would be nice. The Worf and Dax relationship was nicely done, so something along that theme.

How about treating the Prime Directive seriously?

It might be interesting to show that (some of) the officers don't take it seriously. Not really, while they publicly exponent the PD, it's just something they had to agree to upon entering Starfleet and many of them hold it to be philosophically flawed.

C'mon! For years I've been trying to figure out even what the Prime Directive even says

I'd like to see a scene where two senior officer get in a argument about the PD, using different parts of the PD in their position.

Officer !: "Article seventeen says this.
Officer 2: "Yes, but subsection 4A clearly decries an exception."
Officer 1: "Historically the courts haven't support that."
Officer 2: "Yet 137 years ago ..."

.

 

[theREVENGEofKAHN]

1) I'm all for a lesbian romance on Star Trek, I just don't want it to be shoehorned in there like some shows do. I don't want to see a token gay characters on every show. Make the character an actual three dimensional character and explore how their sexuality influences them as a character and their decisions. If Star Trek is supposed to be political allegory for how we want the world to be surely there can be some stories that can explore this as opposed to just throwing it in their "just 'cause"

2) The prime directive needs to be in their but maybe to your later point actually show the repercussions to the society and to the violators of it throughout the course of the series.

3) I really like this idea and had something similar in mind. In another thread I suggested Michael Ironside to play the new captain. Someone that was respected and got the job done but lacked personality skills and rubbed people the wrong way like Gen Patton. This could also allow for the show to make the main character someone other than the captain and show how the crew dislikes the captain despite their willingness to follow him.

4) I think this one is a given for modern television. It's something that Star Trek has done before and even helped pioneer in its own way. I don't think theirs an option to go back to the old format of strictly episodic television.

 

[T'Girl]

I suggested Michael Ironside to play the new captain

I've thought for some time that Ironside would have been a great casting choice as the captain in Enterprise, instead of Bakula.

.

 

[MichaelDornFan]

Why does homosexuality in sci-fi always have to be represented by hot lesbians? Seems kind of cliche.

If Star Trek hadn't been too afraid to touch the subject back in the 90s, maybe hot lesbians would have been acceptable. Maybe it would have been daring. But they waited way too long and if that's how they finally introduce a permanent gay character(s), it would just be a cowardly cop out IMO.

*No, you didn't specify hot lesbians... but this is TV so I think that's a safe assumption...

 

[hux]

1. Hot lesbians would be unhelpful. Maybe a bisexual woman who (without any reference being made to it) is involved in a non-monogamous relationship with a man and a woman.

2. Maybe they could start the new show with the captain having just come through an unpleasant disciplinary due to a major PD violation. It hangs over him.

3. Definitely. A little more complexity in the crew's relationships and a captain who some of the crew don't entirely like would be interesting.

 

[Shikarnov]

A lesbian romance between two regulars, a la Clarke & Lexa on The 100 or Root & Shaw on Person of Interest. Quite apart from anything else this is something Star Trek has never really done. One of the things I really liked about VOY (not my favorite series overall) was the slow burn relationship between B'Elanna Torres and Tom Paris.

I have no qualms about displaying any variation of sexual relationships on Star Trek... But I do think that specifically creating characters for the sake of putting them into a relationship will come off a bit forced in this format. I'd rather get the show moving along, and see how the characters grow and mix with each other. Let the relationships grow organically.

How about treating the Prime Directive seriously? C'mon! For years I've been trying to figure out even what the Prime Directive even says, while over and over again it seems to me it means nothing at all. To whom does it apply? I thought officers were supposed to sacrifice their lives and their entire ships rather than violate it. But has any senior officer in Starfleet ever not violated it? And done so with legal impunity?

One of the things I've always respected about Star Trek and its spinoffs is that Starfleet -- at least what we've seen of it -- tends to avoid making criminals out of every legal violator by assigning greater relevance to both the spirit of its laws and the specific circumstances of the violation.

That said, given the finality of the Prime Directive, it would be an interesting way to write off a character... Certainly, in the case of Tasha Yar, it would have been better than her skirmish with Armus. Sent to the stockade after saving millions who were fated to die. It'd give the audience a lot to think about.

For variety's sake, how about a ship's captain who is deeply unpopular with the crew, who nevertheless respect this person? History is full of such officers, one of the most famous being the religious fanatic/major eccentric "Stonewall" Jackson of the Confederate Army. Wouldn't that be an exciting, dramatic thing to watch?

I think that would work for temporary CO -- like Captain Jellico. But with all due respect to all the unpopular commanders throughout history who have bled for freedom, methinks it'd be pretty difficult to sell a show with a top-billed cast member designed to be disliked.

Let something change, and stay changed. Or at least allow consequences for something major proceed. For example, what if the crew of the USS Infallible tried to save a world, and instead managed to wipe out the natives, an act of accidental genocide? Imagine the Federation reacting to such a f*ck-*p, how it would impact absolutely everyone's relations with the known universe? Don't sweep in under a carpet, hold a court martial and exonerate the crew so nobody we care about refuses to accept the verdict! No--that should lead to divorces, to mission failures, to demotion and distrust and overreactions and self-justifications and somebody seeking revenge, etc.

One of the things I enjoyed about the arcs in Deep Space Nine is that actions had lasting effects throughout its run. And I agree that we should see more of that in the new series.

 

[theREVENGEofKAHN]

I think that would work for temporary CO -- like Captain Jellico. But with all due respect to all the unpopular commanders throughout history who have bled for freedom, methinks it'd be pretty difficult to sell a show with a top-billed cast member designed to be disliked.

Fair point but I think it could still work if the Captain is just a hard@** and a little rough around the edges. To the point where those that work for him find it difficult to deal with him but respect him because he is still an honorable man. He can still be likeable to the audience but the inter-character relationships might have some difficulties resulting in some more drama.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Why does homosexuality in sci-fi always have to be represented by hot lesbians? Seems kind of cliche.

To give straight guys something to fap to?

 

[Matthew Raymond]

Some thoughts:

1. Star Trek has always been about inclusion, often pushing the envelope of what is tolerated by society in general.
2. It is reasonable to assume that tolerance for LGBT individuals and their relationships will be significantly greater in the future, especially given current statistical trends.
   
3. If you have a dozen characters or more, statistically one of them would probably be a member of the LGBT community (unless the future is much less tolerant than predicted).

Given these facts, the idea that there shouldn't be at least one LGBT character among dozens is outright bigotry for a Star Trek series.

However, one could argue that, for a small enough cast, it's entirely probable that all of the characters could all be heterosexual cisgender. This might be a good argument for a totally new franchise, but for a long-running franchise like Star Trek, you would have to look at the shows and movies in the aggregate. So far, Sulu in Star Trek Beyond has been the only on-screen gay character of note, and the way this is presented, one might not even realize that he and his husband supposed to be a couple. (In fact, since I lived with my sister and my niece for several years, I assumed Sulu was an uncle rather than a husband when I first saw the movie.) So, looking at the totality of Star Trek, it would actually appear that the franchise is overdue for a prominent LGBT character.

I realize that no one her is actually saying otherwise. I think the real fear here is that such a character would be handled in a two dimensional, heavy-handed way that would do a disservice to the community the character is trying to represent. The solution to the problem is simple: Bring in an experienced, talented writer who understands the LGBT community and knows how to write LGBT characters. To do otherwise would be to pander to a crowd that isn't receptive to Star Trek's message of tolerance and inclusion in the first place.

 

[borgboy]

The novels have quite a few lesbian major characters .
There's a lesbian Vulcan T'Prynn who is a strong interesting character in Vanguard, and her love interest has an interesting story in her own right. Their relationship is pretty sexy and this is coming from a gay guy with no sexual interest in two women together. Chemistry and good writing can and should transcend barriers - which means a mainstream audience should also be able to be invested in gay male couples too.
The novels develop the bi/gay women of the Mirror Universe, namely MU Ezri and Leeta who are a married couple.
They're not quite lesbians, but in the New Frontier the relationship beween Selar and bi-gendered Burgoyne (who looks pretty much like David Bowie on the cover art) is a major theme thru the series.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Looks like this was a Discovery-based thread that didn't make the forum transfer and got bumped after several months. Since the mods in that forum probably have enough on their hands, I'm going to close it rather than move it at this point. There are likely Discovery forum threads covering similar subject matter, but if not, feel free to start one there.