One of the 'traditions' of Berman-era Trek onwards, was that in the first installment of a new TV show or movie series, the new crew would be given a send-off by a character from a previous one. So in TNG we got Admiral McCoy making a inspection, in DS9 it was Picard briefing Sisko about Bajor, Voyager's journey into the Badlands started out with Kim being almost conned by Quark, Enterprise employed Zephram Cochrane from 'First Contact'. In the movies we got Kirk handing the franchise over to Picard in TNG'S first feature, and finally, the 2009 reboots went all the way back to the source and had Leonard Nimoy reprise an older Spock. And a mention of Archer and his pet beagle.
Should Discovery do the same? Perhaps rope Scott Bakula or one of the other ENT cast members to send them off?
I'm kind of torn. On one hand I love the tradition and the way it helps weave together that rich tapestry of Star Trek history. On the other, I see Discovery as an oportunity for the franchise to establish itself a new fanbase and build towards a stronger future, and I don't know if featuring former characters wouldn't jeopardize that aim by making it too fanwanky too early. I'm still not sure if even Nimoy's cameo in the 2009 movie did more harm than good in this way (and I feel similarly about Kirk in 'Generations'.) Not to mention if we take that logical step of using the ENT characters, even in an otherwise harmless cameo, whether the negative associations of that series being a "failure" in the eyes of Joe Public would jinx the new incarnation completely.
What are
your views, fellow TrekBBSers?
