It's interesting that you say this, because at one point (one could probably find the posts somewhe haha) I literally said in a thread asking what people want/don't want in a new series:
1. No morally ambiguous characters. I don't want Breaking Bad or Mad Men in space
2. No space wars. That's a tired, super-overdone sci-fi trope.
3. No space politics (meaning the maneuverings and motivations of other major galactic powers)
...and literally all of that is coming to pass in some way or another. Like, it hits every major point I was begging for them not to do.
BUT in spite of all that, I find myself liking it on its own merits. I've been able to compartmentalize my preconceptions and desires and just watch from a completely "blanc tableau" place...and I find myself excited and intrigued at nearly every turn.
Go figure.
You know what, I find your post quite interesting! Because I disagree with it on so many levels,which again shows us just how
frakkin' diverse the Trek fandom and their preferences has become! I also had many things where I said I wouldn't like it if they do it, and then they did exaclty that. But so far, I'm not the biggest fan of DIS, I'm fairly mixed (like the characters and world building, don't like the main plot).
But I already have a way different opinion on your original 3 bullet points:
1. No morally ambiguous characters. I don't want Breaking Bad or Mad Men in space
I
love morally ambigious characters. But for Star Trek, I need them to be contrasted with some morally straight characters. So far, despite the general dark tone, DIS does that. So that's great. I don't want Breaking Bad, or hell GoT in Star Trek. But I think digging deeper on the gray areas
of certain characters would be actually quite great!
I think Seven of Nine worked
great in this regard. As someone who had done a
ton of bad stuff, which under normal circumstances would be un-atonable for. But this
isn't normal, this is sci-fi! As such, her Borg-backstory was one of the most interesting Trek story in general, and basically made the whole of Voyager worthwile IMO.
I loved Shran, the opponent-with-respect relationship he had with Archer. How he evolved, and from how different worlds both came and came together. I would have loved to see so much more of them!
And then there's of course the usual fan favourites: Garak. Odo, who was driven towards the founders. Ro Laren. Nick Locarno/Tom Paris who actually accidentally killed people. Hell,
Data had some heavy backstory involving Lore.
Gimme'
more of that stuff! But every gray, selfish Tony Stark needs a Captain America to be contrasted with, so that
both characters can shine and show their differences!
2. No space wars. That's a tired, super-overdone sci-fi trope.
I would actually change that: No
BORING space wars! So far, DIS sadly is kinda' boring. Because it's the usual stuff: WW2 in space. Like we have seen a thousand times before. With good guys doing some shady stuff, and some bad guys doing honourable stuff. But generally, basically the same formula we have seen since the propaganda movies of the 40s.
I'd love a truly
interesting space war. There are a few options:
1. A war with a complete inhuman villain. The Borg were great. Or the Founders. Or the Bugs from Starship Troopers. Something that is so completely different from us, the conflict is not just "guys vs. guys", but different kind of
beings struggling in different ways of lifes. What if the enemy is insectoid, so that they don't even have individuals? And therefore no such thing as "respect" for life itself? How do you deal with that? How can you solve that issue, generate an agreement, with something that is so fundamentally different that you don't even share
any values or even perspectives on
life itself with them?
2: The other thing interesting would be an asymmetrical war. Something that's closer to the modern world. Not to super-powers just throwing stuff at each other in a WW2-type scenario. But what if you're in a war that is technically never declared? When the differences between "police operation" and "military operation" become blurred? When you don't know who's your enemy? When you're constantly attacked, live in fear, but still have to behave yourself? When
only you follow the rules of engagements? Because you
have to? Because you're ultimately the stronger one, and have more to loose, while the other side plays cheap and dirty?
Sadly, DIS so far decided to go the DS9/Babylon 5/Star Wars route of just smashing starships (and soldiers) at each other and having colors and explosions on the screen. Will see how that develops during the 1st season. But it's the main reason why I'm actually more interested in what comes
after that.
3. No space politics (meaning the maneuverings and motivations of other major galactic powers)
I kinda' love politics. But the
interesting stuff. The diplomatic stuff. Not the "who fights against whom?" and "which alien race is on our side, and which on theirs?"-stuff. But the Picard-speech-worthy stuff. Balancing different viewpoints and different interests. Where do you draw the line, between what's morally or legally right, and what is politically achievable? How much do you sacrifice your ideals for smaller improvements. Do you want to be right, or achieve visible results? That kind of stuff.
But most importantly, what I want to see, what sadly currently is missing on DIS, is:
Exploration.
Going on strange new worlds. Not for some viable goals or to win a war. No, just
out of curiousity. The human spirit, seeking out new life and new civilisations. Not to change them, or conquer them, or gain an advantage. No. Just because
people are genuily interested in seeking out the unknown.
