Star Trek 2017 TV Series - Sarek

Star Trek 2017 TV Series - Sarek

One of my greatest fears for discovery was that its setting ten years before 'The Original Series' was chosen specifically so they could use the 'TOS' characters, or younger versions of them, to tap into the same audience that wanted to see the Kelvin Timeline films with recast roles, all for brand recognition rather than imagination. I still have mixed feelings about this, even though it's an intriguing idea, but it also means that 'TOS' continues to be seen as The Star Trek, rather than a part of the expanding Trek Universe that had been broadened and deepened up to the end of 'Enterprise.' Falling back on familiar names and setting, relying on that for Trek's appeal rather than genuinely going into something new as a post-'Voyager'/'Nemesis' series would have been, or even one set far enough before 'TOS' that the characters weren't alive yet. In fairness, Sarek is the first preexisting character to have been announced, and we've had a number of the characters named, so they aren't doing a remake of 'TOS' yet.

Back when it was rumoured the series would be set between 'TOS' and 'TNG,' post 'Star Trek VI,' it immediately set alarm bells ringing because I saw the inevitability of them setting up 'TNG,' recasting those characters and not giving us something genuinely new. It's all to do with the reliance on branding and general audience expectations, and that's frustrating to me. I prefer the way it was almost always done on Trek, right up to the end of the Berman era, when an actor played their character and no one else did, and if the actor didn't want to, or had died, that was the end of that character, nothing new could be added about them, about the role they created. I like it in 'DS9' and 'Voyager' when they talk in some nostalgic way about the 23rd century, but it doesn't mean I want to visit there again, or to be precise I don't mind visiting, but I don't want to exist there - if I wanted to do that I'd just watch 'TOS' and the films. There have been exceptions, such as Tora Ziyal being played by three actresses, and Worf's son, Alexander, having the same fate across a longer timespan, but for the most part Trek maintained a believable internal consistency regarding people, places and technology so that in the rare times when we do get to revisit that era ('Trials and Tribble-ations,' 'Flashback,' 'Relics,' 'In A Mirror, Darkly,' for some of the best examples), it's a special event.

At the same time it's simply gratifying that Trek is coming back after twelve years of absence from the small screen, and most importantly it's set in the original timeline (let's hope it stays much more true to itself than the modern films). It is fascinating to imagine seeing how those original characters met, what they were like earlier in their careers or lives, and as long as they aren't overused it could be a nice leavening to add to a strong series. But if they're going to be relying on that kind of brand recognition to drive stories, then I see it as a crutch. I'm not prejudging the series and I hope it will be great and lives up to the grand tradition that came before, but it is quite sad to think that the book is being reopened again on characters that weren't like James Bond, Dr. Who, superheroes, etc, designed to be reimagined and rebooted forever, but were real, flesh and blood people who existed, lived and died in a period of our future history, and their legacy survives. But because of the relative success of the KT films it constrained future writers into narrowly considering the 'TOS' era (and possibly a rebooted 'TNG' era), as the only real choice for Trek to explore that would get people's attention. Walter Koenig predicted in the early 2000s that Trek would eventually recast 'TOS' and remake it, and he was right when the films did just that. At least with 'Discovery' they're not out and out, blatantly setting it on the Enterprise under Kirk, but the setting does make me think they could quite easily hop forward a few years, should the series continue to be produced, or is successful enough to warrant a spinoff, and the logical choice would be to redo 'TOS,' which I really don't want.

At this stage it's merely the casting of an actor (James Frain? Nope, never heard of him, which is a good thing), as Sarek. It makes sense to feature the most famous Ambassador of the era, and if 'Enterprise' had been a little further into the future we would probably have seen him in that, and it's not even the first time he's been played by another, younger actor - in 'Star Trek V' we see a flashback to Spock's birth in a cave and his Dad remarks how human he looks. In that case they went out of their way to make the actor look like a young Sarek rather than just any old guy, and they had Mark Lenard supply the line, which made all the difference. And I liked Ben Cross in 'Star Trek XI,' mainly for his role in 'Chariots of Fire' - I like it when an actor I've admired in something else comes to Trek. But he didn't have the presence of Lenard - when he was on the Bridge he was just part of the background instead of emanating an importance and will that Lenard always had. I don't see anyone ever being able to replace Lenard in the role, that regal voice and bearing so powerful and evocative that even though he only made a handful of appearances, he's one of the best Vulcan characters ever.

And that's another thing - I really hope this series gets the Vulcans right, because 'Enterprise' messed with them in very disagreeable ways, turning them from noble superheroes (in the best sense), to petty Romulans, sneaky and vindictive, openly displaying emotions, raising their voices and generally being obnoxious in a superior way rather than simply being superior. Let's see Vulcans that display the Syrranite conduct that was a fix towards the end of 'Enterprise,' showing a return to the revolution in Vulcan behaviour that Surak had taught, laying the groundwork for the Vulcans we see in the 23rd and 24th Centuries.

It's great to have pretty much all of the cast now announced and I'm glad that Klingons are going to play a big part. Naturally I'm a little disappointed that we're not getting any of the previously established characters, such as Jeffrey Combs as Shran the Andorian, who could still be alive at this time, potentially. Or even a character from another series who could move into this one (as O'Brien and Worf transferred to DS9). I appreciate it would be a bit of a stretch, with time travel and all kinds of stuff having to happen in order for such a thing, but in Trek anything's possible and it would have been a great draw for us older viewers to see an established character return, played by the actor, no matter how farfetched that is. It was never likely, although I did have the slight hope that Combs or another famous Trek face would be signed up to the series, and it's not beyond the realms of possibility that we could see a stunt like that in recurring roles, but clearly they want to establish their own new cast more than throwback to previous series' too much, at least initially.

Having Saru (interestingly, pronounced 'suh-ROO,' perhaps to differentiate him from Saruman, or maybe he has a lineage that is Austr-alien!), be a previously unknown race is intriguing. It gives the actor and writers space to do whatever they want in establishing a new alien species and its culture, which is essential for a Trek series, so that's one element in place which I approve of. At the same time it would have been even better if they'd chosen to use a known race, whether a one-off alien of the week, or a lesser known, but recurring species (say, a Lethean, for example, or a Coridanite), in order to further flesh out an underdeveloped race and tie the series into the Trek Universe even more. But I'm not going to complain that they're doing something new and different, I just hope it becomes more of an Odo, who was a fascinating character of mystery whose uniqueness was more in his contrasting and conflicted personality than his amazing abilities, rather than Phlox, whose quirks of personality and physicality, although fun, seemed more like gimmicks than a serious examination of an unknown alien culture, for the most part (nothing against the Doctor, but he could have been developed better).

Things are starting to coalesce for the series, and latest news is that it's going to be pushed back again from its May release, which is no bad thing if it gives them time to refine and improve (and me time to get more 'TOS' reviews finished!).

Anticipation Rating: ***