Discovery Ends - The State of Star Trek

Discovery Ends - The State of Star Trek

It's been a while since I wrote anything about modern Trek, but the news of cost-cutting and belt-tightening at Paramount, culminating in the surprise cancellation of 'DSC' with its fifth season, it seemed like the right time to comment on where this 'third generation' of Trek is up to in my estimation. I stopped writing reviews when 'Picard' Season 1 broke me of that desire, it was just too painful and a chore to write about something I found so negative, badly written and twisting so much of what Trek always was to me. But things have changed slightly since then: the key thing is that I've come around to 'Lower Decks,' something that a few years ago had dropped to zero on my anticipation meter. Seeing Season 1 didn't really do anything to disabuse me of that notion, and while I could say the final episode showed some promise, I was in two minds about whether to buy Season 2 or not. In the end a price drop gave me the incentive and I must say I was surprised to find that some (still only a handful), of episodes were genuinely good Trek, and with the season finale it was quite impressive. I found myself warming to the characters and their situations, the stories and the setting, even the ship (I love that it doesn't have shiny floors, for example!), to the point the Season 3 DVD is now actively anticipated in a way I haven't experienced since either Season 1 of 'Picard' or Season 1 of 'DSC,' both of which gravely disappointed.

I'm currently struggling through Season 2 of 'Picard' and finding it about as bad as I could have expected from general comments I'd read, but I also hear almost nothing but good things about Season 3, which sounds like they're finally exploring the time period, characters we care about, and what made the 24th Century so compelling. I still have my doubts that they'll pull it off, but from what I hear it is the kind of Trek I want to see. In other words: good. I've also yet to hear anything negative about 'Prodigy' the other animated series, and though I'm very sceptical about 'Strange New Worlds' that also sounds as if it has been far more easily accepted than either of the previous live action Treks. To be in a position where I actually care about seeing new Trek again is a pleasant surprise, if only a tentatively cautious one. There's still plenty of concern over bending or breaking canon and characters, but at least if the writing is an improvement then there is some hope.

That 'DSC' should be cut all of a sudden, especially as they'd already filmed it all last year and had no expectation of it being the final season, is quite a shock turn of events given that recent years have been nothing but announcements of series' continuing or rumours about the many new Treks that may be coming down the pipeline. I can't say it affected me at all negatively (and I was somewhat glad to hear they were doing additional shooting to mitigate the lack of a series finale), other than giving pause for thought that the gravy train might be coming to an end, that this steady throwing of anything and everything at the wall to see what sticks is not going to continue. I did expect 'DSC' to make it to at least seven seasons just because that's a kind of measure for success in the Trek world, but obviously that was in a different age and most streaming series' don't make it further than five. It's just that it is the series that started it all, the base upon which CBS All Access, which became the better named Paramount+, was built, for better or worse: the golden child, the flagship of its generation. Does this mean that with more traditional Treks now in prominence its brand of overly emotional melodrama isn't as popular, or is it simply the issue of higher costs for retaining actors, the usual way a series outlives its cost/benefit ratio to the studio, is the cause?

As in the past there have been plenty of rumours or mentions of potential new Treks, but I have to say none of them have sparked any interest in me. There's the Section 31 idea which has been kicking around since the early 'DSC' days, and which I've always felt extremely tepid about just because the organisation hasn't worked since 'DS9' and requires writers of that stature to pull off. It didn't help that it's meant to be built around possibly the worst character of modern Trek, Georgiou, this unrepentant, genocidal, sarcastic evocation of evil that we were somehow supposed to root for, despite the fact she never faced any backlash for her crimes and was simply accepted by the Discovery crew for looking like Captain Georgiou! But enough about the many mistakes of the past... The Starfleet Academy cadet series was also a terrible idea that has only got worse since the suggestion Tilly might lead it (probably the second worst character to come out of modern Trek, though she's close with Burnham!), so not keen on that either, and never was as far back as I first heard about Harve Bennett's idea in the 90s (and which was basically done in the first Kelvin film). That leaves Seven of Nine/Raffi, a potential Janeway vehicle, and a Next Next Generation series using characters created for 'Picard' Season 3. Not interested in Seven or Raffi even remotely after they ruined the former and the latter was always irritating (the fourth worst in modern Trek? I don't know, Jurati gives her a run for her money!), and I have yet to see 'Prodigy' so don't know how well Kate Mulgrew comes across nowadays (Patrick Stewart being a total disappointment in the role of Picard, means nothing is certain any more), and a 25th Century series could work, but again, I have yet to see 'Picard' S3, so can't speculate on well it would work.

The truth is if they are cutting down then it's more likely they'd just keep existing series' going and I'm open to that if they are of the quality of 'Lower Decks' S2. I should rank all the seasons I've watched to give some idea of how I feel Trek has fared since 2017:

- Lower Decks S2 (the best I've seen of current Trek, and while I still hate the swearing and gross comedy, it doesn't seem as distracting as S1, with story and character coming to the fore aided by no unnecessary and non-relatable galaxy-saving stupidity)

- Picard S1 (everything from here on down is pretty poor and could be interchangeable, but I have to say there were a couple of episodes I enjoyed and it was lovely to see Data, Riker and Troi again, but it's a low bar and as with all live action Kurtzman Trek, the ending stunk)

- Short Treks (they're short, which when it comes to modern Trek is probably for the best, and the lows were low, but 'Ask Not' was about the only modern era episode I've felt was good on multiple viewings, and there are one or two others that aren't bad. The format showed promise, even though I don't like the idea of stories being quite that short, but it doesn't look set to return)

- Lower Decks S1 (more for the fact I actively want to go back and rewatch this after coming to enjoy S2, though really only the finale was something I quite liked)

- DSC S3 (it's not great, but there's less to annoy when it comes to canon thanks to the distancing of a 32nd Century setting. Shame that hasn't meant improved writing, though, the potential was squandered and ended with the same ludicrous fantasy rubbish we've come to expect, meaning its position is more for being less offensive than being anywhere close to good)

- DSC S2 (shameless insertion of Pike, Spock and the Enterprise to try and cover up the inconsistencies of tone, story and character, but it had some promise early on, even if, as with every modern Trek season except 'LD,' it messes it up in the second half)

- DSC S1 (started somewhat well, then set the tone by killing off the Picard-like Georgiou only to bring her back as the evil Mirror version in the second half, creating many of the problems of the series in the process. More miserable and nasty, but at least there was less crying!)

- Picard S2 (only halfway through, so it may suddenly wake up and become something special, but rock bottom. There's a reason Trek is set in space. Boring, stupid, badly done, the worst of Trek)

All of these seasons, with the exception of 'LD' S2 are practically on a par of badness, but I had to differentiate them somehow. It shows that at least 'DSC' has improved, even though the improvements are infinitesimal (and they've added whole new ways to fail each season!). The first season unfortunately hamstrung the whole Trek genre with its decisions about continuity, aesthetics, the technology and the writing, and things have been trying to recover on life support ever since.

Finally, my anticipation ratings for the coming Treks:

Lower Decks S3: ***
Picard S3: ***
DSC S4: **
Prodigy S1: ***
Strange New Worlds S1: ***
Section 31: -
Starfleet Academy: -
25th Century TNNG: **

Compare this with my list from 2019:

another cartoon series [Prodigy]: -
Section 31: *
Lower Decks: -
Picard: ***
Khan: *
Starfleet Academy: -
more Discovery: **

It shows that things have at least brightened relative to what they were and I have an incrementally more optimistic view of modern Trek, almost entirely on the back of 'LD' S2, so it remains to be seen how accurate that will be. I remain in two minds about whether it would be better for Trek to simply end for good and then we can debate all these existing series' merits or not as the case may be, and not be concerned about further violations to canon and content. Yet the legacy actors are growing old so this is realistically the only chance we have to see them again one more time. I can't help but wish Patrick Stewart had had this opportunity fifteen years ago before he got too old to carry Picard off as he used to, it's very sad to see, so in that sense I want as much Trek bringing back characters as I can. But again, they've ruined some of these characters so maybe it's better to let them end gracefully in whatever their final appearance was in previous iterations, much like Shatner's Kirk in 'Generations,' dying before he could become truly old. Regardless of what I want it seems Trek is continuing for the foreseeable future and they keep releasing them on DVD, and while they do that I'll keep watching. I'm even contemplating whether to review 'Lower Decks' since I actually have some positive things to say for a change.

The only other aspect of Trek yet to be touched on is the glaring absence of a film since 2016. I've lost count of the number of failed attempts to make a fourteenth film in the series, the fourth in the so-called Kelvin Timeline, and from my perspective I'd be happy they never made one since I was as underwhelmed with those films as I've been with the vast majority of the Kurtzman-era (funny how he was involved in two out of those three films, too...), and I also like the idea that 'TNG' made four to their three. Could they do a new film series? Of course. Will it appeal to me? Doubtful. I haven't even been to the cinema since 'The Rise of Skywalker' in December 2019, so I'm not sure even a potentially good Trek film would get me back there these days, especially if DVDs continue to be produced.

To conclude, things haven't changed that much, it's still up in the air how much improvement has actually happened. I'll need to see more of the new series' to be able to make a judgement on that, but at least I'm not questioning whether I'm going to buy the DVDs as I was when 'Picard' S2 came out or 'LD' S2. Constraint breeds creativity, so if the writers are forced to come up with better stories to cover a shortfall in budget that can only be a good thing. Effects may sell TV shows, but they don't create lasting and beloved content - that's what matters and what will ultimately decide if this era has been a significant part in the grand history of Trek, or merely a footnote.