With the new series Star
Trek: Discovery just having finished its first season I now can reflect on the
series and think about all I have seen and heard with the show. As a 38 year
old lifelong Trekker I can say: I don’t really like it. People like to point
out that TNG had a terrible first season and for the most part a terrible
second one. But what people are forgetting it was the first new Trek series in
almost twenty years and was also hampered by limited special effects technology
and an 80’s TV series sensibility. Discovery has the benefit of 28 seasons of
other Trek to refer to see how to do it properly. The only things that keep me
watching in the hopes of them getting better with Discovery is Commander Saru and
Chief Tilly.
Now speaking of good
Trek I have to say that DS9 may be the best Star Trek series ever made thus
far. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge TNG and TOS fan but DS9 just has much more
going for it than any other Trek TV series. The creators were able to be
creative with this series and were not restrained, especially towards the end
of the series. For example they allowed real conflict on this series, the last
2 seasons the characters were fighting in a war. Unlike the Klingon war on ‘Discovery’
which seemed weird with no real war feel to it (C’mon the ‘Disco’ crew had a
dance party in the middle of a war…) and ended very dumb, the Characters on DS9
were allowed to change and grow, actors were able to act and writers got to
write and see their vision become a reality.
They had long reaching story arcs
and a supporting cast that got in some cases more screen time than the 'main'
cast. I loved in particular the long continuing story lines; in the start
of season 6 they had 6 episodes that were essentially one
big continuing story and the last 10 or so episodes of the
7th and final season followed the same pattern. It was an interesting and
rewarding experience for us fans, but it did alienate new viewers who came in
and had no idea what was going on. But it just worked better for DS9 rather
than Discovery probably due to the fact they spent seasons building up
characters and situations. That is probably why TNG was able to create such a
big fan and casual fan base, by doing one and done stories. A 2-part episode is
all that TNG ever did, whereas DS9 would do 3-part, 6-part, 10-part epic
stories.
DS9 is the best Trek series in my opinion. TNG may
have a better cast and better one and done stories, but DS9 overall told a
better epic story. And the actors were great too. But if you are a new viewer
to the DS9 universe may I suggest that the first 3 seasons can be hard to get
through, because they follow the TNG one and done story telling style, but DS9
seasons 4-7 are the best Star Trek ever made. Maybe skip ‘Discovery’ for now;
hopefully it gets better in season 2.
And don’t get me started on Discovery and Trek
continuity…
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