I haven’t seen STA yet, but it seems like, with a few exceptions, the most recent Star Trek has always been controversial, since The Next Generation. I feel like Enterprise deserved it the most, and SNW escaped most of it. Discovery probably got it the worst? Though TNG was by far the least deserving of it.
Discovery probably “got it the worst” because it came out during peak gamergate-era politics. Online fandoms were weaponized and radicalized into right-wing culture warriors. Discovery is easily the least preachy of any Star Trek series but because it had a black woman in a leading role it became an obvious target for ragebaiters to make stuff up about.
Ironically my biggest issue with Discovery is that it’s pretty right-wing with its CIA stand-in apologia and blatantly militaristic style in Seasons 1 and 2 at least.
That and the sheer degree of melodrama. Every episode needs to have scenes of at least one or two characters in total anguish. It just wears me down compared to other Treks. For a streaming-era show, it’s not all that bingeable
If you didn’t finish it, I highly recommend the last two seasons. I almost gave up on it for the reasons you cite, but the last two are a large tonal shift (positively in my opinion).
I didn’t like that they fridged Georgiou, who I felt was the strongest character they had thus far introduced. After that it became really really clear Burnham was the main character, which is a concept I don’t think belongs in Star Trek. The only other series that gets close to having a main character is TOS, which I dislike for the same reason. Kirk and Burnham both become boring when they’re the only point of view character for an entire episode.
it is also the series that had to define what Trek was in current times. It took it a few seasons and the later shows used a lot of that lessons.
it might had a lot of problems, but I dont think it was for a lack of trying.
Which I find kinda surprising, since I would call SNW fairly “woke” if you actually pay attention to the show. Maybe it’s just because it’s a male captain set in the TOS era, and it’s a more traditional trek show?
IMO “woke” is a red herring when it comes to criticism of newer star trek. Some people hate things for this reason, but it obscues a more interesting discussion.
The real dimensions of value are the writing, the vision, what each series considers “action”, etc. I think it’s a distinction between what you’d expect from a Star Trek movie and a Star Trek TV show. They’re for different audiences, and I think Discovery, STA are going for a much wider market appeal (in varying degrees) and it changes the narrative structure, pacing, etc. I think they’re exploring the audience space with variations on Star Trek themes to grow the francise, and sometimes it’s to the detriment of what some people like about Star Trek - and sometimes it brings in new people.
I like Star Trek to be ethics porn about IDIC being more powerful than raw power. About the value of an education, team work, structure, and trust. I like it when the most tense action scene is a walk down a hallway - but I also like a bit of space pew pew sometimes. The new shows alienate me when they focus too much on physical action, individual exceptionalism, and a grimdark future.
snw is actually quite less “woke” than STD, std has all no-men crew by season 4, it was pretty obvious, and the lgbtq+ people have largely been marginalized by that time too, after they served a purpose in season 1.
i think by SNW they realized how bad some of the characthers and how they are overly pushed as the leads.
Personally, of the new Star Trek that’s come along since the Kelvin timeline was started the only thing I’m taking into my personal canon is Lower Decks. The rest has been completely meh at best, downright awful at worst. Most of it I’ve simply let pass out of mind and memory.
I haven’t seen STA yet, but it seems like, with a few exceptions, the most recent Star Trek has always been controversial, since The Next Generation. I feel like Enterprise deserved it the most, and SNW escaped most of it. Discovery probably got it the worst? Though TNG was by far the least deserving of it.
Discovery probably “got it the worst” because it came out during peak gamergate-era politics. Online fandoms were weaponized and radicalized into right-wing culture warriors. Discovery is easily the least preachy of any Star Trek series but because it had a black woman in a leading role it became an obvious target for ragebaiters to make stuff up about.
Ironically my biggest issue with Discovery is that it’s pretty right-wing with its CIA stand-in apologia and blatantly militaristic style in Seasons 1 and 2 at least.
That and the sheer degree of melodrama. Every episode needs to have scenes of at least one or two characters in total anguish. It just wears me down compared to other Treks. For a streaming-era show, it’s not all that bingeable
If you didn’t finish it, I highly recommend the last two seasons. I almost gave up on it for the reasons you cite, but the last two are a large tonal shift (positively in my opinion).
I didn’t like that they fridged Georgiou, who I felt was the strongest character they had thus far introduced. After that it became really really clear Burnham was the main character, which is a concept I don’t think belongs in Star Trek. The only other series that gets close to having a main character is TOS, which I dislike for the same reason. Kirk and Burnham both become boring when they’re the only point of view character for an entire episode.
it is also the series that had to define what Trek was in current times. It took it a few seasons and the later shows used a lot of that lessons. it might had a lot of problems, but I dont think it was for a lack of trying.
Trying too much (and all at once) in my opinion!
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Which I find kinda surprising, since I would call SNW fairly “woke” if you actually pay attention to the show. Maybe it’s just because it’s a male captain set in the TOS era, and it’s a more traditional trek show?
IMO “woke” is a red herring when it comes to criticism of newer star trek. Some people hate things for this reason, but it obscues a more interesting discussion.
The real dimensions of value are the writing, the vision, what each series considers “action”, etc. I think it’s a distinction between what you’d expect from a Star Trek movie and a Star Trek TV show. They’re for different audiences, and I think Discovery, STA are going for a much wider market appeal (in varying degrees) and it changes the narrative structure, pacing, etc. I think they’re exploring the audience space with variations on Star Trek themes to grow the francise, and sometimes it’s to the detriment of what some people like about Star Trek - and sometimes it brings in new people.
I like Star Trek to be ethics porn about IDIC being more powerful than raw power. About the value of an education, team work, structure, and trust. I like it when the most tense action scene is a walk down a hallway - but I also like a bit of space pew pew sometimes. The new shows alienate me when they focus too much on physical action, individual exceptionalism, and a grimdark future.
snw is actually quite less “woke” than STD, std has all no-men crew by season 4, it was pretty obvious, and the lgbtq+ people have largely been marginalized by that time too, after they served a purpose in season 1.
i think by SNW they realized how bad some of the characthers and how they are overly pushed as the leads.
Personally, of the new Star Trek that’s come along since the Kelvin timeline was started the only thing I’m taking into my personal canon is Lower Decks. The rest has been completely meh at best, downright awful at worst. Most of it I’ve simply let pass out of mind and memory.
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