Star Trek Fans Explained

Star Trek Fans Explained

 

I have been a fan of ‘Star Trek’ for almost my entire 40 years of being on this planet. I consider myself a Trekkie or Trekker, either label works for me but for some they get offended if you use one or the other. I’ve also had the pleasure (and sometimes displeasure) of meeting other ‘Star Trek’ fans. With all this knowledge of Trek fandom I have broken the fandom down to these categories, and these categories can be used for other fandoms.

·         The ‘Discriminating’ fan

If it’s good I’ll like it. If its hot garbage I’ll leave it where I found it and not bother. (I fall into this camp). If people ask my opinion I will be honest.

·         The ‘I love everything Star Trek no matter what!’ fan

As long as the words ‘Star Trek’ are there or logo’s/actors associated with ‘Star Trek’ there these fans will LOVE IT no matter what!  They will also defend it to their dying breath no matter how wrong they are to the rest of the world. CBS/Paramount could literally put dog crap in bags, put a ‘Star Trek’ logo on it with a letter of authenticity stating that this is ‘Authentic dog Poop from Captain Archer’s dog’ and these fans will buy it, love it and brag to all their friends and family about how much they love this franchise.

·         ‘This is shiny and new so it’s better ‘ fan

We all know that someone who loves something just because it is brand new. It looks good, sounds good so it must be good right?

 “Benedict Cumberbatch’s ‘Khan’ in the 2013 film ‘Star Trek into Darkness’ is better than the original because he’s new! Forget that Ricardo guy, he was so 1967….”

·         The traditionalist   (“My Star Trek is better than yours” fan)

For this fan ‘Star Trek’ was and still is what came before. People whom got their start on TOS believe it is the best. People whom started with TNG believe it is the best and so on. Every other Trek that followed (or came before depending if it was TNG or later where they got their start) is inferior to their favourite Star Trek.

·         The ‘Fake’ fan

These fans annoy me the most.  The fake fan is someone who pretends to like ‘Star Trek’ but doesn’t actually or hasn’t actually watched or payed attention to it. One lady whom I met at a convention dressed in a Starfleet uniform as it turns out doesn’t watch the show. She informed me she simply enjoys hanging out with all “these people”. She’s there for the party and not because she actually cares for the franchise and she is not alone. I met another guy at the same convention at an after party and he laughed at me when I asked what show was his favourite.

“I don’t fuckin watch that shit!” was his response.

When I asked him “Then why are you here? This is a Star Trek convention after all?”

“I’m just here for the party” was his reply as he attempted to teach the poor young woman whom was with him how to 2-step (country music dancing).  He also wasn’t much of a dancer either….

·          “Pew Pew” Star Trek should be more like ‘Star Wars’ fan

Star Trek was supposed to be a positive vision of the future. The characters of Star Trek were always intended to find diplomatic and peaceful solutions to their issues and only use violence as a last resort. Star Wars on the other hand violence is expected; hence why “WARS” is in the title. During wars you will have fighting and violence and that is the expected normal. But there are some Trekkers out there that want fighting, phaser fights, hand to hand combat, etc. in their Star Trek. They don’t want to see a peaceful diplomatic solution: they want a fight!

-          In the first episode of season 2 of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ we see Captain Pike, Michael Burnham and two other Enterprise officers piloting fighter crafts through an asteroid field shooting their phasers… it was then they jumped the shark to become more like ‘Star Wars’ than ‘Star Trek’…

 

In my opinion as a lifelong fan of Star Trek my advice to you is like what you like and leave the rest. If you don’t like what JJ Abrams is doing with the newest films or what Alex Kurtzman is doing with ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ or ‘Star Trek: Picard’ just don’t watch them. I know I’ve stopped watching ‘Discovery’ and I’m still watching ‘Picard’, there is no set rule stating that you have to love and watch EVERYTHING ‘Star Trek’. Along with dropping ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ half way through season 2 I also have only ever watched half of the episodes of ‘Voyager’ and I’ve only seen 2 episodes from the 3^rd season of ‘Enterprise’. Back in those days I also was not happy with the creative choices they were making at that time so I simply stopped watching. In fact I know I wasn’t the only one as evident in the fact ‘Enterprise’ was cancelled after season 4 due to low ratings…

Aside from being a Trekkie I am also a comic book fan. There are certain characters and titles I’m drawn to because they are my favourites. But from time to time a new creative team will take over a title or character that I like and change up the status quo to something I do not like or agree with. Rather than sticking with that character or title I’ll move on to another book. Why waste my time and money on something I’m not enjoying? The same applies to ‘Star Trek’. I may not be enjoying or agreeing with what they are doing on ‘Discovery’, but that doesn’t mean I’m never going to go back and watch another new ‘Star Trek’. Maybe this rumoured ‘Captain Pike’ series will be better! Or maybe not...

But I do know a Michelle Yeoh ‘Section 31’ series will not be good. We do not need ‘Star Trek’ to be dark; it is after all supposed to be a “positive vision of the future” according to original series creator Gene Roddenberry.

 

Confessions of a Trekkie

For as long as I remember I have been a ‘Star Trek’ fan. It all goes back to the original series and the first few movies they did in the 80’s. My Mom told me my love for space science fiction actually began when my parents took me to the drive in to watch ‘ET’ in 1982 when I was 2. Apparently I stayed up for the entire movie glued to the screen the entire time, shortly thereafter was when I probably discovered ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Wars’.

 

Although I am a ‘Trekkie’ I have from time to time stopped watching Star Trek shows due to issues I had with them. Back in 1997 I stopped watching ‘Star Trek: Voyager’ halfway through season 3. At that time I had issues with some of the logic associated with the premise of the series. How can Voyager sustain extreme damage from the Kazon in one episode then in the next episode it is clean and pristine? Voyager is literally 70+ years away from the nearest Federation space dock, cut off from the engineers and materials required to repair the ship… Then in season 4 it became the ‘Borg Babe and funny hologram Doctor Show’. I’ve gone back and watched some of the episodes I missed but I’ve never watched the entire series, yet I consider myself a Trekkie. Just because you are a fan of a franchise doesn’t mean you have to accept mediocre storytelling. I knew before ‘Voyager’ even launched that the premise of a Starfleet vessel being lost in space 75 years from the Federation was a doomed concept. To their credit they played out the premise for the entire 7 year run but I think it would have been better to see this show take place in Federation space. There are always plenty of stories to tell in the Alpha quadrant.

‘Enterprise’ (later wisely renamed ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’) was another example of me dropping off of a Trek series. In season 3 they started a ‘Xindi’ war story arc which I did not care for so I stopped watching. If Earth had been attacked by this unknown ‘Xindi’ race and they intended to use their version of the ‘Death Star’ on Earth why was this never refereed to or mentioned before in the original series, TNG, DS9 or Voyager? Enterprise is after all a prequel series and that is the root of what makes it a flawed series. If the NX-01 Enterprise really is the first Federation ship again why was this not ever mentioned in the previous Trek series or movies?

Prequels; when not executed with continuity in mind are doomed to suck. Enterprise at times ignored established Trek continuity and suffered as a result; likewise with ‘Star Trek: Discovery’. Say what you will about the ‘Star Wars’ prequels at least creator George Lucas had it (for the most part) planned out to work with the continuity he had already established with the original trilogy. Discovery, more so than Enterprise, completely ignores continuity and relies on special effects, lens flares, macguffins, and lazy writing to tell their stories while at the same time completely ignoring established continuity.  So far ‘Star Trek: Picard’ is doing a better job at working with established continuity and doing a better job weaving the story they are telling.

Bottom line I wish ‘Star Trek’ would simply return to their roots. And no I do not mean they should reboot Captain Kirk or Captain Pike yet again (sorry Anson Mount, love you as Captain Pike but I really don’t need a show with that character), but rather a new show with a new crew, new cast, new ship but same mission as the original series. A Starfleet ship in the 25^th century that goes on missions every week to “Seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before”.

 

Sorry Michelle Yeoh but I am not looking forward to the proposed ‘Section 31’ series. I want more “Star Trek” in my STAR TREK.  

 

 

 

‘Star Trek: Andromeda’???

After watching the ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ third season trailer I cannot help but theorize the writers/executive producers stole Gene Roddenberry‘s plot for ‘Andromeda’ and are using it for ‘Discovery’. Much like they “borrowed” the tardigrade from that video game ‘Tardigrades’ in season one but then quickly threw that out when they got sued or had to settle (not sure which). Maybe I’m wrong but I’m thinking that ‘Discovery’ will be tasked with rebuilding the Federation when they arrive 1000 years after the events in the season 2 finale. Which is essentially the plot of Gene Roddenberry’s proposed series ‘Andromeda’, which was turned into a tv series starring Kevin Sorbo and produced by Gene’s widow Majel Barrett Roddenberry in the early 2000’s. 

If I am right then they need to get some new writers/producers on this show who can create something of their own. Stop lifting ideas and concepts from others and trying to pass them off as new and original. Season one had the tardigrades. Season two had the Enterprise, Spock, Captain Pike, Number One. Now maybe season 3 has the plot line from ‘Andromeda’ which was one surviving Commonwealth ship tasked with rebuilding the Commonwealth. If season 3 has the ‘Discovery’ having to rebuild the Federation then yes they (the writers/executives) stole ANOTHER plot because they have no clue and should not be making a show called ‘Star Trek’. 

They need to do better and true fans should expect better.

Star Trek: Disco Inferno

The problem I have with Star Trek: Discovery is that it is not “Star Trek” as far as I’m concerned. It does not obey or live up to the ideals that Trek creator Gene Roddenberry established; ideals that he made his writers and show runners follow. This new show feels more like ‘Star Wars’ than ‘Star Trek’. I’ve seen fan film productions better than this show that accurately portrays Gene Roddenberry’s vision for a ‘positive vision of the future’. Not to say it’s all bad: the casting of Anson Mount and Doug Jones were brilliant choices but the blatant disregard for established Trek canon pushed me away. However if people like it that’s fine too, hopefully it’ll get new people watching the previous Trek series, but for me it’s a missed opportunity to do something special... 

I had the pleasure of meeting Anson Mount at the Calgary Expo in April 2019. He does make an excellent 'Captain Pike'.

 

They really should have done an Anson Mount 'Captain Pike' series...

 

However I am hopeful that ‘Star Trek: Picard’ will do right because of the involvement of Patrick Stewart and other Trek alumni. I really don’t think they would sign on for a mediocre show. Because in all honesty I’d call ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ mediocre Trek. If you took away all the Trek references on the show it would make an alright science fiction show but when compared to Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine it is very mediocre. 

 

Season 3 trailer that dropped at NYCC: Meh. Still not hopeful.

 

 

Hopefully 'Star Trek: Picard' will bring the franchise back to its glory days.

 

Star Trek: Disaster, Part Duh

So once again I got myself in a debate with a ‘Disco’ apologist whom loved with season 2 finale, while at the same time telling me the ‘Game of Thrones’ series finale will be disappointing. So he pointed out to me what Spock said: 

Where I replied that that is a total cop out by the writers and producers. They definitely were reading our comments and tried to do a course correction and completely ignore what their original intention was. And that intention was: Discovery IS a continuation of the original series timeline (TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY,ENT). Original Disco Show runner Bryan Fuller and later Show Runner Alex Kurtzman said as much until now...

If you like STD all the more power to you, but please don’t for one minute put it in the same league as ‘Game of Thrones’, in terms of writing quality and production. There is simply no comparison. Disco cannot even compare to its own predecessors let alone compare to the best show on tv right now, and that in my humble opinion is GoT. 

Star Trek Disaster (oops I meant ‘Discovery’…)

Cadet Tilley. One of the characters from 'Disco' I think is great (if at times a little annoying)

 

Before I begin let me say I want Star Trek, whether it is a TV series or movie to be good.  I am a lifelong fan and I want the franchise I love to do good things. Unfortunately early on in season one of ‘Discovery’ I realized things were not going the way I felt it should have. We were told this would be a prequel series and would be in established Star Trek continuity and would be respectful to what came before. That clearly did not happen as evident with the use of the Klingons, the retcon of Spock having a human foster sister, the spore drive system (Voyager sure could have used that “old” technology in the 24^th century), the mirror universe angle, Section 31 is a “secret” organization that EVERYONE seems to know about… and the flaws go on and on. Sonequa Martin-Greene (aka SMG, previously from her NON-ground-breaking role on ‘The Walking Dead’) plays Michael Burnham who is a mutinous Starfleet officer whom helped start the war between the Klingon Empire and the Federation, don’t worry all gets forgiven for some reason. The rest of the “crew” are essentially background characters to her with the exception of Captain Lorca (later Pike), Commander Saru and Cadet Tilley, the chief engineer and doctor are there too. Add inconsistent pacing, tons of lens flares, special effects orgies, endless Deus Ex Machina to solve problems for the characters and situations, continuity errors galore, bad acting by SMG and this show is just a terrible mess of a series. People have pointed out that TNG had a terrible first 2 seasons but at least series lead Patrick Stewart (Picard) could act the hell out of what he was given to work with, can’t say the same for SMG. And speaking of TNG needing 2 seasons before it got good: I would argue TNG had more to contend with behind the scenes that caused them to suffer creatively such as a rotating writing staff, a Hollywood writers’ strike, limited budget and technology to utilize for the show (this was the 80’s after all, not much CGI in those days…) and so on. Star Trek Discovery has the benefit of hindsight and technologies that can help tell their stories and not limit them, etc.

L to R: Stamots, Saru, Ash Klingon, Beardy "Spock, unknown guy, unknown gal, unknown guy, unknown weird eyed gal hidden behind Tilley, Tilley

 

I am a Star Trek fan and I do want it to be good and do well. In the past TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT all had bad episodes and did suffer from time to time creatively. But not like this, not the way DISCO is suffering. It is consistently bad with too many cooks in the kitchen (Disco: 21 Producers with 8 of them being Executive Producers as compared to TNG season 2 : 8 Producers with 3 of them as Executive Producers).

Disco’s 2^nd season was a slight improvement over the first but not by much. Anson Mount was great as Captain Christopher Pike but sadly he will be gone in season 3, and judging by interviews given he doesn’t seem anxious to return to Trek any time soon. That’s just my opinion after seeing some interviews and the words/body language he used.

Admiral Forgettable and Anson Mount as 'Captain Pike'

 

Maybe the Captain Picard series will be good…there is always hope and hope is all we have.

 

 

Done with Discovery: Talos 4 Don’t Go There

I've had my misgivings with ‘Star Trek Discovery’ since it is premiere in 2017 and I knew that going the prequel route was not a good idea. Star Trek had already tried this in 2001 with ‘Star Trek Enterprise’ and it was cancelled after four seasons. I think part of the problem with Enterprise was the fact that diehard fans were dropping off due to continuity issues. For example I stopped watching Enterprise during season three because of the whole Xindi war story. This alien race brought a small death star-like weapon that cut a strip through North America, and yet this was never mentioned or referenced in any of the 4 Star Trek series that came before Enterprise. So when Discovery was announced that it was going to be a prequel I knew there was going to be continuity issues. And the continuity issues have been numerous and dumbfounding to a lot of diehard fans such as myself. But what they're going to be doing next week is too much for me to handle and I am seriously done with this series. 

A story arc that has never been touched on or referenced since it originally aired on the original series has been Talos 4. The story with Talos 4 originally aired in the two-part episode ‘The Menagerie’, Which was the story of how Captain Christopher Pike ended up living the rest of his life on the planet. It's an arc that concluded and the residents of Talos 4 have never been seen or heard from since; now for some reason Star Trek Discovery is going back to Talos 4.

Why? Why must we go back to the storyline that was resolved over 50 years ago. Why must Star Trek Discovery continue to screw with continuity? I'm getting so sick of this happening with this series. I've stuck with it during season two because of Cadet Tilly, Saru, and Anson Mount (from ‘Hell on Wheels’) as Captain Pike. But in all honesty Sonique Martin Green and her character ‘Michael Burnham’ are terrible. It just blows my mind that this character committed an act of mutiny and now is somehow redeemed and continues to be a part of this crew? That just confuses me to no end. 

I've mentioned this before in my previous blog post but I feel the biggest problem plaguing this show is the fact that there is 21 producers working on it, eight of them are Executive Producers. Compare eight Executive producers on Star Trek Discovery to 3 Executive Producers on Star Trek The Next Generation at any given time. Clearly there are too many cooks in this kitchen who have no idea what the recipe is to create a good Star Trek series. And I've heard a few people use the argument that Rod Roddenberry is one of those Executive Producers and my retort is: who cares? Just because his father created the franchise doesn't mean he's an expert on that franchise. If you go back and watch the documentary he did a few years ago about his father you will see that he himself will admit he was not a Star Trek fan for many years. But just like a born-again Christian who's found Jesus and now goes around preaching the gospel to anyone who listened people seem to think that Rod Roddenberry is the second coming. Trust me folks he is not, no offence to him but just because he shares his father's last name doesn't make him an expert. 

And speaking of experts my question to CBS is why don't they bring in some Star Trek experts? For example they could ask Rick Berman on how to make a Star Trek series since he helped to produce and create 4 Star Trek series. Or maybe ask Michael and Denise Okuda for their input; they are after all the authors of the Star Trek Encyclopedia and the Star Trek Chronology books. Or maybe they could ask some Star Trek novelists such as Michael Jan Friedman or Peter David for their input. 

Lately I found watching ‘Discovery’ a chore to get through. For example on the last episode I actually fell asleep watching it as I was bored. When I awoke I went back and re-wound the last 10 or 15 minutes of the show so I could find out what I missed and that's when the whole Talos 4 reveal occurred. For me that was the final straw, that's when I came to the conclusion that I could no longer try to get through this series, I simply have to drop it. 

In all honesty this isn't the first time that I've dropped a Star Trek series. As I mentioned earlier I was not a big fan of Star Trek Enterprise in its third season and I never watched it. I came back in season four because I was reading very positive things about it and the episodes that I did watch I really enjoyed, and I really felt that they were going in a better direction with the series but unfortunately it was canceled. I even stopped watching Star Trek Voyager halfway through its third season. I came back periodically for the remainder of the Voyager run but ever so periodically. In all honesty I've probably only watched half of the Star Trek Voyager episodes. My reasons for not being a fan of Voyager are numerous and could probably take up its own blog post but suffice to say I really liked the actors on that series; I just wasn't a fan of the premise, the writing, and the direction it ultimately took. 

In 2019 thankfully we have an alternative to Star Trek Discovery and it is called ‘The Orville’. It really does feel like what a Star Trek series should be. It's funny, it's lighthearted, the characters are relatable, and it is more of a ‘positive vision of the future’ than Discovery is. I found that in its second season it has matured and become a better show unlike its current Star Trek counterpart. So I'll be sticking with ‘The Orville’ for the for seeable future which I hope will be many seasons to come. 

And I do have my fingers crossed for the Captain Picard series that is supposed to be later in 2019. Patrick Stewart is a very talented actor and a very smart man, and I really don't believe he would get involved with a TV series if it wasn't going to be of high quality, so I'm very hopeful for that series. Also that series is going to be a sequel to Star Trek Nemesis rather than another prequel to Star Trek The Original Series. Enough for the prequel's already, we need to quit making trips to the well; sequel is where it's at. 

Even more continuity errors in Star Trek Discovery

***SPOILERS*** In the latest episode of STD ‘Saints of Imperfection’ we once again bear witness to more blatant continuity errors.  

The group ‘Section 31’ was first established in 1996 on ST: Deep Space Nine as a covert Federation organization that was part of the original starfleet charter and had existed in secret for over 200 years (at that point). So much secretive that the high ranking officers of DS9 had no idea who they were or that they even existed. 

Now in this latest episode of STD Emperor Georgio (Michelle Yeoh) comes onboard Discovery and flashes her fancy Section 31 insignia to Captain Pike and Burnham and Pike responds to her and acknowledges Section 31 as if he is fully aware of who they are and what they do. Pike even has a conversation with an old buddy who commands Georgio. Now with STD being a prequel series and Section 31 established as being top secret >100 years before STD on ST:Enterprise and 100+ years after on ST:DS9 how could anyone know who or what Section 31 is during the time period of STD? 

Again this is one of the many problems plaguing STD: 

CONTINUITY ERRORS!!!!!

Can anyone at the STD writers room do some research please????

I keep watching in the hopes this series will get better. Anson Mount is great as Captain Pike, Cadet Tilley and Commander Saru are also great...and that’s about it. The handling of Section 31 is just another example of a creative mis-fire. It’s my hope that someone at the current Star Trek offices just comes out and admits that this series is its own continuity and nothing else that happened before on the other Star Trek series matters. 

I think an admittance of that would relieve a lot of stress that established Star Trek fans (like myself) have been feeling while watching STD. Remember that the producers have been stating all along that STD is in continuity and that they would be respectful of what came before, which they clearly are not... 

Too many cooks in the Star Trek Discovery kitchen?

I think I may have an understanding as to why Star Trek Discovery seems a bit disjointed. There are way too many cooks in the kitchen. When I was watching the opening credits of the most recent season 2 episode I noticed the following: 

• 2 co-producers
• 3 producers
• 1 consulting producer
• 6 co-executive producers
• 9 executive producers. 

Way too many cooks...

Now compare season 2 of Star Trek The Next Generation:

• 1 associate producer 
• 3 producers 
• 3 co-executive producers
• 1 executive producer 

8 producers on TNG compared to 21 on Discovery. TNG had 1 Executive Producer who had overall final say, that man was Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry had Co-Executive producer Maurice Hurley running the writers room and Co-Executive Rick Berman ran the business side. 

Discovery has 9 Executive Producers! Perhaps 9 people pulling things in the directions they want, hence why for me and many people the series overall feels disjointed. Originally it was supposed to be Bryan Fuller as show runner with his overall vision guiding the show but he left Discovery early on from what I read was because of creative differences. 

Anyway I do hope someone (Or someone’s)ultimately takes the reigns of Star Trek Discovery and steers this ship in one proper direction, like Rick Berman & Michael Pillar did in season 3 of Star Trek The Next Generation. 

Not my cup of tea

As a Star Trek fan I have been asked a lot lately if I like the new TV series: Star Trek Discovery. And being an honest person I answer honestly: Not really. Now there are definitely some things I do like about it such as the characters of Commander Saru and Cadet Tilley, but other than that I just am not a fan of this series. It seems some are under the mistaken impression that as a ‘Star Trek Fan’ you must like all things Star Trek. This is simply not true. You can like a franchise but doesn’t mean you must like everything in that franchise. For example you can like Coca Cola and not like New Coke (80’s kids will get that reference) or you can like Pepsi but not like Crystal Pepsi (90’s reference). When people ask me to go into detail why I don’t like the new series I have some main points I share:

-          When the producers pitched this series they said it would tie into established continuity and not change things. This simply did not happen. For example the Klingon look, language and culture seemed to be completely different than in previous continuity. If they had just said “This is a reboot of the franchise” I’d have been alright with that. Reboot it and do what you like, but when you go out of your way to say nothing will be changed then it is…I have a problem with that.

 

-          The previous Trek series were about the crew and being a team/family. Granted in the original 60’s series it originally was all about Kirk, and then as the popularity of Spock and McCoy grew it became more about the three of them. But the supporting cast all contributed in some way to give the viewer a sense of comradery, but this new series is about Michael Burnham, Saru, Tilley, Engineer guy…there’s no real sense of team/family here.  Most of the bridge crew has so far remained nameless

 

 

-          Lens flares, Admirals hiding in shadows as they speak, focus on ship redesigns and special effects…this new show has the look and feel of the JJ Abrams ‘Star Trek’ films (2009-2016) and not the previous Star Trek TV series.

 

I could go on but I’ve said my peace. I’m not saying YOU will not like this show, YOU just might. This could be the Trek series you have been waiting for. But for me it’s just not my cup of tea. I’ll watch season 2 (coming in January 2019) and I am holding out hope that the new Captain Picard series will be good (coming out in late 2019)