When a new Star Trek series comes out the reaction from Trekkies is always the same.
Star Trek: Discovery star Sonequa Martin-Green spoke to TV Line about the tone of the new Star Trek series.
"“This iteration of Star Trek is going to have a different take than the others in the Star Trek canon. It’s going to be bigger, rawer and grittier… and the story’s going to build on itself. It’s going to be a tremendous journey.”"
Now what “rawer and grittier” means is up for interpretation. There are some ways that this could be a real positive for Star Trek, and there are some ways that this could be a negative. Obviously we want Star Trek to continue with its message of a brighter future for humanity through science. Star Trek’s optimistic vision of the future of humanity is what sets it apart from many of the other science fiction franchises out there. To lose that would be a real shame.
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However, just because a series is gritty doesn’t mean that it’s not going to also be optimistic Trek. All Star Trek series have dealt with serious issues and had complicated and sometimes dark moments, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t great Trek. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine changed the “monster of the week” format of Star Trek and dealt with some much dark and grittier scenarios, but DS9 was still great Trek.
Sonequa Martin-Green’s statement about a “rawer and grittier” Trek has gotten a lot of Star Trek fans upset. It’s not really that they are upset with the idea of a more raw Trek though. Trek has changed throughout its history and this isn’t any different. Of course Star Trek is going to be darker and more modern, it can’t stay the same.
The Star Trek new series lifecycle is always the same. A new Trek series always goes through the same thing with Trekkies. Here’s the Star Trek series life cycle:
Trekkies are amazing people, but to say that we have a pattern of fearing new series because we historically fear change to the franchise we love is an understatement. Every time there’s a new Star Trek series Trekkies get up in arms about how it will ruin our beloved franchise. This has been going on since Star Trek: The Next Generation first aired. We’ve all seen the memes of fans complaining about TNG on compuserve saying that the ship was ugly, it looked nothing like Star Trek, and that it was ruining the franchise.
If you remember Star Trek: Deep Space Nine premiering then you really know about the gnashing of teeth from Trekkies. Many Trekkies hated DS9 instantly because it was set on a space station and not a ship. Many of those same Trekkies later came to say that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was their favorite Star Trek series.
It’s always the same pattern with us, so why not give Star Trek: Discovery a real chance?
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What do you think? Are you excited about Star Trek: Discovery? Let us know in the comments below.