It is time for Star Trek to finally go back to the future

After a pair of prequels and the coming return to the characters of The Next Generation, it’s time for Star Trek to boldly go into the future again.

When Star Trek: Discovery arrived on CBS All Access in the latter half of 2017, fans had one of two very distinct reactions. They either jumped right on board and found the new show incredibly entertaining or hated it with the passion of a Klingon doing battle. And for the most part, it’s the haters that have driven most of the conversation.

From not thinking the show is “Star Trek” enough (whatever that means) to the insult of having to pay to watch the show on a new streaming service, the haters had a long list of complaints that they were willing to tell just about anyone.

More from Redshirts Always Die

• Has Star Trek Technology gotten out of control?
• The Borg Queen was spoiled early on Star Trek: Picard
• Is J. Lee hinting at a renewal of The Orville?
• Relive a little Star Trek fun with FoxTrot’s Christmas Cookie comic
• Watch: All I Want for Christmas by the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation

And while most of their issues with the show run the gamut from valid to silly to absurd, there is one common complaint that a surprising number of fans can get behind, this writer included.

Does Star Trek really need yet another series that takes place in the past?

Star Trek: Discovery takes place roughly a decade before the event of The Original Series, but how exactly that is supposed to work is up for debate. From a fan’s perspective, it is very difficult to reconcile the obvious issues when you compare the look and story of Discovery to what we all saw in The Original Series.

For the less continuity minded it isn’t that much of a problem, but hardcore Trek fans take continuity very seriously. Trying to shoehorn this series into the timeline is enough to give anyone a splitting headache.

So you have to wonder how many of the issues a segment of the fanbase has with Discovery would have been avoided if the producers had simply moved the Star Trek timeline forward another 100 years.

Star Trek: The Next Next Generation if you will.

Sure, Star Trek: Picard is picking up 20 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis, but given the quieter tone that show is going for, it’s doubtful we’ll see much of what has being going on in the wider universe.

No, if showrunner and King of all things Trek Alex Kurtzman really wants to give fans what they want to see, then the best way to do that is to move the timeline further into the future and explore new territory. By doing so, it gives the producers a clean slate to work with and avoids the continuity issues that drive fans nuts. New technology, new aliens and a new setting with none of the baggage of previous series except what they choose to introduce.

Our Andrew Depledge recently touched on just that subject when exploring ways that the franchise can expand and grow. But a new core Star Trek series doesn’t necessarily even need to focus on another Enterprise and her crew.

It could be a show from a Klingon perspective. Or show the end of the Federation. Or pick up with the destruction of Romulus as seen in 2009’s Star Trek and how the universe deals with such a catastrophe. And the best part is you won’t have to worry about if the Klingon’s makeup effects look right or if the tech seen in the show is “retro” enough to fit in with the aesthetic of the Original Series.

To paraphrase a certain doctor from another popular science-fiction movie, it’s time for Star Trek to go back to the future.