A "muppet" episode would kill Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' good will

One of the biggest issues that the Nu Trek era of shows has had to deal with is the constant nonsense that has come with Alex Kurtzman leading the way. It seems like he wants to do everything he can with the franchise but make a good Star Trek series. Either they're too dark, stray too far from the point of the series, or are just flat-out un-Trek-like.

He seemingly got it right with Star Trek's Prodigy and Strange New Worlds but even then, they aren't perfect. Specifically Strange New Worlds, each season Kurtzman seems to let the showrunners put in some whacky nonsense that just takes the fandom out of it. Sure, it may appeal to a nice portion of the fandom, but most fans don't like the gimmicky episodes.

In the first and second seasons of the show, the creators and writers came up with a half-baked "fantasy" episode, where everyone was some sort of fantasy character of themselves. Then in the second season, we had to stomach a musical episode. Complete with dancing Klingons. Again, some people liked that.

Most didn't, as the two episodes are ranked at the bottom of the show's catalog. The second season episode, "Subspace Rhapsody" is ranked 2nd to last on IMDB with just a 6.8 rating, while the first season episode, "The Elysian Kingdom" is ranked dead last with a rating of 6.2. Most of the show's episodes have an 8.0 or higher. Clearly, those episodes are not the most fondly received.

Yet, the show has withstood those hits, mostly due to the quality of episodes that each season carries. The show, for the most part, has been phenomenal. To the point that the series has a lot of goodwill right now. The series can take a hit or two. Yet, even the most diehard fans have their limits.

There seems to be a push by some in the fandom to have Strange New Worlds do a "muppet episode". Speaking at the recent Star Trek convention in New Jersey, one fan asked series star Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike) if the series would do an episode with 'muppets'. Mount seemingly perplexed, responded in kind (via TrekMovie.com)

"I’ve gotten this question twice now, where is this?… Um, I… First of all, you’re operating on the idea that we’re told anything. I’d be interested to to(sic) be a fly on the wall in that pitch meeting to see how to get that past the network. But sure, maybe. Anything’s possible in science fiction."

And honestly, this would kill the show. While Star Trek allowed itself to be irreverent at times, it never really disrespected itself to the point of mockery. There was a certain charm about a show that took itself seriously, for the most part. Yet, the new generation of showrunners and writers don't seem to value or respect Star Trek the same way that past writers and showrunners did, as they keep pitching or allowing concepts to be done that spit in the face of what the series was meant to be.

It's a morality play. Yet, Strange New Worlds' staff seems to forget that at times. Fans didn't embrace the fantasy episode nor the musical episode, yet we're getting more of this. If it ends up being a puppet episode in season three, there's no way to defend the decision. This isn't Muppets Tonight, and no one is asking for Star Trek to be that. No one sincerely, anyway.

So why try and force that? Yes, Star Trek is silly at times, but it's unintentional. When it's done intentionally it feels like the series isn't in on the joke, but is the joke. Why would anyone want to diminish Star Trek by turning it into a vapid series franchise that mirrors the MCU or any other contemporary franchise?

That's not what it is, and it should never be allowed to turn into that. If they do a puppet episode, I fear that the fandom will respond and not in the way everyone hopes.