alex kurtzman – Trekking with Dennis

Rating Your “Unpopular” Star Trek Opinions!

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for practically the entire Star Trek franchise, including recent seasons of Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, and Starfleet Academy.

Later this year, Star Trek will celebrate its sixtieth anniversary – that’s six decades of sci-fi adventures, space exploration, and a wonderful fan community that I absolutely adore! Today, I thought it could be a bit of fun to look at some of the Trekkie community’s so-called “unpopular opinions” about Star Trek. If you read my piece about fan theories a few weeks back, I’m going to do something similar this time around: I’ve compiled a bunch of “unpopular opinions” from across social media, and I’m going to dissect them!

I went to Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, TikTok, and other social media pages, scanning posts and comments sections, and I pulled out twenty-five “unpopular opinions” for this piece. And rather than just state them and share my opinion, I thought it could be interesting to try to answer two questions! Firstly, I’ll share whether I agree or disagree. And secondly, I’ll try to gauge whether the opinion in question could fairly be described as “unpopular.”

Still frame from The Enterprise Incident showing Spock and the scanner — I scanned social media to detect your most controversial opinions…

Here’s a couple of examples so we’re all on the same page!

Example #1: “Khan sucks as a villain because he’s lame and boring, and his evil scheme makes no sense.”

I would say I disagree (vehemently) with this opinion! But I would concede that it is a genuinely *unpopular* opinion within the fan community and with a wider audience. In fact, it’s such an unpopular opinion that I’ve never seen anyone genuinely express it!

Still frame from Star Trek II showing Khan — Khaaaaaan!

Example #2: “Captain Picard is the best Enterprise captain, better than Kirk or Archer or anyone else by miles.”

This one’s a toughie on the “agree/disagree” bit, because Kirk, Archer, and really every Star Trek captain across the franchise have plenty of their own strengths. But if I had to come down on one side or the other, I’d say I agree; Picard is a great captain. However, this is clearly not an “unpopular” opinion within the fandom – ask any group of Trekkies who their favourite captain is, and it won’t be long before you hear multiple people say “Picard!”

So… does that cover everything in terms of the format?

Still frame from Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 (Q Who) showing Q materialising next to Picard. — Who’s the best Enterprise captain?

It should go without saying, but everything we’re going to talk about today is *entirely subjective, not objective* – and it’s just one old Trekkie’s take, at the end of the day. If you hate my opinions, think I’ve got it completely wrong, or if I criticise a show or character you adore, please try to keep that in mind! There are a variety of opinions out there about this wonderful franchise, and I share mine with the Trekkie community in the spirit of light-hearted celebration in this landmark anniversary year.

Some of these “unpopular opinions” have clearly been shared in a tongue-in-cheek way (at least, I hope they have!) and I’m not planning on taking any of this too seriously. This also shouldn’t be interpreted as an “attack” or “hate” for any folks in the fandom who genuinely hold any of these opinions. This is meant to be a bit of fun, partly at Star Trek’s expense, as we move closer to the 60th anniversary.

With all of that out of the way, this is your final chance to nope out if you don’t want to get into some potentially controversial Star Trek opinions!

“Unpopular” Opinion #1:
Threshold is a great body horror episode.

Still frame from Threshold showing (mutating) Paris and Janeway

“Threshold” and “great” in the same sentence, eh? We’re starting off strong! I can see where this is coming from; Tom Paris’ gradual mutation into a salamander-like “hyper-evolved human” does have some genuinely disturbing moments, brought to life by some solid prosthetics during the sequences in sickbay. The idea of mutating in real-time, and not being able to do anything to stop it… that’s the same kind of idea behind classic body horror films like The Fly, only with a Star Trek flavour in this case.

I would say, though, that for whatever successes Threshold might have on the body horror front in the middle of the story, the ending really nullifies all of it. The CGI salamanders weren’t great to look at, nor were they frightening or disturbing in any way, and the typical episodic TV “reset” of Paris and Janeway back to their normal selves meant there were no lasting consequences for either of them. This comment is clearly a response to Threshold’s meme status, and I’m glad that Trekkies are willing to re-examine even the most disliked episodes! But for me, Threshold is still a weak story, and while there is some creative body horror-adjacent storytelling in the middle, it’s completely negated by the way the episode wraps up.

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? 🛑No!🛑

“Unpopular” Opinion #2:
Spock and Chapel’s romance is too big a part of Strange New Worlds – and it sucks.

Still frame from Charades showing Spock and Chapel kissing

100% agree on this one – no notes! Chapel’s “crush” on Spock in The Original Series was cute. But it wasn’t a huge part of the show for either of them, and it didn’t need this kind of on-again, off-again storyline in Strange New Worlds to make sense. In my opinion, Strange New Worlds has been way too focused on Spock and putting him in situations which, frankly, are toe-curlingly cringeworthy. The Chapel-Spock romance is part of that. I had hoped that, with the addition of Chapel’s fiancé, we’d have seen the back of this storyline – but alas.

I think I could’ve stomached an episode or two in which this relationship existed and ran its course. But I agree with the original poster, here: it’s become way too big a part of the show. When combined with other “Spock comedy” storylines (which seem to be the only Spock storylines the producers are interested in or know how to write), it quickly became too much. Cringeworthy, unnecessary, and arguably treading on the toes of The Original Series, too. A bad combination all around! And, based on the number of likes and comments on posts like this, I think it’s a fairly common take among Trekkies, too.

Unpopular? 🛑No!🛑
Agree? ✅Yes.✅

“Unpopular” Opinion #3:
T’Rul should’ve become a recurring character on Deep Space Nine.

Still frame from The Search Part I showing T'Rul

In The Search, which kicked off DS9′s third season, we’re introduced to the USS Defiant for the first time: the first Federation starship (officially) able to cloak. The cloaking device was loaned to Starfleet by the Romulans, and Sub-Commander T’Rul was the officer assigned to oversee it, and make sure it wasn’t being used in a way that violated Federation-Romulan treaties. However, after her first appearance, T’Rul disappeared from Deep Space Nine. Martha Hackett, who played the character, would go on to have a recurring role on Voyager as Seska.

I quite like this idea, to be honest. T’Rul would’ve added something different to DS9 during some of the episodes set aboard the Defiant, and it could’ve been fun to see a Romulan getting to know the crew and learning how to live with the Federation. There wasn’t a Romulan character like that through the entire TNG era, and it wouldn’t be until we met Elnor decades later that we’d get to spend more time with a Romulan. I can see plenty of stories where T’Rul could’ve played a role, and I especially like the idea of her trying to socialise with members of the crew, perhaps teaching us a bit about Romulan culture and customs along the way. Definitely a niche idea, though!

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? ✅Yes.✅

“Unpopular” Opinion #4:
The first few episodes of Lower Decks were too “horny,” and this turned off potential viewers.

Still frame from Second Contact showing Boimler in an alien's mouth

Assuming the original poster meant “horny” as in “overly sexualised,” I have to say I don’t agree. Not that the first episodes of Lower Decks had a lot more sexual imagery and language than TNG-era Star Trek – they absolutely did! But I disagree that the early episodes are unique in that regard! I’ve only seen up to the first part of Season 3; Lower Decks is still a show I need to catch up on and finish watching. But I didn’t feel the tone changed or softened very much across the first two-and-a-bit seasons – which is basically half of the show.

In the run-up to Lower Decks’ premiere, I was a firm advocate for the fact that Star Trek can be funny, that Star Trek has always been funny, and that being an animated comedy shouldn’t matter as long as the show is good. I think the general response from Trekkies has been that Lower Decks is a solid addition to the franchise, even recapturing that episodic, TNG style which Discovery and Picard had moved away from. But did some of its crude humour or over-the-top moments mean some Trekkies switched off? Probably. In fact, almost certainly. Not every Star Trek show is right for every viewer, so folks who want to take the franchise seriously, and who don’t want a Rick and Morty-inspired take on Star Trek were probably never going to enjoy what Lower Decks had to offer.

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? 🛑No!🛑

“Unpopular” Opinion #5:
Chekov was “useless” in The Original Series.

Still frame from The Trouble with Tribbles showing Chekov

I think I can see where this one is coming from… but I really don’t agree. Chekov was a late addition to TOS, joining in from Season 2. He only appeared in 36 episodes in total – less than half of The Original Series. But… none of that makes him “useless.” In fact, I’d argue very passionately that Chekov’s presence on the bridge alongside Sulu, Kirk, Uhura, and the others was a very powerful and symbolic statement: at the height of the Cold War, a mere five years after the world almost blew itself up over the Cuban Missile Crisis, here was a vision of the future in which Russians, Americans, and humans from all over the world were living and working together in harmony.

Like most of the cast of The Original Series outside of “the big three” of Kirk, Spock, and Dr McCoy, Chekov got fewer moments in the spotlight and fewer lines, and because he joined the show later, I guess that shows up even more. He was also absent from The Animated Series, due to the show’s tight budget. But he does get storylines and interesting moments across practically all of his episodes, and he stands in for Sulu at points in Season 2, as well. Not useless at all!

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? 🛑No!🛑

“Unpopular” Opinion #6:
Discovery is overrated.

Behind-the-scenes cast photo from Discovery S5

I had to do a double-take when I saw this. “Surely,” I thought, “the original poster must’ve meant underrated, or maybe over-*hated*?” But no, this is their unpopular opinion! To be blunt, I don’t think Discovery is rated particularly highly by a large swathe of the fan community. It has its fans, of course – myself included for the most part. But “overrated” suggests that the show is held in high esteem when it shouldn’t be, when really I’d be arguing the opposite: that too many Trekkies wrote off Discovery without giving it a fair shake, and that Season 2, and parts of Seasons 3 through 5 all had good episodes, interesting moments, and more.

For something to be “overrated,” it has to have that acclaim within the fan community, and I just don’t see Discovery having that kind of reputation for the most part. I think it’s absolutely fair to criticise Discovery, as I’ve done on many occasions here on the website. And if the original commenter dislikes some or all of the show, then that’s okay. But I couldn’t say Discovery is overrated… because I just don’t think the fan community at large rates it very highly to begin with!

Unpopular? 🛑No!🛑
Agree? 🛑No!🛑

“Unpopular” Opinion #7:
Captain Janeway did the right thing with Tuvix.

Cropped screenshot from Across the Unknown showing art of Tuvix

Tuvix’s controversial status lives on! One of the best things about Star Trek is that many episodes make you stop and think. They present complex issues with moral quandaries, and they don’t shy away from reckoning with them. And Tuvix is one such example. Do you kill a man you barely know while he’s pleading for his life in order to save two of your friends? Captain Janeway believed she had to, and even stepped in to do it herself when the Doctor refused.

I can understand her point of view. The mitigating circumstances are the unique perils of the Delta Quadrant, and Tuvok and Neelix’s skills in navigating it. But was it the “right” thing to do? The episode pulls no punches, and I’ve even heard some fans say it’s the worst thing Janeway ever did. I don’t agree on that front – wiping out an entire timeline and the lives of everyone in it has to take that prize! But yeah, it was a shitty thing to do. It was a tough situation, and Janeway made the call that she felt gave her ship and crew the best chance of making it home. And hey, if you disagree… play the new video game Across the Unknown and make a different choice!

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? 🛑No!🛑

“Unpopular” Opinion #8:
Wesley Crusher is fine/underappreciated/good.

Still frame from The Dauphin showing Wesley

Things have changed a lot for Wesley over the years, I think in large part due to actor Wil Wheaton’s incredibly positive attitude and the great way he’s advocated for and represented the Trekkie community. But there was a time when Wesley was wildly unpopular; in the early days of Star Trek fansites, back when I was first getting started with the internet in the ’90s, hating on Wesley was one of the most common things you’d see. I never felt Wesley deserved all the hate he got; some of it crossed a line, really, into something a bit unpleasant or even sinister. We’re talking about a child, after all, or a teenager, and attacking a performer because you don’t like their character is just stupid.

However… I get where the original dislike stemmed from, especially in stories where Wesley could seemingly do no wrong, or was better and more competent than the trained officers around him. Partly, this came from Gene Roddenberry – Wesley was a bit of a self-insert character for Gene, even being named for Roddenberry’s own middle name. But Wesley did have weaknesses and flaws, even in The Next Generation’s first season. His inability to get accepted to the Academy being just one example. And when Wesley did make it to the Academy, the accident he was caught up in tested his loyalties and morality to the limit. Is he the best character in Star Trek? Arguably not. Is he better than folks give him credit for? I’ve gotta say yes.

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? ✅Yes.✅

“Unpopular” Opinion #9:
The reboot/Kelvin timeline Enterprise is a beautiful ship.

Still frame from Star Trek 2009 showing the Enterprise

To this day, I know Trekkies who point-blank refuse to watch the Kelvin films. But… I think the out-and-out hate for the reboot has begun to fade, thanks to the passage of time. Practically everything about the 2009 reboot was controversial in some quarters of the fan community when the film was released, including the redesign of the USS Enterprise. The design took the original Constitution-class from TOS and changed a lot of things, with a different colour scheme, bulkier nacelles, a lit-up main deflector, and more. It’s certainly a different interpretation of the classic ship from four decades earlier.

I’m actually pleased to see opinions like this. There will always be holdouts – people who can’t get over the changes and who only want to stick to a certain design philosophy or a particular era of Star Trek. But as time passes and puts distance between us and the premiere of these designs, I think it’s nice to see more Trekkies revising their opinions, revisiting some of these elements of the reboot films, and coming away with a more positive impression. It gives me hope, quite honestly, for the future of the fan community in the years to come, and that some of today’s controversies may also be forgiven over time!

Unpopular? 🛑No!🛑
Agree? ✅Yes.✅

“Unpopular” Opinion #10:
“Faith of the Heart” was a good song for Enterprise’s title sequence.

Still frame from the Star Trek Enterprise title sequence showing the show's title

This is another example of the passage of time smoothing things out, I think! I remember hopping online, circa 2001, to try to download Faith of the Heart – and then burning it onto a CD and a MiniDisc (remember those?) so I could listen to it on the go! Sure, it was different – the whole sequence, really, is a very “2000s” way to open a show, and it feels a bit dated today. But I’ve always enjoyed the song, and I certainly never agreed with folks who said it “ruined Enterprise,” or turned them off so completely that they wouldn’t even watch the show!

“Archer’s Theme,” the music heard during Enterprise’s end credits, is the track some folks argue the show should’ve used instead. And I get wanting Star Trek to revert to type; to have the ship warping over a starry background while an orchestra plays a piece of music. But did “Faith of the Heart” really change much about the series? It’s still Star Trek. And if you hate it… well, it’s never been easier, thanks to DVDs and streaming, to skip it! That being said, I think this is still a minority position within the wider fan community, even if the song’s reputation has recovered somewhat over the years.

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? ✅Yes.✅

“Unpopular” Opinion #11:
Neelix and Kes were a good couple.

Promo photo for Star Trek: Voyager showing Neelix and Kes kissing

This one has to be trolling, right? I’d go so far as to say that, if Neelix’s relationship with Kes had been in focus in Voyager much more than it was, it could’ve been genuinely detrimental to both characters and even the entire series. As the setup for getting Neelix to help Janeway and ultimately join the crew, it tracks. But what it says about Neelix – a man in the Talaxian equivalent of middle age – falling in love with a girl who’s… one year old, and the Ocampan equivalent of, what? Seventeen or eighteen? It’s… really, truly icky.

Moreover, the relationship exaggerated some of Neelix’s worst qualities. In episodes like Parturition, we’d see him getting jealous and possessive over Kes in a way that, frankly, felt uncomfortable. A man who seems positive and happy-go-lucky on the outside seemed to have a dark, possessive, almost abusive streak, and if that had been brought up even once or twice more, it would make Neelix truly difficult to root for. Fortunately, this isn’t an opinion I’ve ever seen another Trekkie endorse, though!

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? 🛑No!🛑

“Unpopular” Opinion #12:
Sybok was a fun and deep villain in Star Trek V.

Still frame from Star Trek V showing Sybok.

The Final Frontier has its issues. But is Sybok one of them? This commenter argues he isn’t, and that a religious zealot who belatedly realises that he’s wrong and he’s been lied to or manipulated gave Sybok a lot of depth. I’d add to that that the idea of exploring a Vulcan offshoot – someone who doesn’t care to suppress his emotions – was also something different. It was certainly unique at this point in the franchise, coming before the Vulcans got more development in episodes like TNG’s Sarek, and of course, through storylines in Enterprise.

The problem I have with this, really, is not so much in concept – I think the original poster is right about that – but in execution. Sybok’s best moment is arguably his final one, when he sacrificed himself to help his brother and the Enterprise escape. Prior to that… Sybok wasn’t *outstanding*, really. There is more to The Final Frontier than some fans give it credit for. And like most Star Trek characters, really, there are elements to Sybok, to the way he’s written, and to the portrayal on screen that worked or that hold some interest. And I will say, to the original comment’s credit, it’s not an argument I’ve seen before.

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? 🛑No!🛑

“Unpopular” Opinion #13:
All of “Kurtzman Trek” sucks and should be considered a failure.

Behind-the-scenes photo from Star Trek SFA S1 showing Kurtzman directing

In the time Alex Kurtzman has been in charge of Star Trek for CBS, then Paramount, and now Skydance, there have been more than 200 episodes (and a TV movie) produced and broadcast. Are you telling me, original commenter, that there’s absolutely no merit to *any* of it? Because I find that hard to believe! Even Trekkies who’ve hated most of modern Star Trek have enjoyed some projects – Picard’s third season, or perhaps Strange New Worlds. Alex Kurtzman was in charge of the franchise for that, and was executive producer on both shows.

I don’t think you can write off an entire era of the franchise, any more than you could say “Berman Trek” was bad, or “Roddenberry Trek” sucked. But even if someone is of the opinion that *all* of modern Star Trek is atrocious and without merit… we can agree to disagree without getting into personal attacks. I hope! Has Alex Kurtzman got everything right? No – and I think he’d admit that. But has there been some fantastic Star Trek on our screens since he’s been helming the franchise? I believe there has been.

Unpopular? 🛑No!🛑
Agree? 🛑No!🛑

“Unpopular” Opinion #14:
Voyager focused too much on Janeway, the Doctor, and Seven of Nine from Season 4 onwards.

Composite of promo photos for Star Trek Voyager showing Janeway, Seven, and the Doctor

I was surprised to see this on one of the “unpopular opinion” posts – not because I disagree (I don’t), but because I’ve never seen anyone else share this opinion online before! For me, the back half of Voyager’s run felt swamped by one character: Seven of Nine. Seven would apparently “learn” some lesson in how to be human one week, only to seemingly forget it all in time for the next story. This led to several Seven/Janeway and Seven/Doctor episodes being so awfully repetitive that I sometimes mix them up. Voyager’s still a great show, don’t get me wrong, but taking some spotlight episodes away from Seven and redistributing them to neglected characters like Chakotay, Tuvok, or B’Elanna wouldn’t have gone amiss.

Picard rehabilitated Seven of Nine for me, though – I even went so far as to say that that series made Seven into an interesting character for the very first time! So this aspect of Voyager, while admittedly not great, doesn’t feel so bad in hindsight, I guess. And the issue isn’t really that most of these episodes are “bad,” but rather that they’re too narrow in their focus on one or two characters at the expense of other members of the cast. When I used to use Twitter and I shared a similar opinion about Seven of Nine being repetitive and boring, though, I got a fair bit of pushback! So I think this opinion can truly be said to be “unpopular” within the fan community.

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? ✅Yes.✅

“Unpopular” Opinion #15:
The Maquis were right to leave the Federation.

Photo of the Maquis Raider filming model

This comment went on to lay out that, in the writer’s opinion, the Maquis had every right to reject the Federation and want to leave, regardless of whether they wanted to fight the Cardassians or not. This seems to come from a place of “popular sovereignty;” the political philosophy which states that people should be free to choose how they are governed – and whether they want to remain as part of an institution like the Federation. The right to secession, by definition, exists if popular sovereignty exists within the Federation – something we’ve seen a lot more of in Discovery and Starfleet Academy, to be fair.

So should the Maquis have been allowed to leave? I would say yes… in principle. But it also isn’t quite so straightforward. The Federation had to balance the rights of its citizens along the Cardassian border with the need to avoid war with the Cardassians – something that would have impacted Maquis colonists *and* the rest of the Federation. Sometimes, as Spock would say, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” If you’re one of the few, in that case… that kinda sucks, especially if it means you have to abandon your home. So it’s not quite as cut-and-dry as presented. But as a general rule, if Federation member worlds want to leave, even if they began life as colonies… they should surely be allowed to do so.

Unpopular? 🛑No!🛑
Agree? ✅Yes.✅

“Unpopular” Opinion #16:
The Tellarites and Andorians deserve more screen time.

Still frame from Lower Decks Mining the Mind's Mines showing Jennifer

The four original founding members of the United Federation of Planets were humans, Vulcans, Tellarites, and Andorians – yet only Vulcans have really been explored across Star Trek’s nearly six decades of history. Enterprise told more stories with the Andorians, sure, and we’ve seen Tellarites (and half-Tellarites) in Prodigy and Starfleet Academy. But these two races still feel underrepresented across the franchise as a whole. Partly, it must be said, that’s because of their almost complete absence from all three shows of The Next Generation era.

Since the turn of the millennium, Star Trek has made moves to address this. But it would still be neat to get a major Andorian or Tellarite character in the next live-action film or series. These two races are important to the Federation within Star Trek’s fictional history, so it is kind of odd, when you think about it, that they haven’t been seen more often. I would suggest, perhaps, that the more complex prosthetic makeup – when compared to the likes of the Vulcans, Bajorans, and so on – may have made it a bit more difficult or expensive in years gone by. Less of an issue today, though! It’s not an argument I’ve seen very often, and I think that, especially prior to Enterprise, a lot of Trekkies had more or less forgotten about both of these races, and didn’t seem to care much about them.

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? ✅Yes.✅

“Unpopular” Opinion #17:
Jack Crusher was an especially bad character in Picard Season 3 because of what his existence says about Beverly.

Still frame from No Win Scenario showing Jack

This post argued that Jack Crusher’s “secret birth” storyline actively harms his mother’s characterisation. By essentially hiding Picard’s son from him, concealing the birth, and disappearing for decades, Dr Crusher – in this person’s opinion – committed an unforgivable sin, and it was also something that she wouldn’t have done based on the way she was in TNG.

For my two cents, I didn’t think Jack was the best part of Season 3. The storyline he was wrapped up in, while not his fault on his own, wasn’t all that great, and I found it hard to buy into the idea that the character was only twenty-one years old (since the actor who played him was in his mid-thirties). Further, giving this version of Picard a storyline about discovering he had a long-lost son didn’t feel right, either – it felt like a story better-suited to someone younger, which seemed to go against other themes in the season. However, on the specific criticism of Jack “harming” Dr Crusher’s character… I don’t think I agree. It was explained in the show why she did it – to keep Jack safe from the shenanigans that constantly swirl around Picard – and I actually felt that this version of Dr Crusher had a bit more personality than she did in most of TNG. It wasn’t a random thing; Dr Crusher didn’t decide to leave for no reason. And her reasoning made sense in the context of the show.

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? 🛑No!🛑

“Unpopular” Opinion #18:
Strange New Worlds’ Gorn arc is good, and the Gorn make for entertaining villains.

Still frame from Hegemony Part 2 showing a Gorn

I didn’t really realise that this one was quite so controversial until I saw some of the comments under posts expressing this opinion! Personally, I’ve really enjoyed Strange New Worlds’ take on the Gorn – transforming them into almost Xenomorph-inspired “monsters” has definitely shaken things up. At the same time, though, leaning too heavily on the monstrous angle does raise questions about the Gorn’s sentience and ability to be a spacefaring race, so there probably are moments where it went a little too far in one direction.

Strange New Worlds had a bit of a challenge, I suppose, when it came to villains. Most Star Trek villainous factions are off the table: Discovery had recently done the Klingon war, DS9 has already done a big Cardassian war, there can’t be the Romulans in a big way due to the timeline, and returning to the likes of the Xindi from Enterprise wouldn’t have worked very well, either. So to pick a race like the Gorn – who have run-ins with Starfleet in this era – wasn’t a bad idea. And giving them a new, more frightening presentation has – in my view – worked pretty well.

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? ✅Yes.✅

“Unpopular” Opinion #19:
It’s hard to get used to the way Avery Brooks delivers his lines.

Still frame from In The Pale Moonlight showing Sisko

This one’s a toughie for me, because I first watched Deep Space Nine in the mid-1990s when I was a wee bairn. I can’t remember ever thinking that the way Sisko speaks is weird or offputting, as this commenter suggests. In fact, all of my DS9 memories are positive from that period, and Sisko quickly became one of my favourite parts of the entire Star Trek franchise. His vocal delivery, cadence, and manner of speaking weren’t things I’d considered at all until I read this post.

I suppose, to be fair to the commenter, Avery Brooks might come across as a bit of a thespian; the way he speaks and emotes is at least partially inspired by acting in the theatre for a live audience. But the same is definitely true of Sir Patrick Stewart, in that case – and other Star Trek regulars, too. Many actors get their start in stage productions, and that’s not a negative thing at all. Obviously, the way any of us feel about an actor and a performance is going to vary, and I would never say that everyone “must” like Captain Sisko or the way Avery Brooks portrayed the character. But for me… this just isn’t something I ever remember feeling when DS9 was new, and I haven’t heard this argument before.

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? 🛑No!🛑

“Unpopular” Opinion #20:
Bending the rules of “canon” is okay.

Every time a new Star Trek story touches on a character, alien, faction, or even an aesthetic or design we’ve seen before, some folks crawl out of the woodwork to moan about “violating the integrity of canon!” I’ve actually written about this subject before, and I tried to lay out that my position is a bit more nuanced than the black-or-white, “respect all canon” versus “I don’t care” debate that flares up, from time to time, within the Trekkie community! In short, I’d argue that the foundational building blocks of a fictional world and its key characters should be kept the same, but the minutiae can be changed.

As an example: warp drive works using dilithium, so future Star Trek stories need to keep that in mind. But if one episode says warp seven takes a week to reach Romulus and another episode says it takes three days… that kind of thing doesn’t matter. Nor does the fact that uniform designs look different from one show to another. So, yes, canon matters because basic internal consistency within Star Trek’s fictional setting is important if I’m to maintain my suspension of disbelief. But it isn’t the only thing that matters, and we needn’t sacrifice interesting narrative ideas at the altar of “canon purity” if there’s a fun story to be told.

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? ✅Yes.✅

“Unpopular” Opinion #21:
A crossover between Star Trek and Star Wars is a great idea.

Still frame from Return of the Jedi showing Vader and Luke on Endor

As a kid playing with action figures, I already achieved this goal thirty-five years ago! Jokes aside, fans of both Star Trek *and* Star Wars have speculated about what a crossover might look like for decades. And who knows… with Paramount buying up everything in Hollywood, maybe it’s no longer the impossible dream that it once appeared to be!

There are some pretty big hurdles, though, just from a practical point of view. Both franchises are owned by competing companies, and both have decades’ worth of complicated lore and history. Then there’s the question of time and place – Star Wars famously takes place “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” whereas Star Trek takes place in a vision of our future. Which characters would be involved? And how would Star Trek’s technology co-exist with hyperdrives, lightsabres, and the Force? As tempting as it might sound on some level, I don’t think I’d go for it if I were in charge!

Unpopular? 🛑No!🛑
Agree? 🛑No!🛑

“Unpopular” Opinion #22:
The Prime Directive is unethical.

Still frame from Star Trek Insurrection showing the duck blind

Several commenters argued that the Federation’s Prime Directive is a fundamentally unethical policy, because it condemns whole civilisations to extinction just because they haven’t developed one specific technology. And, on the surface, that seems to track – stories like Pen Pals, Dear Doctor, and the beginning of Into Darkness quite clearly show Starfleet has the ability to intervene, but chooses not to, even when there’s an existential risk to an entire race of sentient beings.

The Prime Directive, fundamentally, is about not interfering with or altering the trajectory of societies that haven’t yet discovered alien life. And it makes sense, right? Think of the chaos it would cause to our own society if aliens descended from the skies – even if they had the best of intentions. We aren’t ready for that, and maybe we won’t be for a long time. The rigidity of the Prime Directive throws up some strange situations, though – but we often see our heroes finding ways around it, and the fact that they never seem to get in trouble suggests that Starfleet is okay with rule-bending, sometimes!

Unpopular? 🛑No!🛑
Agree? 🛑No!🛑

“Unpopular” Opinion #23:
Too many people are related to Spock, best friends with Spock, falling in love with Spock, or revere Spock.

Still from YesterYear (Star Trek TAS) showing Spock

Spock has become a larger and larger part of Star Trek, over the years, even as we’ve moved further away from The Original Series. He and his father appeared in The Next Generation, Spock crossed over to the Kelvin timeline where he met his younger self, and Spock has had two long-lost siblings that he never mentioned: Sybok and Michael Burnham. Chapel falls in love with Spock, La’an falls in love with Spock, and all the while, Spock is betrothed to T’Pring. Characters like Boimler talk about Spock with reverence, too. Yeah… it’s kind of a lot, huh?

It can feel, sometimes, like Spock is too present and too big a part of the storylines he’s included in. I’d be totally fine with stepping back from Spock, for a while, and giving other characters a chance to be in the spotlight. The Burnham connection has been established at this point, and there won’t be any retconning or removal of that. But going forward… if we’re lucky enough to see more Star Trek entering production, setting Spock aside would probably be for the best – at least for a while.

Unpopular? 🛑No!🛑
Agree? ✅Yes.✅

“Unpopular” Opinion #24:
René Auberjonois should’ve played Odo with an exaggerated French accent.

Still frame from What We Left Behind showing Odo

This one… I think it was entirely tongue-in-cheek! But I thought it was funny, and it’s my list so I’m including it. René Auberjonois played the French chef in The Little Mermaid, and his French accent is pretty iconic! It would’ve certainly shaken things up, with Odo becoming much more of a comic relief character, especially if Auberjonois really hammed it up. Would it have made DS9 *better*? Uh, probably not. Would some of his conflicts with Quark have been a lot funnier, though? Yes.

Look, this was just a bit of silly fun. I’m pretty sure no one’s out there seriously suggesting that giving *any* Star Trek character a comedy accent would’ve improved the show. But it’s fun, as fans, to think about these things sometimes. How different would episodes like The Die Is Cast have been if Odo were hamming it up, sounding like the French chef from The Little Mermaid? And, to the credit of the original commenter, it’s not an opinion I have *ever* heard expressed before!

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? 🛑No!🛑

“Unpopular” Opinion #25:
Star Trek *should* change over time, and not simply re-make TOS or TNG for every new series.

Still frame from Vox in Excelso showing the cadets

As early as the ’70s, when The Animated Series entered production, Star Trek was changing. When Phase II was reimagined as The Motion Picture, and Star Trek went to the cinema for the first time, the franchise changed. Star Trek, like any long-running franchise, moves with the times. That means the way shows look and feel changes, it means the way characters are cast and handled changes, and it means the nature of storytelling changes, too. The entertainment industry is not a static, stagnant thing, and if the higher-ups at Star Trek tried to recreate The Original Series every time… well, the franchise probably would have died out a long time ago.

That being said, some experiments and changes work better than others. I’m firmly of the opinion, having seen multiple seasons of modern Star Trek, that the franchise *needs* the freedom episodic television brings, and that serialised stories need to be a much smaller part of Star Trek in the future… assuming there will be a future. It seems that Skydance, Star Trek’s new corporate overlords, are more interested in films than streaming TV, so that could be another change coming down the pipeline. But the original poster is correct – Star Trek can’t afford to be left behind as the entertainment industry shifts around it. Figuring out what to change, how far to take those changes, and what fundamentals need to be left in place, though… that’s a tougher set of questions, and modern Star Trek hasn’t always stuck the landing, unfortunately.

Unpopular? ✅Yes.✅
Agree? ✅Yes.✅

So that’s it… for now!

Concept art of the USS Enterprise in Spacedock for The Search for Spock — Concept art of the USS Enterprise in Spacedock.

Stay tuned, because I have *at least* another twenty-five of these “unpopular” opinions that I’d love to write up one day.

I hope this has been a bit of fun. If I tore a hole in an opinion you agree with… please try not to take it personally! This is meant to be a bit of light-hearted fun, joining in with the Star Trek fan community in my own way, and not something to get too upset about or offended by. I tried to pick a mix of different opinions from across social media, touching on different parts of the franchise, including things I agreed with and didn’t agree with.

If you missed it, I have a two-part review of Starfleet Academy’s first season, which is now live on the website. You can find part one by clicking or tapping here, and the follow-up by clicking or tapping here. And there’s more Star Trek content to come as the 60th anniversary nears! I’ve got plans for re-watches, theories, and more, so I hope you’ll check back from time to time. Thanks for joining me to dissect these “unpopular opinions,” and Live Long and Prosper!

Most Star Trek films and TV shows discussed above can be streamed now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the service is available. The Star Trek franchise – including all films, TV programmes, and other properties discussed above – is the copyright of Skydance/Paramount. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Starfleet Academy: One Year Later, Where Do Things Stand?

Sat 06.04.24Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Beware of potential spoilers for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy as well as spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery.

As hard as it may be to believe, it’s been a whole year since Paramount announced Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Though it had long been rumoured to be in production, and seemed to get a “backdoor pilot” during Discovery’s fourth season, it was only at the end of March last year that the show was officially added to the Star Trek lineup.

Today, I want to talk about Starfleet Academy and look at how pre-production may have been progressing.

This might not need to be a particularly long article, because there’s been a surprising dearth of news about Starfleet Academy over the past twelve months. Given Paramount’s financial dire straits, the shaky position Paramount+ is clinging to as the “streaming wars” rage, and talk of a corporate merger or takeover, you’d be forgiven for wondering whether the series was still going ahead. I know there have been moments over the past year where I’ve had my doubts about it!

Still frame from Star Trek: The Next Generation showing Starfleet Academy. — The titular Starfleet Academy – as it appeared in *Star Trek: The Next Generation*.

I’m still surprised by how poorly-timed and threadbare the official announcement of Starfleet Academy was. In early 2023, we learned that Discovery had been cancelled, and it seemed to me that rolling that bit of bad news in with the Starfleet Academy announcement would have made a lot of sense. As it happened, Paramount seemed to be blowing hot and cold on its commitment to Star Trek, when that really could’ve been avoided.

By the time Discovery’s cancellation was being made official, Paramount was already committed to Starfleet Academy – and it would’ve looked a heck of a lot better if the news read something like: “The Discovery era will continue in the brand-new spin-off Starfleet Academy.” Instead, fans were left hanging on for weeks with the distinct possibility of Star Trek as a whole coming to an end. As has become typical for Paramount, they can’t even get the basics right. No wonder the corporation is losing money hand over fist, eh?

Will Paramount ever get its act together?

Starfleet Academy’s official announcement in 2023 was pretty barebones. The only thing we can reasonably infer from the way the statement was worded is that it’s a Discovery spin-off and will presumably be set in the same 32nd Century time period as that series. That could lead to crossovers, connections, and more… which could be fun and interesting elements to include. But we don’t know at this stage whether characters like Tilly and Kovich – who have connections with the Academy and Federation HQ as of Discovery Season 4 – will be part of the series or not. That may have been the original intention during production on Discovery’s fourth season, but we don’t know whether either of those characters – or the cadets we met in Discovery – are still part of the equation.

In a recent interview with Collider, Alex Kurtzman – who’s in charge of the Star Trek franchise at Paramount – gave us a few little tidbits of information. Firstly, the series is being pitched at a younger audience. That’s something that, again, I think most of us were able to infer from the announcement and setting. Putting younger characters front-and-centre – similar to what Prodigy tried to do – could lead to a series that appeals to a tween/teen audience, and bringing fans in those age groups on board is going to be key to the future of Star Trek. So as a general point, that’s positive.

Alex Kurtzman at the premiere of Star Trek: Picard Season 3. — Alex Kurtzman recently spoke about *Starfleet Academy* in an interview.

We also know that Tawny Newsome, who plays Beckett Mariner in Lower Decks and is a well-respected writer and comedian in her own right, has contributed in some way to Starfleet Academy on the writing side of things. Whether she’s single-handedly crafted whole episodes and storylines or whether she’s been involved as part of a broader writing team wasn’t entirely clear… but her inclusion could speak to Starfleet Academy having somewhat of a light-hearted edge, at least at points. Comedy and humour have been a part of Star Trek going all the way back to The Original Series, so again I think that should be a net positive if it’s done right.

The final confirmed piece of news is this: Starfleet Academy is targeting a 2026 release date. This was also something that, as time has worn on, seemed to be looking more and more likely. Strange New Worlds Season 3 is currently filming, and the Section 31 TV movie has recently wrapped up, and both of those projects are on the schedule for 2025. With a potential further season of Lower Decks also being broadcast next year, 2025 was beginning to fill up – so a 2026 release date for Starfleet Academy seems reasonable. As I’ve said in the past, spreading out the various Star Trek projects instead of bunching them all up is a good thing!

Promo photo from Star Trek: Discovery showing President Rillak and a class of Starfleet cadets. — President Rillak with a class of new Academy cadets in *Discovery’*s fourth season.

Knowing that the show’s broadcast isn’t imminent means that the production team can take their time with things like casting and writing, as there’s less urgency and less of a need to rush. Hopefully that will mean a higher-quality product at the end of the day! I’m all for the producers and showrunners taking their time, and even considering re-writes or changes if necessary – and while I would still expect the series to enter full production this year, the months of pre-production since the official announcement have hopefully been put to good use.

There is one thing we’ve learned from Starfleet Academy’s pre-release material that gives me pause, and makes me feel a twinge of anxiety about the show’s narrative. When the series was announced, one line in the blurb stated that the class of cadets will have to tackle “a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.” To me, that sounds like the set-up for yet another serialised story that puts the whole galaxy in danger.

Still frame of Star Trek: Discovery showing an anomaly on the ship's viewscreen. — Putting the whole Federation in danger – *again* – would not be my first choice for the new show’s storyline.

After four seasons of Discovery and three of Picard that used this exact setup… I’m pretty fucking sick of it, to be honest. Lowering the stakes is something that I’ve argued Star Trek needs to do, and a return to stories that are smaller in scale – but still impactful for the characters involved – would be my preference. A series with a teen or young adult focus doesn’t need to have a “massive galactic threat” as a foundational part of its narrative in order to be exciting, entertaining, or emotional. And in too many ways, modern Star Trek’s over-reliance on this kind of storyline has been to its detriment.

One of the things that worked so well in both Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks has been storytelling that didn’t feature these kinds of existential threats and catastrophes. Both shows stand as testament to how Star Trek can still tell fun, adventurous, and engaging stories without relying on an enemy or entity that threatens the entire Federation or the whole galaxy. I just hope that Starfleet Academy isn’t overwhelmed by this one narrative concept, and that there’s room for episodic storytelling, exploration of new characters, and other narrative beats.

Still frame of Star Trek: Lower Decks showing Commander Ransom and Ensign Mariner. — Hopefully there will be room for standalone episodes – as in *Lower Decks* and *Strange New Worlds*.

I liked what Alex Kurtzman had to say about not wanting to alienate different groups of Star Trek fans, and I think there has been an effort on Paramount’s part over the last few years to at least try to keep the fan community together. Not every show is going to be to everyone’s taste – and that’s been true since The Next Generation, or even since The Wrath of Khan took Starfleet in a more militarised direction forty-two years ago! But modern Star Trek has really leaned into the idea of diversifying its output, with a kids’ show, an animated comedy, and serialised dramas in the mould of other modern made-for-streaming productions. Not every Trekkie will be interested in a show with a younger cast that’s pitched at a tween or teen audience – but I feel a sense of hope, from what Alex Kurtzman has had to say, that Starfleet Academy won’t just ignore the rest of us in the fan community!

One point I made last year, when the show was first announced, is that a series set at the Academy is actually a Gene Roddenberry idea. As far back as the late ’60s, when The Original Series was still on the air, Roddenberry was working on pitches and concepts for Star Trek spin-offs or successor shows, and a series set at the Academy – which would have featured a young Kirk and Spock meeting for the first time – was one such idea that was under consideration. So don’t let anyone tell you that “Gene Roddenberry would never have approved,” because in this case that accusation is demonstrably false!

Still frame of Star Trek: Picard showing an auditorium at Starfleet Academy. — Starfleet Academy as it appeared in *Picard* Season 2.

So that’s where we’re at – at least as of early April 2024. Starfleet Academy looks set to begin filming later this year, and while there hasn’t been a glut of news about the series yet, there are reasons to feel positive. I’ll be keeping an eye out for any cast announcements, especially if there are any familiar actors joining the Star Trek family or characters crossing over from Discovery. If we get any big news about Starfleet Academy or a teaser trailer, I’ll do my best to take a look at it here on the website.

So stay tuned! I hope this has been an interesting look ahead. Discovery’s fifth and final season has just begun, and while I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be doing by way of reviews yet, I’m sure I’ll have something to say about the season when I get around to watching it. Likewise for Starfleet Academy: I’m not sure yet whether I’ll do individual episode reviews or a full season review. But with the series perhaps more than two years away, I have plenty of time to decide! Thanks for joining me on this brief look ahead – and Live Long and Prosper!

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is in pre-production and will be broadcast on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available in 2026 (or later). The Star Trek franchise – including Starfleet Academy, Discovery, and all other properties discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Thoughts on a Starfleet Academy series

Sun 31.10.21Fri 31.03.23Dennis

Spoiler Warning: There are minor spoilers ahead for the following Star Trek productions: Discovery Season 3, Picard Season 1, 2009’s Star Trek, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager.

We’ve known for a while that there are more Star Trek projects in development in addition to the shows and films currently in production. As early as the announcement of Star Trek: Picard in 2018 rumours were flying around, and not long after the official announcement of the Section 31 series – a show whose fate I fear hangs in the balance right now – came confirmation that further Star Trek television shows were actively being worked on. One of those shows we now know to be Strange New Worlds – but there are other projects both for film and television that remain officially unannounced.

September’s Star Trek Day broadcast featured an interview with Alex Kurtzman, the man in charge of the Star Trek franchise for ViacomCBS. In the interview, Kurtzman hinted – though stopped short of confirming outright – that one of the shows in early development will be focused on Starfleet Academy. Today I thought it could be fun to consider what a Starfleet Academy series could look like, and answer the crucial question: “is it a good idea?!”

Alex Kurtzman teased a Starfleet Academy series at Star Trek Day.

As the Section 31 series has unfortunately demonstrated now that it appears to be on the verge of outright cancellation, developing an entirely new television series is not a straightforward process. However, the fact that Alex Kurtzman was willing to discuss the prospect of a Starfleet Academy series at all – and in a pre-recorded interview that ViacomCBS allowed to be broadcast, no less – means that we have to take the idea seriously. It’s still possible that the proposed series won’t make it to our screens in its presently-envisioned form, but ViacomCBS is clearly laying the groundwork for a future announcement.

Sometimes companies like to tease or even leak information like this to gauge the reaction and see what fans think. Any new Star Trek television series has to have appeal beyond the existing fanbase, of course, but if Trekkies aren’t at least interested if not enthused at the prospect of a new show, that could mean the corporation chooses not to press ahead. If I were to speculate – and as always, I’ll tell you up front that I have no “insider information” – I would say that might well be the fate that befell the Section 31 series.

We’re still waiting to hear news about the poor Section 31 show…

We’ve recently talked about some of the poor business decisions that ViacomCBS has made in regards to the Star Trek franchise, so it wouldn’t shock me to learn that none of it is planned and the corporation is just winging it! But I like to think that there is some direction and control to the way the Starfleet Academy series has been teased, and that there are folks over at the company analysing the response from the fanbase to see how Trekkies feel about the idea.

So… how do Trekkies feel about the idea? I’m not the most active person on social media, but even so I would’ve expected to see some chatter. Prior to the announcement of Strange New Worlds, for example, I quickly lost count of the number of posts and messages I saw from fans who were clamouring for a “Captain Pike show.” So far, from my limited perspective at least, I’m not seeing any of that for a Starfleet Academy series. Maybe people who study social media in more depth than I do, or who are members of fan clubs and the like, have heard more from the fan community about this – but I think it’s worth noting that the prospect of the show has, thus far at least, failed to get large numbers of folks excited.

I haven’t seen much talk in the fan community on social media about a potential Starfleet Academy series just yet.

To be fair, though, the only mention of a Starfleet Academy series from anyone close to the production of Star Trek came in that one Star Trek Day interview. The Alex Kurtzman interview lasted only a few minutes and was by no means the main event in a broadcast that lasted for three hours and also debuted trailers and teases for shows that have already been announced. So perhaps the reason for the muted response is that a lot of folks are still unaware of the concept – or if they are aware they’re still waiting for something more official.

For my part, I think the series has a lot of potential. I’d place it far higher on my list than any of the other rumoured or quasi-official pitches and concepts that have been floating around out there! Whether it’s Captain Worf, Captain Proton, or the Ceti Alpha V miniseries that we talked about a while ago, a Starfleet Academy show has – in my subjective opinion at least – far more potential to be interesting and exciting.

I’d definitely prefer a Starfleet Academy show to a Captain Proton show!

Starfleet Academy is not a new concept for a series. As early as the 1960s, while The Original Series was still on the air, Gene Roddenberry was actively considering a prequel which would have focused on Kirk, Spock, and Dr McCoy meeting for the first time at Starfleet Academy. The concept was revisited by Gene Roddenberry at least twice: in the early 1970s, prior to work commencing on the project that ultimately became The Motion Picture, and again in the mid-1980s before work began on The Next Generation. Seeing Kirk, Spock, and Dr McCoy at Starfleet Academy would eventually be realised in 2009’s Star Trek film.

Gene Roddenberry would have approved, then! Which is great news for all longstanding Trekkies! I don’t think we need to worry too much that previous attempts to get a Starfleet Academy project off the ground didn’t succeed. The truth is that there were other competing ideas at the time, and even though Gene Roddenberry and others did seriously consider the idea, there were always other competing projects. I think we can all agree that the feature films of the 1980s and The Next Generation were great ideas too!

Gene Roddenberry worked on several Starfleet Academy series and film concepts during his life.

Had Enterprise not been cancelled, I think it’s possible that the Starfleet Academy concept could’ve been revived 15 years ago as well, as part of a renewed expansion of Star Trek that never happened. There were plans afoot in the Enterprise era to expand the franchise yet further, but the show’s declining ratings and the poor critical reception to Nemesis in 2002 ultimately led to the Star Trek franchise taking a short break.

A Starfleet Academy series has three big things going for it, in my view. Firstly, the series could be created to tie in with any current or past Star Trek series. Connecting it to an ongoing show such as Discovery or Picard would make the most sense, and the show could be set in the same time period as either, and connect with characters, factions, and themes. There could even be crossover episodes.

A Starfleet Academy series could potentially run alongside – and cross over with – any of the current crop of Star Trek shows.

This kind of closer connection between ongoing series is something that the Star Trek franchise needs. The closest we’ve got so far has been the appearance of the Qowat Milat in Season 3 of Discovery, connecting the show in a loose way with Picard. But the franchise as a whole needs to do a lot more to tie together the shows currently in production, so having a Starfleet Academy series share a time period and setting with another show would be a boost to the Star Trek franchise overall.

Secondly, if the show were set at Starfleet Academy itself, that would make it the first Star Trek series to take place on Earth. That concept is itself interesting, and there’s potential to learn more about Earth and what life is like for its inhabitants in the future. That’s in addition to taking a deep dive into life at the Academy itself. Such a series could – perhaps – be a little cheaper to produce; filming could take place in and around San Fransisco, and there would be arguably less of a need for expensive new sets to be built from scratch to represent spacecraft and alien worlds.

A tree in the grounds of Starfleet Academy as seen in *Discovery* Season 3.

Every Star Trek series so far has visited Earth in some capacity, but there’s still an awful lot we don’t know about the Federation’s capital planet. I like the idea of some of the cadets or teachers taking time away from the Academy to get out and explore – showing us as the audience more than a glimpse of life on Earth in Star Trek’s future.

Finally, a Starfleet Academy series has the potential to appeal to a younger audience – just like Prodigy is intended to. In fact, a Starfleet Academy show could easily become the next port of call for Prodigy fans as they immerse themselves further in Star Trek; there’s huge potential to appeal to a tween or teen audience, particularly if younger cadets were the show’s primary focus.

Fans of *Prodigy* could easily make the jump to a Starfleet Academy show if it had a similar youthful focus.

At the very least, setting a series at the Academy would naturally include a number of younger characters – and its characters like these that have the potential to appeal to a younger audience. Star Trek can’t just be the preserve of an ageing fanbase who remember shows from the ’60s and ’90s with rose-tinted nostalgia! It has to expand and appeal to new fans too – and bringing younger people into the Star Trek fan community is the best way of ensuring the franchise will survive and remain in production in the longer term.

In my view, that’s one of the most important things that a Starfleet Academy series could do – and should be its primary objective as a series. As Lower Decks and Prodigy are demonstrating, branching out and trying to appeal to different audiences doesn’t mean that Star Trek has to ignore its existing fanbase. There’s plenty in Prodigy and Lower Decks to appeal to existing fans, and I would expect no less from a Starfleet Academy show as well.

*Lower Decks* was intended to bring in new fans as well as appeal to Trekkies – and a Starfleet Academy show could walk that same line.

When a Starfleet Academy concept has been debated in the past, some fans have raised the objection that it would be “too static” – that being stuck on Earth would make the show feel stale in comparison to other Star Trek shows set aboard starships. I understand where such a concern is coming from, but as Deep Space Nine definitively proved, a stationary setting doesn’t have to be boring. And as Deep Space Nine also showed right from its very first episode, it’s possible to have shuttles, runabouts, or even a whole starship seconded to a base.

Starfleet Academy has its own ships – this is something we’ve seen in several past episodes. Deep Space Nine’s sixth season episode Valiant even showed a crew of cadets aboard a very advanced ship, and Prodigy is also showing a younger crew aboard their own vessel. In short, a Starfleet Academy series could easily have episodes set aboard a ship or visiting other worlds – as well as stories that make use of technologies like the holodeck to give the cadets experience.

I’d say that a Starfleet Academy series is absolutely worth pursuing. It might not be my first choice – I have a few ideas of my own, which you can find by clicking or tapping here! – but it absolutely has merit, and sounds far better than any of the other pitches or proposals I’ve heard in recent years. Its biggest selling point to me is its potential to bring in new audiences, as well as to give young fans of Prodigy a series to graduate to that would keep them in the fandom.

So watch this space! I don’t believe an announcement is imminent, despite the recent talk of the show at Star Trek Day. Picard still has at least two seasons left to run, Lower Decks and Prodigy have at least one more apiece, and while there have been no official announcements I’m expecting to hear that Discovery will get a fifth season and Strange New Worlds will get a second at some point in the near future. Between those shows and the various feature film projects, Star Trek is quite busy going into 2022, 2023, and even 2024! So we might not hear anything official just yet… but keep your eyes and ears open!

The Star Trek franchise – including all series and films mentioned above – is the copyright of ViacomCBS. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Axanar, Discovery, and the fan community coming back together

Mon 21.12.20Sun 20.11.22Dennis

Update 2022: Unfortunately the video that I’m referring to has been set to “private” since I wrote this article.

I sporadically check in with fan project Star Trek Axanar. After Tim Russ’ and Walter Koenig’s Star Trek Renegades, Axanar was the fan film I was most interested in seeing when it was announced a few years ago. I was surprised to see Alec Peters – the creator and star of Axanar – had released a video titled In Defense of Alex Kurtzman – Why Star Trek is going to be OK on the fan film’s official YouTube channel a few days ago, and while I don’t normally do “responses,” I thought it was very interesting and worth drawing your attention to.

If you aren’t familiar with the development of Axanar, here’s a quick recap – and it should explain why the aforementioned video came as a bit of a surprise. In 2014, a fan film titled Prelude to Axanar was released. Produced by Alec Peters, the film served as a prologue to a longer crowd-funded fan film he and his team hoped to create. Star Trek Axanar would look at Garth of Izar, the famed Starfleet captain who was encountered by Kirk and co. in The Original Series’ third season episode Whom Gods Destroy. Fleet Captain Garth was the hero of an event known as the Battle of Axanar, and Peters intended to depict the events surrounding the battle in this fan film, which would feature a number of Star Trek actors.

However, CBS took exception to Axanar and ended up suing Peters and the team behind the fan film. The details of the lawsuit are complicated, but suffice to say CBS went after the production on copyright grounds, and the end result was a set of rules handed down that all fan films would be expected to follow. In addition, the Axanar team lost a lot of time and money that had been originally intended for the film.

*Prelude to Axanar* was released on YouTube in 2014.

All of this took place in the run-up to the first season of Star Trek: Discovery, and proved incredibly divisive for the fan community. Many folks backed Peters and Axanar, feeling that CBS was being unfair and attacking Star Trek’s most passionate fans. Others suggested that the motivation behind the lawsuit was that CBS was concerned that Axanar would be better than Discovery. Though it wasn’t the main reason why some Trekkies aren’t fans of Discovery and other modern Star Trek productions, the real-life battle over Axanar was certainly a factor.

CBS – now ViacomCBS – has certainly been tone-deaf when it comes to the fandom on occasion. I’ve talked at length about the decision to broadcast Lower Decks in North America only, and we can also point to things like the forced shutdown of fan project Stage 9 at a time when ViacomCBS doesn’t seem to be making any Star Trek games or comparable interactive experiences. So I can certainly understand the position of fans who took an anti-CBS position in the wake of the Axanar lawsuit.

I’ve written previously about divisions within the Star Trek fandom, and how people often present it as “old” Star Trek versus “new” Star Trek. Since 2017 Star Trek has been, in many respects, different from how it was in the 1960s or even the 1990s. And as I always say, individual tastes are subjective – we like different things, even within a single franchise. Some fans love The Wrath of Khan, others like The Motion Picture, just to give a single example. As the Star Trek franchise approaches its fifty-fifth anniversary and its 800th episode, it’s no wonder there are debates about which series or style of storytelling are the best!

ViacomCBS hasn’t always done right by Star Trek fans.

What I was so pleased to see from Alec Peters and Axanar in this video was a respect for what ViacomCBS and the Star Trek franchise are doing. Alex Kurtzman’s leadership has seen three new Star Trek shows premiere, with at least four others in the pipeline. It looks certain that the franchise will live to see its sixtieth anniversary in 2026 with new episodes still being broadcast, and as we enter the 2020s the franchise is, perhaps, on the cusp of a new era that could rival its 1990s heyday.

There is room within a fandom like Star Trek for Discovery and Axanar to coexist. We aren’t gatekeepers, telling other Trekkies that they aren’t “real fans” because the show or film they like best isn’t “real Star Trek.” That has never been what the franchise is all about, and anyone saying such nonsense has missed the point. Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees; to get so bogged down in the minutia and detail that we miss the big picture.

The Star Trek fandom has always been a welcoming community. I remember my first visit to a Star Trek fan meetup in England in the mid-1990s, and as a younger guy I was welcomed by other fans to their event. This would have been sometime after Star Trek: Generations has been in cinemas, and while I was a huge fan of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, I wasn’t fully caught up on The Original Series outside of its films. Despite that, fans of The Original Series who I met didn’t tell me that I wasn’t a “real fan” or that I had never seen “real Star Trek.” They were incredibly welcoming, and most people seemed thrilled that the franchise was still alive and kicking.

The Next Generation was controversial when it premiered in 1987. People who entered the fandom in the 1990s or later – as I did – missed that controversy, but it happened. Deep Space Nine was controversial too, with its static setting and darker tone. I know some Trekkies who utterly hated the Dominion War arc, feeling it went counter to the franchise’s optimistic tone.

The point is that we all have things within the franchise that we like and things that we aren’t keen on. But we would never dream of telling someone who’s a fan of The Next Generation and Voyager but dislikes Deep Space Nine that they somehow aren’t a “real fan.” And the same is true of the Star Trek projects of today. Discovery, Picard, and Lower Decks are “real” Star Trek, just as much as any other series or film. It’s okay to disagree about every aspect of those productions, and people will always do so. But they are part of the franchise, and just because they aren’t to some people’s taste doesn’t make them invalid.

Alec Peters and the team behind Axanar have largely avoided commenting on Discovery, Picard, and Lower Decks. I was pleasantly surprised to see them do so this time, and even more so to learn that Peters is a fan of Picard. There is a lot to like in modern Star Trek, and a lot to like in past Star Trek too. And Axanar still looks like an interesting proposition, one I will certainly tune in to see when the final version of the film (or episodes) are released.

There are so many things in the modern world to divide us. But I would argue that, as Trekkies, we have much more in common with one another than we do with, for example, fans of celebrity reality television shows! There are, sadly, people who have begun to make money cashing in on this division, widening the gap between different groups of fans and trying to convince their audiences that only one kind of Star Trek fan is a “real fan.” I’m glad to see that Axanar isn’t on board with that, because there is room in the franchise for all of us. We can be passionate about what we like and dislike, and everyone is entitled to their own opinions about what makes for a good Star Trek story. But there’s no need to get nasty or aggressive toward someone who expresses a different opinion.

Watching the video I was struck by how mature Peters was in his tone. Axanar may have been controversial, but there’s no denying that he – and the team he built to bring the project to fruition – are deeply passionate Star Trek fans. What I took away from his video, though, was that he can appreciate that Alex Kurtzman is a fan too. Kurtzman and Peters may have very different attitudes to Star Trek and storytelling, but to express respect across that divide is something I believe many fans needed to see.

I liked what he had to say about giving Kurtzman time, too. Though I don’t necessarily agree that every Star Trek show’s first two seasons “suck,” as Peters put it, we certainly should give the new team at ViacomCBS time to tell more of the stories that they want to tell. For a lot of younger fans, Star Trek has always been a complete product. Every episode was available on DVD or streaming, and it’s easy for someone younger to look back at the franchise as a single entity, not appreciating the decades of work that went into it. Star Trek developed gradually, over a long period of time, in order to become the franchise it was in the 1990s. For fans who didn’t see any part of that process, for whom Star Trek has always existed in its current form, it’s perhaps easier to criticise modern productions as they find their feet and grow.

We are certainly in a new era of television storytelling, and this is another point Peters brought up. Star Trek – like any franchise – has to adapt to meet audience expectations in the 2020s; many episodes and stories that we look back on fondly would struggle if made today. As Trekkies, we’re a tiny portion of Star Trek’s audience. The franchise has to have broad appeal to a wider audience beyond this niche if it’s going to survive, and someone like Alex Kurtzman was brought on board because the people at ViacomCBS believe he has the creative vision to help the franchise grow. It’s never nice to be told “this wasn’t made for you,” but in a sense it’s true – and always has been. Even The Original Series was produced with a wider audience in mind, and we can trace the franchise’s move away from ethereal sci-fi toward more action-oriented stories to at least 1982’s The Wrath of Khan.

The point is, Star Trek has always been evolving. It’s a franchise that has tried many different things over the years, and the current era is no different. As Alec Peters pointed out, Kurtzman and his team are listening. That’s why we got Strange New Worlds, that’s why some of the storytelling decisions were made in Discovery, and even while Kurtzman and his team focus on bringing Star Trek to new fans and a wider audience, they are trying to balance that with feedback from fans.

It’s not up to Alec Peters or myself to defend Alex Kurtzman and his vision for the franchise, at the end of the day. It’s okay to dislike Discovery, Picard, or any other Star Trek project that you feel didn’t appeal to you or didn’t work very well. But I think we could all agree that the fandom would be a nicer place for everyone if we didn’t try to play gatekeeper and tell genuine Trekkies that they aren’t welcome because they like the “wrong” show or film. It’s a big galaxy, and there’s room for all of us.

You can find Alec Peters’ video embedded below.

The Star Trek franchise – including all properties mentioned above – is the copyright of ViacomCBS. Star Trek Axanar, Prelude to Axanar, and the Axanar logos were created by fans. The video above is hosted on YouTube, and merely embedded (linked) here on Trekking with Dennis. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.