Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Lower Decks – including the series finale.
Just a relatively short piece today. First of all, I hope you had a very Merry Christmas! Yesterday was the big day, and I had an enjoyable time stuffing my face with a bit too much turkey and Christmas pudding! However you chose to celebrate, I hope you had a fantastic day.
Now, on to the weirdest piece of Star Trek “news” that I’ve seen in a while!
I’m not fully caught up on Star Trek: Lower Decks, but apparently one of that show’s final episodes contained a kind of crossover or “multi-verse” story. As part of that storyline, at least one Klingon character appeared to “transition” from the more familiar Search for Spock/Next Generation style to a style closer to that seen in Discovery’s first season.
The sequence in question.
I’ve touched on this before, but the fairly extensive redesign of the Klingons became a sore spot for some Trekkies – particularly those who were already inclined to dislike Discovery. I don’t feel that, on its own, the Klingon redesign ruined Discovery for anyone, nor turned away potential viewers. But it became one piece of a bigger conversation about how Discovery was playing fast and loose with Star Trek’s internal consistency and “canon.”
A writer for the website Giant Freakin Robot has decreed that “Star Trek just erased an entire series from canon,” citing the aforementioned appearance of a redesigned Klingon as evidence. Let’s clear that up right now: that is not true! Love it or hate it, Discovery remains an official part of Star Trek’s canon – and with a brand-new spin-off series set at Starfleet Academy featuring several Discovery characters being well into production, I don’t see that changing any time soon.
So let’s repeat that, in case anyone missed it: Star Trek: Discovery has not been erased from canon!
The main cast of Discovery’s fifth season.
I’m not Discovery’s biggest fan, to be honest with you. Take a look at my recent review of the show’s fifth season, or my critique of the decision to set the show in the mid-23rd Century when it was first being put together as examples of how critical I can be of the series. But Discovery wasn’t awful across the board; the show got a lot of things right, and even if you don’t enjoy every character or every storyline, there should be at least something for most Trekkies to find interesting or entertaining across the show’s sixty-five episodes.
But even if there isn’t, and even if you hate Discovery and everything it stands for as a series… that doesn’t magically make it “non-canon.” By all means, criticise Discovery. And if you want to go so far as to say it’s not part of your personal head-canon… go for it. Trekkies have been doing that since The Next Generation and even The Animated Series were airing. Heck, there’s still a contingent of fans today who subscribe to the idea of a “Roddenberry canon,” only considering films and seasons that Gene Roddenberry personally worked on to be part of their unofficial head-canon. So you’ll have company if you choose to disregard an entire series!
Some fans may not consider anything after The Next Generation to be “canon.”
This argument seems to hinge on a few frames from a single episode – the briefest of clips which showed a Klingon changing from the more familiar visual style that began in The Search for Spock to the newer look from Discovery’s first season. That is simply not “evidence;” certainly not enough to declare than an entire five-season TV show is “non-canon.” It’s wishful thinking at best – and a clickbaity lie at worst.
Ordinarily I wouldn’t cover something like this, but unfortunately the original article has been picked up and cited by numerous other blogs, websites, and social media channels, leading to a kind of snowball effect. People I know who don’t even watch Star Trek have asked me about Discovery’s status, and I’ve seen too many people taking it at face-value and assuming it’s true – even though it clearly isn’t, and simply reading the original article would’ve told them that! I felt a need to push back against this spiralling story and make sure that the truth is out there… even if it’s just on this one tiny corner of the internet.
A crop of the original clickbait article.
There could be a larger conversation to have here about whether, in time, every Star Trek story should be considered canon. With the franchise closing in on 1,000 episodes and films, Star Trek can feel incredibly dense and convoluted for new fans, and that’s an issue that can arise. Trying to figure out how to get started with a franchise like Star Trek can end up being offputting, so there’s a case to be made for either removing some of the older stuff or just starting with a clean slate.
And that’s exactly what the Kelvin timeline films tried to do, if you think about it. They stripped away much of what had come before with the aim of rebooting Star Trek for a new audience after several years of declining viewership. Your mileage may vary when it comes to enjoying those films… but they brought in a bigger audience than Star Trek had ever seen at the box office and turned a massive profit. So there’s something to be said for a reboot, sometimes! But that’s probably a longer conversation best had on another occasion.
Two of Discovery’s redesigned Klingons in Season 1.
If you desperately wanted this news to be true and for Discovery to have been cancelled, overwritten, and officially stripped out of the Star Trek franchise… well, sorry to burst your bubble! But there’s a lesson here in fact-checking things we read online, not getting swept up in a snowballing news story, and not trusting a random article written by some guy on the internet! And yes, I’m aware of the irony of me making that kind of statement!
So Discovery remains an official part of canon. As Star Trek continues to grow, some parts of Discovery will simply be rolled into the broader lore of the franchise, while others may simply be left by the wayside. That’s the way it’s always been, quite frankly, and you don’t have to look far to find characters, factions, and entire storylines that were tried in one episode or film and never revisited. If you don’t like some aspect of Discovery, I’d say don’t worry – there’s a reasonably high chance that it will never be so much as mentioned again!
And to the original writer of the clickbait article, as well as to everyone else who jumped on it without bothering to check if it was true: please try to do better. The Star Trek fan community doesn’t need nonsense like this!
The Star Trek franchise – including Lower Decks, 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Section 31, Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-3, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
It’s now just over a month until the Section 31 TV movie will premiere on Paramount+, and with a new trailer having dropped just a few days ago, I thought it could be a good time to look ahead! This will be the Star Trek franchise’s first-ever made-for-TV movie, and the first standalone story since Paramount gave up on Short Treks, so it really looks set to be a unique moment in the history of the franchise. If Section 31 succeeds, perhaps we’ll see more of these one-off streaming events!
I’ve taken a look at the trailers for Section 31, as well as the rest of the marketing material that Paramount has put out, and… I have some thoughts. I don’t want to start off by being overly negative, but suffice to say that there are things about both the concept of Section 31 and the way the trailers have presented it that just seem to be rubbing me the wrong way.
Georgiou and her team.
When Section 31 was first announced, I was already pretty sceptical of the idea. A spin-off from Discovery – and more importantly, a new Star Trek series – was great news, but I wasn’t sure about both the Section 31 organisation and most importantly, Michelle Yeoh’s character of Mirror Empress Georgiou. At the time the announcement was made – and remember, Section 31 was originally pitched as a full series, not a TV movie – I just wasn’t convinced that a pretty one-dimensional villain stereotype could take the lead role in a Star Trek series (or any series, for that matter).
All of this came before Georgiou got some desperately needed character development in Discovery’s third season. The two-part episode Terra Firma, in particular, took a pretty boring character who lacked any nuance and allowed us as the audience to see how much she’d grown, how far she’d come, and how the influence of Starfleet and the Federation had changed her – at least somewhat. By the time Georgiou departed Discovery at the end of the episode, I was much more on board with the Section 31 idea… though by that point the series was stuck in development hell and seemed to have been eclipsed by Strange New Worlds and Star Trek’s continued expansion.
Michelle Yeoh in a behind-the-scenes photograph.
I’ll be honest with you: I don’t see much if any of that nuance or development in Georgiou’s presentation in the Section 31 trailers. If anything, she seems to have been regressed as a character to her pre-Terra Firma self, and I’m genuinely worried that this decision will rob Section 31 of its protagonist. I’m all for an anti-hero, don’t get me wrong, and characters who have an “evil streak” can be absolutely delicious to watch. But Mirror Universe Terrans, who love murder, torture, murderous torture, and torturous murder all for no other reason than “just because…” that’s never appealed to me. While I can usually stomach the Mirror Universe for an episode or a two-parter, basing an entire movie around an unrepentant Terran just feels like a bridge too far.
It also feels like it could be a total waste of a brilliant performer in Michelle Yeoh. Let’s be completely frank for a moment: Section 31 only got a second chance because Yeoh won a Golden Globe and an Oscar, and Paramount desperately wanted to be able to bill the next Star Trek project as starring “Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh.” Her success in Everything Everywhere All At Once reinvigorated Paramount’s interest in the Section 31 idea after it had been brushed aside in 2019/2020.
Paramount is leaning heavily on Michelle Yeoh’s reputation to carry Section 31 to new audiences.
But to relegate an actress like Michelle Yeoh to playing an over-the-top pantomime villain… I don’t know. I hope it won’t be as bad as it looks from the trailers, because despite Yeoh’s best efforts and what I’m sure will be an excellent performance, Mirror Georgiou can just be a difficult character to get on board with. The whole “fish out of water” idea – having a Terran trying to blend in with Starfleet – is a fun one, but it’s also something we’ve seen before in more than one Star Trek story, and it works best when there’s some degree of subtlety and nuance on display. Captain Lorca worked pretty well for most of Discovery’s first season for this very reason.
I’m also concerned that, if Georgiou has indeed regressed, parts of her character arc in Section 31 could end up feeling repetitive and/or derivative. We’ve already seen Georgiou take steps away from her Terran nature to embrace a slightly less violent approach; that was basically the plot of Terra Firma, but we also caught glimpses of it in some Discovery episodes in Seasons 2 and 3. If her story across Section 31 is “learning to tolerate the Federation and do things the Starfleet way…” well, we’ve already seen that.
Is there a danger that Georgiou’s story will feel repetitive?
Section 31 was always pitched as a Georgiou-led spin-off, but part of me wonders if her prominence may have been increased when the switch was made to the TV movie format. Again… I’m struggling to see this as a win for Section 31 in spite of Michelle Yeoh’s pedigree. Even the best performers can struggle with Mirror Universe characters; Sonequa Martin-Green was appalling as the Mirror counterpart to Michael Burnham, and while Mirror Georgiou has never quite sunk to that level, I genuinely worry that a regression or unravelling of her Terra Firma characterisation and growth combined with a larger, more central role in the story could set the stage for Section 31′s undoing.
On the other hand, if Georgiou is written with more of that nuance to her character, making her less of an out-and-out “evil for the sake of it” Terran and more of a strict but ultimately caring leader of a team… there’s potential in that premise. The semi-reformed Terran that we saw toward the end of Terra Firma could make for a fun, interesting, and engaging protagonist while still allowing Section 31 to take Star Trek to new and different thematic places. It will all hinge on how well Georgiou has been written, how much of that development has been retained, and how much nuance is present in her characterisation.
The success or failure of Section 31 may very well depend on how nuanced Empress Georgiou turns out to be.
A couple of years ago, when talking about a very different Star Trek pitch by a famous director, I explained that not every Star Trek project can appeal to existing fans – and why that’s okay, especially for one-off productions. In short: you and I may not like the tone of Section 31, its focus, or even its main storylines. But there are benefits to Paramount greenlighting a project like this and taking Star Trek in different directions, even if many existing Trekkies don’t like what’s on offer. I’m not claiming to speak for anyone but myself, of course!
As I see it, Section 31 could be Star Trek’s best opportunity in several years to bring new eyes and potentially legions of new fans to the franchise. As a standalone TV movie with mostly new characters, and with a focus on a different side of the Star Trek universe that hasn’t really been explored before in much detail, there’s at least the possibility that Section 31 will appeal to a new audience, particularly a younger demographic raised on action-packed, quick-witted Marvel movies, fans of fast-paced action, and people who may have felt that Star Trek is too nerdy for them or too convoluted to get started with. All of that is a good thing – and serves as an important caveat for what we’re going to talk about next.
Spaceships and a mysterious anomaly… yup, that’s Star Trek alright!
I do not like the tone set by the Section 31 trailers. “Star Trek does Suicide Squad” just doesn’t appeal to me, and I would argue that this “team of criminals and misfits” idea that Paramount is pushing with the pre-release material also doesn’t fit with what we know about the Section 31 organisation from past iterations of Star Trek. When we take a look at the apparently dysfunctional organisation that Georgiou is recruited into, then compare it with the very streamlined, professional organisation that William Sadler’s character, Luther Sloan, led in Deep Space Nine… I mean, they’re worlds apart.
Even compared to the presentation of Section 31 in Discovery’s second season – which Mirror Georgiou was part of in that story – what we glimpsed in the trailers seems incredibly different. A “black ops” spy organisation needs to be… organised. This incredibly chaotic energy that the trailers projected seems fun in some ways – and I enjoy a good “team of misfits” story as much as the next person. But does it seem right for Section 31 based on everything we know about the organisation? Would Starfleet’s spies really be so disorganised, throwing criminals and rejects together and hoping for the best? It just doesn’t seem right to me.
Would Starfleet’s top spies really be so disorganised?
I’d like to touch on one line from the second trailer that’s also giving me pause: “We’re facing a threat unlike anything Starfleet’s ever seen.” Now doesn’t that sound like the setup for yet another “the entire Federation is in danger” storyline? The kind that has been over-used in Discovery and Picard? Particularly after Discovery’s underwhelming fifth season, I’m really burned out on that story premise, and while I’d certainly hope Section 31 could take it in a different direction… I still think Star Trek needs to give it a rest with storylines that put everyone in danger and turn the drama and threat levels up to eleven.
The only caveat to that is that Section 31 (the organisation) has always claimed that its existence is to fight existential threats to the Federation – in ways that Starfleet can’t. So I think there’s potential to see how this off-the-books organisation might react differently to Starfleet in dealing with an enemy on that scale. I just wish it hadn’t come after five seasons of Discovery and three of Picard basically doing the exact same thing. I guess that’s my worry with the plot: that it’ll be another “stop the bad guys from getting/using the magical universe-ending macguffin.”
Zeph – “The Machine.”
Marvel and DC movies aren’t really “my thing,” though I can tolerate superhero stuff in small doses. So I guess I have that bias already, and to see Star Trek embracing elements of that style of cinema wouldn’t be my preference. But… I have to admit that comic book movies have been incredibly successful with a blend of over-the-top characters, fast-paced action, and a sense of humour, so if Star Trek can tap into that to bring new eyes to the franchise, then my personal preferences won’t really matter. I’m still hopeful and crossing my fingers for Section 31, but even if it isn’t my thing it could still be great news for Star Trek.
And that’s basically where I’m at, having looked at the trailers and the little character bios that Paramount has released. Everything about Section 31 is screaming “not my thing!” but I’m still hopeful that it will be well-received and might bring new eyes to Star Trek, which is something the franchise needs if it’s going to survive. There’s always a chance that I’ll enjoy what’s on offer, especially if I can detach it from the rest of Star Trek and treat it as a standalone project. But that feels less likely right now, unfortunately.
Georgiou in the second trailer.
Let’s talk about Georgiou’s space station. Modern Star Trek has shown us some particularly elaborate space stations – from Starbase Yorktown in the Kelvin timeline to Discovery’s Federation HQ. This is purely an aesthetic thing, but for me, some of these designs can be a little too elaborate – and Georgiou’s falls into that category. Many of Star Trek’s most iconic designs don’t reach legendary status because they’re massive and elaborate, but rather because they’re futuristic yet relatively simple. “More” doesn’t necessarily mean “better” in these cases.
I spotted a Cheron (or Cheronian?) in the second trailer. This could be a total nitpick, and it’s also a deep cut to a single episode of The Original Series… but the entire point of the episode Let That Be Your Last Battlefield was that these two warring races went extinct because they couldn’t get over their divisions. There was a message in that story – and I really hope Section 31 isn’t gonna undo all of that for a cheap visual effect or just a random background character. Doing so would take something away from The Original Series.
Is this character from the planet Cheron?
I like the idea of including at least one legacy character in Section 31, and Rachel Garrett is an interesting choice. Kacey Rohl, who will play Garrett, is someone I’m familiar with from her work in Hannibal – and I think Paramount made an excellent choice there. Seeing a younger version of a character we’re familiar with from The Next Generation is a neat idea, and Garrett could play an interesting role as the sole Starfleet officer in the midst of a chaotic team of misfits. There’s both dramatic and comedic potential in that premise, at any rate.
Garrett’s presence is interesting – and it makes me wonder about the setting of Section 31. It was heavily implied in Terra Firma that Georgiou needed to return to roughly the time period of the USS Discovery’s departure to cure her sci-fi illness – which might see Section 31 set in the same time period as Strange New Worlds. But Garrett would go on to captain the Enterprise-C in the 2340s – more than eighty years later. Star Trek’s medical and life-extending technologies are good… but are they good enough that Captain Garrett could be 100 years old by the time of Yesterday’s Enterprise? Or could Section 31 be set decades after The Original Series – perhaps in the same era as, say, The Undiscovered Country? I guess we’ll have to see!
Rachel Garrett.
I think it’s worth complimenting Paramount for two trailers that – despite my personal feelings – were well composed. Neither trailer spoiled any massive plot point, and at this stage I’m not even sure who the villain or villains will be. Some modern trailers go too far, essentially showing all of the action moments, the best jokes, and even spoiling things. The Section 31 trailers showed just enough of a tease to get people excited (I hope) but without spoiling things, and that’s positive.
We didn’t see much from most of the other characters in the trailers, though I like the idea of a chameloid (a shape-shifter) being part of the team. I’m hopeful that at least some of them will survive Georgiou’s mission – perhaps leaving the door cracked open for a possible sequel if things go well.
So that’s it for now, I think.
Several of the main cast members at a preview event. Image Credit: IMDB
Section 31 is going to be an interesting project, and hopefully a successful one for the Star Trek franchise. I’d love to see it being talked about positively in the new year, and for it to serve as a gateway into the franchise for brand-new fans and folks who thought Star Trek might never be their thing. Star Trek needs a win like that – so if Section 31 is the project to deliver it, I’m on board with that!
As for me, though… I get the sense that this film just won’t be something I’ll enjoy. In fact, if I’d seen trailers like these for a project in a different franchise, I almost certainly wouldn’t be tuning in! It’s only because Section 31 is Star Trek that I’m going to get myself a month’s worth of Paramount+ and check it out. I’m crossing my fingers, don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to go into this being negative and expecting to be disappointed – though having low expectations can often be a good thing! I want to judge Section 31 fairly and on its own merits when it premieres. I just feel, from what I’ve seen in the trailers, that it’s not gonna be my cup of tea.
When Section 31 premieres next month, I hope you’ll join me for a review. Maybe I’m wrong and it’ll be the perfect blend of action and humour and I won’t be able to stop watching! In any case, I’ll be sure to put metaphorical pen to paper and share my thoughts here on the website sometime in early 2025.
Star Trek: Section 31 will premiere on Paramount+ on the 24th of January 2025 in countries and territories where the platform is available. The Star Trek franchise – including Section 31, 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the following Star Trek productions: The Original Series Season 1, The Voyage Home, The Next Generation Season 1, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Picard Season 3, and Strange New Worlds Season 1.
It’s Spooktober – the spookiest month of the year! So I thought we could have a bit of fun and talk about some of the scariest aliens and villains that the Star Trek franchise has brought to screen.
Star Trek isn’t a franchise that’s well-known for being all that frightening. I don’t think that’s a controversial statement at all – in fact, I’d wager that most TV viewers would consider it pretty tame, especially when thinking about the horror genre and alien monsters! But that doesn’t mean Star Trek is never scary. There are some wonderfully atmospheric episodes and stories scattered throughout the franchise’s fifty-eight-year history that have some of those more frightening elements.
Today, rather than talking about individual stories or episodes, what I’d like to do is pick out some of the franchise’s scariest aliens, monsters, and villains – and talk about why they work so well, why they’re so intimidating, and perhaps even just the potential they have to be frightening or scary in future stories.
My usual caveat applies: everything we’re going to talk about is the entirely subjective opinion of one person only. If I miss something you think is blindingly obvious or if I include a “scary” alien that you think isn’t frightening in the least… that’s okay! There’s plenty of room in the Star Trek fan community for disagreement and differences of opinion.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about some of Star Trek’s scariest aliens and villains!
Number 1: Q and the Q Continuum
The Q are on the list less for their out-and-out fear factor and more for their potential. I don’t think there have been many terrifying or bone-chilling Q appearances – though I will entertain the argument that Q’s penchant for randomness can have an unsettling or unnerving quality. Things like conjuring up aliens in Napoleonic uniforms or a post-atomic courtroom would be incredibly frightening in real life, even if they’re portrayed more as chaotic and wacky when we see them unfold on screen.
The Q Continuum’s real fear factor comes from their apparently unlimited power. No other alien race in Star Trek is as powerful as the Q, and they could quite literally wipe out humanity, the Federation, or even the entire galaxy with a wave of the hand. Although we always see Q as humanoid, their true form is a mystery, and their power seems to be without limit – and without a reliance on technology. No war against the Q seems possible, and if they ever chose to move against the Federation (which they could do for reasons beyond our comprehension, or to prevent some kind of conflict in the far future that we have no inkling of right now) they could be far more destructive than even the Borg.
Number 2: The Gorn (As they appear in Strange New Worlds)
The Gorn are one of Star Trek’s oldest alien races, appearing in the first season of The Original Series. But after that initial appearance and a few scattered mentions through The Next Generation era, they didn’t show up on screen again until Enterprise. That depiction wasn’t great, in my view – it relied too heavily on CGI that didn’t look great at the time and hasn’t aged well. But the return of the Gorn in Strange New Worlds has been a triumph.
After several episodes built up the terror of Gorn raids on the Federation, it was the episode All Those Who Wander that really showed us what this new depiction of the Gorn can do. Strange New Worlds’ writers unleashed the Gorn in an episode that, more than any other in the franchise, leans into the horror genre. The Gorn are depicted almost like the Xenomorphs from the Alien film series, possessing strength and stealth abilities that left the away team cornered.
Number 3: The Founders/Changelings
Maybe this one is a little controversial, but after the way Changelings were depicted in Picard’s third season I think we have a pretty good case to include them as a frightening bunch! The idea that shape-shifters could infiltrate Starfleet and the Federation was addressed in a fantastic Deep Space Nine two-parter: Homefront and Paradise Lost. These episodes took more of a political thriller/drama approach to the topic, but the core idea is a deeply unsettling one.
With the Dominion playing a growing role in Deep Space Nine, the idea of Changeling infiltrators was scaled back and only used sparingly – probably because it’s not an easy story to write or pull off successfully. But Picard Season 3 brought the idea back in a creative way, showing how deadly Changelings could be and how a Changeling plot could be an existential threat to the Federation.
Number 4: The M-113 Creature (a.k.a. The Salt Vampire)
The first ever alien to appear on The Original Series remains one of the franchise’s most frightening! The episode The Man Trap kick-started the Star Trek franchise back in 1966, and the Salt Vampire was the first alien that audiences saw Kirk and the crew wrangling with. As discussed above with the Changelings, the alien’s ability to change shape and blend in added to its fear factor – but moreover, its true appearance is pretty unsettling even today. There’s something to be said for those old rubber suits, eh?
The Salt Vampire is a sci-fi take on ancient legends and creatures from folklore, and that gives it a uniquely frightening feel. Preying on some of these old primordial fears lends the creature a genuinely intimidating vibe, and its grotesque appearance just adds to that. The Salt Vampire is, however, a tragic figure, as it appears to be the last of its kind; more akin to an animal acting out of instinct than a truly nefarious villain.
Number 5: The Borg
In my essay The Borg: Space Zombies, I go into a lot more detail on this topic, but the condensed version is this: the Borg fill a similar role to zombies in horror fiction, while also picking up on both Cold War-era fears of brainwashing and concerns about technology getting out of control. The idea of assimilation is incredibly clever, as it turns every ally the heroes lose into a new enemy to fight, making the Borg grow in strength at the exact same rate as Starfleet weakens.
The idea of being assimilated and losing one’s mind and identity is arguably a fate worse than death – and we’ve got several examples in Star Trek of ex-Borg wrangling with the consequences of what the Collective forced them to do. I would note that the Borg’s fear factor has declined over the years, particularly during the latter part of Voyager’s run. Seeing Starfleet triumph over the same adversary again and again – no matter how intimidating it may be on paper – does start to take the shine off things.
Number 6: Armus
Armus has the distinction of being the first alien monster to kill a main character on a Star Trek TV series. There were many ways The Next Generation’s writers could have written out Tasha Yar when Denise Crosby opted to quit the show, but killing her off was a bold move. And doing so in such a brutal way, with Armus not even batting an eye at her death… it was quite something to see.
If you have the DVD or Blu-ray of The Next Generation it’s worth watching the actors and producers talk about working on the episode Skin of Evil, because creating Armus and performing around the inky-black oil slick was incredibly difficult for everyone involved to say the least! Jonathan Frakes in particular had a very tough time with Riker’s scene when he was pulled under the surface. Armus is a scary-looking villain, and also one that had a profound, long-lasting impact on The Next Generation.
Number 7: The “Whale Probe”
Although the tone of The Voyage Home is pretty light-hearted and comedic, the so-called “whale probe” that kicks off the plot is an incredibly terrifying adversary, when you think about it. The probe disables Starfleet vessels with incredible ease, and is resistant to weapons and all attempts at communication. The people of Earth have no idea what it wants, what its purpose is, or how to reason with it.
This monolith simply arrives unannounced, doesn’t declare its intentions, and seems to wreak havoc on Earth and Starfleet. That’s a pretty scary concept, in my view, as it could’ve gone pretty badly for everyone involved if Kirk and the crew hadn’t intervened!
Number 8: The Pah-Wraiths
As with Armus, there’s something distinctly “evil” about the non-corporeal Pah-Wraiths. The way they’re presented in multiple Deep Space Nine episodes, where they’re deeply entwined with Bajoran religion, makes them out to be akin to demons or dark spirits – and we even see them “possess” several different characters. Their banishment to Bajor’s fire caves also ties into this demonic analogy.
In later seasons, Gul Dukat gets involved with the Pah-Wraiths, leading a cult on Empok Nor that’s genuinely unsettling in its depiction. The Pah-Wraiths have magical books, the power to turn people blind, and the desire to conquer the Prophets’ domain in the Wormhole; a truly frightening group!
Number 9: The Conspiracy Parasite-Aliens
The end of The Next Generation’s first season introduced a race of parasitic aliens that infiltrated Starfleet. Allegedly, the parasite-aliens were supposed to be connected to the Borg in some way, but this angle was later dropped. Still, they’re more than frightening enough on their own terms, and the idea that Picard and the crew wouldn’t be able to tell who was infected and who to trust made for an entertaining story.
Here in the UK, one scene toward the end of Conspiracy was cut from the original broadcast because of how gruesome it was! You know the one: where the “mother” parasite is killed and violently explodes. There’s something just unsettling about earwig-like alien parasites… just like the Ceti Alpha eel from The Wrath of Khan. Star Trek hasn’t revisited the parasite idea for a long time – maybe it could make for a fun and horrifying future episode?
Number 10: The Krenim
The Krenim appeared in the Voyager two-parter Year of Hell, using their time-manipulation technology as a weapon. Repeated Krenim attacks against the USS Voyager left the ship in ruins, running on fumes, and many members of the crew dead or maimed. The captain of the Krenim time-ship, Annorax, was Khan-like in his single-minded obsession with restoring the Krenim colony that housed his wife and family, making him a frightening adversary.
Year of Hell is a pretty shocking episode, particularly in its second half. Seeing Voyager badly damaged, with whole parts of the ship uninhabitable, really hammers home how dangerous the Krenim and Annorax are as villains, and for a time their technology really does seem to be more than a match for Janeway and the crew.
So that’s it!
We’ve picked out what I consider to be a selection of Star Trek’s most frightening aliens, monsters, and villains to celebrate the spooky season.
There are plenty of others that we could’ve included – either for their fully-blown fear factor or for their potential to do serious harm to our Starfleet heroes. And there are quite a few Star Trek episodes – a surprising number, really – that either lean fully into the horror genre or that have jump-scares or other frightening or unsettling moments. Last year, I put together a list of a few of them, which you can check out by clicking or tapping here if you’re interested!
So I hope this has been a bit of fun! I hope you’re having a fun and spooky October – and stay tuned, because I have a couple of other Halloween-themed ideas that may (or may not, time depending) make their way onto the website before the 31st. Don’t have nightmares!
Most of the films and episodes discussed above are available to stream on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available. They’re also available for purchase on DVD, Blu-ray, and video-on-demand. The Star Trek franchise – including all films, episodes, and 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: The Animated Series as well as The Original Series and Voyager Season 2.
I haven’t really talked about The Animated Series very much here on the website, but to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the episode How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth – which premiered on this day back in 1974 – I thought it might be a bit of fun to step back in time to Star Trek’s first foray into the world of animation. It’s actually been a long time since I last watched this episode (or really any of The Animated Series), so we’re going into this re-watch almost completely blind!
I have to confess that I have a bit of a psychological block when it comes to The Animated Series. From the late ’80s to the early 2000s, the official line from Gene Roddenberry, Gulf+Western, Viacom, and Star Trek’s other corporate overlords was that the show was officially “non-canon.” For the purposes of The Next Generation-era Star Trek, nothing in The Animated Series happened, and that’s left me with a lingering feeling about that show that’s difficult to put into words. The era in which I became a Trekkie was the era in which The Animated Series was deemed to be “too low-quality” to be an official part of the franchise. I watched a few episodes here and there in the ’90s, but The Animated Series wasn’t a mainstay on terrestrial TV here in the UK at the time, so I didn’t see it in full until it arrived on DVD in the mid-2000s.
Remember when Star Trek DVD box sets came in chunky plastic cases that were awkward to open?
It was only when the DVD box set was being readied for release that CBS formally ditched the “non-canon” line, by the way, declaring The Animated Series to be a full and official part of the Star Trek franchise once again. At that time, with Enterprise being cancelled, it seemed as if Star Trek might’ve been over – so why not include The Animated Series if it helps shift a few more DVDs? I guess that was the thinking when that decision was taken!
So that’s my background with The Animated Series as we come to this episode re-watch! Although it’s a show I only occasionally dip into, the fiftieth anniversary is still a big deal, and it’s always worth keeping in mind the role The Animated Series played in the history of Star Trek. As re-runs of The Original Series gained traction in the early 1970s, calls grew for Star Trek to be brought back. The Animated Series was a compromise; a way to make new episodes and satisfy the growing fan community without having to commit the money required to re-start production on a live-action show.
Gene Roddenberry in the early ’70s, around the time The Animated Series was entering production. Photo Credit: Starlog Press
And the lack of budget awarded The Animated Series… well, let’s just say it can be obvious! There is a distinctly old-school charm to parts of the show, and the low-budget animation of the time. But The Animated Series can also feel quite janky, especially if you aren’t used to it or if you prefer today’s slicker, computer-animated visual style. I think there’s a real warmth to this style of animation, and the obvious jank just adds to that in my opinion!
As the show that boosted Star Trek during what could’ve been its darkest hour, we owe a lot to The Animated Series for the franchise’s re-birth at the end of the 1970s. The Motion Picture and Star Trek’s subsequent renewal in the ’80s would arguably not have been possible without this show keeping things fresh and growing the audience. Bringing younger eyes to Star Trek through this “Saturday morning cartoon” style bolstered the franchise’s prospects and shouldn’t be understated.
Kirk and the crew (including a rather pale-looking Uhura) on the bridge of the Enterprise.
By happy coincidence, the episode I picked for this re-watch happens to be the 100th episode of Star Trek! After 79 episodes of The Original Series there were 22 produced for The Animated Series across two seasons – this being the penultimate one. I know it isn’t a huge deal, but these milestones can feel important.
Onward, then, to the episode How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth!
:-O
The first thing to note is the opening titles! A slightly jazzed-up version of The Orignal Series theme plays, heavy on the horns, and William Shatner gives his usual “these are the voyages” voice-over as Captain Kirk. Hearing it again after not watching either show for a while was a real blast of nostalgia… and we haven’t even got started yet!
The episode proper kicks off with a captian’s log, with Kirk narrating that the Enterprise is tracking a mysterious probe. Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds have brought back the captain’s log as a framing device after the likes of Picard and Discovery used logs much more sparingly, and I have to say I’m glad for that. The captain’s log is an integral part of the franchise, after all!
Arex, Kirk, and Walking Bear on the bridge.
The opening scene on the bridge sets the stage for the episode – a second probe is coming in, following the same trajectory as the first. Characters created specially for The Animated Series are present: the three-armed, three-legged Arex being a personal favourite of mine! Ensign Walking Bear – a Native American – is at the helm. Both characters (and many others in The Animated Series) were voiced by the late James Doohan, better known for his role as Scotty.
On the viewscreen, the alien probe appears as little more than a smudge of yellow-green – and waddles unconvincingly toward the Enterprise! This is a great example of what I mean about finding charm in the jankiness of The Animated Series; by anyone’s standards, even in the ’70s, this doesn’t look great! But part of the fun of fantasy and sci-fi is getting lost in the setting, looking past things like that, and even using one’s imagination to help suspend disbelief. Sure, the alien probe looks like something you might find in a newborn’s nappy… but so what? It’s an alien probe, dammit, and that’s that!
The alien smudge… I mean probe.
As the Enterprise becomes trapped in a “globular force-field” – which looks like a snow-globe or Christmas bauble from the outside – Spock proclaims it is “fascinating” while Scotty reports to Kirk that he doesn’t know how long the ship can take the strain! Classic lines from the classic crew, and I’m right back there with them. The ship comes to a complete stop while Kirk and the crew decide how to proceed.
The smudge “de-cloaks” to reveal a beautiful spaceship that could be right out of a dozen or more mid-century sci-fi properties! The vibrant shades of red, purple, and blue give it a striking appearance, and the glittering panel at the front makes the vessel stand out. It really is a beautiful ship – and clearly more than a match for the entrapped Enterprise. Though you might not assume so from appearances alone! I love this kind of design; a pre-Star Wars retro sci-fi look, bold in its colour choices. They don’t make ’em like that any more!
I really like this spaceship design.
The Animated Series was also pretty limited with its soundtrack. At this point in the episode, with the Enterprise under attack by the beautiful alien vessel, the show’s only “action theme” plays – and I’d forgotten just how much I love this piece of music, too. It seems to perfectly capture the danger that the crew are in… even if, by this point in The Animated Series’ run, we’d have heard it twenty times or more!
Kirk tries everything – reversing the engines, powering up the shields, and hailing the ship – but running out of options and limited by the globe preventing the Enterprise from moving, he reluctantly orders phasers to fire. Although this also proves ineffective, I like how The Animated Series was still true to Kirk’s character: he was never spoiling for a fight and would look for a peaceful way out where possible.
Kirk only fired on the alien ship when he’d tried everything else.
The new character – Ensign Walking Bear – recognises the ship when it projects a dragon-like design (using something like an early holo-projector, perhaps?) and this seems to give the attacker pause. Pleased that at least one human “remembers” them, they give the crew a chance to succeed – but warn that failure will mean death.
Now we see why Walking Bear was on the bridge, eh? Star Trek always finds uses for redshirts and always has! Even classic episodes like Balance of Terror put secondary characters like this in just the right place to contribute to the story or to building up the lore of the franchise. I’ve been critical of modern Star Trek, sometimes, for nakedly shoehorning in some piece of backstory to a secondary character solely for the purposes of connecting to the main narrative… and I guess in some cases it works better than others. But it’s worth remembering that it’s something the franchise has always done in one form or another.
Kirk and the crew received a message from their attacker.
This Kukulkan – described by Walking Bear as an ancient legendary god of the Aztecs and Mayans – is who’s attacking the Enterprise. I’m reminded of two episodes – one from The Original Series and one produced much later during Voyager’s run. Who Mourns for Adonais? during the second season of The Original Series introduced Kirk and the crew to the “gods” of Ancient Greece. And Tattoo, the Voyager Season 2 episode that saw Chakotay encountering an alien race that his people called the “Sky Spirits.” The stories aren’t identical by any means, but there’s a similarity in the underlying premise of all three.
Midway through a conversation with Kirk, Walking Bear vanishes – as do Scotty, Dr McCoy, and eventually Kirk himself. Spock assumes temporary command of the Enterprise, before the action switches to the kidnapped men aboard Kukulkan’s ship. They seem to be in some kind of holodeck – the room, while plain silvery-grey at first – soon morphs into a landscape filled with trees, and then ultimately a city. There was a vaguely Mayan or Aztec look to this city, which was adorned with several statues of Kukulkan. The statues themselves, though, almost gave me a Chinese or East Asian vibe; dragons are a big part of the folklore of that part of the world, too.
The reluctant “away team.”
Back on the Enterprise, we get a short scene with Spock and Uhura. Uhura wants to do something to help Kirk, but Spock insists that their priority is to free the Enterprise from Kukulkan’s clutches. It isn’t easy to convey facial expressions with such limited animation, but I think we’re meant to understand that Uhura isn’t thrilled with this response!
Kirk, Walking Bear, and the others try to puzzle out what Kukulkan wants. Using Walking Bear’s knowledge of history, they piece together that Kukulkan tried to instruct several ancient cultures, but that none of them did exactly what the entity wanted. Kirk heads to the top of an Aztec pyramid that has appeared in the middle of the city – which seems to be comprised of elements from several different cultures. For its time, this is a pretty sensitive and historically accurate depiction of Native Americans, Maya, Aztecs, and others. There’s even a mention of the Mayan calendar… giving me flashbacks to the 2012 phenomenon!
The city created by Kukulkan.
Maybe it’s an old memory bubbling under the surface from when I last watched How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth some years ago, or perhaps it was just a pretty obvious story beat, but the fact that the statues could be rotated to generate the signal Kukulkan was looking for wasn’t exactly a surprise! It seemed like something the crew figured out pretty easily, so maybe I shouldn’t be patting myself on the back too hard for figuring it out. It felt like a puzzle you might have to solve in a video game like Tomb Raider!
Kukulkan makes their appearance after Kirk solved the (easy) puzzle, but complains yet again that they have been forgotten. I like the design of Kukulkan – appearing as a colourful winged snake with a kind of mane or frill. I wouldn’t say the design was “intimidating” as it appears in the show, but I daresay if I came face to face with a real-life Kukulkan I’d be quite frightened! It was neat, at any rate.
Kukulkan.
Kirk and the others are then transported to a “zoo,” one populated by a number of other aliens and animals. Kukulkan’s convoluted explanation is that they’re the last member of a race that wiped itself out, and that they keep these creatures in cages, using technology to create “mental worlds” for them to inhabit. Dr McCoy is shocked that one of the creatures is a Capellan power-cat – an animal that’s notorious for hating being kept in captivity. The power-cat is adorable, by the way, and I won’t hear a bad word said about it.
Kirk argues that Kukulkan has no right to interfere with humanity or any other culture – but all this does is enrage them. Kukulkan hisses like a snake and seemingly attacks the crew, while back on the Enterprise Spock seems to have found a way out of the globe force-field. I wasn’t wild about Kukulkan’s explanation here; it seemed a bit basic. And it runs into the problem that other, similarly powerful aliens encounter in other stories: it should be clear that humanity has changed a lot over the centuries, growing, evolving, developing new technologies – and in this case, becoming more peaceful. Sure, the Enterprise fired phasers – but as Kirk points out, only in self-defence.
One of the alien animals in Kukulkan’s zoo.
Spock’s plan works – because of course it does! – and the Enterprise is able to break free from the trap. It’s always fun to see Arex in action on the bridge, and at the time this three-limbed alien could really only be created for animation. The Animated Series, in that sense, gave Star Trek a chance to branch out beyond the make-up and basic prosthetics of its original incarnation. Kukulkan is also a great example of this: live-action couldn’t really have made a similar-looking alien – not with the budget usually set for a single episode of Star Trek, at any rate!
After Bones and Kirk free the power-cat from captivity, it runs wild. Using its high-voltage fur(?) it threatens Kukulkan, whose ship’s power has been damaged following an attack by the Enterprise. Kirk intervenes, subduing the power-cat with a hypospray, demonstrating to Kukulkan that he doesn’t wish the entity any harm, despite the damage that has been caused.
The Capellan power-cat.
What follows is a fairly typical Star Trek dialogue, with Kirk and the others emphasising how much humanity has grown since Kukulkan visited centuries earlier. Kirk rejects the idea of being caged or led around like the animals in the zoo, and Kukulkan capitulates, realising that humanity no longer needs or wants to associate with them. I actually felt a bit sad for Kukulkan in this moment – their dreams of having sentient companions instead of just animals seemed to be shattered, and being told “we no longer need you” is just harsh to hear!
Kirk says that the price for Kukulkan sharing its knowledge was too high, and back on the Enterprise he and Spock ponder the implications of several of Earth’s civilisations having contact with this ancient alien – as well as the irony that, at the end of the day, Kukulkan was just lonely and seeking companionship. The danger averted, Kukulkan withdraws, and the credits roll.
Kukulkan with Dr McCoy and Kirk.
All in all, this was a fun episode to re-visit. I adored the designs of Kukulkan’s ship and the entity itself, as well as some of the very alien critters in the zoo. The power-cat is something I’d love to see make a re-appearance in modern Star Trek; I can see it being a ton of fun to depict in live-action! But then again I’m a cat lover, so I suppose I would say that.
This was a story that felt very “Star Trek.” An ancient alien visited humanity in the past, and returns only to be disappointed with the war-like nature of humans. Kirk and the crew had to intervene to show that their perceptions weren’t entirely right, and that humanity has developed beyond the need for gods and deities. It’s far from the only episode to touch on themes like this – but something about the design of Kukulkan as this winged, dragon-like serpent, and its connection to real cultures like the Maya and Aztecs, gave the story some more depth. At the very least, Kukulkan stands out from the pack of Star Trek aliens with prosthetic noses and foreheads!
Kukulkan’s pyramid.
As a bit of background, How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth was submitted as the episode to be assessed when The Animated Series was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 1975; the series would go on to win that award. It’s the only time a Star Trek show has won the award for “Best Series,” so this episode turned out to be quite influential! It also marks Spock’s 100th Star Trek appearance, and as noted above is the franchise’s 100th instalment.
It was a blast to go back to The Animated Series for the first time in years, and I’m glad that I got to mark the milestone anniversary of at least one of its episodes. Very few TV shows – and even fewer cartoons – can claim to have such a legacy half a century after their first broadcast, but The Animated Series really does occupy a unique place in Star Trek’s history. I hope you’ll join me in celebrating this fun show as we mark the fiftieth anniversary of the episode How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth.
So which episode of The Animated Series should we look at next? I’ve always had a soft spot for the frankly bizarre episode The Magicks of Megas-Tu… a story that no other franchise would dare attempt, especially not nowadays! I’ve also never written a proper episode re-watch for The Original Series here on the website, despite being up and running for almost five years. We’ll have to rectify that one day, too. But for now, I hope you’ve enjoyed stepping back in time with me. And until next time: Live Long and Prosper!
Star Trek: The Animated Series is available to stream now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available. The series is also available on DVD and Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including The Animated Series 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Seasons 1-2 and Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Before Season 2 aired, we got an announcement at one of the Comic-Cons, Star Trek Days, or other such live event about a crossover episode – and I was pretty excited! Not excited enough to push through my Star Trek burnout to watch it last year, but we’ve been over that so let’s not get back into it. Suffice to say that Those Old Scientists captured my attention long before I sat down to watch it… and I had pretty high hopes that the episode would be fun, if nothing else.
Star Trek doesn’t do full-blown crossovers like this very often, looking back. If we don’t count re-cast characters in shows like Discovery or the return of “legacy” characters from shows that are no longer airing, then the last time there was a fully-fledged crossover episode was quite a long time ago. Back then, characters like Troi and Barclay cropped up in a couple of Voyager episodes, and the Enterprise-D even paid a visit to DS9. There was also These Are The Voyages – the finale of Enterprise – but maybe the less said about that last example the better!
Director Jonathan Frakes in a behind-the-scenes photo.
Those Old Scientists brought characters from Lower Decks into Strange New Worlds, and it promised a degree of light-heartedness imported from Star Trek’s first foray into the world of animated comedy. Add into the mix Star Trek legend Jonathan Frakes as director, and the stage was set for a truly outstanding episode.
I had a blast with Those Old Scientists – the title of which, in case you missed it, is a pun on the initials T. O. S.; a joke that first appeared in Lower Decks and that makes reference to the way Trekkies have referred to The Original Series for decades. Now that I think of it, Those Old Scientists could be the first self-referential Star Trek episode title, and the first to be named for a pun!
Ensign Boimler as you’ve never seen him before!
But I don’t think Those Old Scientists was entirely perfect or free from narrative flaws. While I had a ton of fun watching Boimler and Mariner stumbling their way through the 23rd Century, there are a couple of weaknesses in the way the episode was scripted and structured that took away from the more emotional and entertaining moments. That isn’t to say the episode was “bad” by any stretch, and I love that Paramount greenlit a crossover like this. But I would be remiss not to point out some of the moments that didn’t work – especially because there’s a recurring theme that has also taken the shine off of other Star Trek projects in recent years.
In short, Those Old Scientists tried to cram in too many character interactions and sub-plots, and these came at the expense of what should have been the episode’s more powerful emotional moments. Too many scenes and meetings between 23rd and 24th Century characters felt rushed… and when several of these could have been so much more interesting, entertaining, and/or emotional with just a couple of extra minutes awarded them, I just think that’s a bit of a shame.
Dr M’Benga with Boimler.
This is something that modern Star Trek has done in other ways in other episodes and shows, and I find myself making some variation of the same remark over and over again: if there isn’t enough time to do justice to a storyline or to make a scene work, then put it back on the shelf. That doesn’t mean “never do this, it’s a terrible idea,” but rather that every episode and every story has to prioritise; an episode can’t possibly cram everything in. And in several places, Those Old Scientists felt… crammed.
I would have loved to have seen more of four character interactions and storylines that should’ve been key to the episode’s success. Firstly, the Orion captain and his apparent desire not to be considered a pirate. Secondly, Mariner’s conversation with Uhura and how Mariner – potentially – may have been the one to push Uhura to realise that taking breaks from work is important. Third, Boimler’s conversation with Nurse Chapel about Spock, and the possible ramifications on the Chapel-Spock relationship. And finally, the ensigns’ conversation with Captain Pike, in which he seemed to allude to his impending accident and disability.
Captain Pike toward the end of the story.
Those moments felt like the core of the episode – but a desire on the part of the writers and director to have Mariner and Boimler meet everyone and go all over the ship cut into those moments. An episode like Those Old Scientists needed to prioritise what was important so those aspects could really shine through… and I can’t help but feel that the right balance wasn’t struck this time.
When what we ultimately got were a handful of moments with other main characters, I can’t help but feel I’d have traded most or even all of those for a few more minutes on those bigger, more impactful storylines. Boimler’s moment with Dr M’Benga or when he visited the bridge, as well as some of Ortegas’ lines when she was with Mariner and Uhura… these were fun but ultimately felt like fluff in an episode where other storylines could and should have taken priority. As fun as some of these moments were, perhaps the real issue is that there were just too many of them in an episode that didn’t have time for it. If Those Old Scientists had been structured completely differently from day one, with a focus on entertainment and comedy without a more serious side… maybe it would’ve been okay. But then I can see the potential pitfalls with that idea, too.
I would’ve liked the story to have spent longer on a handful of key moments.
The Orion captain felt so underdeveloped that I don’t even remember his name. I liked the idea of a member of a race known for one overwhelmingly negative stereotype wishing to be seen on his own terms. In that sense, the Orion captain was not unlike the Ferengi scientist from The Next Generation Season 6 episode Suspicions. That idea can work well, and a story that touches on harmful stereotypes and building bridges between the Federation and other factions is something I’d be supportive of.
But this character and his ship needed way more time on screen to to justice to something with such a heavy theme, and the result of the short runtime dedicated to this idea meant it was underwhelming – especially at the end. Captain Pike promises the Orion captain that his people will be known as the scientists who discovered the time-portal (apparently he didn’t make good on that promise, but that’s a whole other tangent), and the Orion captain basically says “oh, neat,” and then toddles off stage. There was no depth to a character who felt like he should’ve been way more developed – and I lament the missed opportunity to tell a more complex story with this “not all Orions are pirates” idea.
The Orion captain felt pretty one-dimensional.
Mariner’s time with Uhura and Boimler’s conversation with Chapel both needed a bit more time – but these moments still managed to convey at least the majority of what they were supposed to. If the only criticism I really have of these is “I wish we got more time with some interesting and unconventional character pairings,” then that isn’t really a terrible thing. Again, I just feel like opportunities were missed to give a bit more depth to these moments.
Perhaps, though, this is something Strange New Worlds will pick up in a future episode or season. Chapel’s relationship with Spock was always destined to burn out, but maybe both of them will think on what Boimler said and that could lead to drama or interesting conversations in the future. Likewise with Uhura, perhaps her conversation with Mariner will help her change and grow – though in that case I’d argue we’ve already seen some of that growth over the past season-and-a-half.
Ensigns Mariner and Uhura.
The final place where I felt Those Old Scientists needed to have spent more time was the conversation between the two ensigns and Captain Pike. After they were caught trying to contact the Orions, both ensigns were in trouble – but Pike also hinted to them that he knew what lay in store for himself in the future. This should’ve been a huge revelation to Boimler in particular, and maybe Pike would’ve wanted to push these two future-dwellers to see what they knew – or at least share something with them that he can’t with anyone else except for Una and Spock. There was potential here.
Instead, Pike launched head-first into a “traumatic backstory” about his father and his birthday that wouldn’t have felt out-of-place in Discovery… and no, I don’t mean that as a compliment. This moment just wasn’t set up very well, and the idea that Pike would simply dump this exposition onto two people he doesn’t know (and who he clearly shouldn’t feel are trustworthy) just missed the mark for me. It’s something that could’ve worked if we’d had more time for this scene and maybe had another moment or two between this trio of characters earlier on.
Boimler and Mariner in Pike’s quarters.
Okay, that’s basically all of my criticisms out of the way! So now we’re free to talk about what I liked… which is basically everything else in Those Old Scientists.
First of all, the time-portal. This is exactly the kind of randomly weird artefact that Kirk, Picard, and Janeway seemed to stumble upon almost every week. An ancient relic of a long-lost civilisation powered by a magical macguffin… everything about it, including its design, felt wonderfully old-school Star Trek, and I’m 100% there for that!
This is what Strange New Worlds has been so good at, in my opinion: recapturing the feel of “classic” Star Trek in a way that other modern productions haven’t always managed to do. There was something really fun about Pike and the crew finding this time-portal that harkened back to the days of The Next Generation and The Original Series, and it would’ve made for a fantastic self-contained story even without the Lower Decks crossover.
Director Jonathan Frakes with Babs Olusanmokun, Jack Quaid, and Ethan Peck on the set of Those Old Scientists.
We should also talk about how good Boimler and Mariner looked when they crossed over into live-action. Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome resemble their 2D characters – so that’s a good start – but the costume design for their uniforms, the prop work for their combadges, and particularly the hairstyling to bring Boimler’s iconic purple quiff and Mariner’s bushy ponytail to life were all fantastic.
There are some animated characters for whom this crossover idea just wouldn’t work – for a number of reasons. Not every voice actor can be as good at live-action work; the two skills are not the same. Not every actor bears even a vague resemblance to their animated counterpart. And so on. On this front, Those Old Scientists succeeded – and it was so much better to reimagine Boimler and Mariner in live action than to try to have Pike and the crew awkwardly interacting with animated/CGI avatars. That would have been a travesty!
The animated main characters of Lower Decks.
And since we’re talking about animation: I loved that we got an animated epilogue with Pike and the Strange New Worlds crew drawn in Lower Decks’ distinctive style. It was a blast to see our favourite characters reimagined in this way, and the “weird alien drink” angle even gave it an in-universe explanation for why the characters might see themselves in that kind of distorted way.
With Paramount continuing to struggle financially, with the matter of a sale and long-term ownership still unresolved, and with the likes of Discovery and Picard coming to an end… I can’t help but wonder if there might’ve been a sort of “backdoor pilot” angle to this epilogue. You know, Paramount just testing the waters to see if an animated Strange New Worlds might be viable. I could be completely wrong about that – and the show has been renewed for a fourth season already that (presumably, at least) will continue to be live-action! But like The Original Series before it all those years ago, I can’t help but wonder if an animated continuation might be on the cards one day. Obviously I’d rather have more live-action, but if the choice is animation or cancellation… I think Those Old Scientists has opened a door, at least.
Could more animated Star Trek be on the agenda?
One final point on animation in Those Old Scientists: the animated opening title sequence was amazing! Seeing the whole thing recreated – with a couple of inclusions from Lower Decks for good measure – was just incredibly cute and not at all what I was expecting. The Enterprise looked great in that style – similar, in some ways, to how it appeared a few years ago in the Short Treks episode Ephraim and Dot. After the opening aboard the Cerritos, this was a great way to mix things up heading into the main part of the episode.
I think I’m inclined to give Those Old Scientists a bit of a pass on the whole “contaminating the timeline” thing. Star Trek has occasionally stumbled over time travel stories – and I’ve said more than once that time travel isn’t usually my favourite story premise in the franchise – but because this episode had a less serious tone for the most part, I think we can overlook most of that. Boimler and Mariner undeniably messed with the timeline – but no more so than other characters elsewhere in the franchise going all the way back to Kirk’s crew and their early adventures with time travel.
Boimler and Mariner definitely contaminated the timeline!
As a Trekkie, it’s been a lot of fun to watch a character like Boimler on Lower Decks and how he geeks out at things that you or I would get just as excited about – and that theme continued in Those Old Scientists. Set aside Boimler’s excitement to meet his heroes like Pike, Spock, and Una – his enthusiasm for small things like computer panels or a tricorder really elevated the episode and made it a lot more fun. It reminded me of visiting Star Trek: The Exhibition in the mid-1990s, or more recently the 50th Anniversary exhibit in Blackpool here in the UK. I was fascinated and excited to see some of the props from Star Trek… and Boimler was, too. That point of connection felt great as a long-term fan.
But it wasn’t only Boimler who got excited. Mariner also met one of her heroes: Uhura. The scenes between the two of them were great, particularly as Mariner came to realise that this younger version of the person she had learned about and looked up to was somewhat different to what she’d expected!
Boimler and Mariner in engineering.
There were plenty of funny and cute moments throughout the episode as Boimler and Mariner stumbled their way through the 23rd Century, and I had a smile on my face much of the time. There were a couple of missed opportunities, though; character moments and storylines that really needed a bit longer in the spotlight to truly shine. As much as I enjoyed this crossover and feel like it was truly “made for the fans,” I can’t help but feel that Those Old Scientists tried to cram too much into its runtime.
I don’t want to be too negative, though. By far my biggest takeaway from the episode is how fun it was to get a crossover like this – and if we’re fortunate enough to see Star Trek remain in production over the next few years, I hope Those Old Scientists won’t be the last crossover episode. With the franchise’s 60th anniversary only a couple of years away, that could be a great opportunity to do something like this, bringing together characters from different parts of Star Trek for one spectacular story!
Another thing I’m reminded of is that I need to finish catching up on Lower Decks! Season 5 is right around the corner, and I’d love to get back up to speed with the series before it goes off the air. This was an enjoyable, entertaining crossover – and I’m glad to have belatedly seen it.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available. The series is also available on DVD and Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including Strange New Worlds and all other properties discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. This review contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Seasons 1 and 2.
Welcome back to my Strange New Worlds Season 2 episode review series. I know it’s been a while, and I’ll address that briefly before we jump into the review proper.
Last year, while Strange New Worlds was airing, I began to feel burned out on Star Trek as a whole. I also found myself writing less frequently here on the website, and I think I just needed a bit of a break from what had been a pretty hectic schedule for the franchise. There’s been a lot of Star Trek on our screens over the last couple of years in particular – some of which has been quite heavy, with themes of mental health that hit close to home for me. Long story short, I ended up taking a break from Strange New Worlds halfway through Season 2… but now I’m finally ready to jump back in. I’m going into these episodes completely fresh; this is my first time watching Lost in Translation and I haven’t seen the remaining Season 2 episodes yet.
So I hope you’ll excuse the lateness of this review! I plan to pick up where I left off last year, and while I don’t promise to do one review a week… hopefully by the end of the year – or at least by the time Season 3 is upon us – I’ll have finally wrapped up this batch of episodes.
Behind-the-scenes photo from the set of Lost in Translation.
Onward, then, to Lost in Translation!
This episode put a somewhat dark and distinctly modern spin on Star Trek’s trusty old “they were only trying to communicate!” premise, and it worked pretty well. Outside of the main thrust of the story were a couple of moments of characterisation that I felt either weren’t set up particularly well or that might’ve needed an extra moment or two in the spotlight, and there was a rare CGI miss for Strange New Worlds as the series used a sub-par visual effect that had also appeared in Picard’s third season. Other than that, though, I had a pretty good time with Lost in Translation; it was a nice way to return to Strange New Worlds after an absence of more than a year.
I think I’ve noted this before in either my Season 1 review or one of my earlier Season 2 episode reviews, but I just adore the opening title music. I got goosebumps listening to the theme this time after not hearing it for months, and the way composer Jeff Ruso deconstructed and then recreated the music from The Original Series is really something special.
Lost in Translation focused on Uhura.
Let’s talk about what I didn’t like in Lost in Translation – which, thankfully, isn’t too much this time around.
There were a couple of pretty abrupt scenes where two different sets of characters seemed to have fallen out with one another off-screen, and the way this was communicated wasn’t great. First we had the two Kirk brothers: Sam and Jim. Their rivalry came from an understandable place, but it needed way more buildup to have been effective. We’ve seen these characters on screen together more than once in Strange New Worlds already, and there was no indication in those earlier appearances that Sam might feel Jim’s rise through the ranks was a sore spot.
And when we boil it down… this argument felt incredibly petty. Jim Kirk has just been promoted, becoming the youngest-ever first officer in Starfleet. And Sam feels jealous of that because their father – who we’ve never met and hasn’t been mentioned before – likes Jim more because of it? Have I even got that right? For the brothers to go from sharing a hug on the transporter pad to Sam storming off – twice, I might add – just felt so incredibly ham-fisted and rushed. There was the smallest nugget of an interesting idea at the core of this, and both actors did the best with the material they had. But this argument/sibling rivalry needed way more time on screen and more development, ideally over more than one episode. Strange New Worlds has done well so far with its blend of episodic storytelling and serialised character arcs… but this one didn’t stick the landing this time.
Jim and Sam argued at the bar.
In a similar vein we have Una and Pelia’s conflict. This one has the benefit of being resolved (or apparently resolved, at least) by the end of the episode, meaning that the final scenes they shared together in the shuttlecraft and the conversation that Pelia forced went some way to compensating for their earlier conflict. But the same basic issue arises as with the Kirk brothers above: it needed more setup and more time on screen to play out.
This kind of conflict between two main characters can’t be a one-and-done, throwaway thing in a single episode; it deserves to have more time spent on it. Not for the first time in modern Star Trek I find myself saying this: if there isn’t enough time to do justice to a storyline that needs room to unfold… skip it. Don’t forget it entirely, but put it back on the shelf for later and find something smaller that would be a better fit for the short runtime available – then when you have the time to fully explore this kind of grief-driven character conflict, return to it and do it properly. This isn’t an isolated issue, unfortunately, as we’ve seen similar problems in all of the modern live-action Star Trek productions since 2017.
Pelia and Una on their way back to the Enterprise.
There was one particularly poor use of CGI in Lost in Translation, and I think it’s worth looking at briefly. The scene where the doomed redshirt Lieutenant Ramon is blasted out into space had some great animation work for the USS Enterprise and the nebula that the ship was in – and visual effects across the rest of the episode were pretty good. But Ramon’s death was poor, and the “freezing” effect used as his body was floating in space was a long way wide of the mark.
It’s a lot harder to accurately animate a person – and facial features in particular – than it is to do things like spaceships, planets, and inanimate objects, and unfortunately that’s what we saw with Ramon’s death. The CGI model just wasn’t up to scratch, and although other elements of the same animated sequence looked good, the individual at the centre didn’t. Earlier in 2023, I noted the exact same problem with the death of another character in Star Trek: Picard Season 3. This character was also ejected into space, iced over, and died – and the same issues were present. Paramount has done a lot of great work with CGI and animation in modern Star Trek… but there’s still a long way to go to get some of these character models and effects to where they need to be. It didn’t ruin the entire episode – but it was noticeable in that sequence, particularly because the rest of the animation work was so good.
This CGI moment didn’t look great.
So those are the only parts of Lost in Translation that I can say I didn’t really like or that didn’t work for me. Next, I’d like to talk in a broader sense about a character who returned in this episode – and their death in Season 1.
The episode All Those Who Wander is one of my favourite Star Trek stories of the last few years – probably of all-time. It’s an episode that shows how Star Trek isn’t always going to be the kind of nerdy sci-fi franchise that people think, and how it can dip its toes in genres like horror. It’s a gruesome, shocking story – and one that comes with a final, brutal twist right at the end.
All Those Who Wander wouldn’t have been so impactful if Hemmer had survived – and I fully appreciate that. One of the things his death showed is that most of Strange New Worlds’ characters don’t have “plot armour” and therefore can’t be considered as safe as main characters in previous shows. That’s great in some ways – it’s modern, it can ramp up the tension and drama at key moments, and it represents a franchise that’s still growing and evolving even after more than half a century in production.
An illusory Hemmer at the end of Lost in Translation.
But – and you knew there had to be a “but” coming after all of that – Hemmer was a great loss for Strange New Worlds. Killing off such an interesting character so soon, and after he’d only really had a chance to make an impact in a couple of episodes was an odd decision, and I can’t help but see parts of Lost in Translation as a reaction to Hemmer’s death. Perhaps the decision to bring him back in this way is even a bit of an admission on the part of the writers that they miss this character and regret not being able to do more with him.
Pelia is great. She adds a comedic flair to Strange New Worlds that the series needs, and she has a way of making even tense and dangerous moments feel lighter. Many stories have already benefitted from her inclusion – and I have no doubt that others will in the future, too. But that doesn’t mean Hemmer’s early demise feels any better. And it’s impossible to talk about Lost in Translation without going back to Season 1 and thinking about what might have been if Hemmer had stuck around. As a blind character, as a member of a race that Star Trek hasn’t explored in depth since Enterprise, and as a pacifist working on a ship that might be called into action… there was a lot of potential in Hemmer that we never got to see realised.
Uhura watches a recording of Hemmer on a padd.
I was entirely unprepared for the zombie Hemmer jump-scare just before the credits – and I about pissed myself when his mangled, decaying corpse showed up, growling at poor Uhura. That was an incredibly well-executed moment, and it left me on edge for much of the rest of the story, especially when Uhura was hallucinating and the camera panned around. I kept expecting another jump-scare at that level!
We talked a moment ago about a CGI effect that missed the mark – but the makeup and prosthetics used to create Hemmer’s hallucinatory form were absolutely pitch-perfect. I genuinely cannot fault the way Hemmer appeared in those moments, and the changes from how he looked when alive to the bloodied, decaying, zombified form that appeared to Uhura must’ve taken a lot of time both at the planning stage and in the makeup chair.
I very nearly needed to change my pants after this jump-scare.
It makes a lot of sense to use a character like Hemmer to tell a story about grief and loss – and I would argue that Strange New Worlds managed to do a far better job on this front than the likes of Picard or Discovery when those shows attempted to look at comparable themes. The reason for this is Hemmer: we as the audience had known this character, seen him interact with the crew across several Season 1 episodes, and were mentally prepared for him to continue on as part of the show. His death was shocking and untimely – so we can absolutely see how his death would have had a major impact on characters like Una and Uhura.
Hemmer and Uhura struck up a friendship in Season 1, and he played a role in helping her choose to remain in Starfleet when she was having doubts. This friendship was expanded upon in Lost in Translation, as we got to see them working together through the recording that Uhura carried with her. This also helped build up the sense of grief and mourning that was key to this side of the story. It was well-written, beautifully performed, and is a storyline that I think should be relatable to anyone who’s been through the loss of a close friend or family member. We often talk about Starfleet and crews on Star Trek as akin to families; this is another side of that analogy.
Lost in Translation was, in part, a story about grief and loss.
Uhura and Hemmer had that closeness in Season 1, but I’m struggling to remember a comparable moment between he and Una. Despite my criticism of the rather short and abrupt nature of her conflict with Pelia, I think the underlying theme of coming to terms with loss and having to see someone new as a “replacement” for a fallen friend or comrade was an interesting one. Again, it’s something that should be relatable to a lot of folks in the audience – I just fear in this case that the way this particular conflict was handled may have got in the way of the message.
Hopefully Una and Pelia have come to an understanding, at least, and future episodes might be able to build on this relationship, taking them from adversarial to something closer to friendship. If future stories are plotted out that way, we might be able to look back somewhat more kindly on their conflict in Lost in Translation.
Pelia and Una aboard the refinery station.
I’ve lost count of the number of times Star Trek has used the “it was only trying to communicate!” storyline! Some of these have worked better than others, to be blunt – and it isn’t unfair to call it a trope of the franchise. Season 1’s Children of the Comet wasn’t a million miles away from that premise – and also featured Uhura in a big way. Lost in Translation is a very dark interpretation of this narrative idea, though, and I think it worked quite well.
Maybe this is a reach (actually, it’s definitely a reach) but I felt that there were at least some superficial similarities to Voyager’s Season 6 episode The Haunting of Deck Twelve. That story was different in tone – with its frame narrative and “ghost stories around the campfire” style – but it also featured nebula-dwelling lifeforms caught in a starship, desperate to survive and get home. I doubt it was intentional, but it’s interesting, at any rate!
The life-forms made their home in this nebula.
We’re used to seeing aliens in Star Trek that are very humanoid. Recent and not-so-recent stories have even tried to provide an in-universe explanation for the abundance of humanoid alien races… with limited success, in my opinion! But episodes like Lost in Translation remind us that the galaxy is also home to alien races that are so very different from humanity that it can be hard to even conceptualise – let alone find a way to communicate. These stories have always been interesting to me – and while Strange New Worlds gave us a more action-heavy, even horror take on that idea, I thought it worked exceptionally well.
There was plenty of room for science and for problem-solving as Uhura, Kirk, Pelia, and others all struggled to understand what was happening. Maybe it’s because I’m a seasoned Trekkie, but I felt maybe some of the characters – Spock in particular, perhaps, but also Pike and Pelia – should have suspected that something alien was going on when both Uhura and Ramon fell ill while the station was experiencing sabotage… but I can’t really hold that against the episode. I have to remind myself, sometimes, that Strange New Worlds is set before most of the rest of Star Trek – so the characters wouldn’t necessarily know what to look for and wouldn’t have the experience of those other stories to draw upon.
The aliens were able to communicate through illusions and hallucinations.
Pairing up Uhura with Kirk was great – and seeing how they got to meet for the first time in the prime timeline was great fun. There’s a lot of history with these two characters that Strange New Worlds had to respect – and I think the writers did them justice on this occasion. I also like the idea that it was Uhura who made the introduction between Kirk and Spock – that feels fitting, somehow.
At first I thought we were going to learn that Kirk was another of Uhura’s hallucinations! That seemed to be a possible route for the story to have taken. I’m glad it didn’t turn out that way, though, especially as the episode wore on and we got to see some genuinely sweet moments between them. Kirk is a flirt and a womaniser – something we know from his appearances across The Original Series, the Kelvin films, and beyond. But I felt the way this was handled in Lost in Translation – with Uhura shutting him down pretty quickly – was both a little bit funny and true to both of their characters. Any inclusion of characters from The Original Series has to be handled carefully, and pairing up Uhura and Kirk for basically an entire story could have gone awry. I’m glad that it didn’t.
Celia Rose Gooding, Dan Jeannotte, and Paul Wesley during production on the episode.
We spoke earlier about character conflicts that hadn’t been set up particularly well. Lost in Translation also offers at least one counter-point to that: the developing relationship between La’an and Kirk. After the events of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow earlier in Season 2 left La’an pretty devastated, she’s clearly still struggling with the memories she has of alternate-timeline Kirk. Running into him was difficult for her, and while that part of the episode was only in focus briefly, I think it worked well. As a storyline that is (hopefully) going to be picked up in a future story, these small steps can be important. We’ve followed La’an and Kirk in two episodes now – maybe by their third or fourth meeting, something more will come of it.
In terms of sets, I liked the new nacelle control room that we saw Uhura, Pelia, and Ramon using. It even had the angled ladder that Scotty would famously crawl into in The Original Series any time the Enterprise needed repairs! There may not be a ton of uses for a nacelle room, but being able to put that set together sometimes for engineering scenes is a neat idea.
Did this ladder feel familiar to you?
The refinery/space station set didn’t feel all that special, but thanks to some creative use of the AR wall and animated wide-angle shots, we got at least some of the sense of scale that the place needed. It also had a pretty industrial feel – not unlike modern-day oil rigs or refineries, which I suppose will have been the inspiration.
Uhura’s hallucinatory shuttle crash was also really well done, with transitions between the indoor sets and outdoor filming locations feeling particularly creative. The wreck of the shuttle looked great, and although we only saw parts of the interior in an out-of-focus shot, that choice was clever, too.
Uhura with the wrecked shuttle.
Speaking of creative cinematography, the scene in the corridor as Uhura felt the walls closing in around her, then stretching away, looked fantastic – and I think I’m right in saying that most of that was camera work rather than post-production special effects. It was creative, at any rate, and it really hammered home the panic and fear that Uhura felt at that moment.
So I think that’s all I have to say this time.
Lost in Translation was a good episode, and one that put a different spin on a familiar premise. We got to see Kirk’s first meetings with both Uhura and Spock, which was fantastic, but at the episode’s heart was some creative storytelling that touched on themes of grief and the loss of a friend. After Hemmer’s demise in Season 1, I’m glad that Strange New Worlds hasn’t just forgotten about him and moved on, and remembering him through the way he helped his friends and the impact he made on his crew was touching.
A famous first meeting!
Not everything in Lost in Translation worked as well as it could’ve, and perhaps trying to cram in two character conflicts like this was a bit too much for the episode’s runtime. Hopefully, now that the Una-Pelia conflict has been resolved, we can see a bit more from those two in a future episode, building on the foundations that were laid this time. As for the Kirk brothers… I think we need to see a little more from them if the series wants to do this whole “sibling rivalry” argument justice!
After a break of more than a year, Lost in Translation has been a nice way to return to Strange New Worlds! Not every episode of Star Trek can be a great one, but I’m glad that I didn’t end up coming back to the series with a dud! That might’ve been offputting as I aim to review the remainder of the season. Thankfully it didn’t happen this time – and I hope you’ll stay tuned for reviews of the remaining four episodes in the days, weeks, and possibly months ahead!
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available. The series is also available on DVD and Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including Strange New Worlds and all other properties discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. This review contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-5 and Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6.
So this is it, then! Star Trek: Discovery’s fifth and final season has come and gone, and its finale really does feel like the end of a chapter for the Star Trek franchise.
Two points before we get into the meat of this review. Firstly, this full season review is taking the place of the individual episode reviews that I did for Seasons 3 and 4. I didn’t pick up Paramount+ to watch Discovery week-to-week, and I didn’t really have the energy to spend on writing ten full episode reviews like I did for the past couple of seasons. If that’s something you really wanted to see, well… sorry. I may revisit individual episodes from Season 5 in the future.
Secondly, now that Season 5 has wrapped up, I would like to do a deep dive into Discovery as a whole; a kind of “post-mortem” for the series. But that isn’t the objective of this review, and this time around I’ll try to stick to Season 5, its story, and its characters. That doesn’t mean I won’t talk about plot points from earlier seasons or other parts of Star Trek where necessary (and spoiler alert: it will be necessary to do that) but rather that this review is meant to be about Season 5 first and foremost. I will be taking a look at Discovery as a whole in a future article – so stay tuned for that!
Michael Burnham on a promotional poster for Season 5.
I’d like to start with an observation that might set the tone for the rest of this review. Often when I’m binge-watching a series I can hardly wait to start the next episode. There’ll be a sense of excitement as I get ready to watch the next chapter of the story… and sometimes I even let the chores pile up because I just don’t want to wait or put the next episode on hold! When I get into a story and I’m in “the zone” I don’t want to break out. That didn’t happen for me with Discovery this time around.
Even though I could’ve binged Season 5 over the course of a couple of evenings… I didn’t want to. I took breaks of several days in between episodes, sometimes – and I was running down the clock on my single-month subscription to Paramount+ with a couple of episodes still to go. This time around, I don’t feel that Discovery grabbed me in the way it has in the past, even though there were some genuinely interesting storylines. Probably this is more an issue on my end than with the show itself – I’ve talked in recent months about how I’ve come to feel rather burned out on Star Trek as a whole, so perhaps I jumped back in before I was ready. But I think it’s worth noting that Discovery didn’t really succeed at pulling me back in.
Director Jonathan Frakes and Tilly actress Mary Wiseman in a behind-the-scenes photograph.
Although I had a specific concern about the series finale, I went into Discovery’s fifth season feeling somewhat optimistic about the direction of the story as a whole. It seemed – based on the season’s marketing material – as if Discovery was finally ready to give up on the whole “the entire galaxy is in danger and only Michael Burnham, the Chosen One, can save it!!!” story outline that the show had recycled, in some form, across its first four seasons. And I was excited about that; seeing what Discovery and its characters might be able to do with a completely different style of narrative held a lot of appeal. Even if that change had come too late to save the series from cancellation, I still would’ve liked to see the writers giving Burnham and the crew a new challenge and a fundamentally different kind of adventure – one that might’ve been smaller in scale but still interesting and entertaining.
But as you probably know by now, Season 5 recycled that same story outline yet again. There was a mystery at the centre of the narrative, and an adventure to follow as Burnham and the crew followed the trail. But there was also a “catastrophic galactic threat” underpinning it all, and villains intent on wreaking havoc who had to be stopped. Discovery had one final chance to try something genuinely different – a style of storytelling that might’ve better suited the show and its cast of characters. But instead, we got a story that felt derivative. Like in every season before, Michael Burnham and the crew faced a threat that could wipe out the Federation and all life in the galaxy. Like in every season before, they had to follow a trail of clues to uncover the threat. And like in every season before, there were villainous rascals trying to stop them. If this is the only kind of story that the show’s writers wanted to tell or were capable of telling… then I think I’m glad to see the back of Discovery. One or two of these kinds of stories might’ve been okay… but five in a row? Too many.
The Progenitors’ device.
It wasn’t only the main storyline that felt recycled. Book’s story of feeling alone and looking to reach out to someone he considered “family” felt pretty repetitive, as did his interactions with Dr Culber. Tilly went back and forth with her characterisation, bouncing between caring about her cadets as she did last season and seemingly forgetting they existed a moment later. Despite being brand-new, Commander Rayner was given a typical Discovery “traumatic background” that, naturally, became critical to advancing the main story. And then we come to the dreaded Burnham Relationship Drama™.
Book and Burnham broke up in the season premiere – setting the tone for a season where one of the themes involved other characters also going their separate ways. Later, Burnham’s conflict with Book over how to approach Moll and what to do with her – giving her to the Breen to prevent a war and save lives – felt incredibly similar to the arguments the pair had about the DMA just last season. So not only did Season 5 curse us with more Burnham Relationship Drama™, but the story wasn’t even an original one.
Booker and Burnham’s bike-based break-up.
Discovery is arguably Star Trek’s first series to have a singular protagonist instead of either a trio or an ensemble. And I would have loved it if that protagonist could have had just one season – just one out of five – in which she wasn’t at the centre of a soap opera story involving her love interest(s). We got it in Seasons 1 and 2 with her on/off relationship with Tyler. And we had it again in Seasons 3, 4, and 5 with Book. Discovery’s writers have been completely unwilling to let Burnham settle, and even as she’s developed, grown, and matured in other ways – like her relationship with Starfleet, her friendships with members of the crew, and so on – her romantic life has been a constant mess. If it served some greater narrative purpose, maybe it wouldn’t feel so repetitive and annoying. But after watching her and Book at loggerheads for much of Season 4 before belatedly reconciling, I’d hoped that we’d finally seen the last of the Burnham Relationship Drama™.
This repetitiveness was present throughout the season, both in the main story, side-stories, and moments of characterisation. The Archive that Book and Burnham visited felt no different from Season 3’s seed vault, for example, and it’s hard to view the Progenitor’s technology and the race to protect it as being much different from the Control AI battling to seize the Sphere data in Season 2. The Breen, while a returning faction from Star Trek’s past, filled a role that the Klingons had in Season 1 and the Emerald Chain did in Season 3. Moll and L’ak were the villainous duo who needed to be stopped, but who had a connection to one of the main characters – just like Book and Tarka in Season 4 or Voq in Season 1. The trail of clues that the crew followed also felt just like the ones that led them to the cause of the Burn in Season 3 and the DMA/Species 10-C in Season 4.
The story turned out to be repetitive.
With Discovery’s writers unwilling or unable to write a genuinely different kind of story – one without a “massive galaxy-ending threat,” Burnham Relationship Drama™, and all of the other repetitions we’ve noted – then I come back to something I said at the beginning: it was probably the right time for the series to end. I don’t think I’d have wanted to see a sixth or seventh season if both the main story and many side-stories were just going to be recycled once again. Season 5 may not have been the strong send-off that I’d hoped for, but at least we can say that Discovery went out on its own terms. Which is something… right?
This isn’t to say the season was universally terrible. There were some highlights, both for the main story and in individual episodes, as well as some of that often-elusive sense of “Star Trek-ness” that’s made the franchise so enjoyable to me for more than thirty years. Practically all of the episodes had something that made me smile, laugh, or feel some of the emotions that the story was reaching for. I just wish that those moments hadn’t come in a repetitive story that, once again, saw all of the drama turned up to eleven. And perhaps if I were being brutally honest, I’d say that I wish those enjoyable moments hadn’t been so few and far between.
The main cast of Season 5.
I was a little surprised that the duo of bridge characters who’ve been part of the series since Season 1 – Owosekun and Detmer – weren’t included in a big way this time around. They had a couple of lines each, mostly in a flashback sequence, but otherwise seemed to have been replaced by a couple of other characters whose names I didn’t even catch. I don’t know why this was – was there some reason why the actors couldn’t take part in the full season? It seems odd to me that these familiar faces were effectively written out of the show; there wasn’t really a reason given.
Other members of the bridge crew – Rhys, Linus, and co. – got about as much attention as they ever had. These secondary characters have never been Discovery’s focus, and while I felt that the series had the potential to expand its roster in a kind of Deep Space Nine-inspired way, utilising a broader cast of secondary characters, that never happened. At this point I wasn’t expecting it to, but at least we didn’t get any completely shallow, contrived story moments involving these characters like we had in past seasons. Giving a secondary character one scene’s worth of “development” in a single episode either to force an emotional reaction at their death or to nakedly add to the main story is something Discovery has done more than once and it seldom works well.
Detmer and Owosekun – mainstays on the bridge since Season 1 – abruptly disappeared this time.
On the main character front, aside from Burnham the only two to get much screen time and proper storylines were Dr Culber and Book. Tilly seemed to abandon her post at the Academy for no reason, and her role there was only sporadically brought up. Stamets was, for me, the least-well-developed main character this season. His story of wanting to find a new scientific legacy had a poor setup, was only referenced once or twice, and then was blitzed through right at the end. It ended up being a bit of a nothing-burger, and I feel Stamets would’ve been better used in a supporting role for Culber and Adira; those moments were far and away his best of the season.
Not for the first time with Discovery, I find myself saying this: this narrative concept wasn’t bad in principle, but the writers and producers clearly had their attention elsewhere, so it didn’t get enough time on screen to fully play out. There’s potential in the story of someone coming to terms with their life’s work being shut down (and that could’ve been more than a little therapeutic for Discovery’s writers, given what happened to the series), as well as in someone desperately reaching for some kind of “legacy” as a way to find meaning in their life or metaphorical immortality. Stamets’ storyline flirted with these ideas, but the series didn’t commit to them – because its energies were, as always, being spent elsewhere. The result was that the curtain fell on yet another underwhelming season for Stamets.
Not a great season for Stamets… again.
Saru got what was by far the most optimistic individual character storyline – as Discovery set up his marriage to T’Rina. There were a few sitcom-style bumps in the road, because of course Discovery is that kind of show, but by and large I liked what we got. Saru and T’Rina had an understated chemistry together, and at a time when tensions and dangers were rising, having two characters “back home” planning their wedding was a bit of a change of pace. I wish it didn’t have to happen at the expense of Saru having a major role in the show, though – his presence on the bridge was missed.
Speaking as we were of underdeveloped storylines: T’Rina’s complex political situation was mentioned once, in a single episode, then seemed to instantly disappear without her suffering any repercussions. This idea of “Vulcan purists” being upset at her engagement to a non-Vulcan was, again, interesting in theory… but went nowhere. Being generous we might say that this was something the writers hoped to explore more of in a potential sixth season, but I’m not convinced of that. It feels like a throwaway idea designed to create a bit of forced tension in Saru’s relationship, and nothing more.
T’Rina and Saru at their wedding.
“Subtlety” has never really been a word that Discovery’s writers seem familiar with, and in Season 5 we saw that trend continue. After explaining his tragic backstory, we saw Rayner go from crotchety a-hole to inspiring leader who cares about his crew almost in a heartbeat. It reminded me of the change that Saru underwent with his vahar’ai – a change that took him from cowardly to aggressive predator also in a split-second. For me, this abrupt character switch didn’t really stick the landing, and while Rayner is still an interesting character whose forceful personality left a stamp on the series, there’s something to be said for making these kinds of changes a more gradual affair.
I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see more of Admiral Vance and President Rillak – two characters who had been pretty enjoyable in Seasons 3 and 4. Both had moments on screen, but their roles felt diminished compared with the last couple of seasons. In a story with profound in-universe consequences (something we’ll talk about more in a moment), there was scope to see the Federation’s president and Starfleet’s top admiral wrangling with the fallout of Burnham’s mission and the “Red Directive.”
Admiral Vance had less of a role this time around.
Dr Kovich is a character who has been an enigma since Discovery shot forward to this time period. I’d speculated that perhaps he was the head of this era’s Section 31, but this season we got the explanation we’d been waiting for… and it wasn’t what anyone had been expecting. The reason for that is simple: this explanation is dumb. Kovich is, somehow, an older Crewman/Agent Daniels: you know, the secondary character from Enterprise? The time-traveler who messed up Archer’s mission. Crewman Daniels.
Sorry, but this really was a stupid idea – one that was in no way set up by anything else in the series. It feels like Discovery’s writers came in late one day, weren’t really feeling like doing much work, and just threw out this idea as a cheap way to connect the series to something else in Star Trek. Why Daniels? Why not Captain Braxton – the time-traveling character from Voyager? Why not Wesley Crusher? Why not any one of a hundred other totally random characters? They’d make no less sense than Daniels. In a way, I admire the writers’ attempt to link events in Discovery’s otherwise disconnected 32nd Century to other parts of Star Trek. But this one was just so random with absolutely no setup that it fell flat on its face. I didn’t think this was possible – and it shouldn’t have been – but this revelation makes Kovich as a character feel less interesting and less important in retrospect.
Dr Kovich… a.k.a. Agent Daniels.
The season’s villains – Moll and L’ak – had potential as a kind of “Bonnie and Clyde” outlaw couple, and there were moments where they came close to achieving that status. But the connection between Moll and Book put a downer on things, and I felt like screaming at Discovery’s producers that not everyone in the galaxy needs to know or be related to everyone else! Characters can meet for the first time and form connections; villains don’t have to be someone’s daughter, uncle-in-law, or ex-boyfriend in order to be interesting, entertaining, and impactful.
As mentioned, I liked that we got a closer look at the Breen. The Breen had been part of what is probably still my favourite Star Trek story arc: the Dominion War. And in Deep Space Nine we never got to see them or even hear their language translated. Learning more about the Breen and particularly their biology was genuinely interesting, and it didn’t tread on the toes of anything that had been set up in Deep Space Nine or elsewhere – which is a low bar, perhaps, but one that modern Star Trek has occasionally tripped over!
Behind-the-scenes photo showing one of the Breen scenes being shot.
The Breen seemed more or less in line with their earlier appearances – but I would say that, in a story that aimed to be a bit more nuanced and modern, the two Breen leaders that we met both felt pretty one-dimensional. L’ak was an interesting character, and I liked the idea of the rebellious human-lover running away from his strict military upbringing and family. But the pair of Breen primarchs that we met – Ruhn and Tahal – felt like your bog-standard “evil for the sake of it” power-hungry villains. I wasn’t expecting a lot from either character, and I think they kind of work in the context of a brutal militaristic power, but neither felt especially interesting.
Discovery also came close to being written into a corner with this season’s Breen conflict. L’ak was supposedly incredibly important to Ruhn in particular, as he needed him to press his claim to the throne. But when L’ak died – in Starfleet custody, no less – Ruhn simply walked away without exacting his revenge. When it had been established that the Breen – with their Warhammer 40K-inspired massive warships – were more than capable of wiping out Starfleet… I don’t know. It didn’t feel right for this hardliner to just place his trust in Moll and walk away without retaliating.
The Breen warship dwarfed both the USS Discovery and Federation HQ – and would have made short work of both, if the shooting started!
Speaking of starship designs, I liked the massive Breen warships – though, as mentioned, I noted a definite influence from Warhammer 40K and other sci-fi properties! We didn’t really see many other new ships or vehicles this time around; Rayner’s Starfleet ship was okay but nothing special. I didn’t really like the first episode’s hover-bikes, though – they seem completely superfluous in a setting where everyone has a personal transporter built into their combadges and where spore drives can hop across the entire galaxy in an instant! The sequence was pretty tense and exciting, though.
Let’s talk about the main thrust of the story. Discovery surprised me by returning to a race called the Progenitors – ancient humanoid aliens who only appeared once in The Next Generation. And… to be blunt, I think there’s a reason why this storyline hadn’t been picked up or even so much as mentioned since then.
Behind-the-scenes with one of the Progenitors.
Some stories in Star Trek – even ones that seem to be transformational for our understanding of certain factions or characters – don’t work as intended or just reach a natural end point, and for me, the ancient humanoids from The Chase are in that category. Star Trek didn’t need this fundamental explanation for why many alien races are humanoid, and while The Chase wasn’t a bad episode per se, its ending and the way it wrapped up wasn’t great. For me, this kind of in-universe explanation was never needed, and as a result I was content to leave The Chase and its ancient humanoids on the back burner. They were never written into the franchise in a big way, and every subsequent story – even those focused on history – never returned to this pretty convoluted story.
So why did Discovery dig up these aliens – now named the Progenitors?
I would be genuinely curious to learn why the show’s writers and producers decided to go down this narrative path, to be honest! While the story we got expanded our knowledge of the Progenitors a little, it didn’t tell us a lot about the galaxy, the other races that the Progenitors may have seeded, and it ended with more questions unanswered than answered. We didn’t even get a technobabble explanation for how they did what they did or how their tech worked. The result was an unsatisfying feeling that was compounded by Burnham’s decision to conceal the Progenitors’ device and not even allow Stamets or someone else at Starfleet HQ to examine it.
Season 5 revisited The Chase – an episode from The Next Generation.
The ending of the story – with Burnham declaring that the Progenitors’ desire to create a diverse galaxy teeming with life had been accomplished – was great, and I liked the feeling that came from that. But as with many things in Discovery, it was an end point that was pretty rushed, that needed a bit more time on screen, and that came at the end of a season that spun its wheels in places and spent too long dealing with relatively minor or unimportant things.
I could have happily spent an entire episode just on the debate Burnham was having with other characters about what to do with the Progenitors’ technology. For instance, no one even suggested that it could have incredibly useful applications in a galaxy still recovering from the effects of the Burn. Discovery’s 32nd Century is still, in many ways, post-apocalyptic, and if the Federation had access to what is basically an infinitely more powerful Genesis Device, with the ability to create life from nothing… isn’t that a power worth having and using for the common good? Even if the end of the story was still the same, with the technology being deemed too powerful and ultimately unnecessary, couldn’t we have still had that conversation?
I could have spent an entire episode just debating the pros and cons of using and studying the Progenitors’ technology.
For me, this deep cut to a single episode of The Next Generation was a bold move that didn’t really pay off. I love that Discovery’s writers have tried to tie into the lore and history of Star Trek in different ways, but for me, the decision to revisit this faction of ancient aliens was a mistake. I’d rather have seen a brand-new race – like last season’s Species 10-C – that could’ve filled the role of the creators of this technology, simply because I don’t think Star Trek as a whole benefits from this kind of story.
Part of the appeal of going out into space – and thus the appeal of Star Trek and other space-based fiction – is that we don’t know all of the answers and we don’t know what’s out there. Part of the human condition is that sense of not knowing – we don’t know for a fact how or why we came to be, where consciousness came from, whether there’s a greater meaning or purpose. When a story comes along and says “well here’s exactly what happened, here’s who created you, and here’s why and how they did it…” I think we lose something from this fictional setting. The thrill of Star Trek is in the unknown, and answering too many of these questions just doesn’t sit right. That’s why I was never a fan of the end of The Chase and why I’ve been pleased that, for more than thirty years, generations of Star Trek writers have basically ignored it. Discovery revisited it in a big way… and I don’t think the payoff was worth it.
Captain Burnham with one of the Progenitors.
When I look at Star Trek’s history and I think of storylines and factions that I would’ve wanted to see brought back… again, I can’t find a justification for this return to The Chase – not for what was a glorified macguffin that Discovery didn’t actually do anything with. We might as well have said that the Tzenkethi or the magic-wielding aliens from that one episode of The Animated Series had created something powerful, or that Khan secretly replicated a second Genesis Device. The story could’ve unfolded in pretty much the same way without bringing up a piece of Star Trek’s past that has just… never worked.
I don’t want to go to extremes and say that the Progenitors “ruin” Star Trek. But the very concept of these ancient aliens essentially creating humans and a bunch of other races is a story point so profound that it absolutely changes everything for the characters in that world. If the entire Star Trek franchise had been built around a reveal like that, with the Progenitors being conceived from the start and every season and story slowly building up to this massive revelation, then maybe it could’ve worked. But in what was a one-off, throwaway episode we got this big reveal that Star Trek has never really known what to do with. Like other story beats that didn’t hit the mark, it should have been left alone. For Discovery’s writers to build an entire story around this faction… I’m afraid it doesn’t work for me.
Burnham and the crew at the end of the story.
More than a year ago we learned that the decision to cancel Discovery came after Season 5 had already been written and filmed, and that work had to be done after the main production had already wrapped up in order to “make the finale into the finale,” as director Jonathan Frakes put it. Alarm bells started ringing when I heard that, as I was worried that the pick-up shots would be incredibly obvious and that the story wouldn’t be able to come to a proper end. More so than any other Star Trek series to date, Discovery – with its serialised storylines and characters who changed and developed over the course of sixty-five episodes – needed some kind of definitive end.
Although it was incredibly obvious where the season would have originally ended and where the last-second additions were made, I don’t think that turned out to be a problem in the end. The decision to have the epilogue set decades after the events of Season 5 was a good one – perhaps the least-bad option available, but still – and it worked well. After all the issues noted above with Burnham Relationship Drama™, it was pretty cathartic to see her settled with Book, in a home they shared, enjoying her semi-retirement.
It took a long, meandering route to get Burnham and Book to this point… but they made it in the end.
It might’ve been nice to see one or two of the show’s other principal characters in the epilogue rather than just having them be mentioned, but all things considered I think Discovery got a pretty solid send-off. It wasn’t as spectacular as it could’ve been if the entire story had been written with a definite end point in mind, perhaps… but there’s something to be said for an understated, un-dramatic epilogue to a series that has constantly tried to inject as much drama as possible into its stories. Had cancellation been known ahead of Season 5 entering production, I would’ve half-expected the season finale to end with three-quarters of the crew dead and the ship blowing up!
In terms of production values, I’m still disappointed that Paramount+ doesn’t offer Discovery in 4K. 1080p HD is fine, but it’s not spectacular, and I would’ve liked to watch the series in that higher resolution. Most other streaming platforms offer this for their flagship shows, and it’s disappointing that Paramount+ still doesn’t – at least on the standard price plan here in the UK.
Grudge the kitty cat!
Discovery’s music has always been pretty good, and that was the same in Season 5, really. My rule of thumb for any movie/TV soundtrack is “do no harm;” i.e. a good soundtrack should be unobtrusive most of the time, and Discovery happily clears that admittedly low bar. The show’s title sequence has always been fun to watch, though its title theme has always felt a little understated for my taste.
Was anyone else playing a game of “spot the AR wall?” Because I definitely was – and at too many points I felt the AR wall was noticeable. Star Trek worked hard to escape its reputation for low-budget special effects and sub-par set design, but the AR wall – and some of the camera angles used during AR-heavy scenes – are in danger of bringing it back! On both the Breen warship and the Progenitors’ pocket dimension, I felt the AR wall was not at all well-integrated with the physical sets and props around it, and the end result was that this incredibly expensive piece of kit that Paramount paid a lot of money for created a visual effect that looked… cheap.
Spot the AR wall…
There are good ways to use an AR wall and bad ways… and Paramount/the Star Trek franchise needs to do better. Simply having this massive screen and projecting a background onto it isn’t good enough; designers and producers need to get much more creative with how the AR wall is used and how it blends in with what’s in front of it. Discovery is over now, but with other Star Trek projects still in production… I hope more can be done in future. Some of the AR wall scenes in Season 5 felt like those in Season 3, when the AR wall was brand-new. By now, designers, producers, and cinematographers should have a better idea of what to do with it!
So that was Discovery’s swansong. The show’s final season doubled-down on many of the mistakes that have been present since the beginning, and told a cookie-cutter story that was basically the same as all the others. There was a lot of potential in the historical mystery-adventure idea, but Discovery’s writers and producers couldn’t take advantage. They retreated to the same overtrodden ground as before, and the result was a disappointment.
The final shot of the USS Discovery as she embarks on one last mission.
There was too much repetitiveness in Season 5, and that leads me to one inescapable conclusion: Discovery had run out of steam. With a production team incapable of trying something smaller-scale and genuinely different, with Burnham’s soap-opera rocky relationship, and with another “galaxy-ending threat” to defeat, Season 5 felt no different from Seasons 1 through 4, albeit with a new coat of paint and a deep cut to a random episode of The Next Generation that was better left forgotten. There were some interesting ideas in the mix, some fun new locales to visit, and some creative moments… but they came in a bland, overused, repetitive story that demonstrated to me why it was the right time for Discovery to be cancelled.
I’m pleased that Paramount allowed the show’s production team to go back and craft an epilogue – even if it wasn’t perfect. Getting some kind of closure on Burnham’s story and the series as a whole was important, and with Discovery having been part of our lives for seven years at this point, I’m glad that it got an epilogue to bring closure to her character and the story – as well as a cheeky tie-in with the Short Treks episode Calypso!
The Discovery cast – plus Alex Kurtzman, Rod Roddenberry, and others – at the dedication of Paramount’s “Star Trek Stage.”
In the weeks or months ahead I will take a broader, big-picture look at Discovery as a whole. That piece will consider what the show got right, where it went wrong, and what we should consider its legacy to be as a piece of the Star Trek franchise. So I hope you’ll stay tuned for that! It’s possible that I’ll revisit Season 5, its storylines, or some of its individual episodes in the future, too.
For now, I hope this has been interesting! While I wasn’t impressed with Season 5 on the whole, there were definitely highlights in practically every episode; moments that made me crack a smile, roll my eyes, feel anxious, or just that kept me entertained and enjoying the ride. The season was nowhere near as bad as, say, Picard Season 2 – and while that may be a low bar, it’s one that Discovery cleared on this occasion! I’ll be curious to see what comes next for Admiral Vance, Tilly, and Reno – who will be jumping ship and joining the cast of Starfleet Academy. And I’ll keep my ear to the ground for any more news about upcoming Star Trek productions that could tie in with Discovery. But until then, this is the end.
Farewell, Discovery. I think we can be grateful to the series and its creative team for keeping Star Trek alive and bringing it back to its small screen home.
Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-5 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available. The Star Trek franchise – including Discovery, The Next Generation, and all other properties discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. This review contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the following Star Trek productions: The Original Series, The Motion Picture, The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, and The Voyage Home. Minor spoilers are also present for other parts of the Star Trek franchise.
We’re celebrating an anniversary today! Forty years ago to the day, on the 1st of June 1984, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock was released in cinemas in the United States. I thought it could be fun to look back at the film, highlight some of its successes, and assess its place in the Star Trek franchise.
The Search for Spock is a film I have kind of a weird personal history with! My “first contact” with the Star Trek franchise was The Next Generation. I’ve talked about this before here on the website, but the earliest episode I can solidly recall watching is Season 2’s The Royale, which was broadcast on terrestrial TV here in the UK in 1991. I think I’d seen episodes – or at least parts of episodes – before that, but I date my entry into the Star Trek fan community to mid-1991.
The USS Enterprise returns to Spacedock.
As I continued to watch The Next Generation over the next few months and years, including returning to Season 1 and watching all of Seasons 2 and 3, I was only dimly aware of The Original Series. My parents weren’t interested in Star Trek, and in the small rural community where I grew up, there weren’t any other Trekkies that I knew of. Growing up in the ’80s, I don’t remember watching The Original Series on TV, and I never encountered any of its films at the cinema, either. But at some point after 1991, The Search for Spock came onto terrestrial TV here in the UK – probably for the first time. And it ended up being the first Star Trek film I watched!
By that point I had actually seen a handful of episodes of The Original Series when they’d been shown on TV, but I hadn’t seen The Motion Picture or The Wrath of Khan. Still, the chance to watch more Star Trek was obviously incredibly appealing, and even though I didn’t have the full picture having missed the first part of the story, I still enjoyed what The Search for Spock had to offer. Perhaps those early memories of watching the film unexpectedly have led me to over-value it in some respects… but I still consider The Search for Spock to be a great addition to the Star Trek franchise.
The film’s opening title.
One thing I miss in films and TV shows nowadays are practical special effects – and in particular, puppets and animatronics. The Search for Spock, in my view, has some fantastic puppets that represent the rapidly evolving microbes of the Genesis Planet. Though I know the world of film and TV has moved on in leaps and bounds since then, as a child of the ’80s I feel a real nostalgia for those practical effects, physical creations, and puppets – with the accompanying cinematography that brought them to life. The Search for Spock is a great example of how well these techniques work, drawing on the likes of the Star Wars series or The Dark Crystal for inspiration.
Speaking of other films, The Search for Spock was released against some stiff competition! On its opening weekend it had to compete against some incredible titles that are rightly hailed to this day as all-time classics: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Ghostbusters, and Gremlins were all in theatres at the same time – so it’s a wonder that The Search for Spock pulled in any money at all at the box office! The film was, in fact, a financial success, bringing in more than $85 million against a budget of just $16 million, with very little extra being spent on marketing. Despite a significant decline in viewership between its opening weekend and its second, The Search for Spock proved to be a successful film for the Star Trek franchise and for Paramount Pictures.
Director Leonard Nimoy during production.
It can be difficult to assess the middle part of a trilogy entirely on its own merits. The Search for Spock is sandwiched in between the serious and rather dark The Wrath of Khan and the almost pure comedy of The Voyage Home – both of which tend to be held in high regard by Trekkies. As a result, The Search for Spock can sometimes get lost; overlooked by some, disregarded by others. Some Trekkies contend that “all the even-numbered Star Trek films are bad,” lumping The Search for Spock in with The Final Frontier and The Motion Picture as being an unimpressive addition to the franchise. I disagree with that wholeheartedly: the film, while not as epic as The Wrath of Khan or as light-hearted and fun as The Voyage Home, is a thoroughly enjoyable picture, with moments of tension, drama, and action that can absolutely go toe-to-toe with the best the Star Trek franchise has to offer.
The Search for Spock is unapologetically a science-fiction story. That might seem like an odd observation; Star Trek *is* sci-fi, after all. But compared with both The Wrath of Khan – an epic action film with a superb villain – and The Voyage Home – a comedy with some sci-fi elements – it stands apart. The film has both light-hearted and very heavy moments, but keeping it all together is a decidedly sci-fi premise about a planet ageing too quickly, a dead man being reborn through scientific magic, and two interstellar empires wrangling over the fallout. As with The Motion Picture’s story of an impossibly unknowable life-form… I think it’s easy to see why some folks who long for either more straightforward action or something less serious would take a look at The Search for Spock and come away disappointed or even confused!
Scotty, Kirk, Dr McCoy, and Sulu on the bridge of the Enterprise.
The Search for Spock is, I will admit, a bit of a narrative oddity. Spock’s death in The Wrath of Khan was arguably the most powerful and emotional moment in an already epic film, and I’ve been critical in the past of storylines that involve resurrecting a dead character. It’s something that has to be handled carefully, and while The Search for Spock may get a pass as the originator of this idea – at least in the Star Trek franchise – it can still feel odd to make a big deal of a character’s death, look at the impact it has on their friends and other characters, and then undo it all in the very next instalment. I don’t think that’s one of the main reasons why this film can be unpopular in some Trekkie circles, but it’s worth acknowledging that its entire main story basically undoes one of the most powerful moments from its immediate predecessor.
Though not as transformational for the Star Trek franchise as I’d argue The Motion Picture was – as that film’s design philosophy and aesthetic choices would carry through The Next Generation era and beyond – The Search for Spock did introduce a couple of really important elements that have gone on to be a big part of the Star Trek franchise. The Search for Spock marks the debut of both the Federation’s Excelsior-class starship and the Klingon Bird-of-Prey. Both of these ships have become iconic emblems of Star Trek, and made many appearances over the years.
The USS Excelsior model being prepared for filming. Image Credit: Excelsior – The Great Experiment
The Klingon Bird-of-Prey was a unique ship at this point in Star Trek’s history. Its movable weapon pylons – which could drop down for firing its disruptors and swoop up for flight – were unique in Star Trek, and added to the fear factor of the ship. We now consider the Bird-of-Prey to be an icon of the Star Trek franchise, and it’s even appeared in recent Star Trek projects in just the last few years.
The Search for Spock also expanded upon the Klingon language that had been created for The Motion Picture, and went a long way to defining the overall aesthetic and feel of the Klingons. Sets built to represent the interior of the Bird-of-Prey would be in continuous use for two decades after the film’s release, and along with those set designs, uniform styles that first appeared here would also be featured in a big way in Star Trek projects of The Next Generation era. The Motion Picture may have started the process of modernising the Klingons from their original presentation in the 1960s, but it was The Search for Spock that really settled on many of the designs that are now totally inseparable from Star Trek’s warrior race. Some fans even got upset when the Kelvin films and Discovery used different designs and styles for the Klingons, simply because those that debuted in The Search for Spock had become so iconic.
Director Leonard Nimoy with Christopher Lloyd (as Klingon Commander Kruge) in a behind-the-scenes photo.
In addition to how the film expanded upon and settled several key designs for the Klingons, The Search for Spock also did a lot for the Vulcan race. We come away from it with an expanded knowledge of Vulcans, their telepathic abilities, and their culture. The film visited the planet Vulcan for only the fourth time – and gave us what is arguably our first major look at the planet since Yesteryear in The Animated Series and the classic episode Amok Time from The Original Series. Some of what The Search for Spock introduced for the Vulcans – such as the idea of katras, preserving the memory or even personality of individuals – have gone on to make multiple appearances in the Star Trek franchise. The development of the Vulcans would be seen in The Next Generation, through the character of Tuvok in Voyager, and revisited greatly in Enterprise. Many of the Vulcan stories in those shows – and in Discovery, too – have their roots in The Search for Spock and the elements of Vulcan culture and the Vulcan species that were first seen here.
Although she had been fully redesigned for The Motion Picturefive years earlier, the USS Enterprise had been an absolutely essential part of Star Trek going back to 1966. Many fans have said that, in Star Trek shows, the starship is basically another character; inseparable from the rest of the crew. And as the film that “killed” the original USS Enterprise, I suspect The Search for Spock was always going to court controversy!
The Search for Spock was the film that blew up the Enterprise!
Unlike Spock’s death – which this film was dedicated to undoing – there could be no resurrection for the Enterprise after its self-destruction over the Genesis Planet. This ship had, in some form, been an integral part of Star Trek since the very first episode of The Original Series, and fans had no less of a connection to the ship as to her crew. Losing the ship became an intensely emotional moment in the film – arguably more so than the death of Kirk’s own son, David. It was a bold decision by Harve Bennett and Leonard Nimoy to go there… but it’s also proven to be a controversial one!
For me, the destruction of the Enterprise is one of those singular moments in cinema – something that can be imitated but never truly recreated. Like Darth Vader’s iconic “no, I am your father” moment in another great mid-trilogy film, it’s a feeling that simply can’t be recaptured. Star Trek has, on other occasions, destroyed hero ships – the Enterprise-D in Generations, the first USS Defiant in Deep Space Nine, the Kelvin timeline Enterprise in Beyond – but none of those moments, intense though they could be, felt the same way. This was Star Trek’s first Enterprise – *the* USS Enterprise – and there it was, a burning wreck streaking its way across the sky.
The wreck of the Enterprise in the sky above the Genesis Planet.
The Wrath of Khan’s starship battle is one of the best in the franchise – and one of the most tense and exciting space combat sequences in all of cinema. It drew on submarine films of the World War II era and aftermath for inspiration, and combined with an excellent and wonderfully-portrayed villain in Khan, it made for one of the most memorable battles not just in Star Trek, but in all of sci-fi. The Search for Spock had the frankly impossible task of living up to that – and while I’d absolutely agree that both the Klingon attack on the USS Grissom and the confrontation between the damaged Enterprise and the Bird-of-Prey aren’t on the same level… there are points where they aren’t a million miles away.
The USS Grissom is another well-designed ship. Although it doesn’t follow the typical Starfleet design that we’ve seen with the Enterprise, the Reliant, and others, it’s clearly a Starfleet vessel. Its diminutive size makes it feel vulnerable, and dialogue confirming that it’s a science vessel adds to that feeling. The Search for Spock went a long way to expanding our knowledge and understanding of Starfleet as an organisation – far from having a few identical Constitution-class ships, as seen in The Original Series, Starfleet had a broad and varied lineup of vessels, with different specialised craft designed for different purposes. We see a range in just this one film: the Enterprise as a kind of mid-tier, slightly outdated ship, Excelsior as the brand-new top-of-the-line model, and the Grissom as one of Starfleet’s smaller, arguably less important ships.
The Oberth-class USS Grissom.
As an aside, I’d happily watch an entire series set aboard a ship like that! It’s one of the ideas that the Star Trek franchise had never been bold enough to try – at least, not until Lower Decks came along. Though the Grissom’s mission is an important one in The Search for Spock, the design of the ship and the way her crew talk about her really leaves us with the impression of a relatively minor vessel in Starfleet. It wouldn’t be until Lower Decks premiered more than thirty-five years later that we’d get an extended look at the officers and crew of a ship that wasn’t on the front lines of exploration!
Kruge, played by Christopher Lloyd of Back to the Future fame, makes for a compelling villain. Again, I fear that comparisons with Khan are inevitable (and perhaps unfavourable), but bringing back the Klingons for a major antagonistic role for the first time in almost two decades was a positive thing and should be a mark in The Search for Spock’s favour. We’ve seen many Klingon stories from The Next Generation era through to the present, but at the time of the film’s premiere, the Klingons had only made one relatively minor appearance (in The Motion Picture) since The Animated Series went off the air.
The Search for Spock brought back the Klingons as major antagonists.
Kruge’s motivation is similar to Khan’s – at least insofar as control over the Genesis technology is concerned – but he’s also a very different kind of villain. We learn more about the Klingon warrior code through Kruge, as well as the organisation of the Klingon Empire and the precarious position of commanders aboard Klingon vessels. The way in which the interior of the Klingon ship was designed also ties in perfectly with this expanding Klingon philosophy that writers were creating for Star Trek. The spartan, industrial feel of the ship, with low lighting, and a bridge where the commander’s chair loomed over the other stations all match how the Klingons were portrayed on screen – and how they’d evolved from their earlier appearances.
Perhaps another reason why Kruge can feel like an overlooked Star Trek villain is that a similar idea would be used for General Chang in The Undiscovered Country. Both were commanders of a Bird-of-Prey, both had a one-on-one conflict with Kirk, and both were portrayed in a rather over-the-top, almost flamboyant style! Kruge did it first, and that should count for something… but I really do feel that he’s an interesting character in his own right, and more complex than some critics of the film give him credit for. Though Kruge would pioneer some of the features of Klingon commanders that we’ve come to see as typical, and the DNA of the likes of Martok, Gowron, and Duras is clearly present, he’s also a distinct character: his violent methods always seems to serve a purpose, rather than being present “just because.” The way he met his end – after an epic hand-to-hand fight with Kirk, also said a lot about Kirk’s character; he offered his opponent a life-saving hand before Kruge tried in vain, one last time, to drag them both to a fiery grave.
Kruge tries to drag Kirk over the ledge with him.
In terms of the main characters, there’s some apt criticism of The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan that not everyone was given very much to do. The Search for Spock would be the first of The Original Series films to really try and rectify this, at least in my opinion, and you’d see a trend of each of the main characters getting at least one moment in the spotlight across the remaining films. I’m thinking in particular of Uhura’s role in helping to steal the Enterprise, as well as Scotty sneaking aboard the Excelsior. Moments like that were absent from the previous couple of films, yet included here.
And I think that speaks to Leonard Nimoy’s direction. The Search for Spock was the first of two films that Nimoy directed, along with The Voyage Home, and he also contributed to the story of both pictures – receiving a writing credit for the latter. Nimoy is a Star Trek legend – but some fans can focus exclusively on his role as an actor and overlook his writing and directing. Nimoy proved himself a solid director in The Search for Spock, paving the way for other Star Trek stars – such as Jonathan Frakes, Robert Duncan McNeill, Roxann Dawson, and Alexander Siddig – to also have turns in the director’s chair.
The Search for Spock found prominent roles for Uhura and the rest of the main cast.
Saavik, who had been introduced in The Wrath of Khan, made a welcome return in The Search for Spock. Her connection with the reborn Spock, particularly as he underwent the rapid ageing and pon farr inflicted upon him by the Genesis Planet, went a long way to giving this side of the film – somewhat ironically, considering we’re dealing with Vulcans – an emotional core. Being lost and alone in a strange, harsh environment would be hard enough on anyone – let alone a young person – but to be in that situation with no knowledge of how he got there must’ve been terrifying for Spock. Saavik was able to step in and save his life.
Paramount Pictures had failed to sign Saavik’s original actor – the late Kirstie Alley – to a contract that left open the possibility of sequels, and with her star rising in Hollywood, it became apparent quite early on in the film’s production that the role would have to be recast. For my money, I think Robin Curtis actually does a fantastic job with what can be a challenging role; stoic, unemotional Vulcans aren’t always the easiest characters to portray. Both actors played Saavik well, and I don’t think the recasting harms the story. On re-watches of the entire three-film story, I don’t even think it’s especially noticeable!
Robin Curtis took over the role of Saavik from Kirstie Alley.
We should also talk about one more Vulcan: Spock himself! Leonard Nimoy would only don the iconic Vulcan ears for a few moments at the end of the film, but we also got to see a younger version of the character. Spock is an iconic emblem of the franchise, and his subsequent roles in The Next Generation and the Kelvin films really went a long way to tying disparate parts of Star Trek together. His resurrection here laid the groundwork for those future roles – and while that obviously wasn’t the intention at the time, I think it’s worth acknowledging how spectacular a decision it was to ensure that Spock remained in play!
Spock’s role in this film is relatively minor; he’s the driving force behind the story rather than an active participant in it. We’d seen across The Original Series the friendship and connection between Kirk and Spock, but The Search for Spock did a lot to frame those earlier stories and really hammer home just how deep their bond was. Spock’s “frenemy” relationship with Dr McCoy was kind of played for laughs at points, but with McCoy carrying Spock’s katra, there were other moments that could be sweet, intense, and even heavy in places.
Spock at the end of the film.
Although Spock is the film’s title character, Kirk is at the centre of the story. His friendship with Spock, his desire to cheat death and avoid the “no-win scenario,” and his attempt to correct what Sarek told him was a mistake are what kick off the plot – and we’d see the other main characters join in and contribute in their own ways. Stealing the Enterprise after being denied the opportunity to return to the Genesis Planet was the culmination of this, and the way the film reaches that point is incredibly entertaining.
In fact, the whole sequence where Kirk and the crew steal the Enterprise out from under Starfleet’s nose at Spacedock is tense, exciting, and just plain *fun*! Sulu punching a security guard, Uhura luring an officer away from his post, and Scotty sabotaging Starfleet’s “great experiment” are all really exciting, cute, and fun ideas that the film executes well. And as the Enterprise is making her escape with the space doors still closed… it’s a moment of tension that gets me every time!
This is one of my favourite moments in the film!
Although we’d only met David Marcus in The Wrath of Khan, his death is another emotional moment in The Search for Spock. As Kirk’s son, we experience this loss first and foremost through Kirk – Saavik, as a Vulcan, shows little emotion as he’s killed. And I think it’s worth acknowledging just how much of a brutal moment this was, at least by Star Trek’s standards. David wasn’t a “redshirt;” a disposable minor character. He was literally the son of Captain Kirk, and his death at the hands of the Klingons – while saving Spock and Saavik – was incredibly impactful.
The Search for Spock didn’t have enough time to really dig into the implications of David’s death, but its impact on Kirk would be revisited in The Undiscovered Country a few years later – with a log entry in which Kirk references what happened to David becoming a key plot point. I’m glad that this epilogue was added; it makes David as a character feel more important. His role in The Search for Spock was great, though, and he was brought to life beautifully by Merritt Butrick.
David with his tricorder on the Genesis Planet.
We should also talk about the unique place that The Search for Spock occupies in the Star Trek franchise. This was the final project to enter production before thoughts began to turn more seriously toward The Next Generation. By the time The Voyage Home began filming in early 1986, The Next Generation was also being worked on. As a result, we can kind of look at The Search for Spock as either a stepping stone or the beginning of the end for Star Trek’s first chapter. The Original Series and the films it spawned – The Wrath of Khan in particular – led to demands for the franchise to expand beyond its original characters, ultimately leading to Star Trek as we know it today. The Search for Spock, while the middle part of a trilogy and only the third film of six starring the original cast, was the final project to be produced while Star Trek existed in its original, singular form.
By the 1980s, Star Trek was approaching its twentieth anniversary, and with no disrespect intended, it was becoming clear that if the franchise were to continue, new actors would eventually need to be cast. I’m grateful for two things: firstly, that Gene Roddenberry and Paramount Television grasped the nettle and started working on a spin-off as early as they did. And secondly, that they didn’t abandon The Original Series and its cast in the rush to get a new series up and running. Working on two Star Trek projects at the same time – on the small screen and the big screen – must’ve been a challenge, but the franchise emerged stronger for it in the long run. All of that is incidental to The Search for Spock, of course! But the position it occupies in the history of the Star Trek franchise is an important one.
The surface of the Genesis Planet.
Star Trek has always been – and continues to be – a franchise that can tell weirder, more esoteric sci-fi stories. Though The Search for Spock is more grounded than The Motion Picture had been a few years earlier, it’s in that same camp as a film that feels like an extended episode of The Original Series. For fans who loved what The Wrath of Khan had done with a tone and theme closer to an epic space opera or action/sci-fi, I can understand why returning to a less action-heavy premise might’ve been underwhelming. And for folks who’ve only ever seen the Star Trek films as a complete box set on DVD or streaming, I guess I can appreciate why The Search for Spock is a title they’d skip or only begrudgingly watch as a bridge between The Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home. It isn’t a film that’s as intense as the former or as fun and light-hearted as the latter.
But for me, relegating The Search for Spock to that kind of position is unfair. Its emotional moments pack a punch, its action sequences and battles are intense, it has some wonderful moments of characterisation that make full use of its main cast, and it introduces us to several design, aesthetic, and thematic elements that have proven to be so popular and successful that they’re now totally inseparable from Star Trek. The Search for Spock refined the look and feel of the Klingon Empire – and the way the Klingons were presented here would carry right through The Next Generation era and beyond.
The Klingon Bird-of-Prey debuted in The Search for Spock.
The Search for Spock didn’t single-handedly set the stage for Star Trek’s future – that would be an exaggeration. At the time it was produced a sequel was all but guaranteed, and having lost creative control of the Star Trek cinematic franchise, Gene Roddenberry’s thoughts were beginning to turn toward spin-off projects. But The Search for Spock kept things on track and didn’t derail Star Trek, proving to be enough of a financial success for Paramount Pictures – and later Paramount Television – to continue to work on expanding the franchise. At a key moment, when Star Trek needed a win, The Search for Spock may not have hit it out of the park, but it delivered enough success – both critically and commercially – to shore up the franchise going into the mid-1980s.
To me, that’s a big part of the film’s legacy – but it isn’t the only thing we should think about. The story that Harve Bennett and Leonard Nimoy crafted is a fun and enjoyable one in its own right, showing the lengths friends are willing to go to when one member of the group is in peril. It’s a film that showed, arguably more than any other single story, the extent to which Captain Kirk and his crew were closer than family – and how, for that family, the needs of the one can sometimes outweigh the needs of the many. That’s an inspiring message, at least to me, and it’s what I’ve always taken away from The Search for Spock.
Most of the main cast in a promo photo.
So that’s my take as we celebrate The Search for Spock’s milestone anniversary. I went back to re-watch the film for the first time in several years, and I was reminded of just how enjoyable and entertaining it is. Star Trek has grown exponentially since The Search for Spock premiered in 1984, but even in the most recent seasons of Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy, and Strange New Worlds, there are thematic and visual elements that made their debut here. The film’s legacy lives on!
I hope this has been a fun look back. I know that The Search for Spock isn’t everyone’s favourite Star Trek film, but when the mood takes me I’m happy to go on an adventure to the Genesis Planet with Kirk and the crew all over again. Raise a glass with me and toast the anniversary of Star Trek’s third trip to the movies!
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is available to stream now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available. The film is also available for purchase on DVD and Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and all other titles and 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.
Spoiler Warning: Spoilers may be present for some of the franchises/properties discussed below.
There are a handful of “big questions” that define one’s place in geekdom – and today it’s my turn to answer some of them!
I thought it could be a bit of fun to consider some of the biggest questions that geeks like us have to wrangle with. Which fictional character is stronger? Which gaming platform is the best? These questions are contentious, especially here on the interweb – but I hope you’ll engage with this piece in the spirit of light-hearted fun! That’s how I’m choosing to present my answers, in any case.
As I always like to say, nothing we’re going to talk about today is in any way “objective!” These are my wholly subjective takes on questions that are intended to evoke strong reactions, so I hope you’ll keep that in mind! Although I’ve said that these are ten of the “biggest” geeky questions, I’m sure you can think of others – so this is by no means a definitive list.
Let’s contemplate some big questions together!
I’ve considered myself a geek – and been considered a geek by others – for basically my whole life. As a kid and a teenager, I moved in nerdy circles and friend groups where the likes of fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and video games were frequent topics of conversation. And in the ’80s and ’90s, those things were far less “mainstream” than they are nowadays! It’s actually been really cool to see the likes of The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Marvel become some of the biggest entertainment properties on the planet – as well as the explosion in popularity of video games. When I was at school, and even into my young adulthood, admitting to being interested in those kinds of things could lead to mockery and even bullying!
For these questions today, I’ve set myself the rule of providing an actual answer – no cop-out, fence-sitting, “I like both equally” answers here! As I’ve already said, all of this is just one person’s opinion – and at the end of the day, this is supposed to just be for fun. So please try not to take it too seriously; none of this is worth getting into an argument over!
With the introduction out of the way, let’s answer some tough geeky questions!
Question #1: Who’s the best Doctor? Doctor Who
All of the Doctors – so far!
I don’t really remember watching much Doctor Who as a kid. The original incarnation of the long-running BBC sci-fi series was coming to an end when I was younger, and by the time I was getting interested in the genre, it was Star Trek: The Next Generation that really captured my imagination. As a result, I’m going to exclude all of the pre-2005 Doctors from consideration; I simply haven’t seen enough of any of them to really have a favourite.
Of the Doctors that have been part of the revived series, the Twelfth – played by Peter Capaldi – is my favourite… but with a big caveat! Capaldi gave the best individual performance as the Doctor in the role – hands down. No disrespect meant to any of the others… but I don’t think it’s even close. He’s a performer with exactly the right style, look, and gravitas – and in my view, he played the role absolutely perfectly. That’s why I didn’t hesitate when it came to naming him as my favourite!
Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor is my personal favourite.
But there’s a catch, as I said. Capaldi’s seasons as the Doctor – Seasons 8 through 10 of the post-2005 series – were almost universally terrible. There was one decent companion (Bill, played by Pearl Mackie) but her character was treated almost as an afterthought and she met a stupid and unsatisfying end. There were hardly any decent villains or antagonists, no truly standout episodes, and really very few memorable moments at all. In fact, Capaldi’s tenure as the Doctor marked a significant decline in Doctor Who’s quality… and the series doesn’t seem to have recovered.
In terms of the best seasons of the revived Doctor Who, I’d have to give the award – somewhat begrudgingly – to Seasons 2 through 4, which starred David Tennant in the title role. The quality of the stories produced at that time was so much higher, with some truly outstanding adventures in the mix. If only there was some way to go back in time and combine Capaldi’s performance with Tennant’s storylines. Where’s a Tardis when you need one, eh?
Question #2: Who would win in a fight: Batman or Superman? DC Comics
Wasn’t there a mediocre film dedicated to answering this question?
Uh, this one should be obvious. It’s Superman, right? It has to be – if you gave any other answer then I don’t think you’ve been paying attention! Who would win in a fight between an overpowered demigod and a billionaire with some expensive gadgets? Yeah… the demigod is gonna win this one. He could launch Batman into the sun, punch him so hard that every bone in his body would shatter, use his heat-vision on him from half a mile away… the list of ways in which Superman could not just defeat but murder and utterly annihilate Batman is nearly endless!
Superman is, I would argue, increasingly difficult to depict in film because of how blatantly overpowered he is. If you read my review of Zack Snyder’s Justice League a couple of years ago, you might remember me saying that the film flopped around, desperately trying to find a way to include the rest of its cast of superheroes… but to no avail. There was no getting away from the simple fact that Superman could do it all single-handedly without even breaking a sweat.
Superman on the cover of Action Comics #19 in 1939.
At the time the character of Superman was first created, all the way back in 1938, it wasn’t a problem. In fact, creating an “all-round, all-American hero” for comic books aimed at children was exactly the point. Superman is textbook escapism – he’s the perfect hero archetype that can do it all. In context, Superman works, and when all you want is a “good guy” to save the day and stop the evil villains, he’s perfect for the part.
But any story that puts Superman in genuine danger has to come up with a reason why. The man’s basically invincible, save for the mysterious crystal known as kryptonite, and I think at least some of Superman’s big-screen and small-screen adventures suffer as a result of that. But to get back on topic: Superman would win in a fight, and he’d win incredibly quickly and incredibly easily!
Question #3: Console or PC?
A Super Nintendo – or SNES.
In the early ’90s, the first home console I ever owned was a Super Nintendo. From then on, all the way through to the middle of the last decade, console was my preference. I liked the pick-up-and-play nature of consoles, with no need to check system requirements or fiddle with settings to just get a game running. The underpowered PCs that I had in the ’90s weren’t much good for gaming, so I think that’s part of it, too. But you have to also remember that, for a long time, consoles were just better in terms of performance – and especially in terms of value – than PC.
But nowadays I’m firmly on Team PC! I built my own PC for the first time a couple of years ago, and prior to that I had a moderately-priced “gaming” PC. Since about the middle of the 2010s, PC has been my platform of choice for practically everything. I will consider picking up Nintendo’s next machine when it’s ready, but my Nintendo Switch has been gathering dust since I stopped playing Animal Crossing and Mario Kart 8… so I’m not sure how great of an investment that’ll really be!
A very pretty gaming PC setup.
PC offers the best of both worlds. Wanna play an in-depth strategy game or city-builder with loads of options and menus that really need a mouse and keyboard to navigate? PC can do that. Wanna plug in a modern control pad to play a third-person adventure title? PC can do that too. Wanna install a virtual machine and play games from the Windows 95 era? PC can do that! Wanna emulate every console from the Atari 2600 to the Dreamcast and play games that are out-of-print everywhere? PC can do that too!
With Game Pass bringing a lot of new titles to PC on launch day, and with Sony even porting over some of its previously-exclusive titles too, PC really feels like the place to be. It’s a lot more expensive to get started with – and that’s still a massive point in favour of consoles for players on a budget. But once that initial expense is out of the way, the abundance of sales on platforms like Steam means that a lot of titles – even newer ones – can be picked up at a discount. I’m really happy with my PC as my main gaming platform, and I doubt I’ll be picking up an Xbox or PlayStation this generation.
Question #4: What would be the best fictional world to live in?
There are plenty of fictional worlds to choose from!
There are loads of absolutely awful answers that people give to this question! Who’d want to live in Star Wars’ fascist-corporate dystopia, for example, which seems absolutely terrible for anyone not blessed with space magic? Or any fantasy setting with a medieval level of technology? Sure, you might have a magic elf as your buddy… but if there’s no central heating, antibiotics, or flushing toilets… you’re gonna have a bad time!
My pick is simple: Star Trek’s 24th Century. There are things to worry about, sure: the Borg, the Cardassians, and the Klingons to name but a few threats! But there are so many wonderful inventions and technologies that would make life so much better. For me, as someone with disabilities, the idea of some or all of my health issues being cured is perhaps the biggest – but there are plenty of others, too.
The USS Enterprise orbiting Earth.
Star Trek does not depict, as some have tried to claim, a “communist utopia.” As we see on multiple occasions throughout the franchise, private property still exists, and people have a great deal of freedom and autonomy. Star Trek’s future could be more accurately described as a post-scarcity society – one in which technological improvements have brought unlimited power generation, food, and other resources to the people.
There are some dark spots in Star Trek’s future – but these tend to be places outside of or separate from the Federation. Assuming I could live somewhere in the Federation, and have access to replicators, warp drive, weather-controlling satellites, and Starfleet for defence… I think it would be bliss! And so much better than anywhere else I can think of.
Question #5: Martin or Tolkien?
Who’s the superior author?
I don’t need to think too long about this one! JRR Tolkien is, for me, one of the greatest authors of all-time. George RR Martin, in contrast, can’t even finish his own story, and seems far too easily distracted by other projects – including writing TV episodes and working on video games. And c’mon… he literally copied the “RR” part of Tolkien’s name for his own pen name!
Jokes aside, I think both writers are pretty great. Tolkien could be, in places, a little too black-and-white with his protagonists and antagonists, with the goodies being pure and virtuous and the villains being corrupt and evil. Martin’s work deliberately upends many of those notions, and he places imperfect and even selfish characters at the heart of his stories. Some of George RR Martin’s characters feel more nuanced – and dare I say more human – than Tolkien’s.
The Fellowship of the Ring at Rivendell from the 2001 film adaptation.
But Tolkien was a pioneer, writing the first modern fantasy epic. Martin, and countless other writers, are simply following in his footsteps. While Martin’s work is hardly derivative, some of the choices he makes in his writing are a reaction to the way Tolkien’s worlds and characters were set up. It’s impossible to critique A Song of Ice and Fire without making multiple references to Tolkien – whereas Tolkien’s work has always stood on its own two feet.
I would love it if George RR Martin would finish his magnum opus, but as time passes I feel less and less sure that he’s even interested in doing so. Now that Game of Thrones has finished its run on television, and Martin has seen the overwhelmingly negative reaction to its ending – which will have contained at least some elements that he planned to include in the remaining books – I just don’t get the impression that his heart is in it in the same way it was a few years ago. Tolkien’s work, in contrast, is complete and has been for decades – and people are still interested in new adaptations.
Question #6: Who’s the best Star Trek captain?
Multiple captains on a promo banner for “Star Trek Day.”
I’ve always struggled with this question. But I’ve gone on record several times here on the website as saying that if you put a gun to my head and forced me to choose – as this question is metaphorically doing – I’d pick Deep Space Nine’s Captain Benjamin Sisko. So that’s gonna be my answer!
There’s a lot to be said for Captain Kirk – Star Trek’s first captain. He paved the way for all of the others, and without him, Star Trek would not be the same today – if it even existed at all. And Captain Picard was my personal first captain; it was through The Next Generation that I became a Trekkie in the early ’90s. Without him and the crew he led, there’s a chance I would never have fallen in love with Star Trek in the way that I did. And all of the other captains from Janeway and Burnham to Archer and Pike all have wonderful qualities that make Star Trek into the franchise it is today.
Captain Benjamin Sisko.
But Captain Sisko has always stuck out to me. In the first few seasons of Deep Space Nine he only held the rank of Commander, so we got to see his rise to the rank of captain as the story of that show unfolded. He was also a man with a deeply traumatic past, having to come to terms with the death of his wife while raising his son alone. He was a fantastic leader – not just of a crew, but of a community. Sisko could reach out across the cultural divide to Ferengi, Klingons, changelings, Bajorans, and more. He turned DS9 from a military outpost into a friendly place to visit and a bustling port.
Although words like “scientist” and “explorer” might not be the first ones that spring to mind when we think of Captain Sisko, he had those traditional Starfleet qualities, too. We’d see him as a pioneer of exploring the Gamma Quadrant and the wormhole, as well as interacting with the non-corporeal Prophets – the very definition of seeking out new life! Sisko could also be a soldier and a diplomat when he needed to be – and to me, he embodies the very best of Starfleet in the 24th Century.
Question #7: Marvel or DC?
The logos of both Marvel and DC.
I don’t read comic books – and I never did, even as a kid. So my limited knowledge of both of these brands comes from their cinematic outings, not the original source material! I wanted to get that caveat out of the way before we got into the weeds with this one.
If you were to ask 100 people on the street to name a superhero, I think Superman and Batman would probably be the two names you’d hear most often. So DC, at least in my opinion, has produced the two most memorable and noteworthy superheroes. But Marvel, at least on the big screen, has a bigger and stronger ensemble – as we saw when Avengers Endgame briefly became the highest-grossing film of all time.
Batman & Robin (1997).
Although I want to say that I’ve gotten roughly equal enjoyment from DC and Marvel over the years, I promised you no fence-sitting and no cop-outs! Based on the strength of characters like Batman, who have starred in some really great films over the years, I think I have to give the win to DC. Marvel’s output is becoming increasingly convoluted, and just keeping up with the franchise to know who’s who and what happened last time can feel like a full-time job! At least DC still produces some standalone or semi-standalone films and TV shows that I can dip in and out of.
Aside from Batman and Superman, though, DC hasn’t really been able to successfully capitalise on its other superheroes – let alone turn them into household names. Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash, and Green Arrow have all had limited success in a single film or TV series, but others have struggled. Batman may drag DC over the finish line this time… but there’s still room for improvement!
Question #8: Star Wars or Star Trek?
The Death Star at Yavin IV in Star Wars.
If you’ve read the name of this website, I’m sure you can guess which way this one’s going to go! Thankfully the whole “Star Wars versus Star Trek” rivalry that was a big deal a few years ago has more or less died out, and fans no longer feel quite so tribal about which is the best. There’s been a lot more crossover in recent years, with Trekkies and Star Wars fans happy to enjoy both franchises.
I consider myself a Trekkie first and foremost – so I’ll answer this question by saying that I prefer Star Trek over Star Wars. But that doesn’t mean I hate or dislike Star Wars by any stretch. In fact, some of my favourite entertainment experiences of all-time have come courtesy of the Star Wars franchise: games like Knights of the Old Republic and films like Rogue One are genuinely fantastic.
The cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2.
What I like about Star Trek is that many of its stories aren’t about fighting a villain or defeating an adversary – but about exploration, science, engineering, and just what it might be like to live in space in the future. Star Wars, by its very nature, is more violent, with more of a focus on conflict. That’s fine when I’m in more of an action mood – but there are times when a story about seeking out new life or learning to communicate is what I’m looking for.
It’s also worth pointing out that there’s a heck of a lot more Star Trek than Star Wars! At the time I first encountered the franchises, it wouldn’t be totally unfair to say that there were two good Star Wars films and one okay-ish one – at least in the opinion of a lot of folks! Star Trek already had more than 100 episodes of TV and five films under its belt, so there was plenty to get stuck into as a viewer in the early ’90s! Quantity over quality is never a good argument, of course… but if I’m enjoying something I’m always going to be happy to get more of it! Star Wars is slowly catching up to Star Trek now that Disney has commissioned several made-for-streaming series, but there’s still a long way to go to reach Star Trek’s 900+ episodes!
Question #9: Sci-Fi or Fantasy?
The NeverEnding Story (1984) was one of my favourite films as a kid.
This may come as a surprise, but fantasy was my first love long before I got interested in sci-fi, space, and the “final frontier!” Among my earliest memories is reading The Hobbit – a book that was originally intended for children, lest we forget. I can even remember pointing out to my parents that there was a typo on one page; the word “wolves” had been misprinted as “wolevs.” Aside from Tolkien’s legendary novel, I read other children’s stories including Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree, and watched films like The Neverending Story.
But it’s not unfair to say that sci-fi became a much bigger deal for me by the time I was reaching adolescence. Inspired by Star Trek: The Next Generation I immersed myself in science fiction, reading as many books about space and the future as I could get my hands on, and watching films like Alien and the Star Wars trilogy. TV shows like Quantum Leap, Space Precinct, and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century graced my screens in the ’90s, as did more kid-friendly offerings like Captain Scarlet.
Star Trek: The Next Generation turned me into a sci-fi fan!
So while I can happily say that I enjoy both genres for what they offer, sci-fi has been my preference going back more than thirty years at this point! Star Trek opened my eyes to science fiction and remains one of my biggest fandoms to this day! But there are many other sci-fi films, shows, books, and video games that I’ve enjoyed – everything from Mass Effect and Foundation to Battlestar Galactica and Halo. Sci-fi is great escapism, and I love the feeling of being whisked away to another world or another moment in time.
Though I haven’t forgotten my roots as a fan of fantasy, and still enjoy many fantasy titles across all forms of media, if I had to choose I’d definitely say that I’m a fan of sci-fi first and foremost. Sci-fi feels broader and more varied in some respects – there are radically different presentations of humanity’s future, the kinds of aliens we might engage with, and so on. Modern fantasy tends to stick to a medieval level of technology and use the same kinds of magical spells and the same handful of races – Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and so on – in different combinations depending on the story.
Question #10: What’s your favourite anime/cartoon series?
There’s an anime adaptation of Shenmue.
I have to confess something at this point: I’ve never seen any anime. I don’t know why exactly – I’ve never really been in friendship groups where anime was a topic of conversation, and when I was a kid, there wasn’t any anime on TV or in the cinema that I can recall. I’ve yet to encounter an anime series that felt like a must-watch – with the only exception being the adaptation of Shenmue that I really ought to get around to watching one of these days! But until I do… no anime for me.
I had to think about this question for a while, though. There are some great adult animation programmes: Lower Decks, Futurama, Rick and Morty, South Park, and The Simpsons all come to mind. The Simpsons in particular was a pioneer of adult animation, and a series I remember with fondness from its ’90s heyday here in the UK! The fact that my parents – and many others of their generation – absolutely loathed The Simpsons was a huge mark in its favour for a renegade adolescent!
Phineas and Ferb.
But on this occasion, I’m giving the award to Phineas and Ferb. Regular readers might remember me talking about this series as one of my “comfort shows;” a programme I often return to when I need a pick-me-up. I recall watching a promo for the series circa 2007-08, and although kids’ cartoons on the Disney Channel should’ve held no appeal… something about Phineas and Ferb called out to me. I tuned in and I was hooked from almost the first moment.
Phineas and Ferb’s two-and-a-half story structure – with the kids making an invention, their sister trying to bust them for it, and special agent Perry the Platypus on a mission to fight evil – felt incredibly fun and innovative, and more often than not the storylines would intersect in creative and unexpected ways. There are also some fantastic moments of characterisation in Phineas and Ferb, particularly with the breakout character of Dr Doofenshmirtz. I was thrilled to learn that the series will be returning for two new seasons and a whopping forty new episodes, and I really hope it will be as good as it was the first time around.
So that’s it!
That’s all for now!
I hope this has been a bit of fun – and maybe bolstered my geeky credentials just a little. As I said at the beginning, I don’t think any of these subjects are worth fighting about or losing friends over, but I’ve had fun sharing my thoughts and nailing my colours to a few different masts!
The great thing about sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, and the wide world of geekdom is just how much of it there is nowadays. There are so many high-budget productions on the big screen, the small screen, and in the gaming realm that we’re really spoilt for choice. As much fun as it is to play favourites and pick one series or franchise over another… more than anything else I’m just glad to be living through a moment where geekdom is having its turn in the spotlight! That may not last forever – a return to action movies, westerns, or whatever else might be on the cards one day. So we should all make the most of it and enjoy it while it lasts!
It’s been interesting to consider some of these questions, and I hope reading my answers has been entertaining for you, too!
All properties discussed above are the copyright of their respective owner, company, distributor, broadcaster, publisher, etc. Some stock photos courtesy of Unsplash. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: Beware spoilers for the following Star Trek productions: The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Picard, Generations, and First Contact.
Let’s have a little bit of fun today at the expense of the Star Trek franchise! I’ve been a Trekkie for almost thirty-five years at this point, and I’ve seen a lot of Star Trek in that time! For a franchise that now runs to over 900 individual episodes of television, Star Trek’s internal consistency and the attention to detail shown by the writers and creative teams are generally incredibly good, and there aren’t many true inconsistencies or things to get worked up about. But that doesn’t mean there are zero!
If you’re a regular reader, you might’ve seen me use the expression “glorified nitpick” in some of my Star Trek episode reviews. Sometimes I’ll point out something that I felt didn’t work very well or that seemed to run counter to what we already knew about a situation or character. Well… most of what we’re going to talk about today doesn’t even rise to that level! These aren’t things that I’m cross about or that “ruined” an episode or story for me. They’re just, as the title says, little things that bug me!
The bridge of the Enterprise-D.
Before we go any further, here are my usual caveats! Firstly, all of this is my entirely subjective opinion. If you disagree with any or all of the points below, think I’m “overreacting,” or feel that I’ve totally got the wrong end of the stick… that’s okay! These are just a few stray thoughts that I have about Star Trek, and most of them are so minor that they’re not gonna be worth getting into an argument about! Secondly, this is intended as light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek fun – so I encourage you not to take me too seriously and to engage with this article in that spirit!
Finally, I’m not counting the old excuses of “it’s just a story” or “because the writers thought it worked better that way” as explanations! Sure, everything in Star Trek is “just a story,” and if the writers needed to move characters into place or kick off certain storylines in a way that opens up a minor inconsistency, that’s just the way it goes sometimes. But as a fan, and as someone engaged with this fictional setting, that excuse doesn’t really work for me – and it never has. So it’s true that “none of this is real,” but that doesn’t change anything for me!
With all of that out of the way, let’s get started!
Number 1: Why was the unfinished Enterprise-B the only ship within several light-years of Earth? Star Trek: Generations
The Enterprise-B embarks upon her ill-fated maiden voyage.
Kicking off the plot of Generations is the maiden voyage of the Enterprise-B under the command of Captain John Harriman. Joining him for the voyage are Captain Kirk, Montgomery Scott, and Pavel Chekov, but during what was supposed to be a short shakedown cruise entirely within the Sol system, a distress call was received that took the Enterprise-B right into the path of a dangerous energy ribbon called the Nexus.
But here’s my question: why did Starfleet have no other ships anywhere close to the SS Robert Fox and SS Lakul? This is Sol – the home system of the Federation and Starfleet, where Starfleet Headquarters, the Federation government, and Spacedock are all located. With the Enterprise-B on a glorified joy-ride to show her off to a gaggle of journalists, and with weapons and other essential systems still not installed… why would she be the only ship in the area?
The Enterprise-B encounters the Nexus.
Think about it: this would be like the only military unit within a hundred miles of Washington DC being a single brand-new tank without its gun barrel. If the Enterprise-B’s shakedown cruise had taken her beyond Sol, then things might feel a little better. But having no other starships anywhere close to the stricken refugee vessels always struck me as bizarre!
If Starfleet leaves its home system and institutions of government so sparsely defended, it’s a miracle that the Klingons, Romulans, or Borg haven’t been able to warp into the system and conquer Earth! Jokes aside, I think the opening of Generations is pretty great – and the film in general is one of my personal favourites. But that doesn’t mean I can just overlook what appears to be Starfleet’s atrocious planning and non-existent defences!
Number 2: What’s the United Earth Space Probe Agency? Star Trek: The Original Series
Friendship One, a probe launched by the UESPA.
Prior to settling on more familiar terms like the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet, the United Earth Space Probe Agency (or UESPA) was an organisation that was mentioned in a couple of early Star Trek stories. But what the organisation is and what its relationship is with Starfleet and the Federation was never elaborated upon, and plot points in Enterprise have further muddied the waters.
The out-of-universe explanation for this one is simple enough: as Star Trek was being created and those early episodes were being written, some titles and names were still being decided upon. It wasn’t even settled until well into production on The Original Series’ first season that the show was set in the 23rd Century – the original pitch for the series didn’t specify an exact time period, and the 27th Century was also suggested as a possibility.
But as I said at the beginning, out-of-universe explanations don’t count!
The UESPA was mentioned a handful of times in the first season of The Original Series.
Enterprise could have put this to rest, but instead the series – quite understandably – wanted to use familiar names like Starfleet, so the UESPA wasn’t included in a big way. Occasional references to it have popped up, including in Voyager where the UESPA had sent out at least one unmanned probe, but nothing to definitively explain what it was and whether it was independent of Starfleet.
To me, the “United Earth” part of the name seems to suggest that it’s a human-only organisation, but with humanity’s ships all seemingly flying under the Federation flag, what role there could be for a United Earth fleet – and where any of its ships or probes actually are – remains unknown.
Number 3: Why was Starfleet unable to detect the octonary star system? Star Trek: Picard
Eight stars in perfect gravitational harmony.
In Season 1 of Picard, the ancient super-synths that I nicknamed the “Mass Effect Reapers” literally moved eight stars to form a stable octonary star system. They did so to make their presence known, and on the planet in that system they left their beacon behind. But… how did Starfleet – with all of its sensors, missions of exploration, advanced telescopes, and stellar cartography departments – fail to notice such an apparently obvious and incredibly interesting stellar phenomenon?
Using technology that we have right now – today, in the early 21st Century – we can look not only at stars, but detect the planets orbiting them, view distant galaxies, and even find black holes. I find it impossible to believe that Starfleet hasn’t at least scanned the entire Milky Way, detecting every star and star system – so how did they miss something so obviously artificial in nature?
The symbol representing the octonary star system.
If Picard had explained that, for instance, the Romulans deployed a cloaking device to shield the octonary system, or that Starfleet did know about the system but couldn’t explore it because of its location behind the Neutral Zone, then I’d have nothing to complain about. But a fairly sizable plot point in one episode involved the crew of La Sirena finding out that this star system had been deliberately hidden from Romulan star charts… when surely the Federation, who aren’t that far away from it in the same region of the galaxy, would have been able to see it through their telescopes! Again, if this system was in a far-flung part of the Gamma or Delta Quadrants, I’d still argue that Starfleet should’ve detected it, but its distance could be its saving grace. However, the octonary star system was supposedly in or near Romulan space – meaning it’s a mere stone’s throw away from the Federation.
In The Next Generation, the Enterprise-D is transported by Q to a system that would’ve taken them years to reach at top speed. But Starfleet already had a designation for this system: J-25. To me, that implies that the Federation has already categorised at least the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, even if ships haven’t been able to explore all of these systems yet. So once again… how did Starfleet miss an entire eight-star solar system?
Number 4: How did the Enterprise-E reach Earth so quickly from its position near the Neutral Zone? Star Trek: First Contact
A map of part of the Neutral Zone.
Star Trek’s geography has always been kept vague, and I think that’s been to the franchise’s overall benefit! But there are a few places where the distance between planets and systems seems to be inconsistent. At the beginning of First Contact, for example, we have the Enterprise-E sent away from the main fleet to patrol the Neutral Zone – despite an imminent Borg incursion. But when the battle turns against the Federation fleet, Picard is able to get the Enterprise back to Sector 001 in what seems to be a matter of hours, if not minutes.
Prior Star Trek stories, including in The Original Series and The Next Generation, had seemed to depict the Romulan Empire as being on the Federation’s far border, with outlying colonies disappearing in The Neutral Zone and “Earth Outposts” in Balance of Terror all being depicted as far-flung places. Even if we assume that Romulus is relatively close to Earth, and that the Enterprise-E was very conveniently positioned at the near end of the Neutral Zone, getting back to Earth while the battle was still raging still feels like a tall order.
The Enterprise-E at the Battle of Sector 001.
Warp factors in Star Trek are kept pretty vague – so that could account for some of this apparent discrepancy, I suppose. If the Enterprise-E could travel significantly faster than the Enterprise-D, the travel time from the Neutral Zone could be reduced. Again, it still seems to rely on the ship being fortunate with its positioning, but maybe that’s something that could be accounted for by Captain Picard preparing for this eventuality!
Still, it’s always struck me as more than a little odd that the Enterprise-E was able to reach Earth in time. Not only was Picard able to follow the Borg Sphere through the portal it created, but there was even time to save the USS Defiant and Worf before destroying the main Borg Cube. A very quick turnaround indeed!
Number 5: Why wasn’t there a debate about which route to take? Star Trek: Voyager
Captain Janeway ordered her crew to take the most direct route back to Earth.
After the crew of the USS Voyager found themselves stranded on the far side of the galaxy, Captain Janeway very quickly ordered her crew to set a course for Earth. But the most direct route to Earth, through the Delta Quadrant and later the Beta Quadrant, took the ship right into the heart of Borg territory. Janeway knew this – Starfleet had at least some idea of where the Borg’s territory was located. Even if the Delta Quadrant offered the quickest way home, I’m surprised that nobody objected or tried to propose an alternative – especially when there was a good one.
Before getting transported to the Delta Quadrant, the USS Voyager made a stop at Deep Space Nine. And what’s located right next to the station? The Bajoran Wormhole! The wormhole offers a shortcut to the far side of the Gamma Quadrant – and heading in the direction of the wormhole rather than directly for Earth is something that Janeway and the crew could have considered.
The USS Voyager prepares to begin its long journey.
At this point in the timeline, the Dominion War hasn’t started – so that can’t be used as a justification for not heading that way. And while all we have to go on are non-canon sources, there’s at least some tentative evidence that the wormhole’s terminus is located roughly the same distance from the Ocampa homeworld as Earth. If that’s the case, it would be no slower to head that way. Based on the Borg threat alone, I would have argued that heading for the wormhole is actually the smarter play.
Obviously Voyager was pitched as “the Delta Quadrant show,” and we got some fantastic stories out of that premise. But given the way that Voyager’s writers handled the Borg when that time came… maybe there’s an out-of-universe argument to be made here, too! In any case, even if Janeway had ultimately made the decision to head back to Earth via the most direct route, some discussion or debate would have been an interesting inclusion as the series got going. It could’ve been a way to draw some dividing lines between Starfleet and Maquis characters – making more of the “one ship, two crews” idea that Voyager never really explored in much depth.
Number 6: Why did Michael Burnham and the USS Discovery head into the far future? Star Trek: Discovery
The USS Discovery approaches the time-wormhole.
Wait, stop! I know what you’re thinking: “this is the entire plot of Season 2 and was well-explained! They had to leave the 23rd Century to stop Control from wiping out all life in the galaxy!” And you’re correct, of course – but I’m not looking at the season as a whole or the entire plan. I’m focusing in on the final moments before Burnham opened the time-wormhole and the ship disappeared.
During the climactic battle against Control, the “assimilated” Captain Leland boarded the USS Discovery to attempt to seize control of the ship and its invaluable Sphere data. But after being cornered by Georgiou, Leland – Control’s human avatar – was defeated and killed. At that moment, the entire battle seemed to stop, and as Pike and his crew noted aboard the Enterprise, Control’s entire fleet of drone ships were simply hanging there, apparently dead or deactivated.
Control’s fleet of drone-ships.
At this moment – before Burnham had entered the time-wormhole and before Saru, aboard Discovery, had followed her – there should have been a moment’s pause. Maybe Burnham herself couldn’t see what was going on, but Saru and Pike could, and even communicated with one another confirming the death of Captain Leland. There was still time for the time-wormhole to be closed, for Discovery and Enterprise to regroup, and potentially for Discovery to remain in the 23rd Century.
Even if Pike and Saru had decided that the risk of Control re-establishing itself was too great, it’s bizarre to me that neither of them even considered the possibility for a moment. With their enemy apparently vanquished – at least temporarily – and with Discovery’s spore drive meaning the ship could’ve evaded Control by jumping to a different part of the galaxy, there was time to regroup and come up with a plan that didn’t involve stranding everyone in a totally different century.
Number 7: How could Starfleet possibly prioritise anything other than hanging onto Bajor and the wormhole? Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Deep Space Nine remastered, from the documentary What We Left Behind.
I adore Deep Space Nine’s Dominion War arc – it’s one of the best (and most under-appreciated) in the franchise, in my opinion. But as the war got started, Starfleet made what appears to be a catastrophic strategic blunder. In the episode Call to Arms, which ended the show’s spectacular fifth season, Sisko informs his crew that Starfleet won’t be sending any reinforcements to hold DS9 – their priorities lie elsewhere.
We later learn that Starfleet used the diversion of the attack on DS9 to destroy a Dominion-Cardassian shipyard… but given the strategic importance of the wormhole, and the fact that the Dominion is more than capable of producing vast quantities of ships and Jem’Hadar troops in the Gamma Quadrant, it never made sense to me that Starfleet wouldn’t have thrown every available resource at the galaxy’s most strategically vital location.
DS9 could only hold off the Dominion-Cardassian attack for a short time.
The minefield that the crew of DS9 erected bought the Federation some time (as did the subsequent intervention by the Prophets), but Starfleet must’ve known that, even with the best will in the world, the minefield wouldn’t last forever. With the Dominion in control of Bajor and DS9, they could work on shutting it down without interference. The successful attack on the Toros III shipyard may have been little more than a morale-boosting pyrrhic victory.
In war, you’d almost always rather be defending a position than having to attack – and it would have been far easier to try to hold onto DS9 while the station was still under Federation control than to try to re-capture it later after the Dominion had been given a chance to entrench. For a number of reasons, the decision to essentially abandon the station is questionable at best! If part of the story had been to show Starfleet’s admiralty as out-of-touch or incompetent, that might’ve worked. But that didn’t happen, either, so I’m just left wondering what went wrong at Starfleet Command! Still, at least we got some spectacular episodes out of this storyline.
Number 8: What happened to Dr Pulaski? Star Trek: The Next Generation
Dr Pulaski in the episode Time Squared.
Although I really liked the character of Dr Pulaski in Season 2 – you can find a longer piece about her here, if you’re interested – I think it’s fair to say that she didn’t really knock it out of the park! A letter-writing campaign from viewers and an intervention by Patrick Stewart contributed to Gates McFadden being re-hired in time for Season 3… and then Dr Pulaski was just never mentioned again.
The nature of her departure always struck me as odd, and it feels more than a little disrespectful to both an actor and a character who, for better or worse, had been a part of the series for an entire season. When Dr Crusher disappeared at the beginning of Season 2, there was at least some effort to pay lip service to her absence – it was explained that she was on another assignment at Starfleet Medical on Earth. Dr Pulaski didn’t even get that, and to the best of my knowledge has never been so much as mentioned since.
Dr Pulaski with Riker, Worf, and Troi on the bridge.
We can argue the toss about the benefits or drawbacks of keeping her around – and I go over that in a bit more detail in my character study which I’ve linked above, if you want to see my thoughts on that. But whether you think she was a fun addition to the crew, an annoyance, or whether you just liked Dr Crusher better… you gotta admit that it’s odd that she didn’t get so much as a log entry from Captain Picard to acknowledge her departure.
The second season of The Next Generation was my “first contact” with the Star Trek franchise. The first episode I can solidly remember watching is The Royale – which Dr Pulaski is barely in! But maybe that’s why I’ve always had an appreciation for her character. I like the dynamic that she brought to the crew as someone a bit older, a bit less personable, and who had history with some characters and seemed to be developing new relationships with others. There have been opportunities in recent years for Dr Pulaski to have returned – or at least to have been mentioned. But I doubt that will happen now!
Number 9: Who invented the cloaking device and when did Starfleet first encounter it? Star Trek: Enterprise
Two 22nd Century Romulan vessels de-cloaking.
This is a point that I have a personal “head canon” explanation for that I’d love to elaborate on in a full article one day! I’ll get into that in a moment, but for now, suffice to say that this is a classic example of a “prequel problem.” In short, The Original Series first season episode Balance of Terror clearly established that the Federation had never encountered a ship that could cloak, but Enterprise and Discovery – both set prior to The Original Series but produced decades later – show Romulan and Klingon ships operating under cloak and Starfleet being fully aware of this.
This raises several questions! What are cloaking devices, how do they work, and why would Starfleet not share the details of their existence with its captains, at the very least? Kirk and his crew seemed shocked that the Romulan vessel could cloak – but the Romulans had been seen cloaking and de-cloaking more than a century earlier, as had other races like the Suliban. We can debate whether the words “cloak” or “cloaking device” were spoken in those episodes – but the technology appears to be functionally the same, so semantics won’t cut it here!
A Romulan ship engaging its cloaking device in the 23rd Century.
When Enterprise was on the air I wasn’t a regular viewer, but I remember that I did catch the episode Minefield – in which a Romulan vessel is seen de-cloaking – and that led to me creating my own “head canon” explanation for this problem. I remember seeing debates on Star Trek message boards in the early 2000s about this topic, and I felt that all the producers would need to do would be to explain, somehow, that there are different types of cloaking devices. Perhaps Starfleet felt that they’d cracked the code, but the Romulans then invented a newer and better cloak. Perhaps there was even a cloaking and un-cloaking arms race between the factions.
In short, I think Star Trek can just about get away with this one by explaining that, when Starfleet figured out how to penetrate one style or type of cloaking technology, the Romulans or Klingons would refine it, re-modulate it, or invent something new. It’s not a perfect explanation, but it plugs most of the hole that Enterprise and Discovery have dug. I still think it would be nice to see something like this made official, in-universe – and let’s be honest: it would be better if these prequel-created plot holes didn’t exist in the first place!
Number 10: What’s up with the inconsistent uniform changes?
Captain Rachel Garrett of the Enterprise-C.
The series premiere of The Next Generation established that the Enterprise-D’s voyages took place almost 75 years after Kirk’s tenure in the captain’s chair, but the “monster maroon” uniforms from The Original Series films would often make appearances in flashbacks or episodes set in the past. Starfleet appeared to have stuck with that design for decades, albeit with a few minor tweaks. Using those uniforms for such a long time already felt odd, but then things started to take a turn!
The Next Generation switched uniforms at the beginning of Season 3 for its main characters, but the Season 1-2 uniform variant was still showing up on secondary characters and background characters well into Season 4. There was also a total mess in Generations, which seemed to depict a moment of transition from one uniform style to another – although Deep Space Nine seemed to have established that space stations might use different uniforms from starships? I’m still not sure about that!
Two different uniform styles seen in Lower Decks.
Deep Space Nine made an abrupt switch to the gray-shouldered uniforms midway through its run (to coincide with First Contact’s premiere), and that was okay, I guess. Far more of an instant transition than we’d seen in Generations or The Next Generation, but not necessarily a problem. But then the alternate reality films and post-2017 TV shows have really shaken things up! I’ve said before that I don’t like to get hung up on minor things like aesthetic choices, and I was generally accepting of Discovery’s all-blue look, even if it was supposedly set in between The Cage and The Original Series whose uniforms are well-known. But Lower Decks definitely complicated things by seeming to suggest that different “tiers” of starship would get different uniforms… for some reason.
In short, Star Trek hasn’t always been consistent or clear with the way Starfleet uniforms are used, how long they’re in use for, or which types of officer/crewman should wear what type of uniform. When watching an individual episode – or even a whole season of TV – this doesn’t really seem all that noticeable. But when you pick out different stories or take a big-picture look… these inconsistencies stick out.
So that’s it!
The USS Enterprise in Strange New Worlds.
We’ve nitpicked the Star Trek franchise and pulled out ten little things that have always bugged me! As I said at the beginning, none of these really spoil Star Trek for me, and I’m more than willing to overlook minor inconsistencies or small plot holes – especially in strong, otherwise entertaining stories. But when you step back and take a look at Star Trek – or any fictional world, come to that – there are always gonna be things that don’t quite make sense or that don’t seem to fit with the rest of the setting.
All of this was just for fun, and I hope it was an interesting look at a handful of minor issues that have emerged over the years. When a franchise has been running on and off for close to sixty years, that kind of thing is inevitable! Although I’ve been feeling a bit burned out on Star Trek of late, it was still enjoyable to jump back into some of these stories – several of which I hadn’t seen for years – to put together this list.
Until next time – and Live Long and Prosper!
The Star Trek franchise – including all films and series discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. Most Star Trek films and episodes are available to stream on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the service is available. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
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!
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 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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor spoilers for the following Star Trek productions: Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Picard, and Prodigy.
For years, I’ve been publicly calling on Paramount Global to finally remaster Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. Two of the franchise’s best-loved shows are languishing in DVD quality even on Paramount Plus, turning away a potential audience and making it harder for Star Trek to convert sometime viewers into fully-fledged Trekkies. With massive story connections in Prodigy and Picard in particular, you’d have thought that remastering these shows would’ve been a great idea… but alas.
It often feels like Paramount Global is being run by morons; short-sighted corporate idiots who said “make me my own Netflix” without any idea about streaming, the internet, or the technology required to make something like that happen. It’s nothing short of a miracle, perhaps, that Paramount Plus works as well as it does! But even as Paramount Plus has continued its painfully slow international rollout and brought in new subscribers, executives seem content to overlook one of the biggest requests from Star Trek fans… even if it would be easier and cheaper than ever before and would surely bring in new subscribers and make money.
Tom Ryan, CEO of streaming at Paramount.
We could talk all day about how Paramount executives have misunderstood Star Trek and the kinds of shows Trekkies wanted to see – and perhaps one day soon we’ll have to do that (again!) But for now, suffice to say that a remaster of Deep Space Nine and Voyager is something that fans have been calling for for well over a decade – but those calls have continually fallen on deaf ears. It’s high time to change that!
Technology gets better and better all the time – including in video production, special effects, and upscaling. With readily available AI tools – pieces of software that already exist today – it’s possible to upscale old television programmes from DVD quality all the way up to full HD, 4K, and beyond… and churn out creditable results. Two full years ago I made the case for Paramount taking advantage of this technology to massively reduce the costs involved in remastering Deep Space Nine and Voyager, and the case for doing so grows stronger by the day.
Programmes like Topaz Video AI 4 are already on the market. Image Credit: Topaz Labs
Unlike when The Original Series and The Next Generation went through the process in the late 2000s and early 2010s, selling Blu-ray discs is no longer the objective. The Next Generation only “underperformed” on Blu-ray anyway because the move away from optical discs in favour of streaming was already happening when it was released. Remastering Deep Space Nine and Voyager today wouldn’t have to come with the same cost – and the same sales target – as those other shows. Instead, it could be all about giving Paramount Plus a (desperately needed) boost.
And unlike when whole sequences from The Original Series and The Next Generation had to be remade and reimagined from the ground up, artificial intelligence can fill in a lot of the gaps. I don’t want to do people out of work, nor encourage greedy corporations to utilise and rely on AI any more than they are already… but if cost is a concern, there’s no denying that remastering can be done a heck of a lot cheaper in 2024 than it could’ve been a decade or fifteen years ago. Taking advantage of these technological advancements just makes sense.
The Next Generation has already been remastered.
At present, fans only have access to Deep Space Nine and Voyager on DVD or VHS. But even with those limitations, it’s incredible to see what some tech-savvy Trekkies have already been able to create. Remastered and upscaled scenes are available to watch right now, with fans having put in a lot of hard work on their own, for free, to bring these shows into the 21st Century. And that work will undoubtedly continue.
The entirety of Deep Space Nine – all seven seasons – are already available in 720p thanks to AI, and the show can be… shall we say “acquired” through certain unofficial channels by anyone who knows their way around a computer. While arguably imperfect, this is still one of the best ways to watch the series – and Paramount isn’t making a single penny from it. If Paramount would commit to doing this work, it could be a nice little earner, driving new subscribers to Paramount Plus and giving existing subscribers a reason to stick around.
AI-upscaled versions of Deep Space Nine are already available to fans who know where to look.
Here on the website, we’ve argued back and forth about piracy before. Here’s my take: if a film or series is available to rent or purchase, I’m firmly in the camp that says “pay for it.” But if Paramount won’t remaster these fantastic shows and make them available… I don’t see anything wrong with fans doing it ourselves and sharing it within the community. Paramount is the only loser in that situation, and the corporation has inflicted that loss upon itself!
An interesting example of a fan-made project like this comes from the Star Wars franchise. I’ve talked before about Project 4K77, and how a dedicated group of Star Wars fans were able to get hold of a high-quality copy of the original, unmolested Star Wars from 1977, and how they were then able to digitise it, preserving it for future generations. That project was incredibly successful; a testament to the hard work and determination of Star Wars fans. And it has quite literally saved and resurrected the original version of the film that spawned the long-running franchise – a version of the film that George Lucas and the Walt Disney Company wanted to throw in the dustbin.
Project 4K77 preserved the original version of Star Wars.
Now, it’s true that Deep Space Nine and Voyager haven’t been abandoned in the same way as the original version of Star Wars was. And I agree that DVDs are still perfectly watchable – especially on smaller displays and screens. But I also think it would be a terrible shame to leave Deep Space Nine and Voyager behind as Star Trek – and the media landscape in general – moves on. The simple fact is that returning to DVD-quality video after enjoying full HD and 4K feels like a significant downgrade, and the fact that those shows only exist in that way is going to be offputting to old fans and potential new fans alike.
Think of the younger audience that Paramount tried to appeal to with Star Trek: Prodigy. Prodigy leaned heavily on the legacy of Voyager, bringing in a holographic version of Captain Janeway and telling a story that was, in many ways, a sequel to the events of that series. But any of those younger viewers who wanted to see Voyager for themselves would’ve found a decidedly sub-par product either on DVD or Paramount Plus… and that may well have put them off. Had Voyager been remastered and ready to go in full HD, a better connection with Prodigy could’ve been possible.
Prodigy reintroduced characters from Voyager.
Even now that Prodigy has been cancelled, though, remastering Voyager and Deep Space Nine is still worth doing. The fact that fans are already doing it, using only DVDs and consumer-level software, should show Paramount that there’s not only the technological ability to do this, but an audience that wants it, too. Trekkies want to be able to watch our favourite series and episodes in the best quality available, and right now, Paramount isn’t offering that. The corporation could offer it – and many folks would jump at the chance to re-watch Deep Space Nine and Voyager that way. But if not… we’re going to continue to see fans using better and better programmes and AI to make their own versions.
There’s a quotation about new technologies that I think about a lot whenever AI is being discussed: “this is the worst it will ever be.” What that means is that technology improves all the time, and next year or in five years’ time, some of the issues will have been worked out and AI’s capabilities will only have grown. If fans are able to achieve such great results already… who’s to say what will be possible a few years down the line?
Fans are already making – and sharing – AI-upscaled and remastered scenes and clips.
What that means, in my opinion, is that Paramount has a pretty limited window of opportunity. If Deep Space Nine and Voyager are ever to be remastered, now is the time to do so… because at the rate AI is growing and improving, in five years from now any Trekkie who wants to could well be in a position to use AI to watch those shows in 4K or 8K from their old DVDs or even VHS tapes – without needing to sign up for Paramount Plus. Paramount won’t make a penny in that situation.
So the time is now, Paramount! Act fast, and finally give these shows the official remaster that we all know they deserve. With no need to print huge numbers of Blu-ray discs, and with the benefit of new technologies, remastering Deep Space Nine and Voyager won’t be anywhere near as costly as remastering The Original Series and The Next Generation was. Adding those shows, in all their 4K glory, to Paramount Plus will be a significant boost to the platform, and I have no doubt that people would sign up just to watch them – or stay signed up for longer. Remastering will be an expense, sure… but it’s an affordable one, and one that will pay off.
But if you won’t do it… don’t expect fans to wait around. The technology to make it happen is already here, already accessible, and already being used by Trekkies to make our own versions of these great shows. Continuing to ignore this request is going to prove costly in the long run, because if a fan-made version is available in better quality than anything on Paramount Plus… why would anyone sign up for Paramount Plus? Pushing your biggest fans toward piracy isn’t a great business model!
In most jurisdictions around the world, piracy – defined above as the sharing of copyrighted material over the internet – is not legal. Trekking with Dennis does not endorse, condone, or encourage the sharing of copyrighted material. The Star Trek franchise – including Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and all other properties discussed above – remains the copyright of Paramount Global. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: Minor spoilers may be present for some of the titles on this list.
Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful time on New Year’s Eve ringing in 2024. As we pack away the last of the Christmas ornaments and begin to figure out what day of the week it is, it’s also time to look ahead! As I do every year, I’ve picked out a handful of films, television shows, and video games that I think are worth keeping an eye on over the next twelve months.
And you never know, one of these might make a great Christmas present when December rolls around. Is that the first time you’ve heard someone talk about Christmas 2024? I certainly hope so!
Christmas will be here again before you know it!
2023 was a decent year… at least in terms of entertainment. There were some solid television shows, excellent video games, and exciting films that kept us entertained. Here’s hoping that 2024 can continue the trend!
As always, a couple of caveats before we get started. All of this is the entirely subjective opinion of just one person. There are going to be tons of entertainment experiences to get stuck into in 2024 – so if your favourite doesn’t make the list this time around, or if I include something that sounds atrocious to you, that’s okay! This is far from an exhaustive list, and all I’ve done is pick a handful of titles that appealed to me.
What are you most excited to watch or play in 2024?
It’s also possible that some or all of these titles will be delayed. Between strikes, the pandemic, and other issues, the creative process is more complicated than ever – so no release date can be considered safe or set in stone. Any of the titles we’re going to talk about today could miss their intended release/broadcast date – and some could even slip into 2025 or beyond.
With all of that out of the way, let’s get started! I’ve picked six films, six television series, and six video games that I’m looking forward to in 2024, and I’ll briefly talk about each of them.
Films
I didn’t watch that many films in 2023. As my health has declined, I’ve found it impossible to get to the cinema, so I’m stuck waiting for films to release on DVD or a streaming platform! That being said, I had a blast with last year’s Super Mario Bros. Movie… so I’m hopeful that there’ll be a solid film or two in 2024.
Film #1: Wicked: Part One
I’ve been following the production of Wicked for a while – and the film is due to be released in November, all being well. I was incredibly lucky to see the stage production in London, and I fell in love with the story and its wonderful songs. The musical seemed to be crying out for a proper big screen adaptation, and I’m so glad that it’s finally getting one! The inclusion of Tony- and Grammy-award winner Cynthia Erivo is sure to be fantastic, and I look forward to seeing what Ariana Grande might do with the role of Glinda, too.
At some point in its production, Wicked was cleaved in two. The theatre production is close to three hours long, so splitting it into two films could make sense – depending on how much new content has been added. As long as Wicked hasn’t been over-stretched, I think it should be a net positive, at any rate!
Film #2: Twisters
The 1996 film Twister has long been a favourite of mine. Disaster films are kind of a guilty pleasure for me, and Twister was definitely one of the better additions to the genre from the ’90s. So this reboot/reimagining has piqued my curiosity – though whether I can truly say I’m “excited” about it is an open question! Not every film can be given a sequel, and not every intellectual property can sustain being spun off into a franchise… and for me, Twister is firmly a one-off type of film.
So it remains to be seen whether Twisters can recapture the magic of the original film, or tell a story that will be as enjoyable. But I’m content to give it a chance to impress me, and at the very least I expect to see high-quality visual effects that should make the titular tornado (or might that be tornadoes, plural?) better than ever.
Film #3: Despicable Me 4
Gru and the Minions are coming back for another outing – and I’m quite looking forward to that! I enjoyed Minions: The Rise of Gru a couple of years ago, and while I’m not any kind of super-fan, the Despicable Me series and spin-offs have usually been good for an evening’s entertainment.
Despicable Me 4 will hopefully be more of the same; another wacky adventure with Gru, the Minions, and the rest of the family. I don’t know much about the plot, but it seems like most of the voice cast are reprising their roles. Fingers crossed for a bit of fun!
Film #4: Civil War
Civil War comes along at an interesting time – with political tensions on the rise in the United States. I fear that some of its social commentary may be a little heavy-handed, but I’m willing to give the film a chance. Hopefully it can build up an engrossing narrative either way! Director Alex Garland may not be a well-known name, but he was nominated for an Academy Award for 2014’s Ex Machina, and I also enjoyed his 2018 picture Annihilation. So there’s reason enough to be optimistic!
The film will star Kirsten Dunst, playing a journalist reporting on the “rapidly escalating” conflict. I wouldn’t say I have sky-high hopes… but I’m definitely going to tune in when Civil War makes its way to a streaming platform later in the year.
Film #5: Dune: Part Two
If you’ve been a regular reader for a while, you might remember that back in 2020 or 2021 I said that I was worried about Dune: Part Two! The novel Dune has been notoriously difficult to adapt, and I feared that a lacklustre reception to the first film might’ve meant Part Two would be canned. Thankfully, Dune was one of the best films of 2021 – meaning that its sequel has leapt to the top of my must-watch list!
Picking up where 2021’s Dune left off, Part Two will bring the story to a conclusion. The principal cast from the first picture are all returning, and Dune: Part Two looks set to be one of the year’s biggest sci-fi blockbusters.
Film #6: Alien: Romulus
The Alien series… well, let’s just say it probably has more flops than hits at this point. But I’m still willing to give Alien: Romulus a chance! The film is picking up the baton for the long-running sci-fi/horror series, and its main selling-point right now is that it’s set in between the first two films in the series. There’s scope, perhaps, for an exciting story set in the same universe.
I’m not familiar with any of the cast or crew… but that can be a good thing sometimes! If I’m being realistic, I don’t expect Alien: Romulus to blow me away, but if it’s good enough it might just lay the groundwork for the success of the upcoming Alien TV series or other projects.
Television Shows
Most of the TV shows coming up in 2024 are new seasons of ongoing productions, but there are a few new titles in the mix that sound potentially interesting. 2023 felt like a good year for TV (and streaming series), so hopefully there’ll be more successes this year, too.
TV Show #1: Star Trek: Discovery Season 5
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first! Although I found myself burning out on Star Trek partway through 2023, Discovery’s fifth and final outing could just be the project that pulls me back in. After four seasons of “the whole galaxy is in danger and only Burnham can save it!!!” Discovery seems ready to finally try out a different premise. It’s unfortunate that the change came too late to save the show – and if Season 5 turns out to be a cut above the rest, we might be lamenting that Discovery’s writers and producers didn’t do this sooner.
I have a specific concern about the series finale – i.e. that it was never written to be a finale, and that worry bleeds over into the rest of the season. This is going to be the crew’s final outing, but if the story wasn’t written that way in the first place… can it be satisfying enough? I guess we’ll have to wait and see!
TV Show #2: Election Night(s)
This one’s a bit “out there,” so bear with me! 2024 is going to be a big political year, with elections taking place in the United States and almost certainly here in the UK, too. Election night programming is incredibly interesting to me, and watching the results come in – often in the middle of the night – can feel quite tense and even exciting.
I find much of the passion and enthusiasm behind individual candidates or political factions to be a younger person’s game; as you see more and more elections play out, the claim of any of them being the “most important in our lifetimes” starts to wear thin! But that doesn’t mean election night programming can’t be fun, and in the United States in particular, there’s a lot on the line. Big questions persist over both the Republican and Democratic parties and their presumptive candidates of choice… so it could be a fascinating night in November.
TV Show #3: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2
Season 2 of The Rings of Power was also on my list of things to look forward to in 2023, so it’s fair to say that production is taking a while! After Season 1 had been filmed in New Zealand, production switched to the UK due to pandemic regulations, necessitating some major changes. That partially explains why it’s taking so long… but after a break of potentially two full years, it will be a challenge for the show to pick up where it left off.
Not everyone liked The Rings of Power… and I get that. But I named it my favourite series of 2022 for a reason, and there were some fantastic character-driven stories in the mix – some of which I’d love to see more of this time. With a new production location and several re-cast characters, Season 2 could also be the kind of “soft reboot” that wins over some of the show’s critics.
TV Show #4: Fallout
There are quite a few video game worlds and settings that feel ripe for a big screen or streaming adaptation – and this time it’s Fallout getting the small-screen treatment. The first Fallout games were CRPGs in the late 1990s, but the series was later acquired by Bethesda, who’ve now made or published four 3D action-RPG titles. Fallout is set in a post-apocalyptic future, one in which a major nuclear war has devastated much of the world. But notably, it has a lot of ’50s Americana aesthetic and musical trappings – which have created a unique world ripe for further exploration.
I would expect the first season of an adaptation like this to play things fairly safe – i.e. not to stray too far from the source material. So I think we can expect to see vault-dwellers in blue boiler suits, irradiated mutants, ’50s-inspired designs, and a lot of post-apocalyptic ruins! As to the show’s story, though… we’ll have to tune in to find out!
TV Show #5: Manhunt
Not to be confused with a film or several other TV series of the same name, 2024’s Manhunt focuses on the aftermath of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the search for his killer, John Wilkes Booth. American history – and the Civil War in particular – has been an interest of mine for some time, so Manhunt is exactly my kind of show!
The story of John Wilkes Booth’s attempted escape from justice is an interesting one; he broke his ankle immediately after firing the shot that killed Lincoln, struggled to escape the Washington area by boat, and was eventually cornered in a barn. The miniseries will focus on the chase – and how federal officials were able to track down the most wanted man in the country. It should be a fascinating retelling of the story.
TV Show #6: Star Wars: The Acolyte
Could Star Wars finally be stepping away from the time period and characters that we’re most familiar with? It seems so, because The Acolyte is purportedly set a full century before The Phantom Menace, tying into Disney’s “High Republic era” that has been featured in a few novels and comics. That alone has piqued my curiosity, as I’ve argued for a long time that what Star Wars needs to do is explore different settings and new characters.
I haven’t been overly impressed with Star Wars on Disney+ so far. The exception was The Book of Boba Fett, which I genuinely did not expect to enjoy as much as I did! But there’s potential in The Acolyte… and I shall be tuning in with my fingers crossed!
Video Games
2023 will undoubtedly be remembered as a good year for gaming as a medium! There were some fantastic titles released over the last twelve months… so how will 2024 compare? My pick for “game of the year” ended up being a title that wasn’t even on my radar… so there could be some surprises in the mix, too!
Video Game #1: Expeditions: A MudRunner Game
MudRunner and SnowRunner are unique titles, carving out their own very particular driving simulation niche. Expeditions looks set to build on the off-road driving gameplay of those earlier titles, while adding a few new features into the mix, too. Off-road driving can be difficult to get right – even in racing titles – and the way it’s been handled in this series so far has been fantastic.
The addition of a scientific element to Expeditions could help it stand out from its predecessors, as will things like piloting a drone. But at its core, driving a variety of off-road trucks and vehicles through incredibly challenging environments is going to remain Expeditions’ bread-and-butter. And I think it’s going to be a blast! These titles have always been fun, challenging, and something a little different – so there’s a lot to look forward to as the series continues.
Video Game #2: Little Kitty, Big City
If you aren’t excited to play Little Kitty, Big City… do you even have a heart? Jokes aside, the game looks adorable! Players will take on the role of a black cat who’s trying to get home after getting stranded in a city, and developers Double Dagger Studio have promised that we can make friends with other animals, wear cute hats, and cause chaos! What’s not to like?
After Stray took the “playing as a cat” idea in a somewhat serious direction a couple of years ago, Little Kitty, Big City looks to be a more lighthearted affair. A bright and cartoony art style feels pitch-perfect for this game, and I’m crossing my fingers and hoping for some cute and adorable kitty cat fun!
Video Game #3: Star Wars: Dark Forces (Remaster)
I’m quite interested to see what Nightdive Studios can do with one of the Star Wars franchise’s best-remembered titles of the ’90s! Dark Forces was a “Doom clone” first-person shooter, one that had a fairly strong story set in between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. This remaster won’t transform the game, but will make it playable on modern machines and offer things like widescreen support and higher frame-rates.
It’ll be a blast to replay Dark Forces for the first time in… well, a long time! Some recent Star Wars games (and films) haven’t lived up to expectations, so stepping back in time to one that did feels like it should be a sure thing. As long as Dark Forces can avoid being released in a broken state, this feels like a guaranteed hit.
Video Game #4: Open Roads
Open Roads sounds like a title that could offer quite a different experience. Billed as an “interactive movie,” and sporting an art style that looks almost hand-drawn, the game will feature a mother-and-daughter duo on a road trip… with elements of exploration and mystery. Publisher Annapurna Interactive – who are responsible for titles like Donut County and Kentucky Route Zero – promise that the game will feature a “unique and engaging interactive dialogue system,” which sounds pretty fancy!
The clips and images that I’ve seen of Open Roads so far have definitely piqued my curiosity, and I’ll be interested to see what the “interactive movie” feels like to play when it’s released.
Video Game #5: Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Hunting ghosts seems to be the name of the game in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. The game promises to be emotional and atmospheric, with dual protagonists and a story where player decisions can lead to “dramatic consequences.” I’m always up for a bit of ghost-busting… and as a new property, Banishers might just be a title that stands out in a gaming landscape littered with franchises and sequels.
Developers Don’t Nod have pedigree, having created acclaimed titles like Life is Strange and Vampyr. At least in terms of graphical fidelity, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden looks set to be the developers’ most impressive – and challenging – title yet.
Video Game #6: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
Flight Simulator 2024 is already controversial in some circles, coming so soon after the most recent entry in the series. The current Flight Simulator was supposed to be supported for longer, but it seems as if development switched pretty quickly to a new title instead. Hopefully, though, Flight Simulator 2024 will be able to push through all of that and represent an improvement over an already visually stunning title.
I’m not a hard-core simulator enthusiast, and what I appreciated about Flight Simulator (the 2020 version; names are confusing) was its level of accessibility to the layperson. For professional pilots the realism can be cranked way up… for those of us looking for more of an arcadey experience, it can be dialed back. Hopefully Flight Simulator 2024 will be equally as accessible!
So that’s it!
How did you ring in the new year?
We’ve taken a look at six films, six television shows, and six video games that I’m looking forward to this year. As the dust settles on 2023 and things start to get back to normal after the disruption of the holiday season, there are already some highlights to look forward to. January can feel like a depressing month, sometimes… but there are definitely things to feel positive about as a new year gets underway!
I hope you had a fantastic New Year’s Eve, and let me once again wish you and yours a Happy New Year!
Trekking with Dennis isn’t going anywhere, and across 2024 I hope to talk in more detail about some of the titles discussed above – as well as anything else that comes along and captures my interest! See you out there!
All titles listed above are the copyright of their respective studio, publisher, broadcaster, distributor, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: Spoilers are present for each of the episodes on the list below.
Happy Halloween!
To celebrate the spookiest day of the year, I thought it could be a bit of fun to choose five Star Trek episodes that have a “horror” theme or vibe. The Star Trek franchise has dabbled in many genres across its fifty-seven-year history, and there are a handful of episodes that definitely have horror overtones. Though the Star Trek franchise is never quite on par with a dedicated horror film or TV show, there are still some decidedly creepy, spooky, or downright frightening stories – as well as scenes and sequences across many more episodes.
This time, I’ve pulled out five episodes that I think could make for entertaining Halloween viewing! The episodes come from five different shows across Star Trek’s history, and while they’re all very different, the overall trend here is one of horror. So if (like me) you’re a bit of a scaredy-cat… maybe you shouldn’t watch them!
Are you ready to cower in fear?
As always, a couple of caveats. This list is just for fun, and I share it in a light-hearted manner. I’m not saying that these episodes are somehow “objectively” the best horror-themed stories in the history of Star Trek – nor even that all of them are among the best that the franchise has to offer. This is all just the opinion of one Star Trek fan, shared in the spirit of Halloween.
I don’t have any other major rules or criteria for this list – other than the episodes had to be horror-themed, spooky, or frightening! I wouldn’t say any of them are the scariest things I’ve ever seen; this is still Star Trek, after all! But echoes of the horror genre are present throughout.
With all of that out of the way, let’s jump into the list!
Episode #1: Empok Nor Deep Space Nine Season 5
Approaching Empok Nor in a Runabout.
I adore DS9′s fifth season. It has so many incredibly strong episodes, and Empok Nor is definitely one of them. There’s a genuine fear factor to the presentation of Garak – a character who has already been established, by this point in the series’ run, as being mysterious and even dangerous. Seeing him go “rogue,” and using some of his skills from his time in the Obsidian Order against our Starfleet heroes is truly disturbing.
The interplay between Garak and O’Brien, conducted largely by communicator once the episode gets going, is also fantastic! It reminds me in more ways than one of the film Die Hard, but with a decidedly darker edge. The board game analogy that Garak repeatedly brings up also adds to the unsettling presentation of his character, showcasing his descent into “madness.”
Garak.
For a Star Trek episode, Empok Nor is also surprisingly violent, with the deaths of several redshirts (or the aftermaths, at least) being shown in graphic detail. There wasn’t much blood or viscera shown – this was pre-watershed television in the ’90s, after all – but when compared with what other Star Trek stories were doing around the same time, the death and mutilation shown in Empok Nor is positively graphic!
The episode manages to ramp up the tension and fear as it progresses, and uses the familiar Deep Space Nine sets and stages in a unique way. Changes in lighting coupled with a distinct lack of DS9′s regular background characters populating the station creates a truly creepy backdrop that heightens the episode’s frightening elements. It has wonderful performances from Andrew Robinson, Colm Meaney, and the late great Aron Eisenberg in particular. All in all, an outstanding start to our list!
Episode #2: Terminal Provocations Lower Decks Season 1
Creating an AI? What could possibly go wrong?
This episode, from Lower Decks’ first season, is on the list for one reason: Badgey! Badgey is a truly disturbing villain, and a reflection of contemporary fears of artificial intelligence gone wrong. An unsettling combination of Microsoft Office’s “Clippy” and renegade AI villains like the Terminator, Badgey really succeeds at unnerving me!
The other side of Terminal Provocations sees Boimler and Mariner team up with a friend of theirs to try to undo a mistake – a mistake that soon evolves into another monster to defeat. This computer-core monster is less frightening than Badgey, but it’s still worth noting that it has a couple of creepy moments of its own.
Here’s Badgey!
“Trapped on the holodeck” is a Star Trek trope going back to the introduction of the setting in The Next Generation, and there have been several episodes that have managed to evoke a sense of danger from that premise. But Terminal Provocations is arguably the first where this concept has been spun out to be something truly frightening, and the first to use the “broken holodeck” idea to lean into a horror story.
As Badgey pursues Rutherford and Tendi across a variety of environments, we get to see the villainous construct in several different – and increasingly dangerous – situations. The tension on this side of the story builds to a surprisingly emotional climax – one that seems to be in the vein of the likes of Frankenstein. Click or tap here to see my review of the episode, written shortly after its original broadcast in 2020.
Episode #3: Starship Mine The Next Generation Season 6
The Enterprise-D undergoing a baryon sweep.
Less out-and-out terrifying than creepy and unsettling, Starship Mine sees Picard trapped aboard a deserted Enterprise-D – while a gang of wannabe terrorists try to steal a dangerous explosive material. As above with Empok Nor, seeing the usually-populated ship abandoned and deluminated is enough to set the stage in a most unnerving way.
The baryon sweep which begins to slowly work its way through the Enterprise-D is a frightening concept, too, and the stakes involved are communicated well. By the time Picard is face-to-face with the deadly phenomenon, we’ve already seen first-hand what it can do to people, and we can see just how deadly it is. Knowing the layout of the Enterprise-D, with Ten-Forward being the forwardmost part of the ship, is a good bit of information to have, too, as it really hammers home that Picard and the villainous Kelsey have literally nowhere left to run.
Picard is trapped aboard the Enterprise-D.
Playing a game of cat-and-mouse with hostile terrorists aboard the Enterprise-D is surprisingly fun, and Starship Mine put Picard at the centre of the action – which is a narrative space he didn’t always get to occupy. Picard is a very different kind of captain than Kirk had been, so to see him in this kind of spy/action hero role is something different, too.
I also felt that Picard’s actions at the climax of the episode show a ruthlessness that we seldom get to see; a dark, cunning, and utterly cold presentation of the character that’s disturbing in its own right. Maybe Starship Mine isn’t the scariest episode in the franchise – but it’s unsettling in its own way.
Episode #4: All Those Who Wander Strange New Worlds Season 1
A gory scene…
Across a truly spectacular first season, Strange New Worlds dipped its toes in a variety of different genres. All Those Who Wander is the show’s take on horror – and it absolutely nailed it. All Those Who Wander might be the out-and-out scariest episode on this list – and perhaps even the most overtly frightening that the Star Trek franchise has ever attempted.
The DNA of films like Predator and Alien is present throughout, and All Those Who Wander takes a familiar setting, characters, and even an alien race that we thought we knew and catapults them into a desperate fight for survival against an adversary who feels every inch the predator.
La’an and the away team prepare to do battle.
Setting the story aboard a crashed starship on a desolate, icebound planet was a masterstroke, and the hallways of the USS Peregrine feel incredibly claustrophobic as the away team is quite literally being hunted by an apex predator. The Gorn feel like a perfect fit for this role, too, and both the episode and Strange New Worlds as a whole manage to expand our knowledge of the race without treading on the toes of established canon too much. Gorn eggs being parasitic was a particularly masterful stroke of writing – one that loaded the story of All Those Who Wander for a last-second detonation.
There have to be stakes in horror; as the audience, we need to feel that our characters are genuinely in danger, not safe from all turmoil and threats thanks to heavy plot armour. Part of that means that killing off major, named characters – not just nameless redshirts – has to be on the table. And throughout All Those Who Wander, our heroes genuinely seem to be in danger.
Episode #5: The Haunting of Deck Twelve Voyager Season 6
Who’s ready for a ghost story?
We’ve already talked about this episode here on the website – I covered it in-depth for Halloween a couple of years ago. But it’s such a unique and fun spooky story that I think it’s worth including on a list like this one! Click or tap here, by the way, if you’re interested in a more in-depth look at the episode and its spookiness.
What I love about The Haunting of Deck Twelve is its “ghost stories around the campfire” framework. Neelix, a character so often used as comic relief, makes for such an interesting narrator – and there’s a sense, as the episode progresses, that we can’t entirely rely on his recollection of the events. This just adds to the tension, for me, and makes the frame narrative work so incredibly well.
Neelix investigates…
Halloween is a holiday for the little ones, despite its horror theme and frightening elements. And The Haunting of Deck Twelve brings Voyager’s full complement of Borg kids into the story in a relatable and understandable way. The way the frame narrative and flashbacks come together is great, and the episode is stronger than it would have been without Neelix and the kids to set the stage.
There are several jumpscares in this episode, as the USS Voyager encounters a brand-new form of life and begins to suffer malfunctions. Seen through the eyes of the kids listening to Neelix’s tale, these moments are elevated. At points, it genuinely feels like we’re right there around the “campfire” with Neelix and the Borg children.
So that’s it!
Armus.
I hope this was a bit of fun. There are other examples of the Star Trek franchise trying out a scary or horror-inspired story, but these are five of my personal favourites. All are great episodes in their own right, too!
As I said a few weeks ago, I’ve been feeling kind of burned out on Star Trek. I’m still not sure that I’m in the right frame of mind to jump headfirst back into Star Trek and start writing reviews and such… and maybe that’s the scariest thing you’ll read this Halloween! Just kidding… but franchise fatigue and burnout are issues that the Star Trek franchise is currently dealing with.
Whatever you’re doing this year, whether you’re heading out to a party or preparing a selection of goodies for trick-or-treaters… I hope you have a fantastic Halloween! As for me… well, I’ve got the builders in. So I’ll be dealing with that! Happy Halloween!
Most Star Trek films and TV shows can be streamed on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the service is available, and can also be purchased on DVD and/or Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including all TV series and episodes listed 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.
If you’re a regular reader, you might’ve noticed that my reviews for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 came to an abrupt halt this summer. Truth be told, I haven’t even finished watching the season – a season of television that I was pretty excited for earlier in the year. That’s not because Strange New Worlds was in any way bad or unenjoyable; Season 1 was fantastic and the first half of Season 2 definitely had some fun and interesting stories in the mix. But honestly… I just feel burned out on the franchise as a whole right now.
When Star Trek was on the air in the 1990s and early 2000s, we’d regularly get two episodes a week here in the UK for much of the year. When brand-new episodes weren’t airing, there’d often be re-runs of older ones in the same timeslot. I missed a few episodes when they were new in the ’90s and early 2000s – but not that many. And I re-watched a bunch of episodes on VHS before later buying the entire Star Trek franchise on DVD. I don’t recall feeling burned out on Star Trek in the way I do now, even though there were several shows and films running for basically an entire decade.
A Radio Times listing for Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1996.
It was only in 2001, when Enterprise premiered, that I took a step back. And that wasn’t burnout as such – I just wasn’t particularly interested in Enterprise’s premise and 22nd Century setting. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I was wrong about that! Enterprise is a great show and a welcome addition to the Star Trek franchise, something I wish I’d realised at the time. But again, even as I stepped away from what was Star Trek’s newest incarnation, I still considered myself a fan. In the mid-2000s I must’ve watched my Star Trek DVDs dozens of times.
So why can’t I muster up the enthusiasm or effort to watch the rest of Strange New Worlds right now? Or even start Lower Decks’ fourth season?
It’s not that I don’t think I’d enjoy them. With the possible exception of Strange New Worlds’ musical episode (as I’m not a big fan of non-animated musicals) I’m sure I’d enjoy at least some of what’s on offer. But whenever I think about sitting down to watch the next episode… I just feel like I’ve lost interest.
Subspace Rhapsody is a musical episode.
I run a Star Trek fansite. Sure, I talk about other topics, but the Star Trek franchise accounts for around two-thirds of the articles, reviews, and columns that I’ve written here over the past few years. “Trek” is literally in the website’s name! I’m no hater of “nu-Trek,” either, and even though I haven’t been wild about every storytelling decision in Picard or Discovery, for example, I still consider myself a fan and supporter of those shows. When I’ve been critical of Star Trek – and of the corporation that owns and manages it, Paramount Global – that criticism is intended to be constructive and comes from a place of love.
So why do I find myself so uninterested in Star Trek right now?
I’ve been wrestling with this question for months. At first I thought I could write it off as simply being distracted. I played through video games like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Baldur’s Gate 3, and I was eagerly awaiting Starfield. I watched a couple of other shows, like Silo on Apple TV+, and films like The Last Voyage of the Demeter. But I wasn’t avoiding Star Trek because I was too busy. That might’ve felt like a convenient excuse in the moment, but it isn’t the real answer.
Have you read my review of Baldur’s Gate 3 yet?
The simple truth is that I feel burned out on Star Trek. The franchise’s return to the small screen has snowballed over the past couple of years, going from a single show to five shows – all of which have been on the air in the past eighteen months or so with very few breaks. That should be great, and it should feel like a return to form for a franchise that aired The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager alongside one another for much of the ’90s. But somehow… it doesn’t.
I warned about the dangers of “franchise fatigue” and burnout just after New Year when I took a look at Star Trek’s highs and lows of 2022. I said then that running five different shows might just be too much to keep up with – and I meant it. I could feel the early stages of burnout beginning even last year, and that’s partly why I stopped reviewing episodes of Lower Decks and ended up taking a break from writing anything here on the website at all.
Mining the Mind’s Mines was the last Lower Decks episode that I reviewed.
A lot has changed since Star Trek’s ’90s heyday. To fit in with modern trends, most stories are serialised and seasons now run to ten episodes instead of twenty-two or more. The franchise’s shows all occupy different time periods instead of sticking to a single, unified setting. And the five different shows that have been on the air of late are all dabbling in very different genres and styles. Where it felt relatively smooth and easy to hop from an episode of The Next Generation to Deep Space Nine or from DS9 to Voyager, it’s less easy to jump from Lower Decks to Picard or Discovery to Prodigy. Perhaps that’s part of it.
But there’s another factor here: me. When I was enjoying those early episodes of The Next Generation in 1991, I was a kid. Star Trek was a big deal for me as a lonely, awkward adolescent trying to navigate school and social life in the ’90s… but maybe I overestimated how big of a deal it still is for me thirty years later. I’ve changed since then, too… so I can’t place all of the blame on Star Trek.
The Royale, from Season 2 of The Next Generation, is the earliest Star Trek episode that I can remember watching.
I’ve spoken before about building this website, and how I hoped to create for myself a space where I could talk about the subjects that interest me at my own pace. I wanted a little piece of the internet where I could write without fear of word limits, and without being reduced to a mere comment on someone else’s work. Moreover, I wanted the freedom to talk about what interests me – whether that’s Star Trek or some other film, game, or series. Or even topics unrelated to entertainment.
But as the website has developed, I found myself writing Star Trek theories, Star Trek episode reviews, and much more about the franchise. As several of those pieces seemed to pick up a lot of interest and attention, being clicked on tens of thousands of times in some cases, I felt a kind of pressure to keep up. Last year, I said I felt I’d been writing reviews of Lower Decks less out of enjoyment than a sense of obligation… and this summer I started to feel the same way about Strange New Worlds. While I still enjoy the process of writing here on the website, I felt trapped in a sense by having made a commitment to review all of these episodes within a couple of days of their broadcast.
Spock in Strange New Worlds Season 2.
So perhaps, somewhat ironically given my intentions, writing here on the website has become another factor. If I sit down to watch the next episode of Strange New Worlds I’ll feel guilty if I don’t take notes for my review, capture still frames to use, and write something that runs to at least a couple of thousand words – if not more. So is the burnout I feel less to do with Star Trek and more to do with writing?
That doesn’t seem right, either; this isn’t a case of writer’s block. I recently reviewed Baldur’s Gate 3 – a title that I adored and would recommend to any fan of role-playing games. And I’ve talked a lot about Starfield over the past couple of months, too… so when I find a subject that interests me and where I feel I have something to say I can still get the words to flow. But for Star Trek? The interest has faded, at least temporarily.
I’ve found a lot to say about Starfield over the past couple of months.
And it probably is temporary. I’ve taken breaks from Star Trek before; there might’ve been a year or more where I didn’t watch a single episode or film in the 2000s and/or the 2010s. I’ve never been someone who can settle on just one “thing;” I tend to dabble in different hobbies and experiences – or in this case, entertainment properties. Sometimes I’ll be fixated on one thing for a time before moving on and leaving it behind entirely.
But that’s always been the case, and even when I found myself taking breaks from Star Trek unintentionally, I wouldn’t have described myself as feeling burned out. So we still haven’t zeroed in on what’s changed.
Even though I wasn’t wild about Enterprise during its original run, I didn’t feel the same kind of burnout as I do today.
With Star Trek feeling like its on decidedly shaky ground amidst strikes, the “streaming wars,” and Paramount’s failing leadership, I feel a strong sense of obligation to support the franchise. I don’t want to see Star Trek disappear again – and in the current media landscape, who knows when or even if another revival would be possible if that were to happen? But at the same time, there’s no fun or enjoyment in writing out of obligation. I might as well go back to my old job working in marketing; writing meaningless, uninspired fluff to meet arbitrary deadlines.
Perhaps the answer is a combination of factors, as is often the case. Paramount has hit the accelerator too hard and Star Trek has become oversaturated. Franchise fatigue has begun to set in, and hopefully the lesson the corporation will learn before it’s too late is that it needs to slow down and refocus. At the same time, I’ve changed over the years, and Star Trek no longer occupies the same place in my life as it did during my adolescence. Having this website as a project has been great for me – but it’s also created made-up obligations that are teaming up with my anxiety. Retreating from Star Trek is the way my brain has responded to that sense of being overwhelmed, and once I “missed” a deadline or two, re-starting feels all the more difficult.
The Enterprise-D at DS9.
Although this has been a rather introspective look at things, I’m absolutely certain that I won’t be the only one feeling a sense of burnout. Trying to create a broad and varied franchise is an admirable goal, and pitching different shows at different audiences and demographics is, in theory, not a bad idea. But Paramount’s execution of this has been poor, and the corporation needs to wake up to a simple reality: there are limits to how far a single franchise can be pushed. Star Trek can’t bear the weight of carrying Paramount Plus on its own, and audiences have their limits.
But it would be remiss to ignore my personal circumstances, as this sense of burnout isn’t entirely the fault of franchise fatigue and oversaturation. I have to find a way to rediscover my passion for Star Trek – but I also have to acknowledge that I’m not a kid or a teenager any more, and that my relationship with the franchise has evolved over the years. Even as Paramount tries desperately to play the nostalgia card, what existed back then can never truly be recreated.
I’ll get back to watching and reviewing Star Trek sooner or later. Just don’t ask me when, because I honestly couldn’t tell you right now.
The Star Trek franchise – including all properties discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. Most Star Trek films and shows can be streamed on Paramount Plus in countries and territories where the platform is available. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: Minor spoilers may be present for some of the titles on this list.
It’s the last day of June, and by my reckoning that makes it the halfway point of the year! As we bid farewell to the first half of 2023, it’s a good excuse to take a look ahead to some of the entertainment experiences that we’ll hopefully enjoy between now and Christmas! Is it too early to think about Christmas yet?
The first half of 2023 has been blighted by buggy games and crappy PC ports, but there have been some fun experiences along the way, too. When the year’s over I’ll be sure to pick out some of the highlights in my annual “end-of-year awards,” so check back for that if you want to see me handing out some imaginary trophies and statuettes! But for now, I promised you a look ahead!
I’ve picked five films, five television shows, and five games that I’m looking forward to in the second half of 2023. Maybe I’ll inspire you to find something to watch or play – or maybe you’ll hate all of my suggestions! Either way, I hope it will be a bit of fun to take a brief look ahead.
Film #1: Ladybug and Cat Noir: The Movie 3rd August
If you aren’t familiar with Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir… what have you been doing? The kids’ show is a blast, and has a lot to offer to an older audience, too, as superheroes Ladybug and Cat Noir battle to save the city of Paris! Miraculous is making its first appearance on the big screen this summer with a film adaptation that might just take the series back to its roots. I’m looking forward to seeing what the bigger budget of a cinematic adaptation could do for what is already a well-written and entertaining story.
Film #2: Red One November/December 2023
Red One is an action-adventure film set at Christmas – and features a star-studded cast. JK Simmons takes on the role of Santa Claus, with Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, and Lucy Liu also headlining. Details of the story are thin on the ground, but Amazon Studios apparently intends for Red One to be the first part of an expanded cinematic franchise. Christmas films can become classics – but they can also be naff, overly-sentimental fluff. I’m hoping for some excitement and entertainment from Red One.
Film #3: The Last Voyage of the Demeter 11th August
Based on a single chapter of the original Dracula novel, The Last Voyage of the Demeter will focus on the crew of a doomed ship who are being stalked by the infamous vampire. The horror film could be a fun one to watch around Halloween! Horror usually isn’t my cup of tea, but a combination of the nautical setting and the connection to a classic work of literature has piqued my curiosity. As the horror genre swarms with zombies, ghosts, demons, and monsters, vampire flicks are relatively few and far between – which is another point in the film’s favour.
Film #4: Wish 24th November
Wish looks fantastic! The film has been created especially for Disney’s centenary, and aims to be a celebration of everything the studio stands for. Focusing on the magical star that many characters have made their wishes upon, the film looks set to be another modern-day Disney classic. The animation style used for Wish is a blend of hand-drawn and digital, and the film will star Academy Award-winner Ariana DeBose. The trailer looked fantastic, with an amazing song to boot, and I can’t wait to see Wish for myself!
Film #5: Rebel Moon 23rd December
There’s always room for more sci-fi, and Rebel Moon could be the kind of epic that spawns a brand-new franchise! Though I haven’t always been impressed with director Zack Snyder’s films, Rebel Moon seems to have a lot of potential. The film will star Star Trek Beyond’s Sofia Boutella, and looks to pitch a group of heroes against a corrupt imperial government. One to watch, for sure!
Video Game #1: Star Trek Infinite TBC 2023
Although I’m still not entirely sure what Star Trek Infinite will be like to play, the game is bringing the Star Trek franchise back to the strategy genre on PC (and Mac) for the first time in a long time – and I’m definitely on board with that idea! Publisher Paradox Interactive has a good reputation, and Star Trek Infinite is being constructed atop a streamlined version of the popular sci-fi strategy title Stellaris. There’s potential here, and I shall be checking out the game when it’s ready.
Video Game #2: Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty 26th September
Although I’ve argued that we need to be careful about Phantom Liberty given what happened when Cyberpunk 2077 was released, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least curious about the expansion pack. Described as a “spy thriller,” Phantom Liberty will add a new storyline to Cyberpunk 2077, a new area of the map, and also promises to connect with the base game’s main story, too. There will also be new weapons, new vehicles, and several new characters to engage with. Definitely one to put in the “wait for the reviews” category… but if it launches in good condition, Phantom Liberty could be a blast.
Video Game #3: Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora 7th December
Frontiers of Pandora is an open-world action game set in the world of Avatar. It will tell a story independent of the main Avatar films, focusing on a Na’vi character who was trained by humans. This premise sounds genuinely interesting, and could elevate Frontiers of Pandora to something a bit more interesting than just a typical tie-in game. Gameplay was recently shown off as part of Ubisoft’s summer presentation, and the game looks to be in good shape.
Video Game #4: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass Waves 5 & 6 Summer/Holiday 2023
Last week’s Nintendo Direct broadcast showed off two new characters and one new racetrack that will be coming in Wave 5 of the Booster Course Pass this summer. After that there’s only one more wave to come – which will probably be toward the end of the year. The Booster Course Pass has reignited my interest in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and having new racetracks to jump into has given the game a shot in the arm. I’m hoping that Nintendo will put a lot of effort into the final two additions to the game.
Video Game #5: Starfield 6th September
Given Bethesda’s reputation and the appalling condition of Fallout 76 in 2018, Starfield is another game that must remain in the “wait for the reviews” column! But if you’re a regular reader here on the website, you’ll know it’s my most-anticipated game right now. I cannot wait to get stuck into this open-galaxy sci-fi role-playing game, customising my character, my spaceship, and my colony, and getting lost in the world that Bethesda has created. I’m just crossing my fingers and hoping that Starfield will launch in a polished state – and that it can live up to the sky-high expectations that Bethesda and Microsoft have set.
Television Series #1: Futurama 24th July
Futurama is coming back… again! Although the series came to a pretty definitive end in 2013 – following two cancellations and resurrections – Disney and Hulu have opted to bring it back once more. I’m on board with that idea – and I’ll be curious to see what a revived Futurama can bring to the table in 2023. The show was great fun in its earlier iterations, with an intriguing blend of sci-fi wackiness and topical humour, and I have high hopes for more of the same when Fry and the Planet Express crew return.
Television Series #2: The American Buffalo 16th October
This two-part miniseries by Ken Burns will tell the remarkable tale of the near-extinction and resurrection of the American bison, looking at the history of hunting, what the species meant to native peoples, and how it was saved from extinction in the 20th Century. Ken Burns is one of the world’s leading documentary filmmakers, and I’ve long enjoyed his work.
Television Series #3: Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Late 2023
The premise of Skeleton Crew is giving me Star Trek: Prodigy vibes, as a group of youngsters will find themselves lost in a galaxy far, far away. Jude Law is taking on the lead role of a Jedi, and may serve as a kind of mentor to the group. Story details are still thin on the ground, but there’s enough to think that Skeleton Crew might be something a bit different from a franchise that has struggled to break away from its illustrious past. The series may also connect in some way with The Mandalorian, as it’s set in the same time period.
Television Series #4: Good Omens Season 2 28th July
Although it’s been a while since the first season of this adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s story, Season 2 is finally upon us! David Tennant and Michael Sheen are returning as the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale respectively, and the continuation looks set to be a ton of fun. After Crowley and Aziraphale managed to prevent the end of the world last time around… what will they get up to this time?
Television Series #5: Foundation Season 2 14th July
The first season of Foundation was outstanding, successfully adapting a very dense work of hard sci-fi in an understandable way. I’m very interested to see what Season 2 might have to offer, and how it might bring together some of the different story threads that the series has in play. Apple has done a great job so far, but Foundation has room to grow. Its complex premise and large cast of characters doesn’t make it the easiest show to follow, but it’s absolutely worth sticking with Foundation.
So that’s it!
We’ve taken a look at a handful of films, video games, and television shows that I hope will be enjoyable between now and the end of the year. In late December I’ll be dishing out some of my annual end-of-year awards to the best of the best, so check back then to see which of the entertainment experiences above made the cut!
What am I most excited about right now? It’s hard to pick just one thing, but I’m very curious to see if Starfield truly lives up to the high expectations that have been set. I’m also really looking forward to Futurama’s return, as well as seeing if Rebel Moon will be “the next big thing” in sci-fi!
I’ll be here throughout the summer, reviewing episodes of Strange New Worlds, sharing my thoughts on new and upcoming projects, and much more! I don’t promise reviews of everything listed above, but I’ll try to share my thoughts and impressions on at least some of these titles. I hope the first half of 2023 has gone well for you, and that you’re looking forward to some fun and exciting entertainment experiences as we pass the halfway point of the year.
All properties discussed above are the copyright of their respective owner(s). Some images used above courtesy of IGDB and IMDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 and the trailers and teasers for Season 2. Spoilers are also present for Star Trek: Discovery.
There are only a few days left until Strange New Worlds Season 2 arrives, and as the show’s marketing push ramps up we’ve been treated to two major trailers and a handful of additional clips. Today I thought it could be fun to take a look at what’s been revealed about the season so far, and share my thoughts on how Strange New Worlds looks to be shaping up.
On balance, Strange New Worlds Season 1 was probably my favourite television series of 2022. It was, in my view anyway, the best that modern Star Trek has had to offer, ditching the serialised approach taken by most projects since 2017 in favour of a return to a style of storytelling that felt much closer to the franchise’s roots. Its stellar cast was backed up by some fantastic writing, a beautiful score, elaborate sets that both harkened back to The Original Series while taking advantage of cutting-edge technology like the AR wall, and a combination of CGI and animation work with some incredible practical effects and puppets. It was fantastic across the board – with not a single one out of the first season’s ten episodes that I’d consider to be sub-par.
No pressure… but Season 2 has a lot to live up to!
Season 2 is almost here!
First of all, I can’t tell you how glad I am that the new season is arriving in June and didn’t follow last year’s dismal scheduling display. In 2022, Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds all overlapped one another thanks to some truly moronic decisions at Paramount – scheduling decisions that contributed to Strange New Worlds’ first season not being available here in the UK. I will give credit where it’s due and note that in 2023, Paramount is doing a much better job with scheduling Star Trek. There’s been a decent break since Picard’s finale, and breaks like that are good and healthy for any franchise.
But enough about all of that! We’ve already caught a glimpse of Number One on trial – something that was set up right at the very end of Season 1 when she was taken into custody by Starfleet security personnel. Star Trek can do courtroom drama exceptionally well, and while it feels like a safe bet that Una won’t be unceremoniously kicked out of Starfleet… how we get to that point and what role Pike and the others might play feels like it has the potential to be high-stakes entertainment at its very best.
Una on trial.
As an aside, I was a little disappointed to note in this sequence that the redress of Discovery’s Federation HQ set felt nakedly obvious. There are a handful of examples in modern Star Trek where this has happened – the Ba’ul prison cell in Discovery Season 2 being one example that leaps to mind – but as Paramount has pumped more money into the franchise and Star Trek has continued to expand, it’s something I’d hoped to see less of.
In Discovery’s first couple of seasons, this same sound stage was used to depict the USS Shenzou and Georgiou’s Section 31 vessel, so the same set can be used in different ways. Here, though, the redress doesn’t feel quite as extensive, and I see too many elements from the 32nd Century’s Federation HQ present in the court-martial set. Here’s hoping that the story itself will be too tense and dramatic to make its setting much of an issue!
Fire phasers!
When Discovery premiered in 2017, the redesign of the Klingons became something of a sore spot in parts of the fan community. The Strange New Worlds trailer prominently shows off Klingons in their much more familiar style – closer to their post-Motion Picture appearance than anything we’ve seen since Enterprise went off the air (or since Worf appeared in Picard’s third season). I daresay that’ll make some folks happy!
The Klingons are fantastic, and an absolutely iconic part of the Star Trek franchise. Discovery’s first two seasons prominently featured Klingon characters and storylines, and Klingon characters have also cropped up in Lower Decks, but this will be the first time in several years that we’ll get at least one Klingon-focused live-action episode.
A Klingon.
I’ll be particularly interested to see whether and to what extent Strange New Worlds will reference Discovery’s Klingon War storyline. This new season takes place in between Discovery and The Original Series, an era in which the Federation and Klingons should be maintaining a kind of uneasy peace. Spock certainly appeared to be on good terms with the Klingons in the clips we saw; will they know he’s the brother of the human who started the war? Will the war even be mentioned at all, or will Strange New Worlds simply step over this relatively recent addition to canon? Lieutenant Ortegas mentioned something about “the war” in one of the clips, so it’s possible it will at least be made reference to.
The Klingons need to be handled with care. When you think about how many appearances Klingons have made across the history of Star Trek, and the extent to which we’ve gotten to know about Klingon culture and history, making too many changes – especially in a time period so close to The Original Series – could be offputting. However, what we can see seems, if anything, to be a step closer to familiar canon and a move away from at least the aesthetic presentation of the Klingons that Discovery and the Kelvin films employed. That could be a positive thing… or it could be something neutral! I’ve never really had much of an issue with the Klingon redesign – and I liked some of what I perceived to be an “Ancient Egyptian” influence in some of Discovery’s Klingon designs.
Spock drinking bloodwine with the Klingons.
It looks like the Gorn are also coming back! The Gorn played a role in two of Season 1’s most action-packed episodes, and overall I like what Strange New Worlds has done with this relatively unknown Star Trek faction. Giving the Gorn more of a Xenomorph-inspired horror vibe has taken the series in a completely different direction, and any story with the Gorn is sure to be tense, dramatic, and exciting!
Several clips seemed to show Captain Pike (and others) getting into combat – and I could be wrong, but it looked like they were fighting the same kind of warriors that we saw in The Cage. If so, that could mean that a return to Rigel VII is on the agenda – though why, exactly, is still unclear. It could just be a coincidence, but the way it looked certainly felt familiar.
Captain Pike on an away mission.
There were several romantic moments glimpsed particularly in the second trailer. Pike and Una shared a kiss, as did Spock and Nurse Chapel. My first thought on seeing those clips was that we could be in for an episode inspired by The Naked Time and The Naked Now, with some kind of technobabble explanation for lowered inhibitions or misbehaviour among members of the crew. I could be wrong about that – it’s just a guess!
Pike and Una would make an interesting couple – but there’d be an element of tragedy with Pike’s future once again set in stone. We don’t know what became of Una after the events of Strange New Worlds, but it seems unlikely that she’d follow him to Talos. A doomed romance could be on the cards, perhaps, or one that deals with themes comparable to The Next Generation Season 6 episode Lessons – a story in which Captain Picard had to wrangle with the idea of becoming romantically involved with someone under his command.
Pike and Una sharing a kiss.
Spock, though, is a character who needs to be handled delicately. We know a great deal about Spock’s life, including his romantic entanglements – and lack thereof. Spock’s also a character who’s been messed with a lot, with retcons and additions complicating one of the Star Trek franchise’s most beloved and iconic characters. There’s room to make additions, don’t get me wrong, but internal consistency is important – and if we’re to buy into the idea of this Spock being the same man as we see in The Original Series, the films, The Next Generation, and into the Kelvin timeline… he needs to be handled with care.
As an aside, Spock is a character who has often been discussed in an asexual or ace-adjacent context. As someone who is asexual, I’ve always found something relatable in Spock’s presentation. Though he would have romantic attachments, and he would go through a biological mating cycle, outside of a mere handful of few episodes Spock can feel like a very relatable character for people on the asexual spectrum. Season 1 already introduced us to Spock’s betrothed, T’Pring, and adding an ongoing relationship – or even a one-night stand – with Nurse Chapel into the mix would risk detracting from an important character. Again, Spock needs to be handled with care, and there are a couple of points of concern that the trailers raised in that regard.
Spock in the captain’s chair.
Another potential pair who need to be handled carefully is La’an and James T. Kirk! Although Paul Wesley put in a thoroughly fantastic performance as Kirk at the end of Season 1, this came in a sequence set in The Original Series era, years after the events of Strange New Worlds. I confess a degree of scepticism when I saw Kirk on the transporter pad, and while he can be integrated into the series in a way that perfectly fits with everything we know about him and his background… I’m just not sure it’s something I’d have done.
That being said, there are some incredibly enticing possibilities that come along with Kirk’s inclusion. We’ve never seen how Kirk and Spock met in the prime timeline, for example, and whether this will be their first meeting or whether they’ll be catching up after being buddies at the Academy, it could be fascinating to learn more about how they came to become such close friends. There’s also the potential to see a younger Kirk working with Pike and Number One, with the building blocks of his own leadership skills being formed and honed. Again, this feels like something worth seeing.
James T. Kirk.
But as with Spock, there are pitfalls. Kirk never mentioned serving with Pike, nor did he seem especially close to the Enterprise’s former captain during the events of The Menagerie – which should rule out any kind of close bond or mentor relationship between the two men. More significantly, though, is Kirk’s run-in with La’an – something that Una seemed to pick up on.
Kirk’s encounter with Khan – the original Khan – is legendary. The Wrath of Khan is one of the best films ever made, with even non-Trekkies rating it very highly. There’s limited room for manoeuvre here, and bringing Kirk into close contact with another member of the Khan family years before his run-in with the man himself is something that has the potential to undermine or detract from that wonderful story. A friendly meeting could be fine… but pairing these two up for a long period of time would almost certainly cross a line.
La’an seems fascinated with Kirk…
Well, all that’s left is to talk about that crossover!
When the Lower Decks crossover was announced, I felt it was a really fun idea. And from what we’ve seen of it in the trailers, Boimler and Mariner’s visit to the Enterprise looks absolutely fantastic. The details of the story – including how and why Mariner and Boimler might end up on the Enterprise – are still under wraps, but it looks like they’ll get to meet both Pike and Spock… something that Boimler in particular will clearly adore.
The Lower Decks uniforms look great in live-action, and it’s amazing how closely actors Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid resemble their characters. I was already feeling excitement at the prospect of Star Trek’s first major crossover of the current era – but having caught a glimpse of it, now I can’t wait!
Mariner and Boimler will appear in live-action for the first time.
So Strange New Worlds is almost upon us! Season 1 was fantastic, although it was sadly tainted by Paramount’s indefensible decision to only broadcast it in the United States at first. But Season 2 looks set to continue this fun, retro Star Trek series. There were plenty of smaller clips or images seen in the trailers that both harken back to Star Trek’s past and look to be telling brand-new stories, and above all, I’m excited to see a continuation of Strange New Worlds’ episodic style of storytelling.
When the series lands next week I’ll do my best to keep up with weekly episode reviews. I wasn’t able to do that for Season 1 with the series “officially” unavailable to me – but beginning with Season 2 I hope you’ll join me for my thoughts and my take on each of the season’s ten episodes.
I hope this was a fun look ahead!
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 will be broadcast on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the service is available. Season 1 is available to stream now. The Star Trek franchise – including Strange New Worlds 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the Star Trek franchise, including all episodes on this list. Spoilers are present for the following: Discovery Season 4, Picard Season 3, Prodigy Season 1, Strange New Worlds Season 1, and more.
So, I did a thing. A few days ago, I published a tongue-in-cheek list of what I consider to be some of the worst episodes in the Star Trek franchise. Since it went up, it’s been racking up clicks – almost immediately becoming the most-viewed piece on the website over the past few days. To balance out that list – and to claw back some of my standing as a Trekkie – I thought I shouldn’t wait any longer before writing the counterpoint!
As I said last time, I’m a huge Star Trek fan. Heck, I run a Star Trek-themed website – so obviously I like the franchise! But I’m not one of those fans who says that “everything Star Trek has ever done is perfect,” nor am I someone who wants to whitewash Star Trek and never mention the bad parts. Paramount has a marketing team to do that.
It’s the Enterprise-E!
So today, as a counterpoint to my last list, I’m going to pick twenty of my absolute favourite episodes. It should go without saying that this list is also entirely subjective, so if I exclude your favourite episode or you hate all of my picks… that’s okay! We’re all entitled to our preferences about which Star Trek stories we prefer, and there should be enough room within the Star Trek fan community for polite discussion and disagreement.
So without any further ado, let’s dive into the list!
Episode #1: The Doomsday Machine The Original Series Season 2
The wreck of the USS Constellation.
The Doomsday Machine is, in some respects, The Original Series in microcosm. It has everything that fans loved about the show: an exciting sci-fi premise, an incredible guest star, and a hard-hitting real-world comparison. It’s always stood out to me as one of The Original Series’ finest outings, masterfully building up tension as the unmanned weapon mindlessly carries out its directive.
The character of Commodore Decker, who was created for The Doomsday Machine, is one of the show’s most brilliant and tragic characters. His story has always been an absolutely riveting one for me – and the performance by guest star William Windom is phenomenal. The Doomsday Machine had a point to make about nuclear weapons out here in the real world, too – and coming at the height of the Cold War, less than six years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, it could hardly be more timely.
Episode #2: Coming Home Discovery Season 4
Captain Burnham on the bridge of the USS Discovery.
Discovery’s fourth season – like its predecessors – took a meandering and occasionally frustrating route to reach its final episode… but it was more than worth the wait! Coming Home is fantastic, and encapsulates everything that Star Trek is and always has been. There were incredibly tense and exciting moments as the Federation leapt to the defence of Earth, which was in serious danger, but those moments were coupled with the discovery of a very new and different alien race.
Seeking out new life has been at the heart of Star Trek since its inception. But, as many have pointed out over the years, Star Trek’s “new life” could often look and act very, well, human. Species 10-C, which we finally got to meet in this episode after a season-long buildup, have to be one of the most strikingly different aliens ever created for the franchise. Above all, though, Coming Home excels for its sense of optimism and hope. I’d challenge even the most ardent Discovery-avoider to give it a try.
Episode #3: The Siege of AR-558 Deep Space Nine Season 7
Quark and Nog.
Few Star Trek episodes truly manage to capture the feel of being at war quite so dramatically and spectacularly as The Siege of AR-558. Director Winrich Kolbe drew on his own experiences in the Vietnam War to create a claustrophobic, frightening scenario in which Federation soldiers were fighting for their lives over a nameless lump of rock. The futility of war is on display in The Siege of AR-558 in a way that Star Trek has seldom touched upon.
Nog’s character arc is one of Deep Space Nine’s best, and this episode shows why. Nog went from petty thief to Starfleet hero over the course of seven seasons, and the life-changing injury he suffered in the battle on the planetoid AR-558 would be a defining moment for him. The Siege of AR-558 is an episode that challenges many of our assumptions and beliefs about the Federation, Starfleet, and the Dominion War – and it’s an absolutely incredible watch.
Episode #4: First First Contact Lower Decks Season 2
Shaxs in First First Contact.
First First Contact is Lower Decks at its very best. It’s a Star Trek story through-and-through, with a challenge befalling the crew of the Cerritos that’s of a scientific and engineering nature. It’s also the perfect example of how Star Trek can tell tense and exciting stories without the need for evil villains and big set-piece battles.
Lower Decks often operates with a two-story or even three-story structure, pairing up characters and setting them off on their own adventures. But First First Contact is a comparatively rare example of the entire crew working together and taking part in the same storyline – and it works incredibly well. There are moments of high drama, tension, and emotion as the Cerritos races to save a stricken Federation starship and an uncontacted planet – and a moment of engineering genius that would rival anything Scotty or Geordi could’ve come up with!
Episode #5: Disaster The Next Generation Season 5
A plasma fire!
I consider Season 5 to probably be The Next Generation’s strongest overall outing, so Disaster really is the cream of the crop! This is an episode in which every main character gets to play a role in one large, connected story – but it’s a story that throws everyone far outside of their comfort zones and usual roles! The situations the characters find themselves in are tense, dramatic, and occasionally comical, because Disaster really is an episode that has it all!
The basic premise of the episode sees the Enterprise-D damaged, without power, and adrift. Troi is the senior officer on the bridge, being advised by Ro and O’Brien. Data and Riker rush to engineering to try to bring power back to the ship. Picard is stuck in a turbolift with three frightened children (his own personal hell). Worf must take care of civilians in Ten-Forward. And Dr Crusher and Geordi are trapped in a cargo bay. Everyone gets their moment in the spotlight, making Disaster a genuine ensemble piece.
Episode #6: Vanishing Point Enterprise Season 2
Hoshi on the transporter pad.
Although Vanishing Point’s ending is pretty cheap and uninspired, the episode itself is a truly interesting exploration of one of Star Trek’s best-known pieces of technology: the transporter. We’ve seen characters like Dr McCoy being averse to the transporter, and more transporter accidents than I can call to mind! But Vanishing Point steps back in time to when the technology was new and untested, and places Hoshi Sato at the centre of its story.
Ensign Sato was such a great point-of-view character, as her nervousness and anxiety at being out in space had already been well-established. Vanishing Point also took Hoshi outside of her usual role as communications officer, allowing her to take centre-stage in a different kind of story. Although the ending drags it down somewhat, Vanishing Point is nevertheless a ton of fun!
Episode #7: A Quality of Mercy Strange New Worlds Season 1
Christopher Pike as we’ve never seen him before!
Season 1 of Strange New Worlds is fantastic across the board, without so much as a single bad episode! It was difficult to pick just one for this list, but I’ve decided to go with A Quality of Mercy. This episode gets time travel just right, with Captain Pike dealing with himself from an alternate future timeline in which he avoided his devastating accident and disability. Time travel can be tricky to pull off, but A Quality of Mercy manages it.
The episode also returns to the classic story Balance of Terror, showing us an alternate outcome to the battle between Kirk and the Romulan Commander. This gives it the feel of a story “made for fans,” and Trekkies who’ve followed the franchise for a long time will surely find a lot to love here. At the core of it all is Captain Pike, a character who I find incredibly relatable. Knowing that one’s health is in decline and seeking to make a “deal with the devil” to find a solution… I’ve been there. And Anson Mount plays the whole thing – and the roles of two different Pikes – incredibly well.
Episode #8: Equinox Parts I and II Voyager Season 5-6
Captain Ransom.
Voyager’s fifth season ended in stunning fashion with the first part of Equinox. I was hanging on for months waiting for Part II, which brought the story to an explosive conclusion. After years lost in the Delta Quadrant, Captain Janeway and the crew finally encounter another Federation vessel – and another crew who understand what they’ve gone through. But all is not what it seems, as it turns out that the aliens attacking the small USS Equinox are actually in the right.
Equinox is a challenging episode, condemning Captain Ransom’s actions while also presenting him and (most of) his crew in a relatively sympathetic light. It’s an episode that hammers home how lucky Janeway and the crew of Voyager have been – comparatively speaking – and shows the extremes that people can be willing to go to in order to survive.
Episode #9: The Star Gazer Picard Season 2
Who’s this?
I debated for a long time whether I wanted to include The Star Gazer on this list. The story that it so brilliantly set up went off the rails pretty quickly in subsequent episodes, and Picard’s second season is, overall, a disappointment. But on its own, The Star Gazer is actually a pretty great episode, one that re-introduces one of Star Trek’s classic villains in a new and terrifying manner.
If the rest of Picard Season 2 had been anywhere near as good as The Star Gazer, it would be one of the best in the entire franchise! As it is, this episode almost feels like an alternate timeline, showing us what might have been! Regardless, though, it sets up a tantalising mystery, teases us with some serious development for some of the show’s supporting characters, and contains one of the best and most frightening clashes between Starfleet and the Borg that the Star Trek franchise has ever created.
Episode #10: Homefront and Paradise Lost Deep Space Nine Season 4
Benjamin and Jake Sisko.
Deep Space Nine had done things differently from its very first episode, and some fans weren’t wild about its darker tone. This shift away from the Federation and Starfleet being presented as an incorruptible and enlightened paradise was on full display in this pair of episodes. In between the discovery of the Dominion and the official outbreak of war, the Federation was terrified of changeling infiltrators. Feeling that politicians and bureaucrats weren’t up to the task, a renegade “badmiral” plots a coup.
Some early Star Trek stories could present the Federation as almost too perfect, and this continued into The Next Generation era. What Captain Sisko and Odo had to confront here was the idea that Starfleet officers could themselves fall prey to paranoia, corruption, and ego – and this very human reaction to the threat of infiltration felt quite relatable. Although we’re firmly on Sisko’s side, Homefront and Paradise Lost throw some moral ambiguity into the mix thanks to some complex writing and several outstanding guest stars.
Episode #11: The Royale The Next Generation Season 2
The away team gambling.
I confess that I have a soft spot for The Royale for one principal reason: it’s the earliest episode of Star Trek that I can remember watching! Although I’m sure I’d seen at least parts of other episodes prior to The Royale’s broadcast on terrestrial TV here in the UK in 1991, this is the first one I have rock-solid memories of, and it’s always carried special significance as a result. So that’s my own bias stated up front!
Bias aside, though, I think there’s a lot to enjoy in this episode. It’s the kind of story that no other sci-fi franchise would attempt, and it has an unusual and somewhat eerie feel. Imagine having to spend the rest of your life trapped in an alien recreation of a three-star hotel! That seems like a very specific kind of hell, putting a dark spin on what could’ve been a purely comical story. The idea of roaming to the farthest, unexplored reaches of space only to find an Earth hotel and a mystery is part of what made Star Trek stand out to me, and seeing Riker and the away team solve the puzzle is still an engaging watch more than three decades later!
Episode #12: Through the Valley of Shadows Discovery Season 2
The Klingon monastery on Boreth.
Through the Valley of Shadows reframes Captain Pike and the accident that left him disabled. The Menagerie, from the first season of The Original Series, showed us the aftermath of what happened to Pike, as well as introduced us to the character and his time in the captain’s chair. Through the Valley of Shadows took that idea to a completely new and different thematic place: Captain Pike had to choose this future for himself, making an unimaginable sacrifice in order to complete his mission and save untold numbers of lives.
We looked at one consequence of that above with the Strange New Worlds episode A Quality of Mercy. These two episodes make a fascinating pair, and the tragedy of Captain Pike takes on a whole new dimension in light of what we learn here. Pike has always been a character I find incredibly relatable, and Through the Valley of Shadows puts a distinctly “Star Trek” spin on the idea of seeing one’s own future – and knowing that illness, disability, and worsening health lie ahead.
Episode #13: Court Martial The Original Series Season 1
Captain Kirk with his lawyer.
Court Martial is Star Trek’s first foray into courtroom drama – a genre that the franchise would return to on multiple occasions! Captain Kirk is accused of murdering an officer under his command and attempting to cover it up, and the stakes are high! We know he couldn’t possibly be guilty, of course… but the evidence against him appears to be compelling.
Samuel T. Cogley – Kirk’s advocate – is a character I’d absolutely love modern Star Trek to revisit! Based on the “old country lawyer” character archetype, Cogley led Kirk’s defence in unorthodox fashion, and is one of the best parts of Court Martial. Along with The Conscience of the King and Charlie X, which also delve into Kirk’s backstory, Court Martial puts flesh on the bones of someone who was still a new character. Kirk’s integrity and honour are on display – and on trial.
Episode #14: Dragon’s Teeth Voyager Season 6
The USS Voyager prepares to land.
Dragon’s Teeth is an interesting episode, and one that tells us a little about the history of the Star Trek galaxy. It’s also a story that looks at the potential consequences of war and conquest, as well as how different reality can be from societal memory. The crew of Voyager re-awaken a group of aliens who have been in stasis since the 1400s, following a devastating war that culminated in the bombardment of their planet.
The Vaadwaur proved to be untrustworthy allies, however, and attempted to capture Voyager. The “underspace corridors” that were present in this episode weren’t revisited, even though they potentially offered a quicker way to traverse this region of space. The concept was fun, though, and reviving a long-dormant race was likewise an interesting and well-executed idea.
Episode #15: The Andorian Incident Enterprise Season 1
Andorians!
I have to hold up my hands and confess that I wasn’t a big supporter of Enterprise during its original run. I was disappointed in its choice of setting, believing that Star Trek should move forwards instead of looking back at its own fictional history. But episodes like The Andorian Incident show just how wrong I was to feel that way! The episode showcases the conflict between Andoria and Vulcan in the years prior to the founding of the Federation – and begins to set the stage for humanity to bridge the divide and bring them together.
At a Vulcan holy site on the planet P’Jem, a monastery has been attacked by Andorians. The Andorian leader claims the monastery is a front for a listening post. Jeffrey Combs returns to Star Trek after his roles in Deep Space Nine to play Andorian leader Shran, and the interplay between Shran and Captain Archer would be one of Enterprise’s best. All in all, a fascinating outing.
Episode #16: Where Pleasant Fountains Lie Lower Decks Season 2
Andy Billups, chief engineer of the USS Cerritos.
I adore Where Pleasant Fountains Lie. I think it has a potentially-interesting explanation for the abundance of human-looking aliens in the Star Trek galaxy (they’re all Earth colonies), but moreover it touches on a subject close to home for me: asexuality. I’m asexual, and while the Cerritos’ chief engineer Andy Billups isn’t explicitly stated to be asexual in the story, Where Pleasant Fountains Lie focuses in large part on his discomfort with having sex and desire to avoid it.
Star Trek has always used its sci-fi setting to shine a new light on the real world, and for me, this episode absolutely nailed it. When people ask me about asexuality, I now have a relatable story that I can point to, one that touches on many of the same feelings and experiences that I’ve personally had as an asexual individual. I wrote a longer piece about this episode’s asexuality analogy, and you can find it by clicking or tapping here if you’re interested to read more.
Episode #17: Let Sleeping Borg Lie Prodigy Season 1
What have the crew of the Protostar got themselves into this time?
Prodigy had a strong first season – though it’s been disappointingly let down by a lack of support from Paramount, especially in the merchandising department. There are several contenders for episodes to include on this list, but I’ve decided to go with Let Sleeping Borg Lie from the second half of the season.
The episode focuses on a derelict Borg vessel – tying into the story recently seen in Picard’s third season – and gives all of the main youngsters something to do. The episode moves key storylines along, as Prodigy is a surprisingly serialised affair, but it also takes the crew to a different environment. One of the advantages of animation over live-action is the ability to visit different ships and planets every week relatively inexpensively! There are strong themes of sacrifice and friendship that form the emotional core of the story, too.
Episode #18: Birthright, Parts I & II The Next Generation Season 6
The Enterprise-D at DS9.
This story is a fun crossover between The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, which wasn’t yet ten episodes into its first season. The main story focuses on Worf as he tracks down a hitherto unknown group of survivors of the Khitomer massacre – the event in which his birth parents were killed. The second part of the story in particular focuses on the Klingons and Klingon culture.
I adore a good crossover, and it’s a ton of fun to see Picard and Dr Crusher aboard DS9, as well as Data and Dr Bashir working together. This episode was designed to give Deep Space Nine a jump-start as its first season got underway, but it’s more than that. It’s a fantastic combination of characters and settings that expands Star Trek beyond a single series into a connected franchise.
Episode #19: State of Flux Voyager Season 1
Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok discuss the situation.
Voyager never managed to make good on its “one ship, two crews” idea, and State of Flux, coming midway through the first season, was one of the few episodes to really explore that concept. When the crew of Voyager come to suspect that someone is passing secret information to the Kazon, a trap is laid – and a member of Chakotay’s Maquis sect is the prime suspect.
This episode set up a recurring story that would come back in Season 2 and at the beginning of Season 3, giving Voyager at least some consistent themes across the first part of the crew’s journey home. It’s also an engaging mystery on its own merit, and a strong episode for Chakotay – a character who could feel under-used, especially toward the latter part of the show’s run.
Episode #20: Civil Defense Deep Space Nine Season 3
Kell, the former commanding officer of Terok Nor, appears on a screen.
Despite a station-threatening premise, Civil Defense is a remarkably fun episode! It takes the premise of occupying an alien space station to a completely different place than almost any other story in the series, as O’Brien accidentally triggers a computer programme designed to put down a rebellion by the Cardassian station’s former Bajoran workforce.
Civil Defense gives most of the show’s main characters – including Jake Sisko – something to do, putting together groups or pairs of characters who always work well together and provide a ton of entertainment. Quark and Odo help to keep things light – and so does Dukat, to an extent, when he arrives to offer his “assistance!” All in all, an exciting and surprisingly fun outing.
So that’s it!
The USS Enterprise in The Wrath of Khan.
We’ve taken a look at twenty fantastic Star Trek episodes from across the franchise, getting a great mix of modern and older episodes. Hopefully this will help me regain some of my lost standing as a Trekkie after my list a few days ago!
All jokes aside, though, there’s a ton of fun to be had with Star Trek. Put all twenty of these episodes together in a playlist and you’ve got a hugely entertaining Star Trek marathon that will take you from the very beginnings of the franchise in 1966 right the way through to the most recent seasons that have only just been broadcast. It was a blast to go back and revisit all of these wonderful episodes.
The Star Trek franchise – including all series, films, and episodes mentioned 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Wrath of Khan, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Discovery.
It only really hit me when I was sitting at my desk, creating the header image for this review: this is the final episode of Star Trek: Picard. This will be the last time I crop still frames, the last time I have to warn you about spoilers… the last time I review a brand-new episode of this series. There will be plenty of opportunities in the weeks, months, and years ahead to look back at Picard – and I have no doubt we’ll do just that. But for now, suffice to say that I already feel a swirling mass of emotions as the series comes to an end.
I’d waited more than eighteen years for Remembrance– the premiere episode of Season 1. In all of that time, Star Trek had looked backwards. Prequels, spin-offs, and and alternate timeline had all told some fun stories and kept the franchise going, but my Star Trek era – the late 24th Century – had been sidelined. Picard was the show that brought it back, and that brought back Jean-Luc Picard and other incredible characters. I was so passionately excited when I sat down to watch Remembrance a little over three years ago… and it’s been a journey, to say the least!
The Last Generation got its own poster.
If you read my review of Võx last time, you can probably skip this one! I’m going to say more or less the same thing about The Last Generation as I did about Võx: this was a flawed episode, hamstrung by clichés, contrivances, and a badly-paced second half of the season… but I liked it anyway because of the deeply emotional storytelling that it managed to get right.
For a good hour or more after I’d first watched The Last Generation, I found myself sitting around wearing a big stupid grin – because despite the obvious flaws and issues with the episode that we’ll get into in a moment, by far my biggest takeaway was how it made me feel. That’s the success of The Last Generation – and, in a broader sense, of the final chapter of Picard’s third season as a whole. I didn’t expect to feel this way, and if you write out on paper the elements that were dumped into the story at this late stage, how they came together, how rushed much of it felt, and more, I’d have expected to come away from The Last Generation feeling disappointed. But… I don’t.
Showrunner/director Terry Matalas with the main cast.
And that’s in spite of The Last Generation being a deeply flawed outing from multiple angles. I’d go so far as to say that the episode doesn’t even feel like a finale or an ending… let alone a definitive one for a crew who should be ready to enter retirement. Think about where everyone ended up at the end of the story: Dr Crusher has been reinstated in Starfleet, Seven, Raffi, and Jack are about to head off on a new adventure, Riker and Troi appear ready to leave Nepenthe behind and find a new home, Data is just beginning to get used to his new body and newfound humanity, and the only characters who might be ready to return to their pre-Season 3 lives are Worf, Geordi, and Picard… though we didn’t see much of an indication of that in the episode itself.
And that’s before we get into the strange implications of the mid-credits scene.
You did stick around for the mid-credits scene, right? After the credits roll over the lingering overhead shot of Picard and the crew playing poker – a callback to All Good Things at the end of The Next Generation – we got one final scene. Go back and watch it if you haven’t! I’ll wait here.
You stuck around after this, right?
I guess we’ll start with what The Last Generation got wrong, as well as talk about the decisions that led to the story reaching this particular ending.
This was a rushed episode, one in which the main villain of the entire season was outsmarted and defeated in a matter of minutes. There were gripping moments of explosive action and tense drama along the way – but practically all of them would’ve benefitted from a few extra minutes. I stand by what I said last week: the decision to change track from the changelings to the Borg came too late, and there wasn’t enough time remaining to have the kind of climactic final battle that the writers wanted.
If this exact pacing problem hadn’t also afflicted Seasons 1 and 2 of Picard, it would still be deeply disappointing to see it here. But given the criticisms that both of the previous seasons of this series received for precisely this issue… quite frankly it’s unforgivable. This isn’t strictly a problem with The Last Generation, but rather with the pacing and structuring of the season as a whole. If showrunner Terry Matalas is to be trusted with a spin-off – as he and some fans are pushing hard for at the moment – then lessons have to be learned. Matalas helmed Seasons 2 and 3 of Picard, and both seasons came to a close in a mad rush, without enough time to fully explain everything.
The Enterprise-D in action.
As the dust settles, it isn’t even clear whether Vadic and her rogue changelings actually knew who they were working with, or the extent of the damage done to the Borg Collective. That side of the story evaporated with Vadic’s death a couple of weeks ago, and was barely touched in the epilogue after the Borg’s defeat. For a story that supposedly brought together two of Star Trek’s most powerful villainous factions – the Founders and the Borg – to come to an end without any on-screen interaction between them… again, it’s very odd. Something is missing here.
Realistically, if both the rogue changelings and the Borg were to be included, we needed this revelation to have come earlier. There would still have been secrets to keep – such as the inclusion of the Enterprise-D – but had the Borg reveal come sooner, and been explained better, other story elements that came to a head in The Last Generation would have flowed better and more naturally.
Behind-the-scenes on The Last Generation.
The Last Generation relies heavily on a story from two decades ago that wasn’t explained and only got the most oblique of references earlier in the season. In the Voyager finale, a time-travelling Admiral Janeway infected the Borg Collective with a “neurolytic pathogen,” devastating it. It was this event that the Borg Queen said was the cause of the decrepit state of the Collective – but for such an important story point, this needed far more explanation than it received.
Although the latter part of Picard’s third season has the feel of a production that was “made for fans,” it isn’t just hard-core Trekkies who watch the show. I have friends who aren’t immersed in the world of Star Trek who have enjoyed Picard for the sci-fi series it is on its own merit – and I suspect that a lot of more casual viewers, those who either don’t recall or didn’t watch Voyager, would have been left baffled by the Borg Queen and the Collective in general being in such a state. That this presentation of a different Borg Queen is now the third distinct version of the character to appear in Picard just adds to the confusion.
The Borg Queen.
Again, this isn’t a problem with The Last Generation on its own, nor even just of Season 3. Picard’s showrunner and writers chose to bring the Borg into focus in each of the show’s three seasons, offering different and contradictory presentations of the Collective and its leader each time. Given that the changeling storyline had worked so well for the first three-quarters of this season… perhaps a different ending could have been written, one that kept the Borg out of things. Or, alternatively, given that Seasons 2 and 3 went into production together with the same team at the helm, Season 2 could’ve been changed if this Borg ending to the series had already been decided upon.
Though we can argue it’s fitting, in a way, for Picard to be present at what appears to be the final demise of the Borg, given that he was present when the faction was introduced and was assimilated by them, the way this story unfolded doesn’t actually have that much to do with Picard. The Borg’s defeat came at the hands of Janeway, who was mentioned by name several times but didn’t even make a cameo all season long. Picard himself was just sort of… there. As has been the case more or less all season long, Picard – the show’s title character and main protagonist, lest we forget – was swept along by a narrative current that was almost entirely out of his control.
Picard in the Borg Queen’s chamber.
Because the reveal of the Borg’s involvement came so late in the story – partway into the ninth episode of a ten-episode season – Jack’s “defection” to the Collective already felt like it was built on shaky ground. There was the kernel of a good idea here, but again I feel the pacing issue causing a stumbling block. Jack’s powers manifested slowly earlier in the season, and in fact it wasn’t until several episodes in that we saw any indication that he was anything other than human at all. His decision to run away last week was blitzed through in a matter of seconds, and his reconciliation in The Last Generation was likewise rushed.
Reaching out to someone and using “love” to bring them back from a dark place is a bit of a cliché, but it’s hardly the worst that Season 3 has offered up. The way it was handled worked well enough in the moment – though I would argue that Dr Crusher, rather than Picard, would surely have been better-placed to try to convince Jack to stand down. Although we’ve seen a developing relationship between Picard and his son, the events of Season 3 have taken place over a few days at most, meaning the connection between Jack and Dr Crusher is going to be far stronger.
Picard and Jack embrace inside the Borg Collective.
Given the remarkably similar premise between Jack’s story here at the end of Season 3 and Dr Jurati’s toward the end of Season 2, it’s a shame that she and her Borg faction couldn’t appear. In fact, the whole end of Season 2, with the mysterious, unexplained anomaly attacking the Federation, has now passed its last chance to get any kind of resolution. At this late stage I wasn’t expecting that to happen – but it’s again indicative of Picard as a whole being a deeply troubled and poorly-managed production. Lessons need to be learned going forward so that future Star Trek projects don’t suffer similar shortcomings.
As I said last week when discussing the Borg, Jack’s story would feel stronger – and certainly more original – were it not basically a re-hashing of Dr Jurati’s story from last season. Dr Jurati felt lonely, isolated, and without friends – and found those things in the Borg. Jack felt lonely, isolated, and without friends… and also sought out those things from the Borg. Jack’s defection feels weaker, in some respects, because of the way it was set up, and the fact that it’s no longer an original idea further diminishes it.
Jack was able to break free of the Borg Collective thanks to Picard.
Several characters displayed skills in The Last Generation that are either perfectly aligned with things we’ve seen them do in the past, or that felt like natural evolutions based on the story the season has told. Dr Crusher manning the Enterprise-D’s weapons is a case in point: after two decades away from Starfleet, operating outside of the Federation under dangerous conditions, she knows her way around a phaser bank and torpedo launcher!
But Deanna Troi exhibited a telepathic skill that we’ve never seen her use before, being able to pinpoint Riker’s location as if by magic. There were opportunities earlier in the season to set this up, such as the conversation Troi and Riker had while imprisoned aboard the Shrike. As it is, this newfound ability felt like a magical solution to a story that had rather written itself into a corner – a cheap way to allow the Enterprise-D to swoop in and save everyone at the last second.
Deanna Troi on the bridge.
Unlike some of the other points I’ve raised, this one isn’t even a question of timing or pacing. It would’ve required an extra handful of lines of dialogue in an earlier episode, explaining that Troi had been honing her abilities or that when she used her “pain removal” skill on Riker she’d done so at a distance. That small amount of setup would’ve allowed this moment to flow far more naturally, and wouldn’t have led to me rolling my eyes quite so much!
A clever and well-executed misdirect can add a lot to a story, particularly if the stakes are high. But even with that caveat, I have to say that the excessive “foreshadowing” of the deaths of Riker and Picard in particular fell very flat for me in The Last Generation. The episode dedicated an inordinate amount of time to setting up that the away team wouldn’t be returning from the sojourn to the Borg Cube… only for everyone to survive. Stripping some of this out would’ve still allowed The Last Generation to keep the tension high, but would’ve blunted the impression that it was deliberately deceitful. Not only that, taking a few of these scenes away would’ve opened up other possibilities, such as spending a bit more time with the Borg Queen.
There was a lot of foreshadowing that wasn’t paid off.
There’s nothing wrong with an episode feeling like a throwback to an earlier style of storytelling – especially in a story with such a strong nostalgic component. But even with that in mind, the fact that all of the main characters survived the story was a bit of a surprise. Television storytelling has changed a lot since The Next Generation premiered in 1987, and main characters should no longer consider themselves to be safe just because of their status. To the episode’s credit, it genuinely felt like Picard, Riker, and Worf were all in danger during their mission… but nothing substantial came of that, and we even got a deus ex machina rescue right at the end.
Killing off a legacy character was always going to be controversial, and I’m sure that if someone hadn’t survived, there’d have been criticism from some quarters. But a well-timed character death can feel right, conveying how high the stakes are, paying off a character arc, or making an heroic sacrifice. Star Trek has done all of these things before in different ways, and I feel it would have strengthened not only The Last Generation but Season 3 as a whole if a well-written end could’ve come for one of our main characters.
Jack and Picard were both saved at the last second.
Part of the reason for that is that, for all the buildup, The Last Generation doesn’t really feel like an ending. It feels more like All Good Things than The Undiscovered Country, with a new chapter for some or even all of these characters seemingly ready to be written. I’m all for leaving the door ajar, with possibilities on the table… but this season was supposed to be the “final” outing for this crew. Only Picard seems ready to enter retirement – and even that feels questionable as he reunited with Dr Crusher to escort Jack to his first ever Starfleet posting.
All Good Things was clearly part of the inspiration for the epilogue at the end of the episode, particularly the poker sequence. But All Good Things was written and produced at a time when the cast and crew knew that Generations was literally days away from entering production. It didn’t need to be a definitive end… because it was never meant to be. Season 3 as a whole, and The Last Generation in particular, was billed as the final voyage of this crew. And yet it ended in such a way as to suggest that practically everyone has at least one more adventure yet to come.
Riker, Picard, and La Forge on the Enterprise-D.
The final fight against the Borg Queen brought with it a lot of tropes. The Enterprise-D blasted its way along the surface of the Queen’s oversized vessel almost like an X-Wing running the Death Star trench in Star Wars, and though this sequence was visually exciting – and technically perfect from an animation point of view – it was again something that was rushed. The buildup to this sequence was blitzed through, thanks in part to the decision to spend so much time setting up character deaths that ultimately didn’t come.
Starships and the way they operate have always been vague; adaptable to different kinds of stories. Given the size discrepancy between the Enterprise-D and the Borg Queen’s mega-cube, I don’t think it’s any kind of “problem” to see the Enterprise-D move as quickly as it does and with such fluidity – and this sequence felt like an updated, modernised version of the starship’s clashes with Borg vessels in episodes like Q Who and The Best of Both Worlds.
The “Death Star trench run!”
I think my biggest eye-roll in The Last Generation came as the Enterprise-D swooped down for a last-second rescue, literally appearing in the “sky” above the Borg Queen’s chamber. Both in terms of narrative and visual presentation, this was just such an overdone trope. Across the sci-fi genre and into action, adventure, and more… we’ve seen this kind of ending so many times.
Part of the reason why this moment fell so flat for me was, I suspect, because The Last Generation hadn’t made good on any of its foreshadowed character deaths. The rescue of the survivors might’ve been more impactful had one or two of these characters lost their lives along the way. But a combination of the trope itself, its previously-unseen telepathic “magic” setup, and the fact that it rescued all of the main characters from a supposedly impossible situation… it all came together to feel like a clichéd ending.
The Enterprise-D saves the day!
I stand by what I said last time: the presentation of the Borg Queen feels quite diminished in light of what we saw in Season 2. The idea of a decrepit, weakened Borg Queen was an interesting one – but not one that The Last Generation found much time to explore. She leaned very heavily into the “I’m evil for the sake of it” villain trope, far more so than earlier presentations of the Borg Queen, who seemed to have an overarching goal in mind for the Collective. However, I can forgive that trope in light of the collapse of the Borg Collective; the idea that she’d use the last of her power to seek revenge on Starfleet makes sense.
As Jack was liberated from the Collective, and particularly as the Enterprise-D came racing in to save the day, though, the characterisation of the Borg Queen fell apart. Another huge part of why this sequence felt so clichéd was the Borg Queen’s screams of “noooo!” as her plan unravelled. This is the kind of thing that you expect to see from the supervillains of children’s comic books, or the bad guys in a Saturday morning cartoon, as their evil scheme is defeated. Again, this whole sequence was so much less interesting than it could’ve been.
“Nooooooo!” screams the defeated villain.
But now we have to contend with a question that I asked last week: does any of that matter? The clichés, the overused tropes, the basic, formulaic story, the cookie-cutter plot, the poor pacing, the underused yet also played-out villain… none of it really feels like it gets in the way of a fantastic, thoroughly enjoyable romp with Picard and the crew.
Even though The Last Generation absolutely fails to feel like an ending in any sense of the word for basically any of its characters, it’s still a more enjoyable send-off and final mission than the crew of the Enterprise-D got in Nemesis. If this is to be their final outing (and I wouldn’t bet against Paramount considering some kind of Picard TV movie or even theatrical release, given the strong reception to Season 3) then we can finally say that this crew went out on a high.
All safe and sound on the bridge.
And it’s a high because of the emotional storytelling that manages to play the nostalgia card in a way that works. This was another “made for fans” outing, one that leaned heavily into The Next Generation, Voyager, and really all of Star Trek’s past. If you’d told me at the start that the season finale would be like this, I’d have been sceptical – fearing that it would come across as a nostalgia overload. And frankly that’s what The Last Generation is: an episode that sacrifices narrative integrity for the sake of nostalgia.
Maybe it’s the blinkers of nostalgia speaking, as The Next Generation was my way into the Star Trek fandom more than thirty years ago, but I can’t hold that against Picard. It worked for me – and if that’s because I’m a basic bitch, blinded by nostalgia to the obvious flaws and gaping holes of a mediocre story… then so be it! I’ll be a basic bitch all day long.
The Enterprise-D arrives at Earth.
There’s more to storytelling than canon, consistency, and even logic. These things all matter, don’t get me wrong – but in a story like The Last Generation, it’s just that they matter far less than how the episode makes us feel. And for me at least, though I recognise with a critical (some might say cynical or jaded) eye that the episode and its narrative have flaws, almost the entire time I was on the edge of my seat, truly going through all of the emotions with Picard, Riker, and the rest of the crew as their mission unfolded.
As happened last week, that’s my real takeaway from The Last Generation. The fact that I was roped in, entertained, and went through a rollercoaster of emotions with Jean-Luc Picard and the crew more than makes up for any logical inconsistencies or narrative missteps that the episode made.
Picard toward the end of the episode.
The idea that Picard, Riker, Worf, or anyone else might actually be killed – as was extensively foreshadowed and hinted at – was gripping, and more than a little upsetting. Death felt like it was stalking the members of the away team – and those on the bridge of the Enterprise-D or trying to remain in control of the Titan scarcely felt much safer, either. This feeling persisted for much of the episode, and though the way in which it ended was ultimately a little unsatisfying because of everyone surviving, in another way that’s very “Star Trek.” Heroes like Captain Kirk famously didn’t believe in no-win scenarios – and Picard managed to pull off the impossible task of saving everyone.
Animation brought these stories to life in spectacular form – and thinking back to the finale of Picard’s first season just three years ago, it’s amazing how far Paramount and Star Trek have come. The fleets and ships seen in The Last Generation were beautiful and diverse, and seeing Spacedock as Earth’s last line of defence against a massive, imposing armada was a truly stunning sight.
Spacedock and the assimilated fleet.
Both the Titan and Enterprise-D were beautiful, too, and both ships performed incredible feats as they battled their foes. Seeing the Titan in action, taking on the entire assembled fleet, was spectacular to see – and it found another narrative justification for the cloaking device that Jack and Sidney “borrowed” a few episodes ago!
Seven and Raffi hadn’t had as much to do this season as I’d hoped – but the moments they got in The Last Generation showed both characters at their best. Part of the reason fans are so hyped up for a potential spin-off is to see more from Seven of Nine, and The Last Generation added to and rounded out her arc across all three seasons of Picard by placing her, once again, in the captain’s chair. This time, we got to see her people skills – being able to inspire and protect the motley crew of survivors on the bridge was pitch-perfect.
This was a good episode for Seven of Nine.
Again, my only real criticism of this part of the story is that I could’ve happily spent more time with Seven of Nine and the crew of the Titan! As Picard and his crew worked to stop the Borg Queen, Seven and hers provided essential covering fire – and the way that this came across was outstanding. Seven, Raffi, and their assembled survivors felt in danger practically the entire time, especially as the Titan’s cloak was destroyed and its assimilated youngsters made their way back to the bridge.
As unsold as I’ve been on Data’s resurrection this season, the character dynamic between Data and Geordi has been cute – and this trend continued in The Last Generation. Geordi sat beside Data on the bridge of the Enterprise-D – as he had in The Next Generation’s first season – and they had some fun and exciting moments together.
Data.
Likewise Riker and Worf! These two characters had a great relationship during The Next Generation era, serving together and often taking part in away missions. It was a treat to see them teamed up once again, and the dynamic they had aboard the Borg vessel added a lot of comedy to what was an otherwise serious story. Jonathan Frakes and Michael Dorn have great chemistry and comedic timing together, and the moments of lightheartedness through what was a dangerous mission really elevated the sequences aboard the Borg vessel.
Picard’s act of sacrifice required him to “jack in” to the Borg Collective – voluntarily assimilating himself. As the culmination of Picard’s arc with the Borg, this was a fascinating idea. Picard had already come to terms with aspects of his Borg experience in First Contact and in Seasons 1 and 2 of this series, so it wasn’t totally original or new – and that might’ve improved it, perhaps. But making this sacrificial move was clever, and fits right in with themes that the entire series has touched upon in different ways.
Picard jacks in.
I’m glad that Tuvok survived his ordeal with the changelings – though I would’ve liked to have seen how he and others may have been rescued. Again, this is something a longer season might’ve been able to include. But his scene with Seven, in which she was promoted to captain, was a very sweet part of the epilogue.
I’m not sure how I feel about the return of Q. As I said last year after Q had been “killed” in Season 2, bringing him back to life – especially with the kind of hand-wavey explanation of “don’t think in such linear terms” – undermines one of the few remaining narrative points propping up the entirety of Picard’s disappointing second season. For the sake of such a brief cameo… I wouldn’t have included Q here, I think.
Q is back.
One cameo that I adored was Walter Koenig – who sadly only appeared in audio form – as Anton Chekov, the son (or grandson) of Pavel Chekov. I jokingly said a few weeks ago in one of my theory updates that Chekov would be an unlikely inclusion this season… but it turns out I’m rather prophetic!
The name Anton was presumably chosen in memory of Anton Yelchin, who portrayed the character of Chekov in the Kelvin timeline films. This was a sweet way to memorialize him. Bringing Walter Koenig in for a cameo really brings together all of Star Trek. This finale began last week with a callback to Enterprise, Koenig represents The Original Series, and we have main characters from across The Next Generation era. It really was a celebration of all things Trek!
Data and Geordi listening to President Chekov.
There’s more to say – but we’ll have to return to The Last Generation and Season 3 on another occasion.
This review took me a long time to finish, having started it on the day the episode premiered. I had an original draft ready by last weekend, but I wasn’t happy with it so I ended up deleting and re-writing large parts of it. Keeping up with Picard this season has been a struggle, and I think I’m ready for a bit of a break from these reviews! Thankfully, the Star Trek franchise seems to be better-paced this year, and there’s a break before Strange New Worlds Season 2 arrives in June.
I enjoyed The Last Generation – in spite of its shortcomings. It was a great way to end the season, and it potentially sets up a spin-off set in this same time period, which is something I truly hope can happen.
So long, Captain Picard!
So we come to the end of Season 3… and of Star Trek: Picard. In the weeks and months ahead we’ll return to The Last Generation and to Season 3, perhaps taking a deeper look at some of the individual characters, narrative points, and themes – and dissecting them! But for now, I’m about ready to put this review to bed and move on to other topics!
I’ll round up my theory list sometime soon, too. But for now, I hope you enjoyed following along with my Picard reviews this season. Season 3 was an improvement on Season 2, without a doubt, and for the most part I had a good time with it.
Stick around, because the website isn’t going anywhere! There’s Strange New Worlds to come this summer, the video game Star Trek: Resurgence, and Discovery’s final season in early 2024. In between I’ll be re-watching older films and episodes, crafting theories, previewing upcoming projects, and talking about other franchises, too. Thanks for bearing with me while I was writing this review, and I hope to see you soon!
Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States and other countries and territories where the service is available, and on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and around the world. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-3, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Prodigy, and potentially minor spoilers for Star Trek: Section 31.
Second time lucky?
Paramount will certainly be hoping so, because this is the second time they’ve tried to get Star Trek: Section 31 off the ground! Originally envisioned as a television series, this latest announcement is something new for the Star Trek franchise: Section 31 will come directly to Paramount+ as a kind of “TV movie.” Reading between the lines, I think we can expect a lower budget than a full theatrical film, but perhaps a higher budget than would be afforded to a miniseries or a couple of episodes of a regular show.
If Section 31 proves to be a success with this format, I wouldn’t be surprised to see other Star Trek projects created in the same mould. As I said last year when discussing Short Treks, there’s a lot of potential in one-off stories – and with the sets having already been built for the likes of Picard and Strange New Worlds, there could also be a relatively low cost of entry, too.
The official announcement graphic.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves!
Off the back of Michelle Yeoh’s success at the Oscars and Golden Globes, her star has risen significantly. It’s a coup for Paramount to have won her back, there’s no two ways about it. Yeoh could have chosen to pursue other projects – she will have had no shortage of offers after Everything Everywhere All At Once took the world by storm – so it’s significant for both Paramount and the Star Trek franchise that she’s been convinced to come back.
With Michelle Yeoh at the helm, there’s potential for Section 31 to pick up a lot more interest and attention than it otherwise might’ve done – and that can only be a positive thing! We’ve talked before about how Star Trek needs to win over new viewers, and how the franchise needs to get new fans through the door. A project like Section 31 could be a gateway into Star Trek for legions of new viewers – at least some of whom will stick around. The potential for the franchise and the fandom to grow is significant – and growth is the only way to ensure that Star Trek will continue to be produced.
Paramount hopes this project will bring in a large audience…
Over the past couple of years I’ve talked about Section 31 a handful of times here on the website, and my overriding thought has been this: Paramount screwed this up. By announcing the project far too early, and at a time when fans were just about to get excited for the return of Captain Pike, Section 31 was dead on arrival. And it was such a shame, because by the time the groundwork had been properly laid for the project in Discovery’s third season, it was something I’d come around to.
This revival is, let’s be honest here, driven almost entirely by Michelle Yeoh’s success and Paramount’s wish to capitalise on it. I don’t think there’s much of a creative or artistic side to it – this is a commercial decision. As was the decision to dump the original Section 31 concept into development hell. In that case, Paramount saw the appetite for a Pike spin-off and prioritised that idea ahead of Section 31. This time, the board has seen the success Michelle Yeoh has had and has pulled out all the stops to bring her back to Star Trek.
Michelle Yeoh at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards.
But by the time Georgiou departed Discovery in the two-part episode Terra Firma, she’d undergone a significant shift in her characterisation – and was finally ready to take the lead in Section 31. If only Paramount had announced the project at that stage instead of two years earlier!
A TV movie feels like a good compromise for a franchise that’s in danger of burning out. With Starfleet Academy having just been announced as a new series, and growing calls for a Picard spin-off, I’m not sure that another series would’ve been the right call, especially with the Star Trek franchise continuing to have different eras and timelines on the go simultaneously. A TV movie could certainly lead to something more – either in the form of a sequel or a series – if it proves to be a huge hit. But for now at least, this feels like a surprisingly good call from a corporation that has made very few of those over the last few years.
Michelle Yeoh during production on Discovery’s first season/
The story that Section 31 will tell is going to be kept under wraps for a long time – and we might not see it until 2025 or even 2026. It’s my hope that Section 31 won’t feel like a re-hash of some of Star Trek’s recent “the whole galaxy is in danger!!!” stories that have been prevalent in Discovery, Picard, and even Prodigy in recent years. The writers need to find a way to take advantage of the secretive organisation to tell a different kind of story – a kind of black ops/spy thriller that might best be summed up as “Star Trek does James Bond.”
Besides Michelle Yeoh, there are other Discovery alumni who could potentially join the cast – though no announcements have been made at this stage. Shazad Latif, who played Ash Tyler in Discovery’s first and second seasons, is perhaps the most likely candidate, and I’d be interested to see what might’ve become of Tyler after his run-ins with Michael Burnham and the USS Discovery!
Could Section 31 bring back Ash Tyler?
There’s also the potential for Section 31 to cross over in some way with Strange New Worlds, with the TV movie potentially debuting the same year as that show’s third season. The end of Discovery’s second season certainly implied that Captain Pike was aware of Georgiou’s true identity, and bringing him into the story could make for the kind of team-up event that Star Trek really ought to consider doing more of. If Section 31 were to aim for a 2026 release, coinciding with the Star Trek franchise’s 60th anniversary, it could even be billed as an anniversary event.
There’s been far more of a positive reception to the announcement of Section 31 in 2023 than there was to its premature announcement more than four years ago, and that’s good news. The project feels much more solid this time around, and is almost certain to get off the ground and escape the gravitational pull of development hell. Partly that’s thanks to Michelle Yeoh’s newfound stature as an award winner – but it’s also, at least in part, thanks to the development of her character across Season 2 and especially Season 3 of Discovery. The more grounded, nuanced, and dare I say more human presentation of Georgiou toward the end of her tenure on Discovery is what has made her into the kind of antihero that fans can root for.
Star Trek will celebrate its sixtieth anniversary in 2026.
So I can now say I’m genuinely looking forward to Section 31… even though I have no idea when it will be set, who it might include, or what kind of story it will aim to tell! As a standalone Star Trek project it represents a genuinely different format that the franchise hasn’t really attempted before – albeit one that could, perhaps, lead to a more traditional series if it proves a runaway success.
There’s a lot more potential in Section 31 today than there was when its original announcement in early 2019 flopped and failed to get off the ground, and I think you can see that in the positive reaction both within the Star Trek fan community and outside of it. Michelle Yeoh brings a star power to Star Trek that’s unprecedented, at least in the franchise’s modern incarnation, and the effect of that should be to bring more eyes to Star Trek – and to Paramount Plus – than it’s seen in a long time. It may not be an exaggeration in the years ahead to say that Section 31 shored up Star Trek and set the stage for its future success.
Until then, I hope you’ll stay tuned here on Trekking with Dennis! As and when we get more news about Section 31, details about the cast, teasers and trailers, and the like, I’ll do my best to discuss and analyse it all. And when Section 31 is ready, you can expect a full review, too!
Star Trek: Section 31 will premiere on Paramount Plus in the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries and territories where the platform is available at an unknown future date. Further international distribution has not been announced. The Star Trek franchise – including Section 31, 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Wrath of Khan, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Discovery.
First of all, before we say anything else: Võx might be the most important episode of the season to go into un-spoiled. If you’ve somehow stumbled upon this review before watching the episode – and you decided to ignore Captain Stiles issuing a “spoiler alert” above – this is your last chance to nope out before we get into major spoiler territory. I was lucky to have avoided spoilers before watching Võx, and the episode will be infinitely more enjoyable for you if you can do the same.
Võx is a hard one to review with any semblance of objectivity. It’s an episode “made for fans,” and it hit some absolutely incredible emotional notes, particularly in the closing few minutes. As someone who first came to Star Trek in the early ’90s by way of The Next Generation, and who found comfort in that show as a lonely adolescent, it’s hard to even find words to fully express how incredible some of these sequences were with Picard and his reunited crew.
You know me well enough by now to know that there’s a “but” coming, though.
The Enterprise-F.
But at the same time, Võx prioritised these emotional sequences of pure fan-service over narrative cohesion, and my overriding concern is that the story has reached this point too late in the game – leaving the final episode of the season, and the series, with too much work to do to pull out a successful ending. This problem plagued both Seasons 1 and 2 of Picard, and I can’t help but feel that lessons have not been learned from those stories.
There were logically inconsistent moments spread throughout Võx, moments that could have worked if more time and explanation had been dedicated to them, but that fell flat – or even felt downright laughable – because of how unoriginal, trope-laden, or just plain ridiculous they were. Some scenes and sequences that needed more time dedicated to them were blitzed through in minutes or even seconds, and while the incredible sequences with Picard and his old crew basically wipe away many of those criticisms – or at least they did in the moment – when trying to look at the story through another lens, they seriously challenge and even potentially undermine the entire affair.
Picard is back in the captain’s chair.
As I said last week, the eight-episode chase with Vadic has proven to be a complete and utter waste. Vadic was a bland, unoriginal, and boring villain who accomplished very little, and whose over-the-top performance didn’t come close to finding a narrative justification. That on its own was already problematic for the story of the season, but the revelation in Võx that the Borg have been directing this conspiracy now feels like it has come too late in the game.
There have been hints and teases at a Borg connection to the story all season long – and I’m glad that those received a narrative payoff, don’t get me wrong – but is there enough time now to do justice to this story? The preceding eight episodes – a full 80% of the season-long story – now feel like a preamble; the prologue to what will be a remarkably short main event.
Sidney La Borg.
Last week, I made a comparison to The Wrath of Khan, and said that Vadic’s death coming in the eighth part of a ten-part story is akin to Khan having been killed when there was still half an hour left in the film. Now we can add to that metaphor and say that this story compares to Khan having been killed while there was still half an hour left, and it was subsequently revealed that the Klingons had secretly been pulling his strings all along. Would such a revelation have made the film better? Or do stories work best when they have a clearly defined antagonist who fills the role for the duration?
There’s another point that’s been bugging me, and I’ve struggled with finding the right word for it. Picard Seasons 2 and 3 went into production back-to-back, with the same production and writing team involved in both stories. With that in mind, these two seasons feel remarkably jumbled and even contradictory – the story leaps from one version of the Borg and the Borg Queen to another, sees two structurally similar re-emergences of the Borg play out, and seems to completely ignore its own earlier chapters.
Guess who’s back?
This is something we’ll have to tackle in the future when we do some kind of retrospective look at Star Trek: Picard as a whole, but I feel echoes of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, at least in terms of the way in which production was handled. And no, I don’t mean that in any way as a compliment! Like the Star Wars sequels, Picard was cleaved into three parts. Like the Star Wars sequels, one production team took the helm for two of those parts. And like the Star Wars sequels, the decision to split up the story has led to some seriously questionable narrative decisions.
But that’s a conversation for another day!
Not for the first time in Star Trek: Picard, a genuinely interesting, exciting, and engaging storyline has been presented – but was let down by overused clichés, insufficient explanations, and unnecessary time constraints. The idea that the Borg would ally with (or take advantage of) a rogue group of changelings, combining their powers together to take on Starfleet, is a fascinating one – in theory. Likewise, the Borg having biotechnology far beyond the capabilities of the Federation, and insidiously using that to take over Starfleet, was an incredible shock, and a concept that fits right in with everything we know about both of these factions.
This explanation was clever.
But Võx was imperfect in its execution of these fascinating ideas, and Picard’s third season as a whole spent an awfully long time arriving at this point. With only one episode left, which on current form will be somewhere less than an hour long, is there enough time to fully explore this changeling-Borg team-up, undo the damage to the Federation, save Jack and the La Forge sisters, and protect Earth from the “assimilated” Federation fleet?
As the ninth part of a ten-episode story, Võx repeated the problem that Et in Arcadia Ego had in Season 1 by dumping all of this into the story at a very late stage. Surely there must’ve been ways to keep some secrets while revealing others earlier in the season – to move the story along at a more reasonable pace, reaching this point sooner, allowing for more time to do justice to some of these wonderfully creative ideas.
Did we reach this point in the story too late?
Let’s talk about some of these tropes and clichés, because they let down what could have been a far more entertaining episode – and I’m afraid that there really is no excuse for them other than uninspired writing.
Firstly we have Jack’s conversation with Deanna, his confrontation with Picard, and particularly his escape from the Titan. After so many teases of the “red door” that I’ve lost count, having Deanna run away from Jack without revealing what she saw – and without the episode letting us see what she could see – wasn’t the best or strongest way to start. If I were to nitpick, I’d also say that Deanna choosing not to tell Jack what she saw, and experiencing such fear, feels out-of-character for her. That she’d tell Jack’s parents what she knew without informing Jack himself is, in Jack’s own words, “unethical.”
This sequence wasn’t great – though I’m glad Troi finally got something to do!
Jack’s escape from the Titan was poorly-scripted, with practically every character aside from Jack himself behaving in profoundly odd ways. After their clash in Jack’s quarters, Picard simply stood around, not bothering to give chase, contact anyone on the Titan, order a lockdown… or do anything at all to prevent Jack from leaving. Perhaps Jack’s Borg-given superpowers would have made his escape inevitable, but Picard should have done something beyond standing there yelling his name.
I literally laughed out loud when Picard and Dr Crusher were stood at the window, haplessly watching Jack’s shuttle warp away – such was the absolute anticlimax of this sequence. And again, this is a consequence of season-long pacing: had some of the extraneous fluff been cut from the past couple of episodes, we could have had more of an involved sequence depicting Jack’s escape. One that might have felt a little less contrived.
I laughed out loud at this moment.
Technobabble in Star Trek can be used to cover all manner of sins – including weak story points! But even with the caveat that “technobabble solves everything,” the way in which the technology and universe of Star Trek behaves has to be basically internally consistent from one story to the next, and there can’t be too much hacking away at the foundations of how some of these computers, machines, and equipment have been known to operate for literally decades.
With that in mind, the idea that the Titan would be unable to locate Jack’s shuttle – which had departed a matter of seconds earlier with everyone watching – simply because he “deactivated its transponder” doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t gel with how sensors have always been shown to operate in practically every other Star Trek story, and while I will give credit for Võx re-using this idea later with Picard’s crew taking their shuttle using a similar loophole, for me, it was a bridge too far in terms of technobabble. I’ve written before that internal consistency is the bedrock of suspension of disbelief in any story, so when a new chapter makes changes on the fly to established technologies that are too big, the gulf between what we’ve seen before and what’s currently unfolding becomes too large to cross. That’s what happened at this moment in Võx. It was too great a contrivance for me – though in a stronger story, perhaps it’s something that would have felt less of an important point.
Suddenly being unable to scan for a shuttlecraft was a major contrivance.
I can understand Dr Crusher and Picard jumping the gun and rushing to talk to Jack before they were ready. They’re emotionally compromised by their ties to Jack and, in Picard’s case, an overwhelming sense of guilt for passing this genetic condition to his son. But the others – Deanna, Data, and Geordi in particular – should have been the level-headed ones here. We saw moments later that they had been able to learn a great deal about Jack’s condition, so if Picard could’ve gone into his conversation with Jack armed with some of that knowledge, it feels like Jack’s need to run away might have been avoided altogether.
Again, this is a contrivance – characters behaving in illogical ways to serve the plot. Such contrivances can pass by inoffensively, and they have in many other Star Trek stories, I daresay! But here, as I watched the discussion of Jack’s condition and the revelation of what’s happened to him, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t particularly well-written.
The situation with Jack could (and should) have been handled better.
The firefight in which Captain Shaw lost his life also played out like a tired trope. Dozens of blasts of phaser fire from assimilated Starfleet crewmen evaporated into thin air the second Shaw was hit, and the convenient end of the battle allowed Seven and Raffi to rush to his side. There are many ways to script and film heroic deaths without falling back on such overdone clichés… and it was a bit of a disappointment that the firefight in the Titan’s hallway ended this way.
Captain Shaw’s death was certainly dramatic, and I felt a pang of emotion in the moment thanks in part to an evocative performance from Jeri Ryan and an excellent musical score. But at the same time, Shaw feels like the lowest of low-hanging fruit to kill off, especially at this late stage in the story. The writers clearly wanted to get the impact of killing off a major character – but didn’t want to risk killing off a legacy character, at least not until everyone had taken their places on board the Enterprise-D.
Captain Shaw died this week.
Shaw served two purposes earlier in the season. He got in the way of Picard and Riker as they tried to jump-start their rescue mission, and his big blow-up with Picard about Locutus and Wolf-359 was the most significant reference to the Borg prior to the events of Võx. But since his emotional outburst, which came all the way back in the episode No Win Scenario half a season ago, Shaw has felt completely listless and unnecessary to the story. He’s been sidelined and kept out of the decision-making on his own ship, showing none of the backbone that he seemed to have in the season premiere.
Worse, Shaw’s continued mistreatment and deadnaming of Seven of Nine passed several opportunities for a resolution – and while there was a sweetness, in a way, to his seeming acceptance of her with his dying breath, it wasn’t the best way for this storyline to have progressed. In some ways, we can argue that Shaw actually regressed as a character after the events of No Win Scenario and Surrender in particular.
Captain Shaw used Seven’s real name with his last breath.
So by the time we arrived at Shaw’s end this week, two things struck me. Firstly, Shaw’s irrelevance to the story for the past few episodes, and the uninspired resolution to his conflict with Seven of Nine, come together to mean that his death could’ve come sooner – and that the story of the season as a whole might’ve been better for it.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Shaw’s death had an impact, demonstrating the high stakes and danger that the crew are now facing. But it wasn’t as impactful as it could’ve been, and killing off someone who is still very much a secondary character is less significant at this juncture than killing off someone more major.
The choice to kill off Captain Shaw – rather than another character – feels like the writers taking the safest route.
The decision for Raffi and Seven to remain aboard the Titan also feels narratively incoherent. Again, the writers and director/showrunner Terry Matalas clearly (and pretty desperately, it seems) wanted the reunion scene on the bridge of the Enterprise-D to consist of only characters from The Next Generation – which is why Seven and Raffi didn’t escape with the others. But the way in which they ended up abandoned aboard the Titan was poor; there was seemingly no reason why they couldn’t have boarded the shuttle with Picard and the others.
Maybe having Raffi and Seven staying on the Titan will lead to something significant next time – and I certainly hope that will be the case, or this will feel even more wasteful than it already does. But even assuming that hope comes to pass, there were better and more natural ways that they could have been trapped or forced to remain behind. Again, I feel the consequences of a season that padded out key storylines over the past few episodes and arrived at this stage with a lot to cram into a forty-five-minute runtime. A couple of extra minutes with Raffi and Seven in the aftermath of Shaw’s demise could have logically explained why they couldn’t board the shuttle, and would have gone a long way to strengthening this sequence.
Seven and Raffi are stuck on the Titan.
One line of technobabble leapt out at me in Võx, and it’s one that I fear could become problematic. One of the key narrative conceits of the episode is the Borg’s newfound ability to transmit their programming through biological means, specifically through a DNA sequence that afflicts the frontal cortex of the brain. I actually thought that this was a really neat idea, one that magnifies the threat that the Borg pose and simultaneously reinforces the idea that the Borg are still light-years ahead of the Federation in technological terms.
It was also a clever idea, especially in a story whose protagonists are older, to have this newfound Borg ability only impact younger members of the crew. That’s something that gives a reason for Picard and his old crew to work together – though it’s a justification for bringing back these characters that comes after they’ve already reunited! But when the story has dealt with themes of family, of parent-child relations, and of inheritance, it’s something that fits.
The Borg have modified Picard’s and Jack’s DNA.
However, there’s a real-world comparison that really bugs me in the way this was explained and brought to screen. I will caveat this by saying that I’m sure this story point wasn’t intended to be taken this way… but there are uncomfortable comparisons that exist nonetheless. In some anti-transgender circles, one line of attack that is particularly deployed against younger trans people is that “their brains aren’t developed enough” to make a decision about their gender identities. Specifically, this attack centres on the development of the frontal cortex and the age at which it supposedly stops developing – something that, of course, varies from person to person.
Although this idea is based on real-world science, I can’t help but feel that its inclusion in Võx may not have been the best idea given the situation out here in the real world. There are already a lot of anti-trans organisations here in the UK that are trying to contort science to support their views, and something like this is unhelpful at best. At worst, it risks adding fuel to the fire. I have no doubt that the writers and creative team didn’t intend for this line of technobabble to be taken so seriously, let alone be used as some kind of anti-trans metaphor. But that interpretation is present and it isn’t a total leap.
Worf and Geordi explaining the DNA modifications.
Võx has all of these imperfections and flaws, and key narrative points rely on tropes and clichés that have been done to death – and done far better in other stories, come to that. It’s worth pointing these out because the issues with the episode aren’t merely a consequence of narrative decisions taken earlier in the season, nor are they problems necessarily with the story of the season as a whole. These moments take what could have been a better episode and drag it down a rung or two, and while there are criticisms of the overall season, how long it took to reach this point, and the apparent irrelevance of much of what came before, it’s worth also noting that Võx is an imperfect offering even when taken on its own.
The question now is this: does any of that matter? All of these criticisms of Võx itself and of the occasionally ambling story… can they be overlooked, or even eradicated, by considering the strengths of the episode, and the nostalgia overload presented? See, the rational part of my mind is screaming “no!” because throwing up the nostalgia card, bringing back the Enterprise-D and the Borg Queen… it all feels so cheap. But the rational part of me is being completely drowned out by another voice, the voice of emotion. And that part of me adores practically everything we got to see this week, and is totally willing to overlook all of the contrivances and flaws that were present along the way.
The big reveal.
I’ve stated several times that I didn’t want Star Trek: Picard to try to be The Next Generation Season 8 or Nemesis 2. I wanted it to do its own thing, stand on its own two feet, drive Star Trek forward in new and different ways, and introduce some fantastic new characters who just might become fan-favourites for a new generation of fans. We’ll have to assess whether and to what extent the series as a whole accomplished any of those objectives after the dust has settled on this final outing.
But as much as I wanted to see more of the new characters, and to get Picard to a place where it could reasonably become a launchpad for other live-action Star Trek projects set in this era… again, a big part of me is on board with this TNG reunion. I genuinely didn’t expect that, especially after the disappointment I felt last year when the news emerged that most of the new characters were being jettisoned. We can argue about whether this was the right way to do it, whether this story is strong enough to move beyond those contrivances, and whether individual storylines and character arcs have worked as well as intended. But at the end of the day, seeing Picard and the crew reunited aboard the Enterprise-D, and getting that flyby of the ship itself… all of the criticisms that I had of Võx and of Season 3 seemed to melt away in the moment.
The crew arrives on the bridge.
Storytelling isn’t just canon, consistency, and logical outcomes. It isn’t just about the strength or weakness of individual storylines, whether a plot point is original or clichéd, or whether lines of technobabble stick the landing. Those points all matter, don’t get me wrong. But they aren’t the only factors.
Where Võx succeeded for me was in its emotional storytelling. It got so much right on this front, and not just the reunion of classic characters that I remember with fondness from my formative years. This was an episode that plucked all of the right emotional chords – even when it wasn’t getting every element perfect or making total sense. And this is a combination of elements: it’s cinematography and camera work, it’s the musical score, it’s visual effects, it’s acting performances, and of course, it’s the script itself. While there are undeniable flaws in Võx, the episode’s ability to pull at the heartstrings and create incredibly powerful emotional moments is its true success.
According to executive producers, this is the original dedication plaque from the set of The Next Generation.
The episode was densely packed with callbacks and references too numerous to list. The inclusion of the USS Pulaski – presumably named for Dr Kate Pulaski – was incredibly sweet, and I appreciated that the story hadn’t entirely forgotten her contributions to Star Trek. The return of Elizabeth Dennehy as Admiral Shelby was also pitch-perfect – Shelby was the up-and-coming young officer who helped Riker and co. battle the Borg in The Best of Both Worlds. As the Borg make their return, Shelby feels like a wonderfully fitting inclusion.
The speech Admiral Shelby gave brought a tear to my eye, and I’ll unashamedly admit that. As she sat on the bridge of the Enterprise-F, Shelby spoke of the NX-01 Enterprise and its original mission of exploration, laying the foundations for what would become Starfleet and the Federation. Enterprise hasn’t always been fully appreciated by Trekkies – myself included at the time of its original broadcast, regrettably – so to build this Frontier Day event on the back of Enterprise was incredibly sweet. Moments like this tie Star Trek together, especially as Enterprise premiered after The Next Generation.
Admiral Shelby’s speech was fantastic.
Shelby’s apparent death was also incredibly dramatic, being gunned down by her partially-assimilated crew as chaos was breaking out across the fleet. Although I think it’s important to concede, given the direction taken by the story and what we knew of the conspiracy by this late stage, that Shelby felt like a goner the moment she appeared on the viewscreen, her death was still dramatic, well-portrayed, and demonstrated clearly the extent of the Borg’s conquest of Starfleet.
Shelby and the captain of the USS Excelsior (which briefly appeared in Season 2) also stand as exemplars of thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of Starfleet officers who suffered similar fates during Frontier Day. The Borg-led scheme has been successful thus far, and the result is the decapitation and perhaps even the decimation of Starfleet as a whole. It wasn’t possible to show the unfolding chaos aboard multiple vessels in the fleet, so Shelby’s shock at what was rapidly transpiring around her, and her quick execution, stand in as the most brutal of examples.
The (apparent) demise of Admiral Shelby.
The Borg make a great metaphor for our collective fears of out-of-control computers, artificial intelligence, and the “technological singularity” that some have argued may lie in our future. This is something that I discuss in far greater detail in my essay The Borg: Space Zombies, which you can find by clicking or tapping here. What we saw in Võx feels – as it should do – like a modern-day adaptation of this same basic concept.
When the Borg Collective was first conceived in the ’80s, there was a technological revolution underway as computers and digitisation were transforming many aspects of life. This was the world of my childhood, and I remember arguing with my parents about getting a computer in the house – something they adamantly refused to do for a long time! But we’re drifting off-topic. The Borg at that time represented “technology gone wrong,” or what could happen to a race of technophiles if they took things to an unreasonable extreme.
The newly-assimilated Ensign Esmar.
In Võx, we see an evolution of this idea, complete with modern-day influences. The Borg in Võx “hack” into both Starfleet and into human beings – using a combination of biology and technology to do harm. The connected, linked fleet represents our globalised communications infrastructure, and the ease with which it was hacked and turned against our heroes is a warning against an overreliance on technology and artificial intelligence. Picard and his crew are forced to turn to the Enterprise-D – because it’s outdated, disconnected, and therefore perfectly-placed to save the day!
I’ve always found the Borg to be fascinating, and this Battlestar Galactica-inspired idea of using a “dumb” ship to combat the connected, “smart” ships feels like it fits perfectly with what we know of the Collective. As with the Borg’s biotechnology, this feels like a natural evolution of the Borg’s story – and of the Federation’s ongoing war against them.
Some kind of Borg transmitter… or something.
A Borg Cube was beautifully created in CGI, and the visual of it hidden in a nebula or cloud was spectacular, too. The new vessel seemed to have more illumination on the outside when compared to Borg ships seen in past iterations of Star Trek – but I actually quite liked the way it looked. Again, though, there are issues here: Jack figuring out where to go and how to get there is a moment that needed a bit more time, and I could’ve happily spent a scene or two with Jack en route to the Borg, perhaps seeing him struggling with his decision or seeing the Borg side of his mind working to suppress his human side.
Then there’s the interior of the Borg vessel. This was… not great. There were a couple of alcoves that looked decent, but overall I felt that the set design and construction could’ve been better. Looking back to scenes aboard the Artifact in Season 1 and there really is no comparison. If we aren’t going to spend too much time aboard this ship, then I guess it will pass inoffensively enough. But as the climax of a storyline for Jack Crusher that has been running all season long… I was underwhelmed with the small and unimpressive interior of the Borg Cube.
I wasn’t blown away by the set design here.
And this is another example of how the jumbled, muddled production of Star Trek: Picard as a whole series trips up Võx. Had we not seen the Artifact in Season 1, and the spectacularly frightening Borg vessel at the beginning of Season 2, this return to a Borg environment would have been far more impactful – and I could have probably overlooked the deficiencies in the presentation of the Borg ship.
The Borg Queen, played this time by a body double and archive voice recordings, was likewise a bit of a let-down. At the beginning of Season 2, we got a truly shocking and terrifying presentation of a new Borg Queen: hooded, wearing a robe, wielding mechanical tentacles, and able to take over an entire starship completely on her own. The way the Borg Queen came across in that episode was stunning, and because Võx comes barely a year later, this reversion to an older presentation just feels lesser in comparison.
This older presentation of the Borg Queen feels less interesting and intimidating than the version we saw in Season 2.
Tragic news broke in January of this year that Annie Wersching, who played the Borg Queen last season, had passed away. Given that she had been unwell during filming, we can’t say for sure whether she’d have been able to continue to work as production got underway for Season 3. But if the Borg Queen is going to be featured here – for the second season in a row – it would have made sense to retain the same actor if at all possible, surely? Again, given the circumstances we can’t say for sure one way or another – but it feels like something that should have happened if it had been possible.
And again, I feel the consequence of a muddled, mixed-up production here. Having the Borg as Picard’s final, ultimate “big bad” makes a lot of sense, as they’re a faction closely associated with Picard himself and The Next Generation, but also as they’re so powerful and threatening. But having had two Borg stories in previous seasons – one of which was written and produced by the same team that created Season 3 – I just feel that the Borg should have either been saved to be the final villain this time, or else the way in which they were used in Seasons 1 and/or 2 should have been all we got. After all, the changeling idea seemed to be working well all throughout the season – and seeing Picard and the crew face off against a genuinely different threat, one we’d never seen them tackle before, was also a fun idea. One that has been if not overwritten then at least brought to a screeching halt.
The Borg Queen as presented in Võx feels less impactful in the aftermath of the way the Borg appeared in Season 2. And in Season 1.
So we come – as Picard and the crew did – to the Enterprise-D.
This was an exceptionally well-kept secret, and that’s why I said at the beginning that Võx is an episode to watch without spoilers if at all possible. I’m pretty attuned to what’s going on at Paramount, and I keep an eye on the production side of Star Trek as much as possible so that I can follow significant developments and share my thoughts here on the website. But even I was blindsided by the reconstruction of the Enterprise-D’s bridge that we got to see in Võx.
There had been hints and even teases from some folks on the production side of Picard’s third season that we might get to see “more than one” USS Enterprise this season, but after we’d seen the Enterprise-F in trailers and the Enterprise-A at Geordi’s museum, I figured that would be that. The Titan has made a great hero ship this season, feeling smaller and less powerful than vessels like the Enterprise, Intrepid, or the Shrike – but having a plucky attitude and ability to punch above its weight that reminded me of the comparably-sized USS Voyager.
The USS Titan at warp.
But the Enterprise-D is special to me, and seeing it recreated here – inside and out – was beautiful, and it was undoubtedly the highlight of Võx. The emotional impact these ships can have can’t really be overstated, and pairing a beautiful starship, wonderfully rendered with CGI, with a stirring musical score – it hits me just as hard in 2023 as it did when I watched The Next Generation back in the ’90s. Seeing the Enterprise-E swooping in to save the day at the Battle of Sector 001, watching Kirk lay his eyes on the refit Enterprise for the first time in The Motion Picture, and of course getting so many beautiful sequences with the Enterprise-D across The Next Generation’s run… this moment in Võx equalled the very best of them.
Picard and the crew arriving on the bridge was also an incredible moment. I didn’t know how much of the ship might’ve been rebuilt for Picard – especially with just two episodes in which it would feature. So I wasn’t sure if we were going to get a kind of AR wall/greenscreen mashup as the crew made their way to the ship aboard their shuttle. To my delight, the entire bridge set has been recreated – and it looks absolutely stunning.
The recreated bridge of the Enterprise-D. Image Credit: Paramount/Dave Blass
I hope in future the producers and creative team will tell the tale of how they came to recreate the bridge in such detail, because I’d love to hear more about it. A couple of photos have been shown off on social media, but there’s obviously a lot more to say! For my two cents, though, it looks absolutely fantastic – a recreation down to seemingly the last detail, recapturing perfectly the look and feel of the Enterprise-D from The Next Generation.
This is a starship that I’d long ago fallen head-over-heels for, and the Galaxy-class remains one of my all-time favourite Star Trek starship designs. We’d seen a CGI model as far back as Enterprise’s finale, and an up-to-date version in the Season 1 premiere of Picard, but the time dedicated to the flypast in Võx was something special. Seeing the Enterprise-D powering up and departing the Fleet Museum was also something new – though we’d seen similar sequences with other vessels, this is the first time we’d gotten to see it with a Galaxy-class ship.
She’s a beauty!
From Scotty’s love for the Enterprise in The Original Series through to Captain Shaw’s “fanboy” moment with Geordi just a couple of weeks ago, we’ve seen the respect and adoration that Starfleet officers have for their ships. Starships are, in many ways, an additional character in their respective shows – so to see Picard and the crew treating the Enterprise-D as they might an old friend was an incredibly powerful and sweet moment.
This was a starship that was with them through many adventures, a vessel that was their home for seven years, and this reunion feels just as powerful as any interactions between the reassembled crewmates. It actually surpasses some of those moments for me, especially given the weakness of the Data’s resurrection storyline that we’ve discussed over the past few weeks. The restoration of the Enterprise-D is by far the better and more coherent of Season 3’s unexpected resurrections!
Rebuilding the iconic bridge console.
Oh, and I absolutely agree with Picard: starships need carpets! This line was a cute little nod and wink to fans who’ve commented on the lack of carpets aboard vessels in modern iterations of Star Trek – something that has been a minor point of contention in some quarters of the fan community. Beyond mere attention to detail, this is an indication that the writers and producers are fans themselves, or at least are aware of the things that fans pick up on and discuss. Having Picard himself comment on the carpet was cute, but it also shows how the writers and producers are at least trying to keep the fan community on side.
There are absolutely nitpicks and contrivances on this side of the story. Was no one at the Fleet Museum assimilated? How did the shuttle get from Earth to the Fleet Museum so quickly? Will it be possible to operate a Galaxy-class starship with just seven people when it took a crew of roughly 1,000 in The Next Generation? How can one ship – disconnected though it may be – stand a chance against a fleet of newer and more powerful vessels? Why did Geordi install an automatic torpedo launcher on the ship – was he expecting an event like this?
The Enterprise-D departs the Fleet Museum.
These are the structural weaknesses of Võx, and it remains to be seen how and even if they’ll be resolved. As above, several of these points could have been addressed had the season as a whole been better-paced, arriving at this point either an episode or two earlier, or with more explanation and exposition having been dropped in previous chapters of the story. As I said about Seasons 1 and 2 in various ways, the flaw doesn’t lie with the story beats themselves, which are fascinating, but rather with the way in which they were executed.
Even a few days after first sitting down to watch Võx, the emotional side of the story goes a long way to making up for its flaws – but it’s not clear to me whether that will always be the case! If we go back to Picard Season 3 in a few years’ time, will the return to the Enterprise-D still be enough to redeem Võx for all of its contrivances and narrative inconsistencies? Perhaps that’s another conversation we’ll need to have one day!
Picard orders everyone to their posts.
As you can tell by now, I’m conflicted about Võx.
On the one hand, it’s an episode of overplayed tropes and boring clichés, let down by a muddled, incoherent story that didn’t have enough time to properly explain key points. It takes the safest path, killing off the least-important secondary character and finding an incredibly contrived way to ensure that only the characters from The Next Generation would make it to the bridge of the Enterprise-D.
The episode is also hamstrung by what came before it: not only the eight episodes of Season 3, plagued by an over-acted villain who now feels like an utter waste of time, but also by Seasons 1 and 2 and the storylines they introduced. The presentation of the Borg, Borg Queen, and Borg Cube in Võx are very much the lesser versions of those same creations that we saw in earlier seasons – and had those stories not taken place, Võx would be in a much stronger position.
The Enterprise-D prepares for departure.
But despite all of its flaws, I can’t hate or even particularly dislike Võx. The emotional storytelling was fantastic, and maybe this is just the blinkers of pure nostalgia, but I felt that the problems and inconsistencies in the episode melted away in light of the incredible, beautiful sequences with Picard and his old crew – and especially their reunion with the Enterprise-D itself and its wonderfully reconstructed bridge.
It isn’t enough to just throw legacy characters into a story and rebuild sets, and if Võx had presented these elements in a worse way, I think I’d have found it too much, or I’d be saying that the nostalgia card doesn’t cover up any and all storytelling sins. But when watching the episode itself, a combination of clever direction and creative writing, beautiful visuals and a wonderful musical score, and some outstanding and evocative acting performances made the whole thing work. This nostalgia-heavy, deeply emotional story feels like one that was perfectly made for Trekkies like you and me.
Picard and the crew in a promotional photo.
There’s a lot of work for the season finale to do, and I’m really not sure how things will shake out when all’s said and done. I also think we might return to Võx in the years ahead and consider it a little less favourably – particularly if the series ends in unspectacular fashion next time. I’ve tried to treat the episode as fairly as I could, and having sat with it for a few days… the emotional side of the story still really sticks with me, and remains my biggest takeaway from Võx.
I genuinely don’t know what to expect from the finale. There are so many possibilities for where the story could go! Although this feels like an existential threat to the Federation, surely it must be possible for Picard and the crew to save the day, right? But one old starship against an entire connected, Borgified fleet? That’s a tough task right there!
Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States and other countries and territories where the service is available, and on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and around the world. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Wrath of Khan, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Discovery.
Toward the end of the episode Surrender, Deanna Troi told us something very interesting about Jack Crusher: there’s an “ancient and weak” voice that surrounds him, a voice that isn’t his own. This voice has also been described as a “darkness,” and something “evil.” Today, I want to consider a few possibilities for who and what this “ancient evil” could be.
There are, at least as I see it, two candidates that are more likely than any others – at least based on the narrative elements that have already come into play. I covered the Borg Queen in my most recent theory update, but it’s also worth considering the Founders themselves, and how an ancient changeling or changeling leader could be a likely possibility. Finally, we have to contend with the idea that the “ancient evil” will be a character or faction that we’ve never met before – as this is something that’s happened in these types of stories consistently in modern Star Trek!
Let’s try to peek through the keyhole of Jack’s red door…
I’ve heard several fan theories that seem completely implausible to me, and I’ll also cover a handful of the more popular ones and why I think they wouldn’t make sense or wouldn’t work narratively. If I try to shoot down a theory you’re personally invested in, I hope you won’t take that as some kind of attack! I’ll try to explain my reasons as gently as possible.
It also goes without saying that I have no “insider information!” I’m not trying to claim that any of the ideas we’re going to discuss today can, will, or must be part of Picard Season 3. It’s possible that I’ve completely misunderstood what Troi was saying, or that Jack’s hallucinatory red door will lead to something completely unexpected, unpredictable, or even a completely different kind of storyline altogether. All of this is also just the subjective opinion of one person.
With all of that out of the way, let’s get started!
“Ancient Evil” #1: The Borg Queen.
The Borg Queen in First Contact.
As I explained in my recent theory update, the Borg Queen is the candidate I feel is most likely to be the “ancient evil.” The voice Jack has occasionally heard has a feminine quality, there have been multiple references to the Borg and to Picard’s assimilation experience, and the idea of Jack “inheriting” some kind of Borg nanites or Borg DNA from Picard would connect with themes of family, parentage, and inheritance that have been present in different ways all season long.
The Borg Queen hasn’t been explicitly mentioned, but right now, the myriad references to Locutus, the Battle of Wolf-359, and Picard’s connection to the Borg haven’t had any kind of narrative payoff. Bringing the Borg Queen into the story at this particularly late stage is a risk, but it’s also something that has been set up across the entire season – so it wouldn’t feel like a total bolt from the blue.
“Ancient Evil” #2: The Season 1 super-synths.
The super-synths’ mechanical tentacles.
Should we abandon all hope of the unnamed “alliance of synthetic life” from the end of Season 1 ever making a return to Star Trek? Well… probably! But of all the “ancient” factions we know of in Star Trek, few are older – and potentially more malevolent – than the super-synths that were introduced in Season 1.
Millions of years before the events of the story, this synthetic faction literally moved the stars in the Milky Way and created a beacon, promising to ride to the aid of any synthetic life-forms that needed their help. Whether that offer was genuine or an elaborate trap, well… I’m still not sure! But these super-synths may not have given up on their aim of returning to the Milky Way just because Picard convinced Soji to close the portal to their realm.
“Ancient Evil” #3: The Female Changeling from Deep Space Nine.
The Female Changeling.
The Female Changeling who led the Dominion’s war effort against the Federation alliance seemed to be one of the most senior Founders. With the changelings featuring heavily in this story, perhaps she is once again trying to lead the charge against the Federation, using Vadic and her evolved allies to get revenge.
Earlier in the season, Vadic cited revenge against Starfleet and the Federation as one of her motives – though she didn’t really elaborate on what that meant. Floaty McFloatface – the unnamed character who seems to have been Vadic’s boss – also mentioned vengeance, so could the changelings be seeking to avenge their defeat in the Dominion War? Vadic knew the details of Jack’s hallucinations, including the existence of the red door – how could she have possibly known that if the changelings aren’t involved?
“Ancient Evil” #4: Locutus of Borg (or a clone of Locutus).
Picard was assimilated by the Borg.
As above, Season 3 has made multiple references to Picard’s assimilation experience and time as Locutus. Could the rogue changelings have stolen Picard’s corpse as part of a plan to resurrect Locutus? Or could the Borg Collective itself have recreated or cloned Locutus based on Picard’s genetic material? Perhaps Floaty McFloatface is a representative of the Borg – and wants Jack Crusher to become the new Locutus.
The idea of Picard having to come face-to-face with Locutus would surely be his worst nightmare. Locutus would literally know Picard inside and out – and could be very difficult to outmanoeuvre and defeat as a result.
“Ancient Evil” #5: Someone entirely new.
Who could it be?
In earlier seasons – and in other modern Star Trek productions, too – the franchise’s past didn’t provide the answers to mysteries like this one! So it has to be considered plausible or even downright likely that a brand-new character or faction is the “ancient evil” that we’re looking for. This could come in the form of a new character from a familiar faction – a new Borg or changeling leader, perhaps. Or it could be an entirely new creation that doesn’t connect to Star Trek’s past at all.
There is a danger in this approach, and part of the reason why creations like the super-synths and Species 10-C didn’t excite fans as much as they could’ve is that, after a season-long tease, expectations have been raised! But at the same time, writers should feel free to create new elements to add to Star Trek instead of being constrained by what has come before. A new character or faction could absolutely stick the landing – if it was handled well.
So those are the candidates I consider to be most plausible.
Up next, we’ll take a look at a few others that I’ve heard suggested by fans on forums and on social media. For reasons that I’ll try to explain, none of these feel likely to me… so feel free to come back at the end of the season and laugh at how wrong I was if any of them prove to be the true “ancient evil!”
Not the “Ancient Evil” #1: The Pah-Wraiths.
Jake Sisko possessed by a Pah-Wraith.
I don’t know who originated this idea, but it seems to have spread like wildfire in some quarters of the fan community! For my money, there’s no way the “ancient evil” could be the Pah-Wraiths, though – even though the faction is undoubtedly both ancient and evil! Firstly, despite references and connections to Deep Space Nine, there have been no mentions of Bajor, the wormhole, the Prophets, or the Pah-Wraiths all season long – so any last-second inclusion would be a complete deus ex machina.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the return of the Pah-Wraiths would hugely undermine the ending of Deep Space Nine, and Captain Sisko’s arc in particular. Sisko sacrificed his life to prevent the Pah-Wraiths from escaping their confinement in the Fire Caves, fulfilling his duty as the Emissary of the Prophets. For a new story to say that the Pah-Wraiths escaped anyway, a mere twenty-something years later, would seriously damage that story and undermine Sisko’s arc and characterisation. Finally, the Pah-Wraiths have no connection to Picard or to the Crusher family.
Not the “Ancient Evil” #2: Armus.
Armus in Skin of Evil.
C’mon everyone… it isn’t Armus, okay? It just isn’t. Not only has Armus not been mentioned since Season 1 of The Next Generation, but the evil puddle of printer ink has no real connection to Picard, to the Crusher family, or to anyone else involved in Season 3. As a villain who only appeared once in what was, let’s be blunt here, not one of The Next Generation’s best stories, Armus would also be underwhelming in the extreme.
Had the story of Season 3 revisited the planet of Vagra II, or if Tasha Yar had been mentioned in the story somehow (aside from a minute cameo as part of Data’s memories) then maybe we could consider this theory more favourably. But Armus would also be a complete bolt from the blue – and one that I don’t believe could possibly be strong enough to carry the ending not only of Season 3, but of the entire series.
Not the “Ancient Evil” #3: The Romulans/Zhat Vash.
Zhat Vash initiates as seen in Season 1.
Although it would be cyclical in a way if the end of Season 3 were to return to the Romulans in some form, I don’t believe that the story will go in this direction. There have been no Romulans included in the story all season long, and no mentions of the Zhat Vash or their conspiracy, either. The Romulans were also a faction that fought against the changelings during the Dominion War – and there probably isn’t enough time left to sufficiently explain how they might have been persuaded to switch sides.
Finally, although Elnor continues to exist in the Picard timeline, he hasn’t been part of the story of this season – despite opportunities to include him. Elnor is a Romulan, and if there was to be any kind of Romulan connection to the story, I’d have expected him to take part in it.
Not the “Ancient Evil” #4: Q and/or the Q Continuum.
Q as he appeared in Season 2.
We got our Q story – for better or for worse – in Season 2. While it would be thematically interesting in a way if the end of Jean-Luc Picard’s story were connected to the very first episode in which he appeared, the death of Q last year combined with the total absence of any discussion of Q and the Q Continuum this time make it feel very unlikely at this juncture.
There’s also the question of motivation – something that also tripped up Q’s story in Season 2! Why would Q, or another member of the Continuum, have allied with a faction of rogue changelings to attack Starfleet? If the Q wanted the Federation weakened or destroyed… all it would take is a snap of the fingers. Why go to all this trouble? And why would the Q Continuum hate Starfleet anyway? The Q Continuum is ancient… but is it evil? I don’t think so.
Not the “Ancient Evil” #5: Khan.
Khan as he appeared in Space Seed.
Genetic engineering and augmentation were discussed in Season 2, and there was even a reference to something called “Project Khan” at the end of the season. But not only is Khan dead, he has no connection to Picard and the Crushers. Although Season 2 has leaned heavily into the legacy of The Wrath of Khan in more ways than one… I just don’t see how the story bringing him back could possibly be made to work.
Star Trek Into Darkness was a riff on the Khan story, and it worked pretty well – at least in my view. But Khan is a character that we don’t really need to see more of… which is part of the reason why I was always sceptical about the Ceti Alpha V pitch! Bringing Khan and his augments into Picard wouldn’t work.
Not the “Ancient Evil” #6: The Abronians, the Kelvan Empire, the Voth… and more!
Hanar, a representative of the Kelvan Empire.
There are a number of ancient races in Star Trek – and a number of villainous ones, too. But many of these made only a single appearance or a handful of appearances in stories that most viewers would struggle to recall decades later, and while some of them might nominally fulfil some of our criteria – such as by having a tangential connection to Jean-Luc Picard or Dr Crusher – the fact that they haven’t been so much as hinted at all season long should be enough to rule out all of them.
At this late stage in the season, and with the only named villain having already been killed off, it’s already a storytelling challenge to make whatever’s behind Jack’s red door and whomever has been directing the conspiracy not feel like a deus ex machina. If this character or faction is ultimately revealed to be something or someone that we’ve had no mention of through the entire story… I fear that would be too high a narrative hurdle to successfully clear.
So that’s it!
The Shrike’s destruction in Surrender.
We’ve considered a few possibilities for who the “ancient evil” could be. This “ancient and weak” voice that Jack has heard seems to have somehow latched onto him – and is giving him superpowers. Deanna Troi (and everyone else involved in the story) seems to believe that this is directly tied to the rogue changelings and their plans to attack Frontier Day, so one way or another this “ancient evil” has been driving the story all season long.
The death of Vadic has, for me at least, thrown a cloud over this story. Even if the “ancient evil” is the Borg Queen, another Borg representative, or a changeling, it will still be difficult to pull off this storyline successfully and explain everything sufficiently with just two episodes left. I feel echoes of the Season 1 problem, in which the two-part finale dumped new characters, factions, and storylines into the plot but didn’t have anywhere near enough time to pay them off successfully. But we’ll have to wait to see if Season 3 will fare any better!
Jack will explore this “ancient evil” alongside Deanna Troi.
I hope that this was a bit of fun. I tried to consider some seemingly-plausible ideas for the “ancient evil,” as well as explain why I feel that some popular theories are unlikely. If you put me under duress and forced me to pick only one candidate, right now I’m inclined to say that the Borg Queen feels the most likely. There have been multiple Borg references this season, there’s a solid connection to Picard, there’s a narratively coherent way in which Jack could have inherited Borg DNA or nanites from Picard which would also tie in thematically to the ideas of parent-child relationships and inheritance, and the voice that Jack has periodically heard sounds feminine in tone. So that would be my guess – if I absolutely had to choose!
As a final note: I always like to end these theory lists by saying that I do this just for fun. I enjoy writing, I enjoy Star Trek, and spending more time in this world is an escape and an enjoyable distraction for me. But for some folks, fan theories can become frustrating or unenjoyable, especially if they get very attached to a plausible-sounding theory that ultimately doesn’t pan out. I have no “insider information” and I’m not trying to claim that anything suggested above can, will, or must be part of Picard Season 3. The story will almost certainly take an unpredictable path!
Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States and other countries and territories where the service is available, and on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and around the world. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Wrath of Khan, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Discovery.
After last week’s admittedly tense and exciting offering took the main storyline of Season 3 to a pretty bland and unoriginal place, I was hopeful that Surrender could steady the ship ahead of the final pair of episodes. What we got this week was, instead, a bit of a misfire.
Parts of Surrender seemed to get stuck in the mud; bogged down, trying to stretch out a story that was too thin instead of moving it along at a more reasonable pace. Yet by the time the credits rolled, I felt that a massive part of the season’s ongoing story had been rushed to an unceremonious – and actually quite disappointing – ending.
The Titan in this week’s episode.
After teases, brief demonstrations of power, and an acting performance that, to be blunt, was too over-the-top for my taste, Vadic has been killed off. And she died having accomplished… well, remarkably little. The scheme in which she was involved is still playing out, but narratively speaking, Vadic didn’t actually do much of anything except get in Picard’s way and slow down the story.
I’ve said several times as the season has ambled along that we needed to see more of Vadic: to get to know her, where she’s come from, where she hopes to go, and what her plans are for Jack. The reveal of her backstory in Dominion seemed to finally – albeit belatedly – get the ball rolling on that front, but Vadic died this week without telling us anything more. We know that she was a victim of a Section 31 experiment, and that she deliberately took on the appearance of her torturer. But this week, she just… died. And that appears to be all there is to see.
Surrender killed off Vadic prematurely.
Picard is now left with no main villain, no secondary villain, no villain’s starship… but still a conspiracy to defeat. The only possible outcome at this point is a deus ex machina: some kind of Vadic fake-out, Floaty McFloatface’s unexpected re-emergence, or another adversary who will feel like a bolt from the blue. This is the Season 1 problem from a different angle: the final two episodes are going to have to dump a whole lot of exposition, at least one new character, and possibly even an entire new faction all at the last moment in order to have the most basic building blocks of a narrative to work with.
It was always unclear when Vadic and her nameless, faceless goons seized control of the Titan how they would extricate themselves from the situation in one piece – and how Picard and the crew would likewise save themselves. But even as Vadic was blown out into space I was thinking to myself, “okay, she’s a changeling so maybe she can survive the cold.” Then, as Vadic’s body shattered into pieces I was still thinking “well okay, she’s in pieces, but she’s a changeling… maybe she can reconstitute herself… or Floaty McFloatface can do something to pull them out of this situation.” I even wondered if Floaty McFloatface might’ve been left aboard the practically-deserted Shrike. It was only when the Shrike was destroyed that the realisation finally hit me: this is it. They’ve really taken the story down this route.
Crunch.
Showrunner Terry Matalas has desperately latched onto the legacy of The Wrath of Khan with Picard’s third season. But can you imagine what The Wrath of Khan would’ve been like if Khan had been killed half an hour before the end of the film – and Kirk and the crew had to rush off to defeat… who, exactly? An unnamed augment ally of Khan’s that we’ve never met? Another villain from The Original Series who hadn’t been mentioned in any way prior to that point? Such a horrible anticlimax would have probably ruined the film.
There’s room for an epilogue in a good story – as we see in The Wrath of Khan itself with Spock’s death and funeral. But there’s a reason why the defeat of the biggest villain in any story should come at the climax of the plot. This is one of the absolute basic, most fundamental rules of storytelling. And I can’t shake the feeling that, whatever may come next, Picard has got it wrong.
The moment of Vadic’s demise.
I said last week that the reveal of Vadic’s history had begun to put her characterisation into some kind of context. But with her death this week, none of that matters. Vadic still feels like a bland, one-dimensional villain stereotype; Khan without any of the interesting bits. A villain needs more than just a vaguely sympathetic backstory – they need a motive, and many of the best ones also have a connection to the hero. Picard and Vadic barely said more than a few words to each other all season long, and her interest in him seems more “business” than anything personal.
The CGI work used for Vadic’s ejection into space and ultimate shattering end wasn’t spectacular, either, so I can’t even say that this storyline was strangely conceived but at least pretty to look at. As Vadic was blown out into space things seemed to be working, but as soon as the “camera” cut to her icy body, visual quality took a dive. It wasn’t the worst CGI moment I’ve seen in modern Star Trek, but it’s noteworthy that this was supposed to be one of the big climactic moments of the season – and it could’ve looked better.
Welcome to the Uncanny Valley…
Other visual effects work in Surrender was on point, though, and it was really just this moment that didn’t look as good as it should have. Regrettably, this was the most important one to get right – and more should have been done in post-production to shore up what was supposed to be the climactic death of the season’s biggest villain.
This could’ve looked better.
Will we get to find out what Vadic actually wanted? What did she hope to “use” Jack and Picard’s corpse to achieve? These are pertinent questions, and in any other television series I’d say that there are still two episodes remaining, and that we should “trust the process.” After all, the writers and producers wouldn’t just dump entire characters and storylines with no explanation. Right?
But this is Star Trek: Picard – a series with a two-season legacy of doing precisely that. What happened to Narek? What happened to the Zhat Vash, to their beacon on Aia, to the super-synths, to the synths on Coppelius? What was the deal with the devastating anomaly that erupted, and where did Dr Jurati, Soji, and Elnor disappear to? This show has consistently dumped characters and storylines that were half-baked as it rushed off to do other things; Picard feels like the television equivalent of ADHD.
I suspect we’ve seen and heard the last of Vadic.
So I have very little confidence, now that Vadic, Floaty McFloatface, all the goons, and even the Shrike itself are gone that they’ll get so much as a cursory mention next time. Whatever Vadic’s plans may have been for Jack, it seems that they died with her. Although the changelings’ attack on Starfleet and Frontier Day will continue that aspect of the storyline, Vadic and her attempt to capture Jack not only kicked off the entire season, but it’s a plotline that has been running for eight episodes now. For that storyline to end so abruptly, without getting any kind of narrative payoff, is a profoundly strange decision.
Villains die all the time without getting what they want. But we don’t even know what Vadic wanted, what she hoped to use Jack to achieve… and unless I’m being even stupider than usual, I don’t see how it’s something we’re supposed to be able to infer from the scattered pieces of an incomplete puzzle that she leaves behind. Sure, Jack’s powers could be useful to a villain or a changeling, and I can see how Vadic might perceive them that way. But there’s one heck of a leap from “this skill could be useful” to the obsessive chase that Vadic performed – at Floaty McFloatface’s behest, no less. We don’t even know what Floaty McFloatface was, what their objectives may have been, and how all of this was supposed to come together to aid in the conspiracy – a conspiracy that feels already comprehensive and successful enough without whatever additional boost it could have gained from Jack.
Vadic on the bridge earlier in the episode.
All of this leaves Vadic as the one thing she should have never been allowed to become: boring. She’s a bland, uninspired, unoriginal, and just plain boring villain that tried to compensate for it all with a hammy, over-the-top performance. This over-acting could have been justified – had Vadic been more interesting and done… well, anything at all of consequence. But she died as she lived.
For all the flair, for all the ham, and for all the chewing of the scenery, Vadic ultimately did very little. Her two encounters with Picard and the Titan both ended in defeat, and the one possible redeeming quality that she could have had – competence – is also gone, shattered into frozen shards just like her corpse.
Not for the first time in Picard, I find myself saying this: what a waste.
This eight-episode arc has come to an unspectacular end.
It’s hard to see how the next two episodes won’t end up feeling like a complete bolt from the blue; a deus ex machina ending. If Picard was a more episodic series, or one based around multi-episode arcs, perhaps that would be okay. But Season 3 aimed to tell a single story split into ten parts. We’ve defeated the villain at part eight – without explaining who she was, what she hoped to achieve, or really anything about her beyond a tortured past. Where else can the story go from here?
I will caveat everything I’ve just said with two points. Firstly, it can be hard to judge one part of an ongoing story until everything comes into focus. It’s possible, however unlikely it may feel in the moment, that we’ll look back on Surrender much more kindly when the season ends; that something in the upcoming episodes will completely reframe all of this.
Secondly, although my expectations and hopes have been shot to pieces by two seasons of Picard that were difficult at best, I still want to hold out hope for a positive outcome. I don’t make these criticisms out of spite or malice.
The destruction of the Shrike.
Even the better parts of Surrender ask us to overlook things or set logic aside in order for storylines to unfold, and so it was with Riker and Troi. Finally, eight episodes into the promised TNG reunion, Deanna Troi got more than a cameo appearance and had the opportunity to make an impact on the story. That’s fantastic – and while it came too late in the game for my preference, I’m happy that we finally got to see her and spend time with her this week.
I would contend, though, that it’s quite the contrivance for Vadic and the changelings to have put Troi and Riker in the same cell. Their prison wasn’t exactly wanting for empty cells, and having two imprisoned characters sharing their innermost feelings… it’s just a bit of a trope. We’ve seen this before with different characters in more stories than I care to count, and it just didn’t feel especially original.
Riker and Troi shared a cell.
That being said, my only real criticism of this side of the story is that I could have happily spent longer with Riker and Troi. In earlier episodes, the death of Riker’s son had been a big part of his more cautious approach to the captaincy of the Titan, and caused a big fight with Picard. The scenes in which he and Troi talked it out seemed to pass by quite quickly – indicative, perhaps, of Surrender rushing around trying to tie up loose ends ahead of a major change in focus in the next two episodes.
Riker and Troi also seemed to drop into the story a point that could have been explosive – Troi “entered” Riker’s mind to remove some aspect of his emotional pain. Did Troi, who is empathic but not telepathic, learn this skill from Sybok? We’ve never seen her do anything like this before, yet it was raced past as almost a throwaway line in Surrender. You’d have thought Riker might’ve been a bit more angry about such a manipulation – but again, the story didn’t spend very long at all dealing with this idea.
Riker and Troi had a difficult conversation.
I wonder if this notion of Troi “taking” something out of someone’s mind may have been set up in Surrender so that it can come into play in the next couple of episodes. We’ll save the speculation for my theory update, but it could be that Troi may use this ability again to help Jack – or even Picard.
In terms of both emotion and entertainment value, the scenes between Troi and Riker were among the best that Surrender had to offer, and although parts of their conversation felt curtailed by an episode that spent most of its time and focus elsewhere, what we did get to see was good enough to make Deanna Troi’s return to Picard a successful and enjoyable one.
Riker and Troi appear to have reconciled.
Worf’s rescue mission also added a lot to this story – though to nitpick still further, there are a few points that weren’t clear. When did Worf install the stolen cloaking device aboard a shuttlecraft? Why are Worf and Raffi no longer using La Sirena – and have we now seen the last of that ship? After tripping the alarms, how did the away team escape? And when did they find time to lower the Shrike’s shields and deactivate its weapons systems?
Again, this part of the story felt cut down – and when other parts of both Dominion and Surrender seemed to be deliberately slowing things down and padding out a relatively thin story… I could have happily traded some of the scenes with Picard, Jack, and Geordi for a bit more of Worf, Raffi, Riker, and Troi aboard the Shrike.
When was the cloak installed aboard this shuttle?
Worf’s reunion with Troi was cute, though – and I think I detected a nod and a wink at the failed romantic plotline that the two engaged in near the end of The Next Generation’s run. Riker’s reaction to it was Surrender’s moment of comedy gold, and Jonathan Frakes’ comedic timing is as on point as ever!
Since we’re talking about Worf, there is something that’s been bugging me since he returned to Star Trek, and the reunion with Troi kind of shot it back into focus. All season long, Worf hasn’t mentioned his marriage and widowhood. In Deep Space Nine, Worf’s relationship with Jadzia Dax, and his response to her death, was a huge part of his character arc – and to be honest, it went a long way to making Worf into a more relatable character. Worf hasn’t so much as mentioned Jadzia… and even though time has passed and Worf has taken on a more calm and ethereal personality, it wouldn’t have gone amiss if he’d said something about her. As Worf was reunited with Troi, and seemed to be flattering her, harkening back to those episodes in The Next Generation’s seventh season… I felt this absence all the more.
Riker and Troi embrace Worf.
Raffi hasn’t had much to do over the past few episodes really, and that unfortunate theme continued this week. Whatever work she was doing aboard the Shrike when Worf, Troi, and Riker reunited with her seemed to be little more than set dressing; a backdrop for the others to have their conversation in front of. Raffi’s first meeting with Deanna was neat, as both women acknowledged one another and continued to work, but that was all.
Aboard the Titan, Raffi got a well-choreographed sequence of explosive action, and I won’t deny that it looked fantastic – a great performance by Michelle Hurd to pull off some fast moves. But aside from the questionable idea of stabbing changelings to death, when they’re entirely comprised of a nondescript liquid, I just feel like we’ve skipped about a dozen steps. Raffi has clearly been working and training with Worf to hone her skills – but almost all of this has evidently happened off-screen. It’s not bad per se, but it’s another indicator in my view of the fact that Picard still hasn’t found enough time to spend with all of its characters.
Raffi aboard the Titan.
I’ve had a lot to say about Data since his resurrection a couple of weeks ago, and I won’t repeat it all this time. You can go back to earlier reviews to see more details about why I think it’s hard to justify. But I will say that I’m glad that Picard didn’t completely ignore Data’s earlier death in Surrender, and was able to give a passing acknowledgement to the events of the Season 1 finale and Picard’s experience with Data in the digital afterlife. This moment – which was only a couple of lines, really – could certainly have been expanded, but given that the writers have ignored so many other story beats from both Picard’s earlier seasons and from other iterations of Star Trek, I want to give credit where it’s due and say that I appreciate the effort here.
As someone who’s never been much of a fan of Lore, I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder going into Season 3. And in Surrender, we got to see Data and Lore clash for what appears to be the final time. For me, this sequence was an unnecessary stumbling block; a sequence of pure padding that added nothing to either the episode or the season itself. Given the issues with Vadic that we talked about above – and the fact that, to be blunt, we could easily have spent more time with at least half a dozen other characters – this easily-resolved Data-versus-Lore idea is something I wouldn’t have opted to include at all.
I wouldn’t have bothered with Lore.
Similar to Vadic, Lore was relatively easy to defeat and accomplished very little from a narrative point of view. And as with Data, Lore is a character who I didn’t feel needed a resurrection and minor epilogue. His defeat in The Next Generation two-part episode Descent could have been left alone, and for my money, we’d already seen enough of Lore. Bringing him back could have served more of a purpose – he could have been connected, in some way, to the conspiracy, as he’d been present at Daystrom Station during the rogue changelings’ raid, just as one example.
If the decision had been taken to resurrect Data – a decision that I’ve already outlined my fundamental disagreement with – then perhaps in such a busy story, Lore should have been left behind. This aspect of Surrender brought a few sweet moments as Data looked back over some of his treasured memories… but a nostalgia overload on its own is not a justification for such a convoluted story.
This sub-plot felt like padding.
I will hold up my hands and confess that Data’s memories, all of which were represented by props and objects from The Next Generation, was one of Surrender’s most emotional moments. Although this storyline wouldn’t have been one I’d have chosen, Brent Spiner played it exceptionally well, and the sequence hit many of the right emotional notes. As someone who first came to Star Trek in the early 1990s by way of The Next Generation, this walk down memory lane – figuratively speaking – was incredibly sweet for me.
Seeing Spot, Data’s cat from The Next Generation, was perhaps the highlight of this sequence. As a cat owner myself, I always appreciate seeing cats in stories like this, and Data’s line about Spot teaching him how to love was beautiful – and it brought a tear to my eye.
Best moment in the episode.
Perhaps the reason why I found the Data-Lore clash so unsatisfying was that it never really felt that Data was in danger. Even as Geordi and Picard watched the “map” of the golem’s brain being taken over by Lore, Data’s importance to the story meant that defeat here never felt like a realistic prospect. As Data surrendered his memories to Lore, it seemed obvious what he was doing – by taking on Data’s memories, Lore became Data. And so it proved.
As a result, this sequence – and particularly the parts with Picard and the others staring blankly at computer screens – didn’t feel tense and exciting, it felt frustrating. It was padding, and it got in the way of what could have been a more interesting story with Vadic and Jack on the bridge. In spite of the emotional highlights that Data’s reminiscences provided, this entire sub-plot feels like one that could have been skipped.
Picard, Geordi, and the others spent a long time in Surrender just staring at this screen.
Criticisms like this next one can feel like nitpicking, and I suspect that, had the main thrust of the narrative been stronger, we wouldn’t be talking about it. With that caveat in mind, however, two major changes were made this week, and they seem to have come unnaturally at the whim of the plot. The ease with which changelings could be killed is the first one – Vadic and her henchman last week took multiple phaser blasts and shrugged them off, but this week, Raffi and Worf were literally killing changelings left, right, and centre. A single stab wound seemed to take down most of them – and a single phaser blast was enough to vaporise them.
Then there’s the number of people involved; both the changelings and the crew of the Titan seemed to grow in numbers from nowhere. Last week, Jack and Sidney ran through deserted hallways, but in Surrender, there seemed to be dozens of Starfleet personnel still aboard – despite Ro moving most of the ship’s complement to the Intrepid a couple of weeks ago. Vadic’s crew’s numbers also seemed to fluctuate – and apparently she took all but one of them with her to the Titan.
The effort and energy required to kill a changeling seem to shift depending on the desires and whims of the writing team.
These points, in a stronger story, might’ve passed unnoticed – or ended up as nothing more than bullet points right at the end of a review in a kind of “huh, that’s a bit silly if you think about it” way. But because they seem to contribute to a bit of a muddled storyline – one that ended in unexceptional fashion – the sense of disappointment in some of these things is inflated.
Any story has to have a degree of flexibility – and I get that. But one of the foundations of suspension of disbelief, at least for me, is that a story must be basically internally consistent. The number of Vadic’s goons and Titan redshirts, and the damage a phaser hit does to a changeling were all far too inconsistent, serving the whims of the writers in a way that ended up feeling unsatisfying.
Does stabbing a changeling to death make sense? A big part of me says “no.”
The way Vadic spoke to and about Jack in earlier episodes didn’t get any kind of payoff this week, even as the two of them came face to face for the first – and last – time. That was a disappointment, and for all the hot air that was blown on the bridge during their standoff, I don’t feel that their chat moved this plotline in any significant way. We’d already seen Jack’s hallucinatory experiences, and while Vadic hinted at the fact that she knew what he was seeing and, most significantly, what it could mean, she died before she could explain herself.
The fake-out with the grenade was clever, and the prop used for the explosive that Jack was holding was a neat one. We got to see other characters use these explosives in earlier episodes, but even if we hadn’t, I think it was pretty clear what Jack was meant to be holding. This aspect of Picard’s plan actually worked – and it’s the only moment since Vadic and her goons boarded the Titan that actually feels like it was planned. That it relied entirely on Geordi’s work with Data is… well, troublesome! But if we set that aside, I liked that Jack went to the bridge with a clear plan.
Jack with the fake grenade.
Because part of Jack’s plan required him to literally stall and delay Vadic while the Data-Lore clash was going on, some of these scenes on the bridge dragged. Vadic danced around her knowledge of Jack without actually revealing anything significant, and all of that contributed to the sense that Surrender wasn’t an especially well-paced episode. What was intended to be tension ended up feeling more like frustration.
I’m in two minds about the way in which Vadic was killed. On the one hand, it feels like a clever plan – overriding the emergency hatch and blowing her out into space. On the other… the way it was executed came across as unintentionally humourous rather than exciting and action-packed. Seven of Nine – who has had remarkably little to say and do all season long – got the Air Force One hero quip, but that kind of fell flat for me. Again, a bit of an unoriginal idea, and one that has been parodied to death. Because Seven hadn’t said more than two words to Vadic the whole time, it also felt unearned.
Get off my plane… uh, I mean bridge.
Seven finally got her clash with Captain Shaw, and while it probably wasn’t the right moment for an emotional blow-up about deadnaming, it was something that had been a long time coming. Had this conversation come at a better time – when they weren’t in immediate danger, perhaps – more could have been made of it. But as it is, it was fine.
After Vadic had been defeated and Shaw returned to the bridge, he seemed to behave as if he had a newfound respect for Seven. We didn’t get to see much of that, because this sequence was relatively short, but it’s something we might get a second glance at before the end of the season. I’m not sure. If what we got in Surrender is all we’ll see, then I’d give this storyline a grade C: a basic pass. Earlier episodes set up a clash between these characters, built upon it, and Surrender brought it to a head. It wasn’t strictly necessary, especially given the relative unimportance of the two characters involved. But it wasn’t handled badly.
There was a resolution (of sorts) to the Seven-Shaw conflict.
Not for the first time this season, I find myself without much to say about Picard himself – which is odd when you consider the name of the series we’re watching! Picard contributed his ideas to the plan, and at least part of that seems to have worked. However, in Surrender, Picard himself was relegated to standing around, waiting for other characters who were more directly involved in key storylines to actually move the plot forward. Again, this was something that could feel frustrating.
In both previous seasons of the show, Jean-Luc Picard was at the heart of the adventure… for better and for worse. But this time, it feels like he’s being swept along by a narrative current that’s entirely outside of his control. Vadic’s conspiracy got things started, Dr Crusher told him the secret of Jack’s existence, Ro explained how Starfleet was compromised, Worf and Raffi did the legwork, Riker’s away team went to Daystrom Station… and the past couple of weeks, it fell to Jack, Sidney, Geordi, Data, and Seven to take most of the actions involved in advancing the story. Picard spent most of his time standing around, staring at screens.
Picard didn’t have much to do this week.
After Worf, Riker, Troi, and Raffi returned to the Titan, we finally got that “the gang’s all here” reunion, as Picard and the crew sat around the conference table. It was a sweet sequence, and some of the characters exchanged pleasantries and talked about how they’d missed one another. It was also a moment that the series has been trying very hard to build up to. In context, I guess I have to say that it worked as well as it could’ve. And again, there’s no denying that it successfully plucked some of the nostalgic chords that it was aiming for.
I never felt that Picard should try to be “The Next Generation Season 8.” In fact, when the series was first announced, I was looking forward to seeing new characters, new stories, and Star Trek moving its internal timeline forwards for the first time in almost two decades. This reunion is, for me, a bittersweet one. It’s great to see everyone back, and I have to admit that the series has managed to find narrative justifications for everyone’s inclusion – even if some of them are more than a little convoluted! But at the same time, the promised “passing of the torch” never happened, and the new characters that had been created in earlier seasons have all been left behind. Even at the conference table, Seven, Raffi, Shaw, Jack, and the La Forge sisters were absent.
The gang’s all here.
With two episodes left, I fear that Picard has been shot in the foot. The lack of a named villain heading into the final chapter of the story risks making whatever comes next feel like the dreaded deus ex machina, and after all of the problems and flaws in both Seasons 1 and 2… it’s disappointing in the extreme to think that we’re about to walk an all too familiar path. Season 3 has had its highlights, don’t get me wrong, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will end on a high, too. But Vadic’s death this week feels like a major stumble.
Surrender was also an episode with pacing difficulties. It got bogged down in too many places, spending too much time on ultimately unimportant minutiae. It stretched too little story too thinly across the runtime of an entire episode when some scenes could have been shaved down – or cut entirely – to allow for more explanation of Vadic, her connection to Jack, and her ultimate ambition. She died without explaining any of that – and her death leaves her feeling bland, uninteresting, and almost like a parody of better Star Trek villains.
Vadic died before she could reveal her connection to Jack.
Because of the way both of Picard’s earlier seasons landed, I can’t shake the feeling that this episode marks a turn for the worse, and that lessons that should have been learned have not been heeded. I desperately want to be able to tell you that I’m excited to see what comes next and that I’m confident that a solid, creditable, and narratively coherent ending has been written – and that next week will be a roaring return to form. But I can’t in all honesty say that.
In spite of the way Vadic had landed for me, I was hopeful that last week’s exploration of her personal history had set the stage for some of that crucial understanding that had been missing from her character. Because of her death this week, and the apparent wrapping up of her storyline and that of her crew on the Shrike, I don’t believe we’ll get that now. The next chapter of this story will be the unravelling of Vadic’s conspiracy – and the defeat of the remaining changelings. I hope that will be satisfying enough to plug what feels like a gaping narrative hole… but to be blunt, I doubt it.
Troi at the end of the episode.
As we head into the final two episodes of the season – and the series – I’m fighting hard against feelings of disappointment and dejection. The return of The Next Generation characters had already thrown a question-mark over this season for me, especially because of the unfinished stories left behind in Seasons 1 and 2. Vadic’s death feels like the continuation of a particularly disappointing theme, and I’m struggling to see where the story could possibly go from here.
I have desperately wanted to enjoy Picard, and to support the Star Trek franchise as it returns to the characters and stories of my favourite era. So far, despite some strong episodes, wonderful performances, and interesting concepts, the series as a whole has failed to deliver. Can the final two episodes of Season 3 rectify that… or at least ensure that it goes out on a high? I’m crossing my fingers. But I’m sceptical.
Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States and other countries and territories where the service is available, and on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and around the world. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Wrath of Khan, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager.
Dominion was undeniably a fun, fast-paced, exciting episode; a thrill ride that kicked Picard’s third season into a higher gear as the plot builds to its climax. It was also an episode that shone a light in some very dark places, and did what Star Trek has always done so well: used its science-fiction setting to think about some of the issues facing us out here in the real world.
Having sat with Dominion for a couple of days, though… it isn’t actually an episode that I particularly enjoyed. It had some explosive moments of action, some engrossing moral quandaries, a sequence between two of my favourite characters from The Next Generation that was tense and emotional, and was backed up all the way by some great writing and some truly outstanding acting performances. But I didn’t actually like much of what the episode brought to the table from a narrative standpoint.
The USS Titan in a scrapyard.
As we discussed last week, the decision to resurrect Data is not one that I would have made. There are some deceased Star Trek characters who, for one reason or another, didn’t get a proper send-off – and I argued just last year that the main characters from Seasons 1 and 2 of Picard are themselves in that category. But Data, more so than practically any other Star Trek character, had been laid to rest. His resurrection not only undid all of that, but it takes away one of the few successful moments from the finale of Season 1 – one of the very few threads keeping the ending of that season together.
And this week, I’m sorry to say that despite incredible performances from both Brent Spiner and LeVar Burton as they wrangled with Data’s apparent return… this storyline hasn’t yet justified itself. I can buy technobabble explanations in Star Trek for all manner of things – that comes with the territory in sci-fi. But you have to admit that few characters in the franchise had been killed as definitively – and as often, in different ways – as Data, so any rebirth or resurrection has a significant obstacle to overcome. I wouldn’t have even attempted it – the technobabble excuse feels like something straight out of fan-fiction – but now that it’s happened, there has to be some kind of narrative or storytelling justification for it. And there isn’t.
The resurrection of Data (and Lore) continues to be a drag on the story.
The resurrection of Data has also brought back Lore – and Lore’s intervention this week led to a storytelling trope that I’ve never enjoyed: the “heroes’ base is captured and they’re all taken prisoner” cliché. Discovery did this a couple of seasons ago, we’ve seen it in Deep Space Nine, too, and on countless other occasions in sci-fi and beyond. To me, these storylines always feel so incredibly forced, as if a particularly uncreative writer couldn’t find a better way of adding tension to a story. And that’s how Vadic’s capture of the Titan feels to me.
If the premise underlying this takeover was stronger, perhaps some of that frustration would’ve melted away. But it came about as a combination of a poorly-defined plan from Picard and Dr Crusher – a plan that was executed terribly, too – and Lore’s shenanigans. What was already a disappointingly overused trope ended up feeling even less appealing as a result.
Vadic in the captain’s chair of the USS Titan.
I’ve never been much of a Lore fan. The “evil twin” angle was an interesting one in some ways… but even after a mere four appearances in The Next Generation, spread out over several years… Lore had already worn out his welcome, at least for me. He’s as one-dimensional as they come, feeling akin to a Mirror Universe character in some respects, and I’ve just never found him to be of much interest. Stories in which he would attempt to take Data’s place or convince his brother to betray his friends just never stood out to me as being among The Next Generation’s best.
And I think I should be up-front about that – I have a bias against this character that’s been running for some thirty years or more! When it was teased that Lore would play a role this season, this feeling being dragged back up is precisely what I feared would happen – and so it proved in Dominion. As we’ve said in earlier episodes about Vadic: a villain needs some kind of motivation. Lore is “evil for the sake of it,” and I find that deeply unsatisfying. It was unsatisfying in The Next Generation and it was unsatisfying in Dominion, too.
I’ve never been the biggest fan of stories that included Lore.
The saving grace on this side of the story should’ve been Geordi – and the wonderfully emotional performance that LeVar Burton put in as Geordi tried to reach out to his long-dead friend. Burton deserves an award for his scenes this week, as they were absolutely riveting to watch. In fact, in just two episodes, Geordi has quickly become one of the best characters in Picard, and LeVar Burton has been hitting all of the right notes consistently. But it’s a scene that just… didn’t need to happen, at least not this way.
We’ve basically had this conversation and this scene before: it came between Data and Picard at the end of Season 1. Geordi’s reunion with Data, and his attempt to reach out to him and break through Lore’s control, feels like a rehashing of those conversations between Picard and Data. In spite of what has to be one of the single best acting performances in all of modern Star Trek, these scenes just don’t add much to the story. Geordi could have expressed his sorrow at Data’s death to Picard, or to Altan Soong if the character hadn’t been unceremoniously killed off. Bringing back Data still isn’t sitting right with me.
This was a masterful performance from LeVar Burton.
I’ve talked before about the “snowball” in media criticism: a few big or fundamental criticisms of a story get things rolling, and before you know it, the “snowball” is picking up speed, finding more and more elements of a narrative to pick on and single out for criticism. And because of how the Data-Lore resurrection has landed for me, I find myself pulling at threads on this side of the story that would have probably passed unnoticed otherwise.
For example: how was Lore able to break out and effectively seize control of the ship? The answer seems to be “because plot,” and that’s just never a very satisfying explanation – especially given the high stakes. It’s hard to see how Vadic would have been able to take control of the ship had Lore not intervened, so the main thrust of Dominion’s narrative now appears to unfold thanks to a succession of unlikely, unpredictable coincidences one after another.
Lore’s escape wasn’t well-explained.
Alright, enough about my gripes about Data’s resurrection and my dislike of Lore! There’s no denying that LeVar Burton’s performance this week was outstanding, and when watching his big emotional scene with Data in particular, it was easy to put all of those concerns and criticisms out of my mind. Burton has made this older, more mature version of Geordi a real tour de force, and he’s brought far more to the table than I could have expected. If there are to be any future Star Trek projects set in this time period, they’d damn well better find a way to include Geordi – because I’m not ready to say goodbye!
It made sense for Geordi to be the one working with the Data-Lore golem, given his experiences with Data in The Next Generation, and I felt the setup for this story was handled about as well as it could’ve been. Geordi’s line that this golem is significantly more complicated than Data was also a helpful bit of exposition! Given that we’ve heard these new generation synths referred to as “flesh-and-blood” creations, maybe Dr Crusher, not Geordi, should have been examining the golem? Food for thought, at least!
Geordi was working on the Data-Lore golem.
I have to admit that I was sceptical about Mica Burton – LeVar Burton’s real-life daughter – playing Geordi’s on-screen daughter Alandra. I’d been vaguely familiar with Mica Burton’s work as a presenter from Star Trek Day a couple of years ago, and her stint on a YouTube gaming channel a couple of years before that. But I felt that she was untested as an actor, having only had a couple of bit-parts before now. This felt to me like “stunt casting;” bringing an actor into the series not on merit, but due to a combination of her parentage and a desire to make headlines. A “nepo baby,” to use some contemporary slang.
And… well, I’m not wrong about that. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see that Mica Burton has put in two solid, perfectly creditable performances in the episodes in which she’s appeared so far. The character of Alandra La Forge, while not exactly front-and-centre, adds something to this story, and has given Geordi both an assistant and a dependent, all while managing to feel like a rounded character in her own right. We’ve started to see some great things from Sidney La Forge over the last couple of episodes – and I hope that there will be time before the season ends to give Alandra a moment in the spotlight, too.
Geordi and Alandra La Forge.
Before we get into other big stories, let’s talk briefly about another surprising character: Tuvok! Or should that be “the changeling formerly known as Tuvok,” because after what had been a great sequence between Tuvok and Seven of Nine, this character reunion was ripped apart. It was dramatic and exciting – but perhaps not how I’d have chosen to bring back an actor for what may turn out to be their final Star Trek appearance.
As a moment of pure shock value, I think the revelation that Tuvok was a changeling worked incredibly well. And I’m holding out hope that the real Tuvok might make an appearance before the end of the season – I mean, the changelings have to be keeping all of these prisoners alive somewhere, right? Maybe we should save the speculation on that for my next theory update!
The changeling formerly known as Tuvok.
It was a bold move to bring back a character in this way, perhaps even more so than killing off the likes of Hugh and Icheb in Season 1. Tuvok was a main character for all seven seasons of Voyager, and aside from a tiny voiceless cameo in Lower Decks last year, this is the first time we’ve seen him since. Bringing back Tim Russ to play a changeling imposter feels like a very brave call – one that could’ve backfired. I think Dominion managed to make it work, though – and it was a real twist to bring back Tuvok and seem to set him up as an ally, only to rip it away mere moments later in the same sequence.
I’d love to see more from Tuvok, though – and get a genuine reunion with Seven of Nine. In a story with Worf, there’s also scope to put these two characters together. Worf and Tuvok were both security chiefs and tactical officers – but they were very different characters who had conflicting approaches to the role! Even now that Worf has entered his transcendental meditation phase, it could still be a lot of fun to put him together with Tuvok for a scene or two. A Trekkie can dream, eh?
The scene between Seven and Tuvok was bold… and a lot of fun.
Speaking of Worf, he was absent this week – along with Raffi, Riker, and Troi. There are now only three episodes left for Deanna Troi to make any kind of impact on the story, having had only a couple of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos so far, so I really hope that she’ll have something major to say and do soon.
Despite being billed as a reunion for the characters, there hasn’t yet been a single scene or sequence in which Picard and his old crew are back together – with different characters or pairs of characters largely in their own narrative boxes, not really interacting with one another. Before the season is over, I hope that there will be something for everyone to do – but perhaps more importantly, their effort to stop Vadic and the rogue changelings should feel like a collaborative effort. In Season 2, splitting up the main characters for much of the story led to a number of issues – and I sincerely hope that won’t be the case this time around. But it’s noteworthy, at this stage, that the promised reunion still hasn’t materialised, and that several main characters haven’t gotten as much to do as I’d hoped.
Is Riker, as the changeling claimed, already dead?
As Jack’s superpowers continue to manifest, it’s now more than obvious that there’s more going on with him than we’ve learned so far. This week, we saw him “take over” Sidney La Forge, using his newfound combat skills to defeat a nameless goon who appears to serve as Vadic’s second-in-command.
This sequence, by the way, was exceptionally well choreographed. It must have been one heck of a challenge for actors Ed Speleers and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut (or their stunt doubles) to perform these difficult acrobatic moves in total synchronisation, but the way it came across on screen was just fantastic. Few sequences in modern Star Trek have managed to feel truly new – but this was something that the franchise hasn’t ever done before, at least not as far as I can remember! It was fantastic to watch, and while it may not have been the most intense action sequence ever brought to screen, it was incredibly clever – and it marks the beginning of a new phase in the stories of both of these characters.
This sequence was exceptional.
The exciting and beautifully choreographed fight was almost enough to make me forget the horrible contrivances that led to it. Almost! I stand by what I said before: Lore’s involvement in this story, messing with forcefields and transporters at precisely the right moment, was one heck of a contrivance. While we got an exciting sequence with Jack and Sidney as a result, that alone isn’t enough to justify it – and too many forced coincidences like this make for a particularly weak narrative foundation.
As the fight simmered down, one moment really stuck with me. As Sidney looked at Jack, she had a mixture of fear and shock in her eyes; that moment, as Sidney realised that she’d just been – for want of a better term – “possessed” by Jack, was exceptionally well done. Once again, Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut excelled.
Dominion was a great episode for Sidney La Forge’s characterisation.
There was potential in the “let’s lure the baddie into a trap” idea that was posited by Dominion, but it quickly fell apart. The writing on this side of the story failed to set up a narratively coherent plan, and when we’re dealing with experienced officers like Picard, Seven, Dr Crusher, and even Captain Shaw, the fact that their plan was so flimsy, and fell apart so easily, doesn’t make for a satisfying presentation. There were other ways to have Vadic commandeer the Titan – if that was the episode’s required outcome – without going through this long and convoluted rigamarole.
Splitting up their forces, having poorly-armed ensigns with little combat experience literally running around the deserted hallways of the ship, and allowing the much more powerful Shrike to transport a group of changelings aboard the Titan are all indicators of a poorly-formulated – and poorly-written – plan, one that was clearly written in order to arrive at a particular outcome. Some of the specifics of this plan feel incredibly flimsy, too: where did the Titan’s crew acquire the wreck of a Vulcan ship, and how were they able to convince Vadic of its authenticity?
This plan was neither well-conceived nor well-executed.
All of this, however, led to two interesting revelations about Vadic. The smaller revelation concerns the character I’ve dubbed Floaty McFloatface (Star Trek: if you don’t want fans to give silly names to your characters and factions, name them yourself). It now seems as if Floaty McFloatface may not be a changeling – or at least, not the same kind of changeling as Vadic herself. We won’t get too deep into speculation here – and I’ve been wrong about Vadic and Floaty McFloatface before – but suffice to say that there’s a complexity to their relationship that was spoken to, albeit rather briefly, this week.
I’ve been saying for weeks that we need to spend more time with Vadic, and to come to understand what’s been driving her all this time. It still seems as if Vadic’s desire to capture Jack Crusher stems from orders from Floaty McFloatface – and not, as Picard and Dr Crusher repeatedly assumed, in order to steal his DNA to make a copy of Picard. But we found out a lot more in Dominion about where Vadic came from – and it was in equal parts incredibly dark and absolutely riveting.
Vadic and Floaty McFloatface have a difficult relationship.
By coincidence, I’ve recently been re-watching Ken Burns’ documentary The Vietnam War, and with all the talk this week of torture and rogue military operations, I felt echoes of that conflict – as well as more recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I think we can absolutely see Vadic’s story in Dominion as a cinematic response to American foreign policy over the past few decades, and a reflection of how the country is coming to terms – or failing to come to terms, in some cases – with its own recent history.
One of the lessons of Vietnam that was sadly not learned by the time of Afghanistan was an oft-repeated line that America was “creating its own enemies.” Every house burned down, every village raided, every bomb dropped… all of these things created more Viet Cong or Taliban fighters, and this is the lens through which I see Vadic’s story. By torturing and experimenting upon Vadic and the other changelings – implied to be the crew of the Shrike – Starfleet has inadvertently created another enemy for itself.
Starfleet (or Section 31, at least) is responsible for making Vadic into the villain she became.
However, there are a couple of queries I have about this revelation. They aren’t yet “problems,” let alone “plot holes,” but parts of this backstory for Vadic seem to come dangerously close to contradicting what we know of the rogue changelings and their scheme from earlier episodes. Worf, for example, specifically told us that this group of changelings had departed the Great Link following a schism, implying that these rogue changelings may be those who rejected Odo’s path of peace.
Secondly, the number of changelings involved in this conspiracy feels massively inflated based on what Vadic told us. She said that she was one of ten changelings being experimented upon, yet there are clearly far more than that. We’ve already seen at least seven killed – and that doesn’t account for Vadic and her crew. While she did say that she could pass along the abilities that she had developed to other changelings, it still doesn’t seem to add up. Ro seemed to think that all of Starfleet was compromised, and that there could be changeling infiltrators aboard multiple ships. If the original group consisted of just ten members, where have all the others come from?
Vadic and her crew.
I’ve always felt that there was a conscious effort on the part of the writers and producers of Deep Space Nine to present the Dominion War as a conflict akin to the Second World War – something we see quite prominently in the show’s finale at the signing of the Treaty of Bajor. But there were definitely Vietnam War influences during Deep Space Nine’s run, too. Episodes like Change of Heart, which prominently featured a “jungle” setting, spring to mind – as does The Siege of AR-558, which was directed by Vietnam veteran Winrich Kolbe.
But there was an even darker tone to the story Vadic told us this week, something that echoed less the Afghanistan War and more the human experiments performed in concentration camps. We’ve always known that Section 31 was willing to go to extreme lengths on behalf of the Federation – even violating Federation law. But when we saw the virus they created in Deep Space Nine, we only saw its effects. This time, we saw the process – the torture that Vadic and her fellow changelings endured.
Vadic’s torturer.
Since its emergence in Deep Space Nine more than twenty years ago, Section 31 hasn’t sat right with a lot of Trekkies – and I get that. This organisation is about as far from Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a more idealistic and enlightened humanity as it’s possible to get. But the idea that Section 31 represented has always been a fascinating one for me: that there’s someone in the background, working behind the scenes, to preserve the enlightened future that humanity has struggled to build. Section 31 sees itself as defending the Federation – even if it has to violate every single Federation principle and law in the process.
In this case, the question is perhaps a bit less interesting. It feels a lot easier to say that Vadic’s torture was wrong – because it was ultimately unnecessary. It was designed, at least according to Vadic, to allow the creation of a weapon – changelings who could bypass all the typical tests and who would report to Section 31 and Starfleet. The virus, in contrast, has always posed much more of an interesting moral question: when faced with conquest and possible extinction, should that kind of biological weapon be off the table?
The experiments that Section 31 performed were intended to create a weaponised changeling.
It’s easy to condemn Vadic’s torturer – and by extension, to feel a pang of sympathy for what Vadic herself has been through. There’s no denying that Vadic is a far more complex and interesting character coming out of Dominion than she was before the episode began – and that’s a good thing. We don’t need to agree with a villain or sympathise with them to understand them – but in order to really get invested in their story, we need something to give them motivation and to explain who they are. Vadic had been lacking this all season long – but we finally got the details this week, and it puts her characterisation into context.
The one disappointing thing, though, is that Vadic lacks any meaningful connection to Picard – and to anyone else on the crew, for that matter. Her torturer was a nameless Section 31 operative, she wasn’t even involved in the Dominion War as far as we can tell, and she certainly didn’t know Picard or any of the others prior to this conspiracy getting underway. They’ve definitely formed an adversarial relationship – but it comes quite late in the story. Contrast this with the likes of Khan or Gul Dukat: characters who had burning, passionate hatred for their Starfleet adversaries.
We know a lot more about Vadic now.
In a series called Star Trek: Picard, that could be the missing piece. In both Seasons 1 and 2, for better or worse, Picard was at the centre of the story. The Zhat Vash conspiracy disrupted Picard’s armada, and he was the one to unravel it years later. Picard’s relationship with Q led to the whole Confederation/time travel plot. And while Vadic’s determination to kidnap/capture Picard’s son gives her some kind of connection to him… I’m still not feeling the personal side of it.
I will say, though, that we’ve seen moves in that direction not just this week, but over the past several episodes. As Picard has gotten deeper into the conspiracy, his determination to do anything to stop it has grown. And there are personal stakes for him: the death of Ro, the capture of Riker, and the threat to the son he didn’t know that he had. All of those things are positive, and while we still don’t have all of the details, we have more than enough to understand Picard’s decision-making process – and his ability to cross a line that we might never have expected him to cross.
Dominion presented Picard with a moral dilemma.
Star Trek has a fantastic collection of morality tales going all the way back to The Original Series. But for me – and I daresay for many fans of my generation, too – fewer hit harder than Deep Space Nine’s Season 6 classic In The Pale Moonlight. That episode, told through flashbacks and a frame narrative, sees Captain Sisko wrangling with breaking all of the rules in order to manipulate an outcome that he and the Federation needed. It was life-or-death, and Sisko took it upon himself to place the Federation’s survival ahead of his conscience – and ahead of following the law.
Dominion sees Picard and Dr Crusher confront the same basic moral quandary. There are laws against the killing of prisoners – yet killing Vadic (and unbeknownst to them, Floaty McFloatface too) would have thrown a spanner in the works of the conspiracy ahead of its targetted date of Frontier Day. We see them agonise over the decision, especially in light of Vadic’s backstory… but they ultimately decide to go for it.
Picard and Dr Crusher ultimately decide to break the law – and their own moral code.
Dominion tries to present this as a choice with a time-limit – it will only be a matter of time before Vadic escapes or before someone breaks her out, so they have to decide relatively quickly. The episode also worked hard to show how conflicted Picard in particular felt about violating one of the foundational laws of war. And in the moments we got with Picard and Dr Crusher, this question of morality versus practicality worked well, and I could feel through the screen how painful it was for Picard to even have to consider a course of action like this.
However, this side of the story was split up at points by Jack and Sidney running around the hallways of the Titan, and by Geordi and Alandra working on Lore and the ship’s systems. I’m not sure that Dominion dedicated enough time to what was meant to be the key dilemma for the show’s title character – because after Vadic had explained where she came from and we’d gotten all of the other scenes and sequences with other characters… the ultimate decision seemed to be reached by Picard and Dr Crusher pretty quickly. It felt, in that moment, as if they’d already decided what they were going to do before we saw them confirm it.
This moment was arrived at rather quickly.
And I’d also like to point out another unenjoyable trope that came out of this side of the story. We saw in Seventeen Seconds a few weeks ago how easily Worf was able to kill a changeling in their liquid state. Seven and Jack were also able to relatively easily kill changelings in their humanoid states, too. But this week – as soon as it became convenient for the story – both Vadic and her second-in-command were able to survive multiple phaser blasts under what appeared to be similar circumstances.
There was a pathway to allow both characters to survive without doing this, and it’s really just a worn-out cliché at this point. There was some fantastic acting and choreography on both sides of the story here – but it all led to such a bland and oft-repeated outcome.
The old “you thought he was dead” cliché…
And I guess that last line kind of encapsulates my thoughts on Dominion as a whole, really. Patrick Stewart, Gates McFadden, and LeVar Burton all absolutely excelled… with the material that they had in the confines of a fairly uninspired story. This was a tense, exciting episode that moved along the plot on the Titan – while ignoring the stories of Worf, Raffi, Riker, and Troi – but that just didn’t take the season’s main narrative to a particularly exciting or original place.
There was scope to make more of Dominion, and there’s a risk, I fear, that its “captured starship” outcome will be easily undone next week, rendering much of the episode a bit… well, pointless. I’m glad we got to learn more about Vadic, and to put her conspiracy and quest into some kind of personal context for her. That was desperately needed as the season passes its three-quarter point. And there were some wonderful performances along the way, both in terms of acting and in terms of a well-choreographed sequence that felt like something new to Star Trek. But overall, I’m not thrilled with where the story went this week.
The Shrike and the Titan.
With three episodes left, there’s still plenty of time for Season 3 to recover, to deepen its mysteries, and to throw in some more twists and turns. And despite my criticisms, I don’t hate Dominion. It told the story it wanted to tell about as well as it possibly could. It can be hard to judge mid-season episodes fairly when the final destination is still unclear – and it’s to Dominion’s credit, in some respects, that the story’s endgame is still obscured through a thick narrative fog.
So I’m trying to stay positive! I’m loving the fact that we’re getting a look at some familiar faces from Star Trek’s past, that Section 31 is in play, and that it feels like Picard is finally taking a look at the broader state of the galaxy in this 25th Century time period. Dominion also put a morality question at its heart, harkening back to some of my favourite complex episodes from Star Trek’s past. There’s potential to build on what was delivered here – and maybe to take the story to a more enjoyable place next time!
A few scattered final thoughts:
Repeated mentions of Admiral Janeway – could she appear in the season finale?
Vadic didn’t confirm what she wanted with Picard’s corpse… but a look in her eye seemed to suggest he was wrong in his assumption.
I’m sure that Geordi’s partner won’t appear now… but I hope it isn’t supposed to be Leah Brahms!
Jack is wielding a 23rd Century phaser pistol – which is pretty cool!
Tuvok has been promoted – good for him!
Captain Shaw is, to my immense surprise, still alive.
A reference to the Chin’Toka system – the site of two major battles in Deep Space Nine – did not pass unnoticed!
Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States and other countries and territories where the service is available, and on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and around the world. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard.
Well, this is an interesting development! The long-rumoured Starfleet Academy series has just been officially announced by Paramount, with production due to begin next year. As I said the last time we talked about the series, I think it’s an idea that has a lot of potential.
In typical Paramount style, this announcement was low on detail and badly-timed, arriving a couple of weeks after news broke that Discovery has been cancelled. Rolling these two announcements into one would have made a lot of sense, shoring up Star Trek and reaffirming Paramount’s commitment to it instead of seeming to blow hot and cold on the franchise’s future and prospects. The announcement of Starfleet Academy seemed to suggest that it may be set in Discovery’s 32nd Century – perhaps existing as a spin-off from that series. While I don’t think that would be my personal preference in terms of setting, it’s definitely another good reason for combining these two announcements.
The series’ official announcement graphic. Image Credit: StarTrek.com
I’m not 100% sure if this new series is live-action or animated, as the official announcement didn’t actually state that outright, being surprisingly threadbare. I guess Paramount would have explicitly said if it was an animated production, though, and I’ve seen a few other outlets make the assumption that this will be a live-action series. If so, that’s good! With Picard and Discovery both ending within the next twelve months, Starfleet Academy can join Strange New Worlds and keep the flag flying in live-action.
The line in the official announcement about the Academy re-opening “for the first time in over a century” is where the 32nd Century setting seems to be referenced, as it was noted in Discovery’s third and fourth seasons that the Academy had been shut down sometime after the Burn. And I’m in two minds about this, if I’m being honest.
Starfleet cadets in the 32nd Century.
On the one hand, Discovery’s 32nd Century has been an interesting experiment, and an opportunity to do what Star Trek has always done: move the timeline forward. But on the other, it’s disconnected from the rest of the franchise by a span of centuries – making it much harder for characters, factions, or even themes to cross over from one part of the Star Trek franchise to another. With other projects set in the more familiar 23rd and 24th Centuries still ongoing, it’s also a decision that keeps Star Trek as a complicated, convoluted franchise that can be difficult to get started with for newcomers or for folks who haven’t watched for a long time.
A reorganisation of Star Trek is sorely needed – and the announcement of Starfleet Academy was an opportunity to do so. Bringing all of the current and upcoming shows into a single time period makes so much sense, and I fear we may look back on this decision as a missed opportunity. As much as I enjoy what Discovery has done with its far-future setting, and as much potential as that setting has, it would not have been my first choice for a new series at this juncture.
Starfleet Academy as it appeared in the early 25th Century.
If Starfleet Academy is to be set in the 32nd Century, it’s odd that Paramount isn’t explicitly touting the series as a Discovery spin-off. The fourth season episode All Is Possible felt like a backdoor pilot for Starfleet Academy – and I wasn’t alone in saying so at the time of its broadcast. This announcement didn’t mention All Is Possible, nor did it mention Lieutenant Tilly or any of the cadets from that episode. I wonder if the reception to All Is Possible shook up pre-production on Starfleet Academy – and with Tilly seemingly involved in some capacity in Discovery’s fifth and final season, perhaps she won’t be included in this spin-off series.
If that’s the case, it would throw the setting of the series into question even more – and I come back to what I said a moment ago about the 32nd Century not being the best choice. But I suppose we’re getting ahead of ourselves! Paramount’s lack of clarity on some of these points is leading to unhelpful guesswork!
The second announcement graphic. Image Credit: StarTrek.com
One of the big advantages to Starfleet Academy should be the show’s youthful focus – and with that, an ability to reach out to a new generation of viewers. Kids who’ve cut their teeth on the likes of Prodigy could view Starfleet Academy as the next step in their burgeoning fandom, and the series could also appeal to teen viewers who are looking for something a bit different. The announcement made it sound as if youthful cadets will be a big part of the show’s focus – and that can and should lead to the series appealing to precisely the kinds of viewers that Paramount needs more of.
If the series stands somewhat apart, without being tied too closely to past iterations of Star Trek, it could be a soft landing for new viewers – and the 32nd Century might actually prove advantageous here. There’d be scope to perhaps harken back to the events of classic episodes and films through the lectures and classes that the cadets attend – and that could allow Starfleet Academy to drop exposition and re-tell classic stories in a way that feels natural.
25th Century Academy cadets.
One thing in the announcement has caused a little concern, though, and I fear that Paramount hasn’t learned the right lessons from some of Star Trek’s recent successes and failures. The announcement promised “a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself” – and doesn’t that sound just like the setup for another fully-serialised story?
Since returning to the small screen in 2017, serialised storytelling has been – at best – a double-edged sword for Star Trek. On the one hand, the franchise has tried to move in a more modern direction, adopting a model used by successful titles like Lost and Game of Thrones. But on the other… well, it isn’t exactly controversial to say that not all of Star Trek’s serialised stories have been successful. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve all had their moments, but taken as a whole, Star Trek and serialised storytelling hasn’t always been a good combination.
The USS Discovery at warp.
In 2022, there’s no debate that the best-received and most successful Star Trek series was Strange New Worlds. The franchise took a step back toward episodic storytelling while retaining many of the trappings of more modern shows. Strange New Worlds was the perfect blend of “monsters-of-the-week” with season-long character arcs – and it was beautiful, riveting television that quickly became the high-water mark of modern Star Trek.
In contrast, Discovery’s fourth season and Picard’s second didn’t do so well. Discovery Season 4 pulled out a creditable ending – but I’m not alone in feeling that it spent a lot of time treading water before it reached that point. And well… the less said about Picard Season 2 the better, quite frankly. It was awful.
Yup.
When Discovery’s cancellation was announced, I said that it might prove to be a net positive for the franchise – if Paramount could use it as an opportunity to refine and refocus Star Trek. Look at what’s worked and what hasn’t since Discovery’s premiere, and pick the best and most successful elements from five different productions. There’s a place for serialised storytelling in Star Trek, sure… and there has been going way back to Deep Space Nine’s Dominion War arc. But just because other made-for-streaming shows are going down the serialised road… that doesn’t mean that every Star Trek show has to as well.
A kid-friendly series – as Starfleet Academy should aim to be – is particularly well-suited to a more episodic kind of storytelling. There can be ongoing character arcs and storylines within that framework, as Strange New Worlds has demonstrated. But if the main thrust of the series is episodic it would feel accessible to a more youthful, casual audience – and it could open up a much wider range of potential storylines.
Starfleet Academy could bring in a younger audience.
If there’s time between now and Starfleet Academy entering production next year to make this case, I hope someone at Paramount will listen! Look at what Strange New Worlds achieved in its first season and try to emulate that model instead of making another fully-serialised show in the mould of Picard or Discovery. That would be my single biggest wish – and my single biggest piece of advice to Paramount and the producers of Starfleet Academy.
The announcement of any new Star Trek show should be a time of great excitement – and I do feel excited! After Discovery’s cancellation, the catastrophic failure of a proposed new Kelvin timeline film last year, and poor financial news from Paramount, there was no guarantee that Starfleet Academy – or any other new project, for that matter – would get off the ground at all. So I’m relieved that Paramount remains committed to making new Star Trek shows. With Picard and Discovery both coming to an end, there will certainly be room in the lineup!
This is good news for Star Trek.
There are concerns, though. Does the announcement of Starfleet Academy mean that a Picard spin-off is now off the table for the foreseeable future? What of the Section 31 series, which has been languishing in development hell for more than four years? Is the 32nd Century the right time period for a brand-new series? Is another serialised show in the Discovery mould really the right move in light of how well Strange New Worlds worked? Is this Alex Kurtzman’s last hurrah? I have a thousand questions like this right now!
A series that could appeal to a younger audience has a ton of potential, and I will watch Starfleet Academy’s progress with enthusiasm and as much hope as I can muster! When the show is ready I’ll do my best to review each and every episode – and between now and then, I’ll cover any big developments such as casting announcements, teaser trailers, and more. So I hope you’ll stay tuned here on Trekking with Dennis!
This was a surprising announcement in some ways, but one that has been a long time coming in others. I’m glad that Star Trek has a future beyond Discovery and Picard’s final seasons, and I’m genuinely excited to see what Starfleet Academy has to offer.
Live long and prosper!
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has just been announced and won’t enter production until at least 2024. The series will premiere on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the service is available sometime in 2025, 2026, or beyond. Further international distribution has not been announced. The Star Trek franchise – including Starfleet Academy and all other properties discussed above – is the copyright of CBS Studios and Paramount Global. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3, including the trailers, teasers, and marketing material for upcoming episodes. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Discovery.
For some utterly inexplicable reason, Paramount doesn’t make all of its marketing material available to viewers outside of the United States. Trailers, teasers, clips, posters, and even Paramount’s own press website are geo-blocked, meaning fans and viewers who aren’t American can’t access them – at least, not officially. This is just another example of Paramount’s stupid, dangerous, and obviously damaging “America First” fetish that we’ve talked about here on the website on more than one occasion in the last few years.
But we’ll have to give Paramount another stern talking-to, clearly.
Fuck you too, Paramount.
Because I don’t have access to that, I missed something potentially huge about the upcoming fifth episode of Star Trek: Picard Season 3 that was revealed in the episode’s official press release. Here’s the full blurb so you can read it for yourself:
“Caught by Starfleet and facing court martial, paranoia grows as Picard struggles to uncover whether a prodigal crewman from his past has returned as an ally – or an enemy hellbent on destroying them all.”
One part of this in particular jumped out at me: the “prodigal crewman.” Who could this character be? And more importantly: might it be someone we’ve met before; a returning legacy character?
There are quite a lot of characters who could potentially return!
I would have included this as part of my theory list if I’d spotted it in time! I don’t like going back to posts I’ve already published and adding whole paragraphs and chunks of text, so instead of doing that, I’ve decided to write this one up as a standalone theory.
The use of the word “prodigal” is very interesting here, as it could absolutely be argued to imply that we’re dealing with a character we’ve already met. A “prodigal” son or daughter is someone who returns home, so I think we’ve got a case – albeit not a watertight one – to make in favour of this character being someone we’ve already met. And you better believe that I have a few ideas for who they could be!
Prodigal Crewman #1: Tasha Yar
Tasha Yar at her post.
Denise Crosby, who originated the role of Tasha Yar in The Next Generation’s first season, has been heavily rumoured to be involved with Picard Season 3 for months, and it’s primarily for that reason that she’s in contention here. Yar was, of course, famously killed off toward the end of The Next Generation Season 1, but that didn’t stop Crosby from making occasional returns to Star Trek – either as Tasha Yar herself or as her half-Romulan daughter Sela.
Perhaps part of what Picard will have to figure out is whether Tasha Yar survived her injuries at the hands of Armus, or whether this version of Tasha Yar might be the mother of Sela – someone detained and imprisoned for years by the Romulans. Such a storyline could even cross over with a potential Section 31 series; Tasha’s survival may have been hushed up by the shadowy black-ops organisation.
Tasha Yar was killed off early in The Next Generation’s run.
Most fans of The Next Generation would instantly assume that Tasha Yar couldn’t possibly be real – because we know that she died a long time ago. That would potentially set up a kind of double-bluff, where the show leans into the idea that Tasha Yar is a changeling… only to perhaps rip that away at the last moment and say that she’s actually for real.
A good rule in Star Trek (and fiction in general!) is that if you haven’t seen the corpse, a character may not be truly dead. But we did see Tasha’s body, we watched her die, and we even saw her friends attend her memorial service. It would be difficult, narratively speaking, to find a way around that… and I don’t think it’s something that can just be hand-waved away or ignored. So there’s a potential pitfall here, I fear.
Prodigal Crewman #2: Sito Jaxa
Ensign Sito Jaxa.
Ensign Sito Jaxa made two appearances in The Next Generation. She debuted in the episode The First Duty, where, as a cadet at Starfleet Academy, she played a role in covering up the death of a colleague during an unsanctioned flying manoeuvre. Later she appeared in the episodeLower Decks, having been assigned to the Enterprise-D at Picard’s explicit request.
Ensign Sito was presumed to have died during a mission to aid a Cardassian spy – but her body was never recovered, so it’s possible, perhaps, that she wasn’t killed in action as we were led to believe.
Sito with Picard.
Sito definitely qualifies as a “prodigal” crewman, I think! But as a character who only made a couple of appearances, she may not be as recognisable to the audience. The story would also have to find a way to explain what happened to Sito after her disappearance in a satisfactory way, telling us how and why she disappeared and allowed her friends to assume the worst.
Even with those issues, though, I think Sito could make for a fascinating character to bring back. And as a relatively unknown character, there’s scope to tell a different kind of story unconstrained by too much prior canon.
Prodigal Crewman #3: Dr Pulaski
Dr Kate Pulaski.
I gotta be honest: I don’t really think that Dr Pulaski is a strong contender here. But as you’ll know if you read my in-depth look at her character, I truly like Dr Pulaski, and she’s a character that I wish we’d gotten to spend more time with. Giving her an epilogue after all these years would be fantastic – even if it seems quite unlikely!
So that’s the truth of Dr Pulaski’s inclusion on this list. But I still think we can build a case for her return. First and foremost, Dr Pulaski never got a conclusive goodbye after Season 2 of The Next Generation. She simply disappeared when Dr Crusher returned at the beginning of Season 3, and while there was supposedly a mention of her over a tannoy in the background during the events of the Voyager series finale Endgame, implying that she may have worked at Starfleet Medical, I don’t think that really counts!
Dr Pulaski, ready for a trip to the holodeck!
It would be genuinely interesting to see some kind of on-screen interaction between Drs Crusher and Pulaski, as that’s something we never got during The Next Generation’s run. How would these two very different doctors react to one another, and would their styles completely clash? It could certainly be a bit of fun to see that!
Dr Pulaski also had a burgeoning friendship with Worf, and has a strained relationship with Riker as she had once been involved with his father. She’s also a character who knew Professor Moriarty, who we know is coming back soon; she was present during his creation on the holodeck. There are good reasons to want to see more of Dr Pulaski – even though I think her return on this occasion isn’t the most likely.
Prodigal Crewman #4: Ro Laren
Ro betrayed Riker and Picard the last time we saw her.
The former Ensign Ro is someone who could be absolutely fascinating to bring back. Her defection to the Maquis at the end of The Next Generation was something that clearly stung Picard, so there’d immediately be a loss of trust between them. Ro is also a character who could tell us a great deal about relations between the Federation and the Cardassians, as well as the potential survival of some members of the Maquis.
One interesting idea that hasn’t been explored fully in Star Trek since the Dominion War is the idea that characters like Ro and even Michael Eddington were, in a roundabout way, right. They predicted Cardassian aggression years before it happened, and were willing to fight back at a time when the Federation was pursuing what amounted to a policy of appeasement; peace at any cost.
Picard with Ensign Ro at a Bajoran refugee camp.
If Ro were to return, we could see her take Picard to task for failing to recognise signs that the Cardassians would once again make offensive moves against the Federation – and hearing what Picard may have to say in defence of his actions in that era could be fascinating, particularly in light of what happened in the Dominion War.
We could also see Ro as the returning “prodigal” crewman, perhaps having suffered years of imprisonment at the hands of the Cardassians, and lamenting the loss of many of her Maquis friends. I’m sure Riker would have a thing or two to say to her, too, because the last time he saw her she was pointing a phaser at him!
Prodigal Crewman #5: Lore
Lore as he appeared in The Next Generation.
Is Lore a “crewman” in the strict sense of the term? I’m not so sure… but he’s also the only character on this list that we know for a fact will be included in the season’s story! That alone should mean he’s in contention.
It seems to have been hinted in pre-season marketing material that Lore may have changed since we last encountered him, and that he may have become more of a friend/ally to Picard and the crew. If so, perhaps that will be what Picard figures out over the course of this upcoming episode.
Lore in the final Season 3 trailer.
Is it possible that Lore might have been “repurposed” to somehow resurrect Data? That could also give Picard a puzzle to figure out: is he dealing with the genuine resurrection of his dead friend, or is Lore once again trying to take everyone for a ride by posing as his brother? After a prominent sequence at the end of Season 1 in which Data was laid to rest, I’m not sure this is the route I’d want to see the story go down – but you never know.
I’m not really sold on Lore’s return, to tell the truth. The “evil twin” angle was a fun one on a couple of occasions during The Next Generation’s run, but with Data seemingly out of the picture, Lore’s return seems to be more to do with wanting to reunite actor Brent Spiner with his co-stars rather than for any narrative reason. And with Spiner having already appeared in both Seasons 1 and 2 of Picard… maybe that’s just not something that will turn out to have been necessary. Regardless, this feels like it could plausibly be the moment of Lore’s return.
Prodigal Crewman #6: Elnor
Season 2 promotional photo of Elnor.
I know, I know: actor Evan Evagora has stated that he isn’t coming back for Picard’s third season. However, we heard similar words from Orla Brady, who plays Laris, and she actually did appear in the season premiere. Perhaps Elnor could be back for a one-off appearance after all!
Would we call Elnor a “prodigal” crewman? And what reason might Picard have to suspect that he’s dangerous – other than the obvious changeling infiltration possibility? Also, what kind of role might Elnor have in prosecuting Picard at a potential court-martial? All of these questions would have to be answered if Elnor is indeed to return!
Cadet Elnor at the end of Season 2.
However, it would be an unexpected and fun twist in the story. We could learn that Elnor has graduated from Starfleet Academy and is now a fully-fledged Starfleet officer, perhaps serving in the security division. He could even enable Picard and Riker to escape their potential arrest, proving that he’s on their side.
Elnor’s return could also lead to a reunion with Raffi, as the two clearly had a strong bond. It must’ve been difficult for Raffi to leave Elnor behind to go undercover – especially as he’s the closest thing to family she has left after alienating and estranging herself from her ex-husband, son, and daughter-in-law. Elnor’s story, perhaps more so than any other new character, is arguably the most unfinished – and finding a genuinely good reason for his last-second resurrection at the end of Season 2 should be a priority, too.
Prodigal Crewman #7: Sela
Sela in The Next Generation.
We mentioned Sela above when talking about Tasha Yar, but could she turn out to be the “prodigal crewman” herself? Depending on the state of Romulan-Federation relations in this era, it’s possible, I suppose, that other Romulans might follow in Elnor’s footsteps and join Starfleet – or at least work alongside Starfleet in some capacity as allies.
Sela could also emerge not as a member of the crew, but in some other role, perhaps as a fellow prisoner if Picard and Riker are placed under arrest. She could return offering to break Picard out of jail, only for Picard to have to stop to consider whether she’s doing so to help – or because she has some other nefarious goal in mind.
Picard and Sela have crossed paths before…
This would allow Denise Crosby to return but without having to, for want of a better expression, dig up Tasha Yar. Given the adversarial nature of Sela’s relationship with Picard, it would make sense why he wouldn’t know whether or not to trust her – and why he’d need to figure out whether she’s an ally or an enemy.
I definitely think that there’s scope to bring back Sela in some form this season – though whether this would be the right way to do it is still an open question!
Prodigal Crewman #8: Vadic
Vadic in Seventeen Seconds.
This one is a bit “out there,” so bear with me! I’ve had a theory that has been running for as long as we’ve known Vadic would be a part of the season’s story in which I’ve suggested that she could be a former Starfleet officer – someone who once served under Picard’s command. The inclusion of multiple connections to the Battle of Wolf-359 – including most prominently Captain Shaw’s presence at the battle that was revealed in No Win Scenario – could also be a potential origin story for Vadic: she was a Starfleet officer or enlisted crewman present at the battle.
Perhaps Vadic will return in the upcoming episode, relatively unscathed after Riker’s asteroid attack, and will reveal herself as a former crewmate of Picard’s. She may offer some tantalising piece of information pertaining to the rogue changelings and their conspiracy that Picard will need to investigate – and determining whether Vadic’s offer is genuine or a trap could be a big part of the story.
Who is Vadic?
If Vadic truly is someone who served in Starfleet, I’m not sure if this is how that revelation might come. But it feels like a possibility, at least, and now that we’re relatively certain that Vadic isn’t actually a changeling herself, but is merely working for them in some capacity, the question of her origin is once again an open one.
It would be a shocking twist in the story if Vadic essentially “turned evil” because of something that Picard did or didn’t do. She might blame him for her injuries if she once served aboard the Stargazer or Enterprise-D, or she might hold Picard accountable for her assimilation if she was captured and assimilated by the Borg, for example. There are multiple ways to tie Vadic to Picard’s past – including as a “prodigal crewman.”
Prodigal Crewman #9: Reg Barclay
Barclay with a medical tricorder.
Barclay would be a fun and interesting character to include in Season 3, and a potential story in which he plays a role could also see him interacting with Seven of Nine. Barclay was instrumental in helping the USS Voyager communicate with Starfleet while the ship was stranded in the Delta Quadrant, so a kind of reunion between him and Seven could be a ton of fun!
Although Barclay was arguably not Picard’s favourite officer during his tenure aboard the Enterprise-D, he was always an ally – so the question of why Picard might mistrust him is an open one. As an engineer, there’s also the question of what role Barclay might play during a potential arrest and court-martial – he clearly isn’t going to be a security officer or advocate.
Barclay in Star Trek: Voyager.
Again, Barclay could be someone who shows up, seemingly out of nowhere, offering Picard and Riker a potential way out. Determining whether that offer of assistance is genuine could be what the blurb of the episode is hinting at, and it could be fun to see Picard and Riker trying to “test” Barclay to see whether he’s the genuine article.
Barclay is another character that I think could make a welcome return to Star Trek, and could link up with Picard, Geordi, Seven, and others in Picard’s third season in different and fun ways. Whether this would be the right way to do it… I’m not 100% sure. But it’s at least a possibility!
Prodigal Crewman #10: Miles O’Brien
O’Brien in The Next Generation.
Chief O’Brien is basically the only person on this list who meets the strictest definition of “crewman!” O’Brien was never a commissioned officer, instead holding the rank of chief petty officer – a non-commissioned rank that essentially makes him a senior crewman. Could that complicated work of semantic gymnastics be a hint at the return of Chief O’Brien?
I’d absolutely love to see Miles O’Brien come back. He’d certainly have a lot to say to Worf – the two worked together for years during the Dominion War. He’s also a character with a strong connection to Picard, having served aboard the Enterprise-D before transferring to DS9.
Chief O’Brien.
O’Brien is also a great character to include in a story all about the rogue changelings. As a kind of epilogue to Deep Space Nine seems to be unfolding, bringing back other characters from that series makes a lot of sense – and if it’s someone like O’Brien that Picard hasn’t seen for a long time, it would be understandable if trust is hard to come by at first. Worf could be the point of connection here, proving to Picard that O’Brien is on their side.
I doubt that the question of “crewman” versus “officer” will ultimately matter; that was just a bit of fun. It would be great to think that we might see Chief O’Brien again, though, and that he might have a role to play in a story that brings back the changelings and makes reference to the Dominion War – a war in which he played a major role.
Prodigal Crewman #11: Wesley Crusher
Wesley after his field commission.
Another character who would arguably fit the definition of “prodigal” is Wesley Crusher, who has been off with the Travelers for a number of years. We saw at the end of Season 2 that Wesley has settled into that role, so the question of why he might choose to make himself known to Picard at this time is unclear.
However, as the blurb hints, it could be possible that a changeling is impersonating Wesley to try to catch Picard and Dr Crusher off-guard. This imposter could be trying to get to Jack through Dr Crusher, using the image of Wesley to worm their way into the Crushers’ trust.
Wesley with Kore Soong at the end of Season 2.
Having seen Wesley at the end of last season, though, and seemingly in a pretty conclusive scene, I’m not certain that he’ll be back again so soon. There are good reasons to do it, both narratively speaking and for the fun of including another legacy character, but there are also some pretty solid counterpoints, too.
Still, Wesley would certainly fit the definition, and would be an interesting character to include. His inclusion could set up a kind of double-bluff, where we’re led to believe there’s a high likelihood of his being a changeling, only for the story to prove at the last moment that he actually is Wesley Crusher. I think a lot of fans would like to see a reunion between Wesley and Beverly – and it could be fun to see Wesley meeting his half-sibling for the first time, too!
Prodigal Crewman #12: Thomas Riker
Thomas Riker.
Thomas Riker – a transporter-created clone of William Riker – would be an interesting character to bring back. Last we saw him, Thomas was being arrested by the Cardassians, having exposed a secret fleet that the Obsidian Order was building. This took place in the years prior to the Dominion War – so what became of him after his arrest was never seen on screen.
If Thomas survived the war, he may have been returned to the Federation, or perhaps liberated from a Cardassian prison camp during the course of the conflict. If so, perhaps he was able to rejoin Starfleet at some point.
Could this be Thomas Riker? Or did Thomas somehow replace the real Riker?
The presence of Thomas Riker could tie into the theme of an “imposter” without going down the obvious route of having another changeling hiding out in Starfleet. It could fall to Picard to figure out whether he’s sitting with the original Riker or his clone – and as the two men are indistinguishable by scans and sensors, it might only be Picard’s insight into his former number one that could find out the truth.
This could also potentially explain why we saw a clip in one of the pre-season trailers that seemed to show Riker trapped or imprisoned. If Thomas is involved, could he be working with Vadic? He was actually one of the characters I suggested could be part of her team when I put together a list back in November. You can find the full list by clicking or tapping here.
Bonus Prodigal Crewman: Someone entirely new.
Will it be someone we’ve never met?
In Season 1, the super-synths and Zhat Vash were entirely new creations. In Season 2, Star Trek’s past likewise didn’t factor into either the mysterious anomaly or Picard’s own backstory. There have been moments in both seasons where characters from the past could have been included: multiple admirals and senior Starfleet personnel could have been replaced by the likes of Admiral Janeway, for instance, or Dr Benayoun in Season 1 could have been subbed out for someone like Dr Pulaski or Dr Bashir.
So there are good reasons to think that, once again, Picard will create an entirely new character to fill this space. Such a character could be said to have served under Picard’s command aboard the Enterprise-D, the Enterprise-E, the Stargazer, or during the Romulan rescue mission, and they could be tailor-made to fill a particular role in this new narrative.
In Season 1, the new character of Dr Benayoun was created.
I’d suggest that this reference to a “prodigal crewman” hasn’t exactly been a massive part of the marketing or promotional material for either the season as a whole or even for this episode – so if it turns out not to be relevant, I don’t think we can really accuse Paramount of getting our hopes up too much! On several occasions in recent seasons of Star Trek, there arguably have been teases that hinted at potential returning characters or factions that ultimately didn’t pan out. We could point to Tarka’s friend and Unknown Species 10-C in Discovery Season 4, the Burn in Discovery Season 3, and the super-synths in Picard Season 1 as examples of this… but this reference to a “prodigal crewman” feels minor in comparison.
In short, what I’m trying to say is this: don’t be surprised if this character turns out to be someone brand-new. Although we’ve had fun (I hope) speculating wildly about possible returning characters, a brand-new creation is at least as likely – if not more so – than anyone on this list!
So that’s it!
The Titan will rendezvous with another Starfleet vessel…
We’ve considered twelve possible characters who could be the “prodigal crewman” mentioned in the blurb for Imposters, the upcoming fifth episode of Picard Season 3. Will we look back at this list in a few days’ time and think how brilliant and insightful it was? Or will we instead think how silly it was to speculate about a bunch of characters who clearly had no role to play? Only time will tell! But even if I’m completely wrong on this, it was a bit of fun to speculate about who may or may not be coming back.
I’d be hard-pressed to pick a favourite on the list above. For production-side reasons, characters played by actors who we know to be involved in the season – like Thomas Riker or Lore – feel plausible, as do characters like Sela and Tasha Yar as Denise Crosby has been heavily rumoured to be playing a role this time. But Star Trek has kept some wonderful surprises – Wesley Crusher’s role at the end of Season 2 hadn’t been leaked or even hinted at, making it a great inclusion in the episode Farewell. What I’m saying is that a complete shock shouldn’t be entirely disregarded; it’s possible, at least, that a truly unexpected character could be about to make a return.
As a final note: I always like to end these theory posts by saying that I do this just for fun. I enjoy writing, I enjoy Star Trek, and spending more time in this world is an escape and an enjoyable distraction for me. But for some folks, fan theories can become frustrating or unenjoyable, especially if they get very attached to a plausible-sounding theory that ultimately doesn’t pan out. I have no “insider information” and I’m not trying to claim that anything suggested above can, will, or must be part of Picard Season 3.
Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States and other countries and territories where the service is available, and on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and around the world. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Wrath of Khan, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager.
The title of this week’s episode annoyed me! A “no-win scenario” should be written thus, with a hyphen, but Paramount opted not to abide by that particular rule of grammar. Still, I suppose I’m not one to talk!
After Seventeen Seconds had been fantastic across the board last week, I felt the quality dip slightly this time as No Win Scenario couldn’t quite reach that same level. There were a couple of moments where the conversations characters had felt like they were taken from a soap-opera, an incredibly rushed rationalisation for what was going on, and a big, explosive moment as the episode reached its climax that, for reasons we’ll get into, didn’t quite have the impact it was going for.
Picard exits the holodeck.
After last week’s episode ended with Picard and Riker experiencing a major falling-out, I was expecting that No Win Scenario would find a way to bring them back together. However, I wasn’t expecting it to happen so quickly, nor for the conflict to just… fizzle out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always going to be happier to see Picard and Riker on friendly terms and working in common cause, but after such a spectacular blow-up last week that saw Picard banished from the bridge… I expected some kind of apology-come-resolution to settle this argument. No Win Scenario didn’t really deliver that, at least not in a meaningful way, and this aspect of the story – which had been a major part of last week’s episode and its cliffhanger ending – felt unsatisfying.
As happened more than once in Season 2, I felt that No Win Scenario was in a rush to bring this cliffhanger to a resolution so that there’d be enough time left to crack on with the rest of the story. While it’s possible that there will be ramifications for Picard and Riker if things settle down aboard the Titan, and we could re-visit this character conflict in a future episode to get a more conclusive ending, based on what we saw in No Win Scenario I was left feeling a bit empty; something significant was missing from the way this conflict wrapped up.
Picard and Riker’s argument seemed to fizzle out.
That last sentence also applies to my feelings on the conflict with Captain Vadic, and although the fight between the Titan and the Shrike came at the tail end of the episode, we’ll jump ahead to look at that next.
The use of an asteroid as a weapon was visually spectacular and just plain cool, with the animation work used to bring it to life being absolutely outstanding. There was a kind of poetic symmetry to Riker using the tractor-beam as a weapon after Vadic had done the same in Disengage a couple of weeks ago.
The Shrike was heavily damaged by Riker’s asteroid attack.
But here’s the problem that I have with the way this conflict came across: we still don’t know Vadic. We want to see her stopped and we don’t want her to succeed – but that’s only because we don’t want to see Jack Crusher or our other heroes harmed or captured. At this point in the story, Vadic is no-one… we don’t know who she is, what she wants, what her connection is to the rogue changelings and their scheme, or really anything else about her. She’s an over-the-top villain, almost a caricature of someone like Khan… and seeing her defeated just didn’t feel like it had any significance except insofar as it allowed the Titan to escape.
Think about some of the best, nastiest Star Trek villains from the franchise’s past. By the time the Battle of the Mutara Nebula ended in The Wrath of Khan, we didn’t just want Kirk to win – we wanted Khan to lose. Likewise for villains like Sela, Gul Dukat, or the Kelvin timeline’s Admiral Marcus – their stories were written in such a way that we wanted to see them beaten, defeated, and left for dead. I don’t feel any of that toward Vadic right now, and the reason is simple: I don’t know who she is or what she wants. She’s a speedbump; an obstacle for our heroes to overcome. I want to see her stopped, but only by default.
Picard Season 3 hasn’t earned a moment like this yet.
No Win Scenario set up the Shrike’s return and had the ship standing in the Titan’s way as Riker and Picard tried to guide the ship to safety. And this moment felt tense and exciting, with a genuine threat to our heroes. Jack in particular seemed to be in danger; with no shields to speak of, he could have been beamed away by Vadic, perhaps.
But in terms of Vadic herself… her defeat on this occasion felt unimportant and unearned. Sure, the Titan needed to get the Shrike out of the way to make an escape. But beyond that, seeing Vadic and her crew scrambling around on their damaged vessel just didn’t make much of an impression. Earlier in the episode we started the process of unravelling the Vadic mystery… but we haven’t made enough progress on that front for her to feel like a fully-rounded, fleshed-out character just yet. Unless and until that happens, these moments will continue to fall flat.
The Titan launches an asteroid at the Shrike.
A villain created to be as over-the-top as Vadic is supposed to be someone we can “love to hate.” And I’m hopeful that that feeling will come in the episodes ahead; we aren’t yet at the halfway point. But at this point in the story, Vadic isn’t someone I love to hate. In fact, she isn’t someone I “hate” at all, she’s someone who I don’t yet understand.
Had this moment with the Shrike and the asteroid come later, after we’d learned more about Vadic and what this conspiracy is that Picard and the crew will need to stop, then maybe her defeat in the moment would feel more significant and more impactful. At this point in the story, though, it didn’t. We’ll see more of Vadic, of this I’m sure, but there’s also a risk in defeating a villain at an early stage. The Shrike was incredibly intimidating at first… but we’ve already seen that it can be defeated. That could potentially lower the stakes and reduce the tension when we inevitably encounter Vadic further down the road.
We’ve already seen how Vadic can be beaten. Will that make the next encounter feel less tense?
With all that being said, there was a very interesting aspect to Vadic’s story this week. We knew, thanks to the presence of a changeling infiltrator aboard the Titan, that Vadic had some kind of relationship with the rogue changelings that Worf and Raffi uncovered in last week’s episode. I wasn’t alone in having speculated that Vadic might be a changeling herself – but it seems that isn’t the case. Maybe she truly is the bounty hunter she claimed to be – but there’s a close working relationship with at least one changeling that will be fascinating to see unfold.
As a concept, the idea of a changeling forming a body part is something that Star Trek has never really explored before – perhaps it was too gory for television networks in the ’60s or the ’90s to consider! But the idea that Vadic may have a kind of symbiotic relationship with a changeling is an interesting one, and if we learn, perhaps, that Vadic has had a hand amputated due to a wartime injury or a horrible accident, there’s a chance for such a story point to lead to some of that understanding that’s currently absent from her characterisation.
Vadic has a changeling-hand.
Another interesting aspect of the conversation Vadic had with the changeling was how fearful she seemed to be. In her first appearance in Disengage – her most significant thus far – Vadic had a kind of chaotic energy; a bizarre, unsettling, almost carefree approach. She knew that she was in a dominant position thanks to the power of her ship, but she revelled in the chase and in hunting her prey.
Contrast how she spoke to the crew of the Titan a couple of weeks ago with how she spoke to her changeling attaché in No Win Scenario – and particularly how fearful she seemed and how quick she was to acquiesce when pushed. The changeling clearly has some degree of leverage over Vadic here; there’s a power imbalance. But what could it be? For the second time, I find myself saying that “money” will not be anywhere close to a satisfactory explanation!
Vadic’s boss. I vote that we name him “Floaty McFloatface.”
Villains don’t need to be sympathetic. We just talked about examples of wonderful villains in Star Trek who were nasty pieces of work through-and-through. I don’t need to feel that a villain has a good point in order to understand them. But a villain needs motivation, and right now, Vadic’s true motives are obscured through a thick narrative fog. If a suitable ending to her story has been planned, written, and properly executed, then there’s no need to worry. In time we’ll come to understand what Vadic wants and be able to enjoy her comeuppance when she doesn’t get it.
But I’m afraid that Picard’s track record in these areas is once again ringing alarm bells. Season 1 came totally unstuck because it ran out of road and an acceptable ending couldn’t be constructed in the remaining time allotted to the show. Season 2 had a plethora of issues, but the same problem of a rushed, unsatisfying ending that didn’t have time to tie up enough loose ends was repeated. And Season 2 had the same creative team and showrunner as Season 3. So as we approach the midpoint of the season, I look upon Vadic’s story in particular with more than a little concern. There’s no small amount of work to do to give this character a genuine reason for behaving the way she does while also pulling out a creditable ending.
Why do Vadic do what Vadic do?
That’s enough about Vadic for now. Another character who caused me mixed feelings in No Win Scenario was Captain Shaw – and there are several parts to his story. Some worked better than others, and I’ll start by saying that Shaw is a more interesting and nuanced character than I’d been expecting. There’s also an inspired performance from Todd Stashwick, who really seems to be putting his all into the standoffish Starfleet captain.
You know there’s a “but” coming, though.
But unfortunately, Shaw’s story in No Win Scenario was muddled in more ways than one. First of all, we have the problem I could see coming a mile away: there are too many captains aboard the Titan. Shaw’s injury in Seventeen Seconds was a convenient excuse to bump Riker into the captain’s chair – but that was always implied to be a very temporary move. Shaw’s recovery should have seen him reclaim the chair – especially given his obvious dislike of Riker and Picard. A convoluted story beat involving Shaw being literally the only officer on the Titan capable of performing a technobabble engineering task may have gone some way to excusing his absence on the bridge… but by the end of the episode I fully expected him to come bursting out of the turbolift to reclaim his ship.
Captain Shaw.
We’ve seen other Star Trek stories where more than one character holding the rank of captain was present on the same ship, and that doesn’t have to be an issue in and of itself. In The Wrath of Khan, for instance, we had Admiral Kirk and Captain Spock aboard the Enterprise, and by the time of The Undiscovered Country Sulu had also been promoted and was in command of his own ship. But in this particular story, the way Shaw is written and the uncertain nature of both Riker and Picard’s status as Starfleet or ex-Starfleet or semi-retired officers just makes it feel unnecessarily complicated.
If the reason for Shaw sticking around was to have a big blow-up with Picard about the Battle of Wolf-359 and Picard’s assimilation… then I’m afraid it didn’t stick the landing and wasn’t worth the fuss. This was supposed to be one of the emotional punches of No Win Scenario, and a sequence that explained much of Captain Shaw’s hostility since Picard first came aboard the ship. But I didn’t feel there was sufficient buildup to Shaw’s outburst, which left the resulting scene feeling like it came from nowhere – and with character drama that could rival any soap-opera.
Shaw hated Picard for his role in the Battle of Wolf-359.
In principle, this is a clever idea. It forces Picard to confront a part of his past that he’s still uncomfortable with, and he has to do it in front of Jack at a time when the two are just beginning to get to know one another. But the execution here wasn’t great, nor was the shoehorning in of the Guinan’s Bar set that Paramount seems to insist on re-using as often as possible.
A captain who hates Picard because of what happened at Wolf-359? Why does that sound familiar? Oh, right: it’s because this was also the setup for Benjamin Sisko at the beginning of Deep Space Nine more than thirty years ago. In short, we’ve seen this argument before. There are differences between Shaw and Sisko, of course; Sisko’s anger was more of a slow-burning thing, whereas Shaw’s was a rapid explosion – perhaps influenced by the pain medication he claimed to be taking. But while those differences keep the two sequences and two characters feeling distinct, the underlying premise is so similar as to feel incredibly familiar to any long-standing Star Trek fan.
We’ve been here before…
Picard’s third season promised to draw on the legacy of Deep Space Nine in a way that modern Star Trek hasn’t so far – and by introducing a rogue faction of changelings that Odo warned Worf about, the writers have created a truly engaging epilogue to the Deep Space Nine story. But Shaw’s background being nigh-on identical to Sisko’s feels like it crosses the line from homage into plagiarism, and while it gives us a reason to feel more sympathy for Shaw, or at least to understand him better, it also feels like a pretty cheap recycling of such an important story beat.
With no Borg presence readily apparent in the story of the season (though that could admittedly change), I’m also a little confused as to why the story keeps returning to Picard’s Borg past. We had multiple references to The Best of Both Worlds in the season premiere, and now we have this big reveal that Shaw was present at the Battle of Wolf-359 too… but at this point, which again is nearly halfway through the season, these references don’t seem to be going anywhere.
The Enterprise-D flies past wrecked ships after the Battle of Wolf-359.
In Seasons 1 and 2, Picard’s Borg connection – and the trauma it brought him – were big plot points. We had his first visit to a Borg cube in the Season 1 episode The Impossible Box, which contained a truly excellent sequence looking at Picard’s post-traumatic stress and how being back in that environment was a trigger. And in Season 2, we saw how Picard had grown in regard to the Borg, being willing to at least listen to a Borg proposal – something that later set the stage for Seven of Nine’s character arc, learning to accept the Borg side of herself.
In both cases, though, the Borg connection to current events was readily apparent. We had the Artifact in Season 1, which showed up in pre-season marketing before appearing in either the first or second episode of the season (I forget which exactly). And in Season 2, the very first episode re-introduced the Borg in truly spectacular fashion. Both stories set up their Borg elements early on, meaning that their subsequent Borg connections worked and felt meaningful. That sense just isn’t present here.
Picard confronted his Borg demons in Season 1.
Narratively, I don’t see what we gain by Shaw bringing up Picard’s Borg past, either. As mentioned, Picard has basically come to terms with what his assimilation experience means by this point – from The Next Generation episode Family, the Deep Space Nine premiere, the film First Contact, and episodes in Picard Seasons 1 and 2, we’ve seen him process different parts of this experience. I’m struggling to see what – if anything – has been gained or could be gained in future, in a story all about Jean-Luc Picard, by re-hashing this aspect of his life – especially by re-doing a storyline that we’ve already seen play out.
For Captain Shaw, of course, his outburst was almost certainly a cathartic release; the outpouring of emotions bottled up for more than three decades. But – and I don’t mean this unkindly – I don’t really care about Shaw at this stage. He’s a new character, someone who’s only been on screen for a few minutes in total until now, and while this revelation certainly tells us something in a strictly factual sense about his background, I’m just not feeling its necessity… not to this story, at any rate. With Sisko, who was about to take centre-stage in his own series, it made sense to detail this defining incident in his life to set up where he was going to go over the course of Deep Space Nine’s run. For Shaw, who may or may not have much of a role to play over the remaining six episodes of Picard… again, I just don’t see why it was necessary to take this diversion.
Captain Shaw told his story to Picard and Jack.
I said a couple of weeks ago that I understood why Captain Shaw had been basically subbed in for Chris Rios – the character from Seasons 1 and 2 who had been dumped by the series. But if this connection to The Best of Both Worlds and the grumpy, standoffish persona is the only real reason why Captain Shaw exists… then I think I’d rather have had Rios in the captain’s chair this time around. Creating a brand-new character only to essentially re-do part of the plot of Deep Space Nine’s Emissary just doesn’t feel substantial or satisfying. But perhaps I’m biased in the sense that I felt Rios was treated incredibly poorly by the writers for much of last season!
It’s also worth saying that Shaw may yet have more to contribute. I don’t hate him by any means, and I think he has potential in some ways to be an interesting character, and as someone who isn’t a natural friend to Picard, he introduces a bit of drama and conflict into the story that wouldn’t necessarily be present otherwise. What I am saying, though, is that if this is Shaw’s only big moment – his main contribution to the season’s story – then I’m underwhelmed.
Captain Shaw: grease monkey.
One thing that I absolutely adored about No Win Scenario was the alien-nursery anomaly that the Titan found itself trapped inside of. Nothing could feel more “Star Trek” than seeing a spacefaring lifeform give birth, and it harkened back to the events of the very first episode of The Next Generation – as the characters themselves noted in the episode.
The life-forms that were born as the nursery-nebula erupted were beautiful, too, and the CGI artists and animators deserve so much praise for bringing these creatures to life in such spectacular fashion. The whole idea from concept to execution felt like it had been lifted from a classic episode of The Original Series or The Next Generation, with the threat of Vadic fading into the background and a scientific mystery for Picard, Riker, and the Crushers to unravel.
The Titan surrounded by spacefaring life-forms.
However, there was one aspect of this story that didn’t work particularly well, and because of who it involves it feels like quite a disappointment. In The Next Generation, Dr Crusher didn’t always get enough screen time or a lot to do; her scenes were mainly in sickbay, so in episodes with no medical element, she wasn’t always able to make much of a contribution to the story. Her return in Picard – and particularly having been outside of Starfleet for twenty years, operating independently – is an opportunity to right a thirty-five-year-old wrong, and show Dr Crusher in somewhat of a new light. We saw the beginnings of that in the season premiere as she grabbed a phaser rifle to defend her ship… but this week felt like a regression to the way she’d been treated in The Next Generation – and I don’t mean that in any sense as a compliment.
No Win Scenario had its attention on several storylines at once. There was the Picard-Riker spat, the Picard-Shaw confrontation, Picard’s attempt to get to know Jack, and off to one side was Seven of Nine as she hunted a rogue changeling. Even with a fifty-five minute runtime, Dr Crusher once again felt sidelined.
Dr Crusher didn’t get as much screen time as I’d have liked to see.
This mattered not only because, well, I wanted and still want to see more of Dr Crusher, but because her condensed storyline ended up feeling like it skipped a beat… or more like a dozen beats. Dr Crusher seemed to take a completely irrational leap of logic from “these energy pulses are increasing in frequency” to “the nebula must be a womb,” and it happened in a matter of seconds. In The Next Generation era, this kind of storyline would have played out at least slightly slower, and would have been in focus for longer. Dr Crusher would still have arrived at the same end point, but it seemed like one heck of a contrivance for her to figure out exactly what was going on based on a single piece of evidence and a very shaky hypothesis that she concocted in a matter of seconds.
We’re seeing the consequence of a busy season here. Not only were Worf and Raffi entirely absent this week, but there’s still no sign of Geordi or Lore, and of the characters who were present, not all of them got enough time to shine. We had some fantastic moments with Riker, Picard, Jack, and even Seven and Captain Shaw… but Dr Crusher appears to have drawn the short straw. And not for the first time.
Dr Crusher seemed to figure out what was happening unrealistically quickly.
Last week, I said in my review that I was beginning to feel concerned that Geordi and Troi hadn’t shown up yet, and that Worf and Raffi were off to one side in their own little narrative box, unable to interact with the rest of the cast of characters – and this week’s episode has really ramped that up. I’m less worried about Lore, partly I have to say because I’ve never been a huge Lore fan, but also because Brent Spiner has already been a big part of Picard in its first two seasons. But I have been genuinely excited to welcome back Geordi, and to see Worf getting back together with his old crew.
With Dr Crusher having parts of her story cut this week – or, perhaps more likely, not written in the first place – I feel even more concern for this supposed reunion. Even if Geordi, Troi, and Lore join the story next week, and Worf and Raffi’s storyline finally crosses over with the Titan’s, we’ll still have spent basically half the season without them. And based on what we saw with Dr Crusher this week… I’m not convinced that the writers will have given everyone enough to do.
We still haven’t seen Geordi and Lore, nor had more than a cameo from Troi.
In these truncated ten-episode seasons that have become commonplace not only in Star Trek, but in modern streaming series in general, there’s such a thing as too many characters and too many storylines. That’s part of the reason why, despite my objections, the likes of Soji and Elnor were dropped and didn’t come back this time around: there simply wasn’t space for them in an already-crowded series.
But having promised us a reunion, and talked about how characters who didn’t always get enough to do in The Next Generation might finally have an opportunity to contribute… Season 3 hasn’t yet delivered. Those ideas remain incredibly appealing, but it’s at the very least worth noting that we’re 40% of the way through and they haven’t happened yet. Not only that, but at points where characters could have been used and where this feeling could have materialised – as with Dr Crusher this week – it didn’t work as well as it should’ve.
Dr Crusher with Jack and Picard.
After we saw how Captain Shaw was unkind to and even deadnaming Seven of Nine, it was nice to see them working together and developing their very own kind of begrudging rapport. We haven’t really seen in Star Trek this kind of adversarial dynamic between captain and XO, with such unpleasantness and genuine dislike between them, at least not outside of a handful of one-off guest characters like Jellico. So it’s an interesting element to add to the story – and one that did manage to get a cathartic payoff as No Win Scenario reached its climax.
There was also a reason, of a sort, for the deadnaming, which had been an uncomfortable element earlier in the season. I stand by what I said, though: this kind of deadnaming should be socially unacceptable in Star Trek’s optimistic future, and while it served a narrative function in more ways than one, it’s still deeply uncomfortable in terms of what it says about the state of the Federation and the Star Trek galaxy.
The deadnaming of Seven of Nine got a narrative payoff… but still feels uncomfortable.
But the deadnaming of Seven of Nine provided a satisfying end to the changeling infiltration storyline – one which, again, succeeded at recapturing that elusive sense of “Star Trek.” Seven was able to figure out who the changeling was posing as, partly by working with Riker and partly because she’d developed friendships with other members of the crew – in this case, Ensign La Forge.
One contrivance here that I guess we’ll have to overlook is the changeling’s objective. If they wanted to ensure Jack Crusher’s capture – as Vadic’s changeling “boss” seemed to suggest is their main mission – then why on earth would the changeling wish to sabotage the Titan’s escape from certain death in the gravity well of a nebula? I could believe that they would place the success of their mission ahead of their own survival, but in terms of what we know about the changelings’ objective at this stage, if capturing Jack is priority #1, then the infiltrator shouldn’t have been trying to sabotage the Titan’s escape. We learned this week that Vadic only broke off her pursuit last time because she feared for the safety of her ship, not because killing Jack or trapping the Titan were important objectives, so again: the changeling infiltrator’s motives don’t really make a lot of sense here.
Why would the changeling try to prevent the Titan’s escape if doing so meant their own death and the death of Jack Crusher?
I can overlook this point, as in the context of the story it isn’t massive and is basically a glorified nitpick, but I think it’s worth taking note of these things as they arise. One or two contrivances here and there are almost inevitable – but too many risks damaging the overall integrity of the narrative, so keeping it to a minimum is essential in order to maintain suspension of disbelief.
The way in which the story as a whole was set up this week was again something that harkened back to The Next Generation and even The Original Series – the ship being adrift, trapped by an unknown space phenomenon, with time running out. Those are Star Trek tropes as old as the franchise itself! But the way in which No Win Scenario put a twist on them was unique – and very dark.
The Titan “sinking” into the nebula.
Instead of this story immediately leading to the crew springing into action and preparing their escape, there was a defeatist tone from the very first scene of the episode. Riker in particular was very bleak in the first half of the episode, sinking into dejection and depression as he couldn’t figure out a way to save the ship and crew.
This spin on a classic formula was incredibly well handled, and in many ways feels a lot more realistic than any episodes in those earlier Star Trek series. One thing that Star Trek hasn’t always managed to convey is just how deadly and dangerous space can be – and we saw firsthand this week that it’s possible for even an advanced Federation starship to find itself in an impossible situation. Past Star Trek stories succeeded at conveying a sense of danger, but there was always a positive, optimistic approach – never the kind of “lay down and wait to die” mentality that seemed pervasive on the Titan in parts of No Win Scenario. Yet it makes perfect sense that some people would react that way – and it perfectly fits the darker tone that Picard has when compared to The Next Generation.
Riker was one of the defeatists earlier in the episode.
We talked a little about how Picard has arguably already overcome much of his Borg-related trauma, or at least how we’ve seen him engaged in that process in both Picard and earlier Star Trek productions. One thing that we haven’t always seen is Picard asking for help, reaching out to someone else and saying that he needs them – but we got that through his scenes with Jack this week.
When facing what seemed to be imminent death, Picard asked Jack to spend some time with him, and as they talked, it became clear that Picard wasn’t doing it for Jack’s sake – but for his own. To hear him articulate that was deeply emotional, and both Sir Patrick Stewart and Ed Speleers excelled in that moment. This was, from their point of view, perhaps the only opportunity they were going to get to have this conversation – or any conversation, for that matter – and it was important for Picard to at least ask some of those questions of Jack, and to try to reach out to him.
Jack agreed to share a drink with Picard.
Picard had indicated earlier, I think in last week’s episode, that he felt the bridges between himself and Jack had long ago been burned, but it was great to see Riker encouraging him – albeit with the threat of death spurring them on – to give it a try. As his life seemed to be ending, Picard hoped to spend a moment or two with the son he never knew, and there’s something touching about that. Likewise, for Jack to reciprocate that, even if it was only for a moment, was something very sweet.
Male relationships – and the relationships men have with their fathers – can be difficult, and are often defined by a lack of emotion or warmth. Although I now identify as non-binary, I was assigned male at birth, and I can say from my own experience that my relationship with my father has never been warm, emotional, or loving. My father and I can make small-talk, sure, but he would never have a heart-to-heart with me about, well, anything… and the best I can hope for from him has always been a firm handshake.
Daddy issues…
What I’m trying to say is that, for many men, there may be something cathartic about a scene like the one between Picard and Jack. A father and son having a genuine and deeply emotional conversation is something that a lot of folks frankly just don’t get in their personal lives, and even though Picard’s relationship with Jack is new – and pretty complicated – there’s still something about it that brings almost a sense of emotional release.
Jean-Luc Picard is, for many of us, a kind of “space dad;” a character we’ve known for decades and who has often, through his position in the captain’s chair, felt like the patriarch of a family. I often wished I could be a part of that family when I watched The Next Generation in the early ’90s. So to see this conversation between Jack and Picard… I felt a very strong connection with Jack in those moments.
Jack felt very relatable this week.
I won’t lie, though, it still gave me a bit of a giggle to see Picard asking Jack whether he was 23 or 24. I don’t like to keep bringing this up (the show rather forces it upon us) but actor Ed Speleers, who plays Jack, simply does not pass for someone in his early twenties any more. It’s perhaps not quite as bad as some of those “teen” dramedies from the ’70s or ’80s in which actors in their thirties and sometimes even forties were trying – and utterly failing – to play teenagers… but it’s not far off. It’s no slight against the actor – I’m sure I couldn’t pass for thirty any more, let alone twenty… but I know my limitations so I wouldn’t try!
Picard clearly offended Jack several years earlier, as we saw in that flashback scene. One thing about that bugged me a little, and that’s how it seems to conflict with Picard’s status as a “hermit” in that period. Having retired and left Starfleet behind, it just strikes me as odd that he’d go halfway across the world to eat lunch at an establishment that he must’ve known would be frequented by Starfleet cadets and personnel.
Jack in the flashback scene.
But Picard’s sentiment that he considered Starfleet his “real” family obviously stung Jack, who was potentially considering reaching out to his father in that moment. I couldn’t tell, as the episode came to an end, whether Picard was finally realising that he’d seen Jack before… or whether that moment really is just something he doesn’t recall. Either way, I’m sure it’ll come up in a future episode as a sore spot; based on what Jack said in Disengage, he clearly carries some degree of resentment toward Picard – and that moment may be the crux of it.
So that only really leaves us with Riker, who, as mentioned, seemed to fall into a pretty deep depression this week. The story of the last two episodes has wanted to contrast Picard with Riker, first in their differing approaches to battling the Shrike and then this week as they tried to wrangle with the difficult situation the Titan found itself in. Taking the loss of Riker’s son – something we first learned about back in Season 1 – as a starting point, I think No Win Scenario built up a genuinely engaging new chapter for Riker’s story.
Riker’s story felt important and meaningful.
One of the challenges that a series like Picard faces comes from legacy characters. How can someone like Riker get an epilogue that’s both worth exploring in a narrative sense and that takes him to new thematic places without shaking him up so much that he doesn’t feel like the same person any more? The way in which Riker’s story unfolded over the past few weeks has actually mirrored Picard’s – especially from the show’s first season.
Picard faced defeat when Starfleet shut down his Romulan rescue mission, and instead of continuing to fight, he gave up. He went into (relatively) quiet retirement and left the galaxy to fend for itself. This week, we saw the same thing with Riker. He had the additional motive of wanting to preserve the wreck of the Titan so he could send one last message to Troi – but fundamentally, the same idea of falling into depression when confronted with a seemingly unsolvable problem was present.
Picard has been here too…
As I said in Season 1, what makes such stories meaningful isn’t where the characters begin, but where the journey takes them. And so it proved again with Riker – he found a reason to hope, a reason to try again, and through the whole experience of danger and trauma, he emerged out the other side with a newfound sense of purpose, reaching out to Troi to recommit to their relationship and to working on his personal issues and the issues they jointly had been facing. It’s by no means identical to what Picard went through in Season 1 – but it took him from a similarly dark place to find light at the end of the tunnel.
There is real value in showing heroic characters facing moments of self-doubt and depression. I wrote an entire essay a couple of years ago about how well this worked with Luke Skywalker over in the Star Wars franchise, and while Riker’s story was shorter and didn’t go into as much depth as Picard’s did in Season 1, for all of those same reasons I felt it worked well in No Win Scenario. It was understandable that Riker would feel the way he did – but it was also an inspiring story as we got to see him find a spark of hope and use that to regain at least some of his lost confidence.
How a story like this starts isn’t nearly as important as where it takes us…
So let’s start to wrap things up. No Win Scenario wasn’t as good as Seventeen Seconds had been last week. It crammed a lot in – and seems to have brought to a close the first chapter of Season 3’s story – but it skipped one whole storyline entirely, cut down Dr Crusher’s involvement to a mere contrivance, and had a couple of moments of soap-opera-level dialogue that just didn’t fit with the dark tone of the rest of the story.
However, it was a Star Trek episode through-and-through, one that recaptured much of the magic of The Next Generation era – but still found a way to update the formula, giving it a new spin fit for a streaming series in 2023. There were some deeply emotional, cathartic moments with Picard and Jack, an interesting twist in Captain Shaw’s story that led to a reconciliation of sorts with Seven, and some great CGI and visual effects to bring the starships, the nebula, and the spacefaring critters to life. I had fun with No Win Scenario in more ways than one.
A few scattered final thoughts:
Could Vadic also be a veteran of Wolf-359? I’ll expand on this idea in my next theory post!
Why didn’t the changeling either vaporise or revert to their liquid state when Seven killed them?
Too bad there’s already a “Riker manoeuvre,” because that’s what we could’ve called that tractor-beam/asteroid attack!
It was interesting to learn that the changeling was already aboard the Titan… makes me wonder how many rogue changelings are out there, and whether there may be more aboard other vessels.
Paramount is obviously trying to get its money’s worth out of the Ten-Forward bar set…
The actors playing the bridge crew each got a line or two of dialogue this week, which was nice to see.
Picard is still ridiculously dark and under-lit, and I wish they’d fix that. I needed to turn up the brightness on several of the still frames used in this review to compensate.
Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States and other countries and territories where the service is available, and on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and around the world. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 and the trailers and teasers for Season 5.
We’re going to have to delay my review of the latest Star Trek: Picard episode by a day or two in order to do something that I rarely do here on the website: cover some breaking news. If you haven’t heard, let me be the bearer of what may or may not – depending on your perspective – be a bit of bad news: Star Trek: Discovery is going to end after its fifth season.
Forgive me for thinking negatively, but as soon as I heard that announcement, I felt a sinking feeling in my gut. Since filming wrapped on Discovery’s fifth season late last year, no live-action Star Trek has been in production for the first time in a couple of years. Not only that, but Picard’s ongoing third season is going to be that show’s swansong… and despite a spectacular first season, there’s been no news on a third season renewal for Strange New Worlds, at least at time of writing, even though production on Season 2 wrapped months ago. So could this be, as I fear, the beginning of the end for Star Trek in its modern incarnation?
How much life is left in the Star Trek universe?
Discovery brought Star Trek back to its small screen home in 2017 after twelve years in the wilderness. The show served as a launchpad for the Star Trek franchise as it exists today – and it’s highly likely that we would never have seen Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy, or of course Strange New Worlds were it not for the trail that Discovery blazed. But with its cancellation after Season 5 – which is due to be broadcast sometime in early 2024 – is Star Trek in a better or more secure place than it was in 2017… or in 2005?
I’d argue that it isn’t.
Shortly after new year, I published a piece here on the website titled 2022: A Great and Terrible Year for Star Trek, in which I took a look at what I considered to be the highs and (considerable) lows that the franchise endured over the course of a rollercoaster year. Although there was a lot to say, perhaps my biggest conclusion was simply this: franchise fatigue is beginning to set in. It’s through that lens that I must view the news of Discovery’s imminent ending.
The final shot of Discovery’s fourth season finale.
Unlike with Enterprise in 2005, it’s my hope that Discovery’s writers will have known the end was coming well enough in advance to have planned out a conclusive ending for the series and its characters. Enterprise’s finale was divisive among fans, and the show’s final season seemed to leave more than a few characters and storylines up in the air by the time the curtain fell. If this recently-announced news had been known to the producers and creative team, hopefully they will have been able to put together an ending worthy of the show and its great cast of characters.
And as I’ve said more than once: it’s infinitely better for a show to end leaving its audience wanting more, lamenting that we didn’t get “just one more season,” rather than dragging on too long and having us regret that the end didn’t come earlier! Discovery has been an imperfect production, don’t get me wrong, but with the current state of Star Trek being what it is… maybe this is simply the right time for the show to come to an end. If there weren’t great ideas on the table for future story arcs, then I’d rather it came to a close with one last hurrah instead of dragging on ad infinitum.
Michael Burnham in the trailer for Discovery Season 5.
Star Trek can’t keep up the pace that we saw in 2022, where more than fifty episodes across five shows all debuted in a single calendar year. It’s just too much – and it risks putting off new viewers, who are precisely the people that Paramount needs to convince to tune in if Paramount+ is to have a snowball’s chance in hell of surviving the streaming wars. Making Star Trek too dense, too convoluted, and just too large is what’s been happening over the last few years, so stepping back from that shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing. If anything, it should be a net positive for the franchise.
With Picard also coming to an end, there’s the potential to perhaps scale back Star Trek and refocus. Take what worked about the shows over the last few years and hone it, disregard failed experiments, and have Star Trek operate in a similar fashion to other streaming franchises – with a focus on quality over quantity.
Star Trek: Picard is also coming to the end of its run.
But is that Paramount’s goal? With two live-action shows coming to an end, there’s the potential to put more money and energy into Strange New Worlds, for example, as that show was very well-received. But with no third season having been announced so far… I can’t shake the feeling that this really could be the beginning of the end for the franchise as a whole.
Depending on how things are scheduled, there’s enough Star Trek in production or post-production to coast through into the first half of 2024. But what then? A third season of Strange New Worlds – if one is to be produced – might also debut that same year… but 2025 could end up being like 2005: the end of the road.
Is this moment akin to 2005?
If that were to happen, Paramount only has itself to blame. The corporation has mismanaged both the Star Trek franchise and its streaming platform in catastrophic fashion, seemingly led by the most inept team of morons to ever assemble in a boardroom. Before Discovery had even been conceived, an ageing corporate board with no knowledge or understanding of streaming or the internet saw the success of Netflix and said “make me one of those.” CBS All Access was born – and Star Trek was tapped to be its flagship franchise.
But was Star Trek ever big enough to place such a burden upon it? Even if Discovery had been flawless and had landed with minimal controversy, pinning the profitability of a streaming platform on its success was always a bad idea. It isn’t Discovery’s fault that CBS All Access – as Paramount+ used to be known – didn’t become the “next big thing” in streaming… and it isn’t Discovery’s fault that Paramount+ remains massively unprofitable today.
Discovery was created to be the flagship series for CBS All Access.
Paramount is in the wrong business. The board is right about one thing: streaming is the future. But they jumped into that market a decade too late, unprepared, and without the technical know-how or infrastructure to really make it work. The only thing CBS All Access/Paramount+ had going for it were shows like Star Trek – but I think Paramount is belatedly learning that the Star Trek franchise simply doesn’t have the mainstream appeal to carry an entire streaming platform.
So what does all of this mean for Star Trek’s future? Maybe it’s too early to hit the panic button… but I confess that I feel echoes of 2005. It’s been surprising to me that no spin-offs or new projects have been announced, and in a way, the announcement of Discovery’s cancellation was another opportunity to do so. The tone would be very different if the press release had stated that “Discovery is coming to an end… but Starfleet Academy or Captain Seven are entering production.”
Does Alex Kurtzman have a surprise up his sleeve?
So here we are. After a creditable six-year run, and numerous cancellation scares, Discovery will be coming to an end. Its imminent fifth season actually looks fantastic – and if it makes good on its promise of telling a different kind of story, perhaps in another world that could have set the stage for the show’s continuation. Perhaps the tragedy here will be that Discovery changed tack too late – that four whole seasons of “the galaxy is in danger and only Burnham and the crew can save it!” was just too much. That would certainly be my assessment, and as enjoyable as parts of Season 4 were, maybe if a different kind of adventure had been written last time around, we could’ve gotten an extra season or two.
There are a lot of unanswered questions. What of the backdoor pilot for a Starfleet Academy series that we seemed to get partway through Season 4? If Star Trek as a whole continues, will another series pick up Discovery’s 32nd Century setting – or does Paramount consider the far future to have been a bit of a misfire? Will Star Trek continue at all after Strange New Worlds Season 2 and Discovery Season 5? Is anyone at Paramount ready for a difficult conversation about what’s going wrong?
Paramount ought to reconsider many of its recent decisions…
I’m not thrilled to learn that Discovery won’t continue. Although not every season and every character fully stuck the landing, there’s been some fantastic entertainment along the way – episodes and moments within episodes that hit all of the high notes that we know Star Trek can. Moreover, by the time the curtain fell on Season 4, I felt that Discovery had finally turned a corner. Having settled Burnham into the captain’s chair, and told a story about seeking out new life – the very core of Starfleet’s mission – it felt that the show had finally achieved its potential. Season 5 will hopefully capitalise on this – but it will be short-lived, with only ten episodes left for the series to shine.
The history of Star Trek is one of stepping-stones: series and films that lead to new, different, and often better things. Just as Enterprise and the Kelvin films led to Discovery, so too has Discovery led to Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy, and Strange New Worlds. Whether these shows will lead, in turn, to new things, or whether the trail will go cold for a while, Discovery played its part. It may not have always done so perfectly, but I’m confident that its place in the franchise’s history is assured – and I suspect that at least some of its critics will be won over if they give it a second chance!
I’m still looking forward to Season 5 – but it’s now a rather bittersweet feeling, knowing it will be our final outing with Captain Burnham and the crew. Not to mention that this news has massively increased concerns for the overall direction – and indeed the future – of the Star Trek franchise as a whole.
Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available, and are also available on Blu-ray. Season 5 will stream on Paramount+ in 2023 or 2024. The Star Trek franchise – including Discovery and all other properties mentioned 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3. Spoilers are also present for The Next Generation and Voyager.
Before I’d even watched a single second of Star Trek: Picard Season 3, I was sceptical. In both Seasons 1 and 2, incredible premiere episodes gave way to stories that either failed to pull out a decent ending… or just failed across the board. Regardless of how The Next Generation landed, it’s the first chapter of a season-long story where success or failure will ultimately be determined over the next nine weeks. Having been burned by Picard twice now, I’m afraid that I begin this new season feeling more than a little jaded.
Taking the episode on its own merit, however, The Next Generation feels like a solid start. I wouldn’t say it was perfect – it’s an episode of contradictions, where a couple of story beats seemed to rush past in a heartbeat whilst its contribution to the overall narrative of the season may turn out to be too slow. But there were points of high excitement, fun little character moments, and more than enough intrigue spread across two distinct – yet surely connected – narrative threads to drive things forward and keep me engaged.
The new season has officially launched!
I said as Season 2 came to a close that I was bitterly disappointed to see most of the main cast being jettisoned in order to bring back characters from The Next Generation, and how I hoped their absences would be addressed somehow. Perhaps the most important of these characters was Laris, who, despite making only a handful of appearances across Seasons 1 and 2, was absolutely essential to last season’s story. Although we didn’t get to spend a great deal of time looking at Picard’s new relationship with her, I was pleased that Laris was able to be included and that we got to spend a little time with her before the main story took over.
I said in Season 1 that Laris and Zhaban served a similar role in the story to the residents of Hobbiton in The Lord of the Rings – being the familiar and comforting faces of home that Picard had to leave behind as he set out on his adventure. And Laris once again seems to serve a similar function in Season 3 as Picard sets off on a new quest. It was great to welcome back Orla Brady, and to catch a glimpse of Picard’s newfound home life with Laris before the main story kicked off. I’m glad there was time to include those sequences – and it gives me hope that we might get to hear something of Elnor, Soji, and the Borg Queen-Dr Jurati hybrid as well.
We got to catch a glimpse of Picard’s life with Laris before the main story got underway.
One of the biggest problems that has tripped up Star Trek: Picard in both of its seasons so far has been pacing. This is something that we won’t be able to judge fairly until we’ve seen most of the rest of the season, but there are causes for concern at this early stage – at least in my opinion. The Next Generation introduced us to some kind of mysterious threat that seems to be hunting Dr Crusher… but after setting up that she was in danger, the main story arc of the season didn’t really progress beyond that. Picard and Riker arrived at her ship, the Eleos, but there wasn’t any time left to go into detail about who might be hunting her or what they want.
And that could be okay… if the rest of the season has time to explain all of these points and tie together the different character arcs and narrative threads. But it’s also worth noting that The Next Generation didn’t bolt out of the gate. We met several new characters, but not the villain hunting Dr Crusher, and the episode ended more or less in the same place as it began: with Dr Crusher having fended off an attack, and the help she had called for – Riker and Picard – having only just arrived. In both Seasons 1 and 2, pacing issues across much of the season meant that too much story was left on the table, with whole storylines and characters literally ignored and dumped as time ran out. I sincerely hope that this problem hasn’t been repeated, and that The Next Generation hasn’t set up the season for a disappointingly familiar end.
In terms of the main story of the season, I’m not sure how far we’ve progressed.
Conversely, parts of The Next Generation seemed to race through – or rush past – potentially-interesting story beats. There were quite a few different elements crammed in to kick off storylines and character arcs, and the result was that not all of them seemed to get enough time in the spotlight – even though the episode as a whole wasn’t in a horrible rush.
It’s a contradiction! Raffi’s story in the criminal underworld was a bit of a whirlwind, taking her from off-the-wagon junkie to undercover operative in a heartbeat, and then culminating mere moments later in her failure (or what she will undoubtedly see as her failure) to stop an attack against a Federation facility. This storyline didn’t necessarily need more time, but it certainly could have had longer to play out. In past iterations of Star Trek, a story like this could have been an episode (or even a two-parter) in itself; Picard’s own undercover mission in Gambit comes to mind!
Raffi on her undercover assignment.
I would have liked to have spent more time with Raffi. Although she and her nameless “handler” made mention of stolen weapons, I didn’t really feel that The Next Generation properly conveyed the stakes. It was only when the Federation facility was destroyed (a moment that had been shown in pre-season trailers) that the extent of the threat that Raffi was staring down became apparent – and by then this part of the episode was pretty much over.
If this storyline had a few more minutes dedicated to it, we could have had a bit more of a conversation about what this missing weapon was, why it was so dangerous, how long it had been since it was stolen… and more background that could have set up the attack on the base. As it is, it’s hard to get too invested in this story. We never saw the base, nor met anyone who might’ve been stationed there, and we don’t know if the weapon used to destroy it was the only one stolen or one of many. Without more information to put these points into some kind of context… it just feels a tad rushed.
The attack on the base and missing weapons could’ve used a bit more context.
That being said, Michelle Hurd did everything she could with the material she had and the limited screen time afforded her to really sell this storyline, and her emotional performance was deeply impressive. Given that she was working on her own for practically the entire time, it wasn’t an easy challenge to really sell the idea of Raffi being in this dark place, but Hurd rose to the occasion.
In terms of visual effects, The Next Generation had a couple of unspectacular moments. Generally, the quality of the animation work was high – and far better than the lacklustre visuals we saw in parts of Season 1. But there were a few moments with the USS Titan that I felt were just a bit “last-gen” and not quite up to modern standards, especially when we look at what other sci-fi series and franchises are doing.
The Titan in spacedock.
This is a consequence of Paramount and Star Trek not having the budget or resources that the likes of Disney and Star Wars do, and that’s okay. In a season in which a big return to space is clearly on the agenda, though, it’s at least noteworthy that not all of the CGI moments in The Next Generation stuck the landing.
At first I couldn’t quite figure out what it was about a couple of shots of the USS Titan that I didn’t like, but I think I’ve finally nailed it down. In short, the ship is in the “uncanny valley,” looking real, but not quite real enough. Between the “lens” and the “model” there was just a bit too much smoothness; panels and lines don’t have the textural variation we’d expect to see on a real object. This problem plagued CGI through the 2000s, and if you look at Enterprise or the Star Wars prequels you’ll see far more extreme examples. While it wasn’t terrible, it was noticeable enough to pull me out of the immersion on more than one occasion – and to leave me lamenting the loss of physical starship models!
Picard and Riker’s shuttle leaves the Titan.
Aside from the heavy-handed nostalgia play, I’m genuinely not sure what the title of this episode was supposed to be about. The characters who were in focus for the vast, vast majority of the time were very decidedly not the titular “next generation,” and those who arguably might be – Sidney La Forge and the character who identified himself as Dr Crusher’s son – were only on screen for a couple of minutes at the most.
This isn’t a big deal really, but when the title of the episode clearly indicates the same kind of passing of the torch that we got back in 1987, we didn’t really feel any of that as the story unfolded. Perhaps someone cleverer than I am might be able to pick up on what the writers and producers were going for here, but I’m struggling to see it!
Ensign Sidney La Forge.
A few points that The Next Generation glossed over could’ve used some additional clarification. The last time we saw Admiral Picard he’d just taken up a new role as Chancellor of Starfleet Academy, and the pin/combadge he wore during this episode was the same one we saw him wearing on the bridge of the Stargazer in Season 2. Yet Captain Shaw made the point that Picard had now retired from Starfleet – and used that to deny his request to change course. So did Picard cease to be Chancellor of the Academy in between Seasons 2 and 3? I guess he must’ve – perhaps while deciding to move to a new planet with Laris – but it wasn’t clear.
If he did retire, how was Captain Shaw convinced to allow him and Riker to “inspect” the Titan? Captain Shaw clearly didn’t want the two of them to be there, and wouldn’t have voluntarily allowed them on board, so the question of exactly what status a retired ex-Admiral and ex-Captain occupy is a bit up in the air. The episode seemed to want to have it both ways: to tell the story of the retired old guard, but also make sure they had a pathway to commandeering a starship.
The specifics of Picard’s place in Starfleet weren’t made clear.
Captain Shaw is a great character – though I’m still convinced he won’t last very long, one way or another! I noted influences from the likes of Captain Stiles from The Search for Spock and Edward Jellico from Chain of Command, as well as perhaps a dash of Discovery’s Gabriel Lorca, in his characterisation. The strict, rigid, no-nonsense approach that we’ve often seen other characters come up against was on full display, and where Captain Shaw could have come across as a bit of a wet blanket – an unnecessary bump in the road as our protagonists set out on their journey – I think it worked well in context. Starfleet is bound to be populated by career officers like Shaw, and while he comes across as unsympathetic and even malicious due to his treatment of Seven, Riker, and Picard… in a way he isn’t wrong. These two were trying to take his ship and crew on an unsanctioned, dangerous, clandestine mission, and he was right to be suspicious of them and call them out on it.
In terms of the narrative of this first chapter of the story, though, I can’t help but wonder whether it might’ve been better for Picard and/or Riker to have called in a different favour! Instead of sneaking aboard the Titan and trying to secretively reroute the ship, couldn’t they have called in a favour from someone else in Starfleet – someone who could have hooked them up with a ship, or at least gotten them a spot aboard a ship with a captain who likes and respects them? I know that Dr Crusher warned them not to involve Starfleet – but they did anyway, and so I guess my question is: was this their only option? Maybe that’s a bit of a nitpick… and if I’m wrong and Captain Shaw sticks around, perhaps he’ll have a contribution to make to the story that will be more than worthwhile. Time will tell!
Captain Shaw may be an unpleasant man… but he was right, in a way, to be suspicious of Picard and Riker.
So let’s talk about Dr Crusher’s son. As of the last time we saw her, Dr Crusher only had one son: Wesley. And as we saw at the end of Season 2, he’s off doing his own thing with the Travellers and Supervisors. So who is this new character really – and if he is Dr Crusher’s son, will we learn who his father might be?
The obvious connection – especially in a show called Star Trek: Picard – is that he’s Picard’s son, and especially considering that Laris mentioned earlier in the episode that Picard and Dr Crusher had “tried” to become lovers, that could very well play out. We’ll take a look at this in more detail when I update my theory list, but for now suffice to say that this seems to be the most likely outcome.
I’m sure we’ll find out a lot more about Crusher Jr. in the episodes ahead!
But even if we’ve figured out this character’s parentage, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Riker and Picard both noted that it’s been about twenty years since they last saw or heard from Dr Crusher… but her son is clearly not twenty years old or younger, so he must’ve been around during the years before she disappeared. That doesn’t mean she would have told her friends about having another child – but it does raise questions. If he’s Picard’s son, and Picard seemed to be in danger, could that explain why Dr Crusher chose to leave her friends behind? Was it all for his sake?
Again, that’s something we can consider in more detail in my theory update. This revelation of Dr Crusher’s colleague being her son raised a lot of questions – but it was also a story point that was blitzed past pretty quickly in The Next Generation. The character emerged, pointing a phaser at Riker, revealed his connection to Dr Crusher, and then it was time for a close-up look at the Shrike before the credits rolled. There was definitely scope to spend a minute or two more on this revelation – both for the sakes of Riker and Picard and for us as the audience. This bombshell didn’t get more than a few seconds in the spotlight before the episode rushed to its next point.
We could – and perhaps should – have spent a couple of minutes more on this moment.
Last season, I argued that an apparent studio-mandated decision to have every single episode end on a cliffhanger was to the story’s detriment, and with The Next Generation ending with not only one but arguably four shocking moments, I feel a tad worried that that trend might continue. In retrospect, Season 2 feels like it was chopped up quite artificially, with a strong focus on these cliffhanger endings to such an extent that it didn’t serve the story, splitting up storylines across multiple episodes unnecessarily. We’ll have to judge this aspect of Season 3 when it’s over, but it’s certainly noteworthy at this early stage that The Next Generation also ended in similar fashion.
Who was the mysterious stranger eavesdropping on Riker and Picard? It seems a safe assumption that he’s some kind of friend or ally of Vadic – the season’s main villain who was teased in pre-season trailers but is yet to make an appearance. He could also be a Starfleet operative, or perhaps someone aligned with Dr Crusher. But it felt like quite a played-out trope to have Riker and Picard meeting up in a bar to have their private chat about secretive and sensitive issues. I know it’s another nitpick – but couldn’t Riker have met up with Picard at the vineyard? If this character’s spying is going to be relevant to the story later on – and surely it will be in some form – it just feels a bit clichéd to have him overhear them speaking in such a public setting.
The stranger in Guinan’s bar.
One of the best things Picard did in its first season was re-establish the relationship between Riker and Picard, taking it beyond anything we ever saw in The Next Generation and the films of that era. No longer serving together opened up the possibility of a genuine and deep friendship between the two, and the episode Nepenthe was the perfect way to revisit Picard, Riker, and Troi and establish a new, post-Starfleet dynamic for them.
And The Next Generation picked up that thread from Season 1 and has begun the process of exploring it further. Picard turned to his old friend for help – and with both men being retired or no longer on active duty, there was the opportunity to really examine how well they work together and how close they’ve become. Although Riker and Picard worked well together, and there was trust and mutual respect between them really from the first season of The Next Generation, it’s only in Picard that we’ve seen this friendship genuinely blossom and come into its own. It’s been great to see – and it feels like the perfect and natural evolution of this relationship.
This episode did great things with the Riker-Picard relationship.
The themes of age and how we treat older people were present in The Next Generation, though perhaps not quite to the extent that I’d been expecting. We got a moment where Picard was unaware of the closure of a starbase and had to be corrected, and a comment from Riker about how both men were past their physical peak, but Riker’s story seems to be teeing up some kind of relationship or family dysfunction angle between himself, Troi, and their daughter Kestra. Jonathan Frakes seemed to suggest in a pre-season interview that Riker has felt unsettled and has been keen on returning to Starfleet, and that could be the source of the tension there.
Having seen Riker and Troi in semi-retirement in Season 1, seemingly doing the best that they could to have a happy family life and provide for their daughter, I hope that this story doesn’t end up coming across as a kind of gratuitous and unnecessary shake-up. I’d have been happy, quite frankly, to have left Troi and Riker behind, with Nepenthe serving as their post-The Next Generation epilogue. With them returning this time, I just hope that if there is to be a relationship dispute, it won’t feel tacked-on or overplayed.
Riker seemed to suggest that all may not be well in his marriage.
But we’ll have to wait for Troi’s return before we can assess how that particular storyline will land! For now, suffice to say it’s enough to cause a little concern, because undoing or otherwise overwriting what we got in Season 1 would not be my choice – especially if it seems only to be there to inject a sense of drama into an already-dramatic season of television.
I was surprised to see how heavily The Next Generation leaned on visual and musical callbacks to The Original Series films. The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, The Undiscovered Country, and even The Motion Picture were all influential, with everything from fonts to musical motifs being directly lifted from those titles. I said before the season aired that I was getting a kind of “Picard does The Wrath of Khan” vibe from some of the clips we’d seen in trailers, but I wasn’t expecting to see the series lean so heavily on the feature films of the ’80s for inspiration. Don’t get me wrong – as a child of the ’80s, that style of sci-fi is exactly my kind of thing! And it worked well in The Next Generation. I just wasn’t expecting it!
There was a real ’80s flair to parts of The Next Generation.
Dr Crusher didn’t always get a lot to do in The Next Generation and the films that followed. She had some episodes in the spotlight, and we saw her take on a commanding role on the bridge in later episodes like Descent and All Good Things, but for the most part her role as the ship’s doctor was a limiting factor. Stories with medical mysteries or where characters had to visit sickbay were where we saw her most often.
With that in mind, where The Next Generation excelled was in ensuring that Dr Crusher stayed true to her characterisation, but took on much more of a leading role in an action-packed storyline. Traits like her courage, that we remember from her earlier appearances, came to the fore in a new way, and this bold direction for her character didn’t feel in any way forced. On the contrary, it felt like the natural evolution for her – especially if she’s been operating independently for such a long time.
Dr Crusher firing her phaser rifle.
The semi-automated Eleos was an interesting vessel, and I hope we get to spend a little more time with this starship. Dr Crusher and her son seem to rely on the ship’s computer for things like propulsion, where in past iterations of Star Trek we’d have expected to see people operating those stations and departments. But, as Seven reminded Picard aboard the Titan, it seems that Starfleet is embracing more and more automation. An analogy for things happening here in the real world, no doubt!
The “deadnaming” of Seven of Nine by Captain Shaw was something I was uncomfortable about at first, especially after Seven’s arc in Season 2 was all about embracing the Borg side of herself. Captain Shaw clearly has a chip on his shoulder about the Borg, as he made clear in a comment to Picard, so perhaps that’s something we’ll learn more about next time. He might’ve lost someone to the Borg, or even aboard the Artifact.
Commander Seven… uh, I mean Commander Hansen.
That being said, this kind of deadnaming – forcibly referring to someone by an old name with which they no longer identify – may have been a way of quickly communicating to us as the audience that Captain Shaw is someone we should dislike, and that kind of shorthand can work well in a story with time constraints. But in a broader sense, when we step back and think about Star Trek’s positive, progressive future and how far we’d have expected society to advance by the dawn of the 25th Century… surely something like deadnaming would be socially unacceptable, even for someone in a position of power like Captain Shaw.
In short, I can see why the writers chose to include this aspect of Shaw’s character. Seeing how uncomfortable it made Seven of Nine was a quick and relatively easy way to get across the message that this character isn’t someone we should be rooting for – and I get that. But it has an implication for the Star Trek galaxy as a whole that feels a little uncomfortable. I hope we’ll learn that the rest of the crew of the Titan have more respect for Seven and are willing to treat her better!
Captain Shaw is being set up as an antagonist.
So let’s start to wrap things up.
Season 3 is off to a solid start. My scepticism about the pacing of the episode is probably more to do with the muddled and mismanaged first and second seasons and the way those stories ended. I certainly hope that The Next Generation has set up this new story for success, and if nothing else it was nice to spend some more time with Riker and Picard, as well as Dr Crusher, Seven of Nine, and Raffi.
Seeing how these stories will come together is genuinely interesting, and while we could’ve spent a bit more time on Raffi’s side of things, with some more context provided about the stolen weapons and attack on the Federation outpost, it worked well enough. Captain Shaw was the only new character that we got to spend a lot of time with, and while I don’t like him, I can see where he’s coming from and can certainly appreciate that an organisation such as Starfleet must be populated with people just like him. Dr Crusher’s son and Ensign La Forge were on screen so briefly that we didn’t really get a good read on either – but there’s more than enough time in the episodes ahead to rectify that.
The final shot of the episode: the Eleos and the Shrike.
As I said a couple of weeks ago: it’s probably time to watch The Wrath of Khan if you haven’t seen it in a while! That film seems to be serving as inspiration for Season 3 right now, though the story is far from identical.
I had a good time with The Next Generation, taken on its own merit. It wasn’t perfect, and I don’t think it hit the same high notes as Season 1’s Remembrance or Season 2’s The Star Gazer – but if the story that it’s set up has been meticulously planned and will reach a better, more definitive end point than either of the show’s past outings managed, then none of that will ultimately matter. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that that will turn out to be the case.
Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-3 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States and other countries and territories where the service is available, and on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and around the world. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-2 and the trailers and teasers for Season 3.
This essay touches on the subjects of mental health and suicide and may be uncomfortable for some readers.
It’s taken me a long time to get around to dissecting Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard. This was something I’d initially planned to do last year, shortly after the season wrapped up, but the truth is that every time I started writing, going back to re-watch what was a thoroughly disappointing season of Star Trek just felt incredibly unappealing. It’s only now, with the imminent debut of Season 3 spurring me on, that I’ve finally been able to put metaphorical pen to paper.
There are many words we could use to describe Picard Season 2, but if you stuck with my episode reviews last year as the season rolled on, you might remember me using this one: “catfished.” By midway through the season, I genuinely felt catfished by Picard, because an absolutely wonderful premiere episode had quickly given way to a confused, poorly-paced, convoluted story.
An exciting premiere gave way to a mediocre season.
This might be controversial, but my suspicion is that Picard Season 2 suffered at least in part due to the involvement of Sir Patrick Stewart in the creative process. Not unlike what happened with William Shatner and The Final Frontier, some of Stewart’s ideas simply didn’t work well on screen, or ended up contradicted or overwritten by other story beats as the season unfolded. Perhaps the most obvious example of this would be Jean-Luc Picard’s trauma and how that storyline was in focus for such a long time, but we could also point to Chris Rios’ character arc – in which he had to simultaneously hate the 21st Century and fall in love with it.
Sir Patrick Stewart is a fantastic actor, don’t get me wrong, and he’s inhabited the role of Jean-Luc Picard on and off for more than thirty-five years, becoming almost inseparable from his most famous role. But not every actor is a great writer or creator, even those who truly put their all into their roles and feel that they know their characters inside and out. We were told from the moment of Star Trek: Picard’s announcement that Sir Patrick Stewart was working closely with the writers and contributing his ideas… but after two muddled, meandering seasons of television, that may not have been to the series’ advantage.
Sir Patrick Stewart in the writers’ room for Star Trek: Picard Season 1 c. 2018.
Despite a pandemic-enforced delay giving Paramount and the creative team behind Star Trek: Picard plenty of time to process the reaction to Season 1, it’s disappointing to see that some of the same issues reoccured. My biggest criticism of Season 1 was that the story ran out of time and ran out of road; the season plodded along at too slow a pace and left the finale with too much work to do. Although there are other criticisms this time around, the same problem of a glacial pace in early episodes leading to a rushed, overburdened finale was present once again.
It remains to be seen whether Season 3 – which, lest we forget, was filmed back-to-back with Season 2 – will pick up any of these wayward story threads… but my suspicion is that, sadly, it will not. If Season 3 does continue some of these storylines, the mysterious anomaly most notably, then perhaps we can look on this side of things a little more kindly in retrospect. But that will have to be a conversation for another day.
It seems as though Season 3 will set out to tell a new story.
The reason why I fear Season 3 will simply ignore things like the new Borg faction and the mysterious anomaly is, of course, because Season 2 ignored all of the storylines that had been left on the table as Season 1 stumbled across the finish line. Especially given the deliberately slow pace of most of the episodes, you’d think it would have been possible to at least acknowledge, even if in the most barebones of ways, what happened to Narek, the ex-Borg, the settlement on Coppelius, and what Starfleet may have planned to do about the Zhat Vash and Aia.
Even just picking one or two of these points and throwing in a line of exposition-heavy dialogue would have been something, and while I can understand some fans who may not have enjoyed the first season’s story saying it’s better to just move on, for me, I’d have liked to have seen some kind of attempt to bring closure to some of the biggest points that Season 1 ran out of time for.
I guess we’ll never know what became of Narek…
In terms of main stories, side stories, main characters, secondary characters, complicated themes, and even the settings used for the majority of its episodes, Picard Season 2 came up short and failed to deliver. There were lofty ambitions here, and the most disappointing thing isn’t that all of these ideas were bad – though some were, I’m sorry to say – but that the season couldn’t find a way to make them work.
Season 2 manages to feel simultaneously overburdened with too many ideas and half-finished stories and also as if its main narrative was an overstretched two-parter; a story that could have worked a lot better in a shorter format without so much extraneous fluff and padding. And that kind of sums up other parts of the season, too: it’s an incredibly contradictory affair, feeling as if two very different teams of writers were actively working against one another, overwriting or undermining story beats from one episode to the next.
A behind-the-scenes photo from Season 2.
A big part of the story of Season 2 – at its core in more ways than one – were themes of mental health involving multiple characters. Mental health can be difficult to depict in fiction, and unfortunately in Star Trek: Picard we have yet another example of how things can go wrong.
Yvette Picard’s condition was left unnamed, and the way her suicide came across on screen felt that it was being played more for shock value than anything else. Exploring mental health is absolutely worth doing in works of fiction, and dissecting how characters both respond to and live with trauma is likewise a noble idea – in Picard’s case, he was living with trauma that extended all the way back to his childhood. But the inclusion of these elements has to be handled sensitively, and just as importantly, it should serve some kind of narrative purpose. Star Trek: Picard may just scrape a passing grade on that latter point – though even then it comes with the caveat that this was an incredibly convoluted and muddled story – but on the former, the way in which this mental health story unfolded on screen was shockingly poor.
Yvette Picard’s suicide.
I’ve said this before both as a criticism of the Star Trek franchise and of other properties, but here we go again: if there isn’t enough time to properly explain and sensitively depict a mental health condition in a work of fiction, I’d honestly rather it was skipped altogether. A stereotyped, trope-laden, over-acted presentation of an unnamed “mental illness” added nothing to a story that had its focus and attention elsewhere. While there seemed to be the kernel of a good idea in Yvette’s story, the way it came to screen leaned into decades-old stereotypes. It did nothing whatsoever for the cause of mental health, and these shoddy depictions in the Star Trek franchise have to stop. I’ve commented on this in Picard’s first season and in Discovery, too, and while I respect the creators and writers for wanting to include these themes, if there isn’t time to do justice to them, it’s better, in my view at least, to cut them out and do something else.
While Yvette’s story served a narrative function, it stands alongside the presentation of Su’Kal in Discovery’s third season and the really awful stereotypical presentation of ex-Borg in Picard Season 1 as being an unacceptable throwback; something I might have expected to see on television forty or fifty years ago. Better understanding of mental health has led to some truly wonderful and inspired representations across all forms of media in recent years, and it’s disappointing to see the Star Trek franchise continually failing to get this right.
Picard had lifelong trauma resulting from his mother’s suicide.
Speaking as someone with diagnosed mental and physical health conditions, one of the things I’ve always found most appealing about Star Trek’s optimistic take on the future is the notion that, one day, many of the illnesses and conditions facing people in the 20th and 21st Centuries can be cured or overcome. The Star Trek franchise has depicted people suffering from mental health issues in a variety of ways going all the way back to The Original Series, but even in episodes with problematic elements, like Whom Gods Destroy, this theme of hope for a cure was present.
In Picard Season 2, the way Yvette’s illness was handled felt incredibly “20th Century.” While again that served a narrative function, it was hardly something that we’d want or expect to see in the Star Trek franchise, and the idea of locking away someone who was clearly suffering from a very complex condition is already an outdated one today – let alone three centuries from now. To then see Jean-Luc Picard not only come to accept the way his father behaved, but to forgive him for it and even respect it, perhaps feeling he’d have acted the same way, was deeply disappointing and felt incredibly out-of-character.
Maurice and Jean-Luc Picard.
There were also issues with the way Renée’s story worked from a mental health point of view. Picard’s ancestor was struggling with anxiety and, I guess, a kind of “imposter syndrome,” not feeling up to the task of taking a leading role on the Europa Mission. But at key points in the story, it felt as if, once again, this mental health angle was little more than tokenistic. The season brought this up when it served the narrative, only to drop it moments later when the focus of the story switched. We didn’t get anything close to a realistic portrayal of anxiety as a result.
The most obvious example of this came in the episode Two of One, where Renée had been given a pep talk by Picard. Almost being hit by a car – and seeing someone who had just spoken so kindly and reassuringly to her moments earlier being badly injured saving her – is something that you’d think would have had some kind of effect on Renée… but the story just dumped her as it raced to do a weird coma-dream sequence populated by amateur-looking B-movie monsters in the next episode.
The old “knocked unconscious by a car” cliché…
Renée, despite her importance to the plot, feels insignificant and one-dimensional; less a real person than a plot device that the story could use when it was necessary and ignore the rest of the time. Despite the Federation’s very existence supposedly hinging on her presence aboard the Europa Mission, and Q’s entire scheme being based on stopping her, we spent remarkably little time with Renée. After being introduced, she was absent for several episodes before showing up again – briefly – in the season finale.
A character who’s so important to the plot shouldn’t be treated this way. And unfortunately, it feels as if Picard Season 2 almost took advantage of anxiety and anxiety disorders, using this very real and debilitating illness as a mere plot device. Renée’s story certainly had very little to say about mental health that was in any way positive.
Renée Picard.
The truth is that I’d almost forgotten about Renée. She’s far from the worst thing about the season, but the fact that such an important character, and someone on whose actions the entire plot turned ended up being so thoroughly forgettable should certainly stand as a comment on the way this character was both conceived and brought to screen.
Star Trek needs to aim higher when it comes to mental health stories, and I think that’s one of the biggest takeaways for me personally from Picard Season 2. Both Yvette and Renée ended up feeling tokenistic and outdated in the way they came across on screen.
Renée with Tallinn in the season finale.
On this side of the story we also got an amateur Freudian analysis of Picard himself and his mental health. As I said, there was the kernel of an interesting idea in looking at Picard and how he may have carried some hidden trauma for a long time – but it didn’t really succeed on screen. A story like this needs to explain in some fundamental way an aspect of a character or their personality… and I just didn’t get that at all. We certainly know more about Jean-Luc Picard, in a strictly factual sense, than we did before the story began, but none of what we learned informs us about him in any meaningful way. There was no “aha!” moment, where some aspect of Picard’s personality, behaviour, or characterisation suddenly felt better-understood.
Picard had romantic entanglements during The Next Generation era, and references were made to past romantic liaisons in several episodes, too. The fact that Picard had never settled into a long-term relationship wasn’t something that I ever felt was crying out to be addressed or explained, so this entire story was built on very weak foundations.
Picard had romantic entanglements on more than one occasion during The Next Generation era.
Picard’s close relationship with Dr Crusher in The Next Generation also stands in contrast to this. Yes, there was something stopping Picard and Crusher from “crossing that line,” but it was always suggested that what stopped them was Picard’s friendship with Jack Crusher. And of course, in at least one future timeline, he and Dr Crusher actually did take their relationship further. His relationship with Nella Daren, in the episode Lessons, likewise wasn’t hampered by some kind of innate fear of relationships, but rather that he struggled with the idea of being involved with someone under his command, for whose life he was responsible, and whom he might have to place in danger.
Then there’s the fact that, to be blunt, not everyone wants a relationship… and that’s totally okay! Plenty of folks are asexual and/or aromantic, neither seeking nor desiring a relationship beyond friendship. I’m not saying that Picard was ever written that way, and the relationships and romantic entanglements he had across The Next Generation would seem to rule it out. But, speaking as someone who is asexual myself, this idea that “everyone” should want to have a relationship, and that anyone who doesn’t want to be in a relationship must offer some kind of justification – such as childhood trauma – to explain or justify themselves is an outdated and regressive concept.
A young Jean-Luc Picard.
Season 2 told a story that put this aspect of Picard’s character at its core, but it was such a weak premise that it was ultimately unsatisfying. Add into the mix the fact that practically every theme of mental health that the season attempted to discuss failed for one reason or another – Raffi’s came the closest to success before being horribly undermined right at the end – and the entire thing feels like one massive misfire.
To be blunt, there are far better mental health stories out there. The themes that Picard Season 2 included touched on grief, childhood trauma, self- confidence, anxiety, one’s sense of identity, and even apathy and a lack of faith in humanity. But the story did justice to none of these, and fell back on overused and outdated tropes on too many occasions. It’s possible to include themes of mental health in ways that are relevant to a story like this, but the way in which they came across in Picard was poor across the board.
Picard firing a 20th Century pistol.
In terms of the other main characters, I think we have to view most of their arcs in Season 2 through the lens of their departures from the show. This news, which was hinted at midway through the season when we learned that the main cast of The Next Generation would be coming back, was finally confirmed shortly after the season finale, and it’s something I was very disappointed to learn. Of the new characters introduced in Season 1, only Raffi will be coming back in Season 3, so we need to consider this fact when we assess the rest of their arcs.
The only character who got a conclusive goodbye was Rios. And regrettably, Rios’ story was the worst and most confused in the whole season. There were clearly two very different, contradictory notions being used here: the first was that it had been determined that Rios was to be written out of the show ahead of Season 3, necessitating some kind of exit for the character, and the second was that at least some of the show’s writers and creatives wanted to use his story (and the fact that he’s Hispanic) to shine a light on the problems and abuses within America’s immigration system.
We bade “farewell” to Rios in the season finale.
Because of the way in which Rios was written out of Star Trek: Picard, these two stories grated against one another for the entire season, and conflicted at a fundamental level. It’s impossible to watch Rios’ arc across the season and not be left with the distinct impression that two very different groups of writers with irreconcilable ideas for where to take the character simply could not agree on what he should do – leading him to both love and hate his time in the 21st Century.
Rios’ story undermined itself as the season wore on. What could have been a powerful message about the way the United States treats immigrants and refugees was completely lost, essentially overwritten by an abrupt turnaround in Rios’ characterisation as the need to jettison his character from the series became apparent.
Rios in the captain’s chair of the USS Stargazer.
And all of this came against the backdrop of Rios having completely regressed in his characterisation. I wrote in my review of the season premiere that a spin-off set aboard the Stargazer with Rios in the captain’s chair felt like a legitimate possibility… but having seen how he’d recovered, rejoined Starfleet, and was living his best life, Picard Season 2 dragged Rios backwards to the person he was at the beginning of Season 1: the roguish, “Star Trek does Han Solo but worse” type.
As captain of the Stargazer, the people under his command should have been Rios’ priority… but he didn’t once mention his ship or crew after the first episode of the season. After leaving them on the brink of assimilation and death, Rios seemed to forget that his crew even existed, and to me that’s an unforgivable storytelling mistake. Again, this is a consequence of Rios being written out of the series; it would have felt odd if his decision to remain in the 21st Century and not get home to his crew had come after he’d continually expressed his dedication to them. But all that does is reaffirm to me that this side of Rios’ story was completely wrong. There were ways to get him out of the show, if that’s what was needed, without dragging him through this utterly regressive arc.
Part of Rios’ story looked at the way migrants are treated in the United States.
Sticking with character failures, we have Elnor. As disappointed as I was to see Elnor killed off, as the season wore on, this character death began to feel right – or at least like a bold move that had positive repercussions for at least one other character on the show. This culminated in a powerful and deeply emotional sequence in the penultimate episode of the season in which Raffi’s season-long arc of coming to terms with loss and grief came to a head.
But for some inexplicable reason, Elnor didn’t stay dead. His death defined Raffi’s arc, and by extension Seven of Nine’s, too, but it was completely and utterly undermined by the decision to resurrect him with a few minutes to spare in the finale. Elnor got two very short scenes – clips, basically – after his resurrection, one in which he looked confused on a viewscreen and another at Guinan’s bar, where his disgust at a drink became the butt of a joke.
Was it really worth undoing an entire season-long storyline for this moment?
Given that actor Evan Evagora has confirmed that he won’t be reprising his role in Season 3, this resurrection is completely indefensible. It renders that deeply emotional sequence in the preceding episode impotent and meaningless, and ruins not only Elnor’s story, but Raffi’s too. Why bother spending eight episodes with Raffi going through the stages of grief only to rip it away for the sake of a gag that’s been done before countless times?
I like Elnor, and he was one of the new characters that I felt had a lot of potential when his inclusion in the series was first announced. But having decided to write him out of the show ahead of Season 3, the best option here was to leave him dead. His death, while not exactly fun, was something meaningful. It mattered, and while we can and should criticise the show’s writers for failing to really show the impact his loss had on Picard and the rest of the crew, it was at least the driving force for Raffi’s entire storyline. To undo that for no reason only to see Elnor disappear again at the beginning of Season 3? I just can’t get over how stupid a decision this was.
Elnor defined Raffi’s character arc.
Another part of Raffi and Seven’s story bugged me in Season 2, and it wasn’t because of something the show did include. Rather, it was what felt like a glaringly obvious omission! In Season 1, we saw Seven of Nine having to cope with the loss of Icheb, someone she had come to view as a surrogate son. Icheb’s death had a massive impact on her life, leaving her with feelings of guilt in addition to the grief and loss.
In Season 2, we see a very similar situation play out with Raffi. She’d taken Elnor under her wing as he enrolled in Starfleet Academy, perhaps viewing him as a surrogate son as well. But neither Seven nor Raffi acknowledged this as their story unfolded. You’d have thought that Seven might have been able to draw on her own experience of dealing with Icheb’s death to empathise with Raffi or to at least have told her that she was in a better position than most to understand what that kind of loss feels like. It’s mind-boggling to me that the show’s writers could put these two women into such similar situations just one season apart, pair them up for almost the entirety of the story – and as a romantic couple, no less – but completely ignore this blindingly obvious and potentially incredibly useful point of comparison.
How could the writers ignore such an obvious point of comparison?
Imagine a scene or two like this: Seven tells Raffi that she understands what she’s going through because she had lost Icheb in comparable circumstances. Raffi lashes out, saying words to the effect of “no one could understand” and that Elnor’s death was Picard’s fault where Seven was responsible for Icheb’s death. This argument shakes up their relationship, leaving them both feeling hurt and angry. An episode or two later, Raffi apologises for what she said, and after a conversation, they share their memories of Icheb and Elnor, leading to their relationship growing and strengthening under the most awful of conditions.
How many minutes or lines of dialogue would need to be dedicated to something like that? In the context of a ten-episode season, hardly any time at all. And in the context of the plodding, muddled Picard Season 2… it would have been a great improvement.
Seven and Raffi.
So we come, inevitably, to Q and his plan to help Picard. In principle, I like the idea of Q wanting to help, and I like the idea of Q using the last of his “life force” in an act of kindness. But even by the standards of other Q stories in Star Trek, his plan this time was incredibly convoluted and hard to follow. Such a plan was already on pretty thin ice, but because of the way the season was structured, there wasn’t sufficient time dedicated to its explanation – and no explanation was even given for why Q might have been coming to the end of his life in the first place.
Even in episodes with complex and heavy themes, Q’s plots and schemes almost always served a purpose, and there was a clear line from action to explanation. In Picard Season 2… well, let’s try to explain it in words.
Q’s plan was… not great.
Q wanted to help Picard embrace the person he is, overcome his childhood trauma, and learn to fall in love. Aww. And he decided that the best way to accomplish this objective was by travelling back in time to the 21st Century, giving an ancestor of Data’s creator technology that could cure genetic diseases and mitigate climate change, and prevent a spaceflight involving one of Picard’s ancestors. This in turn led to the creation of a totally different timeline in the Star Trek universe, one in which humanity developed into a xenophobic, fascist state called the Confederation of Earth. Q then transported Picard – and several of his friends – into this alternate timeline shortly before their starship was set to self-destruct. Q knew that Picard would then have to travel back to the 21st Century to stop him, leading to his ship crash-landing at his family home in France, forcing him to re-live and confront those traumatic memories, finally overcoming them and learning how to fall in love with Laris, his Romulan friend. Who won’t be returning in Season 3 anyway.
Did I miss a step?
Picard and Q in the season finale.
There’s nothing wrong, in theory, with a plan that’s complex or that requires multiple steps to get from beginning to end. And as a super-being with knowledge and foresight far beyond a human’s, we can give Q a bit of a pass in that regard if we’re feeling generous. But even then, Q’s plan was difficult to follow and feels more convoluted than complex. As the story meandered along, it wasn’t always clear what was Q’s fault and what wasn’t, and which characters were involved and why.
The biggest example of this is the team-up between Q’s 21st Century ally Adam Soong and the partially-assimilated Dr Jurati. These two characters had entirely opposite objectives: the Borg Queen wanted to prevent the Confederation from destroying the Borg in the 25th Century, and Soong wanted to make sure that the Confederation was established so he’d go down in history. Their aims may have aligned for a moment insofar as they both wanted to stop Picard… but there was no reason for them to remain allied, and after Adam Soong had served his purpose and given the Borg Queen an army of pseudo-drones, it made no sense for them to continue to work together.
The continued alliance between Adam Soong and the Borg Queen fails as a logical story beat.
Sticking with Adam Soong, his character arc is kind of Season 2 in microcosm: it started great, but quickly fell apart. In his first appearance, there was genuine nuance in Soong’s characterisation. His apparent desire to help his daughter could have led to a sympathetic, complex presentation of a man who was so desperate that he was willing to do anything – even something nefarious – to help his family. But that feeling lasted barely a single episode, and Soong quickly fell into the trap of being a bland, one-dimensional villain.
Some stories work well with that kind of out-and-out “baddie” who needs to be stopped at all costs – but this one didn’t. When there was the opportunity to present Adam Soong more sympathetically or at least understandably, perhaps as someone who didn’t realise that what he was doing would have ramifications beyond his own lifetime, it’s really quite disappointing that the writers would so quickly drag him back to that same overplayed trope. Brent Spiner can play villains incredibly well, and there’s nothing to fault in the performance. But the characterisation of Adam Soong left a lot to be desired.
Adam Soong.
To return to Q’s plan, it was something that needed a lot more screen time. By the time we arrived at the finale, there was – for the second season in a row – too much to do and not enough time left to do it. As a result, Q’s explanation for his actions, his death, and crucially, Picard’s reaction to all of it, was blitzed through in a matter of moments. Realistically, given the convoluted nature of Q’s scheme and the fact that he was dying, we needed more or less a full episode on just this topic – or Q needed to have a simpler, more easily-understood objective.
The way in which Picard responded to Q really bugged me. Not only did he accept, in an instant, that all of this death, destruction, assimilation, and drama was all being done for his sake, but he didn’t ask Q to undo any of it. When Q announced that he was dying, Picard didn’t even ask the most basic of questions: why?
Why was Q dying? We never found out.
In Star Trek, the Q as a race are essentially god-like: functionally immortal and with powers and abilities far beyond any humanoid race or any other race ever encountered by the Federation. Figuring out what could cause a seemingly immortal being like Q to die seems like something Picard should have at least been curious about. And on a personal level as well, Picard seemed finally ready to accept the friendship that Q was offering – so wouldn’t he have wanted to find out why his friend was dying?
The most-read piece that I published here on the website in 2022 was all about Q’s death, and I put together a handful of different theories about what could have caused it. The fact that so many Trekkies and viewers of Picard needed to seek out something like that speaks volumes: this should have been explained in the show itself, but it wasn’t.
Q’s final snap.
Unlike some other storylines that seemed to run out of road or just hit the wall, this one was deliberately left unexplained. No explanation was written nor even conceived for Q’s death – and yet this point is a massive one in the overall continuity of Star Trek. As fans, and even for casual viewers, getting some kind of explanation for this, even if it would ultimately be little more than technobabble, would have been worthwhile, and would have made this side of the story feel closer to complete.
Although Q’s motivation for this entire convoluted plot was to help Picard, it was also his impending death that spurred him on, as he confessed to Guinan. Such an important part of what drove him for basically the entire story needed more explanation than “just because,” but the writers didn’t have one.
Guinan with Q.
The decision to spend eight-and-a-half episodes out of a truncated ten-episode season in the 21st Century was a mistake. It was an experiment, an idea that someone at Paramount had – perhaps to save money – that had never been tried before in the franchise to such an extent… but there’s clearly a reason for that. What makes Star Trek, well, “Star Trek” is its optimistic look at the future. There’s always been scope to step back in time to see parts of how that future came about, or to “save the future” from some cataclysm or villain, but stories that involve travelling to the modern day have to serve a purpose. When the story was so contradictory, muddled, and just plain difficult, any sense of purpose that Picard Season 2 had got lost in the already underwhelming setting.
There seemed to be a desire, or perhaps a studio-mandated requirement, to end each of the ten episodes on some kind of cliffhanger – but this didn’t always work well, and caused issues of its own. Breaking up the story in this artificial manner was intended to keep fans hanging on, waiting for next week’s outing to see the resolution to the cliffhanger. But when the whole season operated like this, it soon wore out. Worse, it meant that several storylines that should have been one-and-done affairs ended up stretched out over more than one episode, adding to the pacing and timing problems that eventually contributed to the rushed finale.
Why did every episode need to end on a cliffhanger?
The end of the episode Penance was an unnecessary cliffhanger, one that the next episode resolved within literally a couple of minutes. But those minutes took time away from travelling to the 21st Century, and this chain of cliffhanger upon cliffhanger as the season rolled on ended up wasting time. One or two of these instances could be forgiven, perhaps – and in a better story or one without such pacing issues, they surely would have been. But in Picard Season 2, circumstances conspired to make these cliffhanger endings more than just annoyances – they actively contributed to storylines running out of road.
There were key storylines and sections of the plot that relied on some pretty awkward contrivances, and as I wrote at the time, when one small push is enough to send the whole thing crashing down, that makes for a very unsatisfying feeling. To give perhaps the most egregious example: 90% of the plot of Watcher could have been skipped if the Borg Queen simply shared what she knew about the Watcher and where to find her.
We could’ve skipped 90% of the plot of Watcher.
At that point in the story, the objectives of the Borg Queen and Picard’s crew were in complete alignment: both needed to prevent the creation of the Confederation timeline by stopping Q. Yet for seemingly no reason whatsoever, the Borg Queen suddenly became evasive and uncooperative after arriving in the 21st Century, leading to one of the season’s slowest, least-interesting episodes as Picard had to slowly track down the Watcher. If this story beat accomplished something, and if the rest of the season had been stronger and better-paced, it would still be an annoyance. But considering other story failures and the rushed finale in particular, the fact that basically this entire episode ended up being little more than padding is utterly ridiculous.
Likewise, Seven of Nine and Raffi spent a significant amount of time on an overblown side-quest as they tried to track down Rios following his arrest and incarceration. That storyline got so little payoff before Rios had to make his abrupt switch that spending more than a few minutes on it – let alone dragging it out across several episodes – felt incredibly wasteful, and even more so in retrospect. Time wasted on these insignificant and overwritten narrative threads could have been reallocated to get Picard and the crew back to the 25th Century sooner, allowing for more time with the Borg and the mysterious anomaly.
Raffi and Seven of Nine in a stolen car…
Kore Soong was a non-entity in the season, a character who seems to have been created basically to throw a bone to actress Isa Briones when Soji had been cut – or a role for her couldn’t be found. Although Kore seemed to serve a purpose at first – to give motivation to Adam Soong – this quickly fell away when, as mentioned, Adam’s characterisation was switched to be a typical “mad scientist” trope. We’ve seen that kind of character so many times before in Star Trek that it fell flat.
But Kore’s story also felt incredibly repetitive, especially in the episode Two of One midway through the season. In Season 1, a huge part of Soji’s arc across multiple episodes was uncovering and then coming to terms with her synthetic nature and the fact that parts of her life and memories were a lie. Kore goes through a nigh-on identical storyline, learning that she’s a clone, a genetic construct, and the fact that the same actress played both parts just one season apart really hammered home its recycled nature.
Promo photo of Isa Briones as Kore Soong.
All of the main characters (and most of the secondary characters too, come to that) were split up, disconnected from one another for most of the season. After getting together in the premiere and briefly reuniting in the Confederation timeline, the main characters were basically all in their own little boxes the rest of the time. There didn’t seem to be much communication between these characters or pairs of characters, with seemingly massive decisions being taken by one or two that affected the entire group – and this would happen with seemingly no consultation whatsoever.
Although there are dozens of examples of this, perhaps the biggest one came in the penultimate episode of the season: Seven of Nine and Raffi handed over control of La Sirena to the Dr Jurati-Borg Queen hybrid. Without so much as a word to Picard, they agreed to give her the ship – despite the fact that defending the ship was basically the whole team’s objective prior to that moment.
La Sirena blasts off from 21st Century Earth.
These disconnected character groups seemed to all be doing their own thing, with Rios transporting Teresa and Ricardo to La Sirena seemingly without telling anyone, Raffi and Seven of Nine taking off to chase after Dr Jurati without telling Rios and Picard, and earlier in the season, Dr Jurati being left to fend for herself with the Borg Queen.
Splitting up the characters meant that we hardly got any on-screen interactions between some of them, and that had an impact at points, too. For example, I never really felt that Rios and Picard were especially close. They were “work friends,” but not real friends, if that makes sense. So when Rios said that he’d come to view Picard as a kind of father figure, that bolt from the blue felt unearned. “Show, don’t tell” is a piece of advice often given to new writers or students taking their first creative writing class… and that seems to apply here.
Rios told Teresa how he felt about Picard.
So let’s start to wrap things up.
In Season 1, an enjoyable enough story was ruined by a poor ending. In Season 2, things started incredibly well before taking a nose-dive, and by the halfway point I found myself watching Picard more out of a sense of obligation than for any enjoyment. There were still highlights, moments within practically every episode that worked well, achieved an objective, or got me to crack a smile for a minute or two. But taken as a whole, for all sorts of reasons the season fell apart.
Whether we’re looking at the surface narrative or deeper themes, and for both main and secondary characters, Picard Season 2 had some interesting ideas – but couldn’t make them work. The season was muddled, confused, and seemed to work against itself. Its deliberately slow, almost glacial pace led to the mistakes of Season 1 being repeated, with a rushed conclusion to a story that, to put it bluntly, didn’t have enough actual narrative content to warrant something like that happening.
Concept art of Admiral Picard’s uniform.
There were some outdated depictions of mental health, which was disappointing enough in itself, but what bugged me even more was that a character I respect and admire in Jean-Luc Picard came to accept the mistreatment of his mother’s condition at the hands of his father. Only Raffi’s story of coming to terms with grief was handled delicately and seemed to be working – until the last-second resurrection of Elnor massively and catastrophically undermined practically all of it.
Because it had been determined that, for production-side reasons, almost all of the main cast were to be dumped, several characters ended up going down disappointing paths. Rios’ presentation was the worst in the season, taking him from such a strong starting point that I genuinely felt he could carry his own spin-off through a total regression to a disappointing end. But he wasn’t the only character to suffer, and there were issues with practically all of the main and secondary characters that either took them to the wrong place or didn’t give them enough to do.
The main cast of Star Trek: Picard c. 2019.
Picard Season 2 teased us with a tantalising mystery: the return of the Borg and a mysterious anomaly. This presentation of the Borg was genuinely terrifying, and seemed to update one of the Star Trek franchise’s most iconic villains, readying them for perhaps one final encounter. But this tease went nowhere, with the Borg Queen ultimately revealed to be an assimilated Dr Jurati, and the mysterious anomaly got so little screen time that it ultimately didn’t matter to a story that firmly fixed its gaze elsewhere – on elements and characters that were far and away less interesting and engaging.
Star Trek is a franchise that has never been afraid to experiment, and this season was a bold experiment in more ways than one. That’s something praiseworthy, and it’s great that Paramount is accommodating to the idea of telling new, different, and experimental stories in the Star Trek universe. But Season 2 is ultimately an experiment that didn’t work, and I sincerely hope that lessons will be learned so that these mistakes can be avoided in future.
The season teased a potentially incredible story of a strange anomaly and an alliance with the Borg… then ignored it for nine-and-a-half episodes.
Star Trek: Picard is going to end after its third season. With that in mind, the fact that Season 1 is a difficult watch because of how poorly it ended and the fact that Season 2 was a meandering, muddled mess… it leaves me feeling truly dejected. Seeing Star Trek return to the late 24th Century and pick up the stories of characters from that era was something I’d wanted to see for close to twenty years – but Picard hasn’t been able to do justice to that wonderful concept. A season that spent most of its runtime either in an alternate timeline or the 21st Century offered scarcely any opportunities to tell the kinds of stories that I want and expect from Star Trek… and perhaps that’s why I disliked it so much. Picard Season 2 just didn’t feel like Star Trek for the most part.
Having re-watched the season partly for the purpose of writing this and partly because Season 3 is right around the corner, I have no plans to ever go back to it. There are practically no other stories in all of Star Trek that elicit that kind of a reaction, and even episodes and films that I don’t enjoy every aspect of I still find worthy of taking a look at from time to time. Unless something major comes along in Season 3 that could retrospectively change how Season 2 is perceived, this could well be the last time I’ll ever watch it. I didn’t want or expect to be in that position, especially with only three seasons of Picard being offered. To have to write off one-third of the show as essentially being unwatchable garbage is really disappointing to an old Trekkie who wanted desperately to have a good time with it.
Jean-Luc Picard.
Star Trek’s future feels less certain than ever right now, with Paramount+ seriously struggling in a very competitive market and under difficult economic conditions. While there are two more animated seasons to come that will look at the late 24th Century, when Picard’s third season comes to an end in just a couple of months’ time, there won’t be any more live-action stories in this time period. Picard Season 2 was ultimately a waste – a navel-gazing story that spent far too much time away from practically everything that makes Star Trek what it is. There were interesting concepts, but they got buried under a slow, confused, contradictory narrative that failed to make them work. And the unhelpful mental health tropes that dominated key storylines just adds to the disappointment.
Despite a poor ending to Season 1, I still felt hopeful that Season 2 could pick up the pieces and tell an interesting and engaging story. For the most part, it was neither of those things, and it wasn’t particularly fun or entertaining, either. The aspects of the story that could have provided points of interest or entertainment value were sidelined or ignored, and the season as a whole feels bitterly disappointing.
What a disappointment.
Can Season 3 save the day? Can a creditable ending be salvaged from amidst the wreckage? On the one hand, it feels like a tall order – and even if Season 3 is fantastic, the disappointment of Season 2 won’t be entirely expunged. But on the other hand, Season 3 actually has a pretty low bar to clear. Even if it’s not that great, it will still be hard for it to be as disappointing as Season 2.
And perhaps that’s the best thing we can say about Picard Season 2. For future Star Trek projects, it can teach lessons by serving as the clearest example of what not to do, while also providing an easy win. After all, it will be difficult indeed for any future Star Trek series or film to fail as comprehensively and catastrophically as Picard Season 2.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will premiere on Paramount+ in the United States on the 16th of February 2023, and on Amazon Prime Video in the United Kingdom and around the world on the 17th of February 2023. Seasons 1 and 2 are already available to stream or buy on DVD/Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-2 and the trailers, teasers, and announcements for Season 3. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Prodigy.
A few days ago I picked out a dozen Star Trek episodes (and a couple of films) that I thought would make good background viewing ahead of Star Trek: Picard’s upcoming third and final season. Since then, we’ve been treated to the final Season 3 trailer, and while I wasn’t exactly blown away by the trailer itself, it raised a couple of potentially interesting points that made me think of a few more Star Trek episodes. So on this occasion we’re going to add five more Star Trek episodes to the list!
I had quite a lot to say about the final Season 3 trailer, so if you missed my thoughts and analysis you can find that piece by clicking or tapping here. And to see the first part of this list, containing other episodes and films that I think will be good to watch ahead of Picard Season 3, click or tap here.
The USS Titan in Spacedock.
There’s still an awful lot that we don’t know about Picard Season 3. Although we have a sense of who the main characters will be, there are still some question-marks about how they will all work together – and even which side everyone will be on. There are also, in my opinion at least, a couple of potentially-open character slots on the villainous side of the season – particularly if Captain Vadic has, as I have posited, put together a kind of “rogues’ gallery” of past Star Trek baddies!
A couple of caveats before we get started. First of all, I have no “insider information,” and I’m not trying to claim that any of the episodes listed below definitely will have a bearing on the storyline of Picard Season 3. This is guesswork on my part – and nothing more! Secondly, all of this is simply the subjective take of one person. I’ve picked a few episodes that I think could be relevant, but if you disagree with my picks or if I exclude something you think is blindingly obvious, that’s just the way it goes! This is just one person’s opinion – and it’s meant to be taken in the spirit of fun.
With that out of the way, let’s get started!
Story #1: Coming of Age and Conspiracy The Next Generation Season 1
Admiral Quinn, Riker, and Picard at Starfleet Headquarters.
Coming of Age is primarily about Wesley Crusher and his first attempt to get accepted into Starfleet Academy. However, the episode’s secondary plot sets up the story of Conspiracy, the penultimate episode of The Next Generation Season 1. In Conspiracy, a race of parasitic aliens infiltrate Starfleet Command, taking over senior officers, including admirals, as part of a plot to subjugate the Federation. Though the parasitic aliens would claim that they sought “peaceful coexistence,” their actions clearly showed that they planned to take over Starfleet – perhaps as a first step to conquering the Federation.
Before their “mother creature” was killed it was able to send a signal into deep space, and Data believed that the parasite-aliens would one day return. This story was originally intended to set up the Borg storyline in Season 2, but I think everyone can agree it’s for the best that that didn’t happen! For our purposes, there was something about Captain Vadic in the Season 3 trailer, and particularly Dr Crusher’s line about Picard being unable to trust anyone within Starfleet, that made me think of Conspiracy. I think it would be an incredibly bold and unexpected move to return to what was, let’s be honest, not one of The Next Generation’s finest or best-remembered stories. But at the very least, the episode’s concept of a conspiracy within Starfleet itself could be worth checking out… even if the parasite-aliens aren’t going to make a comeback!
Story #2: The Enemy The Next Generation Season 3
Geordi on the planet Galorndon Core.
The Enemy is a great Star Trek episode, and an absolutely classic example of how the franchise uses its sci-fi setting to tell stories that reflect the real world. When considering what may be to come in Picard Season 3, it’s also a strong Geordi La Forge story, and one that sees him interacting with a Romulan. The Romulans were a big deal in Picard Season 1, and if we take Geordi’s role in the spin-off comics and novels that have been released in recent years, he may have been present on Mars when the Zhat Vash caused the synths to attack. He may feel he has unfinished business with the Romulans, or lingering trauma over those events, so stepping back to see Geordi’s first big meeting with a Romulan could be worthwhile.
Geordi is one of the characters whose role in Season 3 feels totally ambiguous. All we know at this stage from the trailers and teasers is that he seems to have been promoted to the rank of commodore and that he may have a senior position on board Spacedock or another similar starbase. I like the idea of revisiting an earlier Geordi story to see how far he’s come – and The Enemy is one of his best episodes in The Next Generation.
Story #3: You Are Cordially Invited, Change of Heart, and Tears of the Prophets Deep Space Nine Season 6
Worf and Jadzia Dax on their wedding day.
This trio of episodes, spread across Deep Space Nine’s fantastic sixth season, focus in large part on Worf’s relationship with Jadzia Dax. Worf and Jadzia got married at the height of the Dominion War, not long after the Federation had re-taken DS9 from the Cardassians and the Dominion, but their marriage was, sadly, not to last – Jadzia was killed at the end of the season. I remember Jadzia’s death coming as a huge shock when I first watched Tears of the Prophets; although we knew actress Terry Farrell would be leaving the series, the decision to outright kill Jadzia was still a bold one – the first main character death in Star Trek since Tasha Yar at the beginning of The Next Generation a decade earlier.
With Worf coming back in Season 3, there’s a chance, at least, that his marriage to Jadzia will be referred to. Showrunner Terry Matalas has suggested that part of Worf’s arc will connect back to his experiences not just on Deep Space Nine, but specifically to his service in the Dominion War – and although Worf did a lot for the war effort, the biggest emotional moment for him has to be his marriage and the subsequent death of his wife. Although Deep Space Nine’s seventh season explored this through Worf’s conversations with Ezri Dax, there’s definitely scope to see how Worf would have processed his grief and loss after the war’s end.
Story #4: What You Leave Behind Deep Space Nine Season 7
Odo and Colonel Kira on the Founders’ homeworld.
Picking up that same Dominion War theme, we come to the finale of Deep Space Nine and the final engagement of the conflict. The episode ends with the Dominion’s defeat and Odo choosing to return to the Founders’ homeworld to share his knowledge of living in the Alpha Quadrant – as well as Captain Sisko’s departure to the realm of the Prophets! There’s a lot to unpack in this complex and emotional feature-length episode, but for our purposes we’re focused on the Dominion War and its ending.
It’s possible that Captain Vadic will have some connection to the war – she certainly seems old enough to have potentially served in it. She could be a Founder, perhaps, and if the changelings are once again on the move, that could explain why Dr Crusher warned Picard about not trusting anyone. Or Vadic’s connection to the war could come from the other side: she could be a Federation or even Romulan officer who served. Either way, some kind of Dominion War connection has been teased – so seeing how the war came to an end could be important.
Story #5: Human Error Voyager Season 7
Seven of Nine with the Doctor.
I didn’t really pick any Seven of Nine episodes on my last list – which is kind of an oversight, given that she will be returning in Picard Season 3! Voyager’s later seasons included quite a few Seven-focused episodes (if you’d have asked me at the time, I’d have definitely said there were too many!) but for today, I want to take a look at Human Error.
Part of Seven’s story this time around is sure to focus on her new role within Starfleet, and although Picard’s first two seasons already gave her a deeply cathartic arc and plenty of development, her change of circumstances this time around could be very interesting. Human Error shows Seven of Nine trying to hone her social skills on the holodeck, as well as setting the stage for a potential romance with Chakotay. Of all the “Seven of Nine learns how to be human” stories – of which there were a lot – Human Error is one of the more interesting, and perhaps some of the themes it touches on will be relevant this time around… even if the main plot points themselves are unlikely to be!
Bonus: Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1
The wreck of the USS Protostar.
I almost included this as an “official” entry on the list, but I’m not sure I could justify saying that all of Prodigy’s first season is going to make for necessary or even relevant background viewing ahead of Picard Season 3! But there are a few points of note that, while unlikely to come up in a big way, would be worth keeping in mind – especially for Seven of Nine’s story. Prodigy’s first season serves as a sequel, of a sort, to Voyager – and we learn what happened to Chakotay and Admiral Janeway in particular over the course of twenty episodes.
This isn’t Prodigy’s main focus, but it’s a story that’s weaved through the entire season, setting up the story and taking it to its end point. Seven of Nine may or may not know all of the details of what happened, and the events of Prodigy take place almost fifteen years before Picard. But as someone who was close with Janeway and Chakotay, Seven may have come to know about their adventures with the USS Protostar. I really doubt that there will be a major connection, but there could be a name-drop or some other hint at the events of Prodigy through Seven’s story arc.
So if you have time and you haven’t seen Prodigy yet… now could be the right moment!
So that’s it!
Geordi La Forge looking rather cross in the most recent trailer.
Unless I think of any more episodes – or come up with any of my patented (and usually wrong) theories – I think this is it! Between this list and the one I published a few days ago, these are all the stories that I think could make for useful background viewing ahead of Picard Season 3.
As I said last time, I’m less “excited” for this new outing than I want to be. Two difficult, muddled, mismanaged seasons of Picard have been, on the whole, a pretty big disappointment, especially when I consider that this was the series – and the Star Trek concept – that I was most interested in and had waited almost twenty years to see. Season 3, rather than being one more fantastic adventure, feels more like the last chance saloon – not only the final opportunity for Picard to tell a decent, well-paced, exciting story, but perhaps the last good opportunity for the Star Trek franchise as a whole to demonstrate to parent company Paramount that it’s worth investing in this early 25th Century setting in a big way.
Promotional photo of Worf.
I have concerns already, particularly surrounding the way the main cast from Season 1 was handled and how they were jettisoned from the series with most of them not getting so much as a “goodbye.” And I can’t shake the feeling that the new season may be rushing headfirst into exactly the kind of nostalgia overload that has continually tripped up the modern Star Wars franchise.
But despite all of that, I’ve vowed to give Picard Season 3 a fair shake when it debuts in a couple of weeks’ time. Whether any of the stories and episodes we’ve talked about today will be relevant or not, I still think they’re all enjoyable and well worth a watch. If nothing else, they can give us a bit of a baseline to see where these legacy characters were in their prime.
Don’t forget to check out the first part of this list, which contains another batch of Star Trek stories that I think could make for useful background viewing ahead of Picard Season 3. You can find it by clicking or tapping here. And when Season 3 premieres, I hope you’ll check back for weekly episode reviews – and perhaps even a few theories!
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will premiere on Paramount+ in the United States on the 16th of February 2023, and on Amazon Prime Video in the United Kingdom and around the world on the 17th of February 2023. Seasons 1 and 2 are already available to stream or buy on DVD/Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Prodigy.
In 2017, Star Trek returned to the small screen after a twelve-year break. Star Trek: Discovery picked up the baton for the long-running franchise, and thanks in part to a deal with Netflix, scored a decently high budget for its first season. Bryan Fuller, who had written and produced a number of episodes of Deep Space Nine and Voyager, initially spearheaded the project, and it was on his stories and ideas that the show’s characters, story arcs, and settings were based – even though he stopped working on the show while it was still in early production.
Discovery proved controversial in some corners of the Star Trek fan community right from the start, and today I want to consider one of the reasons why that was the case. In addition, I want to ask a deceptively simple set of questions: should Star Trek: Discovery have left the 23rd Century alone? Would the show have been better-received by fans, and won more support, if it had been set after the events of Nemesis instead of a decade before The Original Series? Would fans have found things to pick on and argue about anyway? Was Discovery’s setting in its first two seasons a net positive, negative, or something mixed for the show? And did sending the ship and crew into the far future at the end of Season 2 come as a tacit admission from the producers and showrunners that Discovery should never have been set in the 23rd Century to begin with?
The first glimpse fans caught of the USS Discovery in a 2016 teaser.
Before we go any further, a few important caveats. This is a controversial topic; Discovery elicits strong opinions from fans on both sides of the debate. The fact that we’re considering, hypothetically, whether Discovery might’ve been a better show – or might’ve been received with less hostility by fans – had it employed a different setting doesn’t mean it’s a perfect idea that would’ve massively improved its first two seasons. Regular readers will know that I’m a Discovery fan not a hater; while there are areas where the show could improve, generally I like and support it and I’m glad to have it as part of the broader Star Trek franchise.
Secondly, these are just the subjective thoughts of one person. I’m not trying to claim that I’m right and that’s the end of the affair! Other folks can and will have different opinions – and that’s okay! There’s room enough within the Star Trek fan community for polite discussion and disagreement.
Finally, I’m not trying to attack Discovery, nor any of the creative team, actors, or those involved in its production. This is a thought experiment; a hypothetical question to consider what Discovery – and the wider Star Trek franchise – might have looked like if different decisions had been taken at a very early stage.
Behind the scenes during production on Discovery Season 1.
First of all, let’s consider some of the arguments and points of contention. By deliberately choosing a setting ten years before the events of The Original Series, Discovery ran into some issues with Star Trek’s internal canon. Some of these points matter far more than others, and I tend to take a somewhat nuanced approach to canon. I’m not a “purist,” claiming that the tiniest minutiae of canon must be “respected” at all costs – but at the same time, I believe that the world of Star Trek needs to be basically internally consistent. Internal consistency is the foundation of suspension of disbelief, and messing too much with established canon can, in some circumstances, be to the detriment of a story.
Is that what happened with Discovery, though?
We can set aside arguments about aesthetic elements like uniforms, starship designs, and even special effects. To me, none of those things are relevant, and all that’s necessary to overcome those hurdles is to say that, much like out here in the real world, things like design, fashion, etc. are always changing. Who’s to say that the look of the 2260s wouldn’t be radically different from the 2250s? Considering that there have been leaps and bounds in visual effects, CGI, and cinematography since The Original Series aired, it would be profoundly odd for Discovery to have tried to emulate that 1960s style.
I don’t think anyone seriously wanted or expected Discovery to use this particular look!
So I’m content to put visual style to one side. But there are other elements of canon that the show arguably stumbled over in its first two seasons. The biggest issue that I can see is the USS Discovery’s spore drive – a brand-new piece of technology that had never been seen or heard of in Star Trek before.
The spore drive effectively made warp drive obsolete, and considering that the show was set a decade before Captain Kirk’s five-year mission – and more than a century before The Next Generation era – that obviously didn’t make a lot of sense. Sure, the spore drive was a classified piece of kit, and across Season 1 we came to see some pretty serious drawbacks, but such a phenomenally useful technology isn’t something Starfleet would simply abandon – or so fans believed. Even if the spore drive had issues, it was such a game-changing piece of technology that persevering and working through those problems would almost certainly be worthwhile.
The USS Discovery in Season 1.
As Season 1 demonstrated, the spore drive’s military applications were incredible. The USS Discovery could jump around a Klingon vessel with ease, basically becoming invulnerable, and the spore drive could be used for rapid hit-and-run attacks, destroying enemy ships before they even had a chance to register what was happening. And for an exploration-focused organisation, the spore drive opened up the entire galaxy, allowing distant worlds to be visited at a moment’s notice. Planets that were decades away from Federation space by warp drive could be hopped to in an instant, and then the USS Discovery and her crew could be back home in time for tea! We saw this in Season 2, with planets like Terralysium able to be visited easily with a single spore jump – instead of the decades of warp travel that would have normally been required.
To the show’s credit, Discovery found uses for the spore drive in this period – but I confess that I found the spore drive to be a gimmick, one that had been clearly and pretty obviously designed to allow the ship to travel to the Mirror Universe in Season 1. In fact, it’s the Mirror Universe – and more specifically, the idea of having an impostor from that parallel world who was trying to blend in and find a way home – that I would argue led to many of the decisions in Discovery’s early production.
Having a Terran character was clearly important to Discovery’s creative team when building the story of Season 1.
Choosing a Mirror Universe character in Captain Lorca arguably determined when Discovery would need to be set. In order for Lorca to be a soldier of the Terran Empire, Discovery would have to be set in an era where the Terran Empire existed – and as Mirror Universe stories in Deep Space Nine categorically established that the Terran Empire had long since fallen by the 24th Century, in order to return to that setting, stepping back to the 23rd Century was required. If having a Terran impostor was one of the first narrative beats written for the season – and I believe it was – then many other elements of the show had to be built around that, including its 23rd Century setting.
As an aside, I would say that the Mirror Universe really isn’t worth all this fuss and bother! It’s a bit of fun for occasional, one-off stories in longer, more episodic seasons, but building an entire story around the Mirror Universe and Terran characters was probably Discovery’s first mistake. This is a setting that easily falls into overacting and pantomime, with one-dimensional villains who love murder, torture, and murderous torture all for their own sake. There’s very little room for manoeuvre in the Mirror Universe, and as we’ve seen in Discovery – and in past iterations of Star Trek too, to be fair – it can trick even competent actors into putting out incredibly over-the-top, hammy performances.
This is what we’d call “a case in point.”
But that’s my own personal lack of interest in the Mirror Universe showing through, I suppose!
When Star Trek: Picard’s second season premiered, I think it brought to the table something incredibly interesting that’s relevant to this conversation: the Confederation timeline. The Confederation wasn’t the Terran Empire, and its setting wasn’t the Mirror Universe, yet it borrowed a lot from that setting both thematically and stylistically. An authoritarian, fascist dystopia was on full display – and it was in the late 24th/early 25th Century, and managed to be there without treading on the toes of anything that had been previously set up in past iterations of the franchise.
Although the Confederation timeline story was a bit of a misfire in Picard, I think it stands as testament to what’s possible with a little creative thinking. Star Trek doesn’t have to keep going back to the same previously-established time periods and settings, and even in those that are superficially similar, new and different creations can be brought to the screen. Very few things in Discovery would have needed to change had the show’s first season adopted a setting inspired by the Mirror Universe instead of lifting it directly from The Original Series.
The Confederation timeline established in Picard Season 2 shows how a new Mirror Universe-inspired setting could work.
And that statement could apply to other elements of the show’s production as well. The idea of a protagonist who was human but raised by Vulcans is a fun and interesting one, a character type that was new to Star Trek – if we don’t count the PC game Hidden Evil, that is! What would have changed about Michael Burnham had her adoptive parents not been Sarek and Amanda but two new Vulcan characters?
Spock’s family is something that Star Trek has messed about with more than once! We could even argue that, as far back as Journey to Babel, it was nonsensical to suggest that Spock’s connection to Sarek would be something that Captain Kirk would have been unaware of. But setting that aside, the film The Final Frontier gave Spock a half-brother who had never been mentioned. Adding Michael Burnham to his family felt, to some fans at least, like yet another retcon; an addition that certainly came very close to treading on the toes of Star Trek’s past because of how closely it involved a very familiar character.
The decision to make Michael Burnham Spock’s adopted sister was criticised in some quarters.
It was clear that Discovery’s writers and creators wanted to tie the show to past iterations of Star Trek, but rather than coming across as respectful homage, some of these decisions felt nakedly commercial – it was as if CBS didn’t trust the Star Trek brand to stand on its own without myriad references and close connections to its earlier iterations. This didn’t sit well with a lot of fans, and when Spock had already had a missing half-brother, giving him an adopted sister who he’d also never mentioned began to feel gratuitous.
And for a lot of folks, it came back to that same argument: what would change about this new character if her parents were inspired by Sarek and Spock’s family? The introduction of Spock in Season 2 definitely shook things up in that regard, but by then a lot of the damage had been done and some fans had already decided not to tune in.
Sarek and Amanda in Season 2.
Going all the way back to The Next Generation’s creation in 1987, Star Trek had struck out in bold new directions and tried to do things differently. Every Star Trek show prior to Discovery had cameo appearances, name-checks, and even character crossovers in some episodes, but by and large, the franchise’s different shows stood up by themselves. Would The Next Generation have been improved if the captain of the Enterprise-D had been Kirk’s grandson, for instance? I don’t think anyone would make that case – the show needed the freedom to do its own thing away from those familiar characters. And while Deep Space Nine’s premiere, Emissary, brought Captain Picard on board, thereafter the new series also struck out on its own – as did Voyager and Enterprise when they came along.
For some fans, Discovery crossed a line between finding a connection to what had come before and using it as a crutch, and where past iterations of the Star Trek franchise had been connected to one another through common themes, locales, and even characters, none had ever gone back to retroactively change so many different things as Discovery. Coming off the back of the three Kelvin timeline films – which were also controversial in some quarters because they had re-cast the characters from The Original Series – that felt like a bridge too far for some folks.
A promo photo for Season 1 showing most of the main cast.
Retcons can happen in any franchise, but it’s not unfair to say that some work better than others. Prequels almost always end up bringing more retcons to the table than sequels do, and when we’re talking about a universe that was over fifty years old and had more than 700 stories under its belt at the time Discovery premiered, for a lot of fans, those retcons to Star Trek’s past were too unpalatable.
The Star Trek franchise, much more so than Star Wars, has always felt like it was looking forwards and to the future rather than backwards at its own past. But by 2017, there hadn’t been any Star Trek stories that moved the overall timeline of the franchise forwards in fifteen years. Aside from a short sequence in 2009’s Star Trek reboot film (which told us of the destruction of Romulus), everything that the franchise had done since Nemesis and Voyager’s finale had been a prequel.
By 2017, everything Star Trek had done for fifteen years was a prequel or reboot.
After Enterprise had underperformed and the franchise faced cancellation, the Kelvin timeline came along and rebooted things. But both projects proved to be controversial in some quarters – fans were clearly less keen on a prequel show, as Enterprise’s viewing figures demonstrated. And while the Kelvin films were successful with general audiences at the cinema, there were many Trekkies who were unimpressed with the new action-oriented approach and the decision to recast fan-favourite characters.
Along came Discovery – and it incorporated many of the same issues. Here was another prequel, another Star Trek project that was stepping back in time and not taking the opportunity to pick up the story of the Star Trek universe that had come to an abrupt halt with Nemesis. And not only that, but it then emerged that the show’s protagonist would be a hitherto-unknown relative of one of Star Trek’s most iconic characters – a character whose history and family had already been messed with on more than one occasion.
Spock in The Original Series Season 1.
In 2016, I recall making the facetious point that Discovery seemed to be combining everything that Trekkies didn’t like: a plot point from The Final Frontier – which is widely regarded as one of the least-successful Star Trek films, a prequel setting like in Enterprise – which had demonstrably been the least-successful Star Trek series, and both an aesthetic and action focus that were borrowed from the Kelvin timeline films – films which weren’t popular with a lot of fans. That was a joke; some black humour as we looked ahead to the show and as news was trickling out. But I think that it encapsulates how many fans were feeling at the time.
More than anything, I wanted to see Star Trek move forwards again. Despite knowing a number of Trekkies who either hated or outright refused to watch the Kelvin timeline films, I felt that they were decent additions to the franchise. But if Star Trek was to return to both the small screen and the prime timeline, my preference in 2016-17 would have been for a new show to pick up the story in the years after Nemesis, not another prequel set before the events of The Original Series.
Cadet Tilly in a pre-release promotional image.
Discovery’s prequel setting quickly became a weight around its neck; a barrier that didn’t stop the excitement from building, but that certainly slowed it down. On the one hand, the show’s writers and creative team were constrained by more than 600 stories that were set after Discovery, and on the other, everything that they tried to do that was new or different was subject to intense scrutiny and criticism by fans. There was no way to win – either the show would have to tell less-interesting stories as a result of being cornered by canon, or it would be nitpicked to death by fans who felt it was overstepping its bounds and treading on the toes of stories that had already been told.
Had Discovery’s first season been set in the same time period as Star Trek: Picard later was – the late 24th Century or early 25th Century – a lot of those issues would have disappeared. The spore drive could be Starfleet’s new initiative, with its potential unlimited and the genuine possibility of this interesting piece of technology going on to become the Federation’s new way of getting around. We knew, even before a single minute of Discovery had aired, that the spore drive wouldn’t take off in the 23rd Century – because if it had, all of Star Trek wouldn’t be able to exist as depicted. A post-Nemesis setting would have completely negated that issue.
The spore drive was a controversial inclusion in Discovery’s first season.
Then there was the question of character. Michael Burnham could have been exactly the same person – a human raised by Vulcans with Vulcan instincts. But instead of being the second addition to Spock’s increasingly soap opera-like family, her adoptive parents could have been new characters who were inspired by characters from Star Trek’s past, or even Vulcan characters from the 24th Century that we’d met before if an overt connection was deemed necessary. The war with the Klingons could have broken out in much the same way as we saw on screen – all it would have taken is a brief word of explanation saying that the Klingon-Federation alliance of the late 24th Century had broken down in the intervening years.
Star Trek had an opportunity to advance its timeline, and to take into account events like the Romulan supernova. With relatively few changes to how the story of Season 1 played out, it could be the Romulans, not the Klingons, who went to war with Starfleet. Or it could have been that the Klingons wanted to reassert themselves in the aftermath of the Romulan catastrophe, perhaps seizing former Romulan territory as their empire collapsed. And the idea of having an impostor as the ship’s captain – someone from an alternate reality – could have also been made to fit without returning to the Mirror Universe.
Captain Lorca turned out to be from the Mirror Universe.
Discovery could, for example, have taken the idea of a more militaristic Starfleet that had been seen in the Kelvin timeline in Into Darkness as a starting point, and said that the Kelvin timeline would develop into the same kind of dystopian setting as the Mirror Universe. Captain Lorca could have originated from a late 24th Century Kelvin timeline, from a Federation that was much more authoritarian in nature. That would have tied together the two most recent parts of the Star Trek franchise while still leaving open the possibility of a fourth Kelvin film starring the reboot cast.
In short, there were plenty of ways that Bryan Fuller’s initial concepts and ideas could have been made to fit a post-Nemesis setting rather than a pre-The Original Series one. Some changes are bigger than others, and in hindsight we now know that we’d miss out on the recasting of Captain Pike and Spock that paved the way for Strange New Worlds… but at the time, without that foreknowledge, I really do believe that it would have been worth considering.
Star Trek: Discovery creator Bryan Fuller. Image Credit: StarTrek.com
Season 2, which focused on the Control AI, could have also been a good fit for a late 24th/early 25th Century setting. In fact, I doubt I’d be the only one to suggest that the Control story might’ve been a better fit for that time period! This idea of essentially a rogue supercomputer is one that Star Trek has tackled before, with episodes like The Ultimate Computer and even some of the stories about Lore in The Next Generation. Control’s schemes could have absolutely worked in a post-Lore environment.
I’ve talked before about how the Control storyline in Season 2 felt like a potential Borg origin story – or at least a story with superficial Borg similarities. Because of Discovery’s place in the timeline, those references were only ever tiny little hints to us as the audience; no one within the show could say “hey, this looks an awful lot like Borg assimilation” because none of them knew who the Borg were at that point. But if the story had been set in that post-Nemesis era, the similarities between Control and the Borg could have been made more overt – even if a full “Starfleet accidentally created the Borg” story had been taken off the table.
Captain Leland was “assimilated” by the Control AI in Season 2.
At the end of the day, though, Discovery wasn’t only controversial because of its place in the Star Trek timeline, and while replacing its 23rd Century setting would have blunted some points of criticism, fans would have found others. Things like the redesign of the Klingons, the more action-heavy storyline, the show’s shorter serialised seasons and more would all remain, and a potential post-Nemesis setting would’ve probably thrown up a bunch of new things for people to pick on, too.
In hindsight, we now know that if Discovery had been set in the years after Nemesis, we’d have missed out onStrange New Worlds – a show that I’d argue is probably the high-water mark of modern Star Trek, at least at time of writing. That alone should make Discovery and its complicated relationship to canon and Star Trek’s internal timeline absolutely worthwhile!
Strange New Worlds is one of the best things about modern Star Trek – and it wouldn’t have happened without Discovery and its 23rd Century beginnings!
But on the other hand, who knows what we’re missing out on? Potential crossovers with The Next Generation and other 24th Century shows would have been on the table, and while Discovery’s third and fourth seasons have tried to pay lip-service to that era, by shooting so far forward in time, it’s once again ruled out any significant crossovers and link-ups.
In addition to obvious characters like Jean-Luc Picard or Kathryn Janeway, dozens or even hundreds of secondary characters and guest stars from that era could have been incorporated into Discovery to tie Star Trek’s newest adventure to what came before – with fan-favourite characters (and the actors who played them) potentially returning. Picard, Lower Decks, and Prodigy have all shown just how much of an appetite there is within the Star Trek fan community to bring back characters as diverse as Q and Captain Jellico, just to give two examples.
Edward Jellico recently returned in a couple of episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy.
When making those very early decisions about Discovery, one of the fundamental mistakes executives at CBS (now Paramount) and the creative team made is failing to recognise Star Trek’s real “golden age.” The Original Series in the 1960s may have gotten things started – and it’s remembered fondly, don’t get me wrong – but for many fans, especially fans in their thirties and forties, it’s The Next Generation and the other shows of the 1990s that are best-remembered. Discovery jumped back in time to draw inspiration from and connect up with The Original Series… but I’m not sure that’s where the majority of the fan community was in 2017 – or is in 2023, either.
Whatever we may think of the arguments surrounding canon and the so-called integrity of Star Trek’s internal timelines, a more basic question is this: what setting and what era would most Trekkies choose for a new series? There are some fans, of course, who want to see more of Enterprise’s 22nd Century, some who want to see a far future that shoots past the 24th and 25th Centuries, and certainly there are fans for whom the 23rd Century has its own unique appeal. But many, many Trekkies who first came to the franchise during The Next Generation era – myself included – wanted and still want to see Star Trek pick up where it left off after Nemesis and Endgame. That was doubly true in 2017, when the franchise hadn’t touched that time period in fifteen years.
The USS Voyager in Endgame.
When it became apparent that Discovery was going to be yet another prequel – the third in a row – it meant that there was still no chance of the timeline advancing. It meant that the return of fan-favourites from Benjamin Sisko to B’Elanna Torres was completely off the table. And it meant no explanation of the Romulan supernova that had been glimpsed in 2009’s Star Trek. We subsequently got to see some of those things in Picard – but it wasn’t obvious in 2016-17 that that series was going to be made, and there was, in some quarters at least, a sense of disappointment that Star Trek was once again doing this kind of navel-gazing at its own history and backstory instead of moving forward. That planted the seeds of unhappiness for some Trekkies – a seed that would grow as more details were revealed about the series, its setting, its technologies, and its characters.
And I feel that this is really the key point. On their own, many of the criticisms levelled at Discovery in its first season were overblown nitpicks. The spore drive was never considered by the crew of the USS Voyager as a way to get home quicker. Spock didn’t have an adopted sister in that one episode of The Animated Series that aired in 1973. Did the Klingons and the Federation really fight a war in this era? And so on. But those criticisms found fertile ground in the disappointment that fans were already feeling – and the “snowball” started to roll.
I doubt many fans were that upset about Spock not mentioning Michael Burnham in The Animated Series…
This “snowball effect” is something that I’ve talked about before here on the website. In brief, it refers to how a production can find itself subject to more and more points of criticism once a few big ones start to build up. The “snowball” starts rolling, picking up more and more nitpicks and amplifying them. Relatively minor things – like Discovery’s all-blue uniform designs, for example – end up being nitpicked to death in a way that they never would have been in a production that didn’t have those original, fundamental points of criticism to get the “snowball” rolling in the first place.
And that’s what happened with Discovery in 2016-17, in my opinion. Its place in the timeline became the initial source of disappointment for a fanbase that comprised more fans of The Next Generation era than higher-ups at CBS realised. Those fans would have preferred to see a series set after Endgame and Nemesis, and the disappointment they felt began to set the stage for many other points of criticism that, in a different production, would never have been mentioned.
Did the producers at CBS underestimate support in the Star Trek fan community for a post-Nemesis series?
There are, of course, some self-proclaimed “fans” of Star Trek for whom the race and gender of Discovery’s protagonist was the issue. Those people would never have been placated by changes in the show’s setting, and the hate, abuse, and toxicity spewed by that thankfully small section of the show’s audience would have remained regardless. I see no way to avoid that; just as there were viewers in the ’60s who objected to Uhura’s presence on the bridge of the Enterprise, there were some in 2017 who felt that women, people of colour, LGBT+ people, and others shouldn’t be part of “their” entertainment products.
Such folks would often try to cage their attacks in the language of media criticism, using expressions like “bad writing” to criticise Discovery. I think we’re all able to tell the difference, though, and I don’t really see much point in addressing this part of the attacks on the show. It isn’t relevant to what we’re talking about today, as the minority of viewers who objected to Michael Burnham because she was a black woman in a leading role would have felt the same way regardless of when the show was set. The only thing that would have changed would have been the way in which those folks would have tried to cover their tracks when attacking Discovery.
Michael Burnham at the end of Season 1.
When Season 2 rolled around, it wasn’t apparent at first that Discovery’s creative team had taken on board much of the feedback and criticism that had been levelled at the show in its first season. In fact, they seemed to double- and even triple-down on making these overt connections to The Original Series by introducing Captain Pike and Spock.
I have to confess something at this point – something which, in light of how darn good Strange New Worlds was in its first season, I’m quite embarrassed about: I didn’t like the idea of Pike and Spock joining Discovery in 2018-19 when that news broke. I’d been a fan of The Cage since I first watched it, and there was something about Jeffrey Hunter’s portrayal of Pike, and the differences between him and Captain Kirk in particular, that occupied a unique place in Star Trek’s history. Here was an “alternate timeline,” and just like hearing a different version of a familiar song, all the pieces were there, but they were different. Pike stood as this kind of “what-if” for the Star Trek franchise; what might have been if history had taken a different course.
I’ve always had a soft spot for The Cage…
Furthermore, I found Bruce Greenwood’s take on the character in Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness to have been one of the highlights of the Kelvin timeline. Recasting the character so soon after this portrayal wasn’t something that I was wild about either, and I felt that the whole thing rather smacked of desperation on the part of CBS/Paramount; an attempt to bring more eyes to a show that had proven controversial and that probably hadn’t brought in the numbers of subscribers and viewers that they and Netflix had hoped to see.
I was wrong about that, of course – so very, very wrong!
But I wasn’t alone in feeling that way; that Discovery was reaching for a crutch as its second season dawned. Fans who had been left unimpressed by the show in its first season – and particularly at its perceived “violations” of Star Trek’s internal canon – were not looking forward to seeing what would become of Captain Pike, a character who had a certain reverence from at least some in the fan community as Star Trek’s “first” captain, but more importantly of Spock – one of the most important foundational characters in the entire franchise.
Pike and Spock in Season 2.
Whether we agree or not that Discovery’s second season shook up Spock’s characterisation for the better – which is something I absolutely believe it did, by the way – something very interesting happened at the end of that season: Michael Burnham and the USS Discovery left the 23rd Century altogether. Opening a time-wormhole, Burnham led the ship and crew into the far future, and the show has remained in that time period ever since. By the time Season 5 arrives later this year, Discovery will have spent longer in the 32nd Century than it did in the 23rd.
Does that decision stand as an admission from Discovery’s creatives and producers that the 23rd Century was never a good fit for the show? Is it more a case of exasperatedly saying to fans and critics “you wanted us to be set in the future? Well here ya go!” Or is it simply a creative narrative decision that would have been taken regardless of how Seasons 1 and 2 had been received?
Burnham and the USS Discovery heading into the far future.
Let’s rule out that latter point immediately! If Discovery’s place in the timeline was uncontroversial and hadn’t been commented on and criticised from the moment it was announced, we’d have seen Discovery remain in the 23rd Century – I am as certain of that as I can be. The decision to take the series out of the 23rd Century was, at least in some way, a response to these criticisms and/or a way to pre-empt or shut down further such nitpicks.
We’ll have to talk about this in more detail one day, but there’s a phenomenon that I call the “prequel problem” that affects a lot of prequel stories. In short, at the back of our minds as viewers, we know that certain storylines have to end in particular ways; tension, drama, and stakes are all lower in certain prequels – whether we’re conscious of that fact at the time or not. This goes double for a show like Discovery where galactic-scale apocalyptic disasters are the bread-and-butter of its stories.
The Klingon war – especially toward the end of Season 1 – was presented as an existential threat to the Federation.
When it seemed as if Control was going to wipe out all life in the galaxy, we knew that it wasn’t possible. The details of how Pike, Burnham, and the crew were going to prevent it were still to be revealed, but because we’d seen the galaxy in the 24th Century, we knew at the back of our minds that there was no real danger. Likewise with Season 1’s Klingon war – we knew that the Federation wouldn’t be defeated, because we’d seen Captain Kirk’s five-year mission taking place a mere decade after the events depicted in the show. Those “prequel problems” took at least some of the tension out of Discovery’s main narratives – and in a show that wants to turn the tension up to eleven, that’s not ideal to say the least!
If Discovery was the kind of show that told stories that were smaller in scale, we could disregard this point altogether. But for the kind of series Discovery aimed to be, a setting that was constrained by stories set decades and centuries later was problematic – and it had been since day one.
Discovery has always wanted to tell stories with very high stakes; galactic-scale threats.
So let’s start to wrap things up.
The saving grace of Discovery’s 23rd Century beginning is, as I see it anyway, the existence of Strange New Worlds as a spin-off production. Bringing in Captain Pike and Spock proved to be an unexpected masterstroke, thanks in part to some inspired casting. Had Discovery always been set after Nemesis in the late 24th Century, we would never have seen Anson Mount and Ethan Peck take on those roles, and from there we’d never have gotten to see the masterpiece that was Strange New Worlds Season 1. That would have been a huge loss for Star Trek – and I feel that alone more than justifies Discovery’s first two seasons in the 23rd Century.
But it’s clear that being set in this time period caused the show a lot of issues, particularly because of the kind of storytelling it employed. Big, bold stories that focus on end-of-the-world type threats and a serialised framework in which only one or two main stories were told per season combined with a prequel setting to cause some major stumbling blocks. Some of these were bigger than others, and some minor points definitely saw their status overinflated by fans and viewers who were “snowballing” and picking on anything and everything to criticise a series that they already didn’t like. But some of those points of criticism were genuine, and the internal consistency of the Star Trek franchise and its timeline was challenged by some of the narrative decisions that Discovery took.
A promotional image of Discovery’s captain’s chair, from the show’s early marketing campaign.
With Strange New Worlds serving as a huge caveat, I still believe that if I’d been in charge of things in 2016-17, I wouldn’t have created a series set in the 23rd Century. It remains my view that at least a plurality of fans, if not an outright majority, would have preferred to have seen the overall timeline of Star Trek move forwards, and that creating a series set sometime after Endgame and Nemesis would have been the best call. There’s a lot of leeway if all we say is “after Nemesis,” and I’d have entertained pitches and ideas for both the late 24th Century as well as for decades or centuries in the future, far beyond The Next Generation era.
Bearing that in mind, I’d say that practically everything that Discovery did in those first two seasons could and would have worked in a post-Nemesis setting. Some story beats would have had to change to accommodate being set further forwards in time, such as Captain Lorca’s universe of origin. But even if the brief required the creative team to use elements that the Star Trek franchise had already created, I think it would have been possible to tell those same stories in a very similar way.
Captain Lorca and his Terran allies.
The big twist in Discovery’s first season was Captain Lorca’s true identity – but I’m not really convinced that this story beat was worth all the fuss. It was certainly fun and unexpected to find out that the character had crossed over from another universe, and that he was responsible for stranding the ship there as he tried to get home – but after Lorca’s true origin was revealed, his characterisation took a turn for the worse, and he ceased to be the complex, nuanced, hardball Starfleet captain in favour of being a rather one-dimensional villain caricature. So maybe all of this hassle wasn’t even worth it after all!
Season 2 introduced us to Pike and Spock, and set the stage for Strange New Worlds – something which, in hindsight, we know now we’d have missed out on if Discovery didn’t take place in this time period.
Spock and Captain Pike in Strange New Worlds Season 1.
Shooting forwards in time, well past the 24th and 25th Centuries, has allowed Discovery much more creative freedom, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that most of the show’s best episodes have come in the last couple of years rather than in those first two seasons. Even in an established, long-running franchise, writers and creatives need to have the freedom to branch out, to add wholly new elements, and to tell stories that go to completely different thematic places. Some of that was possible in the 23rd Century – and we’ve seen Strange New Worlds succeed in that setting by taking on a more episodic approach – but for the kinds of large-scale, dramatic stories that Discovery wanted to tell, a setting unconstrained by having to fit in with 600+ episodes and films set after the events of the show has undoubtedly opened up a lot more possibilities.
So the question posed is a tough one. Discovery set the stage for Strange New Worlds, and that really is a huge point in favour of its initial 23rd Century setting. But Discovery also reinvigorated the Star Trek franchise for a post-Game of Thrones television landscape, one in which ongoing serialised stories with big, bold storylines was the order of the day. Without Discovery doing what it did in 2017, who knows whether the Star Trek franchise would have continued at all, and whether the likes of Picard, Lower Decks, and Prodigy would have been created as well.
Alex Kurtzman and the Discovery cast with William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols. Image Credit: StarTrek.com
Just like the Kelvin films kept a torch burning for Star Trek and proved that there was life in a franchise that had burned out by 2005, perhaps what we should say about Discovery’s first two seasons is that they led to bigger and (mostly) better things, both for the show itself and for the franchise as a whole. Messing with that too much, or trying to create something “better,” may not have had the desired result!
But all of that is with the benefit of hindsight. In 2016-17, I wasn’t alone in wishing that Star Trek would move forward instead of creating yet another prequel. And it wasn’t possible to know at that time where Discovery might lead or what kind of spin-offs might be created in the years ahead. Although I did enjoy what the show did in its first two seasons overall, for much of the time I couldn’t shake the feeling that these stories would still have worked – and in some ways at least, would have worked far better – if the show was set after Nemesis.
It would ultimately fall to Star Trek: Picard to move the timeline of the franchise forward again.
Furthermore, I feel that Discovery’s producers felt that way too, especially after Bryan Fuller left the project and after the show premiered to a rather divisive reaction in some quarters of the fan community. Some of the people in charge may have underestimated just how detail-oriented some Trekkies can be, and in an age of social media, online fan communities, and continuous discussion and debate, small nitpicks about the series and its relationship to past iterations of Star Trek became amplified, making some of these controversies grow larger.
Any time a franchise expands, it leaves some folks behind. There were always going to be Discovery-haters; folks who, for any one of a number of reasons, didn’t want to see Star Trek doing something new and different. But did the show itself provide ammunition to those critics and others by its 23rd Century setting? Absolutely. Leaving the 23rd Century behind was clearly the right decision, and in some ways we can argue that it came two seasons too late.
Discovery’s logo in Seasons 1 & 2.
So there we have it. In my view, Discovery could and perhaps should have been created as a post-Nemesis series instead of one set before The Original Series. With relatively few tweaks to the stories of its first couple of seasons, the same cast of characters, the same starship designs, the same technologies, and the same narrative beats could have all been present, and perhaps interesting new connections could have been found that would have tied the series into the events and even characters of The Next Generation era.
I hope this was an interesting thought experiment! I’ve been wanting to talk about Discovery’s creation and its early seasons for some time now. Because I only created this website in late 2019 I missed the opportunity to write up my thoughts on Discovery as it was being teased and as those first two seasons were broadcast, so this was an opportunity to step back and begin to rectify that! I hope you won’t interpret this as me “hating” on Discovery. Although I wasn’t wild about every decision taken or every character and storyline, I feel that we got two decent seasons of Star Trek, and a show that certainly wasn’t afraid to try new things. This hypothetical question is really just an opportunity to talk about the series some more and highlight some of what I feel were the key decisions taken during its creation.
I’m glad that Discovery remains a part of a very broad, varied franchise. But I think I’m also glad that the show’s producers took it out of the 23rd Century – not because I’m desperately angry about “the purity of canon” or other such things – but because its new era, free from any such constraints, has allowed for the creation of some genuinely different stories.
Star Trek: Discovery is available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries and territories where the platform is available. The series is also available on DVD and Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the entire Star Trek franchise, including the most recent seasons of Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds. There are also spoilers for upcoming and unreleased Star Trek projects.
By almost every conceivable measure, 2022 has been a fantastic year for the Star Trek franchise. We’ve seen new projects become successful, ongoing series really hitting their stride, and more seasons and individual episodes of Star Trek than at any time in the past. Barely a week has gone by without a brand-new episode to get stuck into – and with different shows targeting wildly different audiences, it really feels like Star Trek in 2022 has had something to offer to practically everyone.
But that isn’t the whole story, and unfortunately it feels as though 2022 has also been a pretty dark year for Star Trek – one in which major mistakes have been made that could very easily lead to serious consequences in the medium-to-long term, and perhaps even premature cancellations for some or all of the shows currently in production.
Let’s look at the high and low points for the Star Trek universe over the past twelve months.
On this occasion, I want to look back at 2022 from the perspective of a Star Trek fan, and draw attention to both the highs and lows of a rollercoaster year for the franchise. And there’s quite a lot to say, so make sure you’re sitting comfortably!
My usual caveat applies: everything we’re going to talk about today is the subjective opinion of one person. There are a lot of reasons to think positively and optimistically about Star Trek, and the fact that I have some negative or uncomfortable points to raise shouldn’t be interpreted as me being some kind of “hater” of new Star Trek. I love the franchise, I want to see it succeed, and I raise these issues not out of spite but out of genuine concern. If you don’t agree with me, that’s okay. There’s room within the Star Trek fan community for polite discussions and civil disagreements!
Now that that’s out of the way, we can begin.
The Great:
A Starfleet armada as seen in Picard Season 2.
It seems only fair to allow the Star Trek franchise to put its best foot forward, so we’ll start with what went well in 2022. And there are several incredible highlights, any one of which alone would ordinarily mean we’d consider 2022 to have been a huge success for Star Trek.
Some of the best entertainment experiences that I had all year came from the Star Trek franchise, and those incredible episodes and stories weren’t limited to a single season or a single show. In fact, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that all five of 2022’s Star Trek productions had some fantastic high points; episodes or at least moments within episodes that had me on the edge of my seat, jumping for joy, or in tears.
Strange New Worlds Season 1 was fantastic:
Several of the main cast members of Strange New Worlds in a behind-the-scenes photo.
The first season of Strange New Worlds was, without a doubt, the best that modern Star Trek has had to offer – and one of the finest seasons in the entire fifty-six-year history of the franchise. A triumphant return to an older, more episodic style of storytelling that still retained many modern serialised elements represents a model that I genuinely believe every other current and upcoming project in the franchise needs to seriously consider adopting. The diversity of stories on display in Strange New Worlds Season 1 was unprecedented in the franchise’s modern era.
Strange New Worlds’ premiere was also the culmination of a fan campaign to get Anson Mount and Ethan Peck to reprise their popular and incredibly successful roles from Discovery’s second season. The show’s very existence is testament to Paramount’s willingness to take on board feedback from Star Trek fans and a wider audience, and the fact that the corporation backed up this relative gamble by awarding the series a decently high budget should be acknowledged. Paramount didn’t have to make Strange New Worlds – plans were afoot for other Star Trek shows and spin-offs, but the corporation reacted positively to feedback from fans and viewers, and the result was an absolutely outstanding season of television that has hopefully laid the groundwork for one of the best Star Trek series of the current era – if not of all-time.
The USS Enterprise.
It really is hard to overstate just how incredible Strange New Worlds’ first season really was. In my spoiler-free review I talked about how the show enthusiastically tried out different genres, managing to thread the needle of staying close to Star Trek’s roots while still feeling like a thoroughly modern production. There were ten fantastic episodes – and while I had a few story nitpicks, overall the season has to be considered the best since Star Trek returned to the small screen in 2017.
So Strange New Worlds is definitely one of the highlights of 2022 – not just for the Star Trek franchise, but in the entertainment space in general. It’s a show that should be accessible to new and old fans alike, with the potential to expand the Star Trek fandom beyond its current niche.
The Strange New Worlds-Lower Decks crossover announcement:
The announcement’s official graphic.
This is something that I genuinely was not expecting – but it’s a fantastic idea! Star Trek did a fair few crossover episodes in its heyday, and while I guess we can consider parts of Discovery and Strange New Worlds to have crossed over with The Original Series, it isn’t the same as bringing together two shows that are currently in production. With five shows occupying five different time periods and regions of the galaxy, a proper crossover felt like a remote possibility – until this announcement came along at Comic-Con in July.
I mentioned the diversity of genres that Strange New Worlds dabbled in in its first season – well, one of those was comedy! We had two episodes that had overtly comedic premises, and many other moments of humour throughout much of the season. A crossover with Lower Decks – an animated comedy series – is thus not as far-fetched as we might think!
Boimler and Mariner will soon be visiting Strange New Worlds…
As always in Star Trek, technobabble can account for most things! The crew of the Cerritos could find themselves in the 23rd Century thanks to all manner of phenomena, so there’s no real barrier to bringing the two shows together. With some creative scriptwriting, a solid foundation should be able to bring Boimler, Mariner, and perhaps other members of the Cerritos’ crew aboard Captain Pike’s ship.
This announcement has got a lot of Trekkies very excited, and that’s a great thing. Paramount needs to make moves like these to keep the fan community engaged, and while a crossover may feel very much like fan-service, there’s also a huge potential benefit to bringing together two different parts of the Star Trek franchise. Fans of Lower Decks may check out Strange New Worlds for the first time – and vice-versa. Crossover stories have the potential to benefit both shows and increase viewership, potentially turning casual viewers into fans of the franchise as a whole. If Star Trek is to survive long-term, we need to see more moves like this.
Visual effects and CGI:
A digitally de-aged John de Lancie as Q.
Although Discovery’s first season felt like it brought to the table some excellent visual effects, there were some definite disappointments thereafter. The Romulan and Federation fleets seen in the finale of Picard Season 1, for example, were pretty lacklustre; copy-and-paste starships that all looked the same and, in the case of the Starfleet vessels, didn’t even have names and NCC numbers. There were also some pretty sloppy CGI moments in Discovery’s third season – one example that comes to mind is a digital sword that supposedly stabbed a character, but just looked awful.
But in 2022, all that changed. We had a big, beautiful Starfleet armada in Picard’s season premiere and season finale. We had other CGI moments in the Confederation timeline that looked spectacular. Strange New Worlds did some incredible things with practical puppets in conjunction with CGI and visual effects to create some wonderful moments. And Discovery brought to screen one of the most “alien-looking” alien races ever seen in the franchise: Species 10-C.
Unknown Species 10-C looked fantastic.
Both Discovery and Strange New Worlds made excellent use of Paramount’s fancy new AR wall, too. When the AR wall first debuted, I felt there were definitely a few moments where its use was noticeable. But by the time we got to 2022’s Star Trek productions, the creative team and effects artists had clearly grown in both confidence and ability, taking advantage of the AR wall to craft some wonderful environments.
Finally, I’d be remiss not to mention the digital de-ageing of John de Lancie in his initial appearance as Q. That moment, which came at the end of the Picard Season 2 premiere, was absolutely fantastic!
Some of these technologies are very expensive, and Paramount doesn’t have the same resources as the likes of Disney or Netflix, so I can understand why they’re used sparingly in some cases. But overall, I’d give Star Trek’s visual effects and CGI work an A grade for 2022.
Discovery Season 4 ended on a spectacular high:
The Presidents of Earth and the Federation meet.
Although Discovery’s fourth season seemed to drag in places, there’s no denying that the way the season ended was pitch-perfect and went at least some way to making up for earlier narrative missteps. Coming Home (the season finale) was an incredible episode: deeply emotional, visually stunning, and tied up all of the season’s loose ends.
The way in which Season 4 ended showed off the Federation at its very best, racing in to help a planet that had left the organisation simply because they needed assistance and it was the right thing to do. I still get chills just thinking about it, and the way Admiral Vance led the charge, bringing Federation HQ to Earth in its hour of need… it’s one of the best story beats in the season.
The arrival of the USS Mitchell at Earth.
After the drama with Unknown Species 10-C was resolved, an epilogue saw Earth coming back into the fold, rejoining the Federation, and this has set the stage for what promises to be a different kind of story in the show’s upcoming fifth season. I would challenge any Discovery-avoider to watch Coming Home and not feel that the show has grown spectacularly since its premiere almost six years ago.
By expanding its cast with some genuinely interesting secondary characters, Discovery is starting down the Deep Space Nine road, where characters outside of the main headliners could be just as important to stories. Although it’s still “the Burnham show” in some ways, there’s movement away from a laser-focus on one character, with others being given moments in the spotlight. That’s all to the good – and as Season 5 approaches, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
So that’s what Star Trek got right.
Spock, Pike, and Sam Kirk on the bridge of the Enterprise.
There are some really amazing highlights, and were it not for some of the things we’re about to discuss, they’d have meant that the year 2022 would’ve gone down in history as one of Star Trek’s finest; the beginning of a new “golden age” that would rival the franchise’s 1990s heyday. Strange New Worlds truly excelled, Discovery did some bold and interesting things, and Picard put together a Starfleet armada that was big, diverse, and beautiful. And that’s not even mentioning solid seasons from both Lower Decks and Prodigy that continue to branch out in very different directions.
But that isn’t all there is to say, and now I’m afraid we have to consider some of the ways in which Star Trek went wrong in 2022.
The Terrible:
It must be some kind of visual metaphor…
Paramount did serious, almost catastrophic harm to Star Trek in 2022, and I genuinely fear for the franchise’s longer-term prospects. I had felt all but certain that we’d make it to the 60th anniversary in 2026 with new seasons and perhaps even new films being created… but that goal feels pretty far away right now, even with the promise of unannounced projects being worked on behind the scenes.
The simple truth is this: I have no confidence in the leadership team at Paramount. It seems as if they don’t know what they’re doing; they leap from disaster to disaster, damaging trust and confidence in the Star Trek brand, harming the Star Trek fan community, and above all, it feels as if 20th Century thinking is trying – and desperately failing – to lead Paramount into the 21st Century. Without a major change in direction at the top and a serious rethink of the corporation’s attitude and approach, Star Trek will not succeed and will not survive.
The international rollout of Paramount+:
The Paramount+ logo.
If you’ve been a regular reader here on the website, you may remember that I’ve had a lot to say on this subject. The fact that Paramount was unable to speed up the painfully constipated rollout of its streaming platform – and crucially, the corporation’s unwillingness to broadcast Star Trek on other channels or streaming platforms in countries and territories where Paramount+ isn’t available – has been a dead weight around the neck of the Star Trek franchise, pushing Trekkies away… or into the arms of piracy.
Paramount sits atop a global media empire, and owns television channels in dozens of countries around the world. If the rollout of Paramount+ was so slow, the corporation had months or years in which to make other arrangements to broadcast Star Trek. Prodigy, for instance, is produced in part under Paramount’s Nickelodeon brand – and there are Nickelodeon channels available in more than 100 countries around the world. Why was Prodigy not broadcast on any of them until months after its first season had gotten underway? And why was Strange New Worlds not made available here in the UK on one of the dozen or so channels that Paramount already owns?
The real Paramount+ tagline, apparently.
These decisions hit the Star Trek fan community hard. But more than that, they greatly harmed Strange New Worlds and Prodigy in particular. In a 21st Century media landscape, word-of-mouth on social media makes all the difference – and Paramount has consistently failed to learn that cutting off a huge portion of the potential audience for its shows means that posts get fewer likes, hashtags don’t trend, and the resulting lack of online chatter harms these shows in the United States as well. The blinkered, short-sighted “America First” approach that the corporation has adopted may have worked fine in the 1980s… but it isn’t the ’80s any more. The internet is one single worldwide audience, and by denying a huge portion of that audience access to Paramount+ and the Star Trek franchise, Paramount has done immeasurable harm to Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, Prodigy, and the entire franchise.
At time of writing, Paramount+ doesn’t even have the faintest idea about a launch in countries like Japan or South Korea, and even in western Europe, coverage is spotty. And you can forget about the hugely growing markets in places like China or Africa – Paramount doesn’t even acknowledge their existence. If there were plans afoot to get Star Trek shown on other networks in those regions – whether Paramount-owned or not – at least that would be something. But no such plans have been forthcoming, so the option Trekkies have in much of the world is to either pirate Star Trek or miss out. There’s no prospect of bringing on board new fans as long as this attitude persists.
Scheduling problems:
Why did Picard Season 2 premiere before Discovery Season 4 had ended?
Why did Discovery Season 4 overlap Picard Season 2 by three weeks in the spring of 2022? And why was the Picard finale shown the same day (the same minute, in fact) as Strange New Worlds’ premiere? Paramount’s scheduling decisions were pathetic in 2022, as there was simply no need for the shows to overlap like this.
Had Picard Season 2 been delayed and not run alongside Discovery, and Strange New Worlds also been delayed a mere four or five weeks so as not to overlap Picard, that would have lined up almost perfectly with Paramount+ launching here in the UK. There would have been the option for Trekkies in the UK to join in with fans in the USA, watching Strange New Worlds together. This bizarre rush saw several weeks with two different shows on at the same time, and while that did also happen during The Next Generation era, in an age of ten-episode seasons and on-demand streaming… it just shouldn’t be happening any more.
…and why did Strange New Worlds premiere before Picard Season 2 had ended?
You don’t see Disney+ having The Mandalorian and Andor overlapping one another – Disney makes sure that the Star Wars shows have room to breathe. I genuinely don’t understand how a decision was taken to have these shows clash. At the very least it should have been possible to spread out the release of episodes so that they weren’t on the same day, but Paramount even failed to consider that possibility, apparently.
Were it not for the rushed scheduling meaning that Strange New Worlds debuted in the USA weeks before Paramount+ arrived in the UK, I’d still find the whole thing pretty stupid. But when a slightly more spread out schedule could have allowed Paramount+ to land in the UK the same week as Strange New Worlds premiered… I honestly can’t forgive it. Whichever idiot at Paramount (and there’s no shortage of those, clearly) signed off the scheduling decisions for 2022 needs to be fired.
A premature announcement:
It turns out we aren’t going back to the Kelvin timeline after all…
One of the most basic, entry-level rules of the entertainment industry is this: you don’t officially announce anything until all of the pieces are in place. Paramount became a laughing stock in 2022 by announcing a sequel to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond… before trying to quietly un-announce it only a few weeks later.
Whatever you may think of the merits of a new Kelvin timeline film, it should be patently obvious that this was not the way to handle it. It seems as if no main cast members had been so much as offered a contract, let alone been in a position to sign one and start work on a film that had a very ambitious release date of July and then December 2023. Paramount’s failure in this regard was spectacular, and practically unheard of for a big corporation in the modern entertainment industry.
This was a catastrophic failure from Paramount.
Whether a new Star Trek film gets underway in the months ahead or not, this total own-goal from Paramount’s team of corporate morons has already damaged the film – and arguably the wider franchise, too. To make an official announcement, put a film on the schedule with an expected release date, and then have to walk it all back and try to quietly brush it aside is a bad look. It makes Paramount and the Star Trek franchise look disorganised, unprofessional, and chaotic. Who’d want to go to work for a corporation like that the next time they’re hiring?
I can’t even believe we have to say this, but here we go: if you don’t have all the contracts signed, don’t announce your film. If the executives at Paramount don’t understand that, then they need to be removed immediately.
Star Trek Day:
Nicholas Meyer at Star Trek Day.
Oh, I feel bad about putting this on the list – but I’m afraid we must. Star Trek Day was hyped up as a celebration of all things Trek… but it was a spectacular let-down. Despite promises of “announcements and reveals throughout,” nothing major was actually announced at Star Trek Day… unless we count a scripted podcast. Which we don’t.
The live broadcast was also pretty amateurish, with hosts who seemed unprepared, guests who couldn’t answer the most basic of questions about their shows, and panels that were either cut too short or that went totally off the rails and fell apart. There were a couple of teaser trailers, but even then, Paramount seems to have been saving the biggest and boldest of those for Comic-Con a couple of months later.
The less said about the Lower Decks panel the better…
By some accounts, Star Trek Day didn’t bring in much of an audience, which is a shame in a way. But if Paramount isn’t going to make this kind of celebration of the franchise and its fans a big blow-out, perhaps it’s better just to skip it next year – or at least make sure that expectations are properly set in advance.
I hoped for better things from Star Trek Day, and while I don’t want to be too critical of the main figures involved, it was a pretty big disappointment.
Social media failures:
A selection of social media apps.
We’ve already touched on this in a couple of places, but Paramount and the Star Trek franchise really need to get a better handle on social media. The way in which they used social media in 2022 was poor, and we need to see Star Trek becoming much more engaging and interactive with fans and viewers. Social media isn’t merely a billboard on which to paste an advertisement or show off a teaser trailer; Paramount needs to start treating social media platforms as spaces to engage with fans.
To just give a couple of examples, Star Trek’s social media pages could showcase fan art, highlighting the real passion that many Trekkies have for the franchise. And they could run competitions, with giveaways of merchandise or Paramount+ subscriptions as rewards. Take a look around at other big corporations and see what they’re doing; social media is a gateway that Paramount could open, giving new, especially younger fans a first look at Star Trek.
Star Trek and Paramount are not adept at using social media.
At the very least, Paramount and Star Trek need to be more active on social media. They need to respond to genuine questions from fans as much as possible, especially concerning things like release dates and availability. Frankly they also ought to curate their social media posts better, deleting hateful comments about some of the new Star Trek shows and especially about some of the actors. LGBT+ actors and actors from ethnic minority backgrounds are particular targets, and it’s a bad look when a post has comments of that nature.
Look at television shows as diverse as Game of Thrones, Tiger King, and Squid Game. What helped them blow up and break out of their original niches to attract massive audiences? Social media! Well-timed promotions and social media teams that actively leaned into the discussion, the jokes, the memes, and everything else helped those shows – and many more. Star Trek could have that too – if only Paramount could get someone competent to manage its social media operation.
Quentin Tarantino:
Quentin Tarantino. Photo credit: Georges Biard via Wikimedia Commons.
When a director with the undeniable talent of Quentin Tarantino says that he wants to make a film for you, serious consideration of the proposal is warranted. For whatever reason, higher-ups at Paramount decided not to go ahead with a film that had been pitched by the famed director of Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Kill Bill. No explanation has been given – and I really do fear that this could be a huge missed opportunity.
Here’s the short version: you may not like Tarantino personally or his filmmaking style. That’s okay. Maybe you’d hate his take on Star Trek. That’s okay too. Because what someone like Tarantino has that no one else who’s come anywhere close to Star Trek has is star power and pull. Tarantino’s films are on a different order of magnitude to anything else that Star Trek has ever done, and what that would have meant for the franchise is millions of new viewers turning up for the very first time. At least some of those folks would have stuck around, gone back to watch other Star Trek films and shows, and the fan community would have grown.
Tarantino’s pitch reportedly involved a return to the episode A Piece of the Action.
The very worst possible outcome for a collaboration with Tarantino would have been a mediocre film that made a decent profit. But beyond that, the potential for legions of viewers taking a first look at Star Trek – or a second look from folks who’ve not seen it in a while – is immense. To squander such an opportunity when it was seemingly presented on a silver platter may turn out to be an unforgivable mistake.
A standalone Tarantino film need not have impacted any ongoing series or project. It could have been a one-and-done thing occupying its own little piece of the Star Trek universe, inoffensively ignoring everything else in the franchise and doing no harm. Sure, there are potential pitfalls to working with someone like Tarantino… but the gains Star Trek could have made were massive.
Where are the Prodigy toys?
Playmates toys have started beaming down… but none for Prodigy yet.
It’s been well over a year since Prodigy premiered, but there are still no toys, no dolls, no dress-up costumes, no replica phasers or combadges, no teddies… nothing. Prodigy must be the only kids’ show in the world to have zero tie-in products even after its entire first season has come and gone.
There’s more to merchandise than just raw sales and profit. The way children engage with a franchise like Star Trek, especially in the moments where they aren’t sitting down to watch the latest episode, is all about play. Seeing exciting toys on shelves will literally get kids to check out the show for the first time, and seeing their friends dressed up for Halloween or playing with Star Trek dolls has the potential to expand the show’s audience.
The first batch of Prodigy toys are still not available at time of writing… even though the show’s entire first season has come and gone.
The Star Trek franchise may be new to making a kids’ show, but Paramount isn’t. Paramount owns Nickelodeon, and has made many other films and TV series for children in the past – and knows how to make toys and merch for them. Moreover, the Star Trek franchise used to be much better at this, even giving Star Wars a run for its money in the ’90s with figures of practically every guest character, costumes for dressing up, prop replicas, and much more.
I waited and waited for Paramount to address this as Prodigy’s first season went on, then took an extended break. I hoped that we’d have gotten something before the first season finale aired… but it didn’t happen.
Most of Picard Season 2:
Picard visited modern-day Los Angeles in Season 2.
Now we’re getting into narrative decisions, which I admit is something quite subjective – but I’m certainly not alone in considering most of Picard’s second season to have been a disappointment. After a truly spectacular premiere (that I gushed over in my review, calling it “one of the best episodes of live-action Star Trek that I’ve seen in a long time”) the second season took a nose-dive, spending eight-and-a-half episodes wandering aimlessly in a modern-day setting that didn’t feel inspiring, exciting, or even interesting much of the time.
There were some highlights, and by the time the action returned to the 25th Century in the second half of the finale, things did improve. But by then it was almost too late; the damage was done. This was an experimental season, and it’s to the Star Trek franchise’s credit that the creative team are given leeway to try out different ideas. But this one didn’t work, and considering it was one of only three seasons that Picard is going to get, its failure feels all the more egregious and disappointing.
Raffi and Rios.
Picard Season 2 felt muddled, bloated, and unnecessarily long. Yet by the time it ended, there were still huge unanswered questions about key storylines and characters, questions that I feel all but certain the series has no answers to and no plans to even pay lip-service to in Season 3. A meandering, confused batch of episodes gave way to a rushed finale that didn’t have time to bring everything to a satisfactory conclusion.
Some storylines in Season 2 just felt confused, as if there were two writers working against one another. Rios’ story, for example, saw him experience the worst of the 21st Century, being incarcerated and deported. But a couple of episodes later, Rios was raving about how much he loves the 21st Century for the cigars and the food on offer at a fancy party. There were clearly ideas on the table that, had they been executed better, were potentially interesting. But the way the season as a whole came to screen was poor – and it’s a concept that I hope won’t be repeated any time soon.
Prodigy isn’t gaining much traction:
The wrecked Protostar…
Right now, Prodigy is being watched mostly by existing Trekkies and some of their kids. It doesn’t appear to be finding much of an audience of its own, and there are a few reasons why that may be the case. The situation with toys and merch that we just talked about is definitely harming the show’s prospects, preventing it from reaching out beyond existing Trekkies for the reasons laid out above. But there’s more to say.
Prodigy hasn’t been marketed particularly well, with relatively few ads for the show cropping up online. Kids shows need to advertise where kids are – on apps like TikTok, for instance. Also, the show remained a Paramount+ exclusive until very recently, when a belated broadcast on Nickelodeon was announced. While I understand that Prodigy was made as a Paramount+ show, the platform itself is mostly being marketed at an adult audience.
The crew of the Protostar don’t seem happy…
Unlike something like Disney+, which clearly has a lot of content made for kids, Paramount+ just doesn’t have that reputation yet. As a result, I doubt most kids even know that Prodigy exists a full year and a full season later.
The question is this: who is Prodigy really made for? Is it for Trekkies who want to see more Captain Janeway and Chakotay? Is it for children of Trekkies as a way for their parents to get them into the franchise? Or does it have the ambition to bring in completely new viewers? The answer should be “all of the above,” but the way the show has been handled from its marketing and scheduling to its place in the wider franchise, it feels like a show that won’t succeed at growing Star Trek’s audience much beyond its current fans and viewers.
The Picard cast being unceremoniously dumped:
The cast of Picard Season 1.
It was profoundly disappointing to me to learn that all but one of the new characters who had been introduced in Picard would not be returning for the show’s third season. That disappointment was compounded because most of them didn’t even get an ending to their character arcs/stories in Season 2.
There were some really interesting characters in the mix when Picard debuted, and over the course of two full seasons I feel that we didn’t really get to know all of them very well; after twenty episodes we’d barely spent any time with Elnor, for example, and Soji was absent for all of Season 2 bar a tiny cameo in the premiere. There was vast potential in these characters – but it’s potential that the show has now thoroughly wasted.
The crew of La Sirena at the end of Season 1.
If the Star Trek franchise is to survive long-term, fans and viewers need to be given the opportunity to fall in love with a new generation of characters, because it’s these people who will drive the franchise forward in the years ahead. As much fun as I hope it will be to go on one last adventure with the crew from The Next Generation, it will be their final mission. That show is now more than thirty-five years in the past, and while there’s definitely still ways to bring back legacy characters, it isn’t exactly indicative of a franchise trying to move forwards.
It was my hope when Picard premiered that a new generation of fans would be just as excited in thirty years’ time to see Elnor or Rios make a return to the Star Trek franchise as we had been to see Picard come back. These new characters could and should have picked up the torch, taking Star Trek into the 2020s and beyond. Although I adore The Next Generation and will be happy to see its main characters make a return, it’s a bittersweet moment because of who had to be booted off the show to make it happen. And it’s a decision to double-down on nostalgia that I fear could have long-term ramifications for the entire franchise.
Paramount+ lost the Star Trek films. Twice:
The search for the Star Trek films is ongoing…
On two separate occasions in 2022, all or most of the Star Trek films disappeared from Paramount+. Let’s restate that: Paramount lost most of the Star Trek films from its own streaming platform, sending them to Hulu or Peacock or one of those other second-tier streaming services for a number of months. Then, after getting them back, it happened again!
From the point of view of a Trekkie, we’re told that Paramount+ is going to be the place to get all things Star Trek. But that’s demonstrably not true, as some of the best stories in the franchise – and the projects which had the highest production values – have arbitrarily disappeared. If I’d been a paying subscriber to Paramount+ at that time I’d have been livid.
It seems as if the Kelvin films are still available.
But it’s not just about Star Trek. It’s about Paramount as a whole, and what these mistakes say about the corporation and the platform it hopes to convince folks to sign up for. Losing parts of Paramount’s own back catalogue is something that simply should not be allowed to happen. It makes Paramount+ look inconsistent, cheap, and like a bad deal. The lack of communication about this – the announcement of the recent loss of the Star Trek films was made with just days to spare – also makes Paramount look chaotic, and Paramount+ look like a very poor relation indeed to the likes of Disney+ and Netflix.
Can you imagine logging into Disney+ and seeing a message that Beauty and the Beast, The Aristocats, Snow White, and more would no longer be available? Can you imagine Disney leasing the exclusive rights to those films to any other streaming platform? Of course not, because it undermines the entire concept of owning a streaming platform. Paramount+ is already on very shaky ground as a second-tier streaming platform in a massively competitive market. Mistakes like this cannot be repeated.
Was it simply too much?
Was there simply too much Star Trek in 2022?
2022 was a bumper year for Star Trek. In fact, the franchise barely had so much as a week’s break all year long – and as already noted, some weeks had two episodes at once. There were ten episodes each of Lower Decks, Picard, and Strange New Worlds, six episodes of Discovery, and fifteen episodes of Prodigy taking the total number for 2022 to a whopping fifty-one episodes of Star Trek. Is that too much for one franchise in a single calendar year?
There’s a danger, I fear, of “franchise fatigue” beginning to set in. Even the most ardent Star Trek fan would struggle to keep up with all the different productions, and I think there’s a case to be made that Paramount needs to take a foot off the accelerator and slow things down. The last thing we need is for fans and viewers to get burned out on Star Trek – or for the franchise to begin to look too complicated and too difficult to keep up with.
We should have an honest, difficult conversation about this…
There is a balance somewhere that Paramount needs to find. After years in the wilderness with no Star Trek at all it may seem odd to be complaining about there being too much, but it feels as though the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction. It’s good and healthy for franchises to take breaks and not to be constantly on the air, and for both the creative teams and fans, I don’t think the level of Star Trek we saw in 2022 can be maintained.
And that’s a worry because if burnout sets in, it could prove fatal to the entire franchise. Take a deep breath, slow things down, and try to spread out some of these shows a little more. Taking breaks of a few weeks in between each series would be a good start – and this really ties in with what we said about scheduling. Paramount blitzed through fifty-one episodes of Star Trek in 2022… but there’s now nothing for at least six weeks. Had things been better spread out, we could have had short, consistent breaks in between each show that would have meant the entire franchise would be more balanced.
So that’s what went wrong.
I know it’s a lot…
In 2022, Star Trek premiered more episodes than at any other point in its history… but the franchise was massively harmed by decisions on the corporate side that prevented millions of fans from even being able to watch any of it. The glut of episodes was arguably too much, and poor scheduling decisions saw shows overlapping one another, and too many episodes arriving all at once.
Paramount’s failures behind the scenes have seen Strange New Worlds denied to most of the world, massively harming the show’s reputation and killing much of the online chatter. On social media, Star Trek not only ignored fans, but in some cases actively attacked them, using outdated copyright laws to get fan accounts suspended. The lack of toys for Star Trek’s first kids’ show more than a year after its launch and after its entire first season has finished its run is pretty pathetic – and is just another way that Paramount has harmed its prospects.
Conclusion:
What lessons should Paramount and Star Trek learn?
2022 was, as the title of this piece states, a great and terrible year for Star Trek.
I can’t overstate how much I enjoyed Strange New Worlds, and how that show’s first season has to be one of the strongest debuts in the entire history of the franchise. After three seasons that were of varying quality, Discovery finally seems to be hitting its stride, too. Season 4 wasn’t perfect, but it was the best the show has had to offer so far. Lower Decks continues to do its thing and do it well, though it isn’t really reaching out beyond the existing Star Trek fan community in a big way. Prodigy is also a fun series, continuing to build up its characters. Even in Picard Season 2 there were fun moments; highlights in practically every episode even if the overall story itself wasn’t stellar.
But I can’t shake the feeling that 2022 could be both the zenith and a turning point for modern Star Trek. The sheer number of episodes and the way in which they were scheduled was enough to start the process of burnout, and one of the key lessons for Paramount has to be to better schedule the Star Trek franchise and spread it out more.
Are viewers going to get burned out on the Star Trek franchise?
Moreover, on the production side of things, Paramount had an absolutely atrocious year. Failing to bring Paramount+ to fans around the world is a weight around the neck of the Star Trek franchise and will continue to be for years to come. The lack of communication with fans, and Paramount’s piss-poor “America First” corporate attitude is also doing considerable harm to the Star Trek fan community and the wider brand.
In a difficult economic climate, it’s hard to see Paramount+ breaking into the top tier of streaming platforms, and on current form I would be surprised if it survives the decade. When Disney+ and Netflix – platforms with many more subscribers backed up by far bigger and more successful corporations – are struggling to turn a profit, one can only imagine how much money Paramount+ is losing and will continue to lose. If Paramount+ fails, will it drag Star Trek down with it?
I have significant worries about Star Trek’s future after 2022.
Pull back the curtain and I’m afraid it was a tough year for Star Trek. I don’t see anything changing in the immediate term, either, as Paramount looks set to keep doing what it’s been doing for the past few years. No major changes seem to be coming on the horizon, and teases of unannounced projects came and went in 2022 with no major announcements for new shows. And of course the Beyond sequel had to be rapidly un-announced as it became clear that Paramount had completely screwed things up.
If you enjoyed having fifty-one Star Trek episodes in a single year, I guess what I’d say is this: don’t get used to it. For all manner of reasons, I doubt we’ll see another year quite like 2022. And maybe that’s for the best.
The Star Trek franchise – including all films and television series 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.
I’ve written longer articles and columns about several of the subjects discussed above, and you can find links to them here:
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-2 and the teasers, trailers, and announcements for Season 3. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Next Generation and Voyager.
Today I’m updating one of my big Star Trek: Picard Season 3 theories and adding a second part to it! This addition is based on what we saw in the recent New York Comic-Con trailer, and if you’re a regular reader you may have seen me allude to it in my recent articles about who Captain Vadic could be and who else might be joining her on the villainous side of the season!
First of all, a recap. A few months ago I put together a theory that, if it were to pan out, would tie together all three seasons of Star Trek: Picard – which is something that hasn’t really happened so far. Seasons 1 and 2 told largely standalone stories, and it’s a distinct possibility that Season 3 will also go in its own direction – the likelihood of which was arguably raised when most of the main cast members from Seasons 1 and 2 were dumped.
The crew of La Sirena at the end of Season 1.
But the theory that I came up with tied together Seasons 1 and 2 in a big way, and potentially set the stage for Season 3 as well.
In brief, my theory says that the super-synths from Season 1 (the faction who left the beacon on Aia and who Soji and Sutra attempted to open a portal for in the season finale) are also responsible for the anomaly that the Borg Queen and Picard joined forces to stop at the end of Season 2. After being unable to arrive at Coppelius, the super-synths used the anomaly to try to attack the Federation and/or the Romulans, perhaps in retaliation or perhaps as some kind of preemptive strike prior to an invasion.
Nothing that we saw on screen in either season would rule out the super-synths as being responsible for both attacks, and as we know so little about this faction and their objectives and motivations, it feels plausible to me that they might have left the beacon on Aia as a trap – that their real intent was not to help synthetics, but to use the presence of synthetic life as an indicator that a quadrant or galaxy was ripe for the conquering!
The super-synths’ portal.
Enter Captain Vadic and her “rogues’ gallery.” After what we saw of synthetic life in Seasons 1 and 2, I don’t think we can entirely rule out an artificial background for Captain Vadic, even though she appears to be organic at a glance. But that’s neither here nor there, really. One thing that I find absolutely fascinating about the characters we saw joining her crew is this: they’re both artificial life forms. Professor Moriarty is a sentient hologram and Lore is, of course, an android.
I had speculated back when I made my original theory that the villain Picard and the crew would have to face in Season 3 would be the super-synths; tying together all three seasons of the show and giving Picard a truly powerful adversary to defeat. This theory now expands to include Captain Vadic – she could be their pawn, she could be a synth, or she could be someone who experienced the beacon on Aia and became obsessed with the arrival of the super-synths.
Who is Captain Vadic?
We’ve spoken before about some of the similarities between Picard Season 1 and the Mass Effect video game series, in particular the first game, and I think we can draw upon Mass Effect once again to add to this theory. In the world of Mass Effect, the Reapers – a race of sentient machines from far beyond the Milky Way galaxy – could exert influence over organic minds through a process called “indoctrination.” Indoctrinated servants of the Reapers could work on their behalf, but would eventually begin to worship the Reapers themselves before going mad.
Captain Vadic could be someone who has been indoctrinated – or brainwashed, if you prefer that term – by the super-synths. Perhaps this happened when she encountered their beacon, or maybe it happened on some other occasion – possibly during the standoff over Coppelius. Either way, Captain Vadic came to worship the super-synths and wants them to arrive in the Milky Way galaxy. Picard prevented that from happening – at least once and maybe twice – so that could explain why Captain Vadic has such a personal grudge against him and his crew.
Could Captain Vadic be “indoctrinated” like some characters in the Mass Effect video game series?
This could also set the stage for the story of the season. Season 1 ended with Picard preventing the arrival of the super-synths, and Season 2 ended with Picard and the Borg Queen stopping the anomaly – which, as we’ve discussed, could be a super-synth weapon. Season 3 may begin with Captain Vadic on a quest for revenge against Picard, but it could also see her – and her gallery of rogues – planning to build a new portal to allow the super-synths to invade. This could be what Picard and the crew have to stop, it could even be what Dr Crusher was doing on her mission in space when she had to send a distress signal.
If I’m right, the super-synths could be behind the attack on Starfleet Command that we saw in the most recent trailer, too. We saw some kind of beam coming from above completely destroy one of the main Starfleet buildings, and that beam was superficially similar (in colour, at least) to the Season 2 anomaly. Could that be another piece of the jigsaw puzzle?
Who did this… and why?
So there are really two additional components to my super-synths theory! And the story could go in either direction. It seems possible that Captain Vadic has been driven mad by the beacon on Aia, like the Zhat Vash were, but redirected her madness into some kind of devotion to or worship of the super-synths, perhaps through a process not dissimilar to Mass Effect’s indoctrination. That could explain why she wants to attack Picard and the Federation – they were responsible for preventing the super-synths’ arrival.
Alternatively, Captain Vadic could be seeking to build her own portal to allow the super-synths to travel to the Milky Way, and this could be what Picard and the crew have to prevent. Captain Vadic could be a synth herself, or she could be an organic under their thrall who’s doing their bidding.
The Shrike – Captain Vadic’s ship.
With Professor Moriarty and Lore on her side – both of whom are malevolent artificial life-forms – Captain Vadic could be attempting to bring about a full-scale assault on organic life in the Milky Way galaxy, or seeking revenge for an arrival that was thwarted by Picard and the Federation. I could quite see Lore and Moriarty supporting this kind of “synthetic supremacy” crusade, and who knows – maybe the ultimate twist will be that the super-synths never intended to help artificial life-forms, but rather intended to destroy, conquer, or assimilate them.
So that’s my addendum to my earlier theory!
What I liked about the super-synth idea in the first place was that it would tie together all three seasons of the show in a big way, connecting everything from the attack on Mars and the Zhat Vash plot through to the Season 2 anomaly, Dr Jurati becoming a Borg Queen, and beyond into Season 3. Star Trek: Picard would be transformed from a disjointed sequence of standalone stories into one continuous story – albeit one that got sidetracked!
The strange anomaly in Season 2.
And at the very least, what we’ve seen of Captain Vadic and her “rogues’ gallery” – at least so far – hasn’t ruled any of that out. It’s still a viable theory, and it still seems at least possible to me that Season 3 will pan out this way. The decision to show Captain Vadic seemingly working with two artificial life-forms could even be a hint toward the idea of her working for the super-synths in some capacity.
There are other possibilities, of course, and as has happened in recent seasons of Star Trek, the show could go in wildly unpredictable directions! But I think it’s possible to tell this kind of story in a way that would still keep Season 3 approachable for newcomers and casual viewers. Because the super-synths and the Season 2 anomaly were only on screen for such a short time, and because so little was revealed about them in the first two seasons, Season 3 has a near-blank slate on which to build. The connection back to Seasons 1 and 2 would be fun for returning viewers, but wouldn’t necessarily hamper the enjoyment of anyone who missed those seasons or for casual viewers who may not remember every event that unfolded.
Professor Moriarty.
But as I always say: I have no “insider information,” and all of this is just for fun! I like writing, I like Star Trek, and writing up these Star Trek theories is fun for me – and that’s the spirit in which I hope you’ll take this theory. No fan theory, no matter how fun or plausible it may seem, is worth getting upset about, and it’s highly likely that Star Trek: Picard Season 3 won’t include anything that we’ve talked about today. I’m totally okay with that, and I hope that the new season will tell a fun and exciting story regardless of whether any of my fan theories come to pass!
So that’s all for today. After thinking about Captain Vadic a lot over the last couple of weeks I thought it was worth adding this addendum to my earlier super-synths theory. I’m really looking forward to Picard Season 3, which is now less than three months away from being broadcast! If we get any major news or new trailers between now and then I hope you’ll check in as I’ll be sure to provide some analysis.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will be broadcast on Paramount+ in the United States and on Amazon Prime Video in the United Kingdom and around the world beginning on the 17th of February 2023. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the entire Star Trek franchise, including the most recent seasons of Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy, and Strange New Worlds.
I’ve seen a lot of posts on social media where fans try to construct their “ultimate” Star Trek crews with characters from across the franchise, including one that popped up a few weeks ago. For whatever reason, this latest one – which was put out by the official Star Trek Twitter account – captured my imagination. So today I thought it could be fun to show off the characters that I’d pick to be in my “ultimate” Star Trek crew!
Let’s start by laying down some ground rules…
The social media post which inspired this article.
First of all, I don’t want to pick more than a couple of characters from a single series. If you’re just going to pick the entire crew of the Enterprise-D, what’s the point? We might as well just go and watch The Next Generation!
Secondly, the fact that characters come from different eras or timelines is entirely irrelevant. This is pure fantasy – though who knows, maybe one day Star Trek will do some kind of massive crossover event featuring characters from all over the place!
Third, characters have to occupy a role that we saw them fill on screen; i.e. Captain Picard can’t be a tactical officer, nor could Michael Burnham be assigned as the ship’s Chief Medical Officer!
Fourth, I want to include all of the major roles that we’ve seen main characters occupy on Star Trek – something that the Twitter post that inspired this piece didn’t do!
Finally (and most importantly), I want this to be taken light-heartedly and in the spirit of fun!
So let’s get started building the USS Trekking with Dennis!
Starship Class: Excelsior
The USS Excelsior in The Search for Spock.
One thing that a lot of these lists miss is the ship that the crew will be serving aboard. As many Trekkies have pointed out over the years, a starship is akin to a member of the crew; not merely a setting but a living, breathing entity in its own right. Many starship designs have become iconic parts not just of the Star Trek franchise, but of sci-fi and popular culture in general, and many Star Trek starships are instantly recognisable even to folks who aren’t fans.
The Excelsior-class has been one of my favourites ever since I first saw it. It’s a beautiful design that took the classic look of the Constitution-class and updated it, becoming an iconic piece of ’80s sci-fi in the process. It’s clearly a Starfleet ship – the design retains the saucer, neck, body, and nacelles on pylons that continue to define Federation starships, but it mixed things up for a new era. Excelsior-class ships became workhorses for Starfleet, remaining in use for decades. Picard Season 2 recently debuted an updated design, showing that the ships were still being used at the dawn of the 25th Century!
Admiral/Mission Commander: Jean-Luc Picard
Admiral Picard.
In overall control of our mission at Starfleet Command is Admiral Picard! He’s level-headed, diplomatic, and willing to try to negotiate even with the fiercest adversaries. He’s also a skilled tactician in his own right, and someone who I’d trust to plan operations that involve entire fleets of starships.
Admiral Picard was initially chosen by Starfleet to spearhead the Federation’s efforts to evacuate the Romulan homeworld. While that plan ultimately fell apart due to events beyond his control, the fact that he was the right man to take charge of such a massive assignment shouldn’t be in dispute. Admiral Picard – with support from his team – will be co-ordinating our mission back at headquarters!
Captain: Benjamin Sisko
Sisko in Deep Space Nine Season 7.
Although the question of “absolute favourite captain” is an incredibly difficult one, if I were placed under duress Benjamin Sisko is probably the individual I’d name! A battle-hardened commander who transformed a minor, obscure posting into one of the most significant strategic locations in the entire Alpha Quadrant, Captain Sisko led the charge against the Dominion during one of the Federation’s darkest hours.
As a commanding officer, Sisko inspired his crew to follow him, but he was also well-versed in dealing with alien cultures and could be both a diplomat and a deal-maker. I also feel that Captain Sisko would work well with Admiral Picard; he would command the ship while Picard was in control of the overall mission, but could also offer advice and input as we saw him do for Admiral Ross during the Dominion War.
First Officer: Jack Ransom
Commander Jack Ransom.
At the top we have two very serious people – so we need someone like Commander Ransom to balance things out! Although he can be laid-back and make jokes, when the chips are down we’ve seen Commander Ransom absolutely excel, putting the needs of his shipmates first and stepping up to tackle whatever the cosmos throws at him.
The role of a first officer in Star Trek has varied from show to show, with some taking on more away missions and others serving as advisors and confidantes. The best first officers are a mix of both, and Jack Ransom seems like someone his commanding officer can rely on to give honest, sound advice – and then lead a dangerous mission independently.
Helm: Tom Paris
Promo photo of Tom Paris.
The role of helm officer has been part of Star Trek since The Original Series. But it wasn’t until Tom Paris took over at the helm of the USS Voyager that I felt there was someone in the driving seat who was a bona fide pilot. Paris truly loves piloting Voyager – and any other ship or shuttle that he can get his hands on, too. That’s an impression that I never really got from Sulu, Wesley Crusher, or really anyone else who had sat in the chair before him; they seemed to see the role as a job or duty, where Paris revels in his work.
Not only does Tom Paris enjoy what he does, but he guided the USS Voyager safely home across an impossible distance. Whether it was wormholes, slipstream drives, spatial catapults, the Borg transwarp network, or a warp 10 shuttle that accidentally mutated him into a salamander, Paris navigated them all – and found redemption for his past misdeeds in the process.
Chief Engineer: Hemmer
It’s Hemmer Time!
As the first Aenar to be a major character, Hemmer had a lot of potential. The no-nonsense attitude he had stands in stark contrast to some other engineers we could think of, but when he was off-duty he was personable and friendly with his shipmates – and a guiding light to young cadets who found themselves under his wing. Hemmer’s love of science was cute, too, and he was able to take in his stride all kinds of different events that befell the USS Enterprise.
As Hemmer once told Uhura, he believed that his purpose was to fix what is broken – and he did that in more ways than one while serving as the Enterprise’s chief engineer. Hemmer helped the Enterprise survive major damage during battles against dangerous enemies, and he’s the person I’d want to rely on to keep my starship flying!
Chief Medical Officer: Dr T’Ana
Dr T’Ana.
Dr T’Ana is unapologetically my favourite Lower Decks character. Her gruff and grumpy bedside manner conceals genuine medical skill, and we’ve seen her treat patients with all kinds of horrible sci-fi ailments without so much as batting an eyelid. Despite her acerbic attitude, though, Dr T’Ana manages to strike up friendships with her shipmates – and has proven herself to be someone they can rely on.
We’ve also seen how Dr T’Ana is unflappable and doesn’t crack when put under pressure – something that could be important depending on how badly our mission goes! She may not be the politest doctor in the fleet, but no matter what was wrong – disease, injury, or random sci-fi shenanigans – I’d trust Dr T’Ana to patch me up. Plus she’s a Caitian, something that I appreciate as a cat-fanatic!
Nurse/Sickbay Assistant: Kes
Promo photo of Kes.
While Dr T’Ana can be grumpy and even abrasive, Kes has a wonderful bedside manner that has a way of putting patients at ease. Although she didn’t have much by way of formal medical training when she joined the crew of the USS Voyager, she soon grew into her role as the Doctor’s assistant in sickbay. I still think it’s a shame that Kes had to leave Voyager after the show’s third season, just as she was hitting her stride and learning more about her telepathic abilities.
Kes provides a sharp contrast to Dr T’Ana, and for that reason I think the dynamic in sickbay would be a lot of fun. But Kes has also demonstrated a willingness to learn and a keen medical intuition of her own, so if Dr T’Ana (and the rest of the medical staff) were busy or indisposed, Kes is more than capable of treating patients on her own.
Counsellor: Dr Hugh Culber
Dr Culber in Discovery Season 4.
Although Dr Culber is the USS Discovery’s chief medical officer, in recent seasons we’ve also seen him take on the role of ship’s counsellor to a greater degree. Not all doctors would make for good counsellors, but Dr Culber has grown into the role, taking on the extra burden of caring for his shipmates’ mental health in addition to his duties in sickbay.
In The Next Generation, Counsellor Troi had a pretty big advantage when it came to reading her patients and understanding them! Dr Culber doesn’t have that same empathic ability, meaning he has to do things the old-fashioned way! But his advice has proven invaluable to Captain Burnham, Saru, and even Book. Dr Culber throws himself into his work, prioritising his patients ahead of himself on occasion.
Tactical: Tuvok
Tuvok in Voyager’s first season.
Tactical has often overlapped with security on Star Trek, but if you think about it, they’re really two distinct roles that require different approaches. As fun as it might be to see Worf getting angry as the Enterprise races into battle, if my back’s against the wall and I’m facing defeat, I want the cool-headed, logical Tuvok aiming the phasers and firing the photon torpedoes.
Tuvok’s temperament makes him incredibly well-suited to a position at tactical – and not only in the heat of battle, either. As a strategist who has mastered the difficult Vulcan game of kal-toh – a strategy game he’s been playing for well over a century – Tuvok is also someone I’d trust to draw up plans for everything from small away missions to large battles.
Security Chief: Odo
Constable Odo.
As above, we’re separating the roles of tactical officer and security chief. For the latter, there’s no one I can think of who’s better-suited to the role than Odo! Odo is Star Trek’s first real “policeman;” a dedicated officer of the law who was trusted by the Cardassians, Bajorans, and the Federation to be impartial when it comes to justice.
That impartiality – ensuring that no one is above the law – is exactly what our crew needs. Odo will maintain order, but he’ll do so fairly. He’ll also be able to strike up friendships with the crew while retaining that impartiality. Everyone aboard our ship – Starfleet, non-Starfleet, guests, diplomats, or anyone else we meet along the way – will know that Odo will treat them fairly. And I gotta be honest about this last point: having a changeling on the crew could come in handy in a lot of situations!
Communications: Hoshi Sato
Ensign Hoshi Sato.
Hoshi Sato had not only mastered forty languages – including some very alien ones – in the days before universal translators existed, but she contributed in a major way to making the universal translator itself work in the way we’ve come to expect in Star Trek. Real-time, instant translation of previously-unheard alien languages wouldn’t have been possible without Hoshi’s work.
Hoshi Sato also showed an incredible aptitude for picking up languages very quickly – notably translating languages like Romulan and both Xindi-Insectoid and Xindi-Aquatic. If there was ever a problem with the universal translator – or our mission encountered an alien race whose language and form of communication was difficult to understand – Hoshi Sato is the linguist I’d want on our crew to handle things!
Science Officer: Spock
Spock at his post in The Original Series Season 1.
Could it really be anyone else in this role? Although Spock would go on to be a captain, an ambassador, and a diplomat, it’s his role as the Enterprise’s science officer where he’s best-remembered and most iconic. Spock has a genuine interest in uncovering the secrets of space and the universe, and his raised eyebrow and proclamation that something is “fascinating” have become legendary parts of the Star Trek franchise!
Spock’s logical analysis of sensor readings helped out – and saved – the Enterprise on multiple occasions. Taking his time to analyse unknown phenomena, Spock would present his findings based on the available evidence, and was instrumental in missions as diverse as discovering new forms of life and shutting down ancient super-weapons. On a mission of exploration – or any mission that needs good, solid scanning and sensor work, I want Spock manning that post!
Operations: Data
Data in Tin Man.
Although the role of operations or ops officer isn’t always well-defined in Star Trek, the role can involve things like power management, sensor control, deflector control, and oversight of the internal workings of the ship. We’ve seen senior officers like Data and junior officers like Harry Kim and Nog assigned to operations roles, and I’m choosing to bring Data along on this mission.
Data is an android, and he has super-human abilities and reflexes as a result. When it comes to things like systems maintenance and keeping the ship in good working order, someone like Data is ideally-suited to the role, and he’s also proven himself to be more than capable of overseeing departments and even entire crews. Data can also provide valuable insight into unfolding situations almost entirely free from bias, making him incredibly useful to have on the bridge as an advisor.
Transporter Chief: Montgomery Scott
Scotty shortly before his first retirement.
Although Scotty is best-remembered as the Enterprise’s chief engineer, I’m assigning him the role of transporter chief this time. One of the most iconic (and misquoted) lines from The Original Series is “beam me up, Scotty,” so I think we’re on safe ground here! Scotty is nothing short of an engineering genius, and when things go wrong – as they often do with Starfleet transporters – he’s the man I’d want to fix things and keep them running smoothly.
Transporter chief is a role that can be overlooked, especially considering that transporting is a fairly quick process when everything runs smoothly. But everything doesn’t always run smoothly, and the right transporter chief with the right technical know-how can mean the difference between beaming up and having your molecules scattered across half a sector of space. Or worse!
Cadet: Rok-Tahk
Rok-Tahk.
It’s not unusual for a starship to have several cadets assigned as they complete their courses at Starfleet Academy, so I’m picking Prodigy’s Rok-Tahk for that role (even though she isn’t formally a Starfleet cadet!) Across the first ten episodes of Prodigy, I felt we got to see some genuine character growth from Rok-Tahk that I hadn’t really expected, and I think she’ll continue to develop into a truly excellent Starfleet officer one day.
We’ve seen cadets like Uhura in Strange New Worlds and Tilly in Discovery moving between departments to try their hand at basically everything aboard a starship. Perhaps Rok-Tahk will do something similar during the course of our mission, giving her a range of new experiences, and potentially bringing a different point of view to all of the departments aboard our ship.
Bartender: Guinan
Guinan in Picard Season 2.
Although Quark is a worthy contender to bring along, I think it’s not unfair to say he’s a bit of a troublemaker! Guinan can be relied upon to create a welcoming environment in her bar for when our crew need some time to relax, but she’s also far less likely to cause problems during our mission!
Guinan can draw upon the experiences of her centuries-long life to offer advice and support to all members of the crew, and we’ve seen moments where her words to Captain Picard ended up completely transforming the outcome of a story. As someone who not only tends the bar but also listens and occasionally has something of value to add, Guinan is the perfect complement to any Starfleet crew.
Non-Starfleet Crewmate: Garak
In The Pale Moonlight was one of Garak’s best episodes.
Since The Next Generation premiered, most Star Trek crews have included at least one non-Starfleet or non-Federation crewmate. When I think back over these characters, few stand out more than Deep Space Nine’s Garak. Garak also brings a lot to the table for our crew! His previous life as a spy saw him develop a completely unique set of skills ranging from technical to combat and beyond – and in a pinch, he could be very useful.
However, Garak will need to be carefully monitored during our mission, as he can be rather slippery and self-serving. Although his service toward the end of the Dominion War saw him firmly allied with the crew of DS9 and the Federation, Garak has gone off-script on a number of occasions. He doesn’t always willingly share everything that he knows, so having someone else on board who knows how to handle him and how to get the best out of him could be important! But when a crisis looms, I think Garak can be counted on to find unconventional – and often un-Starfleet – ways to solve problems.
Villain: The Borg
The first Borg drone seen in Star Trek.
There have been some wonderfully iconic villains in Star Trek, like Khan or Gul Dukat, and it can be hard to pick an absolute favourite. Purely in terms of the scale of the threat they pose, though, few Star Trek adversaries can compare to the Borg Collective. A vast army of billions or perhaps trillions of assimilated drones, a fleet of thousands of identical cube-shaped ships… the Borg are a faction that could wipe out the Federation in a matter of days without seriously overtaxing themselves.
We’ve seen Starfleet ingenuity and individuality overcome the Borg on a handful of occasions, but I’ve always wondered what it would look like if the Borg ever tried to invade en masse. Would a one-sided rout be inevitable… or will our cobbled-together crew find a way to save the day?
So that’s it!
Star Trek’s first crew.
Those are the characters that I’m choosing for my “ultimate” Star Trek crew.
There are no right answers to the question of which characters make for the “best” crew, and in addition to individual characteristics it’s worth considering how different characters would interact with one another and how well they’d work together. For my two cents, practically every Star Trek show has managed to get a good balance of characters and deployed them successfully. There are a handful of characters who didn’t really get enough time in the spotlight to truly shine, but even so, the franchise as a whole has done a fantastic job – and there are plenty of wonderful characters to choose from when making a list like this one!
I hope this was a bit of fun – and not something to take too seriously or get upset over! I was inspired a few weeks ago by that post from the official Star Trek social media team, and this is my (lengthy) response. It took a while to put this list together and really think about which characters I’d want to include – and which I’d have to exclude. For practically every position on the list above, there was at least one and often two other characters that I strongly considered including. I hope that the final list feels balanced between different shows and different eras, and was, if nothing else, a bit of fun to read!
Until next time!
The Star Trek franchise – including all characters, television series, and films mentioned 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-2 and the trailers, teasers, and announcements for Season 3. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Discovery, and Lower Decks.
Last time we talked about Captain Vadic – the mysterious villain who will appear in Picard’s third and final season next year. We considered a few possibilities as to who she might be and what her grievance might be with Admiral Picard, so if you want to check out those theories – some of which are more plausible than others – you can do so by clicking or tapping here.
This time I want to move beyond Captain Vadic. Taking the most recent trailer as a starting point, I thought it could be fun to look back at other characters from The Next Generation and beyond who might have a bone to pick with Admiral Picard. The most recent trailer for Season 3 included two pretty big surprises: the return of Lore and Professor Moriarty, both of whom seem to be allied with Captain Vadic. So here’s my theory: those two won’t be the only villains on her team!
Professor Moriarty in the recent Season 3 trailer.
Could Captain Vadic have put together what I’ve termed a “rogues’ gallery” of Star Trek villains? If so, it could make for an even more explosive and exiting final season – and there’s certainly no shortage of candidates for such a team. Like Marvel’s HYDRA or DC Comics’ Legion of Doom, perhaps Captain Vadic has managed to create her very own rogues’ gallery!
So today, I thought it could be fun to consider which other characters could be included – if indeed this is part of Captain Vadic’s scheme. During his adventures aboard the Enterprise-D, it’s not unfair to say that Picard made more than his share of enemies, and it stands to reason that many of them would jump at the chance to seek revenge.
As always, a caveat: this is just for fun! I don’t have any “sources” or “insider information,” and I’m not trying to claim that any of the characters below definitely will appear in Season 3 of Picard. I don’t even know for sure that there will be any other villainous characters besides those we’ve already glimpsed, so please take all of this with a healthy pinch of salt! With that out of the way, let’s get started!
Rogue #1: Toral, son of Duras
Toral, son of Duras, after his attempted coup failed.
The two-part episode Redemption, which closed out Season 4 of The Next Generation and kicked off Season 5, introduced us to Toral, son of Duras. The House of Duras made several attempts to take over the Klingon Empire and to cover up their family’s collaboration with the Romulans, including at the attack on Khitomer in which Worf’s family was killed. Although Toral was relatively young during the events of Redemption, and was merely being used by his more powerful and manipulative aunts, there’s no denying his ambition.
Toral’s father and his aunts were killed by the crew of the Enterprise-D, and both Toral and his house were left disgraced and without a future in Klingon politics. If given the chance, Toral – or perhaps another member of the House of Duras – would surely be on board with a mission to destroy Admiral Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D.
Rogue #2: Ro Laren
Ro Laren in Season 7 of The Next Generation.
Although Ro Laren, a former Starfleet officer and Maquis defector, didn’t hate Picard the last time they met, subsequent events could certainly have changed her opinion. In the years before the Dominion War, Picard was very much in favour of maintaining peace with the Cardassians at all costs – even if that included abandoning Federation colonies in Cardassian space. The former Ensign Ro took a different approach, ultimately defecting to the Maquis and abandoning Starfleet.
As we learned in Deep Space Nine, following their alliance with the Dominion the Cardassians were able to wipe out nearly all of the Maquis, leaving only a few survivors. Starfleet was unable to help, and given how bad relations had got between the Federation and the breakaway Maquis, it stands to reason that any survivors would carry a deep hatred for the Federation. If Ro Laren survived the Dominion War, maybe she’d try to seek revenge on her former captain and the organisation that abandoned her friends to their fate.
Rogue #3: The Remans
The Reman Viceroy.
The Romulans treated the native Remans horribly, essentially using them as a class of slave labourers. The Remans’ only real chance to overturn this came when Shinzon – a Romulan-created clone of Picard – seized power on Romulus and uplifted many Remans, putting them into positions of power. Picard defeated Shinzon and his Reman Viceroy, potentially restoring the status quo on Romulus and relegating the Remans once again to their enslavement.
Not only that, but Starfleet’s decision to abandon the Romulan rescue armada that Picard was in charge of arguably cost Reman lives. The Romulans would surely have prioritised saving their own citizens ahead of saving Remans, so it stands to reason that many Remans were killed during the supernova. Although there are no remaining Reman main characters (the Viceroy was killed in Nemesis) I think it’s possible that we could see a Reman figure who wants to get revenge on Picard.
Rogue #4: Sela
Sela aboard the Enterprise-D.
The half-Romulan daughter of an alternate timeline’s Tasha Yar was an adversary for Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D on more than one occasion. Picard prevented her from interfering on behalf of the House of Duras during the Klingon succession crisis, and then thwarted her plans again when she tried to use Ambassador Spock’s peace process to invade and conquer Vulcan. Sela survived – but her authority within the Romulan hierarchy was surely undermined by these major defeats.
Sela would almost certainly want revenge on Picard for those incidents, and I could absolutely see her teaming up with someone like Captain Vadic. Assuming that Sela survived the Romulan supernova, Picard must be right at the top of her enemies’ list! Furthermore, Picard disrupted yet another Romulan scheme back in Season 1, and while we can’t say that Sela was involved with the Zhat Vash, it’s possible that she was privy to their plans or involved, to some degree, in the mission to Coppelius.
Sela and Tasha Yar actress Denise Crosby has teased a possible appearance in Season 3, too… so I think Sela showing up is a distinct possibility!
Rogue #5: DaiMon Bok
DaiMon Bok on the Enterprise-D’s viewscreen.
While in command of the USS Stargazer – about ten years before the events of The Next Generation – Picard defeated a Ferengi vessel, and in doing so killed the son of DaiMon Bok, a Ferengi captain. Bok attempted to get his revenge on Picard on two subsequent occasions, firstly by sabotaging the wreck of the Stargazer, which he had salvaged, and secondly by convincing Picard that he had a son. Both times, Bok was defeated.
However, Bok survived his run-ins with Picard, and as I noted last time, the grudge he carried is deeply personal and feels like it would be something he would never be able to let go of. Like Sela above, Bok has a personal vendetta against Picard, and if the opportunity were to arise to join a mission to kill or defeat him, I could see Bok signing up in a heartbeat!
Rogue #6: The Conspiracy parasite-aliens
One of the parasite-aliens outside of a host body.
After thirty-five years, could a continuation of the story begun in The Next Generation first season episode Conspiracy finally be on the agenda? Anything’s possible, right?!
The Conspiracy parasite-aliens attempted to take over Starfleet and the Federation before being thwarted by Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D. Although their “mother creature” was killed, before it died it was able to send a message, presumably to its home world or others of its species… but the story was never continued (although the parasite-aliens were recently referenced in an episode of Lower Decks).
The parasite-aliens were originally conceived as part of the storyline that would eventually lead to the introduction of the Borg in Season 2, but this connection was written out of the series before Q Who entered production. So the parasite-aliens have remained a mystery ever since – but would surely want to gain revenge on the people most responsible for foiling their plans. Maybe Captain Vadic and others on her crew have been taken over by these parasitic beings.
Rogue #7: Norah Satie
Norah Satie overseeing a sham trial.
Rear Admiral Norah Satie was sent to the Enterprise-D to investigate an apparent act of sabotage. However, she massively overstepped her brief and became paranoid, treating the entire crew with suspicion and using her power to drag innocent officers before a hastily-arranged “drumhead” trial. Picard was eventually able to outmanoeuvre her at the trial, ending her investigation – and possibly her career as well.
We don’t know what became of Norah Satie after her humiliation, but it’s at least possible that she would hate Picard as a result. Perhaps her actions led to her being kicked out of Starfleet, or at least losing her investigative position, and after having had years in which to build up resentment, she might be ready to seek revenge.
Bringing a Federation officer into the “rogues’ gallery” (if Captain Vadic is not a former member of Starfleet herself) could lead to some really interesting and complex storytelling.
Rogue #8: Altan Inigo Soong and/or the Coppelius synths
The Coppelius synths.
Although we’ve seen Brent Spiner as Lore in the most recent trailer, could he also be back as Season 1’s Altan Inigo Soong? One line from the first teaser trailer really stood out to me (as I flagged up at the time) and that line came from one of Spiner’s characters: “evolution is not an act of preservation; it’s addition.” I’ve wondered ever since if that line could be Dr Soong – or one of his synths – arguing in favour of some kind of organic-synthetic synthesis.
Connected to this idea is something we touched on last time – my theory that Captain Vadic could be motivated by the Season 1 super-synths. Both of the characters we know of so far in her “rogues’ gallery” are synthetic: Lore is an android and Moriarty is a hologram. If her crusade against Picard and the Federation is somehow connected to the super-synths from Season 1, perhaps other synthetics will join her cause, such as the ones on Coppelius.
Rogue #9: Captain Benjamin Maxwell
Captain Maxwell shortly before his arrest.
Captain Maxwell was a fascinating character in his sole appearance. A renegade Starfleet officer who took his ship on an unsanctioned mission into Cardassian space, Maxwell held a personal grudge against the Cardassians for the deaths of his family. He found it hard to adjust to peace with the Cardassians, and sought to expose their secret military build-up – something that he was, in the end, right about.
Picard was sent after him, and with the help of Miles O’Brien, Maxwell was taken into custody before peace between the Cardassians and Federation could be jeopardised. But Maxwell wasn’t exactly wrong about the Cardassians – something that feels even more significant in the aftermath of the Dominion War. Would someone like Maxwell – an otherwise upstanding Starfleet officer – want to get revenge on Picard and his crew? It’s got to be at least a possibility!
Rogue #10: T’Paal (also known as Tallera)
T’Paal on Vulcan.
T’Paal used the assumed identity of “Tallera” to track down an ancient Vulcan weapon called the Stone of Gol. She hoped to use the weapon to purge Vulcan of all alien influence, believing that contact with non-Vulcans was “polluting” her planet and culture. Picard, on an undercover mission of his own, managed to stop her, and she was taken into custody by the Vulcan authorities.
I’d consider T’Paal to be a real zealot, someone completely dedicated to her cause and her scheme. When Picard thwarted her attempts to use the Stone of Gol to rid Vulcan of all alien influence, she became enraged – and someone like that could hold a grudge for a very long time indeed. Though perhaps not as iconic or well-remembered as some of The Next Generation’s other adversaries, T’Paal could certainly make a return and join Captain Vadic’s mission.
Rogue #11: Kelsey the mercenary
Kelsey on board the Enterprise-D.
Known only by her first name, Kelsey was presumed to have been killed when her ship was destroyed near Arkaria Base – but maybe there’s some way she could have survived! Picard thwarted her plot to steal a valuable and highly dangerous substance called trilithium resin from the Enterprise-D when it was undergoing maintenance at the base, allowing her to escape with a sabotaged canister that caused her ship to explode moments later.
If Kelsey survived somehow – such as by boarding an escape pod – it stands to reason that she’d be furious with Picard. Not only did he prevent her from getting the trilithium resin, he was responsible for the deaths of several of her friends, and the destruction of her ship. Although we’ve considered her dead ever since Starship Mine aired, it’s possible that there might be an unexpected resurrection!
Rogue #12: Commodore Oh
Commodore Oh on the bridge of her ship.
One of the primary antagonists in Season 1 was the Romulan spy Commodore Oh. Oh infiltrated Starfleet shortly after the discovery of Data, playing a very long game to sabotage the Federation’s work on developing synthetic life. She was responsible for the attack on Mars, the death of Chris Rios’ captain aboard the USS Ibn Majid, and the attack that claimed Dahj’s life.
Commodore Oh was also a zealot, completely dedicated the Zhat Vash mission to prevent and exterminate synthetic life. Although she was convinced to withdraw from Coppelius, I see no evidence whatsoever that she or the Zhat Vash would abandon their anti-synthetic crusade. Having been exposed, the Zhat Vash may be on a quest for revenge – and as the person who stopped them and exposed their secrets, Picard would surely be at the top of Oh’s list.
Rogue #13: The Control AI
The Control AI took over Captain Leland’s body.
Returning to the theme of artificial life that we discussed above, one other “evil” AI that springs to mind is Control, which was the primary antagonist for much of Discovery’s second season. Control wanted to evolve and become fully sentient, so if it had the opportunity to contact a race of super-synths, that seems like something it would have tried to do! Although the end of Discovery Season 2 implied that Control was completely and utterly dead (or shut down), it’s not implausible to think that it could be revived.
One thing that I’ve been disappointed with in modern Star Trek has been a lack of major points of connection between the franchise’s main live-action shows. Discovery and Picard have run alongside one another since 2020, and four seasons of television have been produced in that time. But aside from a couple of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it references, there haven’t been any major connections or crossovers. If Captain Vadic is on a mission connected to the Season 1 super-synths, synthetic life, or building a crew of artificial life forms, including Control would be a way of rectifying that.
Rogue #14: The impostor known as “Ardra”
“Ardra” realises she’s been caught.
“Ardra” – whose real name remains unknown – was a con artist who attempted to prey on the Ventaxian civilisation in The Next Generation Season 4 episode Devil’s Due. She claimed to be the Ventaxian devil, and tried to force the entire population into slavery to enforce a “contract” that they had signed in the distant past.
Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D were able to expose “Ardra” for what she really was, denying her the chance to rule over the Ventaxians. She was subsequently arrested – and I’m sure she’d hold a grudge against Picard for that! Although “Ardra” isn’t one of the most iconic Star Trek villains, I could entertain the idea of bringing her back as part of a team-up against Picard.
Rogue #15: Nicholas Locarno
Cadet Locarno.
Nicholas Locarno is probably best-known to Trekkies nowadays because he was portrayed by future Tom Paris actor Robert Duncan McNeill. But he was a complex and interesting character in The First Duty, an episode of the fifth season of The Next Generation, and I could conceivably see him holding Picard responsible for his expulsion from Starfleet Academy.
Locarno was the head of Nova Squadron – an elite flight performance team at the Academy – when he covered up the death of a fellow cadet. Wesley Crusher, after a major dressing-down from Captain Picard, eventually told the truth at an inquiry into the cadet’s death, leading to Locarno’s expulsion.
Rogue #16: Narek
Narek aboard the Artifact in Season 1.
I was disappointed that Narek’s story was abandoned partway through the Season 1 finale of Picard. Could Season 3 bring back Narek in some form – if for no other reason than to bring some kind of closure to his narrative arc? I’m not sure… but if we’re considering characters from within Picard who might want to join a crusade against the retired Admiral, Narek has to be in contention.
Like Commodore Oh above, Narek was a true believer in the Zhat Vash cause to the very end – and while I know some fans didn’t like his storyline, for me it was at least interesting that he stuck to his mission and didn’t fall into the clichéd trap of being the “spy with a heart of gold” who falls in love with his target. I’d quite like to see Narek again, and if Captain Vadic is putting together a squad, his unique skillset could make him an invaluable addition.
Rogue #17: The Ux-Mal prisoners
The Ux-Mal prisoners.
After more than five hundred years imprisoned on a moon, stripped of their physical bodies, a group of prisoners belonging to a race called the Ux-Mal came very close to escaping. Using the bodies of several Enterprise-D officers and crew, they hoped to transport their fellow prisoners away from the torturous moon that they had been confined to – until the rest of the Enterprise-D’s crew thwarted their plans.
If some of the Ux-Mal prisoners were able to escape the moon of Mab-Bu VI, it’s at least possible that they would want to get revenge on Picard and the others who stopped their earlier escape attempt. Captain Vadic could even turn out to be “possessed” by one of the prisoners in the same way as they took over the bodies of Data, Troi, and O’Brien.
Rogue #18: Thomas Riker
Thomas Riker on Nervala IV.
Like Ro Laren above, Thomas Riker was a Starfleet officer who defected to the Maquis in the years before the Dominion War. A transporter clone of William Riker, Thomas spent years in isolation on the planet Nervala IV before being rescued by the crew of the Enterprise-D and resuming his Starfleet career. He would later attempt to steal the USS Defiant from Deep Space Nine – exposing a fleet of ships that the Obsidian Order had been building in secret.
Thomas Riker was arrested by the Cardassians and sent to a labor camp – with the approval of the Federation. It’s unclear what happened to him during and after the Dominion War, but if he survived he may very well hold a grudge against the Federation and his doppelgänger – as well as Picard.
Rogue #19: Jev
Jev attempting to perform his telepathic attack.
Jev was an Ullian, a member of a telepathic race whose job was to gather memories. However, he abused his powers, telepathically assaulting dozens of people across multiple star systems. His crimes were brought to light when he tried to attack Deanna Troi and other members of the Enterprise-D’s crew. Jev was arrested by the Ullians and was expected to receive a harsh punishment for his crimes.
As a classic narcissist who put his own pleasure ahead of the basic rights of others, Jev may well blame Picard and others for his downfall rather than being able to admit his own wrongdoings. Although the episode in which he appeared, Violations from Season 5, may not be as well-remembered as some others, Jev is certainly a slimy, nasty villain who could be interesting to revisit.
Rogue #20: Admiral Erik Pressman
Admiral Pressman in Ten-Forward on the Enterprise-D.
In the late 2350s, before Picard assumed command of the Enterprise-D, Admiral Pressman was in charge of a secret project to design and test a cloaking device – despite the Federation being prohibited from doing so under the terms of a treaty with the Romulans. The mission went wrong and a young Ensign Will Riker was one of the few survivors. Years later, Pressman came aboard the Enterprise-D to go looking for his old ship, the Pegasus, and recover or destroy its prototype cloak.
Riker, along with Picard, was instrumental in exposing Pressman to both Starfleet and the Romulans, and he was taken into custody to face a court-martial. Although we don’t know what became of Pressman after the events of The Pegasus, it stands to reason that he lost his reputation, and possibly his position in Starfleet as well. If he suffered major repercussions, he could blame Picard and Riker for his troubles and want to get his revenge.
So that’s it!
Who else might join Captain Vadic on her mission?
We’ve considered quite a few candidates for Captain Vadic’s “rogues’ gallery” – some of whom, I freely admit, are more likely to appear than others! But it was a bit of fun to put together this list and to speculate about what kind of team Captain Vadic might have put together, as well as what her criteria could be for choosing people.
As I said at the start, I’m not convinced that we’ve seen every member of what I’m calling the “rogues’ gallery” just yet, and there may be more surprise casting announcements to come either before Season 3 premieres or saved for surprises after it kicks off. I quite like the idea of a team-up of some of Picard’s enemies from his many Star Trek appearances, as that’s something that has the potential to be explosive and exciting.
Could some of the people on this list be the obscured characters in this still from the most recent trailer?
Last time we talked about Captain Vadic as having a Khan-esque obsession with Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D. While we still don’t know why that is, there are many events that we’ve seen on screen that could connect to the story of the new season, and while it’s still possible that Vadic is someone new whose grudge against Picard and the crew originates with some hitherto-unseen occurrence, it would be an absolute blast if it turned out that something we’re already familiar with from a past episode or story was her driving force.
I hope this was a bit of fun while we wait for Season 3, if nothing else! Please remember what I said at the beginning: all of this is pure speculation and the opinion of just one person. It’s quite likely that none of the characters discussed above will appear in Season 3, and that’s totally fine. As much fun as it is to speculate – and to occasionally get things right – it’s also fantastic when Star Trek can take us on adventures to truly unexpected places.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will stream on Paramount+ in the United States and on Amazon Prime Video around the world beginning on the 16th of February 2023. Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream now and are also available on DVD and Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard and all other properties mentioned 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-2 and the trailers, teasers, and announcements for Season 3. Spoilers are also present for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager.
At New York Comic-Con back in September, Paramount showed off a new trailer for the upcoming third season of Star Trek: Picard, and I’m finally getting around to taking a look at it! This time, I’m going to give my thoughts and analysis of what was shown off in the trailer, as well as speculate a little about what the plot of Picard’s final season might end up looking like.
The first thing to say is that Season 3 appears to be another standalone story, one that doesn’t follow on directly from the events of Season 2. Does that mean that we’ll never know who or what caused the anomaly that was so central to kicking off (and resolving) last season’s main story? And does it mean that the dangling story threads from Season 1 will also be left unresolved when Picard comes to an end? I hope not – but I have to say that, based on what we know of Season 3 at this stage, my hopes of the unresolved storylines from Seasons 1 and 2 being addressed are fading fast.
Will Season 3 provide a conclusion to unresolved stories from Seasons 1 and 2?
And before we go any further, I want to address that. Picard, despite having a lot of promise when it was announced and when it premiered, has been hit-and-miss so far; a rather disconnected series that has boldly tried some new and potentially-interesting ideas, but that hasn’t always managed to pull them off successfully. I still haven’t written up my full thoughts on Season 2 as a whole, but suffice to say that there were some pretty significant problems that seriously hampered my enjoyment. If Season 3 is, as I suspect, leaving all of that behind to rush off into another new story, for me that’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand, spending too much time looking back at the underwhelming elements of Season 2 isn’t what I’d want to see… but on the other, Season 3 represents Star Trek’s last chance – at least in this iteration – to make more of some of those unresolved storylines. Season 2 could end up looking better in retrospect if it turns out to be one piece of a greater whole… but if Season 3 drops those stories to do its own thing, it will remain a disappointment.
I’ve already shared my thoughts on the way the casting situation has been handled, but as we’re diving back into Picard Season 3, I think it’s worth pointing out again that the return of The Next Generation’s main characters – all of whom got some screen time in the new trailer – has come at the expense of several genuinely interesting characters from Seasons 1 and 2 of Picard that we were only just beginning to get to know. As it seems unlikely that most of them will be seen in the franchise again – at least, not for a long time – I think it’s worth reiterating just how much potential has been squandered.
The cast of Star Trek: Picard Season 1 – most of whom are not returning this time around.
If the Star Trek franchise is to survive long-term, it can’t simply coast on nostalgia. Trying new things, innovating, and introducing new characters has been what the franchise has done since the 1980s, but the current crop of Star Trek shows all seem to be falling back on nostalgic crutches in a way that they really shouldn’t. Picard Season 3 may be the epitome of this backwards-looking take on the franchise, but it’s certainly not the only example.
But that’s enough about that for now! We’re here to look at the trailer rather than talk about Picard or the franchise in a general sense, and the New York Comic-Con trailer definitely raised a lot of interesting (or potentially-interesting) points!
The USS Titan at warp.
First of all, the season’s main villain, played by veteran actress Amanda Plummer, will be called Captain Vadic. Vadic was seen briefly in the trailer, and seems to have an almost Khan-like obsession with getting revenge on Picard and his former Enterprise-D crewmates. Exactly what her beef is with the retired admiral is unclear… but given who else is involved, surely there has to be a connection to The Next Generation, right?
Well, not so fast! In both Seasons 1 and 2, key storylines were ultimately not connected in a major way to Picard’s past… or at least, not to elements of his past that we were already familiar with. Speculation abounded regarding the Coppelius synths, the mysterious super-synths, the Borg Queen, the anomaly, and Q, but ultimately in both seasons the writers chose to go in a different and new direction. Captain Vadic could be connected to Picard either because she’s a returning character utilising a nom de guerre or because she’s related to or otherwise connected to a classic character. And don’t worry, I have plenty of ideas in that vein that we’ll talk about on another occasion! But I think we have to consider the very real possibility that this character, as well as whatever may have caused her to hate Picard and his crew, will be something entirely new to us as the audience.
The mysterious Captain Vadic.
I liked what I saw of Amanda Plummer’s performance in the trailer. She brought a ferocity to Captain Vadic that straddled the line between dedication and obsession, and had an almost animalistic or beastly quality that echoed not only Khan, but other great Star Trek villains too. Vadic has been described as an “alien,” though what species she could be if not human wasn’t clear. Could her scars suggest some kind of ex-Borg origin, perhaps?
Vadic’s ship, the Shrike, seemed to draw inspiration from Nemo’s Narada that we saw in 2009’s Star Trek reboot film, as well as perhaps from the Romulan vessels seen in Nemesis, which could all hint at a Romulan (or Reman) origin or connection. The sweeping, blade-like lines of the Shrike give the vessel a genuinely threatening appearance, and if what we saw from Picard and Riker in the trailer depicts them and their vessel in combat against the Shrike, Vadic’s ship seems to have the weapons to back up its intimidating look!
The Shrike, Captain Vadic’s ship.
Speaking of starships, we got a closer look at the USS Titan in the new trailer – and it looks absolutely fantastic! One of the criticisms some fans have had of Picard – especially with last season’s 21st Century story – has been the lack of starships, and in addition to the Titan we also caught a glimpse of Star Trek Online’s Enterprise-F. Though I dabbled briefly in Star Trek Online, MMO games aren’t really “my thing,” but I’m nevertheless happy to see the creative team take inspiration from the game on this occasion. Fans of Star Trek Online will be thrilled, undoubtedly!
La Sirena was also present, and may be being used by Raffi and/or Seven of Nine. I like the design of La Sirena and I hope the story will find a way to include the smaller vessel alongside bigger ships like the Titan and Enterprise-F. Rounding out the “starship porn” in the trailer was a beautiful shot of Earth Spacedock – bringing back memories of both The Next Generation and some of the Star Trek films in which the massive station was featured. Could a Search for Spock-inspired starship heist be on the cards? I guess we’ll have to wait and see!
The Enterprise-F, with a design borrowed from Star Trek Online.
Although the producers are keeping a pretty tight lid on the season’s story, the trailer did actually give us quite a lot to go on. Captain Vadic seems to be chasing Dr Crusher – perhaps to get to Picard or get his attention – and her reason for doing so seems to be connected to her hatred of Picard and his Enterprise-D crewmates. As I said, we’ll speculate more about her possible reasons in the days ahead.
As part of her anti-Picard vendetta, Captain Vadic appears to have put together what I’d describe as something of a “rogues’ gallery” of The Next Generation’s villains. We saw Professor Moriarty – the sentient hologram created in the Season 2 episode Elementary, Dear Data – as well as Lore, Data’s “evil twin.” Could there be more villains from The Next Generation era who’ll be brought on board? I think that’s a distinct possibility!
Professor Moriarty joins a “rogues’ gallery” for an anti-Picard vendetta.
Captain Vadic was seen speaking to a group of characters – most of whom had their faces covered or obscured – promising “vengeance,” so I think it’s at least possible that we haven’t seen the last big or surprising announcement of a returning villain! Several of the characters with Vadic seemed to be aliens, and I can think of no shortage of alien adversaries that Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D tackled during their adventures. Could the promise of revenge combined with Captain Vadic’s powerful personality have convinced them all to work together?
Any time a television show brings back a number of past characters all at once, there’s a risk of some of them being overshadowed. If, as I suspect, Captain Vadic is someone wholly new connected to a hitherto-unseen event in Picard’s past, her dominant role as the leader of the rogues’ gallery could end up relegating the likes of Lore and Professor Moriarty to smaller cameos. Depending on how it’s handled that could be fine – or it could be a little underwhelming. Paramount is promising big things from this “explosive” final season of Picard… so I hope the series can deliver!
Lore makes a return!
We saw quite a lot of Riker in the new trailer, more than almost anyone else aside from Picard himself. The relationship between Riker and Picard was, in my view anyway, beautifully restored in the Season 1 episode Nepenthe, which saw the two men reuniting for the first time in almost twenty years (at least on screen). After seeing Riker out of uniform enjoying his family life and retirement, it’ll be great to see him back in action once more.
I feel that Worf’s appearance has the most potential to cause controversy out of all of the returning cast members. His statement in the trailer that he “prefers pacifism” and has abandoned the way of violence was played for laughs at first, but it represents a major departure from the character we knew through seven seasons of The Next Generation and four of Deep Space Nine. It’s definitely something that could feel like a natural progression if it’s suitably well-explained – some older Klingon characters, like Kor, for instance, seemed to mellow with age and become less quick to anger – but it’s definitely a move that could be controversial in some quarters. Could this be the producers and creators potentially setting up a calmer, more level-headed Worf for a leading role in his own series or film?
Worf in the trailer.
We didn’t see too much of either Dr Crusher or Deanna Troi, though the former seems to be a major driving force in kicking off the storyline. I expect we’ll hear of her distress signal in the season premiere, and that could be the moment where an off-duty Picard was approached by two Starfleet officers (was that scene in Guinan’s bar? I couldn’t tell!) As for Troi, she seems to be along for the ride with Riker, and her Betazoid senses were put to use describing the mood on what could be the Shrike as an “all-consuming darkness.” This ties into the themes of obsession and revenge that I touched on earlier.
Seeing Dr Crusher in some form of stasis pod was interesting; could her distress signal have been the lure to get Picard (and the others) back out into space? If Dr Crusher was the only one of the Enterprise-D crew who was on a deep space assignment, she would seem to be the logical target – as bait in a trap!
Dr Crusher seems to kick off the story.
Raffi also seems to be being hunted – can we assume it’s by the same adversary? If so, Captain Vadic may be doing more than simply targeting the crew of the Enterprise-D – she may be trying to get to Picard by attacking anyone he’s worked closely with in the past. As his former aide-de-camp from his time as an Admiral, Raffi certainly fits the profile!
But there could be more to it than that. We’re getting into some seriously speculative territory, but if the story of the new season involves a villain (and/or a rogues’ gallery of villains) trying to hurt Picard by targeting those close to him, we could potentially learn of the deaths of some friendly faces. Elnor and Soji spring to mind as possible victims – both worked closely with Picard and neither are scheduled to make a major appearance this time around. Could one or both of their deaths have sent Raffi into hiding? Or put her on the revenge trail?
Who is Raffi hiding from?
Finally we have Geordi La Forge. In the trailer his main moment came when he seemed to criticise Picard for dragging Worf and Riker into whatever crisis is going on… but it doesn’t end there. We know from casting – and briefly from an appearance at the Titan’s helm in the trailer – that Geordi will be joined by two of his children. One of his daughters will be played by LeVar Burton’s real-life daughter Mica, which is neat. Mica Burton hosted Star Trek Day 2021 alongside Wil Wheaton, and has been a fixture in the expanded Star Trek community ever since the franchise returned to the small screen.
Having covered the main characters – and speculated a little about some of them – we still have a few disjointed clips and images to assess from the trailer before we wrap things up! Starfleet Academy or Starfleet HQ appears to be attacked and destroyed at one point, but for some reason my gut instinct is to say that that may not happen in the real world. We could be looking at a simulation, dream, or plan rather than an actual attack. I don’t know exactly why I feel that way… but I do!
Is this moment real, or does it take place in a dream or fantasy sequence?
Amongst some wreckage in space we caught a glimpse of a derelict or abandoned starship. Could this be Dr Crusher’s ship – the one from which she sent the distress signal to Admiral Picard? The name and registry number was hard to make out from the trailer, and the design seemed similar to the USS Titan. The field of debris in which the ship was drifting seems too large to all have come from one (largely intact) vessel, so could this be the aftermath of a larger battle in which other ships were destroyed?
As mentioned, I can’t quite tell if the trailer’s opening shot sees Picard at Guinan’s bar on Earth (“Ten” on Forward Avenue in Los Angeles’ historic district that was featured in Season 2), but it certainly could be. Starting Season 3 in a location that was central to the story of Season 2 would go some way to tying the stories together if there isn’t a bigger connection between what seems to be two separate stories.
Is Picard dining at Guinan’s bar in this scene?
Some of the shots of the Shrike and Titan chasing one another and battling seem to be reminiscent of the Briar Patch from the film Insurrection, so could that be a clue? Starship battles that take place in nebulae have been a part of the franchise from The Wrath of Khan all the way through to Discovery’s most recent outing, so it’s by no means a cast-iron statement. But the colour and appearance of the clouds in the nebula certainly brought back memories of Insurrection for me.
The Shrike having the power to outgun the Titan could mean that the ship is incredibly powerful – like Nero’s Narada or Shinzon’s Scimitar, for example – but it could also speak to the Titan potentially being an older vessel, perhaps one that has been recently taken out of mothballs and potentially with only a skeleton crew aboard. While the Shrike definitely has the appearance of a warship or a hunter, it could be worth keeping in mind the Titan’s potential condition!
The Shrike engages the Titan.
After being given a field commission last season and assuming command of the USS Stargazer, Seven of Nine appears to wear the rank pips of a commander rather than a captain, though she does still seem to be on the command track. It wouldn’t be the first time that an officer below the rank of captain has been given a command, though, so Seven may yet prove to be in command of a vessel. Geordi, meanwhile, appears to hold the rank of either a commodore or perhaps a one-star admiral based on the single pip seen on his uniform collar.
I find it interesting, too, that Seven has chosen to remain in Starfleet while Raffi appears to have taken La Sirena on a mission of her own. Is this something that we’ll see her do during the season, or is this where her story will begin? If so, what could have caused her to abandon Seven, Elnor, and her role in Starfleet? And could this connect with my theory above about Captain Vadic potentially having attacked, kidnapped, or killed the likes of Elnor and Soji?
Seven of Nine wielding a phaser pistol.
By far my biggest question at this stage is this: who else, besides Moriarty and Lore, might be joining Captain Vadic’s rogues’ gallery? I feel all but certain that we’re going to see other villains of The Next Generation era coming on board if this is a quest for vengeance against Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D. From the Duras family and Sela to DaiMon Bok and even the Maquis, Picard and his crew thwarted the nefarious schemes of many villains during their adventures – and if Captain Vadic is indeed putting together a crew of her own to seek revenge, there must be no shortage of applicants!
If Picard and the crew are going to go out with a bang, as we’ve been promised, facing off against a team of their most powerful and feared adversaries could absolutely make for an exciting, tense, and explosive season of Star Trek. After the slower pace of Season 2 and its focus on Picard’s innermost thoughts and his personal family history, something a bit more action-oriented this time around could be just what the doctor ordered. Although I’m still upset about the decision to ditch most of the main cast members from Seasons 1 and 2 in favour of this return to The Next Generation’s characters, I’m hopeful that what we’ll get will be a fun ride and a great way to say goodbye.
Season 3 is purportedly the final voyage for Picard and the crew.
The trailer shown off at New York Comic-Con looked action-packed and exciting, so hopefully that’s representative of the new season. Although Picard has its problems and I have some gripes, the trailer itself has raised my hopes, and I’m now definitely looking forward to the new season.
So that’s it for now! Although this summer and autumn has seen me writing less and making fewer posts here on the website, when Picard Season 3 kicks off in February I still plan to review each episode in turn, as well as crafting a few theories and giving my thoughts on how the season as a whole shapes up. So I hope you’ll stay tuned and join me for that in the new year!
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will stream on Paramount+ in the United States and on Amazon Prime Video around the world beginning on the 16th of February 2023. Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream now and are also available on DVD and Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard and all other properties mentioned 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the Star Trek franchise, including Picard Season 2, Strange New Worlds Season 1, and Discovery Season 4.
It’s been known for a while that there are unannounced Star Trek projects that are being worked on behind-the-scenes, and from time to time someone senior at Paramount will re-confirm this fact in public! Just last month at Comic-Con, we got yet another statement about these secretive projects, this time from Alex Kurtzman himself – the man who’s in charge of the overall direction of the Star Trek franchise. Kurtzman stated that there are two unannounced series that are in active development, so today I thought it could be a bit of fun to speculate about what exactly those projects could involve!
In the past I’ve put out lists of prospective Star Trek shows, but this time I want to be more focused. Rather than wild speculation or pure fantasy, I want to stick as close as possible to what we know based on statements that have been made in public, filings by Paramount, and plausible rumours from around the Star Trek franchise. Rather than saying “here’s a list of my fantasy Star Trek projects,” I want to try to stay realistic and consider some projects that feel genuinely plausible. So that’s what we’re going to do today – no “hospital ship” or “colony world” concepts here! As nice as those would be from my perspective, they don’t seem like ideas that are being actively considered by Paramount at the moment.
Despite wanting to stick to the real world as much as possible, my usual caveat applies: I have no “sources” close to the production of Star Trek nor any “insider information.” I’m not trying to say that any of these projects are definitely going to be made, let alone that an announcement may be imminent! I’ve tried to base the entries on this list on statements from people involved with Star Trek, official notices and filings from Paramount, and plausible, persistent rumours – but all of it could be easily wrong or otherwise untrue. So please take all of this with more than a few grains of salt!
The reason why I’m putting together this list now is twofold. Firstly, Star Trek Day is coming up in just under three weeks from now, and there’s the possibility of a big announcement as part of that event. Secondly, Season 3 of Picard will be that show’s last, so in my view Paramount will already have something lined up to replace it – and an announcement of that project may be forthcoming sooner rather than later. Announcing Picard’s replacement too close to its third season risks overshadowing the show as it comes to an end; getting the announcement out of the way ahead of time will give fans time to properly digest it.
So with all of that out of the way, let’s jump into the list!
Series #1: Section 31
Sloan, director of Section 31 during the Dominion War era.
Although a series based around Section 31 has technically been “announced,” the lack of any official news for almost four years at this point clearly means that the series has hit some bumps in the road. While I wouldn’t be surprised at all to learn that it’s been cancelled altogether, it’s still possible that the Section 31 series will be reworked and perhaps even re-announced along with a premiere date.
As I’ve said more than once, the Section 31 series was announced far too early. Not only was it completely overshadowed by the hugely positive response from fans to Captain Pike and Spock in Discovery’s second season – something that seemed to catch Paramount completely off-guard – but its main character desperately needed the development she would receive in Discovery’s third season in particular before she could begin to feel like someone who could carry her own spin-off.
At the time the Section 31 series was first announced, many fans viewed Georgiou as a kind of sociopathic monster.
When the Section 31 series was first discussed, Michelle Yeoh’s Empress Georgiou was about as flat and one-dimensional as Star Trek characters get. Moreover, she wasn’t just a villain, she was a psychopathic, genocidal monster who kept slaves, ate sentient beings, and seemed to revel in torture, violence, and death. Even for an organisation as roguish and off-the-books as Section 31, Empress Georgiou seemed extreme – and asking fans to support a series centred around a character like that was, for many, too much.
It wasn’t until the two-part Season 3 episode Terra Firma that we really saw a change in Georgiou. After spending time away from the Mirror Universe she began to view aliens as equals rather than sub-human, and had even adopted some Federation-inspired ways of thinking. By the time she stepped into the Guardian of Forever’s portal she had changed just enough that she could be an anti-hero rather than an out-and-out villain, and both she and the Section 31 series needed that development.
Georgiou enters the Guardian of Forever’s portal in Terra Firma, Part 2.
My gut still says that the Section 31 series isn’t going to happen, and we should brace for a quiet cancellation sometime in the future rather than a big announcement. I haven’t heard anything about the series since its premature announcement back in January 2019 that sounded even slightly positive, and with Star Trek branching out in different directions, it’s possible that Section 31 simply missed the boat.
However, at time of writing the Section 31 series still exists, Paramount has retained the trademarked name, and it isn’t impossible to think that it will be revived. Perhaps a new team of writers and producers will take over the project and rework it in some way – potentially even without Empress Georgiou.
Series #2: Seven of Nine and Raffi
Seven of Nine and Raffi at the end of Picard Season 2.
With Picard concluding its run before any of the other current Star Trek projects, a spin-off from that series feels like a distinct possibility when considering its replacement. The time period that Picard established – the dawn of the 25th Century – is not represented by any other current Star Trek project, so if Paramount wants to keep that era alive – and potentially bring in more legacy characters from Deep Space Nine and Voyager – then a series occupying the same timeframe could be a possibility.
A lot of work went into Picard Season 2 in terms of sets being constructed for the brand-new USS Stargazer – but those sets were only used in the premiere and the second half of the season finale. That seems like a lot of work for relatively little screen time, so part of me has been wondering ever since whether those sets may be destined for use in a spin-off project!
Could a Seven and Raffi series be set aboard the new USS Stargazer?
With Seven of Nine being awarded a role in Starfleet at the end of Picard Season 2, she could be being groomed for command. Depending on how she and Raffi get on in Season 3 – which we’ll see in the first half of next year – a spin-off could see those two characters headline a new show, perhaps one set aboard the USS Stargazer.
Seven of Nine was, at one time, my least-favourite Voyager character. But Picard has given her some much-needed development that led into a wonderful arc across both seasons of the show so far, culminating in her taking the Stargazer’s captain’s chair in the Season 2 finale. I would never have expected to write these words in 2000-2001, but I think I’m ready for a Seven of Nine series!
Seven of Nine takes the captain’s chair.
Both Seven and Raffi have tactical backgrounds, so we could potentially see a series set aboard a kind of rapid-response vessel. The Stargazer’s mission could be less about exploration and more tactical in nature, potentially serving as Starfleet’s “muscle” in dangerous situations. That concept isn’t one that Star Trek has done before (not as a whole series, at least) so it would be something different for the franchise.
There are other 25th Century concepts that could replace Picard, but a direct spin-off featuring at least one new character that was introduced in that series could be just what the Star Trek franchise needs. Keeping some consistency and some ties between different projects isn’t a bad idea, and I’m sure that a Seven and Raffi series could find a way to stand on its own two feet without the presence of Admiral Picard.
Series #3: Project Khan and/or Ceti Alpha V
Iconic Star Trek villain Khan could make a return.
Earlier this year it was reported that Paramount had trademarked the name Project Khan. This follows on from a pitch by The Wrath of Khan writer/director Nicholas Meyer, whose project would focus on Khan’s life in between the events of Space Seed and The Wrath of Khan. Although these two ideas could be totally separate, there does seem to be an appetite from someone at Paramount to see this iconic villain make a comeback.
If we take the two ideas as separate for now, Project Khan could be connected to the Eugenics Wars, and could even be a spin-off from Picard. Season 2 antagonist Adam Soong very prominently picked up a folder titled “Project Khan” at the end of his storyline, with the series seeming to imply that he plans to resume working on some kind of genetic engineering.
How might this moment from Picard Season 2 connect to Project Khan?
This is a complete hypothetical, but if we were to get a series starting from that point, Khan himself may not appear. This could be a Brent Spiner project with Adam Soong attempting to recreate Khan’s work in the 21st Century, and could potentially see things like the outbreak of World War III, which purportedly happened in that era. Such a series could see the return of Chris Rios and Dr Teresa Ramirez – they could be trying to stop Dr Soong’s work.
Alternatively, Project Khan could step back to before the events of Picard and focus on Khan’s rise to power in the 20th Century. This would be an interesting concept, but it would have to be handled delicately. In short, the Star Trek timeline has, until now, been pretty vague about events in the modern day and how they relate to real-world history. If it were set in the 1990s, Project Khan could completely transform our knowledge of that era – but it could also tread on the toes of a number of other Star Trek stories.
Khan in Space Seed.
Then we come to the Ceti Alpha V pitch. As much as I admire Nicholas Meyer’s work on Star Trek, I have to be honest: this isn’t a series I would give the green light to if I were in charge. We’re talking about the least-interesting chapter of a story where the ending is already known, and I just don’t see what Ceti Alpha V could tell us about Khan or his ambitious plans that we don’t already know from Space Seed and The Wrath of Khan.
There is the tantalising possibility that a Khan-focused project could connect with Strange New Worlds, though, as the character of La’an Noonien-Singh is a descendant of Khan. That could certainly be a point in favour of doing a new Khan story. Last year I took a longer look at the Ceti Alpha V concept, and you can find that article by clicking or tapping here.
Series #4: Starfleet Academy
The logo of Starfleet Academy in the 24th Century.
Last year (at Star Trek Day) Alex Kurtzman came pretty close to confirming that a Starfleet Academy series may be in the works. It’s certainly the nearest we’ve gotten to any kind of outright confirmation – and as above, Starfleet Academy is a title that Paramount has trademarked, this time all the way back in 2018.
Combine that with what felt like a bit of a backdoor pilot during Discovery’s fourth season, and I think we have a solid case to make that a Starfleet Academy series could be in the works! The Discovery Season 4 episode All Is Possible featured Lieutenant Tilly heading off on an away mission with a trio of new Starfleet cadets at the recently-reopened Starfleet Academy. It ended with her deciding to take up a permanent teaching post at Starfleet Academy and departing the USS Discovery – although she would reappear in the season finale.
Tilly’s departure.
All Is Possible definitely feels like a backdoor pilot, although the attention wasn’t on Tilly and the cadets all of the time. Tilly’s presence would connect the series to Discovery in a major way, and there’d be the possibility of crossover episodes with both shows set in the same 32nd Century time period. A Starfleet Academy show could also feature David Cronenberg’s character of Dr Kovich – a somewhat mysterious character who I still can’t figure out!
Alternatively, a Starfleet Academy series could ignore the 32nd Century and instead be set in the 25th. This version of the series could feature characters like Raffi and Elnor – the latter of whom is a cadet, and who was resurrected at the last minute in a sequence in the Season 2 finale that feels seriously underwhelming right now. Perhaps Elnor’s survival could be given new meaning and purpose if he were to be a major character in a Starfleet Academy series.
Cadet Elnor.
As a series concept, Starfleet Academy has been around the longest! While The Original Series was still in production in the 1960s, Gene Roddenberry came up with the idea of a show that would have focused on young Kirk and Spock during their Academy days – something we eventually saw (albeit in an alternate timeline) in 2009’s Star Trek reboot film.
I feel like a Starfleet Academy series could be a strong addition to the franchise. Not only would it be something different, but it could also be a great first contact for younger viewers – and perhaps even a second port of call for those who’ve recently become fans of Prodigy, too – as they find their way into the Star Trek fandom. Having several cadets as major characters would mean younger viewers could find this iteration of Star Trek easier to relate to and get started with, and that can only be a positive thing. I took a longer look at the Starfleet Academy concept last year, and you can find that article by clicking or tapping here.
Series #5: Enterprise Season 5/The Earth-Romulan War
The NX-01 Enterprise and two Romulan vessels.
This one is a bit more speculative, but I’m not the only one to wonder if there may be an attempt to bring back the 22nd Century in the near future. Calling this one “Enterprise Season 5″ might be a bit of a stretch, but any 22nd Century project could bring back at least some of the characters from that series for another adventure.
Prior to its cancellation in 2005, there were plans being drawn up for a fifth season of Enterprise. According to one of the show’s producers, if it had gone ahead Season 5 would’ve shown more of the origins of the Federation, and particularly the Earth-Romulan War that was first referenced in The Original Series. That could be the starting point for a revived Enterprise or a new 22nd Century series.
The Earth-Romulan War was established in The Original Series Season 1 episode Balance of Terror.
The Earth-Romulan War is a major event in Federation history, one that pushed the founding members of the Federation closer together. It was also a devastating conflict in its own right, and a series focusing on the war could have echoes of Deep Space Nine’s Dominion War arc. Star Trek can do war stories incredibly well – as we’ve seen in episodes of Discovery and Strange New Worlds just in the last couple of years – so this could be a great fit for an expanding franchise.
Any franchise has to be careful about coming across as too backwards-looking and introspective if it dives deeply into chapters of its own lore and backstory, but I think there’s space as Star Trek continues its renaissance to potentially step back to the time of the Earth-Romulan War. I know a lot of fans would happily welcome back Captain Archer or any other members of the Enterprise crew, so this project could be a real “love letter to the fans.”
The NX-01 Enterprise.
There were a number of factors that led to Enterprise’s cancellation in 2005, and although it was sad at the time, in many ways the Star Trek franchise needed a break and a reset. But maybe the time is right to bring back some of the characters and stories that had been conceived for unproduced seasons of Enterprise now that the franchise is back on solid ground.
There are definitely arguments to be made against establishing yet another different time period for Star Trek, as the franchise can already feel overcomplicated, especially for newcomers. But there are points in favour of returning to the 22nd Century, too, particularly if a series had a relatively tight focus on something like the Earth-Romulan War.
Series #6: Captain Worf
Worf on a promo poster for Picard Season 3.
Along with most of the rest of the main crew members from The Next Generation, Worf will be returning in Season 3 of Picard next year. It’s no secret that actor Michael Dorn has been talking up his own “Captain Worf” idea for the better part of a decade, and with the casting announcements for Picard, part of me has been wondering if that show’s final season might lead into a Worf spin-off.
As the character with the most Star Trek appearances to date – 274, in case you were wondering – we’ve spent a lot of time with Worf already! We’ve seen our favourite Klingon wrangle with his heritage and his duty to Starfleet, gain promotions, establish friendships with two different casts of characters, become a father, get married, become a widower, and much more besides. Is there room for another chapter in Worf’s life after the events of Deep Space Nine? I still think that’s an open question!
Is there room for new Worf-focused stories?
This one really depends on how Picard Season 3 goes down. Executive producer Terry Matalas has described Picard Season 3 as being a “send-off” for the crew of The Next Generation, presumably including Worf, and that sounds pretty definitive and final. We may see some characters killed off as the season goes on, especially if Picard and the crew are facing off against some kind of galaxy-ending threat. Even if Worf survives, it’s possible that all of the characters’ stories will come to a conclusive end, and if that’s the case there may be no room – and no need – for a Captain Worf series.
But it’s also possible that Picard Season 3 will be testing the waters to see whether certain spin-off ideas are viable. We’ve already considered the possibility of a Seven of Nine and Raffi series, and that’s one possibility. But maybe there’s a chance that, if fans respond incredibly positively to Worf in his new role, he could finally take the lead in his own series.
Worf as he appeared in Season 1 of The Next Generation.
For me, I feel that Worf in a leading role is an untested idea, and one that may not work. Although there are nuances in Worf’s characterisation, many episodes of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine played up his Klingon traits, and while I’d never call him something like “flat” or “one-dimensional,” there’s definitely a case to be made that a character like Worf works best in a supporting role rather than a leading one.
But we can reserve judgement on that until we see what role has been created for Worf in Season 3 of Picard. Maybe he’ll get a fantastic ending to his decades-long story, one that feels conclusive and satisfying, rounding out his arc and tying up loose ends from both The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. But maybe, just maybe, he’ll establish himself as the next character deserving of a spin-off project.
So that’s it!
Where will Star Trek go next?
Paramount (and subsidiary CBS Studios) has trademarked other names associated with the Star Trek brand that may be connected with shows or films that are currently in development, but it’s very difficult to know what to make of some of them! Vague titles like Star Trek: Destiny, Star Trek: Revolution, or Star Trek: Reliant have all been trademarked over the past few years – though several of these have now lapsed and haven’t been renewed. It isn’t clear whether any or all of these names were even intended to be used for films and television shows, or whether they were meant for merchandise and other projects. The interesting-sounding Star Trek Continuum trademark, for example, isn’t connected with a film or TV show at all, but is instead an official line of awful-looking NFTs.
For now at least, these are the Star Trek projects that seem to be the most likely based on what we’ve heard through official and unofficial channels. It’s definitely possible that work is ongoing in secret to develop some completely different Star Trek projects that we can’t predict at the moment, but in terms of what may be announced in the weeks or months ahead, the projects we’ve talked about today feel the most likely.
Next month’s Star Trek Day could be the venue for a big announcement…
Although trademarks exist for Ceti Alpha V and Starfleet Academy, if it were up to me I’d pick a 25th Century series to fill the hole that will be left when Picard finishes its run. Lower Decks and Prodigy will still be representing the late 24th Century, but I think it’ll feel like something’s not right if the 25th Century that Picard has only just begun to explore is abandoned with that show’s conclusion. Not only because we won’t get to carry on the journey, but because that era feels like the natural next step for a franchise that found so much success in the 1990s with shows set in the 24th Century.
But we’ll have to wait and see what the creative team at Paramount has in store! I think it’s possible – but by no means guaranteed – that an announcement could come as soon as next month. The Star Trek Day live broadcast has promised “announcements, reveals, and surprises” in its official press release, and the inclusion of certain actors – such as Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd – could hint at something big to come.
I hope this has been a bit of fun! I tried to steer clear of baseless rumours and fan-fantasies to focus instead on concepts and pitches that are known to exist and that seem plausible. But we’ll have to wait and see whether any of them are really going to happen!
The Star Trek franchise – including all properties (and potential 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the Star Trek franchise, including recent seasons of Picard, Discovery, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds.
The 8th of September is Star Trek Day! On that date in 1966, The Original Series premiered in the United States with the episode The Man Trap, kick-starting a franchise that’s still going strong fifty-six years later. Last year, Paramount organised a major broadcast to mark the occasion, hosted by Wil Wheaton (The Next Generation’s Wesley Crusher and host of The Ready Room) and Mica Burton (daughter of Geordi La Forge actor LeVar Burton). It was a fun event – albeit one that probably went on a little too long – that celebrated all things Star Trek. With Star Trek Day coming back this year, I wanted to look ahead to the event and consider what we might see when it arrives in just under three weeks’ time.
My usual caveat for these sort of things applies: I have no “insider information,” and I’m not trying to claim that anything discussed below will definitely be included in this year’s Star Trek Day broadcast. This is speculation from a fan – and an opportunity to talk Trek – and nothing more! With that out of the way, let’s get started!
George Takei at last year’s Star Trek Day.
First of all, I think it’s worth talking about some of the big announcements we’ve seen over the past few months, because Paramount hasn’t been shy when it comes to making headlines for the Star Trek franchise. We’ve had major announcements about Picard Season 3, including who will be part of – and excluded from – the main cast, we’ve seen trailers, clips, and teasers for Lower Decks, which will be a couple of episodes into its third season by Star Trek day, we’ve had plenty of news about Strange New Worlds Season 2 – including the surprising return of a fan-favourite character… and much more besides. Events like last month’s Comic-Con saw big panels featuring main cast members and major announcements, like the Strange New Worlds crossover with Lower Decks.
In short, I’m not so sure that we should expect a glut of trailers and teaser clips and a plethora of massive announcements! Paramount could’ve saved things like the Picard Season 3 teaser and posters that were shown off at Comic-Con for Star Trek Day, but in a way it makes sense to use an event like that – where all eyes are on the world of entertainment – to make waves and show off Star Trek’s renaissance. Star Trek Day itself, at least based on what we saw last year, is more of a celebration for Trekkies and the Star Trek community.
Star Trek already dropped some big announcements at Comic-Con just last month.
But that doesn’t mean there won’t be anything of substance, and the official press release for Star Trek Day promised announcements, reveals, and surprises! With Season 3 being Picard’s last, and principal photography already having been completed, I can’t help but wonder whether we might get an announcement of what could replace it in the lineup. When Picard disappears from the schedule next year, there will be a gap – and as Alex Kurtzman (head honcho of Star Trek for Paramount) has previously told us, there won’t be any new Star Trek until one of the current shows has ended its run. Well, something’s going to have to fill the Picard hole in late 2023 or 2024… so could the announcement of a new project be imminent?
I note that the official press release for Star Trek Day specifically mentioned that Michelle Hurd (Raffi) and Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) will be present to talk about Picard. I know I’m not the only one who’s talked up the possibility of a “Seven and Raffi Show” as a spin-off from Picard, so it’s interesting that these two actors will be present together at Star Trek Day. Sure, they could just be there to talk about Picard Season 3… but maybe, just maybe, there’s more to it than that!
Seven of Nine and Raffi in Picard Season 2.
There are at least two unannounced Star Trek projects in the works at Paramount, again according to Alex Kurtzman. I don’t think we’d get two massive announcements like that at Star Trek Day, and if I had to put my money anywhere I’d say that a Picard spin-off or at least another show set in that same 25th Century era is the most likely. But you never know! There are rumours of a Khan-focused project and a Starfleet Academy series, the latter of which may (or may not) be a Discovery spin-off set in the 32nd Century with Mary Wiseman reprising her role as Lieutenant Tilly.
Does the untitled Section 31 series still count as having been “announced,” given that there’s been no official news for almost four years at this point? We could finally hear something about that project, too, I suppose. But I’m not holding my breath on that one.
So there are a few different possibilities for a major announcement. A brand-new series would be a heck of a way to celebrate Star Trek Day, especially if the announcement came along with things like concept art or maybe even casting information.
Are we going to get an announcement about… Khaaaaaaaan?!
The other big project that’s currently up in the air is the untitled feature film Star Trek 2023. As we recently discussed, I seriously doubt whether the film will make its intended December 2023 release date given that most of the main Kelvin timeline cast don’t appear to be on board yet, but Star Trek Day could surprise us with some more information about the project.
So those are the potential projects that I think we could hear something about. As I said, my money would be on some kind of 25th Century Picard replacement if you forced me to make a bet… but there are definitely cases to be made to hear something about a Starfleet Academy series or perhaps a some kind of Khan project, too.
The new USS Stargazer.
This year’s Star Trek Day will be hosted by Tawny Newsome (Ensign Mariner on Lower Decks) and Paul F. Tompkins (Dr Migleemo on Lower Decks) who co-host The Pod Directive, Star Trek’s official podcast. I’m sure they’ll make a great presenting duo – though part of me feels a little sad that Wil Wheaton won’t be on hosting duties. His energy and passion for Star Trek really elevated last year’s event.
I’m curious to see what may be teased about Discovery Season 5. Filming is currently underway in Toronto, and a behind-the-scenes tour hosted by Wilson Cruz (Dr Culber) promises appearances by some of the cast members and a look at new sets. I’m not sure when Discovery’s fifth season will make its debut; it seems right now as if Picard and Strange New Worlds will be ready first, even though Discovery Season 4 wrapped up back in March, so we could see one or both of those arrive before Season 5 is ready. Still, it’ll be neat to catch a glimpse behind the curtain – and maybe there’ll even be a teaser of some kind!
Dr Culber in Discovery Season 4.
We’re edging closer to the first anniversary of Prodigy’s premiere, and we’ve been promised a second batch of ten episodes to round out that show’s first season before the end of this year. With a Prodigy panel on the agenda for Star Trek Day, I have to assume we’ll get some more details about those episodes – hopefully including a premiere date. If I had to guess, I’d say that the second half of Season 1 could directly follow on from Lower Decks, which could mean a premiere date in late October or early November.
Prodigy has not been particularly well-supported by Paramount, in my view, at least not so far. Splitting up its first batch of episodes into chunks of four and five respectively with a long gap in between is not a great way for a new series to gain traction – especially with its young target audience. There’s also a lack of toys and tie-in products, and while there are plans in place to address that, at time of writing none of those items are available for purchase. Paramount has a lot of work to do to really sell Prodigy – and I really hope they get on with it, because it’s a unique project within the Star Trek franchise and one that could turn a whole generation of kids into Trekkies if handled better.
We’ll hear something about Prodigy at Star Trek Day.
Either Lower Decks or Strange New Worlds stars could go into more detail about the upcoming crossover, and although it’s still early days we could get some kind of teaser for Strange New Worlds’ upcoming second season. I don’t expect to see any clips from the crossover at Star Trek Day – that’s just a hunch, of course, but something tells me it’ll be kept under wraps until much closer to the episode’s premiere. But we could learn more about Season 2, including whether any new cast members will be coming on board. There’s at least one and perhaps two spots open if the producers wanted to make additions, although I hope they don’t go overboard and try to cram in too many new characters – especially not characters from The Original Series.
Season 1 managed to strike a good balance between legacy and new characters, and I’d hope that would continue in Season 2. There must be a temptation to add characters like Scotty, for example, in engineering, but I hope that the show’s writers can resist – at least for now. There may be scope to bring in more legacy characters in later seasons, but for now I’d like to spend more time with some of the newbies who we’re just getting to know.
Behind-the-scenes with Captain Pike and the Enterprise bridge crew.
There’s also a decent chance, in my view, that we’ll hear about a Season 3 renewal for Strange New Worlds. Season 2 has already finished its main production phase, and with Discovery Season 5 well underway, it’s definitely time for those conversations to be happening behind-the-scenes. It seems utterly unfathomable to me that there won’t be a third season (and a fourth…) given how well Season 1 was received. Pre-production may be already happening, so it wouldn’t shock me at all to get a formal announcement at Star Trek Day.
In a similar vein there could be announcements for a fifth season of Lower Decks, a third for Prodigy, and perhaps even a sixth for Discovery – though the latter may be premature at this stage. As Discovery has been running since 2017 (and in production since 2016), it’s not an absolute certainty that we’ll get more after Season 5, but at the same time the 32nd Century feels like a really interesting setting to spend more time in, so I’m hopeful that there’ll be more to come from Captain Burnham and the crew.
Captain Burnham in Discovery Season 4.
So those are my main thoughts/predictions. I’m also looking forward to some of the other events that will be part of the live broadcast, including a tribute to Nichelle Nichols, as well as a couple of fan-focused events, some music, and even some stand-up comedy. Star Trek Day’s stated runtime is two hours, and that feels about right for something like this. As mentioned, last year’s event may have dragged just a little – at least for me – so it seems as though some lessons may have been learned from that. But as they say, live events have the potential to take unexpected turns, so I won’t be shocked if Star Trek Day ends up running a little over that time limit!
I guess that’s about all there is to say. I’m glad Paramount is doing this, and I’m glad the event will be free to stream on the official Star Trek website instead of being locked behind a Paramount+ paywall. It’s a nice way to celebrate all things Star Trek, and even if there are no massive announcements about brand-new shows or films, I still think it’ll be a fun time. There’ll be glimpses behind-the-scenes, chats with cast members, and hopefully a lot of positivity and excitement about the Star Trek franchise.
I’m looking forward to Star Trek Day, and when the event is over I’ll be sure to share my thoughts on the broadcast, as well as perhaps take a longer look at any major trailers, teasers, or announcements. Stay tuned here on the website in the next few days because I have a list of a few potential upcoming Star Trek projects currently in the works – and who knows, we may hear about some of those at Star Trek Day!
Star Trek Day will be live-streamed on the official Star Trek website and social media channels on the 8th of September 2022 beginning at 3:00pm Eastern Standard Time/8:00pm British Summer Time. The Star Trek franchise – including all shows and 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.
Spoiler Warning: Minor spoilers are present for Star Trek 2009, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek Beyond, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
It’s been a while since we last talked about the currently-untitled Star Trek 2023. The most recent official news we got came back in February of this year, when it was announced that the film would involve a return to the Kelvin timeline that had been established by 2009’s J.J. Abrams-directed Star Trek reboot. Since then there’s been very little official news from Paramount – and some of the unofficial news and soundings from some of the actors supposedly involved with the title have been very strange indeed for a film that’s supposedly been greenlit.
Several members of the Kelvin timeline cast – including Karl Urban, who plays Dr McCoy, and Chris Pine, who plays Captain Kirk – have given cryptic, non-commital statements when asked about the film, and it seems as if Paramount may have jumped the gun and announced Star Trek 2023 before everything was officially in place and ready. That’s certainly the impression I’ve been getting.
Spock, Kirk, and Dr McCoy in Star Trek Beyond.
Making a film is complicated, and I think it’s imporant to stress that. It takes a lot of effort to get contracts in place, to agree the division of profits, to line up the schedules of actors and directors, and to cover all of the legal, contractual, and economic bases – and that’s before anyone can begin rehearsing and learning their lines, let alone be on set ready to get started. There’s a reason why so many people are named in the end credits of a film; many of those jobs begin years before production gets underway.
One thing that we can say for near-certain is that, as of August 2022, Paramount doesn’t have all of the main Kelvin timeline actors signed on to Star Trek 2023. For a film with a preliminary premiere date of December 2023, that’s not good – and it almost certainly means, at a bare minimum, that we shouldn’t expect the new film to make that deadline. Perhaps we’d better start calling it Star Trek 2024… or more realistically, Star Trek 2025.
When can we expect to see Star Trek 2023?
Then there’s the question of a script. Last year we got two announcements about a new Star Trek film being written: one by Discovery and Short Treks writer/producer Kalinda Vazquez, and another by Geneva Robertson-Dworet (who co-wrote the scripts for Captain Marvel and 2018’s Tomb Raider) and Lindsey Beer. It wasn’t clear, following the second announcement, whether that meant the Vazquez project is not progressing, whether two Star Trek films may be in early production, or what exactly is going on.
It isn’t unusual for a big film studio to commission scripts, change their minds, and go in a different direction. The film industry can be brutal like that, so we can’t really infer much from the fact that two different scripts appear to have been commissioned – nor that their announcements came within weeks of one another. But the script situation certainly doesn’t help clear things up!
One of the earliest promotional images/posters for 2009’s Star Trek.
At this point, though, we should be seeing some progress on whichever project ultimately became Star Trek 2023. We’re less than eighteen months away from the film’s currently-scheduled premiere – at which point all three previous Kelvin timeline films were already shooting. 2009’s Star Trek took 141 days of filming (not including reshoots and pick-up shots) between November 2007 and March 2008, and the film wasn’t ready until May 2009.
While I could entertain the notion that Star Trek 2023 is working to a tighter schedule – not unlike some past entries in the cinematic franchise, such as Generations in 1994 – even then we’d expect to have heard a lot more positive noises about the film’s pre-production. At the very least I’d have expected all of the principal cast members to have confirmed that they’re signed on to the project, even if other aspects of production are still up in the air.
Star Trek: Generations had a relatively short production schedule.
As recently as last month (July 2022), Kirk actor Chris Pine said the following about reprising his role: “If it happens, I think all of us would come back.” That doesn’t exactly sound like someone who’s signed a contract – or is even getting ready to sign one. That sounds speculative, hypothetical, and it’s not the only comment from a Kelvin timeline star that raises concerns.
“As soon as they can figure out our moment we can we could all be together, I’m sure we’ll do it.” So said Scotty actor Simon Pegg in June of this year, and a month earlier in May, Dr McCoy actor Karl Urban said “I have heard that it is happening, but I’ve been hearing that for the last three years… All I know is they are developing it, they’re writing a script…” From these comments, it sounds like neither has signed on to the project officially.
Montgomery Scott actor and Star Trek Beyond writer Simon Pegg. Photo Credit: Sean Reynolds from Liverpool, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
While none of the actors have ruled out working on Star Trek 2023, it’s significant at this stage that none of them have committed to it, either. According to some reports, earlier attempts to get the film made in the immediate aftermath of Star Trek Beyond in 2016 were hampered by financial issues, and actors and their agents have a history of using public statements as part of salary negotiations. Perhaps that could account for some of what’s been said – but again, that means the film is clearly at a very early stage with no guarantees of going ahead.
If we were to see Star Trek 2023 arrive on time in December next year, realistically the film should be on the verge of beginning principal photography. That would mean not only would the script be finished but sets would have been built, outdoor filming locations secured, costumes sewn, and all of the actors would need to have cleared their schedules and be ready to go. The fact that we’re still hearing comments from members of the cast that seem to confirm that they haven’t made any significant commitments or made space in their schedules tells me that the film is nowhere near that stage – and that means that its December 2023 release date feels completely unrealistic.
A scene being shot for 2009’s Star Trek.
I have to be honest: if I’d been in charge of the Star Trek franchise for Paramount, I wouldn’t have greenlit this project. Don’t get me wrong, I wish it well and I hope it succeeds both as a fun Star Trek story and as a film that turns a tidy profit and brings new audiences to the franchise. But with so much other Star Trek on our screens from Prodigy to Strange New Worlds and beyond… I can’t help but feel that the money thrown at this project could be better-spent.
The Kelvin films were undoubtedly what Star Trek needed in 2009, not only rebooting the franchise but showing that there was still life in it. We would never have got Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, and the rest of modern Trek without the Kelvin films’ success on the big screen. So in that sense I thank them for carrying the torch and paving the way for the current renaissance that Star Trek is enjoying.
With Strange New Worlds doing phenomenally well, it feels like there’s less of a place for the Kelvin timeline.
But as I’ve argued before on more than one occasion, there are drawbacks to a new Kelvin timeline project. A new film set in the alternate reality risks overcomplicating what can be an already convoluted franchise, with different projects occupying different time periods and timelines. The unique premise of the films also no longer exists, taking a look at “young” Kirk and Spock in their Academy days and youth. And with Strange New Worlds coming online – and blowing up to become the most-watched Star Trek show on Paramount+ in the United States – there’s a real risk that a new Kelvin film would retread too much ground with many of the same characters also appearing in that series.
So if Star Trek 2023 is faltering, could it be for the best? Aside from the fact that Star Trek Beyond seemed to tease a sequel, is there really a pressing need to revisit this alternate timeline right now? With so much else happening in the Star Trek franchise, I think I’m inclined to say “no.”
The end of Beyond definitely teased a sequel.
I will always support Star Trek as best I can, and I always feel that more Star Trek is good news! If Star Trek 2023 manages to get off the ground, I’ll wish it all the best and do what I can on my small corner of the internet to get hyped up for it. But at the same time, I wouldn’t be devastated to learn that it isn’t going to happen. With so much other Star Trek on our screens, I just don’t feel that another Kelvin film is a necessary addition to the franchise’s current and upcoming lineup. And with Strange New Worlds in particular including characters like Spock, Uhura, and even Captain Kirk, there’s a danger that it could feel underwhelming, as if the two projects are stumbling over one another without offering anything new to say about these characters.
There’s definitely room in the Star Trek franchise for a new film or two – whether they get a full cinematic release or end up going straight to Paramount+. But maybe it would be better if Paramount redirected its efforts into new projects, or perhaps a film based on Discovery, rather than pressing ahead with this new Kelvin timeline project. If things seemed to be going smoothly I guess I wouldn’t be thinking that way, but if the film is already struggling and looks set not to make its intended release date, maybe that’s a sign that it isn’t meant to be.
Regardless, I’ll keep my ear to the ground! If there’s more news about Star Trek 2023 in the weeks and months ahead, I’ll do my best to cover it here on the website.
Star Trek 2023 is currently scheduled to premiere on the 22nd of December 2023. The Star Trek franchise – including all films and series 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.
What can be said about Nichelle Nichols that hasn’t already been said over the last few days? Her loss is felt profoundly by the entire Star Trek fan community – a rare moment of togetherness in what can be a divided fandom at times. But beyond that, news of her passing has resonated across the world of entertainment and beyond. She was a unique person, someone whose influence and hard work may not have been centre-stage for everybody, but whose tireless commitment to the causes she supported – and to fans of Star Trek – will never be forgotten.
At a time when the United States was still in the process of outlawing racial segregation, Nichelle Nichols became an icon for the civil rights movement. The character of Uhura took her place on the bridge of the USS Enterprise not as a servant or a maid, not as a subordinate, but as an equal member of the crew; an officer with the respect of her shipmates. Such roles were incredibly rare on American television at that time, and the statement made by Uhura’s presence on Star Trek was one of racial equality and hope for the future.
Nichelle Nichols, 1932—2022.
There’s a frequently-cited story that it was Martin Luther King who convinced Nichelle Nichols to remain on Star Trek when she considered leaving to return to the stage after the show’s first season. Star Trek, according to King, was one of the few shows he allowed his children to watch – and Uhura’s role was the reason why.
Star Trek told morality tales and gave commentary on contemporary issues of race and civil rights across its three seasons, and Uhura was a powerful presence in many of those stories. Nichelle Nichols brought the character to life with a quiet, understated charm, and quickly became an irreplaceable part of Star Trek.
Nichelle Nichols as Uhura in The Undiscovered Country, 1991.
While we as Trekkies might remember Nichelle Nichols from her role as Uhura, her legacy extends far, far beyond the Star Trek franchise – and even beyond the realm of entertainment itself. Beginning in the 1970s, she worked with NASA to help drive the recruitment of new, younger astronauts from diverse backgrounds. The first African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic-Americans to travel into space joined the space programme as part of Nichelle Nichols’ initiative. She quite literally changed the face of NASA and diversified space exploration.
The documentary Woman in Motion goes into detail about Nichols’ work with NASA, and if you haven’t seen it it’s well worth a watch. I love a good documentary, and Woman in Motion presents her story in an understandable way. I have to be honest and say that I didn’t know much about her involvement with NASA prior to watching Woman in Motion, but it’s a story that absolutely should be told – and I’m glad it was able to be told before Nichelle Nichols passed away.
Nichelle Nichols on the Woman in Motion poster.
Over the past few days we’ve seen an outpouring of grief and remembrance from Nichelle Nichols’ Star Trek co-stars, actors and creatives in the Star Trek franchise, many others from the world of entertainment, and countless people who felt inspired by her. Many people have shared their own stories of what it meant to see Uhura on the bridge of the Enterprise, how Nichelle Nichols inspired them to get started in their chosen career, or the words of advice she had from those lucky enough to have met her in person.
For one person to have such an impact and leave such a legacy is phenomenal, and the thousands upon thousands of tributes that we’ve seen are just a small fraction of the lives that Nichelle Nichols touched in one way or another. Those lives were changed not because she played a role on Star Trek, but because of what she did with that role, that fame, and the spotlight that was placed upon her. Other actors could’ve happily taken their pay and done nothing more – and there’s nothing wrong with that at all – but Nichelle Nichols went the extra mile. She recognised what her role meant to millions of people across the United States and around the world, and she did everything that she could to make it matter. That’s why it’s been so hard to know what to say, and why her loss hits so profoundly. She wasn’t just another performer – she was so much more than that to so many people.
Nichelle Nichols with Star Trek: Discovery’s Sonequa Martin-Green.
We’ve been lucky to have Nichelle Nichols with us for as long as she was. It was only in her final couple of years that she began slowing down her activities; she attended her final Star Trek convention less than a year ago. In all of that time she offered to fans and everyone else the kind of boundless, unbridled optimism that defines Star Trek itself: always smiling, always happy to be seen with fans, co-stars, and new actors alike.
I’m going to miss Nichelle Nichols. I’ll miss hearing about her appearances at conventions and the interactions she had with fellow fans and friends of mine within the Star Trek fan community. I’ll miss the stories she could tell about working on the show and its films. And I’ll miss seeing her with the likes of Sonequa Martin-Green, Zoe Saldaña, and Celia Rose Gooding. The comfort I take is that she lived a full life, one in which she put her talents to good use both on-screen and off. She leaves behind a legacy most people could only imagine, and her impact on the worlds of Star Trek, entertainment, and even space exploration itself will outlive her, continuing long into the future.
Some images used above courtesy of Star Trek/Paramount Global. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Lower Decks Seasons 1-2 and the following Star Trek productions: The Original Series Season 2, The Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine Season 3.
With Lower Decks’ third season fast approaching, I wanted to write up a theory that I’ve had kicking around since the second episode of Season 2. Lower Decks’ episodic nature hasn’t lent itself to a ton of theory-crafting so far – although I do have at least one more in the pipeline, so stay tuned for that! – but this one feels plausible; it’s the kind of narrative choice that I could see the show’s writers making.
First of all, let’s briefly recap what happened to Ensign Boimler from the end of Season 1 to the beginning of Season 2. After impressing Captain Riker, Boimler took a transfer to the USS Titan at the very end of Season 1, leaving Mariner and the Cerritos behind and being promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Boimler would serve under Captain Riker for a short while, and one of the Titan’s assignments at this time involved following up with the newly-aggressive Pakleds.
Boimler got a transfer at the end of Season 1.
Lieutenant Boimler was assigned to an away mission to the planet Karzill IV as part of this assignment, and after getting caught in a firefight he was able to save the day and allow the rest of the team to make it back to the Titan. However, as this mission drew to a close a transporter accident created a duplicate – or clone – of Boimler, resulting in two identical Lieutenant Boimlers, indistinguishable from one another.
For seemingly arbitrary reasons, Starfleet decided that only one Boimler could remain aboard the Titan, and the other would have to take a demotion back to the rank of ensign and return to the Cerritos. After one Boimler returned to the Cerritos we’ve followed his actions, and the second Boimler hasn’t been mentioned since. But could that be about to change?
Boimler betrayed!
Although we were told that the two Boimlers were indistinguishable from one another – totally identical – the second Boimler, the one who remained aboard the Titan, seemed much more outgoing than the Boimler we’ve gotten to know. Not only that, but he seemed more than a little devious in tricking “our” Boimler to return to the Cerritos so that he could continue on the Titan and advance his career. Could we be looking at the beginnings of an “evil twin” (or “evil clone,” I guess) storyline?
It wouldn’t be the first time that such a story has appeared in Star Trek! Going all the way back to The Original Series we had stories like The Enemy Within that split Captain Kirk into two distinct personalities, one “good” and one “evil.” And of course there’s the classic Mirror, Mirror that showed our heroes’ evil alternate universe counterparts.
Two Captain Kirks!
The Next Generation followed this up by creating Data’s own “evil twin” – Lore. Lore would tangle with the crew of the Enterprise-D on more than one occasion, doing things like allying with the Crystalline Entity and raising an army of abandoned ex-Borg, as well as trying to corrupt Data and sway him to his cause.
Most significantly we have Thomas Riker, the first transporter duplicate in Star Trek and whose character clearly inspired the Boimler storyline in Kayshon, His Eyes Open. Not only was Thomas difficult to work with for William Riker after being rediscovered, but he would go on to rebel against Starfleet, join the Maquis, and even steal the USS Defiant from Deep Space Nine.
Thomas Riker.
Lower Decks has brought back a lot of Star Trek tropes and story beats, and many of them have been used for one-off gags or as cute callbacks to past events. It can be difficult to tell whether there’s some deeper meaning to the whole transporter duplicate story because of that. In the episode Kayshon, His Eyes Open it worked well as a surprising twist, a way to kick Boimler back to the Cerritos, and as a cute wink to fans of The Next Generation, especially considering Riker himself was present. The storyline could end there with Boimler’s twin never being mentioned again.
But at the same time, Lower Decks has used some of these classic Star Trek moments and story beats to set up longer arcs, or returned to them later. There’s a symmetry to some of the show’s episodes and storylines, too. The way the Cerritos saved the USS Archimedes in the Season 2 finale after having to be saved in the Season 1 finale is one of the best examples of this – and we could also point to the Pakled storyline itself as an unfolding multi-episode arc.
Captain Riker and the Boimlers.
I think we’ve laid out how it’s at least possible that there could be something more going on with the transporter clone and looked at previous examples of “evil twin” tropes in Star Trek. So that answers the question of “could it happen?” quite nicely – but that’s really just the beginning.
The matter at the heart of this theory is what direction such a story would take, how it could potentially impact (our) Boimler, and what it could do for the series as a whole.
If we look back to episodes like Datalore or Second Chances, I think it’s not unfair to say that those storylines didn’t go on to have a lasting effect. The creation of twins, clones, and duplicates hasn’t actually come to matter in a significant, ongoing way for any Star Trek character so far. Even when those twins made repeat appearances their stories tended to be confined to a single episode – or perhaps a two-parter.
Lore.
It was never really explained in any detail what impact Thomas’ emergence had on William Riker after the events of Second Chances. Even when Thomas returned in Deep Space Nine’s third season episode Defiant, the story unfolded from his perspective without any input from his doppelgänger.
Data’s conflict with Lore is perhaps the biggest of these storylines, with Lore being mentioned a handful of times outside of his main appearances. But because of Data’s nature, he wasn’t as emotionally impacted by Lore’s behaviour as other characters in a similar situation might’ve been. Data even expressed confusion in Second Chances as to the nature of the dispute between Will and Thomas Riker!
Thomas Riker in Defiant.
Although Lower Decks has been largely episodic, we’ve still seen some impressive character work across its first two seasons. The way Ensign Mariner in particular has grown into her role and come to resolve some of her issues with her mother, her friendships, and her position in Starfleet has been wonderful to see – and it’s this more serialised approach to characterisation (a hallmark of modern television storytelling) that could make an “evil Boimler” storyline different to what we’ve seen before in Star Trek.
Boimler’s issues with his transporter duplicate could have an impact on him that extends beyond a single episode – and that could take his character on a journey. Beginning with the sense of betrayal he surely felt at the duplicate’s duplicity aboard the Titan, Boimler could begin to forgive him, only to discover he’s up to no good. He could find it difficult to convince his friends at first, before showing them irrefutable proof of the clone’s misdeeds. And the whole experience of having to face off against someone who literally knows him inside and out and has shared every experience he ever had could both challenge and change him.
Boimler in Season 2’s We’ll Always Have Tom Paris.
We could see a more confident Boimler emerge from under such a storyline – but someone whose friendships have been pushed and stretched before eventually settling. Or we could see Boimler begin to second-guess himself; if the “evil” clone was Boimler himself, perhaps he’d wonder if being “evil” is part of his own nature, and that could cause him to freeze or find it hard to make decisions.
In short, there are a lot of ways that such a story could go – but almost all of them would be good for Boimler’s characterisation in the long run. We’d get a fun episode with the evil twin that could harken back to the likes of The Enemy Within, Mirror, Mirror, Datalore, and others – but the impact of that episode could reverberate across an entire season, giving Boimler a character arc that could be very satisfying to see unfold.
Are we in for some Boimler-on-Boimler action?
So that’s it for now! The theory is that Boimler’s transporter duplicate will – in classic Star Trek tradition – turn out to be evil!
For the reasons laid out above, I think such a story could be fun and interesting. Moreover, I like the idea of the fallout from Boimler’s conflict with his “evil twin” not being confined to a single episode and potentially setting him on a season-long arc as he processes what happened and what it means for himself and his friends. Going down that road could feel deeply cathartic – with Boimler filling in for other Star Trek characters in similar situations who never got the chance to deal with the longer-term implications of what they went through!
I hope this was a bit of fun. Please keep in mind that I have no “insider information” and I’m not trying to claim that any of this will happen in Lower Decks either imminently or in Season 4. I just think it’s a fun concept, and while all the pieces seem to be in place for such a story, it could be that the transporter duplicate will (in the best tradition of Star Trek) never be mentioned again!
Star Trek: Lower Decks Seasons 1-2 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States and on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and around the world. Season 3 will premiere on the 25th/26th of August 2022. The Star Trek franchise – including Lower Decks and all other properties mentioned 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the following Star Trek productions: The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Enterprise, and Discovery. Minor spoilers are also present for Strange New Worlds Season 1.
Strange New Worlds was absolutely fantastic across its first season, hitting ten for ten and leaving me – and many other Trekkies – clamouring for more! This time, I thought it could be fun to put together a list of a few episode concepts that I would love to see in future seasons of the show as Captain Pike’s adventures aboard the Enterprise continue!
There are so many different alien races, stellar phenomena, factions, puzzles, and more from past iterations of Star Trek that I’d love to see a new and different take on that one list may not be enough! While we do have to keep in mind that Strange New Worlds takes place before the events of The Original Series – and thus the vast majority of Star Trek stories – there’s still plenty of room for writers, creators, and fans like us to play around in the vast sandbox that is the Star Trek franchise!
Captain Pike and his bridge crew.
So the obvious caveat here is that I have no “insider information.” I’m not trying to claim that any of the story pitches below will ever make it to screen; I just think they’re neat ideas that I personally would like to see. And as I always say, everything here is entirely subjective! If you hate all of my ideas, or if I don’t include something that seems obvious to you, that’s okay! There’s plenty of room in the Star Trek fan community for respectful disagreement and civil conversations – and there’s absolutely no need to get upset about fan-made episode ideas that almost certainly won’t ever make it to the screen.
So with all of that out of the way, let’s jump into the list!
Pitch #1: Reintroduce the Xindi.
Two of the five different Xindi races.
Although a character supposedly representing the Xindi was briefly glimpsed in Discovery Season 4 last year, they’ve only appeared in a big way in Enterprise. The Xindi served as primary antagonists for much of the show’s serialised third season, and had been plotting to destroy Earth under the manipulation of time-traveling aliens. With Strange New Worlds being set a full century after those events, it would be great to catch up with the Xindi and see what came next for them.
As of the 26th Century, the Xindi were supposedly Federation members – so perhaps we could see moves in that direction. Maybe the Xindi have entered a period of isolation, and that could explain their total absence from Star Trek stories set in the 23rd and 24th Centuries – not that such an explanation would be strictly necessary.
Either way, I think it could be fun to bring back the Xindi for a one-off story, particularly one in which they aren’t just an antagonist.
Pitch #2: Save Captain Lorca!
Captain Gabriel Lorca.
This could be a great way not only to bring back an interesting character, but also to give at least some Strange New Worlds characters a chance to cross over to the Mirror Universe. At the end of Discovery Season 2, Captain Pike heavily implied that he was aware of the existence of the Mirror Universe, so that could be an interesting angle to work if a crossover were on the agenda.
In short, I don’t believe that crossing over to the Mirror Universe was the death sentence for Captain Lorca that other characters in Discovery Season 1 believed it to be. I think that someone with Lorca’s skills could have found a way to blend in and go into hiding, and if he could find a way to send a distress signal from the Mirror Universe that could lead to Captain Pike planning a rescue!
Captain Lorca was one of the highlights of Discovery’s first season, and it would be fun to get a look at the prime version of the character.
Pitch #3: Make first contact with a faction from The Next Generation era.
A Cardassian delegation.
Captains Picard, Sisko, and Janeway made plenty of first contacts during their respective missions in the 24th Century, but they also introduced us to a lot of factions that Starfleet had already met. We had, for instance, the Cardassians, the Lurians, and the Sheliak – all of whom were new to us as the audience, but not to the characters on the show.
So it could be fun to see a mission of first contact with an alien race like the Cardassians. Did first contact go well? Could there be some foreshadowing of events that will unfold in the 24th Century? How would Captain Pike deal with one of these races that we’ve seen before? I think it could be a neat concept, if done right, and one that would tie together different eras of Star Trek in a big way.
If I had to pick one race or faction for this episode, I’d pick the Cardassians.
Pitch #4: Bring back a main character from Enterprise.
The crew of Enterprise.
Another “crossover” idea, this episode would bring back one of Enterprise’s main characters for one last assignment. As we’ve seen from episodes like Relics, creative use of technobabble can be used to bring in basically any character, so I don’t think we can really rule anyone out! That being said, there is one character more than any other who could still be alive in this era and who could have a major role to play: T’Pol.
As the first Vulcan to work extensively with humans and Starfleet, T’Pol could have a lot of advice to give to this younger version of Spock. As Spock continues to wrangle with his human and Vulcan heritage, someone like T’Pol could step in to offer guidance. She could do this independently, or we could see her included as part of a Vulcan delegation that the Enterprise has to deliver.
It would be fascinating to learn what came next for the entire crew of the NX-01 Enterprise, but if I had to pick one character this time it would be T’Pol.
Pitch #5: Battle the Borg!
The first Borg drone ever seen in Star Trek.
I would absolutely love to see Captain Pike and the crew take on the Borg. I think this one would have to be set in some kind of Borg-dominated alternate reality, though, rather than being set in the prime timeline. Although Star Trek has made a huge mess of Borg-Federation contact, I’d still rather avoid treading on the toes of The Next Generation in that regard.
But it could be amazing to see the Enterprise crew having to figure out how to make it home safely while having to defend themselves against one of the most terrifying adversaries in all of Star Trek. Season 1 already showed us a great take on the horror genre – and bringing in the Borg could really succeed at ramping up the fear factor.
With the Borg having made relatively few appearances in modern Star Trek, this could be a fun and unexpected way to include them.
Pitch #6: Set up a story that will be paid off in The Original Series.
The USS Enterprise in Where No Man Has Gone Before.
There are a number of episodes from The Original Series that could be expanded upon and given new backstory. We could visit Deep Space Station K-7, for example, from the classic episode The Trouble With Tribbles. Or Captain Pike could escort the lawyer Samuel T. Cogley to his new posting at Starbase 11.
There are dozens of such examples; stories that The Original Series has already told that could be fleshed out. Even if a wholly new story was concocted for a character or location that was visited – as we’ve seen in Season 1 with the Gorn, for example – it would still be a cute nod and wink to longstanding Trekkies.
Strange New Worlds has leaned on The Original Series for inspiration already – so this would really just be more of the same!
Pitch #7: A backdoor pilot for the Section 31 series.
Ash Tyler.
At time of writing, it feels as though the purported Discovery spin-off based around Section 31 won’t be going ahead. But Strange New Worlds could change that by reintroducing the shadowy organisation. After Pike and Spock tangled with Section 31 during Discovery’s second season they might have a score to settle, and it could also be fun to bring back Ash Tyler for a guest appearance – he was named Section 31’s new leader after the battle against Control.
A Section 31 episode that brings back Ash Tyler – and perhaps even Georgiou – could test the waters to see whether the concept still has potential. Strange New Worlds is definitely the Discovery spin-off that fans wanted, but particularly in light of Georgiou’s character development in that show’s third season, the Section 31 idea shouldn’t be written off and feels more viable now than it did when it was first announced.
Even if no spin-off happens, it would still be nice to get some furtherance of the Section 31 storylines that we saw a couple of years ago.
Pitch #8: What happened between Sarek and Spock?
Sarek in Discovery Season 2.
As Strange New Worlds continues to develop Spock’s character, it would be interesting to see his conflict with his father. This was first broached in The Original Series episode Journey to Babel – Sarek’s first appearance – but a canonical reason for it has never been established. It’s been implied that Sarek disapproved of Spock joining Starfleet instead of enrolling at the Vulcan Science Academy, but it’s never been fully confirmed.
James Frain put in a decent performance as Sarek in Discovery’s first two seasons, and with Spock being a big part of Strange New Worlds he seems like a logical choice to bring back. Spock has stated that he and Sarek were “estranged” during this era, but there’s still the possibility of some kind of contact between the two.
I’d be curious to see if there’s more to the Spock-Sarek split than we’ve seen so far!
Pitch #9: Travel back in time.
Could time travel soon be on the agenda?
Time travel stories – especially those that involve visiting the modern day – are seldom my favourites in Star Trek. But time travel has been part of the franchise since its inception, and even more than half a century and 850 episodes later, there are still ideas that haven’t really been tried. We’ve seen practically every Starfleet captain visit modern-day Earth – but we’ve only seen a handful of episodes set in Earth’s past.
I’d be interested to see Captain Pike and the crew visit the middle ages, the 1700s, or the First World War, just to pick three examples. How did they get there? I don’t know. What would they have to do there – aside from figure out a way home? I don’t know that either! But taking time travel to an era that Star Trek has never explored would be fascinating.
Maybe Captain Pike could even view time travel as a way to postpone his inevitable accident?
Pitch #10: A “bottle episode” set during a long voyage.
The Enterprise’s saucer section as seen in Season 1.
In Star Trek we often see our heroes warping from one destination to the next at the drop of a hat, and while travel times between locations are occasionally mentioned, we don’t often get to see the reality of some of these long-distance voyages. The Season 5 premiere of Voyager perhaps came closest to this (before it introduced us to the Malon) but if you think about it there must be a lot of downtime for the crew of the Enterprise in between missions.
So this episode would focus on different members of the crew and how they spend their free time. The Enterprise is en route to deliver supplies or conduct a scientific experiment, but that just serves as background to show us how Captain Pike and the crew handle a weeks-long voyage across space with nothing to do. We could see the Enterprise’s recreational facilities, learn some of the characters’ hobbies, and generally slow things down and take a break from the action for a while.
Being set entirely aboard the ship could also cut costs – allowing for more of the budget to be allocated to other, more demanding stories!
So that’s it!
Season 1 promo poster.
Those are ten of my ideas (or “pitches”) for Strange New Worlds episodes that I’d like to see in future seasons of the show. I doubt any of these will ever get made… but you never know! It’s fun to speculate and come up with episode concepts regardless.
If you missed my spoiler-free review of Season 1, I had an amazing time with Strange New Worlds and I can’t recommend the series highly enough! I’ve been telling as many people as I can to give it a shot, because I feel it has the potential to be a gateway into the Star Trek franchise for newcomers.
So I hope this was a bit of fun for today! There will be more Strange New Worlds content to come in the months ahead as we await Season 2 – so stay tuned!
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 is available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries and territories where the platform is available. Further international distribution has not been announced. The Star Trek franchise – including Strange New Worlds and all other properties mentioned 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1, including the season finale. Spoilers are also present for Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: Discovery.
This theory is going to get into major spoiler territory for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, including the very last scene of the final episode of Season 1. If you aren’t fully caught up on the events of Season 1 – and you decided to ignore the spoiler warning above – this is your last chance to nope out!
So today I thought it could be fun to speculate about Una Chin-Riley – a.k.a. Number One. Captain Pike’s first officer had an interesting season, with a truly unexpected backstory that connected back to the events of Star Trek: Enterprise while simultaneously setting the stage for some significant development in her relationship with La’an in particular.
Let’s talk about Una!
The decision for Una to be an Illyrian was a genuinely interesting one, and I felt sure that there’d be something more to come after the revelation of her true heritage in Ghosts of Illyria. It took until the closing moments of the season finale, but eventually we got there! Una’s arrest was the perfect tease on which to end the season, setting the stage for what will presumably be the first part of Season 2 in truly spectacular fashion.
There are a few points to consider before we jump into the main theory list. First of all, the fact that Captain Pike visited an alternate future in which Una is still incarcerated almost a decade after the events of Season 1 does not, in itself, mean that that will be her fate. That was an alternate timeline, after all, one which Pike’s actions have now erased. So I don’t think we can dismiss Una, saying “that’s it, she’s off the show” and close the book! There’s obviously going to be something more to come – though whether it will fully restore her to a leading role in Starfleet is still an open question.
Una was arrested at the end of Season 1.
One of the interesting things about a show like Strange New Worlds is the potential it has to explore different aspects of Star Trek’s 23rd Century and answer questions that most fans didn’t even know they had! One such question could be “where was Una after the events of The Cage?” She didn’t participate in Spock’s off-the-books quest to transport Captain Pike to Talos IV, despite being one of only a handful of people who knew about his impending disability and the powers of the Talosians.
Una was also never seen, nor even mentioned, during the entire run of The Original Series and its films. On the production side of things that’s at least partly because Majel Barrett, who was the first actress to take on the role, was playing the character of Nurse Chapel. But again it leaves the question of Una’s fate open-ended. A senior officer with such promise serving on the Federation flagship would usually be gunning for a promotion and their own command; was that what Una hoped to do?
Majel Barrett as “Number One” in The Cage.
It could be that the explanation for Una’s absence from the events of The Menagerie and other significant moments in the second half of the 23rd Century is that she was either locked up or exiled for her deception and illegal genetic enhancements. That would be a pretty depressing way for the story to go, but it wouldn’t contradict anything we know of from other Star Trek productions. Personally, I’ve never felt any of these absences were glaring omissions that have been crying out to be explained away – but perhaps some of the show’s writers disagree.
There’s also a potential narrative reason to shuffle Una out of the way, and that comes from the character of Spock. Firstly, Spock long ago took over Number One’s original “cool and logical” persona that debuted in The Cage. And secondly, while Captain Pike was surprised to learn in A Quality of Mercy that Spock was his new Number One, as Trekkies we know that Spock’s arc will take him through being Captain Kirk’s first officer and trusted confidante all the way to becoming a captain in his own right, an ambassador, and beyond. Perhaps part of the next chapter of Strange New Worlds will involve setting the stage for Spock to step up and grow into that kind of role, either by serving as Pike’s XO aboard the Enterprise or potentially by pairing him up with a younger Jim Kirk.
Spock and Captain Kirk.
However, I’m not convinced that we’ve seen the back of Una just yet. Strange New Worlds already killed off Hemmer – in one of the most shocking and tragic sequences in the entire season – and La’an’s request for a leave of absence to track down the family of Oriana could mean that she will have less of a role to play in future, too – potentially being absent for some or all of next season. With at least one and possibly two characters already gone, it would be one heck of a shake-up to lose Una as well.
With the exception of Lower Decks, modern Star Trek shows have struggled with consistency. Discovery has famously had four different captains across its four seasons, and Picard took two very different approaches to its characters in the two seasons that we’ve seen so far, with some noteworthy absences in Season 2. In short, it would be to the benefit of Strange New Worlds – and the Star Trek franchise overall – to settle down and to find room to breathe; to expand and develop the characters who are already in play before rushing off to make more and more changes. So if I had a vote, I’d find a way to keep Una around!
Una as she appeared in Discovery Season 2.
All of this leads up to my theory list about Una. The first part of the list will consider possible culprits for grassing her up to Starfleet Command and getting her arrested, and the second part will consider possible outcomes and options for Season 2 that could either bring her back into the fold or see her depart the series.
My usual caveats apply: I have no “insider information” and I’m not trying to claim that anything discussed here will be part of Season 2. This is pure speculation from a fan and nothing more! If Season 1 is any indication, Una’s story in Season 2 will go in a wildly different direction that I won’t be able to predict! Secondly, all of this is the subjective opinion of one person. If you hate all of my ideas (or I don’t include your current pet theory) that’s okay! There’s room within the Star Trek fan community for civil conversations and polite disagreement.
With all of that out of the way, let’s look at some theories!
Culprit #1: Captain Pike
Captain Pike in his ready-room in Ghosts of Illyria.
I don’t believe that Captain Pike would have intentionally told Starfleet about Una’s Illyrian heritage. But in the course of his duties as captain, he may have had to log or otherwise record Una’s disclosure to him – or may have done so in a personal log. If those logs were then sent to Starfleet, it could be that Captain Pike inadvertently flagged up Una’s true origin.
There was room in Season 1 for more development of the relationship between Una and Captain Pike – a relationship that seemed well-established when they appeared together in Season 2 of Discovery. In a busy season, though, their time together was somewhat limited, and I’d like to see more interaction between the Enterprise’s captain and first officer going forward. Making Pike the one who got her arrested – even if it was completely accidental – would risk damaging that relationship. While that could give them a starting point to rebuild from, it wouldn’t necessarily be my first choice.
Culprit #2: Dr M’Benga
Dr M’Benga learned of Una’s true heritage.
As with Captain Pike above, I don’t believe that Dr M’Benga would deliberately reveal Una’s secret to Starfleet. Just as Una had something to hide, so too did Dr M’Benga, and Una was the only one who knew about his daughter being kept suspended in the transporter buffer. He would have no motivation to expose her, and from his perspective doing so may have compromised himself and his daughter’s safety.
However, Dr M’Benga is responsible for the ship’s sickbay and the health of all its personnel, so perhaps he logged somewhere that there’s an Illyrian aboard. Maybe Dr M’Benga noted that the treatment for the contagion that broke out aboard the Enterprise came from Illyrian antibodies; Starfleet Medical must surely keep records of these dangers and their cures for the sake of other ships and crews.
Culprit #3: La’an Noonien-Singh
La’an in Ghosts of Illyria.
La’an is really the only character who would have any motive for deliberately and maliciously telling Starfleet the truth about Una. Although the two had resolved their differences by the end of Ghosts of Illyria – and grew closer over the rest of the season – La’an was incredibly angry at first upon learning who Una really was. It seems possible to me that La’an contacted Starfleet sometime during the events of Ghosts of Illyria, possibly while under the influence of the contagion.
This could set up La’an and Una for a confrontation, but one for which La’an already feels guilt and remorse. If she is responsible, I think there’s a pathway for forgiveness – and perhaps she’ll find a way to make it right, such as by advocating on Una’s behalf or even trying to break her out of prison.
Culprit #4: Spock
Spock on the bridge of the Enterprise.
On a number of occasions we’ve seen how Spock is a stickler for the rules – particularly at this early point in his life and career. In Star Trek Into Darkness, his decision to be completely truthful in a mission report ended up getting Captain Kirk in a lot of trouble, so even if Pike, M’Benga, and everyone else had chosen to conceal the truth in their logs, it’s possible that Spock wouldn’t. He may not even see it as a bad thing at first, regarding telling the full, unvarnished truth as part of his job.
One of the interesting things about Strange New Worlds is how it’s taking Spock on a journey; building him up to become the character we’re familiar with from The Original Series. Perhaps one of the lessons Spock will learn in Season 2 is how to bend the rules, how loyalty to one’s friends and the need to keep certain things private can superscede the official rules. That could make for an interesting story and a chance for growth.
Culprit #5: Una herself
Might Una have turned herself in?
Maybe Una was sick of hiding. Maybe she wanted to get caught. Maybe she hoped to give herself an opportunity to defend her people against Starfleet’s hardline anti-genetic engineering rule. There are a few different reasons why Una might have turned herself in, or anonymously submitted the evidence to get herself arrested.
This would be a bit of a twist, but it could lead to a wonderfully complex story and character arc for Una if it’s handled well. The idea that she was fed up with having to live a lie, or even that revealing the truth to Captain Pike, La’an, and some of her other shipmates was a weight off her shoulders could be an interesting angle to explore. It would also absolve anyone in the crew of any wrongdoing – intentional or not!
So those are the culprits!
Up next we’re going to look at a few different ways that Una’s story could go from here. As above, please keep in mind that all of this is speculation; I’m not claiming that any of these things will happen.
Theory #1: Una will stand trial with Captain Pike defending her.
Una and Captain Pike on the bridge.
Star Trek can do courtroom drama exceptionally well, and perhaps we’ll be treated to an episode that blends the likes of The Measure of a Man and Court Martial. I can absolutely see Captain Pike stepping up to be Una’s advocate – like Captain Picard did for Data or Captain Sisko did for Worf. How exactly this trial would go is unclear, but with Spock and the rest of the crew also working on it, maybe there’d be a way to win – or to convince Starfleet to make an exception for Una.
That wouldn’t be unprecedented in the Star Trek franchise. Dr Bashir, who was also genetically engineered and didn’t disclose that fact to Starfleet, was permitted to continue to serve after the truth came out. Perhaps what Captain Pike will have to do is convince Starfleet that Una is irreplacable and should be forgiven for her deception.
Theory #2: Una will be broken out of prison – but will have to go into exile.
Is a dangerous prison break on the cards?
If Starfleet insists that Una needs to be locked up and won’t budge, maybe La’an and some of Una’s other friends will stage a break-out. It wouldn’t be easy – and they could all end up in hot water if things go wrong – but they may see it as a last resort if the alternative is Una being locked up for years in a Starfleet penal colony.
However, even if they succeed it seems unlikely that Una will simply be able to return to the Enterprise. She may have to go into exile, either by returning to the Illyrians or by striking out on her own. Either way, that could mean Una will be departing the series.
Theory #3: Una is found guilty and imprisoned.
Una in an alien prison in the Season 1 premiere.
With the major caveat that what Captain Pike saw took place in an alternate timeline that has since been overwritten, this was Una’s destiny in that version of the future. Captain Pike, La’an, Spock, and the rest of the crew seemed to have come to terms with her imprisonment by that point, and while we don’t know what happened at the time of her arrest and trial, any schemes that Pike and the others may have had to get her released clearly didn’t work.
Again, this would surely see Una leaving the show, perhaps after one final episode in which she comes to terms with being locked up. I don’t think that would be a fun or satisfying end for her character, though. It would tie up the loose end of Una’s whereabouts as of The Menagerie – but as stated above, I don’t think anyone has ever really challenged or questioned that, making it a solution to a non-existent problem. If Una is to leave the show, I’d rather see her go out in a blaze of glory, saving the ship and crew!
Theory #4: Diplomacy with the Illyrians.
An Illyrian seen in Star Trek: Enterprise.
If Una is still in contact with her family or other Illyrians, perhaps the Illyrian government will attempt to intervene on her behalf. Just because the Illyrians are not permitted to join Starfleet that doesn’t mean that formal diplomatic relations between the Federation and the Illyrian government don’t exist, and perhaps they’d have something to say about one of their own being arrested, especially if the reason is basically “because she’s an Illyrian.”
This could lead to some kind of diplomatic mission for Captain Pike, and again it could conclude with Una being given some kind of special exemption and being permitted to remain in Starfleet. Having revealed Una’s true heritage, it would be interesting to see more Illyrians show up in Strange New Worlds – perhaps they still hold a grudge after their meeting with Captain Archer during the events of Enterprise!
So those are the theories!
Is Una’s story at an end?
There are lots of different paths that the story could take from this juncture, and the question of whether Una will be back in a big way in Season 2 feels kind of open right now. Along with the departure of Hemmer and the potential absence of La’an, that would be a pretty radical shake-up of the main characters after only one season of the show.
I suspect that Una will be back aboard the Enterprise before too long, though. There’s untapped potential in her relationships with La’an, Spock, Captain Pike, and everyone else that would be wasted if she were to leave so soon. I’d love to spend more time with Una, perhaps seeing her in temporary command of the ship, leading an away mission, or doing other things that first officers in Star Trek are often seen to do. So it’s my hope, at least, that we haven’t seen the beginning of the end for Una on Strange New Worlds.
Captain Pike looks on as Una is taken into custody.
I hope this was a bit of fun. I haven’t had many opportunities to dive so deeply into Strange New Worlds thanks to the frustrating and disappointing international distribution situation, but with Paramount+ now here in the UK, that’s all changing. Hopefully by the time Season 2 rolls around we can talk about more theories like these during the show’s run instead of having to wait until the dust has settled!
I had a great time with Strange New Worlds Season 1, and the fact that it ended on this shocking cliffhanger was fantastic. I’m looking forward to welcoming back Captain Pike, Una, and the rest of the crew – and getting a satisfying end to this storyline, too!
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 is available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States and other countries and territories where the platform is available. Episodes of Season 1 are being released weekly in the UK. The Star Trek franchise – including Strange New Worlds 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.
Spoiler Warning: Although there are no major plot spoilers for Strange New Worlds Season 1, the inclusion of particular episodes on this list may hint at certain themes, characters, storylines, etc. There are also spoilers below for the episodes and stories on this list.
I haven’t been able to talk about Strange New Worlds as much as I would’ve liked thanks to Paramount taking an “America First” approach to the series, the Star Trek franchise, and pretty much everything else on Paramount+. However, with Paramount+ having now arrived here in the UK, I hope to slowly begin to rectify that situation and make up for lost time. On this occasion, I’ve put together a list of ten episodes that I think make great background viewing for Strange New Worlds Season 1.
You can absolutely watch these Star Trek stories before diving into the show’s first season, but if – like me – you’ve already watched Strange New Worlds Season 1, there’s still value in going back to some of them to expand on what the new show’s first season delivered. Ordinarily I’d have written a list like this before the season aired, but having already seen Strange New Worlds that’s allowed me to adapt the list and include a couple of episodes that I would have never considered!
The long-awaited Captain Pike series is finally here!
Strange New Worlds was absolutely fantastic in its first season – and it has me lamenting the truncated ten-episode seasons of modern Star Trek as I could’ve happily enjoyed at least ten more! If you missed it, I’ve already written up my spoiler-free thoughts on the show’s first season, and you can find that piece by clicking or tapping here. At the risk of repeating myself, Strange New Worlds hit ten for ten in its first season – ten outstanding episodes that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I can’t recommend Strange New Worlds highly enough both to fans of Star Trek and to newcomers to the franchise. If you’re new, or if it’s been a while since you last saw some of these episodes, watching them will provide some additional background and backstory heading into Strange New Worlds – or will expand somewhat on some of the stories, factions, and characters if you’ve already watched Season 1. However, nothing below makes for essential or unmissable viewing; Strange New Worlds is a very accessible series that newcomers to Star Trek shouldn’t feel intimidated by!
Who could this be? Watch Strange New Worlds to find out!
As always, please keep in mind that all of this is just the subjective opinion of one person. I’ve chosen episodes that I generally enjoy and that I feel connect in significant ways to Strange New Worlds Season 1. If you don’t like my picks or I miss something you would’ve included, that’s okay! There’s always room in the Star Trek fan community for discussion and polite disagreement.
I’ve tried hard to avoid major plot spoilers for Strange New Worlds Season 1, but the inclusion of certain episodes here may hint at the inclusion of factions, aliens, characters, and storylines. If you don’t want to risk any of that, this is your last chance to nope out!
With all of that out of the way let’s take a look at the episodes I’ve chosen, which are listed below in no particular order.
Episode #1: The Menagerie, Parts I-II The Original Series Season 1
Captain Pike as he appeared in The Menagerie.
Technically speaking, The Menagerie was Captain Pike’s first Star Trek appearance. The episode incorporates most of the footage left over from The Original Series’ unsuccessful first pilot, The Cage, but uses a frame narrative to include Captain Kirk and Spock as they look back on the events of Captain Pike’s mission to the planet Talos IV.
After network NBC had spent a significant amount of money on The Cage, one of the conditions attached to The Original Series’ first season was that Gene Roddenberry and his team find a way to use the footage left over from the original pilot. It was either impossible or prohibitively expensive to bring back The Cage star and original Captain Pike actor Jeffrey Hunter for the role, and the recasting of the character is part of the reason for Pike’s severe disfigurement and disability.
What could Spock be doing in engineering?
We could do an entire article on the production history of The Cage and The Menagerie – and maybe one day we should! – but for now, the important thing to keep in mind is that this is Captain Pike’s ultimate destination. The Menagerie exists as a reminder of where Captain Pike’s arc will ultimately lead him, but it’s also an interesting episode in its own right.
The Original Series was beginning to find its feet by this point in its first season, and a two-parter like The Menagerie could’ve blown it off-course. However, the way The Cage was incorporated into the story made for a fascinating and somewhat mysterious presentation, and Spock’s characterisation and his dedication to his former captain in particular are noteworthy. It’s a fascinating episode that managed to be so much more than just a recycling of a failed pitch and that found a unique and innovative way to accomplish what could have been a difficult and annoying task.
Episode #2: Trials and Tribble-ations Deep Space Nine Season 5
Can you spot who might be out-of-place?
Trials and Tribble-ations was created for the Star Trek’s thirtieth anniversary in 1996, and it was a fun celebration of the franchise’s roots. The crew of the USS Defiant – led by Captain Sisko – find themselves displaced in time, arriving during the events of The Original Series episode The Trouble With Tribbles.
Sisko and his crew have to preserve the timeline – a nefarious villain is attempting to use a Bajoran Orb to alter the past to his advantage. What results is a genuinely fun romp, and seeing the two crews from two different eras coming together was quite something. I’ve always held Trials and Tribble-ations in high esteem ever since I first watched it!
Two legendary captains meet.
On the technical side of things, Trials and Tribble-ations was incredibly ambitious for its time. Using the same technology that had been used to place Tom Hanks alongside real-world historical figures for the film Forrest Gump – which had been released only a couple of years earlier – the creative team managed to seamlessly blend the Deep Space Nine characters into The Original Series. Some excellent work with costumes and sets – including a recreation of the original USS Enterprise’s bridge – really sold the illusion.
The only character from Trials and Tribble-ations to appear in Strange New Worlds is Spock, with the episode taking place after Pike’s tenure in the captain’s chair. But as a celebration of all things Star Trek, and one of the few stories to bring together the 23rd and 24th Centuries, it’s one you shouldn’t miss! There are also some interesting time travel and timeline-integrity angles to the story’s frame narrative that may just prove interesting to viewers who pay attention.
Episode #3: Q & A Short Treks Season 2
Who’s this promising young ensign?
Q & A steps back in time to before the events of Strange New Worlds and Discovery Season 2 to show us Spock’s arrival aboard the USS Enterprise while still an ensign. It’s a cute short story that shows off a younger Spock while also introducing us to Una – a.k.a. Number One. Una had far less screen time than Spock or Pike in Discovery’s second season, so Q & A was one of the first stories to feature her in a big way.
There are some great shots of the internal workings of the USS Enterprise’s turbolifts – something that a geek like me is always going to be interested in! In fact, Q & A must be one of the very few episodes, along with parts of The Next Generation’s fifth season episode Disaster, to make a turbolift its primary setting. That format could feel restrictive, but Q & A makes it shine through some excellent character work and occasionally hilarious writing.
One of the Enterprise’s many turboshafts.
Q & A was one of three episodes of Short Treks to bring back Pike, Spock, and Una – and these short stories began to expand upon their roles and set the stage for Strange New Worlds. They were also experimental; teases to fans that also served to see whether the much-requested “Captain Pike show” was a viable concept. Short Treks did some genuinely interesting things in its second season – which is why I’ve argued that the concept should absolutely be revived!
Captain Pike is less of a presence in Q & A than he would be in Ask Not, but that’s no bad thing. We got to spend more time with Una, and seeing her in her role as first officer – in part through the eyes of a young Spock, fresh out of Starfleet Academy – was fascinating!
Episode #4: Unification, Parts I-II The Next Generation Season 5
An older Ambassador Spock in the 24th Century.
We just talked about how interesting it was to see young Spock when he was first assigned to the Enterprise – so now let’s jump forward in time by more than a century to see a much older Spock in a completely different chapter of his life! The two-part episode Unification brought Spock into The Next Generation in a truly interesting story that built upon the Vulcan-Romulan connection that had been introduced in The Original Series.
I adore crossovers, and aside from a brief cameo in the premiere of The Next Generation, this was the first crossover involving main characters that the franchise had attempted. Its success laid the groundwork for the likes of Relics, Flashback, Defiant, Caretaker, These Are The Voyages, and many more.
Spock and Data.
Unification found a way to give Spock genuine development to reflect decades of his life that we hadn’t seen on screen. It was great to see him alongside not only Captain Picard but also Data – the two characters share many characteristics and filled similar roles in their respective series. The mystery at the heart of the episode and subsequent revelations about Spock’s work and the Romulans’ schemes made for a story that was tense, dramatic, and exciting.
Strange New Worlds isn’t all about Spock, but seeing what his life would be like decades after the events of the series is worthwhile. It puts into context not only the stories that unfold around Spock, but his own actions, behaviours, and thoughts. The Spock we meet in Unification is different from the Spock of Strange New Worlds – but not unrecognisable.
Bonus Episode #4½: Unification III Discovery Season 3
Cleveland Booker and Michael Burnham watch a recording of Spock.
The two-parter became a three-parter when Discovery added to the legacy of Unification in its third season. Taking Spock’s work with the Romulans as a starting point, Unification III shows us how subsequent generations of Romulans and Vulcans looked to Spock as an inspiration. His legacy is all over this story – and it would carry through into future episodes of Discovery in its third and fourth seasons.
Spock would go on to be an important part of Vulcan history, remembered fondly even centuries after his death for the process that he started. Seeing Michael Burnham react to that was sweet, and knowing that Spock has a legacy within the Star Trek timeline that extends far beyond his own lifespan is something incredibly meaningful.
Episode #5: Arena The Original Series Season 1
The Gorn captain.
An absoloute classic of The Original Series, Arena features Captain Kirk’s iconic battle against an unnamed Gorn captain – the first Gorn encountered in Star Trek. I might be in the minority here, but I absolutely adore the way the rubber-suited Gorn looks. There’s something menacing about its tyrannosaurus rex-like head, its silvery, almost insectoid eyes, and its sharp crocodilian teeth. But at the same time, there’s a light-hearted campiness to the way the Gorn comes across on screen thanks in part to the limitations of 1960s special effects – and perhaps also due to the bold pattern on his (or her?) costume!
There’s more to Arena than just the scuffle at Vasquez Rocks, though! There’s a more philosophical side to the story, one that shows how far humanity has come by the 23rd Century – and how far there is still to go to make progress. Despite the conflict, both Spock and Kirk demonstrate a willingness to try diplomacy and show mercy – something that impresses the highly-advanced Metrons.
The Enterprise crew watch helplessly as Captain Kirk battles against the Gorn.
The way in which Captain Kirk was able to outsmart and defeat the Gorn captain shows his ingenuity at its best – and presents a contrast between “brains” and “brawn” that made it clear how even a strong and physically imposing enemy can be defeated. There’s a great metaphor there for dealing with bullies!
Arena is one of those episodes that I believe every Trekkie – even those who aren’t fans of The Original Series – needs to see at least once. Despite the Gorn not becoming a recurring villain in The Original Series or even during The Next Generation era, the original design of these reptilian aliens has become iconic, and as a story that fully encapsulates the Star Trek franchise’s approach to science-fiction, Arena has it all.
Episode #6: Damage Enterprise Season 3
Enterprise has seen better days…
Damage comes quite late in the fully-serialised story of Enterprise’s third season, but it’s worth a watch regardless. At this point in the story, Captain Archer and his crew are running out of time to prevent the Xindi from launching a super-weapon against Earth, and Archer’s desperation to do anything to complete his mission forces him down a very dark moral path.
In essence, Captain Archer must choose between failure – which will almost certainly lead to the total annihilation of Earth itself – and his morality, leading to him basically turning to theft and piracy in order to survive in the harsh Delphic Expanse. It’s a fascinating story that features a brand-new alien race, but also one that’s an introspective character piece focusing on Archer’s decisions.
Captain Archer is forced to confront an impossible decision.
There are other story threads in play in Damage, including T’Pol’s exposure to Trellium-D – a compound toxic to Vulcans that caused her to begin to lose control over her emotions. The way in which Vulcans suppress their emotions in favour of logic is something that Enterprise explored in depth, and it’s a fascinating part of Vulcan culture that subsequent Star Trek projects have also touched upon.
Enterprise’s third season was a tense and exciting one overall – and Damage is one of the highlights for its strong character work and examination of how Starfleet’s enlightened morality can end up falling by the wayside when the going gets tough. Captain Archer is pained by the decision he makes – but that doesn’t stop him from making it.
Episode #7: Through the Valley of Shadows Discovery Season 2
Visiting the Klingon monastery on Boreth.
Although I’d encourage you to watch Discovery Season 2 in its entirety, I felt that Through the Valley of Shadows was really the only episode that had a significant impact on Strange New Worlds. It’s here where Captain Pike has to make a decision about his fate and his future that sets him on a particular path – one that will culminate in devastating disability.
Although Pike was willing, in the moment, to make the sacrifice in order to obtain the time crystal, the decision he made has a huge impact on him. With only a couple of episodes left in Season 2, Discovery didn’t have a lot of time to address how this would affect him – but Strange New Worlds certainly does, and this is really the starting point for Pike’s season-long arc.
Captain Pike comes face-to-face with his own future.
Discovery’s second season was a big improvement on its first, and I think it’s fair to say that bringing Captain Pike and Spock into the show in a big way was a masterstroke! Through the Valley of Shadows reframes Pike’s accident and disability in an entirely different way, and while there are sci-fi trappings of time-travel macguffins and talk of fate and destiny, what lies just under the surface is a story that I find incredibly relatable.
I’ve been Captain Pike at this moment. Sitting down with a doctor, hearing bad news about my health, knowing that things won’t get better but will get worse, that my ability to do basic things like walking will become increasingly difficult… these are all experiences that I’ve personally had and that I saw reflected in Captain Pike. Whether intentional or not, the decision to have him become aware of his future – and choose to embrace it for the greater good – kicked off a story about disability and declining health that really resonated with me. Its approach to this complex topic was sensitive, understandable, and darkly beautiful.
Episode #8: Prime Factors Voyager Season 1
Harry Kim and Eduana using a Sikarian spatial trajector.
Prime Factors flips Starfleet’s Prime Directive on its head. The Prime Directive is Starfleet’s most important standing order, and it states that “no starship may interfere with the normal development of any alien life or society.” We’ve seen the Prime Directive – and the principles upon which it is based – play a huge role in episodes of practically every Star Trek series, with captains having to decide whether to interfere, how to interfere, and what the consequences may be.
Prime Factors takes the opposite approach, and asks how it would feel to our heroes if they were on the other side of this kind of policy. How would Starfleet react to being denied a request for help or trade because it conflicted with an alien society’s principles? The resultant episode was absolutely fascinating.
Tuvok and Captain Janeway.
At this relatively early point in Voyager’s run, the fact that Captain Janeway and her crew really are stranded on the far side of the galaxy with no way to get home is beginning to sink in. Prime Factors is one of several episodes that teased the crew with a potential way to complete part of that journey – before yanking it away again.
The episode is also an interesting one for Harry Kim, who we get to see at his most eager to get home, and for the relationship between Captain Janeway and Tuvok. Although Chakotay would really take over the role of “trusted advisor” as Voyager got settled, initially it was Tuvok who was being established as Captain Janeway’s closest confidante and most reliable friend.
Episode #9: Balance of Terror The Original Series Season 1
A Romulan warbird firing its plasma torpedo.
Balance of Terror is the episode that first introduced the iconic Romulans to Star Trek – as well as revealing their connection with the Vulcans that we talked about in Unification above. Inspired by war films – particularly naval war films and those set aboard submarines – from a generation earlier, there’s a really tense, claustrophobic feel to the conflict between the Enterprise and this new, terrifying threat.
Balance of Terror expertly sets up the background of Federation-Romulan relations and uses that to create tension and conflict on the bridge of the Enterprise when a surprising connection between the Romulans and Spock’s own Vulcan people is revealed. The episode also raises the stakes by giving the Romulans not one but two super-weapons: the devastating plasma torpedo and a cloaking device. This was the first on-screen appearance of a cloaking device in Star Trek.
Captain Kirk in Balance of Terror.
Of particular note here is Captain Kirk’s approach to the conflict. After discovering the Romulan vessel and its technology, Kirk decides to pursue it, hoping to intercept it before it can cross back into Romulan space. Was this uncompromising approach the right call?
Balance of Terror is a fascinating episode for its tone, for its approach to bigotry and prejudice in the enlightened future Star Trek presents, and for its introduction of a faction that would go on to play a major role in the Star Trek franchise. It’s another episode of The Original Series that I consider to be a must-watch for all Trekkies.
Episode #10: Star Trek 2009 Kelvin Timeline film
The USS Kelvin, namesake of the Kelvin Timeline.
Technically a film rather than an episode, 2009’s Star Trek kicked off the Kelvin timeline with a soft reboot of the franchise. It’s a textbook example of how to write a successful reboot, and after the Star Trek franchise had begun to fade and lose viewership toward the latter part of Enterprise’s run, the 2009 reboot came along and definitively proved that there was still plenty of life in it yet! We wouldn’t have Discovery, Strange New Worlds, and the rest of modern Star Trek without this film and its two sequels.
For our purposes today, though, 2009’s Star Trek shows us a different timeline with alternate versions of Captain Pike – who plays a prominent role in the story – as well as Spock and Uhura. Seeing these versions of the characters and noting their differences and similarities to their prime timeline counterparts could be worthwhile going into Strange New Worlds.
Spock, meet Spock!
Star Trek 2009 also chronicles the next chapter of Spock’s life after the events of Unification (which we took a look at above). Spock’s relationship with the Romulans and his plan to help them avert a catastrophe are what led to him being dragged into the alternate reality, and the meeting between the older and younger versions of the character is a powerful moment.
Seeing Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and others in their Starfleet Academy days was a concept that Gene Roddenberry had toyed with even as far back as The Original Series in the 1960s. 2009’s Star Trek took that concept and put a spin on it, updating the franchise for the 21st Century and introducing it to legions of new Trekkies. It’s a good film in its own right, and one whose legacy is the rejuvenated Star Trek franchise that we’re continuing to enjoy today.
So that’s it!
Promotional poster for Strange New Worlds.
Those are my picks for ten episodes to watch before Strange New Worlds to prepare for what the series will bring – or afterwards, if you prefer, to lend some context to some of the character arcs and storylines.
There are at least ten more episodes and films that I could’ve chosen; it wasn’t easy to whittle down the list to the ten picks above. Having already seen Strange New Worlds Season 1, I confess that I picked several different episodes that I might not have chosen otherwise. But that’s the benefit of hindsight!
As I said in my spoiler-free review of the first season, Strange New Worlds is utterly fantastic and well worth a watch for Trekkies and newcomers to the franchise alike. I can’t praise it highly enough – and I can’t wait for Season 2!
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is available to stream now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the service is available. New episodes are being released weekly on Paramount+ in the United Kingdom. Further international distribution has not been announced at time of writing. The Star Trek franchise – including Strange New Worlds and all other episodes, films, and shows 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.
Spoiler Warning: Although there are no major plot spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1, spoilers are present for other iterations of the Star Trek franchise, including Discovery Seasons 1-4 and Short Treks.
Despite Paramount’s best efforts to keep Strange New Worlds away from fans in 95% of the world, I’ve been able to watch the first season over the past ten weeks. With the finale recently airing and the curtain falling on the show’s first season, I thought it would be worthwhile to share my spoiler-free thoughts on each of the episodes.
I had hoped to write full reviews of every episode of Strange New Worlds as they aired, as well as perhaps concocting a few theories along the way, but the show’s unavailability internationally has made that difficult. As much as I love Star Trek and want to see it succeed, I felt unable to offer Paramount and the series my support due to the offensive and misguided way the corporation has treated its non-American fans – treatment that is regrettably still ongoing at time of writing.
The first poster that was revealed for Strange New Worlds. (I have it framed on my living room wall!)
However, stay tuned in the weeks and months ahead, because I daresay I will eventually publish individual episode reviews. Paramount+ has finally landed here in the UK – though it didn’t bring all of Strange New Worlds with it – so I can go back and re-watch the episodes any time. As Paramount+ continues its international rollout, I hope that Trekkies who avoided piracy will be able to watch the show.
The international broadcast situation and Paramount’s failings in that regard feel all the more egregious because of just how damn good Strange New Worlds has been across its first season. This is the Star Trek show that fans have been asking for and waiting for, a show that recaptures the episodic nature of The Original Series and The Next Generation but updates it with season-long arcs and modern trappings. It’s a show that feels so very similar to those classic stalwarts of the Star Trek franchise, and one that definitely has huge potential to reach out across the growing divide in the fan community to bring back into the fold people who felt disappointed or uninterested in Discovery, Picard, and even Lower Decks.
A behind-the-scenes photo of the Enterprise’s bridge crew.
Strange New Worlds updates the look of Star Trek, retaining some visual elements from Discovery and the Kelvin films, but blends that look with a very classic aesthetic with a clear inspiration from The Original Series. After the bland all-blue uniforms of Discovery, the bold primary colours are unapologetically back. The USS Enterprise is brightly-lit and colourful too, with some wonderful sets that have updated the look of areas like the bridge, sickbay, and engineering while retaining key design elements to make it clear that this is a Star Trek show.
The use of practical special effects and puppets has created some really incredible creatures and aliens, some of which have had a genuinely “old-school” feel that reminded me of some of the alien races from The Original Series and The Next Generation era. These effects have combined with some excellent CGI animation and increasingly creative use of the expensive AR wall. It’s clear that Paramount’s visual effects artists are becoming more and more comfortable with this fancy piece of kit, and Strange New Worlds has found some fun ways to blend in the AR wall and make it seamless.
Behind-the-scenes filming with the AR wall.
Like classic Star Trek shows have always done, Strange New Worlds tried its hand at some very different genres across Season 1. There was plenty of sci-fi, exploration, and action, but the show also dipped its toes in comedy, drama, warfare, and even horror at one point. Combined with a diverse range of planets to visit and alien races to meet, this gave Strange New Worlds an incredibly varied feel. A worse show might’ve ended up feeling jumpy or even unsettled, but the characters at Strange New Worlds’ heart kept it on track throughout thanks to some truly wonderful writing and world-building.
The theme music that has been composed for Strange New Worlds jumped right up the list to become one of my absolute favourite Star Trek themes. I felt an influence from the classic Superman theme by John Williams that blended perfectly with elements from The Original Series theme to create an exciting, adventurous up-tempo piece of music to really set the stage for every new episode. It’s a wonderful piece of music that I just know is going to become a celebrated part of the franchise.
Behind-the-scenes in sickbay with Dr M’Benga and Una Chin-Riley.
I’d happily recommend Strange New Worlds to any fan of Star Trek, and I’d challenge even the most ardent Discovery-hater to give it a fair shake. More than that, I feel that Strange New Worlds has huge potential to bring in new Star Trek fans alongside Lower Decks and Prodigy, as it’s a very accessible show. Perhaps folks who’ve tried Star Trek in the past and found it wasn’t to their taste won’t be swayed, but for anyone who’s been on the fence or curious about where to start, Strange New Worlds would make for a wonderful and engaging first contact.
For longstanding Trekkies like myself, Strange New Worlds feels like a return to a long-forgotten format, but not in a way that’s regressive. Strange New Worlds has taken the episodic, exploration-oriented format that was at the heart of the franchise in its golden age but updated it for 2022, keeping things like character growth and arcs while still finding ways to play in different genres and with different aliens and settings. It’s the best of both worlds, and while the series builds on what Discovery, Picard, and even Lower Decks and Prodigy have achieved, for me it surpasses all of them.
Promo photo of Spock, Pike, and Una.
I’ll hold up my hands and admit to having found a few nitpicks across the first season, including a couple of character arcs that either felt under-developed or rushed, but generally speaking the quality was high and the episodes outstanding. It’s rare for me to be able to say this, but Strange New Worlds hit ten for ten in its first season – ten genuinely great episodes that I thoroughly enjoyed.
What I’ll do now is briefly summarise my spoiler-free thoughts on each of the episodes in turn.
Episode 1: Strange New Worlds
Captain Pike on horseback in the season premiere.
The season premiere was an episode that showcased Captain Pike. We got to see his internal struggle as he wrangled with the knowledge of his impending disability, and we got to see him at his best as he resumed command of the Enterprise. There are parallels to Picard Season 1, particularly the contrast between where Pike began the story in terms of his emotional and mental state and where he finished it; finding his place and restoring his confidence were absolutely crucial parts of the episode.
Strange New Worlds was a strong premiere and a great way to kick off the series. It took Star Trek back to its roots and showcased the exploration and missions of first contact that were key parts of the shows that we remember. There were moments of action and humour as we were introduced to most of the new crew for the first time, and what resulted was a solid foundation for the season to build upon.
Episode 2: Children of the Comet
Cadet Nyota Uhura.
Children of the Comet had an interesting premise and pitted the Enterprise against an adversary who was able to easily overpower the Federation flagship – and yes, Strange New Worlds has confirmed that the Enterprise is the flagship in this era! There were some truly outstanding visual effects both practical and animated, and we got to see a really beautiful episode that, as the title suggests, focused in large part on a comet.
Uhura was a big part of this story, and this new, younger version of the character has a lot of space to grow into the person we remember with fondness from The Original Series. Celia Rose Gooding stepped up and put in an outstanding and complex performance as we saw the young cadet navigate her first away mission to a very alien environment.
Episode 3: Ghosts of Illyria
Spock and Captain Pike on an away mission.
I have to confess that I’d almost entirely forgotten about the Illyrians prior to watching Ghosts of Illyria. The alien race appeared once in Enterprise’s third season – so I really recommend checking out the episode Damage for context before watching this one! Nothing in Damage is essential, but having that extra bit of background was definitely useful.
This was a big episode for Una Chin-Riley – a.k.a. Number One – as well as for the relationship between Captain Pike and Spock. Ghosts of Illyria also told us something important about Dr M’Benga that would go on to define his arc across much of the rest of the season. There were some clever and innovative concepts here, and what resulted was a fun episode.
Episode 4: Memento Mori
La’an Noonien-Singh.
Memento Mori raised my first real nitpick of the season! But despite that, it was a tense and thoroughly enjoyable ride that drew inspiration from battles in classic Star Trek stories like Balance of Terror and The Wrath of Khan – as well as the war films that served to inspire those episodes. Throughout Memento Mori there was a sense that everyone was in danger and that not all of our favourite characters would make it out alive.
We got to see Captain Pike at his absolute best in Memento Mori, showing off why he’s long been considered one of Starfleet’s finest commanders. It was also a great episode for Lieutenant Ortegas – the Enterprise’s navigator – and for La’an Noonien-Singh, who had to confront her own inner demons and traumatic memories.
Episode 5: Spock Amok
T’Pring and Spock in Spock’s quarters.
An episode about Spock confronting his conflicted inner nature and the way he feels about the human and Vulcan sides of his heritage doesn’t seem at first like it would be the foundation for a comedic story, but Spock Amok ended up being absolutely hilarious with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments that could rival even Lower Decks for its unapologetic sense of fun. Spock Amok had emotion at its heart, though, with Spock’s struggle played for more than just a cheap laugh.
The episode’s B-plot featured Captain Pike attempting diplomacy with an unusual alien race who felt like they couldn’t possibly be from any other science-fiction franchise. In that sense, Spock Amok is a Star Trek episode through and through!
Episode 6: Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach
Captain Pike wielding a phaser.
This episode’s title feels like it was lifted directly from The Original Series – as does the concept it brings to the fore. Captain Pike finds himself caught between his feelings for an alien woman he met in the past and his duty to the Federation. There’s a continuation of Dr M’Benga’s character arc from earlier in the season, one that flips the idea of the Prime Directive on its head in a way that reminded me very much of the Voyager Season 1 episode Prime Factors.
Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach pushed the limits of narrative complexity within a single episode, with a dramatic mystery involving the attempted kidnapping of a young boy who was destined to play a key role in the leadership and future of his planet. A worse episode could’ve made its central mystery feel convoluted or even rushed, but Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach balanced this complexity perfectly, despite having other storylines in play.
Episode 7: The Serene Squall
Nurse Chapel seems to be in trouble!
I didn’t think I was going to enjoy The Serene Squall based on its premise and the teases we got prior to its broadcast – but I was wrong! The crew face off against space pirates in what was both a tense and fun story that also found time to throw in an unexpected twist. Perhaps the resolution to the narrative was a tad rushed in its final act, but that would be my only real criticism.
There was an incredibly powerful moment with Spock early in the episode that reframed his internal human-Vulcan split, and without giving too much away, it was something I found absolutely fascinating – and more than a little relatable! I think Spock’s characterisation here was the highlight of the episode for me, and pairing him up with Nurse Chapel was a great creative choice.
Episode 8: The Elysian Kingdom
Dr M’Benga isn’t in uniform!
The Elysian Kingdom is two very different episodes rolled into one. On the one hand, there’s a funny, almost pantomime story in which the entire crew – sans Hemmer and Dr M’Benga – take on roles from a children’s story book. On the other, there’s an intensely emotional story with Dr M’Benga.
The Elysian Kingdom follows on from episodes like Mirror, Mirror or Bride of Chaotica insofar as it allows all of the main cast a chance to play around and step out from their usual roles. I have no doubt that it was an incredibly fun episode to work on – and that comes across in the performances from practically everyone involved. My only real gripe is that the final act and conclusion wrapped up very quickly.
Episode 9: All Those Who Wander
It’s Hemmer time!
Of all the episodes in Season 1, the most important one to go into un-spoiled has to be All Those Who Wander. It’s an incredibly powerful episode with a thrilling horror theme, and there’s clear inspiration from the film Alien throughout. It’s also an episode that builds to a shocking emotional climax – and I won’t say any more about that lest I risk spoiling it!
Star Trek can do horror really well, as episodes like Empok Nor demonstrated years ago. For me, All Those Who Wander takes the horror angle right up to the edge of my personal comfort zone – but never beyond it. It’s not the most kid-friendly episode, that’s for sure, but it’s an incredibly tense and thrilling ride from start to finish with a wonderfully atmospheric setting.
Episode 10: A Quality of Mercy
Spock, Pike, and [Spoiler] on the bridge of the Enterprise.
Captain Pike receives a visit from, well, “The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come.” That’s about the best way I can describe A Quality of Mercy! There are some outstanding visual moments that really show off the USS Enterprise, a callback to a classic episode of The Original Series, and a storyline that furthers Captain Pike’s season-long arc.
A Quality of Mercy sees Season 1 end on a high note – and with a little tease for something more to come. It’s an action-packed episode with some real emotional punches, and a love letter to fans of The Original Series in particular. All in all, an absolutely outstanding episode and a great way to close out one of the best seasons of Star Trek ever put to screen.
So that’s it!
Promo photo of Lieutenant Ortegas.
Strange New Worlds is off to a roaring start, and I can’t wait for Season 2 already! Good news in that regard – the show’s second season recently finished filming and will be broadcast next year. Here’s to Season 3 – and beyond! Hopefully Paramount will have gotten its act together by then, ensuring that this amazing series is available to audiences all around the world.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is the show that fans had been asking for since Captain Pike and Spock appeared in Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery in 2019. Its mere existence would already be a massive win for Star Trek fans and proof that Paramount is willing to listen to feedback, but the fact that the show has been such an amazing experience across its first season and exceeded expectations that were already sky-high is absolutely fantastic!
Commander Una Chin-Riley – a.k.a. Number One.
Not only has Strange New Worlds Season 1 laid the groundwork for future stories with Captain Pike and co. aboard the Enterprise, but I feel it offers a template that future Star Trek projects should take a serious look at. The serialised season-long stories of Picard and Discovery have been interesting – and some have worked better than others – but Strange New Worlds’ more episodic approach has been absolutely wonderful, allowing for a more diverse array of stories that both revisited elements from Star Trek’s past while also introducing us to brand-new aliens, planets, and cultures.
I was bitterly upset that Paramount’s pathetic and indefensible “America First” attitude cut off Strange New Worlds from so many of the fans who campaigned to make it happen, and unfortunately I can’t deny that that has tainted the experience. But if we can look past the corporate nonsense, Strange New Worlds itself has been an absolutely phenomenal show, one that I hope will continue for at least four more seasons to fulfil Captain Pike’s promised “five-year mission.”
Whether you’re new to Star Trek or whether you’ve enjoyed past iterations of the franchise, it’s easy to recommend Strange New Worlds. I sincerely hope you’ll give it a try.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 is available to stream now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available. Episodes are being broadcast weekly on Paramount+ in the UK. Further international availability has not been announced. The Star Trek franchise – including Strange New Worlds and all other properties mentioned 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.
Paramount+ will officially arrive in just a couple of days’ time here in the UK, and there are a lot of questions over its viability as well as its short- and longer-term prospects. The fact that the UK is currently experiencing some of the worst economic issues of the past forty-plus years is going to have a massive impact, and that’s not Paramount’s fault nor is it something that the corporation could have done anything to avoid. But it’s far from the only issue that looks certain to affect the new streaming platform… and practically all of the other problems we’re going to talk about are Paramount’s fault.
In early 2021 I wrote an article here on the website titled The ad campaign for Paramount+ has been surprisingly strong. In that piece I took a look at some of the advertisements that had been created in the run-up to the US launch of Paramount+, some of which featured the likes of Anson Mount and Sir Patrick Stewart. Paramount (which was still known as ViacomCBS at that time) even spent an insane amount of money to advertise during the Super Bowl in 2021 – and Super Bowl adverts are the most sought-after and expensive in the United States.
Sir Patrick Stewart in one of the American Paramount+ adverts that were shown in 2021.
I complimented Paramount at the time for not only the scale of the advertising campaign – which appeared to be pretty extensive over in the United States – but also for the content of some of the ads. The aforementioned Super Bowl commercial played the song Sweet Victory from SpongeBob SquarePants (as a Nickelodeon production, Paramount owns SpongeBob) and that was a masterstroke!
But with the launch of Paramount+ mere hours away, it’s hugely disappointing to have seen nothing of the sort here in the UK.
If Paramount+ is to stand a chance in a hugely competitive streaming market during the worst cost-of-living situation in decades, at the very least there should’ve been adverts for the service somewhere. Paramount+ is launching years behind its competitors, so if viewers are to be expected to take the plunge and part with our cash, Paramount needed to step up weeks ago and do something – anything – to sell it to us.
Paramount+ made a splash at the Super Bowl last year.
Star Trek’s use of social media is awful, I don’t think anyone would dispute that. And in a broader sense, Paramount hasn’t got to grips with social media in the same way as some of the other big entertainment companies. So it’s no surprise to me to have seen practically nothing from any of the official accounts – even the official Paramount+ UK Twitter account has only half-heartedly tweeted out a couple of messages “counting down” to the platform’s launch. There’s been radio silence elsewhere (though I have to credit some particularly dedicated Star Trek fans for doing the job of Paramount’s marketing team for them!)
This is purely anecdotal so take it with a grain of salt, but no one I’ve spoken to has seen any promotional material or advertising for Paramount+ either. I have several friends and neighbours who are subscribed to Sky TV – a well-known satellite television provider here in the UK – and they have likewise seen or heard nothing about the impending arrival of Paramount+. Why does that matter? Well, Sky TV and Paramount+ have teamed up to offer subscribers to certain package deals access to Paramount+ at no additional cost. I would have expected Sky TV subscribers to have seen something – an advert, a reminder… anything at all, really – with Paramount+ so close to its official launch.
Paramount+ has some kind of deal with Sky TV in the UK.
Perhaps Paramount has already given up on the UK, at least for 2022. Knowing how bad the economic outlook is, and looking at how big streaming platforms like Netflix have been losing subscribers may have caused some in the Paramount boardroom to hit the panic button. As a result, a large-scale advertising campaign – something that costs a lot of money no matter how you do it – may have been taken off the table. Paramount may simply be content to get the biggest fans of its biggest franchises on day one, and save the advertising push for a future date when the cost-of-living crisis and inflation have settled down somewhat.
That’s my generous assessment. Now for the less-generous possibility: this is just the latest in a long line of decisions that show how Paramount doesn’t actually value non-American consumers nor the marketplace outside of the United States. The board may see the international launch of Paramount+ not as an exciting opportunity to bring in profit, but as a tiresome chore that must be completed in order to shore up their share of the domestic American market. In order to make Paramount+ look like a good investment, a safe long-term subscription, and a genuine competitor to the likes of Disney+ and Netflix (which, incidentally, it is not), they took the decision to roll out Paramount+ internationally. They did so not because they care one iota about viewership outside of the United States, nor even really to turn a huge profit, but simply to make Paramount+ look better to investors.
The advertising slogan for Paramount+ in the United States.
We’ve talked at length here on the website about the absolutely disgusting corporate attitude present at Paramount, an attitude that says “America First!” with Trumpian gusto. The Paramount board clearly and demonstrably does not care about non-American fans, viewers, or the marketplace in the wider world, and the state of Paramount+ when it lands in the UK this week is yet another testament to that. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which has broadcast seven episodes at time of writing, will arrive in the UK not with all seven episodes available, but with just three. The recently remastered 4K version of Star Trek: The Motion Picture – which was literally created exclusively for Paramount+ and has never been available or broadcast here in the UK – will likewise be unavailable when the streaming service arrives. The Halo series that I recently reviewed has already concluded its first season – but again, only three out of nine episodes will be available to UK subscribers this week.
Paramount has made a conscious choice to make its streaming service worse in the UK – with less content available – than it is in the United States. The corporation and its leadership continues to double-down on this selfish “America First” attitude, so in a way I shouldn’t be surprised that they can’t be bothered to launch even the most basic of advertising campaigns to promote Paramount+. That doesn’t make the situation any less disappointing, though… and this short-sightedness will have serious long-term consequences for the platform’s viability.
Donald Trump would be thrilled.
As things sit right now, I would wager that most folks in the UK are completely unaware of Paramount+. Some super-fans of franchises like Halo or Star Trek may have heard of it through the course of pursuing their fandom, but your average viewer knows nothing about an American-only streaming service. In order to simply raise awareness of the existence of Paramount+, some kind of advertising campaign was necessary. There needed to be television ads, cinema ads, radio ads, ads and promoted posts on social media, banners on websites, and perhaps some kind of “stunt” akin to SpongeBob at the Super Bowl to get people talking. Paramount has done none of that, and the result is now predictable: the service will land on the 22nd of June to absolutely dire subscriber numbers.
Obviously it costs money to advertise on television, in cinemas, online, and so on. But Paramount has had an ace in the hole that they could’ve taken advantage of: the advertisements and promotional material that they put together for the platform’s American launch. Those ads, as I noted when I took a look at them last year, were pretty good – and with a small amount of work they could’ve been repurposed for the UK market. Paramount would’ve still had to pay to air those ads, of course, but they wouldn’t have had the expense of creating them from scratch.
Anson Mount appeared as Captain Pike for the American ad campaign.
Here in the UK, Paramount has a significant media presence already. Their biggest property is free-to-air broadcaster Channel 5, but they own a number of other channels both on Freeview and cable/satellite such as 5Star, Nickelodeon, MTV, and the Horror Channel. At the very least you’d think there’d be a significant advertising presence on Paramount-owned channels in the days leading up to the launch of Paramount+. Doing so would be relatively inexpensive as Paramount wouldn’t have to pay itself to advertise on its own channels! But again, at least as far as I’ve seen, there’s been nothing – or next to nothing – to promote Paramount+ on any of these channels.
Paramount has recently announced plans to market Paramount+ “throughout the summer,” including setting up some in-person events in London, and that’s a positive noise from the corporation. But the time to get people excited for a new streaming platform is really in the days and weeks leading up to its launch – now is the time to have been pushing and seriously trying to sell people on Paramount+ as being the next “must-have” streaming service in their lives. Doing so slowly over the course of the summer isn’t bad… but it may be too late.
The official Paramount+ logo.
As a Star Trek fan (and a casual fan of other Paramount properties), I’m invested in the success of Paramount+. I want it to succeed and be profitable – including here in the UK – because that seems like the best way to guarantee the future of Star Trek and other franchises. I don’t want to see Paramount+ crash and burn – despite the insulting moves the corporation has made and its appalling attitude towards people like me – because that could very well mean the end of the Star Trek franchise. So I want to see a successful, profitable Paramount+ that brings in loads of subscribers. There are some great shows that either are or will be on Paramount+ that have genuine potential to blow up and become huge successes.
But the question is, does Paramount want that? Does the corporation see this international rollout as a glorious opportunity… or is it a torrid chore? Do they care about viewers outside of the United States… or is this merely an expensive exercise in branding? Does Paramount have a genuine ambition to compete against the likes of Netflix, Disney+, and UK television broadcasters… or has the board already resigned itself to lacklustre subscriber numbers for at least the rest of this year?
I wish I knew the answers, and I wish I understood why there’s been so little fanfare for Paramount+ with the service now only a couple of days away from its launch. But one thing is certain: Paramount has done everything in its power to make this launch as difficult and low-key as possible.
Paramount+ will be available in the UK from the 22nd of June 2022 as either a standalone subscription or as part of a Sky TV package. All franchises and properties discussed above – including Paramount+ – are the copyright of Paramount Global. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Here on the website I often talk about potential Star Trek projects, storytelling and narrative choices, and some of the things that I’d like the franchise to do in upcoming series and films. This time I thought it could be interesting to do things a little differently – today we’re going to look at some technical and production-side changes that I think would benefit Star Trek going forward.
The renewed Star Trek franchise hasn’t been shy when it comes to trying new and different things since its return to the small screen in 2017, and while there are some ongoing issues – particularly relating to the way parent company Paramount is handling things – there are still a number of successes that deserve to be commended. This piece isn’t meant to detract from the accomplishments that Star Trek has made in recent years.
There’s a lot to celebrate in modern Star Trek!
But there’s always room for improvement and new ideas! Sometimes that might mean pushing the boat out further and trying genuinely different things – a lesson that another sci-fi franchise could learn from Star Trek, in my opinion! Other times, returning to something that has previously been demonstrated to work well or be popular could be the way to go. There are different ways to approach such a big subject – and naturally, everyone is going to have different perspectives based on their own ideas and preferences.
I’m not an entertainment industry professional. The closest I came to that was working in the video games industry some years ago, and even then I was working in marketing rather than in a creative or technical capacity. So I’m categorically not an expert at how television shows are created and brought to screen! But I know what works for me, what I personally think looks and feels good, and I have some ideas for what I’d like to see from Star Trek in future. That’s what we’re going to talk about today.
My usual caveats apply: I have no “insider information,” nor am I in a position to set policy at Paramount! So it’s quite likely that much of what we talk about today will never make it to screen. This is a wishlist from a long-time fan, and nothing more. It’s also entirely subjective – so if you hate all of my ideas or I don’t include things that seem like common sense to you, that’s okay! We all have different perspectives and points of view; these are mine, and I share them in the spirit of civil and polite discussion about the future of Star Trek.
With all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at ten technical and/or production-side changes that I’d like to see the Star Trek franchise make.
Number 1: 4K and HDR.
4K UHD logo.
If you’re unfamiliar with these terms, “4K” is a screen resolution also known as “ultra-HD.” Whereas a standard HD video image might be 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels high, 4K video footage is typically 3840 pixels wide by 2160 pixels high. The increased number of pixels means that image clarity is massively improved, and more detail can be shown with each frame.
“HDR” is an acronym that stands for “high dynamic range,” and in basic terms it makes bright colours brighter and darker colours darker, making for a more true-to-life image on screen. When viewed on an HDR-compatible television or screen, HDR footage looks significantly more real than non-HDR video.
Exaggerated visualisation of the difference between HDR (left) and SDR (right). Image Credit: LG Electronics.
Both 4K and HDR are increasingly common in home entertainment, and streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+ are offering an increasing amount of their new content in 4K with HDR support. So far, no new Star Trek shows have been created in 4K HDR, despite the technology being available, and Paramount+ doesn’t support it right now. This has got to change – and soon – in order for Paramount+ to offer a comparable service to its competitors, and the Star Trek franchise is a great place to start.
There have been a limited number of 4K re-releases, such as the Director’s Edition of The Motion Picture, but realistically it’s now time for Star Trek to transition to producing its newest content in 4K HDR.
Number 2: Go big for the sixtieth anniversary.
The 60th anniversary is approaching…
At time of writing it’s just over four years to go before the Star Trek franchise will celebrate its sixtieth anniversary. At the time of the fiftieth in 2016, Discovery hadn’t yet premiered and while there was a whole lot of celebrating, it wasn’t possible to do a lot on screen. Star Trek Beyond was the only project to release that year.
But the sixtieth should be different! There are currently five Star Trek projects in production, with at least two others supposedly being worked on behind the scenes. By the time we get to 2026 the franchise should still be going strong, and that raises the possibility of some truly spectacular events to mark the milestone.
Let’s make it a party to remember!
The 30th anniversary of Star Trek in 1996 saw projects like Trials and Tribble-ations and Flashback from Deep Space Nine and Voyager respectively that paid homage to the franchise’s history. Bringing back classic characters, telling fun fan-servicey stories, and more could all be part of a big sixtieth anniversary celebration – but I’d like to see some kind of major crossover event!
Imagine how much fun it could be if a crossover special were created that featured characters from every iteration of Star Trek. Star Trek’s version of The Avengers, where characters from every show and film found themselves – somehow – in the same timeline and era, needing to battle some nefarious villain. It might be terrible, it might be criticised for being too heavy on the fan-service, but as a one-off project there’s nothing I’d like to see more!
Number 3: Make better use of indoor sound stages and the AR wall.
The AR wall during filming for Discovery Season 4.
To be fair, I think the investment that Paramount has made in the AR wall is already beginning to see some results (though I can’t be the only one playing a game of “spot the AR wall,” can I?) But since Star Trek returned to the small screen, it hasn’t been smooth sailing in terms of getting diversity in filming locations.
I felt this most acutely during Season 1 of Star Trek: Picard, and if you’ve been a regular reader since 2020 you may recall that I commented on it in my reviews as the season wore on. In short, every planet that Picard and the crew visited was a barely-disguised southern California, and in a ten-episode season that took them to a new locale almost every week, that became painfully obvious to the point that it detracted from the story in places.
The faraway planet of… southern California.
This has also been something I’ve started to notice with Discovery, too. Certain filming locations (like a disused quarry) crop up multiple times, supposedly representing entirely different planets, and there’s just no need for it. Some of the outdoor shoots that I’ve felt were problematic barely lasted five minutes, so for the sake of a short sequence or a handful of scenes, making use of an indoor sound stage is preferable.
Partly this is because we’ve been spoilt by the likes of Game of Thrones with its multi-national filming locations all across Europe! But partly, it must be said, it’s because Star Trek’s producers have lacked either the budget or the creativity to do something different. The AR wall will be a big help going forward, I have no doubt, but getting diversity in the franchise’s filming locations is a big request of mine. Once you start to notice these things, you can’t un-see them!
Number 4: Make better use of social media.
Some of the most popular social media platforms.
Star Trek’s social media has been atrocious over the past couple of years, and in 2022 there’s no excuse for that. Social media can be a massive asset to any franchise, particularly in the run-up to big releases. But the way Star Trek has handled it has been poor.
Star Trek’s official social media channels – and the rest of Paramount’s, too – need to coordinate better. If a trailer is broadcast for a new or upcoming project, it needs to be available on every platform within minutes. Official Star Trek and Paramount+ YouTube channels don’t do this for some incredibly stupid reason, and it can be hard to find a good-quality copy of the latest trailers sometimes – something that I notice because of trying to get screenshots and still frames to use here on the website.
A regular sight for non-American fans.
Moreover, Star Trek needs to be more conversational and interactive. Social media isn’t just a billboard; an empty advertising space to display posters and teasers and talk about what’s coming up. It’s a place to interact with fans. That means that when fans have questions, someone needs to be there to provide answers. If fans make art or jokes or memes, someone needs to react and respond to those.
In 2022, social media can literally make or break a television series. Projects as diverse as Game of Thrones and Squid Game blew up thanks to social media, and Paramount has continually failed to recognise what an asset social media could be if they used it right. This is one example, in my opinion, of how Paramount’s leadership remains stuck in the past. 20th Century thinking won’t cut it anymore, and wasting money on things like billboards in Times Square or posters on the London Underground won’t bring in viewers. Social media is where it’s at – so a complete overhaul of the way it’s handled is a must.
Number 5: Ditch the cinematic “letterbox.”
The “letterbox” in Short Treks.
I admit that this one is very much a matter of personal taste, but I find that the “cinematic” format used for modern Star Trek episodes is just a bit… gimmicky. Most television shows use a 16:9 or maybe a 16:10 aspect ratio; modern live-action Star Trek episodes have insisted on using a 2.4:1 aspect ratio that’s more commonly seen in films.
If you’re watching a film at the cinema, that’s basically become the industry standard. But most televisions – and even many fancy home theatre setups – still use 16:9 or 16:10 screens, meaning that Star Trek episodes have awkward and ugly black bars above and below the picture. I just feel that this is an unnecessary gimmick, and that I’d prefer to see episodes in a standard widescreen format.
The “letterbox” in Strange New Worlds.
To be fair, this isn’t an issue that’s exclusive to the Star Trek franchise, as it’s been seen in shows like The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi over in the Star Wars franchise as well, and seems to be increasingly in vogue for modern television series. But to me it still feels like a gimmick at best, and something that may end up making TV shows of this era feel dated in years to come.
Any time I watch a video with ugly black bars around it, it makes me feel like I’m not seeing the full picture; as if something has been cut off. This applies when watching older shows in 4:3 as well. So if everyone could stick to a standard widescreen format that would be great!
Number 6: A return to more episodic storytelling.
Discovery set the stage for serialised storytelling in modern Star Trek.
To be fair, this has already happened with the likes of Lower Decks and, of course, Strange New Worlds. But it would be great to see more of a focus on episodic, “monster-of-the-week” storytelling from Star Trek going forward. That was where the franchise began, and there are many benefits to this approach.
In the wake of projects like Lost and Game of Thrones we saw a lot of television shows try to take a more serialised approach – with varying results. Some series and franchises can pull it off more successfully than others, but the fundamental weakness in this approach – as Lost, Game of Thrones, and some recent seasons of Star Trek have shown – is that you have to absolutely nail the full story, and particularly have a well-written, thoroughly planned ending.
There’s a reason why no one talks about Game of Thrones anymore.
In short, the weakness in serialised storytelling is that one or two bad episodes, particularly if they come at the end, can sour an entire season or even an entire series. Look at how the two-part finale of Picard Season 1 put a downer on the whole season, or for a more extreme example how Game of Thrones’ eighth season effectively killed off the entire series.
Episodic storytelling is less risky in that regard! One bad episode doesn’t ruin an entire story, and that’s a big point in its favour. But moreover, the Star Trek galaxy is well-suited to these kinds of one-and-done stories. It allows for a lot more freedom and creativity, and would allow us as the audience to take a look and many more aliens, many more planets, and to get a much broader perspective. There’s a place for serialised storytelling within Star Trek – but not in every project.
Number 7: Properly address international distribution issues.
There’s a world beyond America’s borders…
One of the main weights around the neck of the Star Trek franchise right now is the appalling international distribution situation. It really feels like Paramount doesn’t care in the slightest about any non-American fans – and in the globalised, connected marketplace we’re in in 2022, that’s not acceptable.
Star Trek is one of the big selling points for Paramount+… but if the streaming platform isn’t available and there are no concrete plans to make it available in the short-term, Paramount needs to do something else to ensure non-American fans can watch the latest episodes of Star Trek. As I’ve already pointed out, Paramount Global owns or co-owns a massive number of television channels all across the world, and they have the ability to do deals with the likes of Netflix, Google, Amazon, and others.
Paramount’s approach feels very Trumpian.
The lack of international distribution for Lower Decks Season 1, Prodigy, Strange New Worlds, and most egregiously Discovery Season 4 was entirely Paramount’s fault. They chose to broadcast these shows in the United States without getting international broadcasts set up, and they could have either worked harder to get that set up or delayed those shows if they couldn’t.
There are many Trekkies outside of the United States who feel hurt by this – and as I continue to point out, this harms the reputations of Paramount and Star Trek all across the world. Paramount needs to do more – and quickly – to address this situation and ensure that fans all over the world can watch and share in every new episode of Star Trek. If they won’t do that, the Star Trek franchise and Paramount+ will be in serious jeopardy. It’s that simple.
Number 8: More official merchandise.
Playmates is one of the brands that Star Trek has worked with in the past.
As I said last year when Prodigy premiered, it was incredibly poor from Paramount to broadcast a television show aimed at kids while offering no kid-friendly tie-in products like toys, playsets, and dress-up costumes. Merchandise is a money-maker in itself, of course, but it’s also a great way to signal that the Star Trek franchise is back and here to stay.
One of my earliest Star Trek memories isn’t an episode or film, but a product. My uncle showed my a toy phaser that he had when I was very young, and that memory has stuck with me. For kids, toys and games can push them to check out a television show or franchise for the first time, and just by seeing Star Trek-branded products on shelves, more people will be aware of the fact that new shows and films are being made.
A modern action figure of Q.
Star Wars has an excellent approach to merchandise – and that’s always been the case. In the 1990s Star Trek was a close competitor, and I have a number of figures in my collection from that era. Even relatively minor characters like Morn found themselves turned into action figures – and Star Trek needs to get back to doing that. There’s a place for expensive collectables too, but more than anything Star Trek needs the playsets and toys that it used to be so good at creating.
We’re seeing moves in the right direction here, with the likes of Mego and Playmates coming online and starting to produce more toys and products, but Paramount still needs to do more. At this rate, Prodigy’s entire first year will have come and gone without a single toy or tie-in product being created, and to me that just screams “amateurish.”
Number 9: Restart the Short Treks series and create more one-off stories, mini-episodes, and TV movies.
There’s a lot of untapped potential in Short Treks.
There are many Star Trek concepts and ideas that don’t have a place in the wider franchise. Some pitches from well-known actors and writers may not make for a great film or series, but could be adapted to be a one-off, a mini-episode, or even a TV movie. With the investments that have been made in sets, the AR wall, and so on, it’s easier than ever to do this.
These one-shot projects would also be commercially useful for Paramount+, convincing subscribers to remain engaged with the platform in between seasons of Star Trek’s main shows. That was the original purpose behind Short Treks (even if it was never stated up-front!) and it makes a lot of sense.
One Short Treks episode told us more about Saru.
Short Treks as a format could be the gateway to some incredibly diverse and varied stories, potentially revisiting classic characters and episodes in a way that the franchise’s main shows wouldn’t be able to. And aside from the fan-service, one-shot episodes and TV movies could be excellent gateways into the Star Trek franchise for newbies or for viewers who’ve just begun to dip their toes into Star Trek.
By making use of existing sets and props as much as possible, at least some of these projects could be relatively inexpensive to create – another big point in their favour.
Number 10: Use less CGI in favour of more practical effects and props.
A combination of practical and digital effects in Star Trek: Picard.
Some episodes of modern Star Trek are overladen with CGI, including in places where no CGI should really be necessary. CGI is great in some instances, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t have to be used in every case for every shot!
Star Wars has found success by returning to physical props and puppets and making use of more practical effects, and those moves have won praise from many fans. Star Trek could absolutely go down the same road, creating more models, physical props, and prosthetics for alien races instead of relying entirely on CGI.
The USS Discovery at warp.
Some older episodes of Star Trek haven’t aged well because of some of their sets and props, but I think that can also apply to CGI. CGI-heavy projects from 10-15 years ago can look pretty amateurish by today’s standards, so we shouldn’t worry too much about how “dated” something may or may not look in the years ahead.
There are some wonderful sets, some amazing prosthetics, and some fantastic props that have been created for modern Star Trek. And as I pointed out above, relying too much on one set or one outdoor location can be detrimental, too! But for my money, Star Trek could absolutely make use of more physical props, puppets, and visual effects.
So that’s it!
The Star Trek Universe logo.
“If I ruled the world…” or in this case, if I were in charge of the Star Trek franchise, those are some of the changes I’d like to make. Some are more important than others, naturally, and none of this is to say that what Star Trek has been doing so far is bad. Just that there are changes that could be made to improve things. In my subjective opinion, of course!
I hope that this was a bit of fun, and you can find longer articles that go into more detail about some of the subjects discussed above right here on the website. If you’re new around here, I write about Star Trek a lot! So stay tuned for more Star Trek content to come.
The Star Trek franchise – including all films and series mentioned 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.
I’m trying to get my thoughts in order with June just around the corner. Here in the UK we’re just over three weeks away from the (alleged) launch date of Paramount+, and despite my criticisms of Paramount Global and the jokes I’ve made on social media, I truly want to be able to sign up for the platform and give my financial backing to the renewed Star Trek franchise. But I’m not sure that I can, at least not at the moment.
As a disabled person on a fixed income, the current inflation and cost of living crisis is hitting me particularly hard. Since the start of this year I’ve cancelled my plans for an upgrade to my slow internet connection and also let go of my Netflix subscription. I’d originally signed up for Netflix in order to be able to watch Star Trek: Discovery in 2017, and although there are still Netflix projects that interest me, the removal of the Star Trek franchise from the platform was a big factor in choosing to cancel that subscription.
I originally signed up for Netflix to be able to watch Star Trek: Discovery.
Right now I have two subscriptions that I pay for: Xbox Game Pass and Disney+. In order to be able to afford Paramount+, realistically I’d have to cancel one or the other. And the problem there is simple: I regularly use and enjoy both. Subscribing to Game Pass has meant that I’ve only had to buy one game since the start of the year (Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, in case you were wondering). It’s a good service – for now, at least – that offers a decent number of games, and although I don’t spend as much time gaming as I did say a decade ago, Game Pass still has a lot to offer.
Disney+ has a few new shows that I’m interested in, like the current Obi-Wan Kenobi series, but more than that it’s a service that carries a lot of shows that I’ve enjoyed in years past. The likes of Futurama or Scubs make great background viewing; light entertainment that I don’t need to think too deeply about. Kids’ cartoon Phineas and Ferb is one of my comfort shows that I turn to on days when my mental health is poor, and Disney+ even carries shows like Lost and a diverse array of documentaries and films.
I watch quite a lot of things on Disney+ these days.
I feel like the debate I’m currently having internally about streaming kind of encapsulates a broader issue with the oversaturated streaming market, but more significantly for Paramount Global and the Star Trek franchise, it shows how being too late to the party can be incredibly costly. I’m not trying to decide between Paramount+ and Disney+ in a vacuum with both services on an equal footing; I already have Disney+, so in order to be able to afford Paramount+, Paramount needs to convince me to give up what I already have.
Perhaps the cost of living crisis of 2022 has blown the lid off things – it certainly has for me, at least – but these kinds of conflicts were inevitable, and not every streaming service currently on the market can survive. Perhaps current events will accelerate the decline of some of the lesser ones – such as CNN+, which cost parent company Time Warner over $300 million and lasted barely one month – but with the market having become so crowded and so anti-consumer, there simply isn’t room for everyone.
There have been some high-profile streaming failures already.
I’ve argued this point before – in an article that you can find by clicking or tapping here – but I really think it makes a lot of sense for some of the lesser companies to get out of the streaming game and focus instead on making content, not trying to make their own platform. The Star Trek franchise could be a good example of how this could work; Discovery was sold to Netflix, but Picard and Lower Decks were sold to Amazon Prime Video. Other media companies could take a similar approach, selling their shows and films to the highest-bidding streaming platform without making a cast-iron commitment to always work exclusively with a single platform.
That has to be the future, doesn’t it? It isn’t affordable for most households to pay for four, five, or six different streaming subscriptions even at the best of times, so something’s got to give sooner or later. As inflation and the cost of living continue to bite around the world – and with no sign of things improving at least in the short-term – I’d expect similar conversations to be happening in a lot of households. It’s possible that we’ll even start to see the impact of this on the streaming market pretty soon.
It’s increasingly unaffordable for folks to keep adding new streaming subscriptions.
I’ve written about piracy here on the website on more than one occasion. Although it can be hard to explain how I feel in just a few words, I’ll give it a shot: when a series, film, or video game is made available, I’m firmly in the camp that says “pay for it.” If everyone turned to piracy there’d be no future for entertainment; it wouldn’t be possible to keep creating new films, games, or shows if no one was paying for and supporting the creation of those projects. So with Paramount+ slowly stumbling its way towards its UK launch, almost by default I felt sure that I’d be signing up.
As a big Trekkie and someone who loves the Star Trek franchise, I want to be in a position of contributing to its success, even when Paramount Global as a corporation has misbehaved when it comes to international fans. The reason for that is pretty simple: I want Star Trek to be financially successful so that it’ll continue to be produced for many years to come. I don’t want to be a pirate, especially not when it comes to Star Trek. The fact that Paramount forced fans like me into piracy with their decisions over Discovery Season 4, Prodigy, and Strange New Worlds remains a source of disappointment.
I want to see Star Trek succeed.
But now, with the cost of living and inflation biting me in the backside, I’m left wondering whether my best option in the short-term is to rely on my DVDs and Blu-rays for older shows and pirate the final few episodes of Strange New Worlds. By the time Paramount+ lands in the UK there will only be three weeks left in the first season of Strange New Worlds – and even if Prodigy or Lower Decks are going to be hot on its heels, it hardly seems worth signing up for a new subscription to get three episodes of a single series.
Perhaps I’m clutching at straws trying to justify accessing media that I can’t afford. Maybe it’s the curse of those of us on low and fixed incomes that, in a world of dozens of streaming subscriptions, it’s too expensive to be able to afford to watch everything. Do the cost of living crisis and inflation justify piracy? Is piracy, as some like to claim, a form of theft? If I can’t afford Paramount+, shouldn’t I find ways to cut other things out of my budget so that I can – and if I’m unable or unwilling to do that, shouldn’t I then stick to that commitment and stop watching these new Star Trek shows?
Piracy remains a tempting option.
These are some of the questions rolling around in my head at the moment! Maybe I should just shut up, review new episodes of Star Trek and whatever else, and let everyone reading assume that I paid for everything completely legitimately. But this website is my only real outlet for talking about some of these issues, and with the cost of living and inflation being big worries at the moment and weighing on my mind, I wanted to talk about it and not just cover it up and pretend like everything is fine.
This is far from the worst financial crisis I’ve personally had to deal with. Ever been so broke that you had “sleep for dinner?” I’ve been there. I’ve been to the supermarket with only a bunch of coins that I managed to scrounge up from pockets and down the back of the sofa, buying food for a couple of days without knowing when or how I’d be able to afford the next shop. And I’ve been in a position of turning off the heat and wearing a coat, gloves, and three pairs of socks in the living room in order to save money. Compared to that – and compared to what many folks are going through right now, too – having to choose between different streaming services because I can’t afford all of them… well it doesn’t exactly matter, does it?
I’ve been in worse financial positions at other points in my life…
But at the same time, there is a broader point here. Paramount+ is about to launch in an incredibly difficult market, one in which some of the biggest fans of the corporation’s most popular franchises are going to struggle to afford the service. The longer-term prospects of Paramount+, and whether it will ever be able to break into the top tier of streaming platforms alongside Netflix and Disney+, remains very much in question – and with that question comes fears for the longer-term sustainability of Star Trek. As a fan, that concerns me.
Decisions going back a decade or more on the part of big entertainment corporations have led to this point, and while the current jump in inflation and rise in the cost of living may have exposed some of these issues of affordability sooner than expected, it was inevitable that we’d reach this point in such an oversaturated marketplace. As a Star Trek fan I want to support Star Trek and I want the company that owns it and the platform on which it’s available to be financially successful – but I can’t commit to backing Paramount+ with a long-term subscription at the moment. If the cost of living crisis worsens in the months ahead – and with energy bills set to rise significantly in October, just in time for the winter, it very well may – I’ll be needing to cut back even more on the few services I already pay for, and there’ll be absolutely no place for anything new.
It’s a tough market, and Paramount Global’s many mistakes and offensive decisions have not endeared the corporation or its latest venture to the people who should be its biggest supporters. I wish Paramount+ well as a Star Trek fan who wants the franchise to succeed… but I’m unsure whether I’ll be able to make a long-term commitment to it right now.
Paramount+ is available in the United States, Scandinavia, Australia, and parts of Latin America now, with launches in the UK and South Korea in June 2022. Further international launch dates are yet to be announced. Paramount+ and the Star Trek franchise are owned by Paramount Global. Some stock images used above are courtesy of Pixabay. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the entire Star Trek franchise, including Picard Season 2, Discovery Season 4, Prodigy Season 1, Strange New Worlds Season 1, and more.
With Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard purportedly being the series’ last, I’m not ready to give up the 25th Century! Ever since Nemesis in 2002, I’d been desperately keen to see Star Trek show us what happened next; to move its timeline along. After the briefest of glimpses in 2009’s Star Trek, it was Picard that finally scratched that itch! Although Discovery is still in production with a fifth season being worked on, that show’s 32nd Century is far removed from the characters, factions, and themes of The Next Generation era. That’s why today I wanted to consider ten possibilities or concepts for shows that could pick up the baton from Picard.
For me, The Next Generation era – i.e. the late 24th Century setting that also includes Deep Space Nine and Voyager – is the franchise’s “golden age.” These shows – and the four films made during that time, too – represent the bulk of Star Trek’s 800+ episodes, and while there are definitely points of interest in the 22nd Century and 23rd Century that the franchise could revisit, for me it’s this time period that I’d like to see picked up for more adventures.
Captain Picard.
With Star Trek: Picard having established the dawn of the 25th Century as its setting, I really do feel that there’s scope to build on what’s been created so far. Season 3 may spend more time with Starfleet, but as of the end of Season 2 at least, there’s a lot we haven’t seen of this era. Picking up some of the characters, factions, storylines, and themes from past iterations of Star Trek is a big part of why spending more time in this era is worthwhile, but that doesn’t mean that every potential 25th Century project has to be a straight-up sequel to something that’s come before. I’d be thrilled to see a Strange New Worlds-style semi-episodic exploration-focused series with a brand-new cast, for example, set in this time period.
Although Picard Season 3 is still being worked on and likely won’t hit our screens until next year, I sincerely hope that the creative teams over at Paramount have already considered their next move. Alex Kurtzman (who is in charge of the Star Trek franchise for Paramount) has stated that there are other concepts in early development, and that as the current shows come to the end of their runs, these new shows would begin to be worked on. Whether any of the series concepts that he was referring to are going to be set in the 25th Century is unknown – but there are significant advantages to doing so.
Alex Kurtzman was interviewed by Wil Wheaton for Star Trek Day back in September and commented on the potential Starfleet Academy series.
I would wager that a significant portion of the Star Trek fan community would rank at least one of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, or Voyager in their top two favourite shows. And fans under the age of forty literally won’t be able to remember a time before The Next Generation! Most fans of my age will have either come to Star Trek during The Next Generation era or will have encountered it soon after becoming a fan; The Next Generation era was dominant from 1987 to 2002.
Fans who were invested in storylines like the Dominion War, the Maquis, Voyager’s journey home, and many, many more are interested to know what came next for their favourite characters. Picard has shown us a little of this – with a focus on Admiral Picard himself, naturally – and there have also been teases and glimpses in Lower Decks, Prodigy, and potentially in Discovery’s 32nd Century, too. But there’s a heck of a lot of room to do more.
The new USS Stargazer.
With Strange New Worlds flying the flag for the 23rd Century, and Discovery off doing its own thing in the far future, there’s a gap in live-action Star Trek that at least one 25th Century project needs to fill. Having established a few interesting details about what we must now call the Picard era, it would be positively criminal for Paramount to just abandon it. There are so many characters who we could catch up with, so many incomplete storylines to resume, and so many codas and epilogues still to be written.
Time is marching on, too – a sad reality for all of us. It won’t always be possible to bring back original actors and the characters that they portrayed, so it’s really a case of “if not now, when?” Wait too long to greenlight projects set in this time period and it may be too late to bring back certain characters.
So with all of that in mind I’ve put together a list of a few Star Trek projects that I personally think could be interesting and could pick up the baton from Picard. Although I feel confident that conversations are happening about future projects set in this era behind closed doors, my usual caveat applies: I have no “insider information.” I’m not trying to claim that any of these ideas will be picked up and make it to screen. This is a wishlist from a fan, and nothing more! It’s also entirely subjective, so if you hate all of my ideas or I don’t include something that you think should obviously be included, then that’s okay! There’s plenty of room within the Star Trek fan community for respectful disagreement and civil conversations!
Concept #1: Starfleet Academy
The emblem of Starfleet Academy.
When Lieutenant Tilly departed the USS Discovery early in Season 4, she became an instructor at Starfleet Academy in the 32nd Century. With her departure episode feeling like somewhat of a backdoor pilot thanks to introducing us to a handful of cadets, I’m sure I’m not alone in assuming that the heavily rumoured Starfleet Academy series will be set in the 32nd Century with Tilly as a major character. So that’s a big caveat to this potential project!
But a 25th Century Starfleet Academy series has a lot of potential, too. As a direct spin-off from Picard it could bring back characters like Raffi and Elnor, the latter of whom has already been established as a Starfleet cadet. That could even give meaning to Elnor’s unexpected survival at the end of Season 2.
Cadet Elnor in Picard Season 2.
A 25th Century Starfleet Academy series would be perfect for bringing back all sorts of characters from Star Trek’s past. We could learn, for instance, that Miles O’Brien is still at the Academy teaching engineering – as was established at the end of Deep Space Nine. Even if Chief O’Brien wasn’t a major character he could still make occasional appearances in that role.
One of the big advantages to a Starfleet Academy series right now is how it could serve as a kind of soft landing for new, younger fans who’ve been enjoying Prodigy. A series starring young adult cadets (or featuring cadets in major roles even if they aren’t the exclusive focus) would be a natural next step in so many ways, and could be a gateway into the Star Trek fandom for legions of newcomers. Just as holo-Janeway has been a guide in Prodigy, a returning character could fill a similar role here.
Concept #2: The Seven and Raffi show
Seven of Nine and Raffi in the Picard Season 2 finale.
When Season 2 of Picard premiered, I really thought that a USS Stargazer spin-off with Captain Rios in command would be a fantastic new series. That can’t happen now (and after Rios’ disappointing regression in Season 2, I don’t think I’d want it anymore anyway), but there is still the possibility to see a direct spin-off. This version would feature Seven of Nine and Raffi.
Although Seven of Nine’s captaincy of the USS Stargazer in Farewell felt very much like a brevet or a temporary thing, I feel there’s potential to see her given a commission in Starfleet. Raffi certainly felt that she would make an excellent captain! So maybe the next Star Trek series could be Star Trek: Stargazer with Captain Seven and XO Raffi taking the USS Stargazer on all kinds of adventures.
Captain Seven.
Seven of Nine is particularly well-suited to feature in stories that focus on the Borg, but there’s more to her character than that. I’m not sure whether a traditional exploration-focused series would be the best fit; maybe Seven and Raffi’s ship would be a rapid-response vessel designed for combat and tactical missions. An overtly action-oriented series would be new to Star Trek, so this could be a fun experiment to see how well it could work.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Seven of Nine’s arc across the first two seasons of Picard. It’s been cathartic to see a character I once disliked for her dull and repetitive storylines undergo genuine and lasting growth, and we might just be reaching a point where Seven of Nine is a strong enough character to take on the challenge of headlining a brand-new series of her own… supported by Raffi, of course!
Concept #3: Captain Sisko’s return
Captain Sisko.
Perhaps better-suited to being a miniseries or limited series, I really love the idea of Captain Sisko finally returning to the galaxy after spending time with the Prophets. At the end of Deep Space Nine, Sisko promised us that he wasn’t really gone and that he would return “one day.” After more than twenty years, could “one day” finally be just around the corner?
It’s worth acknowledging that Avery Brooks has seemed less willing than some other former Star Trek actors to reprise his role, and although there has been speculation as to why that may be, there’s never been any definitive statement from the man himself. I wouldn’t want to see Sisko recast at this moment in time (nor recreated through some kind of CGI process), so if Avery Brooks isn’t interested, the project won’t get off the ground.
In The Pale Moonlight is one of my all-time favourite Star Trek episodes.
One massive advantage to bringing back Captain Sisko is that he’d make a wonderful point-of-view character for us as the audience. As someone who’s spent decades away from the galaxy, Sisko would be just as interested as we are to learn what happened to his friends, to Deep Space Nine, to the Cardassians and Dominion, and so on. A Sisko-focused series could get away with dropping a lot of exposition in a way that feels natural, bringing us up to speed on the events of the past couple of decades without it feeling out-of-place.
More than that, though, I want to spend more time with Captain Sisko. Although picking favourites is hard, Sisko has always been one of the best and most interesting characters of The Next Generation era, and one of the best captains in the Star Trek franchise. Bringing him back would be just as impactful as bringing back Picard has been, and providing an epilogue and closure to Sisko’s story would be absolutely worth doing.
Concept #4: Section 31
A black Section 31 combadge in the mid-23rd Century.
The untitled Section 31 series was announced in 2019, shortly before Season 2 of Discovery aired. But since then, the supposedly ready-to-go project has been sidelined. Lack of interest from fans was part of the equation, perhaps, but Strange New Worlds certainly stole its thunder too!
The proposed series was to follow ex-Terran Empress Georgiou as she worked with the shadowy organisation that was first introduced in Deep Space Nine, and after Georgiou went through some significant character growth in Discovery’s third season, she finally seemed to get to a place where she could potentially take on the role of a morally ambiguous Section 31 leader without feeling like someone who resorts to violence and literal genocide at the drop of a hat.
Empress Georgiou’s departure.
To briefly recap, Georgiou had to leave the 32nd Century due to suffering from a technobabble illness that appeared to be fatal, and she was permitted to do so by the Guardian of Forever. If a suitable explanation could be found, Georgiou could potentially emerge in the 25th Century, setting the stage for her to play a role in Section 31 in this time period.
Alternatively, a Section 31 show set in this era could drop Georgiou altogether and focus on new characters instead. With Borg, Romulans, super-synths, strange anomalies, and other potential threats to the Federation that we’ve glimpsed in Picard, Section 31 could have a lot of work to do in this era!
Concept #5: A new exploration-focused series
The original USS Enterprise.
Strange New Worlds is currently flying the flag for semi-episodic “old school Star Trek” with a big focus on exploration. But this is the foundation of Star Trek; the franchise’s roots. Returning to this format in the 25th Century could be absolutely fantastic – and it could be a fun way to include a mix of new and legacy characters.
One of the limitations faced by Strange New Worlds is that it’s set a decade before The Original Series. There’s still a lot of wiggle room in that time period, and we could see Captain Pike make first contact with new and familiar alien races alike. But there are still constraints on which alien races can be included and how, and what stories Captain Pike and the crew could reasonably take part in.
Captain Pike.
In contrast, a new exploration series set in the 25th Century would basically have free rein to hop all across the galaxy, meet brand-new aliens, and bring back classic factions without treading on anyone’s toes. As long as such a series avoided Unknown Species 10-C (basically the only major new faction introduced in Discovery’s far future that Captain Burnham made first contact with), a show like this one could do what The Original Series, The Next Generation, and to an extent Voyager all did: set out on a mission of exploration with a blank canvas.
Seeking out strange, new worlds is where Star Trek began; it’s the core mission of Starfleet and the main goal of the Federation. Strange New Worlds is already proving that fans enjoy a series with that kind of focus, so picking up that concept and reworking it to be set in the Picard era absolutely could work.
Concept #6: Hospital ship
The USS Pasteur – a Federation medical ship.
In the ’90s, when I was watching and enjoying the shows of The Next Generation era, this was a concept that I thought could be a ton of fun! I imagined “ER in space,” with a hospital ship like the USS Pasteur being the show’s main setting and a chief medical officer as the main protagonist. My original version of this concept would’ve seen characters like Dr Pulaski and Dr Bashir return; a team-up of some of my favourite medical characters from other Star Trek shows.
Although Dr Pulaski is unlikely to be part of such a series now, there’s definitely scope to bring back the likes of Dr Bashir or Voyager’s EMH, as well as secondary medical staff like Nurse Ogawa, as part of a series that also introduces new characters.
Nurse Alyssa Ogawa.
The hospital ship would travel around the Federation and beyond, lending its services to planets, bases, and starships in need. There’d be illnesses and diseases to cure, natural disasters to bring aid to, and the ship could even be part of major military engagements and battles, tending to wounded soldiers and crewmen. Star Trek has shown us all of these basic concepts before, but this time they’d have an overtly medical focus.
There’s a huge audience for shows like House, ER, and Grey’s Anatomy, and a medical Star Trek series could have an appeal that extends far beyond the franchise’s typical sci-fi niche. Without the constraints of the real world, and with numerous aliens as both staff and patients, there’s almost unlimited potential in terms of creativity as well. We could see new deadly diseases created that could be timely reflections of our pandemic-afflicted world, and we could even take a deeper dive into diseases and medical conditions that have been referenced in past iterations of Star Trek.
Concept #7: Captain Kim
Ensign Harry Kim.
It’s become a bit of a joke in the Star Trek fan community: Harry Kim spent seven years as an ensign without being promoted. Perhaps he could finally get the command he’s always wanted and headline a new Star Trek show in the process!
Harry Kim would be the second major character from Voyager to play a role in this era of Star Trek, and that could lead to crossovers. It could be a lot of fun to see an older and more mature Harry Kim reunite with Seven of Nine – perhaps for the first time in many years. The series could even feature a Voyager reunion of the kind seen in Endgame. And of course, any time we’re talking about Voyager these days there’s the potential to tie in with themes and ideas present in Prodigy.
An older Harry Kim (from an alternate future) in the episode Timeless.
Captain Kim could show us a different side of Starfleet. Perhaps he’s in command of a hospital ship as we were discussing above, or perhaps his vessel is much more scientific in its mission; charting anomalies and stellar phenomena rather than making lots of first contact missions. A series like that would be more personality-driven and serialised rather than episodic with a “monster-of-the-week” to engage with, and I think someone like Harry Kim would excel in that kind of role.
Out of everyone on Voyager, I’d suggest that Harry Kim has perhaps the most potential for growth if he were to return. Considering that we met him on his first mission after graduating – and that he stuck with that “young and eager” characterisation for a long time during Voyager’s run – there’d be something rather cathartic about being reintroduced to an older, more mature Captain Kim.
Concept #8: A Klingon series
General Martok, a 24th Century Klingon leader.
This one would be quite a radical departure from anything that Star Trek has tried before. Leaving the Federation and Starfleet behind, this show would be set aboard a Klingon vessel. A Starfleet officer could be present as a point-of-view character and a way to help us as the audience find both a way in and a frame of reference, but the rest of the characters would be Klingons.
With Worf returning for Picard Season 3, he could become a recurring character on a Klingon-focused series. A character like Worf bridges the gap between the Klingon Empire and Starfleet, and along with a Starfleet officer aboard the ship he could also help ground the series.
Kol, a 23rd Century Klingon who recently appeared in Discovery.
What I like about this idea is that it would be something genuinely bold and different. We’ve spent a lot of time with the Klingons across various iterations of Star Trek – they’re probably the faction we know the most about after the Federation itself. But there’s still plenty of room to expand our understanding of the Klingons, and to show us the next chapter for their Empire in the aftermath of the Dominion War and their alliance with the Federation.
What kind of mission would a Klingon vessel have? If it’s exploration, how different would their approach be to what we’d expect from Starfleet? A Klingon series could also show off different roles for Klingons beyond that of “warrior.” How does a Klingon crew treat its engineers, scientists, and medical personnel, for example? Far from being one-dimensional “baddies,” there’s plenty of room for nuance and to show us a different side to the Klingons, and different Klingon personalities.
Concept #9: Captain Worf
Could Michael Dorn finally get his Captain Worf series?
Sticking with the Klingons, Michael Dorn has been talking about his pitch for a Captain Worf series for the better part of a decade at this point! Although I confess that I remain sceptical of the proposal for a number of reasons, with Worf’s imminent return in Picard Season 3, it has to be considered at least a possibility that there’ll be some kind of backdoor pilot or an attempt to test the waters to see if a Captain Worf series could be viable.
As the character who’s made the most Star Trek appearances (280+, not counting upcoming appearances in Picard Season 3), I feel that we’ve seen more than enough of Worf! We’ve seen his inner conflict between his Klingon and Starfleet identities, his struggles with fatherhood, his marriage and the grief he felt at losing Jadzia… and I’m just not sure where else there is to go.
Worf as he appeared in Season 1 of The Next Generation.
But despite my personal reservations, a Captain Worf series could prove me wrong and be the right move for Star Trek once Picard ends. Like Picard itself, a Captain Worf series would be anchored by its familiar face but perhaps rounded out with a fun group of new characters. There would be potential, perhaps, depending on how things go in Season 3, to bring in someone like Raffi as Worf’s first officer, tying the show to Picard in an even greater way.
As with Seven of Nine and Raffi above, a Captain Worf series could go all-in on action, with Worf commanding a tactical vessel and rushing into dangerous situations and combat missions. Or, in an attempt to put a completely different spin on the character, maybe Captain Worf would be in command of a lightly-armed science vessel on a mission of exploration! That could be a fun way to go and a twist on the expected premise of the series.
Concept #10: Super-synth invasion
The mechanical noodles of the super-synths.
Spoiler alert for a future theory article, but one of my guesses about Picard Season 3 is that the Admiral and his friends will have to face off against the super-synths from Season 1 – and that they’re responsible for the anomaly in Season 2. That would be a neat way to tie all three seasons of the show together!
But assuming that doesn’t happen, I’d love to revisit the super-synths that we only caught a glimpse of in the Season 1 finale. Assuming that their intentions were hostile, and that they planned to attack organic life in the Alpha Quadrant, could a new spin-off revisit that concept and perhaps show the super-synths making their invasion attempt?
Did Soji paint a target on the Alpha Quadrant thanks to her beacon?
This is a reworking of another concept that I’ve had kicking around for some time: a Borg invasion series. But with the Borg having already played a big role in Season 2, perhaps the super-synths could be subbed in to become the antagonists of a series (or miniseries) that sees the Federation involved in a war for its very survival.
This kind of existential threat has been used and re-used in Discovery, and I could understand if some fans wouldn’t want to see it brought back so soon! As I’ve said recently, it’s my hope that Discovery will try something different in Season 5! But it would be fun to bring back the super-synths and to revisit the Federation at war for the first time since Enterprise’s conflict with the Xindi – and it could be a great way to bring in a mix of new and legacy characters.
So that’s it!
Admiral Picard.
Those are ten concepts for Star Trek shows that I think could pick up the baton from Star Trek: Picard in the years ahead, sticking with the early 25th Century and potentially expanding on what Picard has already done.
My “first contact” with Star Trek back in the early 1990s was The Next Generation, and I was a big fan of Deep Space Nine and Voyager during their original broadcast runs as well. With live-action Star Trek series set in the 23rd and 32nd Centuries, it seems to me that Picard’s eventual finale is going to leave a pretty significant hole in the franchise. Even if every major character from The Next Generation returns and gets an amazing goodbye, there are still characters, themes, storylines, and more from Deep Space Nine and Voyager that I’ve been longing to see picked up for more than two decades!
Deep Space Nine.
If it were up to me, the early 25th Century would probably be the main setting that I’d want to use for the majority of new Star Trek projects. There was even scope a couple of years ago to bring Captain Burnham and Discovery into this time period, and I think that could’ve worked exceptionally well too. I don’t think that Picard necessarily needs a direct spin-off, bringing back main characters in a huge way, but I’d dearly love to see the setting and time period re-used in future.
I’m hopeful that Season 3 will be a fun adventure with the crew of The Next Generation, and that it can serve as a launchpad for one or more new Star Trek projects set in this era. Whether any of my own ideas will make it… well, I doubt it. But who knows! More than ever it feels like Paramount is listening to Star Trek fans; without a massive fan campaign we would never have seen Strange New Worlds. So there’s a possibility, perhaps, if Picard Season 3 is well-received that a spin-off or follow-up could indeed make it. Time will tell!
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will be broadcast on Paramount+ in the United States and on Amazon Prime Video around the world sometime in the next year or so. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the following Star Trek productions: Picard Seasons 1-2, Discovery Season 3, Strange New Worlds, the Kelvin timeline films, Deep Space Nine, and The Next Generation.
Today I thought we could have a bit of fun! There are many so-called “hot takes” about the Star Trek franchise flitting about online, and I thought it could be a change of pace to share a few of my own. These are – based on my limited engagement with the wider Star Trek fan community, at least – opinions that aren’t widely held or especially popular. I’ll do my best to explain why I feel the way I do about each of the six subjects we’re going to consider below.
More than ever, I ask you to keep in mind that all of this is subjective, not objective! I’m not saying that these opinions are factual and unquestionable; this is just my singular perspective on a handful of very complex topics. As with everything in media, there are going to be a range of views, and while I’ll try to justify my opinions below, I know that a lot of people can and do disagree. And that’s okay! There’s room in the Star Trek fan community for respectful disagreement about all manner of things.
With all of that out of the way, this is your last chance to jump ship if you aren’t interested in some potentially controversial Star Trek opinions!
“Hot Take” #1: Star Trek: Picard transformed Seven of Nine into an enjoyable character for the first time.
Seven of Nine in Picard Season 2.
Star Trek: Picard hasn’t been perfect across its first two seasons, but one thing that it absolutely got right is Seven of Nine’s characterisation. Seven was an unexpected character for the series to introduce – she’d never interacted with Jean-Luc Picard on screen before, and the pair hadn’t even the barest bones of a relationship to build on. In that sense, I was surprised (and maybe a little concerned) when it was made clear that she’d be featured in a big way in the first season.
Perhaps I should explain myself before we go any further. Seven of Nine was introduced midway through Voyager’s run in the two-part episode Scorpion. At first she seemed to be a character with a lot of potential, and I enjoyed what she brought to the table in early Season 4 episodes such as Scientific Method and The Raven. But Seven very quickly became repetitive. Week after week she’d learn some lesson in “how to be more human” from the Doctor or Captain Janeway, but she’d seem to forget all about it and revert to her semi-Borg self by the next episode. This was exacerbated by the fact that Voyager’s latter seasons seemed to include a lot of Seven-heavy episodes and stories, making her a prominent character.
Publicity photo of Seven of Nine during Voyager’s run.
That’s how episodic television works, and I get that. Most other Star Trek characters up to that point in the franchise’s history also “reset” in between episodes, and we could talk at length about how characters like Miles O’Brien could go through some horrible trauma one week only to be happily playing darts at Quark’s a few days later as if it never happened. But with Seven of Nine, a combination of her prominence and storylines that often revolved around learning and taking to heart some aspect of what it means to be human and exist outside of the Borg Collective meant that her week-to-week resets and lack of significant growth really began to grate. Toward the end of Season 7, Seven was given an arc of sorts that threw her into a relationship with Chakotay – but I’m hardly the only person who feels that didn’t work particularly well!
So by the time Voyager ended, I was burnt out on Seven of Nine. Out of all the main characters from Voyager, she was perhaps the one I was least interested to see picked up for a second bite of the cherry – but I was wrong about that. Where Seven had been static and repetitive in Voyager, Picard gave her that development I’d been longing to see, and it was incredibly cathartic! Even though Seven’s post-Voyager life hadn’t been smooth, it had been human, and seeing her experience genuine emotions like anger, betrayal, and later through her relationship with Raffi, love, was something I didn’t know I wanted. Having seen it now, though, there’s no way I’d want to lose this element of Picard.
Seven with Admiral Picard.
The death of Icheb, which was shown in one of Picard Season 1’s most gory sequences, became a key part of Seven’s character arc. His loss devastated her – and the idea that Seven of Nine could be devastated was already a colossal leap for her character. That it spurred her on to one of the most human of desires – revenge – is even more significant for her. And this growth continued across the rest of Season 1, with Seven coming face-to-face with the Borg and even becoming a leader (of sorts) for the liberated ex-Borg on the Artifact.
Even though Season 2 was a mixed bag (at best) with some lacklustre storylines, Seven of Nine shone once again. Her relationship with Raffi added a whole new dimension to her character, and after seeing her experiencing anger and negative emotions in Season 1, Season 2 gave her a chance at love. Season 2 also saw Seven revelling in a new experience, having hopped across to a new timeline and found herself in a body that had never been assimilated. That set her on an arc to accepting herself for who she is – including her Borg past.
Seven without her trademark Borg implants.
Seven’s journey has been beautiful to see, but also cathartic. To me, her journey in Picard feels like it’s righted a twenty-year wrong, finally giving Seven of Nine genuine development and an arc that stuck. While I’m sure fans can and will debate individual plot points (like Icheb’s death or Seven’s off-screen involvement with the Fenris Rangers), taken as a whole I’ve really enjoyed what Picard did with what had been one of my least-favourite characters of The Next Generation era.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for more from Seven of Nine – and if you’d told me in 2000-2001 that I’d write those words I wouldn’t have believed you!
“Hot Take” #2: I don’t like The Inner Light.
Picard/Kamin in The Inner Light.
Often held up as an example of The Next Generation at its best, I’ve never enjoyed The Inner Light. It’s an episode I usually skip over without a second thought when re-watching The Next Generation, but I put myself through the chore of viewing it recently; it’s part of what inspired me to put together this list!
The Inner Light steps away from the exciting adventures of the Enterprise-D to show us a pre-warp civilisation living on a random alien backwater planet, and while exploring strange new worlds is part of the gig, the way this episode in particular does that is just not interesting or enjoyable in the slightest. It’s certainly “different” – and I will concede that point. Star Trek has never been shy about experimenting, after all! But this particular experiment didn’t work, which is probably why we haven’t really seen another episode quite like it.
Picard with the Kataan probe.
I don’t like to say that something “doesn’t feel like Star Trek,” not least because that vague and unhelpful phrase has become associated with a subgroup of so-called fans who use it to attack everything the franchise has done since 2009. But to me, The Inner Light feels about as far away from what I want and hope to see from an episode of Star Trek as it’s possible to get.
By spending practically its entire runtime in the past, with Picard taking on the role of an alien blacksmith in a pre-warp society, The Inner Light abandons not only the entire crew of the Enterprise-D, but also many of the fundamental adventurous elements that are what makes Star Trek, well… feel like Star Trek. Its deliberately slow pace doubles-down on this sensation, and The Inner Light seems to drag as a result, coming across as boring.
Picard/Kamin playing the flute.
I’m not particularly bothered by the way the Kataan probe operates – that seems technobabbley enough to get a pass. But after Picard has been hit by the probe and the majority of the episode is then spent on Kataan with Kamin and his family… I’m just not interested. Sir Patrick Stewart is a great actor, and what happened to the Kataan people is both tragic and a timely reminder of our own burgeoning environmental catastrophe (something that we haven’t even tried to fix more than a quarter of a century later). But despite all of the elements being in place, the story just doesn’t grab me like I feel it should. At the end of the day, I can’t find a way to give a shit about Kataan, nor about Kamin or anyone else.
There are many episodes of Star Trek with races and characters who only appear once, and yet very few of them manage to evoke that same “I just don’t care” reaction. Just within Season 5 of The Next Generation we have characters like Hugh the Borg and Nicholas Locarno, or aliens like the Children of Tama and the Ux-Mal, all of which manage to hook me in and get me invested in their storylines. I’d generally consider The Next Generation’s fifth season to be one of its best, with many of my favourite episodes. But The Inner Light isn’t one of them.
Picard/Kamin overlooking the village of Ressik.
There are points to The Inner Light that did work. The Ressikan flute theme, for example, is a beautiful piece of music, and Picard’s flute-playing ability (which he learned during the events of The Inner Light) would become a minor recurring element for his character going forward, notably appearing in episodes like Lessons. And the underlying premise of a probe that transmits a message in this way could have worked; it feels quite Star Trek-y in and of itself.
But for me, The Inner Light just isn’t fun to watch. It’s boring, uninspiring, and I can’t find a way to get invested in the story of Kataan and its people – despite good performances from Sir Patrick Stewart and the other actors present.
“Hot Take” #3: Modern Trek needs to pick a single era (and timeline) and stick to it.
Admiral Vance and Captain Burnham in the 32nd Century.
Star Trek, perhaps more so than any other major entertainment franchise, is convoluted. As Trekkies, we love that! The fact that modern Star Trek can explore different timelines, different eras, and broadcast different shows that are entirely separate from one another makes for a diverse and interesting presentation. It also means that we can simultaneously step back in time to before Captain Kirk’s five-year mission while also seeing what came next for Captain Picard twenty-five years after the events of Nemesis.
But try to look at Star Trek from the point of view of a newcomer. Every single one of the five shows currently in production is set in a different time period and location, and just figuring out where to start with Star Trek – or where to go next for someone who’s enjoyed watching one of the new shows – is the subject of essays, articles, and lists. It’s beginning to remind me of Star Wars’ old Expanded Universe – a combination of games, books, comics, and so on that had become so convoluted and dense after decades in production that it felt offputting.
Cadet Elnor in the 25th Century.
In order for Star Trek to successfully convert viewers of one of its new iterations into fans of the franchise, it needs to simplify its current output. A fan of Strange New Worlds might think that their next port of call should be Picard or Lower Decks – but they’d be completely lost because those shows are set more than a century later.
The lack of a single, unified setting also prevents crossover stories – and these aren’t just fun fan-service for Trekkies like us! Crossovers link up separate Star Trek outings, bringing fans of one show into close contact with another. Just as The Next Generation did with Deep Space Nine (and DS9 did with Voyager), modern Star Trek should make the effort to link up its current shows. There are links between Discovery and Strange New Worlds – but any crossover potential has evaporated due to Discovery shooting forward into the far future.
Beckett Mariner and Jennifer the Andorian in the late 24th Century.
This also applies to alternate realities, most significantly the Kelvin timeline which is supposedly being brought back for a fourth film. The Kelvin films served a purpose in the late 2000s and early 2010s, but as I’ve argued in the past, is it really a good idea to bring back that setting – as well as its presentation of characters who have recently been recast for Strange New Worlds – with everything else that Star Trek has going on?
In 2009, it was possible for new fans to jump from the Kelvin films to other iterations of Star Trek and keep up with what’s going on. But we’ve had more than 100 new episodes of Star Trek since then across several different eras, some including recast versions of characters who appeared in the Kelvin timeline films. I’m not so sure that a new Kelvin timeline film serves its intended purpose any more.
Captain Pike in the 23rd Century.
I wouldn’t want to see any of the shows currently in production shut down before their time. We’ve only just got started with Strange New Worlds, for instance, and I’m hopeful that that series will run for at least five seasons (to complete Captain Pike’s five-year mission!) But as the current crop of shows wind down, the producers at Paramount need to consider their next moves very carefully. Where should Star Trek go from here, and where should its focus be?
Discovery’s 32nd Century is certainly a contender, and setting the stage for new adventures years after the stories we know provides a soft reboot for the franchise while also opening up new storytelling possibilities. But it would also be great to see Star Trek return to the late 24th or early 25th Centuries of the Picard era, picking up story threads from The Next Generation era – Star Trek’s real “golden age” in the 1990s. Setting all (or almost all) of its films, shows, miniseries, and one-shot stories in a single, unified timeline has many advantages, and would be to the franchise’s overall benefit.
Stay tuned, because I have a longer article about this in the pipeline!
“Hot Take” #4: Far Beyond The Stars is an unenjoyable episode, albeit one with a very important message.
Benny Russell in Far Beyond The Stars.
This is my way of saying that “I don’t like Far Beyond The Stars” while still giving credit to the moral story at its core. Star Trek has always been a franchise that’s brought moral fables to screen, and Far Beyond The Stars does this in a very intense – and almost brutal – way, shining a light on America’s racist past and present.
But as I’ve already discussed with The Inner Light above, the way in which this story is presented doesn’t really work for me. I find Benny Russell’s story sympathetic… but because what’s happening is so far removed from the events of Deep Space Nine, it’s difficult to turn that investment over the course of a single episode into anything substantial. The “it was all a dream or a vision” explanation also hammers this home; whatever was happening to Captain Sisko was taking place outside of the real world – perhaps inside his head, perhaps as a vision from the Prophets – and thus it doesn’t feel like it matters – in the context of the show – in the same way as other, similar stories.
Julius and Benny.
Far Beyond The Stars is comparable to The Inner Light insofar as it steps out of the Star Trek franchise’s fictional future. In this case, the story returns to our real world a few short years in the past. While there are occasional flashes of Star Trek’s signature optimism, the darker tone of the story combines with its real-world setting to feel different; separate from not only the events of Star Trek, but its entire universe.
“But that’s the whole point!” fans of Far Beyond The Stars are itching to tell me. And I agree! Far Beyond The Stars knows what it’s trying to be and knows the kind of story it wants to tell and goes for it, 100%. I’d even say that it achieves what it set out to. But that doesn’t make it a fun watch, an entertaining story, or an episode I’m keen to revisit. As with The Inner Light, I almost always skip over Far Beyond The Stars when I’m watching Deep Space Nine.
The unnamed preacher.
Perhaps if I were an American, more of Far Beyond The Stars’ real-world elements would hit closer to home. But when I first saw the episode in the late ’90s here in the UK, I confess that at least parts of it went way over my head. That’s perhaps my own bias showing – but the whole point of this exercise is to discuss parts of the Star Trek franchise beginning with my own biases and opinions!
Having re-watched Far Beyond The Stars after spending time living in both the United States and South Africa – two societies which continue to wrangle with legacies of structural and systemic racial discrimination – I definitely felt its hard-hitting message a lot more. In fact, Far Beyond The Stars could be a great episode to use as a starting point for a broader conversation about race and structural racism. But having a moral message – especially a very on-the-nose one – doesn’t always make for the most interesting or enjoyable story.
Sisko sees himself reflected as Benny Russell at the end of the episode.
I don’t find Far Beyond The Stars to be “uncomfortable” to watch. The racial aspects of its story have purpose, and even with the progress that America has made since the turn of the millennium, many of the racial issues that Far Beyond The Stars highlights are just as relevant today as they were twenty-five years ago. But I guess what I’d say about the episode is that it doesn’t deliver what I personally find interesting and enjoyable about an episode of Star Trek.
Taken as a one-off, I can put up with Far Beyond The Stars. It didn’t become a major recurring thing in Deep Space Nine, and while Captain Sisko would recall the events on more than one occasion, it didn’t come to dominate the latter part of Deep Space Nine’s run in any way. So in that sense, I’m content to set Far Beyond The Stars to one side, acknowledging what it brought to the table in terms of allegory and morality while being content to rewatch it infrequently.
“Hot Take” #5: Canon matters – up to a point.
The original USS Enterprise.
There seems to be a black-and-white, either/or debate in the Star Trek fan community when it comes to the franchise’s internal canon. Some folks are adamant that the tiniest minutia of canon must be “respected” at all costs, criticising things like the redesign of uniforms or even the recasting of characters because it doesn’t fit precisely with what came before. Then there are others who say that “it’s all just a story,” and that canon can be entirely ignored if a new writer has an idea for a story. I don’t fall into either camp!
Canon matters because internal consistency matters. Internal consistency is – for me, at least – an absolutely essential part of the pathway to suspension of disbelief. If I’m to believe that transporters and warp cores exist, the way they work and the way they’re presented on screen has to be basically consistent from one Star Trek story to the next.
The USS Discovery at warp.
The same applies to characters. If a character has a background as an assassin and that’s a central part of their characterisation in one story, the next episode can’t arbitrarily change that and make them into a marine biologist because the plot demands it. Characters need to feel like real people, and the world they inhabit needs to operate by its established rules.
Luckily for Star Trek’s writers, there is a lot of flexibility in those rules! Most of the specifics of how individual pieces of technology work have never been delved into in any detail, and there’s a lot we don’t know about even the most basic of things within the Star Trek universe. So new writers find themselves with considerable leeway if they want to make a change or do something differently for the sake of a story.
A combadge from an alternate timeline.
But there is a limit to that – or at least there ought to be. And the Star Trek franchise has tripped up by introducing new elements that seem to tread on the toes of what has already been established, even if they don’t technically overwrite anything. Spock’s family is a case in point. The Final Frontier gave Spock a half-brother who had never been mentioned, and then Discovery came along and gave him an adopted sister as well. Neither of these additions overwrote what we know of Spock’s family history… but they definitely came close.
On the other side of things, I’m quite okay with Star Trek making changes and updates to its visual style. The redesign of the USS Enterprise that debuted in Discovery and has been expanded upon for Strange New Worlds is a great example of one way that the franchise has modernised its look without really “damaging” established canon. All that’s required to get around the apparent visual changes – for anyone who feels it’s necessary – is to say that the Enterprise must’ve undergone some kind of retrofit in between Pike’s command and Kirk’s.
Sarek and Michael Burnham in Discovery’s premiere.
Where canon matters to me is in terms of characterisation and story. If we’ve established, for example, that the Vulcans and Romulans are related to one another, then future stories must remain consistent with that; there can be no “Romulan origin story” that tries to say that they evolved separately, for example. Likewise for characters. We all love a good character arc – but if a character’s personality and background are established, changing those fundamentals in an arbitrary manner should be off the table.
So to the canon purists, my message is going to be “loosen up a little!” And to the canon ignorers, what I’d say is “internal consistency matters.”
“Hot Take” #6: The Kelvin films got a lot right – and could be textbook examples of how to reboot a franchise.
Spock, Kirk, and Dr McCoy in Star Trek Beyond.
Even today, more than a decade after 2009’s Star Trek kicked off the Kelvin timeline, I still have Trekkie friends who have refused to watch them. Other fans who showed up at the cinema were unimpressed with what they saw, and the Kelvin films can feel like a controversial part of the Star Trek franchise sometimes. For my two cents, though, although the Kelvin films were imperfect and certainly different to what had come before, they managed to get a lot of things right. I’d even say that Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness could be used as textbook case studies in how to reboot a franchise successfully!
Modern Star Trek – from Discovery to Picard and beyond – would simply not exist without the Kelvin films. When Enterprise was cancelled in 2005, it really did feel as though the Star Trek franchise itself had died and wouldn’t be returning. Even as someone who hadn’t been a regular viewer of Enterprise, that still stung! But if there had been doubts over the Star Trek brand and its ability to reach out to new audiences and bring in huge numbers of viewers, 2009’s Star Trek shattered them.
Transwarp beaming.
Into Darkness eclipsed even the massively high numbers of its predecessor and remains the cinematic franchise’s high-water mark in terms of audience figures and profitability, so it’s not exactly shocking to learn that Paramount hopes to return to the Kelvin cast for a fourth outing next year! These films took what had been a complicated franchise with a reputation for being geeky and nerdy and skimmed off a lot of the fluff. What resulted was a trio of decent sci-fi action films that may just have saved the franchise’s reputation.
The Kelvin films also gave Star Trek a visual overhaul, modernising the franchise’s aesthetic and visual style while still retaining all of the core elements that longstanding fans expected. Transporters were still there – but they looked sleeker and prettier. Warp drive was still present – but a new visual effect was created. Many of these aesthetic elements have remained part of the franchise ever since, appearing in the various productions that we’ve seen since Star Trek returned to the small screen in 2017.
The USS Enterprise.
By establishing an alternate reality, the Kelvin films found scope to take familiar characters to very different places. We got to see how Kirk and Spock met for the first time at Starfleet Academy – a premise that Gene Roddenberry had considered all the way back during The Original Series’ run – but with a twist. Star Trek reintroduced us to classic characters, but put its own spin on them, providing a satisfactory in-universe explanation for why so many things were different.
But at the same time, the inclusion of Leonard Nimoy’s Spock from the prime timeline anchored the Kelvin films, providing a link to what had come before. This reboot wasn’t about erasing anything; it was an expansion of Star Trek into a new timeline, one that had basically unlimited potential to tell some very different stories. The trio of films took advantage of that, and while I would argue that there’s no pressing need to revisit the Kelvin timeline right now, I absolutely do appreciate what they did for Star Trek.
Two Spocks.
As a reboot, the Kelvin films succeeded in their ambition. They reinvented Star Trek just enough for mainstream audiences to discover the franchise – many for the first time. Some of those folks stuck around and have become big Trekkies all off the back of what the Kelvin films did. They updated Star Trek without overwriting anything, and they set the stage for further expansion and growth. By every measure, the Kelvin films were successful.
That isn’t to say they’re my favourite part of the franchise! But as a fan who wants Star Trek to stick around and continue to be successful, projects like the Kelvin films are essential.
So that’s it!
Were those takes as hot as a supernova?
I hope that this was a bit of fun rather than anything to get too seriously upset about. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions about the episodes, films, characters, and storylines that Star Trek creates, and whether I’m thrilled about something, hated it, or have mixed feelings, I will always try to explain myself and provide reasons for why I feel the way that I do. But at the end of the day, all of this is just the subjective opinion of one person!
We’re very lucky to have so much Star Trek content coming our way in the next few years. It seems like the franchise will make it to its sixtieth anniversary in 2026 with new films and episodes still being produced, and there can’t be many entertainment franchises that could make such a claim to longevity!
There are definitely points on the list above that I could expand upon, and I’m sure I could think of a few more “hot takes” if I tried! So stay tuned for more Star Trek content to come here on the website as we move into the summer season.
The Star Trek franchise – including all properties mentioned 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-2 and casting/character announcements for Season 3. Spoilers are also present for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 and Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-2.
Star Trek: Picard’s second season wrapped up a couple of days ago, and even as the dust settles on the show’s latest outing we’re already beginning to see Season 3 take shape. Filming on Picard Season 3 has been underway for months; Seasons 2 and 3 entered production back-to-back, so we have a good chance of seeing it in the early part of 2023 as things currently stand.
Today I wanted to take a peek behind the curtain and talk about some production-side announcements that are related to Season 3 – in particular, which characters might not be included in the new season. This is serious spoiler territory for Season 3, so if you don’t want to know who may or may not be reprising their roles (and you ignored the giant warning at the top of the article), this is your last chance to avoid Season 3 spoilers!
The USS Stargazer in Farewell.
The only way I can describe what I’ve learned about Season 3 is that the Picard cast has been massacred. At time of writing, we have confirmations (or as-good-as confirmations) that Orla Brady, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, Evan Evagora, and Alison Pill won’t be returning for Season 3. That means Laris, Soji/Kore/Sutra, Rios, Elnor, and Dr Jurati/the Borg Queen won’t be included in any meaningful way in the new season.
These departures make way for the returning main cast members from The Next Generation (minus Wil Wheaton and Denise Crosby), who will be reprising their roles as Riker, Troi, Worf, Dr Crusher, La Forge, and a currently-unknown character in the case of Data actor Brent Spiner. As nice as it will be to welcome them back to Star Trek, I can’t help but feel that this decision is the wrong one – or at the very least that the Picard cast departures have been handled particularly poorly.
The cast of The Next Generation in Season 2.
In Farewell, the Season 2 finale, Captain Rios and Dr Jurati got goodbyes… of a sort. Rios’ goodbye felt permanent as he chose to remain in the 21st Century after falling for Teresa; the Borg Queen-Dr Jurati hybrid had less of a “goodbye” and more of a “see you later,” but I guess in the context of her season-long arc we can at least call it an ending. But Elnor, Laris, and Soji didn’t even get the most basic of goodbyes.
Soji was Season 1’s second main character along with Picard himself. She was both the driving force behind the plot of the first six episodes and a major character in her own right, and her story of learning the truth of her synthetic origin and coming to terms with that was something that Star Trek had never really tackled before. More significantly, Soji led Picard to her people’s homeworld: Coppelius.
Soji in Season 1.
The discovery of the Coppelius synths led to the unravelling of the Zhat Vash plot, as well as uncovered the role of Commodore Oh as a spy within Starfleet. It provided Starfleet with an explanation for the attack on Mars a decade earlier and for the cover-up aboard the USS Ibn Majid. It transformed Starfleet from a semi-antagonist with an inward-looking, almost xenophobic edge back into a faction worthy of support. It’s a landmark moment in the history of this post-Nemesis era.
Soji was instrumental in all of that, as well as in contacting and then not contacting the unnamed faction of super-synths. We spent a lot of time with her across Season 1, and I’d point to some of her scenes with Kestra in Nepenthe and her role in The Impossible Box as being two of the big highlights. Unfortunately, Soji was completely sidelined in Season 2, not taking part in the mission back in time or the stand-off with the Borg in any way… but there was still scope to bring her back.
Soji was sidelined for all of Season 2.
Elnor’s absence – if indeed it is confirmed; at this point it’s only been mentioned by actor Evan Evagora on social media – feels utterly inexcusable to me. After Elnor had been killed in the Season 2 episode Assimilation, his death served as a major motivating factor for Raffi’s character arc, and coming to terms with her guilt and remorse were key components of her storyline. This culminated in a beautiful sequence in the episode Hide and Seek in which Raffi was able to speak to a holographic recreation of Elnor and come to terms with what had happened – accepting his death and letting go of at least some of the guilt that had been plaguing her.
This story was already muddled – and I would argue that its beautifully emotional conclusion was severely undermined – by the decision to resurrect Elnor in the Season 2 finale just one episode later. As much as I wanted to see Elnor’s story continue – as I feel he’s a character with huge potential – his death and Raffi’s acceptance of it seemed to be permanent, and undermining what had been one of Hide and Seek’s best moments wasn’t something that the season needed in its final minutes.
Holo-Elnor in Season 2.
But now to learn that Elnor isn’t coming back after all… I just don’t get it. For the sake of two minutes of screen time in the season finale and a look of relief on Raffi’s face, why not just leave Elnor dead if he has no role in Season 3? That would’ve at least given Raffi’s main narrative arc in Season 2 some significance. Most of the impact of what Raffi went through had been blunted by Elnor’s survival, and while we could certainly argue that she learned something from the experience, it smacks of the whole “it was all just a dream” story trope that resets everything back to the way it was.
Given that there seems to be no role for Elnor in Season 3, he may as well have stayed dead. At least his death would’ve mattered, spurring on Raffi to learn a lesson and grow as a person – growth that could stick around and continue to provide inspiration to her in whatever story comes next. Having him survive only to be shuffled off-screen anyway, presumably assigned to a different starship, just feels completely hollow and meaningless.
It seems as though there’s no place for Cadet Elnor in Season 3.
Although Laris hadn’t been a major character, her romantic interest in Picard was one of the main factors involved in kicking off the plot. As it turned out, Q wanted Picard to process grief and trauma that he’d carried since childhood – something that seems to have prevented him from forming longlasting relationships. In that sense, Laris was an incredibly important character for the series – and the closing moments of the Season 2 finale implied that she and Picard will indeed be striking up a new romantic relationship.
But if we aren’t going to see that relationship unfold on screen, if it’s just going to be relegated to that one scene at the end of Season 2, it again raises some pretty big questions. It’s beginning to feel that the decision to bring back The Next Generation characters in Season 3 has already undermined some significant story beats from Season 2, cutting them off at the knees and preventing the next – and final – chapter of the story from developing them further and taking them to their natural conclusions.
Picard with Laris at the beginning of Season 2.
When Star Trek: Picard was first announced, I didn’t want it to be The Next Generation Season 8. That’s a neat idea – but it wasn’t what this series was. I wanted to see some of these new characters grow on me and be given the opportunity to become fan-favourites for the next generation (pun intended) of Star Trek fans.
If the Star Trek franchise is to survive in the long-term, it can’t simply copy what Star Wars is doing and rely on cheap overloads of nostalgia. It has to continue to grow and develop, and new characters have to be given equal standing alongside legacy characters. In thirty-five years’ time, it’s my genuine hope that fans will be just as excited for Star Trek: Elnor as we have been for Star Trek: Picard… but in order for that to happen, we need to be spending more time with these characters. Having them cut entirely from the final season of the show – several of them without any kind of goodbye or send-off – doesn’t just sting because we won’t get to enjoy more adventures with them or see what comes next, but it could seriously damage Star Trek’s long-term prospects.
The Star Trek: Picard main cast. Only two are confirmed to be part of Season 3.
When The Next Generation characters have come back, what’s next? We’ve already had Voyager characters come back in Picard and in Prodigy, so that only leaves Deep Space Nine of the 24th Century shows. If future projects recycle characters from Deep Space Nine and Enterprise, there’ll be nobody left! Star Trek has to expand – to build on the legacy of the shows and characters that came before. What it mustn’t do is keep trying to bring back those characters and relive those past successes.
The Next Generation and the other shows of that era are in the past – and while there’s definitely potential to revisit characters like Jean-Luc Picard, it’s worth remembering that Star Trek is more than just a handful of familiar faces. Since at least 1987, when The Original Series passed the torch to The Next Generation in the first place, that’s a lesson that the Star Trek franchise has done well to take to heart. The Star Trek galaxy is vast, populated with billions or perhaps trillions of individuals across thousands of planets, and it’s ripe for exploration! Narrowing the franchise’s focus to a handful of characters from older shows is not what Star Trek is about – and it never has been.
Captain Rios at the beginning of Season 2.
Until now, I’ve felt that modern Star Trek has struck a pretty good balance between the old and the new. Discovery introduced us to brand-new characters, but tied its main protagonist to Spock and Sarek, before reintroducing Captain Pike. Picard focused on Picard himself, of course, but instead of sending him off on an adventure with his old crew, it brought some genuinely interesting new characters on board. Unfortunately, we’re now learning that several of them won’t stick around… and I find that to be quite disappointing.
I suppose the good news is that these characters still exist, and if Picard serves as a jumping-off point for potential new spin-off series, miniseries, or films set in the early 25th Century, it may be possible to revisit some of them. But I’m not going to hold my breath for that, at least not in the short-term. There are other Star Trek projects in the works, but with characters like Elnor having received precious little development across two seasons of Picard, it’s my suspicion that he’ll simply drop off the face of the galaxy never to be revisited.
Dr Jurati got a significant arc in Season 2… but won’t return for Season 3.
That’s all there is to say for now, I guess. Decisions have already been made and the new season – which will supposedly be Picard’s last – is already well underway in terms of production, so it’s clearly far too late to change any of that now. Star Trek’s past is, of course, filled with one-off characters; guest stars who appeared in an episode or two before disappearing forever. And there have been main cast members who were shuffled off their respective shows in unceremonious ways. None of it is new – but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing.
I was genuinely looking forward to spending more time with the likes of Elnor, Soji, Laris, and potentially the Borg Queen-Dr Jurati hybrid. Had you asked me shortly after the Season 2 premiere I’d have said that a Captain Rios spin-off has real potential, too. The return of The Next Generation crew isn’t bad… but I wish that their returns didn’t have to come at the expense of some wonderful characters that we’ve only just begun to get to know.
I remain hopeful for a fun season and an exciting adventure with these returning characters… but I confess that I’m quite disappointed to learn that so many Picard cast members had to be culled to make it happen.
Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-2 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States and on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and around the world. Season 3 is currently in production and may be targeting a 2023 broadcast. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard, The Next Generation, and all other properties mentioned 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-2 and casting announcements for Season 3. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Next Generation, First Contact, and Voyager.
So here we are! Although it seems like only yesterday that we were settling in for The Star Gazer after a two-year wait for Picard Season 2, it’s time to bid “farewell” to Admiral Picard and the (remaining) crew of La Sirena. At least the wait for Season 3 – which has already begun filming – shouldn’t be quite as long!
Season 2 took a meandering and frustrating route to reach this end point, and while Farewell had some real emotional highlights and moments of excitement, I can’t shake the feeling that the lessons of Season 1 weren’t heeded. Just as happened last time around, there were a lot of underdeveloped moments, stories that needed longer in the spotlight, and narrative threads that missed the mark not because they were bad, but because the season wasted time getting here. While I can happily say that I enjoyed Farewell, it wasn’t as good as it might’ve been.
Admiral Picard on the bridge of the USS Stargazer.
Most of the story complaints that I have really aren’t Farewell’s fault on its own. They’re actually the consequence of a slow, muddled season that dedicated too much time in earlier episodes to what ultimately ended up as extraneous fluff. The episode Watcher, for example, spent a huge amount of time tracking down Rios and Tallinn – and those sequences could have been massively shortened to move the story along at a more reasonable pace. That would’ve allowed last week’s episode, Hide and Seek, to have fully wrapped up the Europa Mission and Renée stories – stories that Farewell had to blitz through to get Picard and the crew to meet Q and get back to the 25th Century.
Farewell felt like a busy episode from the first moment, and considering how much story was left to cram in, I think that’s to be expected. I will give credit where it’s due and say that the director and editors did a good job; the best they could with the material they had, I suspect. Although several storylines were undeniably rushed as the season raced toward its end, the cinematography and production values remained high.
The USS Excelsior.
Perhaps you might think this is unfair criticism, but it feels to me as though Picard Season 2 blew most of its budget – in terms of both set-building and CGI – on The Star Gazer and the second half of Farewell. That’s where we got back to the new sets that had been built for the USS Stargazer and that’s where we saw a return of the outstanding animation work seen in the season premiere. The Federation fleet that faced down the Borg – and later the strange anomaly – looked absolutely fantastic, and seeing a big, beautiful Federation fleet in action will be something that I never tire of.
I’m sure that we’ll be seeing the new USS Stargazer back in action in Season 3 (and maybe even a spin-off series one day), so that’s definitely something to look forward to. I talked about this in my review of the premiere, but the design of the Stargazer inside and out felt like the perfect natural evolution of the aesthetic and design philosophy of The Next Generation era shows and films. Seeing more of that ship would be a request of mine – and it’s my hope that Picard will serve as a springboard for more adventures in the early 25th Century.
The Borg vessel and the Federation fleet stop the anomaly.
So let’s start with the shortest and least-interesting of the storylines in Farewell. Kore Soong was a non-entity this season. Her presence served only to provide Dr Adam Soong with some degree of motivation – motivation which at first had me thinking he might be a complex and nuanced character, but that quickly fell away. She didn’t do much of consequence, she was flat and uninteresting, and aside from being a supporting character to prop up the very one-dimensional Adam Soong, her presence seems to have been Picard’s producers throwing a bone to Isa Briones, whose main character of Soji hasn’t been present all season long (and didn’t even show up in the little epilogue when the characters got together in Guinan’s bar).
Kore choosing to hack into and delete her dad’s files was something and nothing. It makes sense – I guess – but it doesn’t feel like it accomplished anything for the story other than finding something for Kore to do after walking out on her home and her life. She doesn’t seem to feel conflicted in any way about that decision, even though she appears to have spent her entire life living with her father in that carefully-shielded house.
Kore’s story also came to an end.
However, I was more than happy to forget all about Kore’s wasted storylines because of the totally unexpected arrival of Wesley Crusher. Tying the Travelers into the same organisation that Tallinn and Gary Seven worked for was a masterstroke; I was totally blindsided by something that I genuinely did not anticipate. Having seen more than 800 Star Trek stories over the span of more than thirty years, the fact that the franchise can still pull off genuinely shocking moments like that – moments that also tie into over fifty-six years’ worth of lore – is amazing. Moments like that are why I love Star Trek, and they can go a long way to redeeming even the most mediocre of stories and flattest of characters.
I had been feeling frustrated that, six episodes on from her introduction, Tallinn appeared to have died without her storyline going into any detail at all about the mysterious organisation she worked for. Going all the way back to Season 2 of The Original Series, there had been questions about this faction and what their objectives might be; I felt disappointed that we weren’t going to get any further explanation. But to my delight, the totally unexpected arrival of Wesley Crusher provided at least a partial answer – and tied together The Original Series, his own role in The Next Generation, and the events of this season in absolutely wonderful fashion.
Wesley Crusher made an unexpected but thoroughly welcome return to Star Trek.
As a moment of pure fan-service, I can totally understand why Farewell didn’t spend more time with Welsey and Kore – as much as I’d have loved it. It would’ve been wonderful to see Wesley reunite with Picard, but in an episode that was very busy I can understand why it didn’t happen. And I don’t interpret this moment as setting up a major new spin-off following Wesley, Kore, and other Travelers and Supervisors – again, as fun as that might be for fans! It was simply a cute cameo; a way to both include a classic character from The Next Generation while also providing closure of a sort to Kore’s story.
There are many questions that I have about what might happen next for Wesley and Kore – as well as why he chose to reach out to her. I assume that the Supervisors and Travelers pick individuals who are both brilliant and somewhat out-of-place – Kore won’t be missed if she vanishes from Earth in 2024 in the way that someone else might, for example. But I guess we should save the speculation for a future theory article!
Wesley and Kore.
Captain Rios’ story has been a disappointment all season long, and the explanation why is simple: we caught a glimpse of him in the season premiere living his best life, but the series stripped that away from him and regressed him back to his Season 1 presentation. If Rios had been not the captain of the USS Stargazer but even just its first officer, at least some of that would’ve abated. But because we’d seen him as a Starfleet captain, the way he seemed to forget about his ship and those under his command had been really grating on me since Penance. The conclusion to his story this time, which saw him written out of the series, just capped off that disappointment.
If it hadn’t been for seeing him in command of the USS Stargazer, I think I could’ve let slide much of what Rios went through – although I would still have some questions. The culmination of his arc this time feels less like a natural decision for either him or Teresa to make and more like one driven by a writers’ room desperate to get rid of main cast members in anticipation of the return of The Next Generation characters in Season 3. Along with Dr Jurati, Rios drew the short straw.
Rios’ story was disappointing this season.
I said in my review of The Star Gazer that I’d be happy to see a spin-off following Captain Rios’ adventures, and had he stuck to the new characterisation that we saw back then, I would’ve absolutely been down for that. Unfortunately Rios’ departure now means that can’t happen – but after seeing the way he regressed as a character this season, I was already less keen on spending more time with him and less confident that he could carry a new series.
As with other narrative threads in Farewell, Rios’ departure was rushed. The episode dedicated less than two minutes of its runtime to Rios saying his goodbyes, and whatever decisions or discussions he’d had with Teresa appear to have happened entirely off-screen. Did Rios, for example, offer to take Teresa and Ricardo to the 25th Century? Did he consider the consequences of staying – both for the timeline and for himself? I mean… World War III is literally right around the corner (in Star Trek, not in the real world… I hope), and the first three-quarters of the 21st Century is arguably one of the worst and most difficult parts of Earth’s entire history in the Star Trek timeline. I know that Rios stayed “because he was in love,” but even so… couldn’t he have thought of something else? Maybe he skipped history class.
Rios chose to stay with Teresa and Ricardo.
As the culmination of a season-long arc, one that took Rios away from much of the rest of the action and that marks his final end as a Star Trek character, the send-off Rios got was poor. So much more could have been made of this moment – but at the same time, with Rios having been so disconnected from almost everyone else all season long, it’s perversely fitting that his goodbye was brief and to the point. Despite what he said in an earlier episode about viewing Picard as a “father figure,” and the words they shared as he prepared to remain behind, I never felt that Rios and Picard were especially close. They were acquaintances; business colleagues. Work friends but not real friends.
One of the things that I wanted from Picard, going all the way back to the show’s initial announcement, was to meet some new characters and spend time with them. Obviously in a series with a clear protagonist there’s going to be a limit on the number of characters that can be included and how much detail their story arcs can receive, but there was so much potential in someone like Rios. It was never mentioned in a big way, but Rios is only one of a handful of Hispanic characters to have appeared in a big way in Star Trek, and the first major Hispanic character to be given the rank of captain and to command a starship. There was so much scope to do more with Captain Rios, and I guess I’m just disappointed that a character with potential – perhaps even spin-off potential – was sidelined, regressed, and kind of wasted in this mad rush to bring back The Next Generation characters in Season 3.
So long, Captain Rios…
Another character who fell victim to this need to trim the main cast was Dr Jurati, but in her case at least she seems to have had more of a substantial arc this season. Although I would be remiss not to point out that in both seasons of the show Dr Jurati ended up causing massive, catastrophic problems for Picard! She didn’t do so on purpose, of course, but it’s interesting to see that the writers chose to follow up her murder of Bruce Maddox by transforming her into the new Borg Queen!
It was obvious, of course, by the time Picard and the crew returned to the bridge of the USS Stargazer that Dr Jurati would be the face behind the mask, and so it proved. I was a little surprised that Farewell seemed to treat this as some kind of big revelation; I can’t imagine that even the most casual and uninterested of viewers wouldn’t have been able to put two and two together long before Picard set up Dr Jurati’s unmasking.
The Borg Queen unmasked.
As above, Dr Jurati was a character with potential. She was also someone who felt closer to Picard in terms of friendship than Captain Rios, and there was certainly scope to see her continue in her un-assimilated role in future stories. Unlike with Rios, though, there’s definitely a substantial season-long arc for Dr Jurati that worked well enough. She felt lonely and isolated, never being able to hold down a relationship or partnership, and through a strange marriage with the Borg Queen ended up with hundreds, thousands, or perhaps even millions of friends. She also got the chance to become partially synthetic – which I have to assume she would approve of based on what we saw of her last time.
Since we’re dealing with the Borg, the reason for their appearance at the beginning of the season was paid off. The sudden appearance of an unexplained anomaly that threatened the quadrant meant that the Borg wished to team up with the Federation to save lives, and generally I liked this angle and I think there’s potential in it. My initial thought was that it could be connected to the Season 1 super-synths, but again that’ll be something to discuss in a future theory article.
What is this strange anomaly? And crucially… will we revisit it next time?
My concern on this side of the story stems from the fact that we know that Alison Pill, who plays Dr Jurati and the new Borg Queen, doesn’t seem to be returning for Season 3. If the Borg chose to remain at the anomaly as a “guardian at the gate,” as Borg-Jurati put it, that seems to imply we won’t have anything to do with her next time around – and thus we may not be revisiting this anomaly. I certainly hope that won’t be the case, because if we don’t get back here it will seriously jeopardise this season’s entire story by making it feel meaningless. Thirty seconds of screen time for a weird anomaly that one character believed could be damaging doesn’t really justify an entire season wandering in the past, nor the loss of two (or three) major characters.
The question of what the Borg wanted loomed large over the entire season, even while Picard and the crew scrambled to save the future from their base in 2024. Now that we have an answer to that question – they wanted help to stop the anomaly from harming the Alpha Quadrant – we need to go deeper. There needs to be some greater story arc that can tie into the closing moments of Season 2, even if it isn’t the main storyline of Season 3.
The Borg vessel and the strange anomaly.
One thing that Farewell didn’t have time to explain was the relationship between the Jurati-led Borg and the Borg Collective that we’ve seen elsewhere in Star Trek. Is the Jurati-Borg faction separate from the Borg or did they somehow replace the rest of the Collective? Are there now two distinct Borg Collectives? It seems like there must be – because everyone involved seems to believe that the prime timeline has been restored, and that couldn’t have happened if the Jurati-Queen took over the entire Borg Collective. Events like the Battle of Wolf 359 and the attempted assimilation of Earth in First Contact wouldn’t have happened – or would have been changed entirely – if the Jurati-Queen was leading the whole Collective. But this is something that should’ve been given more of an explanation – and it’s indicative of the fact that Farewell was overstuffed with story threads.
The season also ended without detailing in any way how the Confederation were able to defeat the Borg using 25th Century technology. While this may not have been important for wrapping up the stories that were in play, it was a pretty big point earlier in the season. There was the potential for something that the Confederation had developed to come into play, even at this late stage, and although I’d pretty much given up on learning anything more about the Confederation several weeks ago, the way the season ended now leaves the entire Confederation timeline feeling like one massive contrivance.
The Borg Queen-Dr Jurati hybrid.
The Confederation timeline existed as a spur for other storylines, and if we had never seen it and only heard about it in passing, maybe that would be fine. But for those of us invested in the Star Trek universe, creating an entirely new setting, populating it with characters, and telling us that those characters did something as monumental as defeating the Borg, only to leave all of the hows and wherefores unexplained is disappointing. With no return to the Confederation timeline on the agenda – and the question of whether it still exists in any form in serious doubt – it feels like it served the story but in an unrealistic way.
Presumably Adam Soong had to survive because with Kore taking off with Wesley and the Travelers, there needs to be some way for his family line to continue in order to reach Data’s creator and the other Soongs we’ve met. Villains don’t need to be killed off in order for their defeats to feel satisfying, and seeing Adam Soong realise that he’d been beaten was a well-done sequence overall. I also appreciated the Khan reference – and the date-stamp.
Is this merely an Easter egg… or could it be a tease of something yet to come?
Star Trek’s internal timeline can feel inconsistent if you go all the way back to The Original Series and watch episodes that reference events in the late 20th or early 21st Centuries. I’ve always assumed that Star Trek and the real world diverged sometime around the 1960s, and the reference to “Project Khan” being in 1996 ties in with what we know from Space Seed and The Wrath of Khan about legendary villain Khan’s origins. I’m glad that Star Trek isn’t trying to overwrite any of this – and it makes me wonder if there may yet be a reprieve for the proposed Ceti Alpha V miniseries! At the very least, Adam Soong looking up “Project Khan” seems to imply that he’ll be returning to his work on genetic engineering – tying in with the appearance of another Dr Soong in Enterprise.
As a character who we’ve only just started getting to know and who has great potential, I’m glad that Elnor survived the season and I look forward to his continued participation in Picard – and hopefully in future Star Trek productions as well. However… his survival renders one of the best and most emotional moments from last week completely impotent, and I’m left wondering why Hide and Seek even bothered to include it.
Elnor’s survival makes one of last week’s biggest emotional moments entirely irrelevant.
One of the things driving Raffi all season has been Elnor’s death – and after speaking with a holographic recreation last week in one of the season’s best and most powerful emotional sequences, she seemed ready to come to terms with it and let go of the guilt she’d been feeling. That was one of the highlights of last week’s episode, and a significant moment that seemed to signal that the shocking decision to kill off Elnor in Assimilation would indeed be permanent.
However, that moment now feels like wasted time, even more so considering that several of the storylines present in Farewell could’ve used a few extra minutes. Had holo-Elnor’s role been cut from Hide and Seek, replaced with literally anyone else to fill the “combat hologram” role, the wasted moment with Raffi and the now-gratuitous sequences that seemed to be bidding goodbye to the character could’ve been reallocated to other, more pressing stories. Seeing how Raffi dealt with Elnor’s death earlier in the season isn’t undermined by his survival – but the scene in which she came to terms with it absolutely is. As deeply emotional as that moment was, it now feels like a total waste.
Raffi was relieved to see Elnor again.
Perhaps this is my dislike of the 21st Century storylines showing, but I never really felt all that invested in Renée and the Europa Mission. For the supposedly-most important event in the show that our characters had to protect, the Europa Mission and Renée herself had been absent for several episodes as the season’s story continued its slow plod to this rushed conclusion. I wasn’t mad that the rocket launch was raced past to allow Farewell to get to other storylines… but it wasn’t exactly a spectacular ending for what has been the driving force in the story of the season since the third episode.
There were some moments of tension as Adam Soong’s drones appeared to be in danger of blowing up Seven, Rios, and Raffi, and again when he’d managed to successfully infiltrate the Europa Mission launch. I stand by what I said a couple of weeks ago, by the way: that Adam Soong having been kicked out of the scientific community should be a pretty serious barrier to his involvement in something like the Europa Mission… but his status and finances are something that, once again, Picard Season 2 didn’t find time to go into any detail on.
How Adam Soong was able to buy his way into Europa Mission HQ wasn’t really explained.
This part of Farewell secured Renée’s mission – one which seems to have been beneficial for Earth itself and set humanity on a path that would eventually lead to first contact and the creation of the Federation. It was also an opportunity to kill off Tallinn – her death being the “price” for Renée’s survival rounds out her arc in a reasonable way.
I didn’t understand why Q believes that Tallinn always dies at this stage in “every” timeline; it seems to me that the only threat to Renée came about because of Q’s interference, and thus had Q not intervened there’d be no reason for Adam Soong or the Borg Queen to go after her or try to prevent the Europa Mission at all. So I guess I don’t get that line – it was included, perhaps, to make Tallinn’s sacrifice feel more justifiable, but it raises as many questions as it answers (if not more!)
Why does Tallinn die in “every” timeline?
This sets up a discussion about the nature of Q’s intervention. Although establishing a Jurati-Borg seems to have prevented some kind of cataclysm in the 25th Century, that isn’t why Q did it – at least, not based on what he told Picard in Farewell. This was all about Picard learning to come to terms with his past and his loss and because Q considered him a friend and a favourite.
But there are some pretty notable problems with this setup – and with Picard’s ultimate reaction to it. People died as a result of Q’s actions, and whether directly or indirectly he’s responsible for that. Q was able to wave away Tallinn’s death and resurrect Elnor – so from the point of view of main characters I guess he gets somewhat of a pass. But what about the dozen or more assimilated semi-Borg who died last week? They were human beings; people whose lives were cut short as a direct result of Q’s intervention. Picard was clearly willing to forgive Q for this extended Tapestry redux – but even if we assume that there are no timeline consequences from the loss of those individuals… they’re still people who died and who won’t be resurrected as a result of what Q did. The morality of it bugs me.
Q’s actions cost lives – and Picard seems okay with it.
So we’ve come to the purpose of the entire story: Q wanted to teach Picard to overcome the traumatic moment in his own past. He wanted Picard to learn to embrace the person that he is; to choose to become that person. That’s a familiar theme that we’ve seen from Q in the past, most notably in the episode Tapestry. In that story, Q gave Picard the opportunity to change mistakes in his past – but he did so in order to demonstrate to him that the mistakes are what made him the person he is. It’s not exactly the same story, because in this instance Picard had to embrace a dark and traumatic event that was beyond his control, and recognise that he can’t always save everybody. But it’s close – and I like that. It means that at least thematically, Q stayed true to his characterisation.
In terms of the wider lore of Star Trek, including the role of the Q Continuum in potential future productions, I wish we’d learned why Q was dying. Although Q wasn’t a main character for most of the season, his impending death spurred him on and served as the main motivation for why he was intervening in Picard’s life at this moment – and for that to end without being explained, and without Picard so much as offering to help, feels a bit hollow.
Q’s final snap.
However, on the flip side there’s something very relatable – and dare I say very human – about not knowing what’s happening and finding no explanation for it. Speaking as someone with health conditions, I can relate to what Q has been going through. Knowing that things will only get worse, losing abilities that you’d once taken for granted, and being acutely aware that – as Picard once put it – “there are fewer days ahead than there are behind,” these are all very understandable feelings, and the idea that Q took inspiration from his own failing health to use his remaining time to help someone who he has always considered to be a friend… there’s something sweet about that.
From an in-universe point of view, Q has always been a wildcard. The schemes and puzzles that he concocts can seem incredibly random, but they usually have a point. Riker was given the powers of the Q as a test, Picard was given just enough information to solve the Farpoint mystery, Q helped Picard move through three different time periods to solve the anti-time eruption, and so on. In this case, the point Q wanted to make was served by the actions that he took… but in a very disconnected way. While we eventually got to Q’s point – that Picard needed to let go of his trauma, embrace who he is, and learn to love – it took a very long time through a very jumbled sequence of events. And unlike in stories such as Tapestry, Q’s actions this time had a significant impact on other people.
Q did it all for Picard.
Whatever we may think of the new Jurati-Borg Queen hybrid, would that have been a destiny that Dr Jurati would have chosen for herself? Was it where she needed to end up, or could she have led a perfectly happy life as a 25th Century human? Q stripped that choice from her, and Picard seems content to roll with it. While Renée did ultimately make it onto her spacecraft, Q screwed with her mental health in a major way, sabotaging her therapy and doing what he could to undermine her. Q’s actions directly led to Tallinn’s death, as well as the deaths of a dozen or more humans that had been partially-assimilated. Q also stranded Rios in the 21st Century – and again, while Rios was happy enough to make that choice, he could have also lived a happy life in the 25th Century had Q not interfered.
In short, other Q stories across Star Trek haven’t been so destructive. If there was a bigger purpose – such as the Jurati-Borg stopping some galactic catastrophe – and that was Q’s main objective, perhaps we could overlook it. The scale would be tipped in such a way that, to quote Spock, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” But Q did it all for Picard’s sake – so the needs of the many were, in Q’s view, outweighed by the needs of the one.
Picard with Q.
Maybe that makes sense to Q, but is Picard okay with it? He seems to be fine with learning that Q did all of this, made all of these changes for his sake and his alone – and I’m not sure I buy it. Maybe Q is right – maybe Tallinn always dies in every conceivable timeline. But does Dr Jurati always become a Borg? Does Rios always quit Starfleet to live through World War III? Do all of those paramilitary people die in 2024? Q might be fine with changing people’s lives, but I’m struggling to accept that Picard would be, especially if he knows that Q was doing it all for his sake.
It also raises another question: was there really no other way for Picard to process his trauma? Did it truly require establishing the Confederation timeline, killing all those people, and spending all that time stranded in the 21st Century? Couldn’t Q have just… got Picard into therapy? Or given him those dreams of his mother in the 25th Century?
Picard prepares to embrace Q.
These points may seem nitpicky, but this is the foundation of the story. Everything Picard and the others have been through over the past ten episodes hinges on this explanation. Q set all of this up because Picard couldn’t let go of a trauma he’s been carrying since childhood, and Q felt that trauma was holding him back and preventing him from learning to love and being happy. And because of that, Q decided that the best way to get through to Picard and get him to work through his mental health issues was by changing centuries’ worth of history and forcing Picard to travel back in time.
In a way, it’s a very “Q” thing. But at the same time, where past Q stories have felt at least vaguely connected to the goals he had, this one requires more than a few leaps to get from point A to point B. Maybe you can suspend your disbelief, get lost in this presentation of Q, and happily accept this explanation. For me… I’m struggling a little.
Q’s plot feels quite convoluted this time around.
However, that isn’t to detract from a wonderfully emotional sequence between Q and Picard. Recognising what Q had done and understanding why he did it, Picard found himself willing to embrace the friendship that Q had been offering him for decades. Picard was able to set aside the animosity he had for Q – allowing Q to spend what appear to be his final moments with a friend. As Picard said, he won’t die alone.
Does that make the whole story worthwhile? It was definitely a beautiful sequence, and after clashes, conflicts, and an ongoing “trial,” it was nice to see Picard and Q reconcile as Q reached the end of his life. Themes of love, of letting go, and of acceptance were weaved through these moments, and while we didn’t get an explanation for everything – including why Q is dying and what may have become of other members of his species – it was satisfying enough as we bid what seems to be a final farewell to a character who was first introduced in the very first episode of The Next Generation.
Picard meets with Q for the final time.
Q giving what remained of his life force or energy to send Picard home was likewise a sweet moment; a final act of kindness that, while it arguably doesn’t redeem Q for everything he’s done, went some way to making his final moments positive, and showed that he has perhaps learned a thing or two from Picard along the way. I did enjoy Q’s line that Picard was his “favourite,” along with the implication that, of all the many beings that Q must’ve met over his many years of life, Picard was someone special to him – special enough to spend his final moments with.
I wonder if in a future Star Trek story – perhaps even in Season 3 – we’ll learn what became of Q and why he was dying. As I said above, for the purposes of this story the exact reason (which would likely have been technobabble) doesn’t matter in a narrative sense, but as Trekkies, I think we have a curiosity about the world of Star Trek and a desire to know these things! I would certainly be interested to know why, after seeming to have been alive for billions of years, Q suddenly found himself dying.
An emotional farewell.
That only leaves us with Seven of Nine to talk about – and her field commission as a Starfleet captain that she seemed to receive during the Borg mission. Seven has been one of my favourite characters in both seasons of Picard; the growth and development that she’s received has completely changed my opinion of someone who was once my least-favourite character from Voyager. After seeing how she’d become much more human, how she’d come to terms with the loss of Icheb (something I’m surprised wasn’t mentioned to Raffi as part of the Elnor story, I must say), this season she got to reconcile her history with both the Borg and Starfleet.
Consider where Seven was at the beginning of the season. Like Michael Burnham in Discovery’s premiere episode, Seven wanted to shoot first the moment the Borg emerged. The idea of listening to anything they might have to say was unfathomable to her. Yet by the season finale, after what she went through with Dr Jurati, she was willing not only to listen, but to follow the Borg’s lead. She put her trust in the Borg, overcoming decades’ worth of hostility that she’d been holding onto.
Seven of Nine in the captain’s chair.
Could we see more from Seven in future? The idea of her and Raffi having their own adventures – either within Starfleet or outside of it – is an enticing one, but I guess we’ll have to see what Season 3 has in store for them first. With potentially three departures from the main cast, there’s room for Seven of Nine to stay on board, particularly if the story of Season 3 continues to involve the Borg. At the same time, though, unlike the new characters who won’t be returning, Seven’s arc across both seasons of the show leaves her in a pretty good place. If this is going to be her swansong, she ends the series in a strong position.
Having had a run-in with Q in the Voyager Season 7 episode Q2, it was a shame that Farewell didn’t see Seven and Q say so much as a single word to each other, and again this is the consequence of a season finale that was left with a lot of work to do to wrap everything up. It wasn’t essential, but it would’ve been nice to at least acknowledge that they’d met each other before racing ahead with the rest of the plot.
Seven of Nine and Raffi.
So that was Farewell. It was the best episode since the season premiere, but that’s damning with faint praise. We’ll have to take a broader look at Season 2 as a whole in the days or weeks ahead, because I have to say that, despite an outstanding premiere and a solid final half-episode, this meandering stroll through the 21st Century was far from my favourite season of Star Trek.
Taken on its own merits, though, Farewell tied together as many of the narrative threads as it could. There weren’t huge gaping holes left behind, but a number of story beats weren’t as well-developed as they could’ve been, and the slow, plodding pace of much of the rest of the season meant that we arrived at this point with the season finale having to do a lot of heavy lifting to get across the finish line. Farwell did what it could in the confines of its runtime, but realistically, much of the damage had already been done and there was a limit on how much a single episode could do to redeem an underwhelming season.
The USS Stargazer.
There were some genuinely heartwarming moments along the way. Wesley Crusher’s surprise appearance (which thankfully wasn’t spoiled in advance) may actually be the highlight for me, and I enjoyed seeing Seven of Nine step up to work with the Borg after returning to the 25th Century as well. Picard and Q’s reconciliation feels incredibly sweet – but it isn’t a storyline free from questions. As the season’s main driving force, it ended in a way that left some points feeling unexplained or underdeveloped, and despite the emotional highs, that taints things a little for me.
Where Picard Season 1 was generally a fun ride that was spoiled by an underwhelming ending, Season 2 has been an underwhelming and occasionally frustrating story that somehow managed to pull out a passable ending. Farewell didn’t hit the same high notes as The Star Gazer had ten weeks ago, but by the time Picard and the crew were back home, it came close. If the second half of the episode had been given more time and was stretched out over forty-five minutes instead of twenty-five, perhaps we’d be able to consider it a bit more favourably.
So that’s it for now. I won’t be publishing any reviews or theories for Strange New Worlds over the next few weeks, because unfortunately the series is “officially” unavailable here in the UK. But stay tuned for more Star Trek content here on the website, including the conclusion of my Picard Season 2 theories, some initial thoughts about Season 3, and eventually a proper retrospective-review of Season 2 as a whole. Until next time!
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 is available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States, Scandinavia, Latin America, and Australia, and on Amazon Prime Video in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard and all other properties mentioned 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Picard Seasons 1-2. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Next Generation, First Contact, and Voyager.
This review deals with the sensitive topics of mental health and suicide and may be uncomfortable for some readers.
If I’ve done my counting right, then I believe Hide and Seek is Jean-Luc Picard’s 200th Star Trek appearance. It gets a little fuzzy when we look at two-part episodes that are occasionally considered as feature-length outings, but if we go in broadcast order then I’m pretty sure that the character of Jean-Luc Picard has now appeared in 200 Star Trek productions (including four films). So that’s pretty neat!
Hide and Seek was an exciting episode that focused on the Borg side of the story in a big way. But it was also an episode that fell into the trap of some pretty clichéd storytelling, something that definitely detracted from some of the impact that the story had. There were some emotional highlights – including some wonderful performances from Alison Pill, Michelle Hurd, and Jeri Ryan – but overall, I’m left feeling that the season has taken a slow and meandering route to reach this point, and that more time could’ve been spent on some of these interesting storylines and powerful moments had some of the extraneous fluff been cut out from earlier episodes.
It was a dark and stormy night…
For the first time this season, I wasn’t wild about some of the cinematography in Hide and Seek. Parts of the episode were coloured with a dark blue hue – something not uncommon on television to indicate darkness – but I found that it gave those sequences a washed-out look. Though we aren’t anywhere close to the failures of something like The Long Night in Game of Thrones’ eighth season, the colour palette did not flatter the scenes set at Château Picard, and the episode suffered for this creative choice.
Hide and Seek doubled-down on exploring the trauma that Picard faced in his youth, and it was revealed that the memory he’s been repressing was his mother’s suicide and discovering her body. As in Monsters a couple of weeks ago, though, I’m struggling to see how this story connects with what’s happening in the rest of the season, and why the series has decided that this hitherto unknown chapter of Picard’s life warranted so much time dedicated to it.
Hide and Seek delved once again into Picard’s youth.
In a general sense, I’m not averse to the idea of taking an established character and fleshing them out, giving more detail to their background and history. And as stated earlier in the season, I can’t recall anything from Picard’s past Star Trek appearances that would’ve explicitly ruled out something like this happening to him in his youth. However, when dealing with a character who’s made as many appearances as Picard, these kinds of stories have to serve some greater purpose – and right now, this story of Picard’s youth and his mother’s death doesn’t appear to do that.
As I asked in my review of Monsters: what aspect of Picard’s character, personality, temperament, or personal philosophy does this revelation explain? How do we as the audience feel that we understand Picard any better in light of this season spending a significant chunk of its runtime on this story? We know more about Picard’s past in a factual sense – but the facts that have been brought to light don’t inform his characterisation in any way, neither here in Picard nor in The Next Generation. There’s no “aha!” moment where the way Picard has behaved, or his stance on life, suddenly seems to click.
It doesn’t feel like this moment informs Picard’s character in any significant way.
If the story itself had been handled differently, perhaps in a season with fewer other things going on, I think I could forgive it. But during two out of the season’s ten episodes now, a significant amount of time has been taken away from other, more interesting and engaging stories to flesh out an aspect of Picard’s backstory that feels unnecessary.
A character like Picard, who has made so many Star Trek appearances, has unexplored moments in his past that a story like this could’ve told. We could’ve learned, for example, that a similar trauma stems from his time in command of the USS Stargazer – the death of Jack Crusher springs to mind as an unexplained event that would be both traumatic and ripe for a deep dive. But this story shone a light on a part of Picard’s past that none of us could’ve anticipated – and when there are events in his past that feel like they could’ve been more interesting, I guess I’m left wondering what might’ve been.
Other events in Picard’s past could’ve taken us on a similar journey.
Picard’s story also had a very “20th Century” feel to it, and as I’ve said on more than one occasion, that doesn’t feel very Star Trek-y. We know from The Next Generation that Picard had an upbringing on a vineyard and that his family weren’t in favour of him joining Starfleet, so in that sense none of it is contradictory. But from the point of view of someone sitting down to watch Star Trek and not some other contemporary drama series, it’s a tad disappointing when the series spends so much time either in the modern-day or in a setting that feels also very much like the modern-day.
And again we come to the mental health side of the story. I was deeply disappointed with what we saw in Monsters, and while nothing in Hide and Seek sank to that level, Yvette’s mental health condition was again underdeveloped and fell into the trap of stereotyping. Continuing our theme of feeling like a story from contemporary times, not three centuries in the future, we saw no attempt made to use the technology of the early 24th Century to help Yvette. Did her husband do anything to help her? Locking away someone with mental health issues “for their own safety” is the kind of thing that the Victorians did – and although Picard seemed to get to a place in Monsters where he could understand the burden his father carried and forgive him, the way Maurice treated Yvette raises some seriously disturbing questions.
Maurice Picard.
As someone who is disabled and who has diagnosed mental health conditions, one of the things that I’ve always found inspirational about Star Trek’s future is this idea that many of the ailments people today have to live with will one day be curable. Medical technology that’s akin to magic has been present in the Star Trek franchise since the beginning, and while mental health hasn’t often been depicted in a particularly sympathetic way (look at episodes like Whom Gods Destroy or Statistical Probabilities, for example) I’ve always liked the concept Star Trek proposes: that one day, cures for many health issues – including mental health conditions – will be discovered.
Hide and Seek chose to ignore that, and if it had done so for a better reason, I might be able to overlook it, or at least reduce my negative feelings toward it. But because the story of Yvette’s suicide and its impact on Picard feels so disconnected from everything else going on this season, it just hammers home for me that many of the narrative decisions on this side of the story were, at best, odd. At worst I’d call the whole thing pretty poor.
Yvette Picard’s suicide.
One final note on this aspect of Hide and Seek: for the first time, I felt Star Trek: Picard fall into a storytelling trap that has tripped up sister show Discovery on multiple occasions. Picard and Tallinn were on an incredibly dangerous, time-sensitive mission, with half-assimilated Borg shooting at them, yet Picard allowed himself to become distracted by this event in his past. Being thrown into the room where something bad once happened is, of course, a trigger for post-traumatic stress, and I get that. But even with that understanding and that caveat, I found myself wanting to shout at the episode in frustration that there isn’t time for this right now!
This is something that Discovery does far too often – characters bringing their own personal issues to the fore in a way that clearly interferes with the missions at hand. Picard had never had this issue – not even in Monsters when Picard’s trauma was one of the main storylines – but because of the circumstances of the Borg attack on La Sirena this time, it really did feel that Picard didn’t have the time for such indulgent reminiscing. It’s only through sheer luck that he and Tallinn survived.
Picard allowed himself to become distracted in the middle of a very dangerous situation.
Despite being a relatively long episode at almost fifty minutes, there were a few points, especially as Hide and Seek drew to a close, where I felt some important scenes may have been left on the cutting-room floor. For example, how did Rios know exactly where to transport to save Picard and Tallinn? And how did Picard know that Seven and Raffi had let La Sirena escape when he reunited with them? These questions could’ve been answered, and while they may not feel hugely substantial in terms of the way things turned out, the fact that we didn’t see everything as it unfolded left the final part of the episode feeling rather cut-down and perhaps a little contrived.
I’m glad that Dr Jurati was able to not only wrestle some control back from the Borg Queen, but also talk her down from the most extreme version of her plan. This was Hide and Seek’s emotional high point, and Alison Pill put in an outstanding performance. It was nice to welcome back Annie Wersching as the Borg Queen, too.
Dr Jurati and the Borg Queen.
However, I’m left feeling that this sequence was shorter than it could’ve been, and more importantly that key characters were missing. This is the emotional crux of Dr Jurati’s story this season, and the end of the 21st Century side of the Borg’s story, at least. In a series called Star Trek: Picard, shouldn’t Picard himself have been present? He only showed up after this had happened, seemingly already aware of what had transpired even though we never saw him find out on screen.
After what Picard went through with the Borg from The Next Generation through to First Contact and Season 1 of Picard, there was scope for his inclusion here to wrap up his inner conflict with the Borg; to take the argument he expressed in The Star Gazer about wanting to hear out what the Borg had to say and going one step further. Picard could, in this moment, have come to forgive the Borg Queen and arrive at a place where he’d be willing to give her the opportunity to chart a new path and do things differently.
This sequence was undeniably well done. But it feels like Picard should’ve been involved.
In order for that to have happened, though, this episode – and realistically, much of the season leading up to it – would have needed to be structured very differently. This could even have become the “lesson” that Q had been pushing Picard to learn; that forgiving one’s greatest adversaries and giving them a chance to change is worth doing. Is that something Q might want to teach Picard? I don’t know, but it could’ve worked.
Instead it fell to Raffi, Seven of Nine, and Dr Jurati to strike a deal with the Borg Queen – and while this sequence was emotional and well-constructed, as it ended and the deal was honoured, I felt that, if I were in their shoes, I wouldn’t be convinced that the Borg Queen would stick to her commitments. She basically promised, over the span of a few short minutes, that she’d entirely change her philosophy and worldview, and would build a Borg Collective based on an entirely different guiding principle. Because we’ve seen the Borg on a number of previous occasions, I think this moment needed more to be convincing.
Can we feel certain that the Borg Queen will stick to the agreement she made?
Think back to episodes in Voyager such as Scorpion and Dark Frontier. We saw the Borg’s duplicity and deceitfulness on full display in those stories, and we saw how Captain Janeway and others were absolutely correct not to trust the Borg to uphold their end of whatever deal had been struck. Although Dr Jurati felt that she had extracted a solid commitment from the Borg Queen, and I could quite see Raffi being willing to go along with it in exchange for saving Seven’s life, looking in from the outside I have a lot of reservations that Hide and Seek simply didn’t do enough to placate.
The Borg Queen got what she wanted – and everything we know about her from all of her past appearances tells us that she’s the kind of single-minded, domineering character who would say and do whatever was necessary to get the right outcome. Dr Jurati was standing in her way; appearing to concede to her proposal and saving the life of one single individual would be a negligible price to pay – from the Queen’s perspective – if it meant gaining control of La Sirena and the possibility of reuniting with the Borg Collective in the Delta Quadrant.
The Borg Queen ended up getting what she wanted – control of La Sirena.
In short, this concept was an interesting one. The idea of Dr Jurati and the Borg Queen “merging,” rather than Dr Jurati losing her entire personality, is a clever twist on the way the story could’ve gone, and one that had been set up well in Mercy last week. The broader idea of a Dr Jurati-Borg Queen hybrid potentially taking the Borg Collective in a different and perhaps less aggressive direction is likewise a fascinating concept. But neither of these ideas, great as they are, feel complete. It’s true that there’s one more episode of the season remaining – but as the Borg Queen has now warped away in what felt like a pretty conclusive departure, and with a lot of other storylines still in play, it doesn’t seem as though Picard will be able to revisit these ideas right now.
There was potential in the idea of Dr Jurati pacifying the Borg Queen and lending her unique perspective to the Collective. There was potential in the idea of the Borg Queen listening to such a proposal and giving it some degree of consideration. And there was potential in the idea of a negotiated peace (of a sort) at the end of an episode that had these moments of battling and violence. But I don’t feel that Hide and Seek – and Season 2 as a whole – left enough time to really do justice to any of them, at least not as things currently stand.
A powerful moment as Dr Jurati and the Borg Queen discussed the fate of the Borg Collective… but it needed more.
Negotiations with the Borg Queen could’ve been an entire episode in itself – and I’d certainly be up for a story with that kind of diplomatic focus. We’ve seen Star Trek – and Jean-Luc Picard himself – do those kinds of stories exceptionally well, and it could’ve been an interesting coda to the Borg story that has been running this season. Maybe the season finale will bring more of that, but taken on its own, Hide and Seek had some clever concepts and lofty ambitions – but ultimately failed to fully deliver on them.
That isn’t to detract from some wonderfully evocative performances, though. Alison Pill deserves so much credit for the way she inhabited two very different roles in Hide and Seek, and in particular the way she managed to capture the mannerisms, style, and essence of Annie Wersching’s Borg Queen. That kind of acting challenge – playing a different character in someone else’s body – is a Star Trek trope going all the way back to The Original Series, and some actors are better at it than others! Alison Pill really managed to be convincing as the partially-assimilated Borg Queen, and the moment where she donned the iconic outfit was a special effects home run to boot.
The new Borg Queen looks down at her old body.
As mentioned, the idea of a Borg Queen-Jurati hybrid (Borgati? Jurorg?) is an interesting one, and everyone involved did their best to sell it. To me, the fact that this “negotiation” sequence was too short doesn’t negate those wonderful performances. However, the scene immediately afterward, in which Seven of Nine and Raffi agree to honour their deal felt just a little odd. One of Star Trek’s biggest ever villains just kind of… stood around on the bridge of La Sirena, and the way the ship was then turned over to her felt not only rushed, but also rather anticlimactic.
Dr Soong, who had seemed so interesting when we first met him in Fly Me To The Moon, had already lost all pretence of nuance or complexity prior to the events of Hide and Seek. Although the suitably over-the-top performance from Brent Spiner was absolutely delicious to watch – as his villainous performances always have been – I don’t really understand Dr Soong’s inclusion on this side of the story.
Dr Adam Soong.
Q wanted to shut down the Europa Mission to create the Confederation timeline, but to the Borg Queen that outcome isn’t a good one – it’s what she allied herself with Picard and came to the 21st Century to prevent. Despite the fairly weak protestation that the Borg are now “aware” of the danger the Confederation may pose, I don’t buy that she’d remain allied to Dr Soong – especially not after gaining access to several dozen goons that she partially assimilated.
I guess in that sense the Borg Queen acted out-of-character, not by allying herself to Dr Soong but by maintaining her end of the deal even after he’d served his purpose. Perhaps we could argue that it ties in with the merging of Dr Jurati and the Borg Queen; that the Queen’s personality was already showing signs of being altered. But why should the Borg Queen care about Dr Soong? And if Dr Jurati’s influence is present to excuse that contrivance… shouldn’t she be even more inclined to break their deal and stop him?
Dr Soong ultimately escaped to fight another day.
Despite a performance from Brent Spiner that I will unashamedly admit to having thoroughly enjoyed, I don’t find Dr Soong a particularly interesting villain, and when the story has to contort itself into knots to pull out contrived ways to keep him relevant and engaged, it just falls flat for me. Dr Soong may have been an interesting ally for Q, but the way in which he was included this week, and the way in which the Borg Queen stuck to her agreement with him, stretches credulity to breaking-point for me.
Jeri Ryan had some wonderfully emotional and insightful moments as Seven of Nine this week. We got to learn more of Seven’s post-Voyager history, including that she attempted to join Starfleet, but had her application denied. Seven ascribes this to her Borg past, but it raises the interesting question of why Starfleet permitted Icheb to join (as we saw in Season 1), but not her.
We got some interesting information about Seven of Nine’s life during the years in between Voyager and Picard.
Seven’s story this season has now come full-circle, and she’s regained her Borg implants and appearance thanks to the deal Raffi and Dr Jurati struck with the Borg Queen. It’s sad for Seven, who had been enjoying her newfound appearance, to be forced back to the way she had previously been. However, after what she’s been through over the past few episodes, perhaps Seven has reached a place where she can accept herself, despite what she sees as imperfections. There’s a metaphor there, perhaps, albeit one that’s buried quite deeply in the story.
I felt that there was the potential for this new presentation of Seven of Nine to have carried forward, and although it’s perhaps early days to be thinking about spin-offs and future Star Trek projects, one centred around Raffi and Seven of Nine would certainly find supporters! But if Seven of Nine isn’t going to be a huge part of the series in future – and spoiler alert for Season 3 if you missed the announcement, but with the main cast of The Next Generation set to reprise their roles next time around, there may not be as much of a place for her – then her story this season has a cyclical feel to it; she returns to where she began, albeit having been changed somewhat by the experience.
Has Seven’s story come full-circle?
Raffi got two very powerful emotional moments this week, and Michelle Hurd gave her best performance of the season to bring them to screen wonderfully. Dealing with the fatally-wounded Seven of Nine was the latter of the two, and I really felt the pain that she went through in that moment. But the more powerful moment had come a few minutes earlier as Raffi came face-to-face with the “ghost” of Elnor.
It wasn’t exactly made clear how the holographic version of Elnor worked, nor how it came to have the memories of his last moments, and that was something that could’ve been technobabbled a bit better. Again, we’re feeling the constraints of an episode – and a season – that has to make cuts and creative choices in order to fit into a limited timeslot. However, setting that minor gripe aside, the conversation between the two of them was one of the episode’s emotional highlights.
Raffi was able to get closure for Elnor’s death.
Both Michelle Hurd and Evan Evagora excelled as holo-Elnor provided Raffi with the closure and forgiveness that she needed, and the moment was sad but beautiful. Elnor’s death has been one of the things driving Raffi this season, and it felt for a time as if it was something that could be reversed. Raffi now seems ready to accept Elnor’s passing, however, and I think that’s a signal to us as the audience that Elnor’s death is indeed going to be permanent.
On this point – if indeed it comes to pass – I’m not so sure that Picard got it right. Spoiler alert again for Season 3, but as a point of practicality given the return of the main characters from The Next Generation, I can understand why the show is doing everything it can to shuffle its current crop of main characters out of the way. But as I said when that decision was announced, that in itself is something I have mixed feelings about, and Elnor in particular is a character that I feel we never really got the chance to know very well. Aside from his spotlight episode in Season 1 – Absolute Candor – Elnor’s impact on the story of both seasons has been, at best, limited. The decision to enrol him in Starfleet Academy and to give him a new parental figure in Raffi worked well, especially in light of the beautiful scene where Raffi comforted him at the end of Season 1. But there’s so much potential in a young character like Elnor – the first Romulan in Starfleet. If the Star Trek franchise is to survive long-term, characters like him need to stick around.
Is this the end of the road for Elnor?
Despite my great dislike of Rios’ story this season, and the way in which he has regressed as a character from the season premiere, his role in Hide and Seek was largely inoffensive. For the first time I felt that Picard genuinely cared about Rios – he told Tallinn to turn off the transporter to prevent Rios from returning to the battle after he was injured. If I was being cruel I might say that moment felt unearned given the lack of interaction between Rios and Picard for practically the entire season, but we know Picard as a character well enough to know that he does truly care about those under his command.
The Rios-Teresa romance progressed, getting him to a place where he was one transporter beam (or transporter puff) away from saying “I love you” to her. I had wondered, prior to Hide and Seek, if Rios was being groomed for an heroic death. That still could happen in the season finale, but the developing romance with Teresa, combined with Seven’s return to her Borg status, now has me wondering if Rios will choose to stay in 2024 if and when the moment comes to go home. Teresa seemed to be pushing him in that direction this week.
Rios told Teresa he had to go and save the future.
Having talked about everyone present in Hide and Seek, we now turn to one significant absence: Q. Q has been the season’s driving force, seemingly setting up the Confederation timeline and thus also the trip to the 21st Century. But as the story reaches what should be its endgame, Q was once again absent. There’s now just one episode left not only to put a stop to the next phase of Q’s plan, but also to explain what drove him to do all of this in the first place.
As mentioned, it might’ve been possible for Q to be included here – to say that one of his plans or part of his plan was to see how Picard would react to the merging of the Borg Queen with one of his friends. Though a story about mercy, forgiveness, and a willingness to move beyond animosity wouldn’t be as grand in scale as something like learning to perceive time in a non-linear way – as happened in All Good Things at the end of The Next Generation – in another way it’s kind of in line with what Q tried to show Picard in the episode Tapestry. In that story, Q showed Picard an alternate life that he might’ve led, and guided Picard through events in his past that led him to become the person he is. In this story, Q might’ve been showing Picard, in a similar way, that he can grow and learn to let go of the anger, hate, and fear he has toward the Borg and the Borg Queen.
All of this might’ve been part of Q’s grand plan.
But that doesn’t seem to be what this story is trying to say. With Q entirely absent from Hide and Seek, there isn’t much time left to wrap up his story and provide a satisfactory explanation not only for Q’s behaviour, but in a broader sense for the entire story of the season. Why Q did whatever he did, and what his goals and objectives are, are still concealed by the plot – and if they aren’t given a proper moment in the spotlight next week the entire season could fall apart.
As much as I enjoyed a tense story about a battle against modern-day semi-Borg, and as great as those emotional moments were with Raffi, Elnor, Seven, and Dr Jurati, Hide and Seek feels like it has a gaping hole due to the absence of Q. With Q’s henchman Dr Soong still at large and also needing to be stopped, and the Europa Mission still to save, the season finale has been left with a lot of work to do and a lot of story to wrap up – and that’s before we even consider getting Picard, Seven, Rios, and Raffi back to the 25th Century.
The eerie green glow of Borg transporter beams.
Hide and Seek raises a lot of questions – not least of which has to be what will become of the Borg if the new Borg Queen-Dr Jurati hybrid makes good on her promise to effectively restructure the entire Collective and implement a wholly new guiding philosophy. If such a change to the Borg were to happen in the 21st or 22nd Centuries, that could be transformative for the entire prime timeline. Guinan’s people may never have been attacked, Picard may never have been assimilated, the events of The Best of Both Worlds and First Contact may be erased, Captain Janeway’s run-ins with the Borg may have been averted or turned out completely differently, Seven of Nine may never have been assimilated… heck, even Captain Sisko would be affected, with his wife never dying at the Battle of Wolf 359. If Picard and the crew set out to preserve the timeline, then changing more the three centuries’ worth of Borg history means that they very definitely failed!
Setting those implications to one side for now, I think we’ll have to return to Hide and Seek when the season is over and reassess how some of these story points are ultimately borne out. There’s potential for some of them to become better in light of a successful finale – and likewise there’s the potential for some of them to seem disappointing if the season doesn’t wrap up in a neat way.
La Sirena takes flight.
So that was Hide and Seek. A complicated episode, all things considered, with some significant weaknesses and flaws, but one that managed to be exciting and action-packed with a focus on the Borg that I did appreciate.
The Star Trek franchise continues to try some very different ideas, but not all of them stick the landing. The mental health side of storytelling, not just in Hide and Seek, nor even just in Picard Season 2, but in a much broader sense across the franchise, remains an area of concern and disappointment. Star Trek can do mental health stories well, but the producers have to allow enough time to really do justice to big and complex topics. For me at least, Hide and Seek didn’t succeed at that.
I’m anxiously awaiting the season finale. Having seemingly concluded one of its big storylines – at least the part set in the 21st Century – Picard has left itself with two villains to defeat, a mission to save, a cryptic message about “two Renées” to explain, a return to the 25th Century to facilitate, potentially two love stories to bring closure to, and finding a way to connect the events of the past eight episodes to what we saw in the season premiere. There’s a lot of work to do… and I really hope that the season finale will be up to the task.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 is available to stream now on Paramount+ in the United States, Scandinavia, Latin America, and Australia, and on Amazon Prime Video in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard and all other properties mentioned 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4.
With Picard Season 2 ongoing, Strange New Worlds Season 1 hot on its heels, and Prodigy and Lower Decks still to come this year, it might seem premature to be thinking about Discovery Season 5 already! But as I was writing up the final part of my Season 4 theory list, it got me thinking. Season 4 wasn’t bad, all things considered. It had some storylines that disappointed or underwhelmed, but there are some genuinely outstanding episodes in the mix as well – and it ended on a very emotional and exciting high note.
It’s never too early to look ahead, and before production gets fully underway on Discovery’s next outing, I wanted to share my thoughts and opinions about where the show could go from here, and what I’d like to see next. That’s what this article will be about – but stay tuned for a more in-depth look at Season 4 and some of its story elements in the weeks and months ahead.
The USS Mitchell in the Season 4 finale.
For me, the single biggest wish I have for Discovery Season 5 is that it steps away from the “apocalyptic, galaxy-ending threat” story archetype that has been used in different ways across all four seasons of the show so far. We’ve gone through the Klingon war in Season 1, Control and the Red Angel in Season 2, the Burn and the Emerald Chain in Season 3, and finally the DMA and Unknown Species 10-C in Season 4. It’s time to give Captain Burnham and the crew a break, and for the series to try using a genuinely different formula instead of slapping a new coat of paint on the old one.
Just because a story is smaller in scale doesn’t make it any less emotional, exciting, tense, or dramatic, and I think that’s a lesson some of Discovery’s writers and producers could do with taking to heart. How we as the audience respond to a work of fiction is guided not by how massive the monster is or how big the explosions are going to be, but by how the characters we’re rooting for react. Their emotions become our emotions, their investment in the world around them becomes our investment, and so on. A story about a group of people working in an office, friends going on a road trip, or star-crossed lovers from rival families aren’t smaller, less exciting, and worse because they don’t have the backdrop of a world-ending disaster spurring them on. And conversely, some of the worst and least-exciting films and TV shows I’ve ever seen went over-the-top with the size and scale of the disaster the characters were facing.
The Burn was the driving force for much of Season 3.
Past iterations of Star Trek used these kinds of apocalyptic stories pretty sparingly, when you look back on it. It’s only Deep Space Nine’s Dominion War arc, which lasted for three seasons, that comes close to being as long and drawn-out an affair, and even within the framework of the Dominion War, DS9 found ways to tell very different and fun one-off stories. Things like the Borg incursions that Captain Picard and his crew had to deal with were either two-parters or one-off films, and they work well in that format.
Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D still found other ways to be entertaining, and many of The Next Generation’s standalone episodes have gone on to be considered iconic, even those that had a far smaller focus than blockbuster outings like The Best of Both Worlds. This doesn’t mean ditching the season-long story arcs or returning to an episodic format, because I think Discovery has done some interesting and neat things with its serialised stories. But it does mean choosing season-long storylines and narrative arcs that are different in a fundamental way to what the show has tried already.
The DMA was the big threat in Season 4.
Practically any format can become bland and unexciting when overused, no matter how much fun it might’ve been in its original incarnation or at its best moments. It’s a challenge to keep any television series feeling fresh as it enters its fifth season and races toward its sixty-fifth episode, and there are many examples of shows that ran out of steam somewhere along the way. Heck, I have an entire list of television shows that either ran too long or wore out their concepts, and I can think of many more that I could’ve included.
Even Star Trek has hit the wall in the past, running out of energy and failing to keep audiences engaged. By the time Enterprise was willing to try new things in its third and fourth seasons, for example, the franchise was already in such a steep decline that cancellation was inevitable. To Paramount’s credit, lessons have been learned from what happened in 2005 in terms of the way the franchise as a whole operates. Different series are telling stories in their own ways, appealing to broader audiences, and Star Trek as a whole feels varied and diverse. But Discovery on its own doesn’t… and it’s right on the verge of becoming repetitive.
The USS Discovery in Season 4.
I was far from the only commentator to make the point prior to Season 4 that another “galactic threat” storyline felt samey, coming off the back of three similar narrative frameworks, and I’m sure I won’t be the only one to say that re-using that format a fifth time will be a bridge too far. Making use of the newly-established 32nd Century in different ways, and telling a story that may be smaller in scale but that’s just as impactful, emotional, and entertaining, will be the key challenges that I’d like the writers to tackle in Season 5.
The theme of rebuilding in the aftermath of a disaster was something we only saw Season 4 tackle in the briefest and barest of ways right at the beginning of the season, but this could be a concept that the show puts to much better use next time around. Discovery could follow Captain Burnham as she and the crew jump to different worlds, delivering dilithium, solving problems, flying the flag for the Federation… and most importantly, bringing hope to a galaxy that’s been through a lot.
The flag of the Federation…
This is what I’d hoped Season 4 would do, to be honest. The idea of restoring the Federation from the incredibly weakened state it was in when we encountered it is far too important and interesting to be relegated to something that happens off-screen, and I felt even before Season 4 had aired a single episode that this concept offered so much scope for emotional, exciting, and varied storytelling. Discovery could hop to different planets, combining the inclusion of new and visually different alien races (like Season 4’s “butterfly” aliens) with the reintroduction of classic races.
Catching up with some of the factions we remember from past iterations of Star Trek is also something I’ve been wanting Discovery to do for two seasons now. We’ve caught glimpses of races like the Ferengi and Andorians, and heard others mentioned in dialogue and log recordings, but we haven’t actually spent a lot of time with practically any of them. Finding out what became of fan-favourites not only in the years after the Burn, but in the centuries before that event took place, is something that I think a lot of Trekkies would be interested in.
We caught glimpses of familiar races… but Discovery didn’t find time to explore most of them in any detail.
If the 32nd Century is going to be a major setting for the franchise going forward, this kind of world-building is important. Just like how The Next Generation laid the groundwork for Deep Space Nine through its introduction of the Cardassians and Bajorans, so too could Discovery introduce us to planets, races, and technologies that future spin-offs and Star Trek projects could expand upon.
Part of that world-building can be done in a serialised story that looks at how the Federation can be rebuilt in the aftermath of the disasters it has already faced; introducing another new disaster to avert or recover from is simply not needed at this point. From the point of view of the characters, throwing them into another extreme situation would also be problematic, and would take the storytelling close to soap-opera levels.
Owosekun, Saru, and Detmer.
Discovery has, to its credit, attempted to show how some of the events that its characters have gone through have impacted their mental health. Some of these stories have been underdeveloped – Detmer’s in Season 3 and Dr Culber’s in Season 4 being the most egregious examples. But even with this kind of attempted mental health focus, there’s a limit on what we could expect characters to go through and still be alright when they come out the other end.
To be fair, that’s a line that the Star Trek franchise has crossed in the past with characters like Miles O’Brien, for example, who seemed to survive a lot of traumatic events only to be back to normal the next week! But as shows like Picard have demonstrated with characters like Seven of Nine and Jean-Luc Picard himself, it can be incredibly cathartic to revisit some of these characters and give them meaningful, lasting development. But we’re drifting off-topic!
Captain Burnham in Season 4.
Star Trek’s galaxy is vast, and as we saw in Season 4 with the inclusion of races like the Abronians and Unknown Species 10-C, even in the 32nd Century there’s still a heck of a lot that Starfleet doesn’t know about it. There’s scope for Captain Burnham and the crew to get back to exploring for its own sake, as well as using their Spore Drive to reach parts of the galaxy that it would be difficult for the Federation to do otherwise. There’s the potential for the crew to bring hope to far-flung Federation outposts after the Burn, the Emerald Chain, and the DMA have had such a devastating impact… and it’s worthwhile telling stories like that.
Even if Season 5 doesn’t do much of that rebuilding or exploring, I’m still hopeful that whatever stories it chooses to tell won’t feel repetitive and won’t recycle the same basic story framework that we’ve seen throughout the show’s entire run to date. Discovery could do so much to expand our understanding of the Star Trek galaxy; even more so in a 32nd Century setting that is wholly unconstrained by prior canon. Shooting this far forwards in time was a great way for the show’s writers and producers to give themselves new opportunities to play in the vast sandbox that we call the Star Trek galaxy – so now would be a great time to take advantage of that.
As I look ahead to Season 5, I feel hopeful and optimistic. Season 4 had some problems, but generally it was an improvement over Season 3 and it ended in truly spectacular fashion. There’s potential for what comes next to build on that, and if the series can avoid retreading too much old ground, Season 5 could be Discovery’s best outing yet.
Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are available to stream now on Paramount+ where the platform is available and via a patchwork of video-on-demand and pay-to-view streaming platforms in the rest of the world. The series is also available on DVD and Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including Discovery and all other properties mentioned 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.
Trekking with Dennis 