Star Trek II: "Engage!"

 

I was very clear about what to expect. Star Trek: The Next Generation was going to be an utter failure and I would be on my way back to England within a few months. I could make some money for the first time in my life, get a suntan and go home.

- Patrick Stewart

Today, without any real fanfare, Star Trek: The Next Generation celebrated its 30th birthday. 

As I've discussed in other blog postings, ST:TNG is my favourite part of the Star Trek franchise - not always perfect, almost nothing is, but with an excellent record of thought-provoking and watchable stories over the course of its seven year run on television, and its four movies.

The Next Generation was my Star Trek:  I'd seen all the episodes of the original series, but by 1987 they were as much a part of history as World War II, and as such had become one of the pillars of science fiction fandom.  Because of that position, you didn't really have a choice about liking those episodes - it was all we had to hold up against The Six Million Dollar Man and Buck Rogers.

The Next Generation offered a return to the kind of thoughtful science fiction that was Star Trek at its best, at a time when the franchise was experiencing serious fatigue issues. The show's creators were faced with a unique challenge:  to take an existing concept of the future, and imagine what its future might be, while remaining faithful to the foundations of the original series - in other words, to boldly go where Gene Roddenberry* had already gone in 1966, but better.

The result was a surprising success that clearly demonstrated the durability of the original premise, revived the franchise, gave us a believable future for the Federation, and permanently added the phrase "the next generation" ** to the list of cultural clichés.

Oddly enough, in spite of my affection for ST:TNG, it's been a very long time since I've actually watched any of the episodes. As far as I know, The Next Generation is on Netflix™ - maybe it's time to revisit the series and the entertaining selection of dated 80s hairdos offered by the different cast members.  (With the exception of Jean-Luc Picard, of course - being bald is always fashionable.)

- Sid

* Different sources offer very different views of the benefits and drawbacks of Gene Roddenberry's influence on the first two or three seasons of The Next Generation before his death in 1991. However, it may not be a coincidence that, in my opinion, it wasn't until the third season that the show really found itself.

** Not to mention "Make it so, number one.", "Engage!" and "Shut up, Wesley!".

Star Trek I: "Starfleet doesn't fire first!"

When Emotion brings us ghosts from the past, only Logic can root us in the present.

Sarek of Vulcan, Star Trek: Discovery

If there is one element that ties together the different incarnations of Star Trek, it is victory against all odds - albeit sometimes won with a stern price, but victory nonetheless. Discovery, the latest addition to the Star Trek universe, begins its story with something very rare in that universe:  failure.

Discovery, set about ten years before the original series*, introduces us to Lieutenant Commander Michael Burnham of the USS Shenzhou, impressively and aggressively played by Walking Dead alumni Sonequa Martin-Green.  While on a repair mission to a subspace communications relay, the Shenzhou encounters a Klingon incursion at the edge of Federation space.  Burnham, adopted and raised by Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan after the death of her parents in a Klingon raid, attempts to persuade the Shenzhou's captain to follow Vulcan protocol and preemptively fire on the Klingons:  the "Vulcan Hello" of the first episode's title.

Captain Georgiou refuses to compromise the principles of the Federation by attacking without provocation, which leads Burnham to commit an act of mutiny in hopes of saving her ship, her crew, and her captain.  She fails, then tragically fails again in an attempt to pull victory from defeat.  The ultimate result of her actions is the near-destruction of the ship, the decimation of the crew, the death of the captain, and war with the newly united Klingon empire.

My apologies for the spoiler, but I'm disappointed beyond words that Captain Philippa Georgiou, Michelle Yeoh's character, did not survive her debut.  My past experience with Star Trek is that it takes at least a season (if not more) for things to sort themselves out in terms of what works for the characters, but Yeoh's nuanced performance as Captain Georgiou was an understated work of art: intelligent, clever, funny, commanding and direct, but emotional and even vulnerable.  We can always hope to see her again in flashbacks, but that would be a sad substitute for watching the ongoing growth and development of the character.

However, her death and the death of most of her crew sets up an unexpected situation for the premiere of a new series.  At the end of the episode, Burnham pleads guilty in front of a Starfleet court of inquiry, and is stripped of her rank and imprisoned.  In her final words to the court, she poignantly describes her situation:

From my youth on Vulcan, I was raised to believe that service was my purpose. And I carried that conviction to Starfleet. I dreamed of a day when I would command my own vessel and further the noble objectives of this great institution. My dream is over. The only ship I know in ruins. My crew... gone. My captain, my friend. I wanted to protect them from war, from the enemy. And we are at war and I am the enemy.

This also summarizes the state of the series: almost all the characters that were introduced are dead and the protagonist is in prison. Where do we go from here? Presumably the story will be one of redemption, and I'm aware that Jason Isaacs has yet to make an appearance as in his role as Captain Lorca, but he's going to need a really good reason to drag a disgraced Starfleet officer out of her cell and make her part of his crew - what will that reason be?

I guess we'll just have to wait and see - it's going to be a process of, well, discovery.

- Sid

* I'm curious to see if there's going to be some specific reason that they decided to set this in Star Trek's "past" (for want of a better way to describe it). Three changes to the script and they could have moved the whole concept fifty years into The Next Generation's future, and then there wouldn't be all those comments about how advanced the bridge of the Shenzhou looks compared to Captain Kirk's, not to mention the revelation of Spock's human sister and the complete lack of velour turtlenecks, pointy sideburns and short pants on the crew.

I think I'll pass, thank you.

Yeah, funny thing...we never actually saw anyone get off this ride at the PNE...

- Sid