Strange New Worlds

[Guest]

Now that the first season is done, what did you think of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds?

I can't describe how I feel without first talking about the other Nu-Trek series. After Discovery, Picard and Lower Decks, I felt like Star Trek wasn't for me anymore. I hated all of the changes they made to "update" the series. It's like they were embarrassed to be part of the same continuity as the previous series.

The two worst changes, for me, were redesigning the Klingons and the overall shift toward a dystopic future. I stopped watching each series after being appalled by the first few episodes. I did go back and try to give them each a second chance, but aside from one episode of the third season of Discovery, I still wasn't happy with them.

But then along comes Strange New Worlds and I'm absolutely in love with it. The episodic storytelling, the optimistic outlook on the future, and updating the design and technology while still being true to the original series are exactly what I've been hoping for. The Enterprise is more modern, but it's still unmistakably THE Enterprise. The same goes for the classic uniforms, too.

The one thing I'm still hoping for is that they undo the changes to the Klingons, or at least give an explanation for the altered look that allows it to coexist with the other two appearances.

[Guest]

This is interesting, and I have similar opinions about NuTrek.

I started watching Discovery very enthusiastically, as when it came out I was just 16 and I had never really interacted with the online fandom before, so I was going in practically blind expecting awesome new Star Trek. I have not even considered not liking the series because so far every single one was great and I had watched them all. But the very first episode felt like such a gut punch in every way that I could not get any further than like four episodes in.

Since then, I have only really interacted with the new series by watching highlights and analyses of it, and it's always so unfathomably stupid and spits on everything the series was for me. Like, not even in a "if you had watched the series you would understand the context" or "you have not even watched it and yet you hate on it" way, but even standing alone these things were so dumb and undeserved. Again, I was hopeful about Picard and actually watched several episodes of it but legitimately cried because it, too, was shit, and quit it too.

I did watch Lower Decks though and enjoyed it, even though some jokes were a bit too cringe for me, but hey, that's adult animation I guess. It's definitely a show I enjoy watching though, and I consider it Trek, because they seem to be poking fun at Trek from a Trekkie perspective, not from a "I think Star Trek is stupid and needs to be updated" perspective. Same with Prodigy, which was okay but still a very generic kids' show.

Now, to SNW though... what to think about it? I have, as with Picard and Discovery, only really interacted with it by watching highlights and clips and recaps, but I still think it looks like other NuTrek. It's great that it is moving towards an episodic structure, but I don't get over some things:
This all might come across as nit-picky and typical online-nerd-complaining, but honestly, I have a strange relationship with Trek. I have immersed myself in Star Trek for such a huge part of my life that I often joke that I genuinely would not bat an eye at an actual Vulcan or Romulan crossing the street in front of me. It's real in a way, even though I intellectually know that it is not, I have invested so much time and fantasy into this franchise that it feels like an actual part of the world now.

Watching new Star Trek is like watching someone make a movie about your own childhood. No matter how faithful it is, you are going to feel really weird about it and like it is not what actually happened, because the sets are different, the actors do not look like your friends, and the way people talk is slightly off.
I am not watching Star Trek for the episodic nature, the politics, I don't even watch it for the utopia, or the exploration, or even the philosophy. Those are all big parts of what made the originals great and stand out (and the lack of which made DIS and PIC so much worse), but I could definitely enjoy Trek media that is completely different than that.

No, in fact I am consuming and creating Star Trek media because of the world itself and because it is real to me, in a sense. And that means that I need visual continuity: I need LCARS computers or TOS style design, I need the static camera angles, I need relatively slang-free and mature dialogue, silence and engine humming instead of background music, naval conduct when appropriate, I need the tacky costumes, the wood plating, the muted colors. Those are all things I want and expect from Star Trek, because that is what the world looks like. I don't want heavy makeup actors in hairstyles of the 2010s or 2020s . I know this is hypocritical because TNG-ENT was very much a product of their times just as much as new Trek is a product of our times but, hey, I was born in 2001 in Europe, so for me that TNG/VOY/DS9/ENT aesthetic just means Star Trek, not any real life time or style period. If it means that new Trek media that appeals to me has to have 70s-90s design language, so be it.

Seeing that background, do you think I would enjoy Strange New Worlds as much as you did? Genuinely asking, because I'd be willing to give it a chance but I don't want to be kicked in the nethers once more by a show that tries to adapt Star Trek but does not come close to what that universe means to me. All I have seen from that show was - again - big sweeping Dutch angle shots, ridiculously oversized bridges, 2020s slang, quippy characters devoid of mature reasoning, and occasional references to the old shows, all set in front of a Guardians of the Galaxy like atmosphere among the crew.

[Guest]

Seeing that background, do you think I would enjoy Strange New Worlds as much as you did?

If you want something that's designed and filmed just like TOS or TNG, then probably not. Strange New Worlds is very faithful, but it has been modernized. The bridge looks very much like the one from TOS, but it's glossier and the consoles are all touch screens instead of analogue. It's much closer to the original set design than the Apple Store look of the JJ Abrams films, though.

It's shot like a single-camera production, giving it a more cinematic look, and the acting is more natural. Not to criticize the original cast, but shows from that era are always kind of stiff. Pike has a very relaxed demeanor, even compared to Kirk, so the tone of the dialog follows suit.

Out of curiosity, how do you feel about The Orville? That seems closer to what you're looking for. Before Strange New Worlds, I considered it the closest thing to new Star Trek available.

[Guest]

If you want something that's designed and filmed just like TOS or TNG, then probably not. Strange New Worlds is very faithful, but it has been modernized. The bridge looks very much like the one from TOS, but it's glossier and the consoles are all touch screens instead of analogue. It's much closer to the original set design than the Apple Store look of the JJ Abrams films, though.

It's shot like a single-camera production, giving it a more cinematic look, and the acting is more natural. Not to criticize the original cast, but shows from that era are always kind of stiff. Pike has a very relaxed demeanor, even compared to Kirk, so the tone of the dialog follows suit.

Out of curiosity, how do you feel about The Orville? That seems closer to what you're looking for. Before Strange New Worlds, I considered it the closest thing to new Star Trek available.

Aye, okay. I can live with some modernization (and LCARS was touch screens anyway) but I think it's still against canon as there clearly was no touch screen control in TOS. That said, I do not actually like TOS that much (shocking right lol) so I wouldn't mind retcons there; besides, TNG retconned half of TOS anyway, so eh.

When it comes to the stiffness, I actually have the opposite opinion. Well, I do agree with your point when it comes to TOS and early TNG, but DS9 and VOY felt so much more natural than anything in DIS and PIC and what I've seen of SNW so far. Like, yeah, they use real life slang and do "relatable" little things, but it's all so surface level, like a Google Home advertisement. I actually think Sisko alone was much more of a believable, full person than anyone in Discovery. I think it wasn't stiff acting but rather theatre inspired, which befits the tone honestly. They are professional, but still emotional, in their own, mature way. I look up to how they deal with their emotions. I genuinely act like people in DS9 in real life, and I do not act like people in PIC or DIS. It's so... white-middle-class-Western-American-washed, with overacted emotions and "deep" scenes that come off like inspirational posters or infomercials. That's a big reason why I watch old Trek. It feels like I am watching something not meant for entertaining Twitter users, but a genuine look into someone's deeper life.

And when it comes to the Orville; good question! I did watch the first season a while back, and there were as many good things about it as there were bad things. I think the comedy in the early episodes falls VERY flat, with most of the jokes befitting a bad sitcom more than anything else and being about "haha failing marriage and women are emotional and men are goofy". They caught themselves quickly though and I think they gained their footing, and I enjoyed it for what it is. I will continue it at some point, but I want one of my partners to watch it with me, so I will hold out for that. That said, I still need that Star Trek franchise in my life because, as I said, I am in it for the world, not specifically even the style or genre. Klingons are as real to me as people from other countries in real life, I wouldn't bat an eye at seeing one walking down the street. That's how invested I am in this franchise.

[Guest]

When it comes to the stiffness, I actually have the opposite opinion. Well, I do agree with your point when it comes to TOS and early TNG, but DS9 and VOY felt so much more natural than anything in DIS and PIC and what I've seen of SNW so far. Like, yeah, they use real life slang and do "relatable" little things, but it's all so surface level, like a Google Home advertisement. I actually think Sisko alone was much more of a believable, full person than anyone in Discovery. I think it wasn't stiff acting but rather theatre inspired, which befits the tone honestly.

Oh, yeah. When I mentioned the stiff acting, I was definitely just talking about TOS. That's what I'm mostly comparing SNW to. I think the formality and naval-style decorum you mentioned was more of a TNG introduction, or maybe the original movies. Both TOS and SNW are like the wild west compared to the Picard era.

Also, Sisko is by far my favourite captain! I love Avery Brooks's delivery.

And when it comes to the Orville; good question! I did watch the first season a while back, and there were as many good things about it as there were bad things. I think the comedy in the early episodes falls VERY flat, with most of the jokes befitting a bad sitcom more than anything else

The comedy definitely takes a backseat after the first season. It's still there, but the show is much more interested in telling Star Trek-quality moral, emotional, intellectual and philosophical stories now. Instead of feeling like a sitcom, it's more like Star Trek but if everyone was a lot more relaxed and sometimes drunk.