Yep. Good analysis. Probably why I haven’t been able to get along with much of the Kurtzman era Trek. I’ve started Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks and find those two to be actually watchable, but Discovery and Picard I noped out of pretty hard after around a season each, and have no desire to even start Academy.
I will die on the hill that Lower Decks is not only the only nu-trek that is actual Star Trek, but that it actually belongs up there with the actual legacy Trek shows it parodies. And it’s got plenty of gay woke stuff in it. But despite being a parody, and forgiving the very rough first season (It’s ST, hello), it’s obviously that the writers actually understand what Star Trek is.
I fear a lot of people will write it off as “Star Trek does Rick & Morty” and it’s a shame. It has a TAMARIAN bridge officer for gods sake.
It’s from a Southpark epidode called “Member Berries” where they are sentient, talking berries constantly reminding people of glory past by asking “Member? Member X?”
Usually, they are remembering pop culture icons (mostly the OT Star Wars) but also political/societal things like Ronald Reagan, when “marriage was only between men and women” or “when there were no mexicans.”
By their behaviour they are constantly evoking nostalgia and because of that they’ve kinda become their own pop culture icon as a meme to describe nostalgia bait in pop culture media
It’s a good Southpark episode, I recommend giving it a watch.
Lower Decks is like a love letter to Star Trek and manages to be good Trek on its own. But yeah it is derivative and nostalgic as part of its blueprint . You need the context of the existing shows for it to be as good as it is, but I can’t really discount it for that.
No, I don’t actually think that. While there are some gags that work on their own (like the play on prejudice with the Ferengi), there are so many more “remember that thing from TOS, TNG, TAS, etc? Here, have it again!” (like that giant spock skeleton or the Landru-episode or when Rutherford builds a Delta Flyer). And I don’t quite like that.
Contrast that with Prodigy (why does that one get to be forgotten so often though? It is really good). Janeway returns as an Emergency Command Hologram, which is a callback both to Janeway and Voyager in general and to the episode about The Doctor, when he wanted to exoand his role and als become an ECH. But they told new stories with the Janeway ECH and made her a new character of her own. Same with Chakotay, who appears later as himself (not a hologramnor some other form of copy). The same character, but new story and developement (both Janeway and Chakotay get more character developement here then in all of Voyager). Then they got Wesley Crusher back, but instead of just rehashing the annoying teenager they explore his Traveler role.
Instead of pointing at things from past shows saying “See, you liked that, didn’t you? We got that here, too!”, Prodigy expanded these characters and explored new stories. And it did that well.
Lower Decks did that, too, sometimes. Sometimes LD did make fun of older trek, saying how dumb something was, ok. But mostly the references were mere easter eggs that were there for nostalgia bait.
Lower Decks actually added to the Star Trek universe in real ways. The whole idea of Second Contact vessels, Klingon non-noble culture, Ferengi TV, the Ferengi joining the Federation, Orion culture, etc. It wasn’t only references or derivative at all.
I didn’t say it added nothing. I explicitely said there is good stuff. What I do say though is that there is too much memberberries and too little new stuff.
It’s a fair criticism. I am just more tolerant of the nostalgia bait, I guess, so it’s difficult for me to see how much it would put many other people off.
I mean, you enjoy what you enjoy. As long as it’s not Star Wars Movies outside the OT + Rogue One, I won’t judge.
I also realize that I probably watch movies and shows much more critically than others and I am quickly annoyed by repetitiveness and overused patterns and tropes.
I would like to stress that they’re treating all the gay woke stuff as entirely normal and common, just like original trek.
On the other hand, Discovery had a painfully long and exceedingly meaningless arc about a character’s struggles with society’s views on their gender… When said society doesn’t have any negative views at all.
It felt like me gathering my family together to have a deeply emotional announcement that I always put on my left sock first.
Discovery had a painfully long and exceedingly meaningless arc about a character’s struggles with society’s views on their gender… When said society doesn’t have any negative views at all.
Who’s character arc are you talking about here? I don’t think that describes anything that happened in the show.
I know Adira was an incredibly forgettable character in probably the worst Discovery season, but Adira’s “I’m actually gender neutral” coming-out talk with Stamets half a season after they were introduced was incredibly mismatched with everything Trek.
Especially with the absolutely amazing way DS9 handled the Curzon/Jadzia thing.
Edit: to see an actually good way to handle a transition on screen, watch The Umbrella Academy.
That’s a ten second scene with no buildup or fallout (apart from everyone using the correct pronouns going forward). Adira was visibly hesitant in the moment, and you can take issue with that, but there was no extended struggle or “coming out” character arc.
Especially with the absolutely amazing way DS9 handled the Curzon/Jadzia thing.
The way DS9 did the “of course they’re here and it’s no big deal because it’s the enlightened utopian future” inclusion with a character who was effectively trans was in the finest tradition of Trek, dating back to the first pilot of TOS. And you can tell there’s a “but” coming up because of the otherwise well-deserved praise that we’re heaping on here.
But “Facets.”
The episode that was based on the Sybil TV movie. The episode that made joined Trill explicitly plural. And they made a beeline for the long hackneyed “evil alter” trope that the plural community has been unfairly saddled with since 1886. As well as the “slutty alter” trope, but it was already pretty well established by that point that Curzon was a horndog.
The way DS9 did the “of course they’re here and it’s no big deal because it’s the enlightened utopian future” inclusion with a character who was effectively trans was in the finest tradition of Trek, dating back to the first pilot of TOS.
Not just that, but Jadzia was an actual character who had a personality and contributed to the show. Same for Chekhov, or Uhura, or dozens of others who were fully realized characters first and foremost.
Adira was just there, and nothing else. It felt like the entire character was just there to tick a diversity box, and nothing else.
Not just that, but Jadzia was an actual character who had a personality and contributed to the show. Same for Chekhov, or Uhura, or dozens of others who were fully realized characters first and foremost.
Adira was just there, and nothing else. It felt like the entire character was just there to tick a diversity box, and nothing else.
We agree entirely. It kinda felt like the writers on Disco eventually started treating main engineering like an skee-ball machine. It’s where they put the tokens.
Yep. Good analysis. Probably why I haven’t been able to get along with much of the Kurtzman era Trek. I’ve started Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks and find those two to be actually watchable, but Discovery and Picard I noped out of pretty hard after around a season each, and have no desire to even start Academy.
I will die on the hill that Lower Decks is not only the only nu-trek that is actual Star Trek, but that it actually belongs up there with the actual legacy Trek shows it parodies. And it’s got plenty of gay woke stuff in it. But despite being a parody, and forgiving the very rough first season (It’s ST, hello), it’s obviously that the writers actually understand what Star Trek is.
I fear a lot of people will write it off as “Star Trek does Rick & Morty” and it’s a shame. It has a TAMARIAN bridge officer for gods sake.
Lower Decks relies a little too much on nostalgia and the supposed parody of older shows, and the parody often comes off as memberberries.
“Memberberries” 😂 What’s that mean? I don’t want to search it bc I’d rather hear from someone who actually uses this new word I’ve never heard 💜
It’s from a Southpark epidode called “Member Berries” where they are sentient, talking berries constantly reminding people of glory past by asking “Member? Member X?”
Usually, they are remembering pop culture icons (mostly the OT Star Wars) but also political/societal things like Ronald Reagan, when “marriage was only between men and women” or “when there were no mexicans.”
By their behaviour they are constantly evoking nostalgia and because of that they’ve kinda become their own pop culture icon as a meme to describe nostalgia bait in pop culture media
It’s a good Southpark episode, I recommend giving it a watch.
Also: Memberberries supercut
Lower Decks is like a love letter to Star Trek and manages to be good Trek on its own. But yeah it is derivative and nostalgic as part of its blueprint . You need the context of the existing shows for it to be as good as it is, but I can’t really discount it for that.
No, I don’t actually think that. While there are some gags that work on their own (like the play on prejudice with the Ferengi), there are so many more “remember that thing from TOS, TNG, TAS, etc? Here, have it again!” (like that giant spock skeleton or the Landru-episode or when Rutherford builds a Delta Flyer). And I don’t quite like that.
Contrast that with Prodigy (why does that one get to be forgotten so often though? It is really good). Janeway returns as an Emergency Command Hologram, which is a callback both to Janeway and Voyager in general and to the episode about The Doctor, when he wanted to exoand his role and als become an ECH. But they told new stories with the Janeway ECH and made her a new character of her own. Same with Chakotay, who appears later as himself (not a hologramnor some other form of copy). The same character, but new story and developement (both Janeway and Chakotay get more character developement here then in all of Voyager). Then they got Wesley Crusher back, but instead of just rehashing the annoying teenager they explore his Traveler role.
Instead of pointing at things from past shows saying “See, you liked that, didn’t you? We got that here, too!”, Prodigy expanded these characters and explored new stories. And it did that well.
Lower Decks did that, too, sometimes. Sometimes LD did make fun of older trek, saying how dumb something was, ok. But mostly the references were mere easter eggs that were there for nostalgia bait.
Which was itself memberberries. He uses Gary Seven’s office ferchrissakes.
Lower Decks actually added to the Star Trek universe in real ways. The whole idea of Second Contact vessels, Klingon non-noble culture, Ferengi TV, the Ferengi joining the Federation, Orion culture, etc. It wasn’t only references or derivative at all.
I didn’t say it added nothing. I explicitely said there is good stuff. What I do say though is that there is too much memberberries and too little new stuff.
It’s a fair criticism. I am just more tolerant of the nostalgia bait, I guess, so it’s difficult for me to see how much it would put many other people off.
I mean, you enjoy what you enjoy. As long as it’s not Star Wars Movies outside the OT + Rogue One, I won’t judge.
I also realize that I probably watch movies and shows much more critically than others and I am quickly annoyed by repetitiveness and overused patterns and tropes.
I would like to stress that they’re treating all the gay woke stuff as entirely normal and common, just like original trek.
On the other hand, Discovery had a painfully long and exceedingly meaningless arc about a character’s struggles with society’s views on their gender… When said society doesn’t have any negative views at all.
It felt like me gathering my family together to have a deeply emotional announcement that I always put on my left sock first.
Damn it! You’ve got me in tears!
Who’s character arc are you talking about here? I don’t think that describes anything that happened in the show.
I know Adira was an incredibly forgettable character in probably the worst Discovery season, but Adira’s “I’m actually gender neutral” coming-out talk with Stamets half a season after they were introduced was incredibly mismatched with everything Trek.
Especially with the absolutely amazing way DS9 handled the Curzon/Jadzia thing.
Edit: to see an actually good way to handle a transition on screen, watch The Umbrella Academy.
That’s a ten second scene with no buildup or fallout (apart from everyone using the correct pronouns going forward). Adira was visibly hesitant in the moment, and you can take issue with that, but there was no extended struggle or “coming out” character arc.
There was a fair bit of build up with their boyfriend.
The way DS9 did the “of course they’re here and it’s no big deal because it’s the enlightened utopian future” inclusion with a character who was effectively trans was in the finest tradition of Trek, dating back to the first pilot of TOS. And you can tell there’s a “but” coming up because of the otherwise well-deserved praise that we’re heaping on here.
But “Facets.”
The episode that was based on the Sybil TV movie. The episode that made joined Trill explicitly plural. And they made a beeline for the long hackneyed “evil alter” trope that the plural community has been unfairly saddled with since 1886. As well as the “slutty alter” trope, but it was already pretty well established by that point that Curzon was a horndog.
Not just that, but Jadzia was an actual character who had a personality and contributed to the show. Same for Chekhov, or Uhura, or dozens of others who were fully realized characters first and foremost.
Adira was just there, and nothing else. It felt like the entire character was just there to tick a diversity box, and nothing else.
Yeaaaaaahhhh…
We agree entirely. It kinda felt like the writers on Disco eventually started treating main engineering like an skee-ball machine. It’s where they put the tokens.
You monster!
Lower Decks might actually be my favorite Star Trek, period. Including DS9 and TNG.