From Janeway, Picard and Sisko to modern Star Trek: what happened to the ethical future we were once asked to imagine?

I have been watching Picard, and I am genuinely surprised by how much the ethical structure of Star Trek has changed.

I am not talking about nostalgia, and I am not saying that characters should remain exactly the same for thirty years.

I am talking about something much more fundamental.

TNG, DS9 and Voyager were built around an ethical premise that, for me, was one of the strongest elements of Star Trek:

THE END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS.

This principle appeared again and again.

Characters could make mistakes. They could become angry, afraid, traumatised or confused. They could even cross ethical lines.

But the line existed.

And when they crossed it, Star Trek stopped and examined what that meant.

That was the difference.

The characters did not simply ask:

Can we do this?

They asked:

Do we have the right to do this? What will this choice make us? What responsibility comes with the power we have?

Voyager is probably the clearest example.

They were trying to cross an impossible distance to return home. They could have justified almost anything through survival.

But they did not.

Again and again they accepted a longer journey, greater risk and personal sacrifice because reaching home could not justify destroying another civilisation, exploiting another species or abandoning the principles they represented.

That was not weakness.

That was the entire point.

Humanity had evolved technologically, but Star Trek proposed that perhaps we could also evolve ethically.

And this is where I struggle enormously with Picard.

Picard himself feels fundamentally different.

The Picard I knew could certainly be wrong, but his reasoning had extraordinary internal coherence. He questioned himself. He debated. He understood that being captain was not simply having authority — it was carrying responsibility for how that authority was used.

The new Picard often feels reactive, impulsive and strangely ineffective.

For me, that is not simply “an older and more vulnerable Picard”.

It changes the architecture of the character.

And Seven of Nine is even more difficult for me.

Seven was one of the characters I identified with most.

Her journey in Voyager was not simply about becoming emotional or “more human”.

It was about learning how to be human while maintaining discipline, logic and integrity.

She struggled with identity, belonging and emotion, but what made her extraordinary was precisely her effort not to become governed by impulse.

She could be wrong. She could be severe. She could misunderstand human behaviour.

But revenge was never the foundation of the character.

Her relationship with the Doctor was particularly important because both of them were learning what humanity meant almost from the outside. Their logic often exposed the inconsistencies of ordinary human behaviour.

Now I find Seven driven by anger, punishment and revenge.

At times she feels closer to a Klingon archetype than to Seven of Nine.

For me, this is not character development.

It is a different character.

And the change goes beyond Picard and Seven.

The entire universe feels different.

The older Star Trek made an extraordinary effort to maintain coherence.

Character coherence.

Ethical coherence.

Political coherence.

And even scientific coherence, as far as science fiction could reasonably achieve it.

Of course there were mistakes across hundreds of episodes, but you could feel that the writers cared about the rules of the universe they were creating.

A decision made years earlier could still matter.

A species had a culture and internal logic.

Technology had rules.

Characters carried the consequences of what they had experienced.

And most importantly, Star Trek was never simply fantasy in space.

It was asking something.

What could humanity become if we improved?

Not if we became perfect.

If we improved.

What would happen if curiosity became stronger than conquest?

If responsibility became stronger than ego?

If knowledge created an obligation rather than simply power?

If we learned that having the ability to do something did not automatically give us the moral right to do it?

That was what made Star Trek different from ordinary science fiction.

It was not the Enterprise.

It was not warp drive.

It was not aliens.

It was the idea that the future could contain people who had learned something that we still struggle to understand today.

I started watching Star Trek when I was around 18, and this philosophy genuinely influenced the way I grew up.

I saw many things I already believed in expressed in a more evolved society, and it made those principles feel possible rather than naïve.

Responsibility mattered.

Integrity mattered.

The method mattered as much as the result.

The end did not justify the means.

DS9 challenged this perhaps more

1. JANEWAY — Caretaker THE COST OF DOING WHAT IS RIGHT

“I’m not willing to trade the lives of the Ocampa for our convenience.”

JANEWAY — CARETAKER 70,000 light-years from home. The easier way home would cost someone else their future. She refuses.

2. PICARD — I, Borg POWER DOES NOT CREATE THE RIGHT TO USE IT

Caption:

PICARD — I, BORG He could destroy the enemy that once destroyed him. Having the power does not give him the right.

3. SISKO — In the Pale Moonlight WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE END DOES JUSTIFY THE MEANS?

Caption:

SISKO — IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT He crosses the line — and he wins. The episode is about the moral price of that victory.

---

JANEWAY I will sacrifice our advantage rather than sacrifice them.

PICARD I will not become my enemy in order to defeat him.

SISKO I crossed the line to save millions — now I have to live with what I became.

When did Star Trek stop making the moral cost the story — and start treating moral compromise simply as character development?

RIP Quinn (and a Hunter on DS9).

If anyone is planning on participating in Trektober this year, it would be great to see all your art shared here.

I thought Ira Behr's and Anton Mount's comments were interesting.

I was lucky enough to see The Search for Spock on the last day and the remaster frankly blew me away, the surround sound was fun but what really stood out was the matte painting backgrounds. I'm not sure what magic they did, but every single one was truly breathtaking. It made me sad I didn't get to see all of them in theaters now.

The stardate is 2179.3. Enterprise is orbiting an M-class moon (later seen labelled Sigma-287D). In Star Trek, M-class (or as established in ENT, Minshara-class) means it is generally Earth-like or habitable by oxygen-breathing humanoids with minimal assistance.

Kirk was stabbed by La’An while she was in the thrall of whatever was aboard the USS Griffin (SNW: “The Griffin Incident”). Coradrazine is a powerful stimulant, which in small doses can save lives, but in large doses can cause psychosis and paranoia (TOS: “The City on the Edge of Forever”), as M'Benga says here. In that episode, Kirk questioned McCoy’s use of cordrazine on a wounded Sulu, indicating he was familiar with its effects. We see here his first encounter with the drug.

La’An had a romantic interlude with an alternate timeline Kirk in SNW: “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, and while Prime Kirk and her shared a connection in SNW: “Subspace Rhapsody”, he was in the “on-phase” of his off-and-on relationship with Carol Marcus at the time. Now, however, both of them are single - La’An ended her relationship with Spock in SNW: “Level-Five Transporter Accident” and Kirk was ghosted by Carol at the end of “The Griffin Incident”.

When Ortegas speaks to La'An, she is eating sliced strawberries. In SNW: “Ghosts of Illyria”, La’An says that she picked up strawberries as a comfort food from Una, which may be a hint to her emotional state.

Altairans are presumably from the Altair system. The star is also known as Alpha Aquilae, part of the constellation Aquila (meaning “eagle”) and in Trek lore has at least six planets. Altair VI is inhabited in TOS: “Amok Time”, and is the origin port for Kobayashi Maru (ST II). Altair III and IV were mentioned in TNG: “Encounter at Farpoint” and DS9: “Prophet Motive”, respectively. Altair IV was also the titular Forbidden Planet of the 1956 movie, which was a huge influence on Star Trek.

Cadet A’Sha is with the landing party. Uhura mentions that once inside the cave, they’ll lose comms and the ability to transport. Beckett Mariner, who hates caves, sarcastically mentions in LD: “Caves” how rocks can successfully block centuries of technological process, and in LD: “Mining the Mind’s Mines”, she said that it’s not a real day in Starfleet until comms get blocked. How the SOS signal can get through if comms are going to be blocked is a question I leave for the interested viewer.

La’An’s diver’s watch is from the alternate timeline mentioned, and was worn by the alternate Kirk c. 2023.

The Klingon War took place during Season 1 of DIS, from 2257-2258. The USS Constitution, NCC-1700, was seen on a chart of ships undergoing repair at Starbase 11 in TOS: “Court Martial”, and presumably is the class ship for the Constitution-class starships of which Enterprise is one. This is the first time it’s been mentioned in on-screen dialogue, her other appearances to date being only in production and background art. Beta canon goes more into the ship’s story.

This is the first appearance of ADM Simon Reeger, played by Joe Morton. Ortegas is said to have helmed Pelanque during the war, presumably named after the Mayan ruins in Southern Mexico. Enterprise was at the Prospero system in SNW: “Under the Cloak of War”, where it was mentioned that Ortegas was stationed near it during the war.

This is the first mention of the Vaardan Massacre, an unprovoked attack that caused 5 million casualties.

Scotty mentions a cloaking system and refers to the Klingons using them. In DIS, the Klingons did use cloaks, which led to somewhat of a tizzy in fan circles because the impression was that cloaks where only used by Romulans at that point and in TOS: “Balance of Terror” the crew did not seem familiar with cloaks. I won’t get into it now, except to say that like many things, fan perception of what is canon isn’t as strong as they might imagine.

Ortegas says that during the Cold War, destroyers would follow enemy submarines via their trash. In the 1965 movie The Bedford Incident, the destroyer Bedford figures out that a Soviet sub they are hunting has been in the water for about 36 hours by analysing the thickness of the potato peels in the garbage it left behind.

The screen shows the mystery ship heading off in the direction of the Romulan Neutral Zone, which implies heavily that it might be Romulans who are responsible. The idea of tracing it via the emissions of its impulse engines also harkens back to Scotty’s line in “Balance of Terror” that the Romulan ship’s power is “simple impulse”. The incident in “Balance”, however, will not occur for another 3 or 4 years.

ADM Reeger commandeers Enterprise, presumably under Starfleet Order 104, Section B, paragraph 1(a) (TOS: “The Doomsday Machine”).

Enterprise warps out of orbit at Warp 5. The show has not really been consistent as to exactly when it is dangerous to go to warp while within a planet’s gravity well, or even a star system’s, although fan lore has long held that it is shouldn’t be done.

Zeta Reticuli is a real binary star system (consisting of Zeta-1 and Zeta-2 Reticuli) about 39 ly from Earth. It first appeared in a chart in ENT: “Cold Front”. In UFO lore, it is allegedly the home of the Grey aliens, also known as Reticulans.

George Samuel Kirk, Sr. is Jim and George Jr.’s father, who was played by Chris Hemsworth in Star Trek (2009), where he was first officer of the USS Kelvin in 2233. In the novel Final Frontier by Diane Carey he was first officer under Robert April on the maiden voyage of Enterprise.

Argus II could be related to Gamma Argus II, which was listed in production art in TNG: “Conspiracy”. The map on Ortegas’ console shows a system of four planets.

General Order 24 (TOS: “A Taste of Armageddon”) orders the destruction of “the entire inhabited surface of [a] planet.” Its mention here settles a long fan debate about whether Kirk was making it up when he ordered Scotty to implement it in “Armageddon”.

Increasing phaser power by routing it through the warp core became part of Enterprise’s design when it was refitted following the five-year mission (TMP).

Nadions are particles emitted when energy weapons like phasers or disruptors are used. The TNG Tech Manual says that nations can disrupt nuclear forces and free atomic nuclei. Nadion radiation can be fatal (VOY: “Nothing Human”) or used to slow the progress of a disease (DS9: “Extreme Measures”).

The Andorian leader, Tuur, says he has no love for Vulcans. In the 22nd century, Vulcans and Andorians were in a near constant state of hostilities (ENT: “Shadows of P’Jem”). Tuur is played by Currie Graham, who also acted in the Star Trek fan production Of Gods and Men.

As stated in “The Doomsday Machine”, if a medical officer certifies the commander medically or psychologically unfit, they may be relieved under Order 104, Section C.

Reeger's line, "And when that ship attacks again — and it will — the blood, the terror, will be on your head," is also another allusion to "Balance of Terror".

Pike tells Uhura, “You can do everything right, and sometimes things still don’t work out the way we hoped.” This echoes Picard’s advice to Data in TNG: “Peak Performance”: “[I]t is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.”

Hemmer was Enterprise’s Aenar engineer, who Uhura referred to earlier in conversation with Tuur, and who sacrificed himself in SNW: “All Those Who Wander”.

The script seems to want to excuse George Kirk Sr.'s stalled career and absence as a parent when the brothers were growing up to Reeger's sabotage, but if that malice only dates back to the Klingon War and the Battle of Zeta Reticuli, it's only been about 4 or 5 years since the war ended.

This may be the first episode this season not to be a clear genre homage (although Crimson Tide would do), but "badmiral" episodes are a staple in Star Trek.

Logline

Starfleet commandeers the Enterprise for an alien pursuit that grows far beyond its original orders.

Written by: Alan B. McElroy

Directed by: Sharon Lewis

From the new Le Creuset Star Trek collection.