“Bermaga”-era Trek, as I like to call it, had a lot of warmth, too, but it was certainly more serious. they really tried to formalize Trek much more, especially with the lore and the tech. It did come off as stiff a lot of the time, but it had its own goofy moments, too. It was certainly different in tone, though, especially DS9, which was pretty dark in its portrayal of Trek at the edges of and sometime outside of the Federation. The whole idea, though, was to portray a much more mature Federation and Starfleet, and I think they did a good job of that.

It’s also what PIC S1 and S2 missed— the human connections, the warmth, that were present in the Bermaga-era Trek shows. That, and the good writing, directing, and acting. The characters weren’t believable and Trek was presented as some action series set in a dystopian future that certainly seemed alien to Trek viewers. No wonder everyone hated it. It’s also why S3 was such a hit: it was a return to everything that made 90s-era Trek great: excelled, character-driven storylines with clever tech problems that everyone had to work together to fix using science and cleverness.

I love how SNW has hit its stride this season, has broken out of the DSC formula, and is hitting all the right notes (no pun intended).