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Is any New Trek good? Or is it just all "Pew pew were a prestige TV gritty action show now." stuff? (hexbear.net)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by to c/askchapo@hexbear.net
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I'm curious to creck some of the new stuff out but it all looks so not Star Trek

By New Trek I mean Discovery, Picard, Strange New World and Lower Decks

Wow that's a lot of series.

I like the optimism of Star Trek and apparently a lot of New Trek kind of abandons that? sadness

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[–] 14 points 2 years ago (2 children)

SNW is good, but lacks its own identity. It can get pretty derivative, especially the first season. Like they'll just lift plots from TOS, then retcon a whole species and make it an Alien clone, then they'll slap a Trek skin over an Ursula K Le Guin short story, then they'll do the Buffy musical episode. Some of the character work is good though. Mbenga had a hell of an episode in season 2.

Orville is ok generic Trek but really uneven. The show starts really cringe, but the Isaac arc is genuinely great. Isaac is generic Data but more robotic, and harder to understand, so a little more scary... and they play with that. The Moclans are generic Klingons, but their plots feel extremely TNG. The biggest problem with the show is Captain Seth McFarlane who drags down every episode he's in. He's written as a sympathetic sexpest, it's just afwul. Whenever you get an episode about him, he's just begging to be back with his ex and being pathetic.

People like Lower Decks, but I find it to be shouty and obnoxious. The latest season was better. But it also leans heavily into "remember this reference" jokes, which a lot of people like because at least it's aware of source material, but just comes across as cheap nostalgia bait to me.

Disco is terrible. I truly wanted to like it. Every season I'd be hyped for the season's plot arc, then they ALWAYS screwed it up.

Picard is unwatchable, imo. People say it redeems itself in season 3, but I won't be baited again.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    then they’ll slap a Trek skin over an Ursula K Le Guin short story

    To be fair, it's a story I think should work very well with a Trek skin. It's a simple but poignant ethical dilemma, and there are plenty of interesting ways to rebut or expand on it if you wanted to give it a twist. It's short enough to be adapted into an episode comfortably. How they failed to stick the landing on that one is beyond me.

    Thee biggest problem with the show is Captain Seth McFarlane who drags down every episode he’s in. He’s written as a sympathetic sexpest, it’s just afwul. Whenever you get an episode about him, he’s just begging to be back with his ex and being pathetic.

    You're absolutely right, but it's both amusing and shocking to me that this was the real problem with his character. Like surely the self-insert character so the family guy-guy, not a career actor, can play out the fantasy of every nerd would either be embarrassingly "bad ass" or terribly acted (or likely both)?

    Instead he's too pathetic and gross but honestly surprisingly well acted. I ended up thinking I could actually like Seth McFarlane playing a captain, just not writing one.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    I agree about Omelas being good to adapt for Trek (and about the fumble). I just mention it because it fits into a bigger trend where SNW does a lot of recycling.

    I just find it a hard show to judge because it hasn't shown us quite enough original material yet. When they have, it's been a mixed bag. But I'm more hopeful about SNW than the others right now.

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