TwoStar Trekshows of the modern era faced exactly the same criticism when they started, but ultimately succeeded with completely opposite solutions.Star Trek: Discoveryfaced the challenge of competing for attention with prestige television shows that often eschewed values like hope and optimism. In response,Star Trek: Discoverytried taking a realistic approach to theStar Trek: The Original Seriesera.Discoveryseason 1 focused on Michael Burnham’s (Sonequa Martin-Green) mutinous part in igniting the Klingon-Federation War, and also took the USS Discovery crew to the fascist nightmare ofStar Trek’s Mirror Universe.Discoveryseason 2 featured Starfleet’s morally gray covert ops division, Section 31.
Star Trek: PicardreintroducedAdmiral Jean-Luc Picard(Patrick Stewart) long after the end ofStar Trek: The Next Generation. Audiences had been assured — or perhaps warned — thatPicardwas not going to be a continuation ofTNG, but a character study of Admiral Picardin his twilight years. We were instead treated to a bleak take onStar Trek, where Earth was no longerStar Trek’s paradise.Star Trek: Picard’s version of Starfleet was selfish, insular, and corrupted from within. Commander Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) dealt with family estrangement and substance abuse. Xenophobia against Romulans and ex-Borg ran rampant. Something was off in theseStar Trekshows.
Star Trek: Discovery & Star Trek: Picard Were Both Criticized For Being Too Dark
Star Trek Needs To Be Optimistic, So Discovery And Picard Needed To Change
BothStar Trek: DiscoveryandStar Trek: Picardwere criticized for being too dark, and with good reason.Star Trek: Discoveryseason 1 went all-in on extrapolating just how brutalStar Trek’s Mirror Universeand Klingon War storylines could realistically be. WhileStar Trek: Discoverygrappled with how to beStar Trekamid the popularity of grittier television shows,Picardcontended with inevitable comparisons toStar Trek: The Next Generation.To differentiate itself fromTNG,Star Trek: Picardsteeped itself in despair.Neither show shied away from graphic depictionsof murder, torture, sexual assault, animal cruelty, war crimes, orStar Trek’s first f-bombs — just to name a few.
10 Star Trek: Discovery Positives You Only Notice On Rewatch
There’s a lot to love about Star Trek: Discovery that you only notice when giving the first four seasons of the series a second look.
Criticisms of the tone in bothStar Trek: DiscoveryandStar Trek: Picardwere valid.Streaming allowedStar Trekto take a gloves-off approach to topics that had previously only been alluded to, in the name of realism. Earlier iterations of the franchise weren’t often as explicit asStar Trek: DiscoveryandStar Trek: Picardwere in their first seasons. This newStar Trekhad all the right superficial ingredients: starships, familiar aliens, moral quandaries, and complex questions; but both newStar Trekshows seemed to be missingGene Roddenberry’s optimismthat had always been integral toStar Trek.Fortunately, that would change, but in very different ways.
Star Trek: Picard Became Lighter By Bringing Back The Original TNG Cast In Season 3
Embracing Nostalgia Made Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Feel Like A Homecoming
Star Trek: Picardseason 3 became lighter with aStar Trek: The Next Generationoriginal castreunion. Embracing the theme of family,Admiral Picard took action to secure the fate of his USS Enterprise family as well as his own sonwith Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers). Captain Worf (Michael Dorn) fit right in as a wise mentor to Commander Raffi Musiker. Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), and Data (Brent Spiner) were all back. The USS Enterprise-D itself even returned, courtesy of Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), as the last piece of theStar Trek: The Next Generationpuzzle.
The highest IMDB audience rating ofStar Trek: Picardseason 1 went to episode 7, “Nepenthe”, which featured Riker and Troi, suggesting that fansdidwant a continuation ofStar Trek: The Next Generationafter all.
The palpable shift in tone forStar Trek: Picardseason 3came from showrunner Terry Matalas leaning into whatStar Trek: Picardshould have been all along. Instead of trying to differentiateStar Trek: PicardfromStar Trek: The Next Generation,Picardseason 3 became theTNGsequel that fans had expected from day one.Star Trek: Picarddidn’t lose sight of the fact that it was a new show, with new antagonistic characters Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) and Changeling Captain Vadic (Amanda Plummer) earning their spotlights.Picard’s look towards the past with the oldTNGcast, however, finally madePicardseason 3 feel triumphant and optimistic.
Discovery Became Lighter By Doubling Down On Its New Cast
Star Trek: Discovery Found Optimism In The Voices Of Its 32nd Century Future
Star Trek: Discoverybecame lighter by setting its sights on the future — in more ways than one. After Commander Michael Burnham deliberately led the USS Discovery into the 32nd century to thwart rogue A.I. Control,Discovery’s new characters took center stage alongside Burnham.Star Trek: Discovery’s love storiesmultiplied; the pairings of Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) and Burnham, Ni’Var President T’Rina (Tara Roslin) and Captain Saru (Doug Jones), and Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio) and Gray Tal (Ian Alexander) all mattered. Even Disco crew members like Lt. Commander Kayla Detmer (Emily Coutts) and Lt. Commander Joann Owosekun (Oyin Oladejo) became more well-developed, as Burnham got to know them better.
Star Trek: Discoverywas always Michael Burnham’s personal story.
With that focus on additional voices came a shift in tone forStar Trek: Discoverythat representedDiscovery’s core values of communication and empathy. BecauseStar Trek: Discoverywas always Michael Burnham’s personal story, Burnham’s perspective dictated the tone. After 2 seasons plagued with self-doubt,Burnham’s promotion to Captain reflected her steadfast belief in Starfleet’s ability to connect with people.Not so coincidentally, Captain Burnham’s command inDiscoveryseason 4 is also whenStar Trek: Discoveryreally began to shine. AlthoughStar Trek: PicardandStar Trek: Discoveryboth struggled with darker tones, both shows ultimately succeeded with their opposite embraces of the past and the future ofStar Trek.
