Ah the 1990’s. A glorious time for Star Trek fans. 1994 saw the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation wrapping up their seven season TV run and leaping onto the big screen with Star Trek: Generations. Deep Space Nine, the show known for taking place on a space station and not a ship, kicked off in 1993 and two years later sister show Voyager set off. To recap we had TWO TV shows running along side each other and a healthy prescence on the big screen that would contine into the early 00’s. For ‘Trek fans the 1990’s was a great time.
I was a casual Trek fan. At best. I’d tune into Next Generation from time to time, made an effort to stick with Deep Space Nine but fell off and tried Voyager but got distracted by the arrival of Buffy and Dawson’s Creek which were more in line with my tastes at the time. I did see the movies and they were great. The 00’s, even from the outside looking in, were not a great decade for the Star Trek brand. The shows had wrapped up and the films had finished. That was until J.J. Abrams swooped in and gave Star Trek the reboot treatment for the big screen. The rest is history. Star Trek is back. Three films into the rebooted canon and now with a brand new show in the form of Star Trek: Discovery. The new films are awesome and having finished watching Discovery just this week I am now a full fan. I love Star Trek.
In the long, long history of the series this new show takes place years before Captain Kirk and Spock. Starfleet has made great efforts in it’s mission to explore space and spread it’s postive messages and ideologies. Except the Klingon Empire. They want nothing to do with Starfleet, humans or anyone. Basically they are the big threat in this opening season and thanks to some brilliant make up work and a re-design they have neve looked better and more dangerous! A big part of the show is the turmoil the Klingons cause for the Federation, the threat they pose and most interesting of all the unrest brewing amongst themselves as different factions wrestle for control over the Empire. Discovery is just as much about the Klingons as it is about Starfleet. The show’s writers careful to present arguments for intergration into an organisation like Starfleet and the voices of those who wish to remain beyond it. Add to that the fact the Discovery is a black op’s like science ship and you get not just entertaining sci-fi but legit well written science fiction that delivers again and again.
Seriously I loved this show. Every episode. I saw a few reactions online from long time Star Trek fans who know WAY more about this universe than I do. Quite negative reactions in some cases. I think that’s a shame and I can’t see why they’d react that way. If the aim of Discovery was to hold true to the themes and ideologies of Star Trek and introduce them to a brand new generation than I say mission accomplished. Gender roles, race, sexuality, politics, war and human rights are all explored in Discovery and in ways that make it one of the more forward thinking shows I have seen in some time and certainly one that isn’t affraid to break new ground. That is somthing I felt Star Trek always stood for and what I like about it.
For a TV show this looks amazing. Some of the best special effects I have ever seen on a series. The cast are boss and the characters are excellent. I love this crew and it was very refreshing to see how female driven the show is. That day will come when stuff like that doesn’t even warrant a comment because it will be so normal and Discovery more than does it’s job in playing a role in that. Equal representation does matter.
Unsurprisingly, having now seen the show, Star Trek: Discovery has been a massive hit and a second season has been given the go ahead. Star Trek is back in a big way. Thanks in a large part to this show I am now a proud fan and I can not wait to see where the Discovery and it’s amaze crew brings us next!
'Hella Movies' 