Star Trekking

[pen_grunt]

I've been watching Star Trek Enterprise lately. I've also been listening to The Greatest Generation podcast to and from work (it is Star Trek The Next Generation focused).

I made my way through many Star Trek properties, and I have opinions.

My ranking for Star Treks, influenced somewhat by nostalgia:

1. The Next Generation
2. The Original Series
3. Voyager
4. Deep Space 9
5. Enterprise

To be fair, I've only seen 3 episodes of Enterprise so far.

Allow me to do a lengthy trekkie rundown:

1. Next Generation.

I will admit that a great portion of my fondness for TNG comes from nostalgia. Even the "bad" first season episodes I find mostly not so bad.

POSITIVES:

• The characters are, mostly, truly interesting and it's a joy to see them all interact as a cohesive unit that you can believe is friendly when the camera is "off". More than any other ST, they seem like they "go on" after the episode ends. It's fun to see the crew hang out.
• Jean Luc Picard is a great captain and has great foils in Riker and the rest of the bridge crew. And his foils aren't extreme reactions to his personality, as in some other series.
• Characters who are "different" have differences, but we aren't beaten over the head with them on a day-to-day basis when doing their job. Worf doesn't feel the need to point out "I AM A KLINGON" in every episode or at every moment.
• It's a very Star Trekky kind of show. A lot of the episodes are character-building and world-building without any grave danger. They manage to do this without being boring OR without prolesthetizing too much. A lot of their focus is on solving philosophical issues or exploring a facet of humanity.
• Guinan, Picard, Wesley (shut up, love him still), Riker, Q...all great characters. There are a ton of great, nuanced characters.
• Lots of humor mixed in.

NEGATIVES:

• Most of the first season. Let's be honest.
• Deanna Troi. She is useless most of the time. The caricature of her is quite sexist (oh, a woman loves chocolate and EMOTIONS). When she might actually be able to help with an issue she's mysteriously not in an episode. Also they use her as a rape-object far too much. Mostly it's mental, but sometimes not! Jesus.
• The holodeck is interesting but problematic in so many ways.
• Ferengi

2. The Original Series.

This, probably more than anything, is getting an artificially inflated ranking based on my nostalgia.

POSITIVES:

• The original power of some of the ideas (equality, justice, etc.) are still strong and cannot be brushed aside--especially for its time.
• Kirk/Spock/Bones trifecta is awesome.
• Plays for a lot of humor. More than one might think.
• Interesting philosophical questions/issues explored.
• Shatner was hot.
•  

NEGATIVES:

• The schmaltz factor is high.
• It gets super hit-over-the-head preachy.
• Slow moving.
• Shatner's acting is...difficult to revisit as an adult, sometimes.
• Lots of convenient plot action.
• Sexism isn't supposed to be a "thing" but oh-ho, it still is.

3. Voyager

After watching DS9, I discovered that I really like a ship to be moving in space.

POSITIVES:

• Janeway, about half the time.
• Chakotay and Seven of Nine are really interesting, nuanced characters. Actually, I really really liked the addition of Seven of Nine.
• No contact with traditional starfleet makes for some very interesting situations.
• Interesting take with the holographic doctor.

NEGATIVES:

• Every alien species is just a human with some junk slapped on their forehead.
• Tom Paris is annoying AF. Also, all his relationships.
• Janeway, the other half of the time.
• Inexplicable Barclay episodes. Holy crap, did I never miss him.

4. Deep Space 9

POSITIVES:

• Sisko is awesome (even if he does speak every line as though it had a secret meaning that only he understands).
• Really good toward the end of the show.
• I like Bashir.
• Manages to make Ferengis interesting.
• Super interesting Cardassian subplots.

NEGATIVES:

• I do not give a fuck about the O'Briens. Not one solitary fuck--and they had tons of relationship episodes.
• I do not give a fuck about the Bajoran religion.
• This includes the emissary. DNGAF.
• Ferengis are still pretty annoying.
• I do not give a fuck about Odo/shapeshifters.
• Dax is played with an awful wink-nod that the actress doesn't earn and can't pull off (but the Trill are kind of interesting).

5. Enterprise.

I haven't gotten that far in yet, so mostly I'll reserve judgement as it's clearly still finding its feet. However, the theme is atrocious and the acting so far is not strong. T'Pol bugs the shit out of me and Bakula isn't doing his best work here.


I was surprised how, in retrospect, I get really mad thinking about a lot of the DS9 subplots. Voyager certainly isn't great, but every time I think about the O'Briens fighting Voyager gets better and better. 

There's more to say, but I'll leave it there for now. Discuss!

Comments

[tediousandbrief.livejournal.com]

I have not seen all of any of these series. I think I saw the first episode or so of Enterprise, a fair amount of the rest apart from the original Star Trek which I've only seen a few episodes here and there.

I liked DS9 and Voyager. I've probably seen more of those two than all of the others. The fact that Voyager was originally two crews that were blended into one was something I liked though that seemed to go away after a short time. The holographic doctor was a favorite. Plus, in a round-about-way Jeri Ryan is how we got Obama.

With DS9 I vaguely recall the Bajoran religion bit. I liked Odo. I mostly know the Ferengies from DS9, so I'm not sure how they were annoying otherwise.

I mostly have seen the Next Generation in reruns, though I watched some with my dad when they were new. I had never gotten into the original show much outside of seeing some of the films. I generally liked Data. Wesley never really bothered me. For some reason I didn't care for the non-Crusher doctor; I think she just never seemed to fit in in my mind.

With the original, I've only seen a few episodes. I've probably seen more of the films than I have the episodes.

[pen-grunt.livejournal.com]

Oooh, how is Jeri Ryan how we got Obama? I'm curious!

I think my annoyance with the Ferengis was born out of TNG and they never quite repaired themselves in my eyes. They did become a lot less annoying in DS9, but eventually I thought the "everything For Profit" trope got a little over-used.

Non-Crusher doctor (Polaski) was *awful* at first, but she grew on me toward the end of her one season. Then I was kind of sad to see her go. It would have been interesting to have them working in coordination or to move her to a different role (because I wouldn't give up Crusher coming back, I like her).

[adam-0oo.livejournal.com]

The sheer amount of reasonableness that was on display in TNG was amazing. Everyone was a professional, the top of their field, there to work, and they wanted to be there.

Conflicts didn't come from people being assholes...there are a few episodes where only one member of the crew thinks something is very, very wrong, and no one else can see it. A regular show would have the conflict come from everyone doubting them and not believing them. TNG several times has the crew believe the crazy sounding person and trying to help them the best they can.

[pen-grunt.livejournal.com]

Totally. This is part of what I love about it. And maybe why some people think it's a bit dull. But it's so satisfying to see everyone just click together.

It reminds me a bit of the West Wing in that way. Though WW did have some interpersonal conflicts, most of it was everyone working together smoothly as a team to deal with these situations that arise. It's weird that I just noticed that parallel.

[adam-0oo.livejournal.com]

Parks and Rec is like this too.