2 Ups And 7 Downs From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3.7 — What Is Starfleet?

There's no hiding it in the DOWN counter this week. What Is Starfleet? is not a good episode. First of its kind for Star Trek, it is most certainly not a good documentary. At the very beginning, hearts sank for a moment as it looked like we were getting another 'clip show'. By the very end, we almost wished we had.

"Formally, there is a bigger swing coming [than the Hollywood Murder Mystery]," Akiva Goldsman told TrekMovie last month. Surely, this is it… and a miss. It's not like they did a great job hiding it either. We already knew Umberto 'Beto' Ortegas was filming a documentary. It only took a glance at the episode titles for this season, then, for two and two to equal seven.

Of all the criticism that can be levelled at What Is Starfleet?, the worst is that the short runtime drags at every minute. Genre has, once more, supplanted story. We don't even learn anything new about Starfleet, in spite of the pressing question(s). Inevitably, we, the audience, have to ask, 'what is Strange New Worlds?' At the moment, we just don't know.

It is rare — the exception, even — for a documentary to have a question either in or as its title (believe me, I've checked). That is, perhaps, because using one suggests that the maker doesn't know what the answer is, or worse, has already decided on one for the viewer. A documentary such as this deserves at least the notion of impartiality, if only not to sully the point. Instead, What Is Starfleet? wears its bias at red alert.

Ask a stupid question, get the most banal answer. The most egregious thing about this high school essay is not the introduction or main body, but the almost patronising simplicity of a conclusion that doesn't match. Because Starfleet's, like, all about the people, you know?

In this instance, the operative is 'fleet'. Without, it's not 'Star,' but it is just the Enterprise. Though it might feel like it at times, that, or the, one ship isn't the entire organisation. Here, the microcosm isn't an effective documentary tool. It is simply an episode of Strange New Worlds, or The Original Series, or The Next Generation… What is Starfleet? There are over 900 other (better) episodes of Star Trek that don't need to ask the question for you to find out.