Some Longterm Fans Of Star Trek Are Nervous About Alex Kurtzman - Why, And Is It Fair?

9. Day To Day Starship Business

Alex Kurtzman
CBS

One responder said the following:

"I am disappointed in the New Trek because to me too many of the characters aren’t really adults and it’s off-putting. Too little time goes into showing the daily grind and matter-of-fact expertise that comes with operating a starship/station. I miss that aspect of TNG and DS9."

This is a point that seems to hint at the fact that, from the Kelvin films on, the plot seems to run forward at the pace of a bullet, moving from A to B to C without much room for character development. Compare this to the scenes of O'Brien trying to get the Cardassian station to work, or Geordi constantly having to keep the dilithium crystals energised.

However, there are scenes in the newer shows that do call back to these. For example, while the Kelvin films are frenetic, never before had such an 'industrial' version of engineering been seen. On Discovery, between Stamets and Reno, there is a true sense that the ship needs constant care. Picard shows Rios working on La Sirena almost around the clock (with an definite Starfleet efficiency). Lower Decks seems to be the closest though to The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, as the nuts and bolts of the Cerritos are shown through the LD crew themselves.

If this is a slowing down of the franchise, then perhaps this is something to rally behind.

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Writer. Reader. Host. I'm Seán, I live in Ireland and I'm the poster child for dangerous obsessions with Star Trek. Check me out on Twitter @seanferrick