Star Trek: Discovery is proving that Gene Roddenberry got it wrong
ian Berriman writes: after spending much of the ’70s being hailed as a humanist visionary by fans, when gene roddenberry took charge of The Next Generation he laid down certain rules about how people in its future would behave, insisting that we’d have moved beyond petty conflict. trouble is, drama kinda depends on conflict… and so began a long-running struggle between Star Trek producers and writers determined to keep roddenberry’s flame burning and those keen on slipping his shackles.
i’ve always supported the latter camp. some of my favourite Trek moments showcase human behaviour that’s far from enlightened: think of kirk’s borderline-racist resentment of the klingons in The Undiscovered Country, or picard’s vengeful monomania in First Contact. so i’m delighted that Star Trek: Discovery has basically crammed the roddenberry rule into a wood chipper.
never has a Trek series seen so many sparks flying. it’s founded upon a shocking act of mutiny. its captain, Lorca, continually has to remind subordinates of the chain of command – generally in the manner of a man threatening to beat them with it. and in anthony rapp’s Lieutenant stamets – a man who labels his commanding officer a “warmonger” – it has the most waspish character in the franchise’s history, a black belt in remarks so cutting they could slice you in half like a bat’leth.
it’s exhilarating to hear federation crew forcibly disagreeing! and because the series is set before kirk’s time, if you really must cling to the delusion that by the 24th century humanity will have evolved into a dreary, beige mulch of shiny happy people, you still can.
purists are whining, of course. “this just isn’t Star Trek!” they say. Bafflingly, many of them are the same folk who used to moan that the franchise was stuck in a rut. What do you want, people? do you want a Xerox of the ’90s, or something that feels edgy and daringly fresh? personally, i’ll take actual drama over naïve hippy idealism any day.
Star Trek: Discovery is streaming on Netflix in the UK now.