Trump/Klingon mash-up
MAKE THE United Federation of Planets great again. “Star Trek: Discovery” — which premieres Sept. 24 on CBS, before the rest of the season streams on CBS All Access — will take a familiar look at many of the issues plaguing the U.S. today under President Trump. The series tells the story of a war between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, Entertainment Weekly reports. “The allegory is that we really started working on the show in earnest around the time the election was happening. The Klingons are going to help us really look at certain sides of ourselves and our Isolationism is a big theme. Racial purity is a big theme,” showrunner Aaron Harberts told EW.
“The Klingons are not the enemy, but they do have a different view on things,” Harberts added. “It raises big questions: Should we let people in? Do we want to change? There’s also the question of just because you reach your hand out to someone, do they have to take it? Sometimes, they don’t want to take it. It’s been interesting to see how the times have become more of a mirror than we even thought they were going to be.”
The 13th episode of the series is currently being filmed, and showrunner Gretchen J. Berg points out that Trump’s relations with North Korea will be reflected, EW reports.
“What began as a commentary on our own divided nation — in terms of Trump supporters and nonTrump supporters — has blown out to North Korea and how we’re right on the brink,” Berg said. The U.S. is actually “right at the place where Starfleet finds itself in episode one and we couldn’t have anticipated that happening. But how do you end conflict when both sides have such strong opinions?”