Best new Star Trek characters of the Paramount+ era

(Originally posted to RedshirtsAlwaysDie.com)

Paramount’s done a pretty nice job in fleshing out their new Star Trek series on Paramount+

As it stands, Paramount+ has given us a number of new Star Trek series since first launching Star Trek: Discovery in September of 2017. Those new series include: Discovery (4 Seasons), Star Trek: Picard (3 Seasons), Star Trek: Lower Decks (4 Seasons), Star Trek: Prodigy (1 Season), and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2 Seasons). You can also count Star Trek: Short Treks, but those are just shorts that don’t tie into one another and don’t have any consistent characters.

Though some of these series rely on previously established characters like Captains Christopher Pike, Jean-Luc Picard, and Kathryn Janeway, there have been a good number of new characters added to the Star Trek Universe and given quite interesting backstories and quirks. While not every one of their new characters have been fully fleshed out as I’d have hoped, there are a few notable, well-written characters who I’m here to shine a spotlight on today.

In the coming slides, I’m going to share some of my favorite new additions to the Star Trek Universe, many of whom, aren’t the central characters of their various series. In fact, most of them are actually supporting characters that I believe, their respective series would suffer greatly if they were left out. I’m here to explore some of their stories, and the reasons why I think they’re great additions. The following are my favorite new additions to the Star Trek Universe – in no specific order.

November 19, 2023 0

Don’t miss out on new Star Trek just because it’s new

(originally posted to RedshirtsAlwaysDie.com)

Why do Trekkies try so hard to resist accepting new content?

So it’s no secret, we as Trekkies (or Trekkers as some prefer to be called) hold Star Trek canon in high regards. So much so, that when new content is released, often we’re hesitant to fully accept it. This was the case back in the day with series we now hold sacred like Voyager, Enterprise, and even The Next Generation! For those who were fans of The Original Series, the mere thought of another crew onboard a NEW Enterprise, exploring the cosmos was unfathomable!

Where’s Kirk? Where’s Spock? Where’s Bones? This is the NEXT Generation, but it’s being led by some old bald British dude? And yet, he we are…and even a new series starring the same (now, even older) bald, British dude took a couple of years to be fully accepted by the Trek faithful — if it truly even has, yet. It only took bringing back almost every other cast member from TNG for us to accept it.

I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t like the first two seasons of Picard either, and even while watching the first episode of Season 3, immediately, I’m yelling at my television, “No! No! You can’t receive subspace communications on a personal communicator! That’s not how this stuff works!” It took a conversation with a close friend for me to realize that I was taking things way too seriously and needed to look past that storytelling flaw. However, once I did get past it, I REALLY enjoyed Season 3 of Picard!

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July 24, 2023 0

Trekology: How Deep Space Nine Saved Worf

I am Worf, son of Mogh, house of Martok, son of Sergey, house of Rozhenko, bane to the Duras family, slayer of Gowron.
– Worf, 2401

For 7 seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation, 4 seasons on Deep Space Nine and 4 motion pictures on the big screen, Michael Dorn played Lieutenant/Lieutenant Commander Worf. Worf’s story between the various incarnations of Trek goes something like this: At the beginning of The Next Generation, Worf is a junior security officer onboard the Enterprise-D until Tasha Yar’s death, at which point, he is made Acting Security Chief, which he remains for the rest of that series.

Following the destruction of the Enterprise (NCC 1701-D) on Veridian III in Star Trek: Generations, Worf takes an extended leave of absence from Starfleet to contemplate his future. However, when General Martok arrives uninvited at Deep Space Nine with a fleet of Klingons to help guard the Alpha Quadrant from the Dominion, Captain Benjamin Sisko calls in some help from Starfleet to help deal with his new Klingon problem, because as he put it, “Curzon told me once that in the long run, the only people who can really handle Klingons are Klingons,” so they fulfill his request and send him Lieutenant Commander Worf to get to the bottom of things.

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June 18, 2023 0

Captain Liam Shaw: The Most Misunderstood Character of Star Trek: Picard, Season 3

Oh Captain Shaw, how much I love your character and anxiously look forward to each week’s installment of Star Trek: Picard this season, and honestly…it’s mostly because of you! Please be advised that the following includes massive amounts of spoilers for Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard. Consider yourselves warned, proceed at your own risk.

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March 20, 2023 1