The Orville was more “Trek” than new Trek

(originally posted to RedshirtsAlwaysDie.com)

When The Orville launched, many of the show’s characteristics matched what we loved about Star Trek more than Star Trek: Discovery did.

So I wanted to come on here and take a look back to 2017. You see, for fans of science fiction, and more importantly, Star Trek, 2017 was going to be a big year for us because while Star Trek had been given a fresh coat of paint and a revival, so to speak, with the JJ Abrams’ movies starting in 2009 and continuing on with Into Darkness in 2013 and Beyond in 2016, CBS announced plans to produce a new Star Trek television series for the first time in 12 years! Because while those JJ movies were ok, Star Trek…historically speaking, has largely enjoyed its best years on the small screen, in the form of a weekly television series. So in November of 2015, CBS announced plans to produce a new Star Trek television series called Star Trek: Discovery, which would air weekly on their new streaming service, named CBS All Access. Discovery would debut September 19, 2017.

Interestingly enough, Discovery wasn’t the only weekly sci-fi show to debut around that same time. Turns out, Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy & American Dad) had pitched his own Star Trek-esque sci-fi show to FOX, which was greenlit and aired its first episode just over a week earlier, on September 10, 2017. That show was named The Orville. It starred Seth as Captain Ed Mercer of the titular ship, The Orville. However, this was anything but the Enterprise. Because while the Orville was a ship of exploration, much like we’d get to know the USS Cerritos from Star Trek: Lower Decks for, Ed and his crew weren’t given any real important assignments. Also, we’re informed in the first episode, as Ed is first taking command of the ship, that his first officer was to be his ex-wife, Kelly Grayson, who had previously cheated on him. Hilarity ensues as he makes a few panicked runs from the bridge to his ready room onboard the ship to protest the assignment, but to no avail.

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December 15, 2023 0

5 Things Star Trek: Deep Space Nine got right

(Originally posted to RedshirtsAlwaysDie.com)

Among a good majority of Star Trek fans, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine holds a special place in our hearts.

When you look at the formula for Star Trek, it goes a little something like this:

Crew members on spaceship exploring the cosmos
Weekly conundrum involving either an alien species or some technological issue with the ship
Said conundrum is taken care of by the end of the episode
Lather, rinse, repeat for about 26 weeks

When Star Trek: Deep Space Nine came along, the established formula for an episode of Star Trek got thrown out the window. Being a space station, it resides in a singular place in space, so that first rule of “exploring the cosmos” has been killed immediately. In fact, for me, it was the fact that that first rule was nixed that made me not jump onboard the DS9 wagon at the start. It’s only through going back to watch the series years later, that I realized exactly what it was I had been missing!

So much happened in the seven-year run of this series that in looking back at its run, I think it did more to progress Star Trek than possibly almost any other series. That’s why today, I’m here to share what I think are some of the best things that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine did for Star Trek – in no specific order.

December 14, 2023 0

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

The best Star Trek trial episodes

(Originally posted to RedshirtsAlwaysDie.com)

One common practice of Star Trek over the years has been to take a pause from the weekly exploration of the cosmos to center on the exploration of ourselves, our own rules or laws.

They’ve done this traditionally by holding trials. Sometimes it’s because of something that has happened in the everyday operations onboard the starship; other times it has to do with a new occurrence of the week. Either way, something has happened which has created a conundrum which must be cleared up for our characters’ lives to move on, and in order do clear up said conundrum, we’re treated to a Star Trek trial episode!

I’m sure for some these aren’t always the favorite episodes because we’re largely confined to a courtroom or inquiry panel hearing setting, so there’s far less phaser fire or meeting new and interesting alien species and the like. But for others, like me…I’ve always loved these style episodes of Star Trek! They stray from the “norm”, tend to make you think and usually there is some truly great dialogue between the characters…which sometimes includes an epic speech from the Captain!

For each entry, I’ll include the Star Trek series, season and episode numbers, and I implore you to go check out the episodes. If you have Paramount+, these episodes are all included on the subscription service, because for as detailed as I’ll try my best here to be, I can only do the episode so much justice in print form. These episodes are all well worth a good viewing in your spare time!

August 25, 2023 0

Female Starfleet Captains and why Michael Burnham’s the worst

(Originally posted to RedshirtsAlwaysDie.com)

For as interesting as her rise to Captain on Star Trek: Discovery has been, Michael Burnham is the weakest written female Captain in Star Trek history.

In Star Trek’s over 50 year history, we’ve had a number of female Starfleet Captains, and most of them have benefitted from a writing staff who cared deeply to make them strong characters. Even during the 90s, when women like Jeri Ryan were mostly objectified and used as sex symbols to get viewership numbers up, the female Captains were generally treated differently.

Going all the way back to The Next Generation episode, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, we’re introduced to Rachel Garrett, Captain of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C). As her story goes, she responded to a distress call from a Klingon Outpost at Narendra III, who were under attack by a squadron of Romulan Warbirds during a time when the Federation and the Klingon Empire weren’t exactly as friendly as they later would come to be.

Even after being sucked into a temporal rift which sends her ship 22 years into the future, she understands her place in time and decides to return to her proper time in hopes to better the future. But it’s her call to duty and dedication to the Federation’s morals to attempt to give aid when requested, that her and her crew’s ultimate deaths are viewed as honorable by the Klingons, which sows the seeds for the eventual Khitomer Accords peace treaty between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. We may not have known her for long, but what we do know of her are her extreme heroics in the face of adversity.

August 6, 2023 0