Star Trek is no longer the imitated or the inspirer. It is now the one that imitates and is inspired from.
How did that happen? So many shows have tried to be or borrowed from Star Trek in one way or the other to a small or even a minor major extent. Star Trek even inspired a little bit of Star Wars. It’s been said the Cantina scene at Mos Eisley was derived from a scene in the classic Trek episode Journey to Babel which quite possibly had the largest number of individual aliens seen on television or even in Star Trek for many years to come.
Now shows in Star Trek draws inspiration or outright copy other fictional worlds rather than drawing from Trek’s own deep lore. Discovery dealt with an artificial intelligence from the future in season two that attacked via Doc Ock tentacles through a portal.. Burnham even had an Iron Man suit during that season. Picard had the character of Elnor who was an awful lot like Legolas but with black hair. Strange New Worlds had a musical episode inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Lower Decks looks like a riff on Rick and Morty. And the forthcoming Starfleet Academy looks like any number of young adult shows-but with spaceships! That is just off the top of my head.
The first rip-off was probably the Discovery version of Klingons. I know it was said often that they looked like Orcs but they really did. Glam rock Orcs but still Orcs. Into Darkness was not nearly was more just a bland redesign making them look like space bikers almost. Now Strange New Worlds in Season 3 is going with a puppet episode most likely derived from the Angel episode where he was a puppet.
It’s sad when the imitated becomes the imitator. It also shows that those behind Star Trek now don’t quite love the fictional universe they are handling. It hints the people involved would rather be doing something else, but this is what they get paid for.
You could say that Starfleet Academy is delving into Trek lore by having Robert Picardo return as the Doctor. I can give you that, but like much of Star Trek today it’s more along the lines of nostalgia to remind the audience of past glory than delving into rich history. By all indications his character is no major player but one of several adult supporting characters. Picardo, and this is not talking smack on him, but a statement of reality is he is noticeably older and heavier than he was 20 years ago.
Star Trek does have a long history of referencing other genres and even other popular shows but referencing is different from copying. TOS was sold as a Wagon Train to the stars while during its run included a few homages to the Western. Those of the era briefly incorporated some elements into the Trek universe while not creating something that still belonged. TNG and even Enterprise had nods to the Western. TNG even homaged the pulp detective while DS9 tipped its hat to the superspy.
Now based on previews with Starfleet Academy we are getting nothing more than a cast of hormone driven characters who are bed hopping much like every other generic young adult soap opera. But these kids have transporters and phasers.
As a spinoff of the worst Trek show my hopes for an original series in Starfleet Academy are low. Rather I anticipate something derivative featuring a good cry session at the minimum every other episode rather than mature professionals when can look up at and would feel good involved in our problems. Think of the teen drama formula. Would you trust a character from any of those shows with the weapons of a Federation starship?
By copying others and being derivative, Star Trek has lost that magic that allowed it to stand out. I think nobody cared enough to stand guard and the people that wanted to be doing anything else saw their chance. It is sad and dampens my outlook on Trek’s future.
Warren Watched A Movie 