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After a week or so fending off glancing blows from strident youtube reviewer fanboys, I finally sat down and watched the first episode of the Star Trek Lower Decks cartoon. I am a solid fan of post-TOS Trek, although I would not go quite as far as calling myself a died-in-the-wool trekker. Sure, I've seen most episodes of TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise, and I have seen all the pmovies at least once, if not three or four times, but even though I can show enthusiasm for the show, its characters and its universe, I don't think I've ever foamed at the mouth about it. And I certainly am not a "Original Timeline or Die" Trek-consipracy-truther. I quite like the modern ABrams films (well, "tolerate" may be the word for that third one), and I own them on 4k UHD.
Interestingly, I am not a fan of Discovery, but not becuase of the change in aesthetics or "trashing of Rodenbury's vision". I just didn't connect wiht the characters, and found the story lines a bit dull. I originally though that about DS9 to, and I have grown to appreciate it for what it is. I quite like Picard, and I am not upset that the updated characters swear, or that the cynicism of our times has coloured the story telling. (Kinda inevitable, really).
I also love The Orwell for all the reasons that the fan boys do, or at least most of them. I love that it evokes classic Trek, and that it manages to restore a light-heartedness to something that feels a lot like the Trekkian scifi fare of my youth. Seth MacFarlane is a good writer and producer, with a solid sense of humor and clearly a love for the genre. But I would not follow the nutty fan-boys down into the rabies-well of "this is what Discovery shouod have been". Blech. Imagine Trek trying to go back there - it would be trite.
Appreciate the past for what it was, and move on. Fine if a third party reflects Trek of Past as a tool with which to shape its humor - but it woul dbe a disaster for Star Trek.
And so we get to Lower Decks. Once again - I do not agree with the spittle-flung rantings of the "classic-or-die" fan boys. It is not a total diaster. After one episode, it is hard to be confident in what it is. I will agree with some of the themes the lathered-up Trek cos-players (which is fine, just don't shove it in my face please ;) are bellowing about - it does look like Universal CBS (that's them, right?) looked at the Orville, then listened to the wails of the Picard stans going on and on about the Pure innocent beauty of MacFarlane's subversive work, take the nutty fans seriously, perform some creative mis-interpretation, and spit out a cartoon classic-feel comedy Trek that they psyched themselves into believing would be a winner. Clearly not.
But once again, it is not terrible. It is just very much a black sheep that itself doen't know what it wants to be. It feels designed by committee (like so much modern TV), and it looks once again to be something that is trying to please everyone and offend no-one important. And of course failing miserably bat that, which is as certain as whining fan boys. WIll I watch it again? Yes. Will I grow a soft-spot for it, doubtfully, but stranger things have happened.
Do you want to know what recent TV has had me riveted? A little South African movie called Moffie. About a 16 year old white farm boy, a closet queer, and his misadventures when conscripted into national service, cranked through the ringer of basic traning, and sent out to the front in South Africa's proxy-war against an encroaching USSR on the Angola border. It is raw, stark and very prowerful, no punches puled. Quite a bleak film, and not a place to visit if you intend to be fulfuilled by happy endings with all strings tied into neat bows by the end. This film shows a harsh reality that is both ugly and stunningly beautiful, with the hearts of its core characters shining through the setting and cuastic environment. Not for the faint of heart, and not heart warming, but well worth the hard slog to appreaciate the stark beauty of this masterfully constructed bit of cinema.
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