So I do like Star Trek a lot, especially TNG, DS9, and Below Decks. Voyager and TOS are fine. Space socialism is pretty good and I can't get enough of it. There are a few common tropes that irk me. tho.
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Baseball is cracker Amerikkkan nonsense - You telling me that all these different species and planets get together to chill, and the vibe they're gonna channel is Ohio?? Football (soccer) or some version of hockey make a lot more sense, you can pick up and start playing immediately. I can't imagine Worf wanting to learn all those pointless rules about balls and strikezones and fowls. Sisko is arguably the best captain of any series, and I really get pulled out of an episode every time he drops some awful baseball trivia. It's only slightly better than Nascar. I actually know one Scottish person who really likes baseball, and he's literally the worst person I know.
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The tribunal - It's so damn common. It seems like every season there's got to be a court-martial, hearing, or appeal against a Starfleet decision. I guess Law and Order is big there. It's probably a minor critique, but it does reinforce the ideology that Western courtrooms are fair.
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Kirk is a sex pest - This has been said to death, but leave your subordinates alone.
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Poker in TNG - Poker has to be the worst form of entertainment, and I genuinely like maths. I blame TNG for reigniting the poker craze of the 90s and ruining all my guy friends' personalities.
Very true, btw. I cringed throughout the Scottie episode, and I didn't like Worf in DS9. I never thought about how fan served ruined Star Trek, but ya I didn't like the newer reboots.
I actually really liked Nana Visitor's character, she's so central to DS9, so I'm glad that they picked her.
you will take the depression scotty episode from my cold dead hands
I agree that nostalgia baiting is bad and keeps the show from growing, but I'm sure we can all agree that it accelerated over time. One episode with a TOS crewmember didn't keep TNG from inventing the Borg and so on.
Agreed, I'm not seeing the problem with the older, cozier series that get to breathe with 24 monster of the week episodes having some fun nostalgia peppered in. They don't rely on it. And, as someone who is totally enamored with Nana Visitor, Michelle Forbes is the same caliber actor and it's hard to imagine the series being worse(just different) just because they used an established character.
Nutrek is built on nostalgia bait and subverting that nostalgia for cheap shallow cuts and boring grim prestige TV tropes. As someone pointed out elsewhere with the Boimler quote, Nutrek forgot the Trek mantra, and is "boldly going" nowhere.
The cringe part was the Dyson Sphere. I don't really think they understand how big I would be. Also a really interesting plot device to then throw away after the first act.
I so can't get over it. WHO THE HELL LIVED IN THERE?!!? (no I will not consume the expanded universe to find out).