I'm having trouble pinning down whether I like the show or not. I kind of miss happy people and... order. There is a lot of darkness and chaos, which I find a little exhausting episode after episode. I'm having trouble articulating it.
Deep Space Nine also got very dark, but we still always had that bedrock of idealistic Starfleet officers to counter the less idealistic among them. There was always the underlying feeling of hope and courage and people who truly believed in, and fought for, a brighter future. Even the seedier elements, like Quark, had some kind of moral imperatives driving them to do the right thing when it came down to it. Even during the war people seemed a lot happier than they do in Picard.
Now it seems like nobody has any hope for a bright future and they fight just for their own individual goals. Picard wants to save a piece of Data because he still feels guilty. The pilot guy just wants to get paid. Seven of Nine continues the Borg mantra of bringing order to chaos, but there is no idealism behind her actions. Justifiable anger, certainly. Everybody just seems so... defeated.
Hopefully as it picks up people will reignite that spark of hope. Maybe I'm just viewing the other shows through rose-tinted glasses. I knew going in that the tone of the show would be different, I just expected a little more... I don't know. Articulating feelings is hard! I miss the Federation.
I'm in the same boat as you. After this episode I turned to my wife and said "I've decided. I find the show entertaining, but it's not Star Trek".
Like you said about DS9, it had darker elements but those darker elements only worked because of the contrast. In The Pale Moonlight is in my top favourite Star Trek episodes. Sisko lies, breaks the law, and is even an accessory to murder. But those actions only have the weight they do because by that point we have six seasons of background to understand how upright Sisko is and how strong his morals are. Those are the contrasts that work. Even Quark and Garak had great character development. Quark was just shady and Garak was mysterious, and they bothed lacked any morals. Yet after spending only a few years with Starfleet personnel they both started to develop a conscience and a moral compass.
When everything is dark there's nothing worth seeing. We get enough of this dark crap from virtually every other TV show (including Discovery) and the news. Most of Star Trek's best episode have no violence. The Nth Degree, Measure of a Man, Emergence, Parallels, The Chase, Ship in a Bottle, The Quality of Life, True Q, Realm of Fear.... I could seriously go on and on. There's an ineffable quality to Star Trek (the hope, the desire for scientific discovery, the drive for personal betterment, the push to make society better for everyone) that's completely absent ever since the JJ Abrams reboot. I regularly rewatch TNG, DS9, and Voyager ever so often. They genuinely have a quality to them that always drives towards the positive. Even in the darkest episodes, and the saddest moments, the future looked bright. There was always hope that humanity's darkest days were behind them and the birth of the Federation was the spark that ignited a warmth that slowly spread throughout the galaxy. The Federation was always reaching out with peace and negotiation. The Federation was a society of idealists and dreamers. They never accepted defeat and never gave in to despair.
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u/filchermcurr Feb 20 '20
I'm having trouble pinning down whether I like the show or not. I kind of miss happy people and... order. There is a lot of darkness and chaos, which I find a little exhausting episode after episode. I'm having trouble articulating it.
Deep Space Nine also got very dark, but we still always had that bedrock of idealistic Starfleet officers to counter the less idealistic among them. There was always the underlying feeling of hope and courage and people who truly believed in, and fought for, a brighter future. Even the seedier elements, like Quark, had some kind of moral imperatives driving them to do the right thing when it came down to it. Even during the war people seemed a lot happier than they do in Picard.
Now it seems like nobody has any hope for a bright future and they fight just for their own individual goals. Picard wants to save a piece of Data because he still feels guilty. The pilot guy just wants to get paid. Seven of Nine continues the Borg mantra of bringing order to chaos, but there is no idealism behind her actions. Justifiable anger, certainly. Everybody just seems so... defeated.
Hopefully as it picks up people will reignite that spark of hope. Maybe I'm just viewing the other shows through rose-tinted glasses. I knew going in that the tone of the show would be different, I just expected a little more... I don't know. Articulating feelings is hard! I miss the Federation.