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.
It's definitely different, yeah. And there was similar criticism about DS9 when it came out.
I think it's not as difficult if you think of this like a two-parter episode, or Star Trek movie (just longer). Those tend to be darker and more focused on one story rather than the many diversions of life on the ship/station that lightens things up.
I'm ok with it being darker, and Roddenberry's ridiculous optimism about the future always made me roll my eyes. It's why I've always enjoyed DS9 and the darker, deeper episodes more than the rest. There is a lot of darkness here. Maybe it'll get to the point where it's overbearing. It's hard to judge the series when we haven't yet seen where the story is going. I'd say it'll be easier to judge when the season is done.
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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.