The Best Star Trek Is…
In anticipation of the upcoming Picard series and after binging recently on The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise and Discovery, I feel like talking Star Trek and comparing the series.
In terms of well-written, memorable, likeable characters, it’s tough to choose between the original series and TNG. Kirk, Spock and Bones especially are timeless with a captivating dynamic which is somewhat of an archetype for subsequent sci-fi leads . Even the secondary characters stand the test time. The strength of these characters is demonstrated by how they sparkle even through the occasional silly script and hokey premise.
Picard, Data, Worf, Riker, Laforge et al is as strong and well-rounded an ensemble cast of characters as can found in any science fiction, including the other Star Something Or The Other. Fight me. But I think they lose out to the original cast in terms of likability. I can’t choose so I’ll move on to easier comparisons.
The most interesting single Trek character is Spock, ahead of Data and Seven of Nine. But Seven is definitely sexier than Spock... and every other being in the Star Trek universe!
Khan, the Dominion, Species 8472 are all great but the best Star Trek antagonist is the Borg. Don’t tell that to Riker though - he seemed to have a special hate for the Romulans.
The 9-part arc to end DS9 is the best sequence of episodes in all of Trek. However, the final episode was surprisingly smarmy in parts considering the tone of that series. The best final episode in Trek is Voyager’s. Oh, the worst was Enterprise’s.
In terms of quality writing, TNG was probably the most consistent over its run. DS9’s last 4 seasons were stellar - definitely some of the best episodes in Trek, but loses out to TNG because of the inconsistency of the first 3 seasons. Discovery’s writing has been spectacular at times but has been hamstrung by a lack of genuinely interesting characters. Plus I penalised them for making young Spock boring. A travesty!
And finally, captains. Another tie for me here. Stewart’s acting chops has elevated Picard to a thoughtful, layered, commanding presence that dominates that series, even in the presence of such a strong cast of characters. However, Kirk’s charm and charisma are irrepressible and the character actually transcends sci-fi in many ways. The bald, goateed version of Sisko is hands down the most badass captain though.
There you have it. Next time I’ll write about why the universal translator doesn’t work the way it should, and how time, distance, numbers and even dates shouldn’t translate across planets and species.
You're going 5 light years away? What the hell is a year???
