The Aesthetics of Abramstrek

[Makeshift Python]

I've said from the beginning that as nice it was to see Trek films get the budget of mega blockbusters, they needed to do much better at the box office in order to justify those budgets. The Bad Robot films never quite made that leap despite how much Paramount wanted to make the Trek brand as viable as TRANSFORMERS, so of course when BEYOND underperformed Paramount wanted to cut the budget for the fourth film which would have meant backing out of contracts that were already set with actors. Had these films been more mid-range budget like previous films of the past, we'd probably have had a fourth one coming out this summer in time for Kelvin's 10th anniversary.

[Yukaphile]

So basically, the split timeline nonsense (Paramount owns the Kelvin Timeline, CBS owns the Prime Timeline) was all for nothing, huh?

[Makeshift Python]

People are making it sound more complicated than it actually is. A major reason for splitting the timeline was so that the Abrams films could revisit the TOS characters but not be beholden to continuity, otherwise a major event like Vulcan being destroyed and not be undone would not be possible if they tried following continuity. Also having the characters acknowledge in dialogue that they're in an alternate timeline as opposed to the timeline being changed was the writers' way of saying that the Prime timeline that we fans know of wasn't erased. This was a way to allow both timelines to co-exist. Paramount would have films that focus on one timeline, while CBS would continue building on the timeline they already have.

[Deledrius]

People are making it sound more complicated than it actually is. A major reason for splitting the timeline was so that the Abrams films could revisit the TOS characters but not be beholden to continuity, otherwise a major event like Vulcan being destroyed and not be undone would not be possible if they tried following continuity. Also having the characters acknowledge in dialogue that they're in an alternate timeline as opposed to the timeline being changed was the writers' way of saying that the Prime timeline that we fans know of wasn't erased. This was a way to allow both timelines to co-exist. Paramount would have films that focus on one timeline, while CBS would continue building on the timeline they already have.

Except (A) they still trashed the original continuity on the way out by destroying Romulus, and (B) by making the new continuity be a consequence of events in the original continuity, they didn't save themselves from the problem of that legacy existing. As I said, it's a decision that left them with the worst of both worlds.

[Makeshift Python]

I actually look forward to the Picard series touching on Romulus’ destruction. It should shake up the power dynamic in Prime.

[Yukaphile]

Goodbye, TNG Romulan facial looks. Hello... whatever the Picard series gives us.

Also, here's a problem I'm having. Why would Picard feel particularly attached to the destruction of Romulus? Twenty years after the fact? Why? Dear God, just imagine the horror that's going through those writers' brains...

I really, really, REALLY don't wanna see the creators at CBS get their slimy claws on the Dominion or the Cardassians, who so far are the only races unaffected by all these shake-ups, unlike the Vulcans, Klingons, Borg, Q, and so many more... but you just know they're going to do that. And I really doubt their ability to convey this subtly. They'll probably turn the Dominion into a GOP allegory. I mean, they said "Make the Klingons Glorious Again!", didn't they?

[Makeshift Python]

The TNG Romulan ridges were a stupid addition, more than any other alien redesign. Westmore’s comments on why he gave them ridges never made sense to me.

[Yukaphile]

But they exist in the 24th century. To remove them now is just stupid.

[Makeshift Python]

They deserve to be removed.

Just because you have fond childhood memories of TNG doesn’t make them right. It was bad enough they even had them in the 22nd century.

[Yukaphile]

Then that's YOUR personal interpretation, YOUR opinion, and no, removing them at this point serves little past your "I don't like them" attitude. Given the huge backlash STD got over changing the Klingons' looks, do you really think we'll let that pass? You bend over backwards to defend STD, so I'm telling you right now. You could probably defend the Romulan ridges the same way. Also, nice job pulling out the "nostalgia card." By that logic, you can't possibly be a TNG fan at all. Btw, I didn't even discover DS9 till 2009, and it's my favorite Trek series.