New Picard trailer

[Yukaphile]

It should just end, lol. Or HARD REBOOT. Do it all new past brand recognition. Hell, that's my biggest beef with Guardian Code. It's literally just a Code Lyoko or VR Troopers like show, that merely adds a few superficial elements from the previous material to draw in people. But franchise titles are literally just brand appeal, so why not just reject everything previously? I guess it's the stupid, selfish conceits of most people make that impossible, but even so...

[Mecha82]

You're probably right there, and while I prefer a one-and-done tale with a good conclusion rather than take-backsies, for a pop-culture icon like Star Trek, keeping the setting preserved so that future storytellers can work there can be argued to be valuable.

To be honest that is what really bothers me about whole ST (mainly TOS, TNG, VOY and ENT) these days. Whole one-and-done approach with being returned to status quo after each episode like what happened in previous one doesn't matter at all. I will always defend serialization because it allows both ongoing story arcs as well as characters having they own character arcs. Or at least do what Arrowverse shows do and still include that ongoing story arc while going against minor villain.

[AquaReggie]

Oh, sorry. What I meant was the exact opposite - I like stories that allow for change and evolution rather than always going back to a status quo. "One and done" was more meant to refer to a story that is allowed to have a beginning, middle, and end rather than existing in a quantum state of continuous storytelling and reboots like comics.

I can see now that the way I phrased it was vague, though. I think we're mostly in agreement

[Yukaphile]

Okay, lemme ask you, Mecha82. Do you consider DS9 serialized? Those in charge wanted it to be that way, but given they were a huge writing team with different views, I will credit Rick Berman with another instance where he did something right for Trek by insisting they stick to a more episodic approach. Otherwise, it would probably have a weaker continuity than it actually does. Given that we can probably safely conclude that DS9 had B5's story bible, the clash between Berman and the writing team meant they could take a very detailed approach to the craft, and I think B5 pulled this off as well and should be the gold standard, given how DS9's genesis was tied to B5. A blend of both serialized and episodic, by maintaining continuity between each episodes. That's probably key in working with a large writing team, which Trek is, unlike a single pioneering visionary like JMS was. And that would be my suggestion to Trek writers these days. Adopt JMS's style. Write a huge story bible with his "trap-door" approach, and then maintain a nice blend between serialized and episodic, focusing on continuity. I don't see that approach in modern Trek at all. It seems to be like all other previous Trek series, pretty weak when it begins, and just exaggerated flaws of all the older material that you'd think they should have grown past by now. Hell, it's making me reevaluate Rick Berman. For as much a homophobic tyrant as he is, I absolutely never doubted that he cared about Trek, and I think his approach has merit, when restrained. I think I'd rather have him back, if he was feeling inspired by Trek again, rather than burnt out on franchise fatigue.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

DS9 was actually pretty interesting. I don't remember Voyager having any dedicated arcs done like that.

[Mecha82]

As huge B5 fan I find DS9 to be pretty much what every ST show should be. It has clear ongoing story that really got going with Dominion War Arc and all characters had character development. So yes I would consider DS9 serialized.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Didn't season 6 have a 5-part episode or so as well?

[Yukaphile]

I mean, true, but do those in charge now have that mindset? I think the tone shift between Season 1 and Season 2 DISCO is just as radical between TNG's first two seasons and Season 3. They wanna be serialized because everything in today's world is, but I find JMS's approach worked for him. How many put that to actual use in a big corporate environment? DS9 if it had tried to go too far into serialization, wouldn't have worked. I think there is something to be said for Rick Berman's approach. He held them back when needed. When working in a big team, you need a basic story bible, probably a VERY detailed one, and then have an overall pioneering vision. Are they doing that? Because despite the overarching plot of DISCO going forward, I see very little to suggest that. And Trek has always attracted a corporate mentality, of mooching off and just doing it half-assed. Look at Voyager and Enterprise.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

It's really impressive to create your stories around a 3d mapping, but a lot of stuff in the Star Trek universe stemming from TOS was just written on the whim for a given episode to give something new for Spock to do. Vulcan never pinches and mind melds were introduced sparingly and weren't very familiar things until the movies and shows.

[Mecha82]

Pretty much. After all they did use lot of different writers during TOS from episode to episode without having much planned before hand.