Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (S5-S6), Voyager (S3-S4)

PART XVIII: YOU KNOW WHAT STAR TREK’S PROBLEM IS

I know how you feel Odo.

My romantic stage with Star Trek is long since over, I can tell you that much. I’ve fallen into a dark period with this series. No longer is there joy when tuning in to the next episode, oh no. Some crude mixture between sense of duty and a desire to just get it over with lead me to just press play at this point. It’s not that I don’t like the series, I do. But I can tell you what Star Trek’s problem is. Star Trek’s problem is that there are twenty-five hour-long episodes per season. Star Trek’s problem is that three separate series have seven seasons a piece. Star Trek’s problem is that it tries to be simple and accessible to new viewers, yet wants to be much deeper. Star Trek’s problem is it’s too simple. Star Trek’s problem is there is simply too much Star Trek.

Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (S4), Voyager (S2)

PART XVI: ONE FOR THE LADIES

These girls are wearing the most conservative outfits in all of TOS

What’s interesting in watching through all of Star Trek is you actually get to see how women are thought of in society change before your eyes. I had read that during The Original Series (TOS) Nichelle Nichols had thought of leaving the show, citing she felt she had too small of role. She was convinced to stay aboard, as Lt. Uhura was more important to the civil rights and women’s rights movement than she was a character on the show. Being that she is after all a Lieutenant, and to have a woman of color in a leadership role on television was unheard of in the sixties. Truth be told as communications officer, she was little more than Kirk’s secretary. Yet still, this was seen as a great moment for women. If any woman, even a woman of color were to be given the role of Uhura today it wouldn’t be thought of as anything, let alone revolutionary. Sure, if it weren’t Uhura it would have been someone else, but in the end it was Uhura. The rest of the TOS universe shows just how women were portrayed on television; as objects of desire. Lately, as I watch through what is quickly becoming my favorite in the Star Trek series, Voyager (VOY), I find myself marveling at how much society can change its view of 51% of the population in just a few decades.

Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (S3), Voyager (S1)

PART XV: PLEDGE WEEK AT ALPHA GAMMA DELTA

Cool from this angle, but from underneath it looks like a toilet seat.

Going into Star Trek Voyager (VOY) I was a bit nervous. The final few seasons of The Next Generation (TNG) along with Deep Space 9 (DS9) so far have been so wrapped up in the Cardassian threat. I wasn’t sure what to expect with VOY. More of the same? Some sort of low-cost replacement for my friends aboard NCC 1701-D? Well the pilot begins with words scrolling on the screen explaining Maquis and Cardassians private little war which has been raging throughout the previous couple of seasons of both TNG and DS9, in the demilitarized zone. Uh oh, here we go. Then we’re introduced to the crew of a Maquis ship. Oh boy… seven additional seasons of this? To make things even rougher on me I’m introduced to a human Captain, human helmsman, ops, doctor, human, human, human. Did Michael Westmore just pack up the make up department and leave or what’s happening here? Then it happens…  the twist. Lets just say that by the end of the pilot I had to check to make sure my room mates weren’t home so I could cheer as loudly as I liked over how pumped I was for VOY. Turns out one of my room mates was in his room with the door shut, very embarrassing for me.