Story: Children of Mars
Written By: Kirsten Beyer & Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman
Series: Star Trek: Short Treks
Year: 2020
I am officially worried. I've been holding out a bit of, possibly fruitless, hope for the upcoming Picard show. But if this prelude is anything to go on, and it very well may not be, I just dunno if I have any real faith in the Kurtzman led Trek to get what makes Trek tick. This is a generic story of a couple of high school girls being increasingly catty with one another, which culminates in a fist fight with a bunch of onlookers cheering it on. The girls are then drawn to one another and find peace when Mars is attacked and both of their parent's lives are seemingly lost (it is a story told mostly visually with very little dialogue).
The whole high school drama cat fight stuff reeks of some of the same problems Discovery has...and with Kurtzman still leading the pack, I worry for what Picard will be. I can excuse some less evolved nature of humans in Discovery because the Original Show had Kirk fistfighting his way out of plenty a jam. As Discovery took place prior to TOS you can say, "hey, humans aren't quite the 24th Century paragons they became!" But in my view, I can see 24th Century kids maybe getting into a fight over a misunderstanding, but I can't imagine the whole school cheering it on. It lacks that feel I want from the 24th Century.
Then there is this major attack, which I expect will be a plot point of the upcoming show (unless this short is utterly pointless, which is possible), and ugh...I am so sick of war and death and misery. Not just in Trek but in so much media. I feel like a lot of sci-fi, particularly since Battlestar Galactica, things have been geared towards the dark and the gritty. I loved BSG, but I need relief. That show came out at a very specific time and was the right show for that post-9/11 world. But in this current era where the whole world so often feels hopeless...I'd like a bit of positivity to cling on to. There were flashes of that early on in Discovery's second season, but it soon turned to a muddled story arc and more hollow battle scenes and it felt exhausting.
When the "Picard" trailer has some ass kicking girl and Seven of Nine shooting lasers...I begin to worry that Kurtzman is going to just keep releasing the same kind of stuff over and over again. Will Picard truly differ from Discovery in any way? Or will it be just another whiz bang action show, with too much grit and not enough positivity. Will it have a planned out genuine story, or are they yet again flying by the seat of their pants.
I've been trying to look on the positive as details emerge. Stewart is a great actor who can knock it out of the park returning to this part. I'd love to see Frakes, Sirtis, Ryan, and Spiner returning. I know the Borg are involved, but if they actually follow up on the lost thread of Hugh and his Borgs with individuality that were introduced at the end of TNG and then totally ignored in First Contact and Voyager...then I am interested! Michael Chabon has written the two best Short Treks I think (I loved Calypso and dug Q&A quite a bit in this latest batch), and he is the showrunner (I know some have acted as if his announcement as the showrunner was some mid-season sea change, but I genuinely thought he was the showrunner before that was announced so I think he kind of was from the get-go. So with a good cast, a strong writer at the command (as opposed to this dope Kurtzman), it is entirely possible the show can elevate where Discovery has often floundered.
Then again this short was not great and it worries me.
NEXT TIME: The Captain Returns
Written By: Kirsten Beyer & Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman
Series: Star Trek: Short Treks
Year: 2020
I am officially worried. I've been holding out a bit of, possibly fruitless, hope for the upcoming Picard show. But if this prelude is anything to go on, and it very well may not be, I just dunno if I have any real faith in the Kurtzman led Trek to get what makes Trek tick. This is a generic story of a couple of high school girls being increasingly catty with one another, which culminates in a fist fight with a bunch of onlookers cheering it on. The girls are then drawn to one another and find peace when Mars is attacked and both of their parent's lives are seemingly lost (it is a story told mostly visually with very little dialogue).
Then there is this major attack, which I expect will be a plot point of the upcoming show (unless this short is utterly pointless, which is possible), and ugh...I am so sick of war and death and misery. Not just in Trek but in so much media. I feel like a lot of sci-fi, particularly since Battlestar Galactica, things have been geared towards the dark and the gritty. I loved BSG, but I need relief. That show came out at a very specific time and was the right show for that post-9/11 world. But in this current era where the whole world so often feels hopeless...I'd like a bit of positivity to cling on to. There were flashes of that early on in Discovery's second season, but it soon turned to a muddled story arc and more hollow battle scenes and it felt exhausting.
When the "Picard" trailer has some ass kicking girl and Seven of Nine shooting lasers...I begin to worry that Kurtzman is going to just keep releasing the same kind of stuff over and over again. Will Picard truly differ from Discovery in any way? Or will it be just another whiz bang action show, with too much grit and not enough positivity. Will it have a planned out genuine story, or are they yet again flying by the seat of their pants.
I've been trying to look on the positive as details emerge. Stewart is a great actor who can knock it out of the park returning to this part. I'd love to see Frakes, Sirtis, Ryan, and Spiner returning. I know the Borg are involved, but if they actually follow up on the lost thread of Hugh and his Borgs with individuality that were introduced at the end of TNG and then totally ignored in First Contact and Voyager...then I am interested! Michael Chabon has written the two best Short Treks I think (I loved Calypso and dug Q&A quite a bit in this latest batch), and he is the showrunner (I know some have acted as if his announcement as the showrunner was some mid-season sea change, but I genuinely thought he was the showrunner before that was announced so I think he kind of was from the get-go. So with a good cast, a strong writer at the command (as opposed to this dope Kurtzman), it is entirely possible the show can elevate where Discovery has often floundered.
Then again this short was not great and it worries me.
NEXT TIME: The Captain Returns
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