Now THIS is Star Trek
Oct. 20th, 2018 04:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kribbanThose who read this journal know I'm underwhelmed by Discovery. It's grimdark and it's not what I want from Star Trek. (For my weekly dose of that, I have Supernatural. *g*)
I remember back in 2009 when the first reboot film had set ablaze the ember in my heart that had been glowing for 17 years. I was in love! And my friend S and I were talking about how badly we wanted another Star Trek tv-series but it apparently couldn't be done for some legal reasons. When that tv-series finally came along eight years later.... there was no fire.
A couple of weeks ago, I was in the mood for some TOS. I had finally finished watching it nine months earlier and I was contemplating which episode to see again. Then I remembered... There was a fan-made show on YouTube that I had heard mimicked TOS perfectly. That show was Star Trek Continues. I watched four episodes in one go and inhaled the next over the rest of the weekend.
Why it's damn good: (an incomplete list)
* The sets and costumes are perfect replicas but the space scenes have enough CGI in them to not feel cheap.
* The story fills out the rest of the five year mission. The episodes are self-contained but there is an over-arching plotline that resolves with the season finale.
* Unlike TOS, a lot of plotpoints and characters are brought back in a very organic way which makes sense for the characters and the universe.
* Jim Kirk is so likeable! He's not a caricature or sexist (he falls in love, a lot) and uses diplomacy and persuasion rather than brute force.
* The show is NOT grimdark. It deals with some very dark subjects (sexism, child abuse, rape and sex slavery) without losing its hopeful message or dwelling on the details.
* There are a lot more women! This is achieved organically by adding a new character who serves as the ships councellor, by featuring more members of the existing female crew and having female quest stars that serve the story.
* The score!
Behold the sizzle reel. I will be making re-caps of each of the ten episodes in the coming weeks.
I remember back in 2009 when the first reboot film had set ablaze the ember in my heart that had been glowing for 17 years. I was in love! And my friend S and I were talking about how badly we wanted another Star Trek tv-series but it apparently couldn't be done for some legal reasons. When that tv-series finally came along eight years later.... there was no fire.
A couple of weeks ago, I was in the mood for some TOS. I had finally finished watching it nine months earlier and I was contemplating which episode to see again. Then I remembered... There was a fan-made show on YouTube that I had heard mimicked TOS perfectly. That show was Star Trek Continues. I watched four episodes in one go and inhaled the next over the rest of the weekend.
Why it's damn good: (an incomplete list)
* The sets and costumes are perfect replicas but the space scenes have enough CGI in them to not feel cheap.
* The story fills out the rest of the five year mission. The episodes are self-contained but there is an over-arching plotline that resolves with the season finale.
* Unlike TOS, a lot of plotpoints and characters are brought back in a very organic way which makes sense for the characters and the universe.
* Jim Kirk is so likeable! He's not a caricature or sexist (he falls in love, a lot) and uses diplomacy and persuasion rather than brute force.
* The show is NOT grimdark. It deals with some very dark subjects (sexism, child abuse, rape and sex slavery) without losing its hopeful message or dwelling on the details.
* There are a lot more women! This is achieved organically by adding a new character who serves as the ships councellor, by featuring more members of the existing female crew and having female quest stars that serve the story.
* The score!
Behold the sizzle reel. I will be making re-caps of each of the ten episodes in the coming weeks.
