So I didn’t know whether or not I’d get the bug to write reviews as I begin watching this, but here I am with a head full of thoughts. So let’s discuss Star Trek: The Next Generation. Spoilers ahead!

First off, I must say that though I might mock 80s special effects in films and TV, there’s a part of me that loves them even though they seem ridiculous now. Yes, I was an 80s child, why do you ask?

On a sort of related note, I’ve been hearing from a few people since my reaction-posting began just a little bit ago, that the first season isn’t the best and I should stick with it, give it time, etc. As someone who has felt this way about her own best beloved media, I fully understand the sentiment, but I can say with complete honesty – I don’t think having to force myself to keep watching is going to be a problem with this.

Dear geeks: I love it already.

I don’t love Q, but I already don’t love him in that best way that all the really intriguing villains can make you feel. Don’t get me wrong: he is absolutely a smug bastard and I wouldn’t mind bouncing him off the walls of the Enterprise until he’s smirking out the other side of his face, but in my book any kind of strong reaction to a character is a win for the actor playing them. Ambivalence is the only mark that they’ve failed, as far as I’m concerned; if I don’t care about the character, the actor needs to go back to the drawing board.

I very much do not like Q. But I want to know more about him, and I want to know it as soon as possible!

The crew of the Enterprise also has me fascinated, largely because these characters are not being signposted. There’s very little exposition to wade through – rather, it’s the nuances in their interactions, the information we’re allowed to deduce rather than just being told, that please me. The only time we get anything like an info-dump are in those scenes where you’d expect a character to explain themselves or something about them, such as in Geordi’s medical appointment regarding his blindness. I applaud that – I love having a chance to get properly curious about characters I’m meeting for the first time, so bravo to the writers.

(Which is not to say that these characters can’t be direct when it suits them. I see you, Doctor Crusher. I see, and I approve.)

The other thing that surprises and deeply fascinates me is the fact that violence is not a tool they habitually reach for. In fact, Captain Picard strikes me as a man who works hard NOT to simply attack first and question later when faced with alien beings he doesn’t understand, even when they antagonise him first. For any media coming out of the 1980s, that’s definitely unusual, and I’m one hundred percent here for it.

For communication, investigation and peaceful resolution to be the primary tools of human beings exploring uncharted territory is remarkable enough to be both deeply satisfying and, on reflection, probably more than a little uncomfortable. But that’s the point, I expect – to make people examine their own prejudices and the instincts they nurture because of them. Hell, Q comes right out of the gate convinced – for good reason – that these humans are here to cause trouble and destroy whatever or whoever doesn’t give way to them. He’s too smug to show any kind of surprise, but Picard proves him wrong and I’m more than proud of that – I’m relieved about it.

Like I said. A lot to reflect on. But it’s going far above and beyond just being another shoot-first-ask-questions-later SF show, and I could not be more grateful for it.

Other brief observations:

SPACE JELLYFISH. If this show had given me nothing else, at least it gave me space jellyfish. As it is, I love it for all of the above AND ALSO SPACE JELLYFISH.

Riker’s posture is utterly ridiculous and iconic. That man should have dramatic music following him around any time he enters a room.

Speaking of Riker and rooms, he and Deanna Troi need to get one maybe? I see them too.

Wesley Crusher might just have potential to irritate me, but heck, I’m here for a young man forgetting to rein himself in sometimes. Been there, done that, young Wes.

Data practicing his whistling won my heart completely. More Data, please.

ART CREDIT

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI) 

Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Detail from an image of the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Use of this image does not imply affiliation with or endorsement by NASA. 

Text: William Shakespeare