That's the power of math, people!
So much to say.I remember starting this blog, with the weight of all the things that would not happen pressing down on me. I will never watch a new Star Trek show again. I will never connect with my fellow fans in that way. I will never share this with my children. Here I am, just barely an adult, and the one thing I've had my whole life is gone.
Is that a little overdramatic? Maybe.
But that's what it felt like. I think that's what it felt like for most of us.
I remember thinking that I watched Trek die. By refusing to watch Enterprise while it was originally on, I helped cause it. I believe I did the right thing with Enterprise, at that time, just as I believe that I do the right thing now by showing it to my child. I remember the startling realization that the new movie had the potential to not suck. I remember watching Star Trek in 2009, and then the betrayal of Into Darkness 4 years later. I remember the first two Beyond trailers and the sense of horror I got from watching them... and then the third trailer, and the glimmer of hope that came with it.
And Anton, who tried to change himself for us when he was seventeen because he understood better than I did in that moment what he was getting into.
The anticipation of Discovery, trying to not get too attached, just in case. I waffled, unsure but committed to 13 episodes until Phavo. Just for a few minutes, they did it. They made Star Trek. The rest of the season, caught up in the plot, hoping for glimpse of what was familiar, and then...
I spent most of my life unable to recognize metaphors.
But during the time between Into Darkness and Beyond I binged 8 seasons of Supernatural and it started to make sense to me after that. (Every ep is a metaphor for the brothers' relationship. We'll talk about that sometime.)
Here's what I realized.
Season 1 of Discovery - it isn't Star Trek.
It has many of the themes, and pieces of the original show. It ties into the show. And if you take the season as a whole and call it one episode, it DOES meet the requirements set forth by Gene. But it's not Star Trek.
Discovery's first season is a metaphor for us.
It's about who we are and what kind of fans, or maybe even people, we want to be. Discovery flirts with abandoning everything that Starfleet - and Star Trek - was created to be. It manipulates. It cheats. It lies. It takes good people and puts them in terrible positions, causing them to do terrible things. It has victories that count for nothing.
And at the end, when the chips are down and things look grim... We are Trekkies.
So now we are, it's Season 2, and there's just one question - what does having some fun along the way look like? I hope it looks like Star Trek, or this might be a short trip.
I'm excited to find out.
