Everyone has their favourite Trek.
As an 80s kid The Next Generation is the the one that made the first real impact on me, but its not until I got older and discovered Deep Space Nine, that I really started to see what could Star Trek could really be. In this multi part article I will argue the question of whether, The Next Generation or DS9 is the best Trek show ever made. But for now let’s do a general overview.
When TNG was close to release I remember being incredibly excited. Its actually one of the first shows I can remember being excited for. I had a copy of the Radio Times that had an examination of all the characters. Jordi and Data fascinated me especially. Even before I had seen any of the show I used to use one of my mums large hair clips as a Jordi style eyepiece.
Data was described as a cybernetic lifeform aspiring to be as human as possible. I always found this strange as a child. Data was a cool looking robot, with super strength and who would never age. Why would you want to be a silly human?
I was well in to the later seasons until I realised humanity was at the shows core. The cast of characters were wide and varied, consisting of Aliens of different personalities. But at its centre the show is about us. The different races such as Klingons with their anger and war like ways, Romulans with their spying and secrets and the Ferengis greed, were just the different traits of humans taken to extremes. The Federation is how we would like to be, or or at least how we would like to be perceived. Peace and harmony between all men. But in reality we’re just a combination of all the alien races on the show. Its a reflection of us and what we could be and what we actually are.
The federation always had peoples best interests at heart. It has always been for me an embodiment of our need to explore, our need to belong and a sign of hope for what we could become. It isn’t till later shows like DS9 that the Federation took on a more realistic view of what we were. We were idealistic sure, but we were also capable of much darker notions.
When Deep Space begin, I hated it. They didn’t explore, they didn’t even have a proper starship. it took me a while to realise and maybe it took the writers a little while to realise too, but it’s the characters that matter. Yes that’s right, character development matters.
In DS9 a massive war starts between the Federation and the Dominion. For one of the first times ever the Federation is outmanned and outmatched. The Dominion didn’t have the same moral sense that the Federation had. They would kill indiscriminately, allowing them to have massive victories over Star Fleet. In earlier shows like TNG, there would be very little flexibility on how the Federation would act. DS9 changed the game. Part of the reason was that it wasn’t the late 80s anymore. During production of TNG, the world looked like it was taking a turn for the better. The Cold War was over, the Berlin Wall was on its way down. All was good. But of course it didn’t last. By the time DS9 started the first Gulf war was in full flow. The world was a lot more cynical and Star Trek followed suit. Gone was the hope and discovery of TNG, instead we had the a much more cynical view of the world in DS9.
Sometimes good people do bad things for good reasons. Thats how you can sum up DS9. The characters, especially in later seasons have much more layers than the ones in TNG. TNG was very much ‘a monster of the week’ sort of show, meaning that events would happen and they would very rarely be referred to again. The writers of DS9 decided that would try something different. They would write story arcs that would last whole seasons. What happened in the last episode mattered. It was a modern storytelling before modern storytelling was even a thing.
That said TNG it could be argued is pure Star Trek. Unlike DS9 they tend to actually explore. Its also less of a war show than DS9. Thats the sort of thing that really appeals to me, but others despise the show. In the next few articles we will look into both shows best episodes and finally announce a winner.
In the next part we’ll go into detail of what sets this the show apart.
The whole amazing series of TNG is available right here for a great price.
And of course the great DS9 is available right here.
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