It is not my intention to ignite an EMACS/vim war; I will say that I find it baffling that Lower Decks is ending while Strange New Worlds is being continued. I like Strange New Worlds, despite disagreeing with some of the artistic licenses being taken. But if I had to choose between the two shows, it’d be no contest. Not only as a viewer do I prefer LD, but it has to be the cheaper show to produce. The fact that next season is the last (both by design, it only being contracted for 5 years; and announcement) is sad and incomprehensible in the same way the cancelation of Firefly was - except LD is popular and successful, whereas Firefly merely had a fanatical (🖐️) fan base.
I don’t understand it. Yes, you want to end on a high note. Maybe the writers are running out of plot ideas. Perhaps, given an initial life span of 5 years, the actors have all made other arrangements and aren’t available. But I just can’t believe the One Big Plot Arc that’s been building would necessitate ending the series by its resolution.
LD is a strong show. It’s lighthearted. It’s a breath of fresh air after the more decidedly darker, ethically challenging, and emotionally straining runs of TNG, Voyager, DS9. And Strange New Worlds… the Gorn are basically Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise.Who, despite being the existential threat of the show, somehow get entirely forgotten about by the time in TOS.
But I digress. I’m going to miss Lower Decks, badly. How can this happen? And why?
Funny enough, I think I liked LD because it felt closer in tone to 90s trek than modern trek. Like sure, those were serious shows, but in between the drama there was some pretty natural feeling levity based on character interactions, slice of life stuff, etc. Stuff that doesn’t take you out of the story, but gives you a breather and makes you care more about the characters when serious stuff does happen. Most of modern Trek feels like Marvel movies: End of the world level stakes and melodrama all the time, but constantly undercut with self-aware quips to keep things from ever being too sincere.
LD feels like a return to what I liked about those earlier shows: See the lives of some interesting characters in an interesting setting going on adventures. It’s not perfect and it’s not what I’d want to see entirely replace those old kinds of shows, but it stands in pretty stark contrast to the other new stuff.
100%. And the funny episodes feel forced. Like, everyone remembers the Trouble with Tribbles episode for the Tribbles, but they were almost a side story; there was an entire main plot revolving around the Klingons.
I agree. Maybe it’s the audiences, maybe it’s the studios, but your Marvel simile is apt.