Star Trek
Fri., September 6, 09:12 AM
The other night I had a television gift – two hours of “Star Trek: Enterprise.” The first comes last.
As I’ve mentioned previously, I read science fiction, and I have done so since I was a kid. It was a natural progression from fairy tales, and it suited me better (I loved science). Magic is just science you don’t understand yet…oh, never mind, that’s a different article. Thank goodness the public library had a science fiction section, because the only places that sold sf magazines were places where “nice girls don’t go.” (I don’t know whether there are any such places any more.) It’s fun to go back and read the older books, especially since today’s sf usually takes a different turn. There’s not as much science or speculation, and there’s more fantasy – still sf – but there’s also a lot more horror, which I really don’t care for.
When it came to science fiction films, I was usually disappointed. One of my favorites, Day of the Triffids, was made into a film, of which I watched about fifteen minutes. The screenplay had obviously picked up on the horror aspect, and I just wasn’t interested. So I didn’t look for sf on television either. There were either series like “The Twilight Zone,” which had some good stories but not sf as I knew it, or else they were kid shows like “Lost in Space,” which was just bad. Very early TV had “Space Patrol” adapted from the radio series, as well as “Captain Video.” The productions were terrible but the stories were all right – for kids.
Then, at last, came “Star Trek.” I wasn’t a kid any more, but I was still reading sf, and there it was. I loved the way it was done – not explaining the technology (because there is no explanation yet for transporting or warp drive), just accepting it as fact. And I loved that it used the format to address specific issues, like the war in Viet Nam or racial prejudice. It didn’t particularly matter that it was somewhat illogical. I mean, why would you send all senior officers out on dangerous missions? At that particular point in time, I also adored Captain Kirk.
Then “Star Trek” was canceled, which broke my heart but not Husband’s. (I don’t think he understood it; it was too far from his experience.) I remembered it fondly, but didn’t see it for years. There were some good novels created in the context, but no TV. About ten years later I discovered that one of the local television channels was running reruns – and I actually had time to watch them, being home with kids. My kids loved it too; they are the true “next generation.” When “Star Trek: the Movie” was released, they were delighted. For many of us, the movie was overblown version of what could have been a one-hour television episode. Still, it was nice to see our old favorites. Of course, maturity had had changed my definition of old favorites. Kirk was okay, but I really was crazy about Mr. Spock.
“Star Trek: The Next Generation” was fun for us all. It was a bigger cast, with a captain who usually stayed on board and sent his first officer to lead away teams. There was more diversity, with Worf, the Klingon; Troi, the Betazed; and Guinan – wherever she came from. The Original Series had sown more seeds than it realized. Whoopie Goldberg watched it as a child, so glad to see a black actress (Lieutenant Uhuru, the communications officer) who wasn’t playing a maid. So she requested a role on the new series, and as Guinan she acquitted herself admirably. And instead of the multi-talented Vulcan, Mr. Spock, there was Data, the android. TNG came into a more knowledgeable (or forgiving) America and lasted for seven seasons. (I’m still regularly watching reruns.)
The next Star Trek series was “Deep Space Nine,” and I liked that one too. It was meant to be contemporary with “The Next Generation,” and characters occasionally moved from one series to the other. DSN was not as popular as the first two series, but I liked it enough to follow it to the end. One of its best episodes was a return (via time travel) to “Trouble with Tribbles,” in which the DSN cast was digitally inserted into scenes from the original story. Big smiles all around.
The next series, “Star Trek: Voyager” didn’t appeal to me as much. I might have become attached to it with time, but it moved around the television schedule, and I lost connection to the characters.
This is the year of the prequel. “Star Trek: Enterprise” takes place in the twenty-second century, when people from Earth are just beginning space exploration. I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying this. The long, hard effort to get this far is mirrored in the introductory sequence to each episode, which starts with sailing ships named Enterprise through modern space travel (hey, there's Alan Shepard!) to arrive at The Enterprise with Captain Archer and his crew. (They’re not as polished – this is new science – and sometimes things don’t work.) The only non-human crew member is a Vulcan – an attractive lady – who is somehow not yet as certain of her philosophies as the more mature Mr. Spock. The villains are the Suliban, a race that must have been defeated by the time of the original series.
Retaining a sense of the history line in a story that isn’t really history is sometimes challenging. But I love it. I’m eagerly looking forward to the new season.
