I believe the in universe explanation is that DS9 was originally a Cardassian space station and they like lower light levels and the Federation had actually brought the lighting up some when they took it over.
I for one welcome the fact that ST:DS9 switched up the lighting design vs TNG. It’s a show that could use the noir-ish lighting. It’s a shame they can’t get Paramount to scan the original 35mm film for a BluRay release (like they did for TOS and TNG), because DS9 would look amazing on modern TVs that actually have contrast and a decent color gamut.
I also liked that DS9 built in so much of Cardassian society just by their architecture (like building the commander’s office at the highest part of the operations center so everyone looks up with respect)
I always liked how they built in things like that, like how their murder mysteries always end with everyone being guilty, but who is guilty of what, that kinda thing.
I completely agree with Ron Moore’s reasons for leaving Voyager, and even moreso once the Borg were brought in. Going back to ST:TNG, the Borg were depicted as slowly sweeping across or around the galactic core, gradually approaching first Romulan and then Federation space. They weren’t invaders or conquerors, they were a force of nature, literally consuming any and all advanced civilizations they ran across and discarding what they didn’t need. They couldn’t be reasoned with, they couldn’t be intimidated, they just didn’t care — a paperclip apocalypse writ large.
Voyager’s trip across the galaxy should thus have seen a steady, gradual decline in available technological resources as their progress brought the ship ever closer to the Borg wavefront. The civilizations the ship encountered would have been in ever more dire straits, themselves striving to rebuild from the scraps left to them by the Borg. The crew should have been increasingly forced to improvise, struggling to keep the ship operational, becoming ever more aware of the magnitude of the threat the Borg presented with every wrecked world they dealt with, yet without means to communicate with or speedily reach the Federation (don’t get me started on the one-shot quantum slipstream drive…). Janeway’s command decisions would inevitably grow to weigh getting the whole crew safely back home against getting out a warning, any kind of detailed warning out past the Borg wavefront to the Federation regardless of the personal cost.
That’s the Voyager I originally had hopes for. That’s a Voyager I would have enjoyed continuing to watch. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is my favorite series of the lot for a reason.
And then Star Trek: First Contact came along in the middle of Voyager’s third season and nerfed the Borg.
No, I don’t care much for Star Trek: Voyager. It wasted so much potential in favor of strip-syndication-friendly, problem-of-the-week episodes that could be viewed in any order at a time when other programs — including its immediate predecessor, ST:DS9 — were demonstrating how there was a market for shows with season- and series-long plot arcs and payoffs for dedicated viewers.
We’re currently doing a watchthrough of TNG and holy smokes, was the first season BAD. No one, with the exception of Spiner as Data, quite had a handle on their characters yet and hoo boy, there was some bad writing. TNG probably wouldn’t have made it past its first season nowadays.
But the seeds were definitely there, and they start coming to fruition in the 3rd season. Still got to slog through S2…at least Riker has his beard!
I remember when the remastered discs came out the only reason I bought the season one set was because if it didn’t sell well they might not have continued with the remaster project. There are only a few episodes worth watching more than once in that season.
Spot on. I caught that in the trailers and interviews I’ve seen and have avoided the new post-Berman iterations entirely outside of watching the first episode of Picard and it matches your characterization and my fears. Very anonymous, anxious, and interchangeable to everything else out there. The Star Trek feel is gone replaced with trendy hand-wringing and discontent not hope and a better world. My read.
I recently finished a full rewatch of TNG. I was mostly shocked on this recent rewatch of how much I liked Pulaski as a character… yeah she starts the season off as pretty thoroughly heinous, but she grows and evolves more over her one season than most of the cast did over seven! I think that says a lot for Diana Muldaur.
Just about to wrap up the second season of Lower Decks. Fun, FUN, show. You do have to get past the first two episodes, but after that, it really takes off.
I’m really hoping Strange New Worlds is a return to action/adventure stories with less of the painful social commentary of Discovery. Yes, I know TOS did social issues. So did Doctor Who. My complaint isn’t necessarily with the message but the delivery. Tell a good story, first, otherwise, no one will be watching to care about your “message”. One thing TNG did so badly so often was beating viewers over the head with THE MESSAGE. And it’s only become worse since.
I’m a huge TOS fan. My list of Star Trek series preferences:
TOS
ENT
DS9
TAS
TNG
VOY
DIS
PIC
I’ve never seen Lower Decks, so I can’t judge. That style of animation is not quite my thing, but I’ll probably check it out eventually.
Also, this is not to say I don’t Picard, it’s just very Next Generation and there is a gap between the first four and the bottom four for me. I suspect the more you like Next Gen, the more you like Picard. Another suspicion is that I am going to like Strange New Worlds a lot.
To me, Discovery has been like three seasons of preface. I like it alright, but I’m over being introduced to the thing and want to get on with the show.
And now I’m wondering. Picard reintroduced the Borg, even if in only a small way. But one thing Voyagerdid demonstrate was that the Borg’s spread across the galaxy — and beyond — was vast. Regardless of their fate at the end of Voyager, I can’t believe that the Borg are completely gone but for the single salvaged cube ship and its rehabilitated occupants seen to date in Picard. There should be more — one heck of a lot more. The Borg Collective as a whole was always shown as being extraordinarily adaptable, if nothing else.
I’ve thought at times that the Borg were nerfed because the writers or showrunners decided they were just too difficult and uninteresting to write well. Originally, stopping the Borg was akin to preventing the tide from coming in; it could be done, but it would always be a temporary respite, confined to small areas, with the story concerning itself with the effects rather than the cause. With the Borg the only conflict was between the protagonists and how they reacted to the Borg’s uncaring, ungovernable, and overwhelming nature — a disaster movie, in other words.
I’ll admit that I haven’t watched any of the new stuff. I gave the J.J. Abrams AU a try and it just didn’t really work for me. Some of the casting did not fit for me, either. For example, Zoe Saldana is a fine actress, but she’s just not Uhura to me. There’s none of the class that Nichelle Nichols brought to the role. I guess the argument could be made that the different time line changed who she was, but I still have issues with the whole thing.
But that was the latest iteration of Star Trek I’ve watched. I haven’t watched any animated Star Trek. Didn’t even know they existed. I haven’t watched Discovery or Picard and don’t really want to. I said it before and others have said it, too. Star Trek is supposed to be about a hope for a better future.
I agree that TNG sometimes beat us over the head with their message, but the overall feel was still one of hope, that even in the midst of hard things, it can get better.
Okay, I have one question because I seem to be alone on this among my friends. I liked Star Trek: Insurrection. Am I the only one?
Which one was Insurrection? After about Star Trek Five, I start to lose track of the storylines.
As for the Abrams movies, I must be alone in liking those. They were fun and kept to the spirit of the original series. Then again, I’m also the person who can separate the film from the book and still enjoy both so … (In other words I didn’t freak out when Tom Bombadil wasn’t in LotR )
@TeriG - I felt the same way about Kelvin Uhura…I was like “who is THAT supposed to be??” But Kelvin McCoy is so dang good that it balances out.
Discovery has its highs and its lows; it’s worth watching, but I get why people don’t like it. It does, however, in its second season, give us Anson Mount’s Pike and Ethan Peck’s Spock, and that’s leading into the upcoming Strange New Worlds, which is supposedly going to be a lighter, more episodic foray than most recent stuff. I am SUPER psyched for it.
I can take or leave Picard.Lower Decks is a little silly, but it’s fun. You want lighter Trek, here it is!
And hard no on Insurrection. (@LadyShelley - it was Trek #9 and the 3rd TNG era movie) I’m a Final Frontier apologist, and even I disliked Insurrection. CAVEAT: It’s been 15 years since I saw it. I should probably go back and rewatch it. I should just have a ST Movie Marathon!
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