This episode would be perfect for a modern message. Captain accidentally starts falling for an AI? Doctor encouraging her to continue because it’s a release since she can’t have a relationship with a subordinate because it’d be improper.
Perfect moral dilemmas for our modern day.
But what does nutrek give us? Retread morality you can find in a kids picture book. And that’s BEST CASE. More common to find action or relationship drama.
I’m ready for Trek that’s willing to make us question ourselves for what’s right and wrong.
The biggest reason why Trek from the 1960s and the 1990s still feels so timeless besides the limited production value (and besides the sad reality that we still haven’t gotten past any of the lessons it tried to teach us) is that the characters were our betters.
Those characters were still humans, still dealing with problems, still making mistakes, but the product of having grown past our biggest issues and drawbacks. Watching 23rd and 24th century humans help other species deal with 20th century problems was and still is inspiring to us.
Star Trek for the last decade or so has had the same Trek trappings, but depicts present-day characters. People who feel like they were taken from our Earth and dropped into the Star Trek Utopia*. Often times with the same baggage and trauma and addictions that we have.
So we just see these present-day people with our same hang ups (excessive smoking, drinking, gambling, retreating into their own depression, rejecting help from others) telling (rather than showing) other people how to handle morality issues with cheat-code technology and infinite money. It feels hollow.