[-] OpticalData@startrek.website 4 points 9 months ago

I did a tweet which shows a few of the options. But anything Nanoleaf can do, I can do here. Including custom set ups

[-] OpticalData@startrek.website 8 points 9 months ago

Yes.

The great thing about the acrylic top layer is that if I want too, I can use whiteboard markers

[-] OpticalData@startrek.website 8 points 9 months ago

It's by Suricata! He has some MSDs on deviantart and did some lcars for STO. This is his latest Voyager one which he was kind enough to share

[-] OpticalData@startrek.website 9 points 9 months ago

The nanoleaf was mostly because I had them in a cupboard and thought this would be a fun use, but I already have designed on a V2 with better lighting and accurate static borders

[-] OpticalData@startrek.website 9 points 9 months ago

It's a Herman Miller given to me by my work.

I picked the colour for the Excelsior vibes it gave me

196

It took over a year of getting all the parts together and is back lit my nanoleaf panels (hence the lines and gaps at the edge). A worthy trade off for the fun effects!

[-] OpticalData@startrek.website 31 points 1 year ago

This may be Lower Decks finest penultimate episode yet. I definitely feels at this point like McMahan has a five season plan. At least for the OG Lower Deckers.

Definitely an episode that plays the emotional fiddle for TNG fans with the Sito reveal as well. Currently weighing up whether to get my partner to watch First Duty and Lower Decks before we watch it together later.

Laughed out loud at the Endor Moon base inexplicably being on this random insane weather planet.

Great to have Robbie McDunc back as Locarno as well. If nothing else this may finally kill the urban myth that they didn't use Locarno in Voyager due to royalties once and for all. I can but only hope.

I also like that they've let Freeman come into her own as a Captain more than previous this season. She's really demonstrating not just top tier tactics and diplomacy but also actually clearly keeping tabs on her crew and addressing out of character behaviour. With that said, Rutherford felt included just for an excuse to follow Freeman which was a shame.

Billups as the masked pilot surprised me. I expected it to be Locarno.

The fake out Balok puppet had be howling.

53

Arrived this morning, an absolutely superb figure and likeness

29

A fan art sketch that I've been working on the past few days.

Voyager's are like busses, you don't get any for 20 years and then you get almost one a year (on average)!

117
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by OpticalData@startrek.website to c/startrek@startrek.website

##"Where should I start?"

At the time of writing, there are 11 Star Trek shows (3 actively running) and 13 movies with a further show and a movie 'special event' in development.

With that in mind, it's no wonder that people come to this subreddit on a regular basis to ask where should I start?

This page is intended to be a spoiler free, quick start guide for people starting their journey through the Star Trek franchise.

We hope you find it useful, and please do contribute to the subreddit with your questions as you take your own journey; just be warned that you may see the odd spoiler.

LLAP,

StarTrek moderation team


What is canon? What can I skip?

The broad rule for the Star Trek franchise is that it's canon if it appears on screen though this still has its exceptions, maybe.

Instead of telling you what you can and can't skip in an unwieldy list, we'll start with a quick rundown of the shows in the Trek 'canon', the initialisms you'll see over the subreddit to refer to them, how many seasons they have and when they aired:

Series Initialism Seasons Air Dates Quality Why you could start here
Star Trek (Those Old Scientists) TOS 3 1966–1969 HD 4:3 It was the start of the franchise, had a comprehensive remaster in the 00s which added updated effects
The Animated Series TAS 2 1973–1974 HD 4:3 You enjoy old animation
Movies I - VI TMP 2 1979–1991 HD/4K 16:9 Movies that are aimed at a wider audience than the shows, have higher budgets and give you a look at the TOS characters without quite so many cardboard sets
The Next Generation TNG 7 1987–1994 HD 4:3 The first of the, heh, Next Generation of shows. Stars recognizable names such as Patrick Stewart and many iconic episodes. Also has had an extensive remaster.
Movies VII - X GEN/FC/INS/NEM 2 1994–2002 HD 16:9 Movies that are aimed at a wider audience than the shows, have higher budgets
Deep Space Nine DS9 7 1993–1999 SD 4:3 Trek's first real foray into serialized narratives in the later seasons, widely regarded as having aged extremely well. Features Trek's first Black Captain.
Voyager VOY 7 1995–2001 SD 4:3 Episodic and relatively standalone, features Trek's first female Captain
Enterprise ENT 4 2001–2005 HD 16:9 The last of the 'Berman' (showrunner) era of shows, first of the Trek shows to be filmed in Widescreen, set before TOS.
Movies XI - XIII O9/ID/BEYOND 2 2009–2016(?) 4K 16:9 Features a branch of the 'prime' timeline. A great way to introduce you to the concepts of Trek through a more modern lens.
Discovery DSC 4 2017-Present HD 16:9 The first of the 'new,nu or Kurtzman' era of Star Trek, requires no prior knowledge to jump in and features serialized storytelling.
Picard PIC 2 2020-Present HD 16:9 Picks up 20 years after Nemesis, contains spoilers for TNG and VOY but can stand on it's own
Lower Decks LD 2 2020-Present HD 16:9 Animated comedy/love letter to Trek, chock full of references to the other shows that you may miss as a first time viewer, but that just gives you a reason to rewatch it later.
Prodigy PRO 1 2021-Present HD 16:9 CG animated show targetted towards children, contains VOY spoilers, a great place to start if you have a young family.
Strange New Worlds SNW 1 2022-Present HD 16:9 Star Trek returns to live action episodic television, contains DSC spoilers but largely stands on it's own as a 'new' TOS.

Now we have that out of the way, here are a few suggestions:


##The "production" order.

If you're committed to watching everything eventually, and want to do it the "right" way, we recommend the following:

TOS^^1 → TAS → Films (1-6) → TNGGenerations (Film 7) → DS9First Contact (Film 8) → VOY → Films 9-10^^2 → ENT → Films 11-13^^3 → DSCPICLDPROSNW

^1 It's often recommended to skip "The Cage" on your initial watch-through. It was an unaired pilot and most of the footage was recycled into the two-parter "The Menagerie" (watch it later for the novelty, though!).

^2 The Movies 7, 8, 9 and 10 feature the TNG cast, and can be watched anytime after TNG without spoiling anything from DS9, Nemesis however contains a Voyager spoiler.

^3 Films 11-13 The "Kelvin Timeline" Films take place in an alternate timeline and can be watched anytime; however, there are a lot of references and easter eggs to the prime timeline.

Late TNG and early DS9 (as well as late DS9 and early VOY) were on the air at the same time, (an episode from each came out each week). Consequently, their story lines take place at the same time. If you want to watch it in the order it was aired on TV then this list is for you. It should be noted that nothing is lost/gained by watching each series one at a time in the order above due to the nature of 90s syndicated television.


Other popular suggestions

If you're not super keen on older television shows, or you're looking for a way to hook a significant other, there are several other approaches that come up.

Start with TNG

TNGDS9VOY → Films 8-10 → ENTTOSTAS → Films (1-7) → Films 11-13 → DSCPIC

This method is for those that think (or have found) that they struggle with the production value of TOS, ease yourself in with something a bit more modern and then go back to the start once you've developed a ~~lifelong obsession with~ fondness for the universe.

The Next Generation was the start of the Berman era of Star Trek in the late 80's (despite Star Treks creator Gene Roddenberry having the reigns for the first couple of seasons). It had much higher production values than The Original Series, and it set the tone and style for the following three shows. While TOS is mentioned, referenced, and characters from it even appear, this won't affect your enjoyment of those episodes because of how ubiquitous TOS characters are throughout pop culture. You'll definitely come to appreciate those episodes a little more after watching TOS though.

Start with a more modern show

This usually means starting with either ENT, DSC or SNW. This method is for those that really don't like older, slower-paced TV shows, or find black bars on the side of the screen a barrier to enjoyment. ENT has good effects and more modern pacing (along with less reused stock footage of the ship for the ship lovers out there). DSC ties in a fair amount with TOS- but can be safely watched before it without missing out on or spoiling anything big.

Enterprise takes place chronologically before all other series. It references a lot of things from the other series though, and for maximum enjoyment should be watched after. But if you (or whomever you're trying to turn into a Trekkie) has a hard time getting into older series, this is a good way to get started. Many a Trekkie was created with this method.

NOTE: Picard is also a "modern" series, and while it can be enjoyed on it's own, there are considerable references/callbacks to the older series, including several main characters. So it's usually recommended to at least be familiar with TNG first.

Child Friendly

Star Trek contains a fair amount of adult themes and content, especially the newer shows with their higher production budgets and lack of television broadcast restrictions. Your parental boundaries may be different from ours, so to be safe; we recommend watching any live-action show episodes yourself before watching them as a family (despite TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT being marketed as family-friendly).

You can, however, safely watch Star Trek Prodigy with your family. It's specifically aimed at a younger audience (but is enjoyable for adults as well)!

Chronological order or Air Date

ENTDSCSNWTOSTASTNGDS9TNGDS9TNGDS9TNGDS9...

Did you watch Star Trek during it's original run and aren't worried about being spoiled, but don't really remember everything?

[-] OpticalData@startrek.website 37 points 1 year ago

The allegory was trans people. Hence all the talk of needing to 'pass' to be accepted and the wonderful lil touch of Unas child cast being the colours of the Trans flag

[-] OpticalData@startrek.website 8 points 1 year ago

I feel like the 'boring' rush from sequence to sequence is happening a lot in media right now. I remember feeling the same during a couple of episodes of the last season on Mando.

Almost like paying and rewarding writers properly, so you get their best work is important.

Best I can put it down too is that they're keen to make the characters seem strong and powerful, but they forget to set up proper flaws, tension and stakes/the ones that used to exist have been ruined by now over a decade of magic resurrection macguffins whenever somebody dies in popular media that fans like.

As sub par as TNG Season 1 was, and regardless of the toxic behind the scenes environment that led to it, we can't deny that them killing off a principle character was a bold move than really set the stakes that anybody could die and that it wouldn't always be in a blaze of glory.

[-] OpticalData@startrek.website 8 points 1 year ago

There's been a fan theory for a while that the reason for Discovery's really long nacelles was that the ship (and Glenn) were specially modified for the spore drive experiments.

This episode would seem to reinforce that.

Also interestingly the saucer seems to be the one from the original (substandard) CG teaser Discovery saucer, rather than the final show version.

[-] OpticalData@startrek.website 4 points 1 year ago

C'mon Fair Haven gave us the line 'Delete the wife', it deserves awards for that alone

[-] OpticalData@startrek.website 8 points 1 year ago

A feel like that Ronald D. Moore rant that came out after he left the show really damaged the perception of the show in many fan circles. This damage getting even worse when Moore went on to create BSG which is some spectacular television.

Many of the continuity/'reset button' complaints seem to stem from it and today even Moore admits that he was being unreasonably harsh on the show. His issue was with Brannon Braga and his own problems taking instruction/being led by somebody he's had creative clashes with who used to just be a colleague.

But Voyager could not and never would be BSG. The Federation is far more advanced than the colonies were as a prime sticking point. Are we really going to see the ship get damage over the course of the series as though replicators aren't onboard?

Did Voyager play it safe in some areas? Sure. But it was a network tent pole for UPN. Much of the aspects of DS9 that people love wouldn't exist without Voyager being the 'star' at the time at taking the networks attention. Not to mention that DS9 was as bad for, if not worse at reset buttons - remember that pylon that got blown up and was just fine the next ep? Remember how they blew up the Defiant and just went 'lol here's a new one with different carpet' for the finale?

That was just the reality of TV at the time. CG got significantly cheaper in the years after they both went off air - as evidenced even within Trek with the persistent damage in Enterprises third season.

I'm also really glad that you mentioned Seven and how brave they were with a number of those stories. There was clearly network pressure for 'T&A' and they could have gone the very easy (TNG) route of having a character in a skin tight outfit that rotates through love interest and sexual assault plots for focus episodes but otherwise just stands around stating the obvious (Sorry Troi), instead they introduced an attractive character in a catsuit and immediately made her but heads with the Captain, run around like a maverick and in the process gave us one of Treks very best character development arcs (somewhat at the expense of other members of the cast mind).

We also have to remember that they wanted (and needed due to VHS recorders being unreliable at best) a show where you could kiss a few episodes but still tune in and have a good time. I think, perhaps better than any other Trek Voyager succeeded in its aims in this regard.

14

I will assume we're all familiar with one of the popular gripes/issues with Voyager and no, for once - it's not a Tuvix thread.

Today we're defending the torpedo/shuttle count.

In many of the discussions on this topic (especially regarding the torpedoes) key context is often ignored or otherwise not mentioned.

So let's start with said Torpedoes.

The line about Voyager not being able to replace their 38 (of a total 123 fired over the series) torpedoes once they're gone was in 'The Cloud', the fifth episode of the series.

At this point in the series Janeway was (as established in the conversation about Torres' Starfleet procedure breaching dilithium refinery in the previous episode) reluctant to step outside of Starfleet procedures. Especially I would imagine for the purposes of replicating antimatter based weaponry for obvious explosion related reasons.

Voyager was also hesitant to trade technology at this stage, a policy that clearly was relaxed as the truly dire reality of their situation was realised - evidenced by them giving holo technology to the Hirogen amongst various other trades (successful, or attempted as was the case with the Malon).

From Voyager's perspective at this stage also the major races they had encountered in the Delta Quadrant were either primative, or wanted to steal organs. Neither making for great allies. Janeway was likely also conscious that they could stumble into borg space at any moment and so would want to conserve their munitions as much as possible.

We see a number of 'Voyager trades with people' episodes as the show goes on and the most relevant one here is the (otherwise shameful) episode Retrospect where Voyager is seen actively trading and shopping for weapons.

With this context, it's easy to see how the torpedoes ended up being replenished despite the line in episode 5. They traded for the raw materials or components and built them.

As for shuttles, they literally built the Delta Flyer - a highly experimental Tom Paris napkin scribble of a design within a week. Then blew it up and built it again with even more experimental technology.

They clearly had a lot of practice (re) building shuttles by season 5 to pull that off!

view more: next ›

OpticalData

joined 1 year ago
MODERATOR OF