Liberals In Space, Very Stable Genius Edition

Aokie Chie, "BODY 09-1 'Impact', lacquer and hemp cloth on polystyrene foam, 2009. MIA, Minneapolis.

The Star Trek franchise offers a profoundly hopeful view of the future, one in which people of different races and species coexist and technology helps them to live healthier and productive lives. This view, you might have noticed, is not very popular these days.

Several years ago on this blog, I wrote at length about the "Liberals in Space!" theory of Star Trek, in which the franchise can be seen as a reflection of postwar American liberalism. The original series is JFK in space, "The Next Generation" is an identity politics-focused Star Trek for the late 20th Century. "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager" dealt allegorically with the struggles of a global economy. "Enterprise" was meant for a post-9/11 America that was waking up to the fact that the rest of the world doesn't necessarily want to live the way Americans do.

More than a decade after "Enterprise" went off the air, American politics is in a very scary place, and the ideals that we once imagined we would take with us into the far reaches of the galaxy now look like they're in danger of extinction. (Well, at least we sent a sportscar into space, right?)

So, what would a Star Trek series look like in our current political environment? We found out with "Star Trek: Discovery," which just ended its first season on CBS All Access. After grumbling for months about shelling out for yet another streaming service, I finally gave in and subscribed to watch it, and got hooked.

Star Trek Meets Game of Thrones

In all the TV series, each episode is some variation on how Captain Kirk/Picard/Sisko/Janeway/Archer uses his or her ingenuity to get the crew out of this week's dilemma. The different iterations of the show tweak the formula here and there, but that basic premise is more or less constant. To be honest, it was so constant that it was getting stale. 

I didn't love everything about "Discovery," but Star Trek needed something new, and I'm glad "Discovery" provides it. At times the show is so dark and full of twists and double-crosses that it seems like the original pitch was "Star Trek meets Game of Thrones." This represents a welcome change, but I'm glad that "Discovery" remains, at heart, a hopeful story about staying true to your ideals even in circumstances where doing so is extremely difficult. We need some hope right now.

SPOILERS BELOW: 

Setting The Theme

"Discovery" begins with a mission by Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), captain and first officer of the Federation Starship Shenzou. The pair are on the arid surface of a planet, seeking to use their weapons to open a well so that the hidden and apparently primitive inhabitants don't die of thirst. While there, Captain Georgiou talks to Burnham about recommending her to Starfleet for a promotion to command her own ship. As they prepare to transport back to the Shenzou, we see that the captain has deliberately mapped their walking path in the shape of the Starfleet's emblem, like a jogger planning his run to draw a funny picture on his FitBit map. It's a reminder for everyone watching that we are in a story that is going to work within the framework of Starfleet values.

It's all very Star Trek. And, yes, before you say anything: the captain is an Asian woman and the first officer is a Black woman who was raised on Vulcan (by Spock's parents!) and that is very Star Trek too. It's very well done, but as an opening set piece, it's not that different from those cheesy opening segments to the 1980s Star Trek films where Kirk, Spock and Bones would go camping or something.

However, soon enough "Discovery" takes a dark turn, and then another, and then another, and the turns just get more and more bonkers with every new episode. When the Shenzou comes into conflict with the Klingons, Burnham becomes convinced that the only way to survive is to do the very un-Starfleet thing and shoot first. In the process, she ends up becoming a mutineer and accidentally starting a war.

I'm not going to try to summarize all the action, but the entire season, in different ways, explores the conflict Burnham experiences in the first two episodes.

En route to a prison colony, Burnham is brought onboard the Discovery by the darkly enigmatic Captain Lorca, who has transformed a scientific mission into a warship, and who tends to ignore Starfleet ideals when they interfere with his military objectives.

Later in the season, the Discovery travels to a parallel universe where, instead of an Earth-based Starfleet, there is a brutal, racist, fascistic Terran Empire set on subjugating the other peoples of the galaxy. In that universe, there are evil counterparts to most of the main characters from our world and ... to be honest, I kind of hate the sci-fi plot device of parallel universe where all the characters exist as evil doppelgangers  (I'm not so keen on time travel, either) but it really drives home the theme Burnham explores: What are we without our ideals?

When They Go Low, We Go High

Like the premiere, the season finale episode also centers on (Terran) Georgiou dropping an explosive down a well -- this time in an attempt to destroy a planet instead of saving it. When Burnham finds out what's going on, she threatens mutiny again, but this time in order to uphold Starfleet principles instead of just to defeat an enemy.

Looked at one way, Burnham's story is an exaggerated, Star Trekified take on Michelle Obama's principle: "When they go low, we go high." That was and is a tremendously popular saying, but after the disastrous 2016 elections, many on the left began to see its limitations. Some started to question whether the liberal ideal of fair play is an encumbrance when the government is controlled by Republicans who have no qualms about breaking the rules when it suits their purposes. No doubt that debate is going to continue, but "Discovery" makes a good case for sticking to one's beliefs.

Stray Thoughts

We know Klingons as the Cold War antagonists from the original series and the uneasy allies of the later series. "Discovery" focuses on a messianic cult among Klingons who seek to reunite their species' fractured empire. Early on in the series, the cult leader warns his followers of the dangers of invaders who say, "We come in peace." One of his slogans exhorts his followers to "remain Klingon." This pathological fear of cultural change is familiar in our world.

The title sequence of "Discovery" is excellent. Rather than the spaceship-and-nebulae montages of the first few series, and thankfully eschewing the rock balladry of the "Enterprise" opening, "Discovery" opens with an animated sequence showing some familiar images of the Star Trek universe: the Vulcan salute, the phaser, etc. The music is a beautiful symphonic work that calls to mind the "Game of Thrones" title sequence, at least until it breaks into the familiar melody from the original series. In the season finale, the closing credits ran with a version of the jaunty tune that ran over the ending credits on the original series. When I heard it, I laughed out loud.