It's been a quiet year for Star Trek series: we had one season of Strange New Worlds, and that's it.
A "season" isn't what it used to be, though. In the age of streaming, a season is only 10–22 episodes, not the 22 episodes we'd enjoy on broadcast television. As a result, five seasons of the half-hour show Lower Decks was the equivalent amount of airtime as only one season of The Next Generation. That means that no single course is committed to for very long — presenting constant opportunities for Star Trek to check its navigation.
Even after sixty years, the Star Trek franchise is still maturing: like the rest of us, each year we try different things to see what sticks, then we do more of that, setting aside distractions. Sometimes, we have to say "no" to things we want to do but simply can't, due to limited time, money, and spoons.
Star Trek: Picard was largely a miss, yet it set up a wonderful spinoff featuring Seven, Raffi, and Jack — a spinoff we'll likely never see. Discovery gave us Strange New Worlds, perhaps the silliest Trek of them all, of which we'll get only 4.5 seasons — though it may lead to a TOS reboot. Trek recently veered into an entirely new medium with the Khan podcast. Starfleet Academy debuts next month, the first original series to debut in the 32nd century. A new movie is in the works, officially putting the nail in the Kelvin Universe's coffin — whereas this year's god-awful Section 31 movie may have killed any future hopes for made-for-streaming movies.
Star Trek is healthy, but also in a state of flux, deciding what it wants to be and for whom. I can empathize: after six years of nomading and thirteen years as a project manager, I can find it challenging to distinguish between being in a groove and being in a rut. How do we define success? Longevity, variety, financial returns, performer satisfaction? Do we do something again, only better next time — or do we pivot to something new and exciting?
By portraying a hopeful future — something we desperately need, but which seems so far away now — Star Trek has always served as a beacon of hope, something to strive for. But as each series and each year ends, it's also an opportunity to look backward — to decide what worked and what didn't, both for our entertainment and for ourselves. Star Trek inspires us to evolve, which the franchise is now doing in its metafictional way: by constantly reinventing itself and exploring its own boundaries. We should all be so willing to go outside our comfort zones, to occasionally fail, and to never let the occasional course correction stop us from going boldly going.
Until we next find each other among the stars, I wish you all a happy holodeck holiday.