No matter how much I love Picard, it’s hard to get over the sequel to an ensemble show w/a diverse cast being about only the white male lead.
All the women & PoC in ST: Picard don’t change that the show is kinda saying, “White men are special; women & PoC are replaceable.”
To be clear, I’m not really critiquing any of the content within the new show… more just the fact that Picard is treated like he’s more important and more worthy of a new show about him than Troi, Geordi, Crusher, Worf… Or literally any women or PoC from previous Trek shows.
I understand better now why it’s so infuriating that we never got Star Trek: Sulu. George Takei
is awesome and deserved his own show.
Star Trek is a wonderful universe, but it’s not without problems. It has consistently lagged behind the times on queer rep, and women—while more equal than in real life—are systematically kept second.
This video is a worthwhile look behind the curtain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeSz2gW8IsE
And yes, that video focuses specifically on Rick Berman and his reign, but you can’t overcome your past without recognizing and reckoning with it.
A brief history of Star Trek…
1966 — white male captain
1987 — white male captain
1993 — black man commander
1995 — white woman captain of broken ship
2001 — white male captain
2017 — black woman main character, stripped of rank
2020 — white male legacy admiral
A brief history of canon gay characters in Star Trek…
1966 — 0
1987 — 0
1993 — 0
1995 — 0
2001 — 0
2017 — 2
Also 2017 — fully half of the canon gay characters in 50 years of Star Trek get killed
Now, since the whole point of this is that I LOVE Star Trek & its diversity, here are some fun ideas for spinoffs centering women & PoC from the Trek universe that would be TOTALLY AWESOME, focusing more on TNG & DS9, since those are my personal faves…
Star Trek: Crusher — an intense sci-fi medical drama
Star Trek: LaForge — respected professor oversees wacky scientist mishaps at the academy
Star Trek: Troi — classic exploration show, centered on having empathy for new, different aliens
Star Trek: Worf — Klingon politics
Star Trek: Riker — actually just ST: Troi, because Riker is a devoted full-time husband and father on Captain Troi’s ship
Star Trek: Keiko — really digs into day to day life as a scientist in Starfleet
Star Trek: Guinan — bar room comedy in space
Star Trek: Ro — spies and political intrigue
Star Trek: Yar — an academy days prequel
Star Trek: Kira — Bajoran political intrigue
Star Trek: Dax — Ezri finds herself faced with a clone of Jadzia, and they become buddies
Star Trek: Sisko — centers on Kasidy, Jake, and Baby Sisko, but Ben (who is still with the prophets) shows up now and again for special episodes
Star Trek: Pulaski — a sci-fi medical drama with a mystery flavor and emphasis on clever diagnosis; her closest friend and colleague is Lal
Star Trek: Lal — full on sci-fi exploration of AI, androids, and photonic lifeforms with LOTS of positive queer representation
Star Trek: Vash — action, adventure, and high stakes archeology
Star Trek: Q — Amanda Rodgers returns to Starfleet and legitimately works her way through the ranks, struggling as she goes with the moral quandaries brought on by her omnipotent powers
Star Trek: Lefler — life lessons aboard a starship, warm and funny, framed by narration that includes constant additions to Robin’s Laws
Star Trek: Lwaxana — totally irreverent comedy about love, sex, & friendship, centered on weekly brunch dates between four older women, including a Betazoid, Klingon, Vulcan, and Andorian; it definitely digs into the four Andorian sexes, and either the Klingon or Vulcan is trans.
Star Trek: K’Ehleyr — prequel about growing up half human and half Klingon on Q’onoS
Star Trek: Sela — spies and military strategy on Romulus
Star Trek: Ishara — follows a resistance cell on Turkana IV, wrestling heavily w/the dark side of the Federation
Star Trek: Odo — a changeling with some of Odo’s memories returns to DS9; she is primarily played by a woman, but also morphs into other actors with varied gender identities; sometimes she splits into multiple selves and is played by several other actors at once.
Star Trek: O’Brien — Molly has followed in her father’s footsteps, becoming a lovable, goofy, miracle-working engineer; she is very close to her brother Kirayoshi
Star Trek: Janeway — the retired admiral runs a manor house boarding school for extremely gifted but troubled children; also lots of dogs
Star Trek: B’Ellana — Torres designs shuttle prototypes; her husband Paris dies tragically test-piloting, & Kim takes over as daredevil pilot
Star Trek: Chakotay — The Sixth World meets Star Trek, written by Rebecca Roanhorse
Star Trek: Tuvok — logical forensics; high stakes crimes and murder mysteries solved with the help of cool Vulcan logic and mind melds
Star Trek: Seven — the former Borg drone helps other survivors adapt to life in the Federation without implants and the hive; focus on politics, found family, and a will they/won’t they? romance with a former Borg queen