Trekkie Vs. Newbie: Watching ‘Star Trek’ With Baggage
by Frank Martin
One of the unwritten rules of storytelling is that the audience doesn’t experience a story in a vacuum. They carry all of their past baggage into the viewing. This can obviously be personal in terms of life experience and culture, but it could also refer to fandom and nostalgia. Someone entering a well-established franchise is going to have a completely blank slate. This is opposed to a long-time fan who has a huge history of interaction with the universe and its characters. A great example of this is Star Trek. For a long time, Trekkies were considered the die hard fans of the Star Trek fandom. But as the franchise expands on Paramount+, it is being introduced to a whole new set of potential fans who are starting from scratch.
One of the flagship shows on the service’s Star Trek offerings is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds starring Anson Mount. Jumping into the show without any prior knowledge of the Trek timeline, it’s not immediately apparent where this show sits. It’s a prequel, but there really aren’t any indications of that to start. Only viewers with a passing knowledge of the franchise are able to distinguish that. It’s obvious with famous characters like Spock and Kirk. But there are also many hints to the deeper Star Trek mythology within the show, homages and call backs that only Trekkies will recognize.
That’s not to say that people brand new to Star Trek can’t enjoy the series. Quite the opposite. The show is great science fiction, and it is definitely made for a modern audience with modern technology and all the trappings of a premier streaming show. So much so that fans who grew up on Star Trek — many of whom have been Trekkies for decades — may have nostalgia for the franchise that isn’t tickled by this new type of Star Trek. It’s from and for a different generation. They could definitely still like it, but it is a completely different experience coming at something for the first time with no prior knowledge compared to someone who has loved something their whole lives.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is now streaming on Paramount+.
