Our Hopes and Dreams for TV’s Next Trek

There’s a lot of potential in the period just after Deep Space Nine and Voyager, the two most recent series in the timeline (Enterprise being a prequel). The Dominion War has ended, leaving the galaxy at an uneasy peace. When Voyager returned from the Delta Quadrant, the crew brought back all kinds of new technology and left behind new friends and enemies. A number of books (as well as the Star Trek Online game) have explored this period to good effect, with highlights including the Destiny series (the origin of the Borg species that ties into a final, brutal invasion) as well as Kirsten Beyer’s Full Circle books (a fleet of advanced ships returns to the distant Delta Quadrant). I’m sure there would be a temptation for the new series to move away from the complicated history that developed by the end of Trek’s last television run, but setting a show relatively soon after would be as good a means as any of moving forward while honoring what’s already occurred.
Abrams-verse

Love it or hate it (come at me, but I kinda love it), the new Trek movie series that began in 2009 reinvigorated a franchise that had fallen fallow following the mixed reception of Enterprise and the, er, not-universally-loved prior movie Nemesis. Only two movies in, there’s a lot to explore in the alt-universe (not to be confused with the mirror-universe). I can’t imagine the movie crew would trade in motion-picture money for TV, but, as we’ve seen with other Trek-shows, the Enterprise gang isn’t the only crew out there.

Mirror universe

What about that mirror universe? The original series went there first, followed by Deep Space Nine and Enterprise. Even the characters from the current movies are soon to make a visit there in IDW’s spin-off comics. You don’t have to be a huge trekkie to know that goatees are synonymous with evil, and that the mirror universe is an idea that’s stood the test of time. A simple transporter accident or interphasic rift might be all that stands between you and your dark and evil double in a realm where avarice is the supreme virtue and the bad guys (almost) always win. It would be the exact opposite of the sensibility of standard Trek, but it could be a lot of fun. In our first visit way back in 1967 (spoiler?), mirror-Spock eventually comes around to the idea of a better world and pledges to make a go of it. A new show could focus on one crew, or even one character, fighting to bring the mirror world more in line with “our” universe.
Captain Worf

Recently, Michael Dorn has been working to drum up interest in this concept. Essentially, the idea is to have Worf running his own ship in a newly multi-cultural Klingon Empire full of promise for the future, but also danger and intrigue. It sounds like the type of serialized drama that might play perfectly in a modern TV landscape. With the possible exception of the Vulcans, the Klingons have been, by far, the most interesting, best-developed aliens in Trek, and there’s a lot of potential for any concept set in the rough-and-tumble Empire. Plus, it would be the perfect opportunity to pair some fresh gagh with that case of bloodwine you’ve been hoarding.
Far Future

Enterprise introduced the Enterprise-J, a highly advanced ship for the 26th century, at least 200 years after anything we’d seen in Trek before. In that future, time travel is even easier and the Federation is larger than ever, including old enemies the Klingons and the Xindi. Even without being tethered to that possible future, moving things centuries ahead would push the series into all kinds of new directions, and force a thorough rethink of the technology, culture, and storytelling styles we’ve seen to date, even moreso than the Abrams-verse. What would a far-future Trek look like? I can imagine sentient AI with full citizenship, galaxy-hopping, and time travel as common as using the transporter. Science fiction novels have given us all sorts of ideas for far-future concepts; maybe it’s time for Trek to stretch itself beyond anything we’ve seen before.
 What would you like to see in a new show?