Poll of the Week: Most Controversial Series (besides Discovery)?

[Randal Shayne]

Love it or hate it, you can’t deny that Star Trek: Discovery has been enormously polarizing, both for critics and the dedicated fanbase. The controversy stems from almost every part of Discovery itself; the appearance, the story, the characters, and much more. For all the debate it creates, Discovery is hardly the first Star Trek series to stimulate some level of discord. The Original Series was the first of its kind, both in story style and in presentation. The racial equality, ethical musing and divisive political perspectives presented made it a bold and, in some cases, threatening television show. The Animated Series generally featured decent stories, but the animation itself was a turnoff for some of the audience. The Next Generation was greeted with disgust and apprehension from many old school fans, who couldn’t believe that it would match the original. Deep Space Nine’s grungier, darker tone bucked the utopian staple that Star Trek so firmly clutched. Voyager and Enterprise are both loved and hated by various fans, mostly for the content and direction of their stories.

This week’s poll asks you to pick the series you thought was most controversial. Give us your vote, and let us know your thoughts in the comments section!

[+ Rune Jolara]

It's a toss up between DS9, Voyager and Enterprise. Though I voted DS9 because it was so different. Truthfully, it's impossible to make everyone happy and some criticize them just for the sake of criticizing. I happen to love all of them barring the fact TOS is so cheesy by today's standards it's difficult to re-watch any of it. I have actually never watched the animated series or if I did I've blocked it totally from memory. 

[Rahman and Rivi Vataix]

I went with Enterprise because out of the pre-Discovery spin offs, it was the one that still had controversy over its legitimacy as part of the Trek canon. As much as some people might have disliked Voyager or DS9, I don’t think either show’s place as part of the same universe as TNG and TOS were similarly questioned. That said, in terms of ideas introduced to the franchise, then I’d say DS9 hands down thanks to things like Section 31, In the Pale Moonlight, that Starfleet coup attempt, that one time they considered making all of the series just a dream of a 50s scifi writer, the Dominion War, the introduction of Starfleet’s first pure warship, that time Sisko poisoned an entire planet’s ecosystem to catch one guy, that episode where we find out that Starfleet Medical and Starfleet Command sanctioned genocide, that time when...

[Blaidd Vescori]

For me it is Enterprise - and for similar reasons as Discovery: Doing good prequels is no easy feat. You will always have to tangle with canon history, the acceptance (or lack thereof) in regards to updated visuals that might clash with prior works and the temptation of using established characters and concepts that simply shouldn't be tied to the new work for various reasons.

 

Back when Enterprise started I still had hope that they would use the 'prequel'-situation for some serious storytelling in terms of giving us a front seat for the whole 'birth of the federation' thing. However, I quickly felt cheated by the elements of that which actually made it into the show. A lot of what happened didn't necessarily require for Enterprise to be a prequel - and in many regards they ignored or quickly abandoned interesting concepts and challenges. The transporter, that the captain initially wouldn't use on his dog was pretty much the go-to option about five episodes in. Warp Engines and Weapons felt very 'samey' to their modern counterparts, just with a lower version number. The grappler as an alternative to the tractor beam was perhaps the most iconic difference and to me it still felt underused.

Star Trek is to me a vision of a better tomorrow. Something we aspire to achieve. Which is why I want new journeys and adventures to play out in the future, so that the story goes on and we can push some more boundaries, challenge what we considered to be the limit. I approve of exploring past events with flashback episodes every now and then, but as a whole I don't want to go backwards, I want to boldly move forward.

[T'Gan O'Sullivan]

I answered the Animated Series, primarily because, except for the episode Yesteryear, the whole series was declared non-canon by Gene Roddenberry. 

[CoryCodeRed]

I'm surprised Voyager has 0 votes (at time of my vote anyway) considering the whole issue some people had that floated around a while about the 'Black Vulcan'.