Lower Decks is the best Trek anything they've made since the 90s. I haven't watched Strange New Worlds but i hear it's okay. Picard was fucking terrible. Discovery had the same writers so probably also not good.

I am once again telling people to watch Star Trek: Prodigy. A group of alien kids held as prisoners on a mining world steal a Starfleet ship from their captor and learn about Starfleet as they work to return the ship to Earth.

It hits all the notes of gorgeous animated space adventures, introduces fun new characters who learn about the Trek galaxy at the same time as the audience, and handles legacy characters extremely well. It's also a quasi-sequel series to Voyager so you'll see characters like Janeway and Chakotay (who is actually written well this time) but it's a great introductory series since the focus is on the new crew.

Paramount pulled it from streaming last year but Netflix picked it up while the rest of the franchise is trapped in the burning house of Paramount+.

Fwiw I find value in all the new shows and think they each have something fun or interesting to offer if you're willing to give it a chance.

Lower Decks is okay. Picard is like the fantasy of an old man dying in a nursing home, who wishes he could just see is friends one more time.

As far as Discovery and Picard goes, the writers commit some absolutely hideous crimes with regards to not just the canon but the entire philosophy and moral foundation behind 90s leftism Trekism.

First understand the bad influences from some of TNG and DS9. We can go back to DS9 and how TNG fans thought that was too dark for Gene's vision too, which is also true.

This is worth an essay of its own but DS9 managed to tackle some topics from a much more realistic and materialist basis than TNG managed to achieve. If you see how TNG is about enjoying the utopia while DS9 is about Actualy Existing Utopia. If you want to be realy edgy you can make some comparison between the struggles of AES and the ideals behind the communist revolution.

Sadly the hack team of writers took these worst parts as inspiration. From completely misunderstanding(reality more like just appropriating it because they're fraud hacks) the purpose of Section 31, to trivializing the use of violence by the crew to solve problems and worst of all, to casually displaying this violence on screen for shock value only.

So bringing this back to Discovery here is the mini-review of just some of their faults, specificaly S1-2, S3 I only watched RLM review and S4 nobody cares because they did what they should've done(an actual reboot in the future not a prequel):

#1- A main character mutiny on the first episode. This isn't Data telling Worf to suck it up I'm your boss now(One of the best scenes in Trek's history) but literaly the person we're first introduced to trying to impose her own rightous views over the Captain. Yes Trek captain is supposed ot be THE hero, the MC. We get decades worth of nerd debates between who is better Trek captain and on STD S1 premiere we have a nobody officer, who we're supposed to like, subverting this expectation. This comes in the wake of nuTrek trying to become more like Star Wars.

#2 STD S1-2 in general lacked a strong captain. Lorca was a decent character as a villain, but the series puts the role of Data/Worf/Geordi all into MB. I hate when chuds said MB was basicaly Jesus, but realisticaly, she was a Mary Sue in the worst sense. Yes we get the introduction of Pike and he becomes a good character. But anyone can see he isn't the MC, he isn't actualy in command except operationaly(the command ritual), in reality S2 is about MB just as S1.

#3-The gratuitous use of extreme violence. Of course TNG movies and some of DS9 shares the blame too, afterall crew gets captured and tortured is a Trek trope. But given the episodic nature these events are disconnected and regarded as one off moments, they're not a major plot point or a distinctive narrative point of a whole season. Yes Chain of Command is about torture, but it is obvious how they handle the topic completely differently.

In chain of command Picard's torture is a complex part of the mental game between himself and the villain. The villain for his part doesn't do it just for pleasure either and the audience doesn't get to see the most extreme moments. Better yet, the final message is about Picard's eventual mental victory as a survivor. I wont review the episode here, you can find these elsewhere, but there is a reason CoC is one of TNG's best episode.

Compare this to the extreme violence and torture in STD and Picard and you can very clearly see these elements are used as nothing but shock value for a modern audience that is already numb to violence on TV. You can maybe excuse and say this isn't that much of a shock to your average Netflix viewer. But it certainly should be for the 90's Trek nerd refusing to move on from 30 years ago.

Finaly some YT links to bring the point home

Obligatory

Leonard Nimoy Explains What is Wrong with Star Trek Discovery

RLM Star Trek Discovery Season 2 In a Nutshell

RLM Star Trek Discovery Season 2 - re:View

Bonus

Eye Torture Fetish in Star Trek Discovery / Picard / Lower Decks Compilation

The Difference between TNG and Star Trek Discovery / Short Trek

Michael Burnham is Space Jesus . Star Trek Discovery Compilation

Michael Burnham is The Best at Everything (Part 1)

Lower decks good, I skipped the rest

Lower Decks was excellent.

So was Prodigy, but treat it like a miniseries or you'll be disappointed at how short it is.

The Orville

Discovery and Picard suck, SNW is more like old trek but its best plots to the point I watched were either ripped from old star trek episodes or stolen from sci fi authors

SNW is good, but lacks its own identity. It can get pretty derivative, especially the first season. Like they'll just lift plots from TOS, then retcon a whole species and make it an Alien clone, then they'll slap a Trek skin over an Ursula K Le Guin short story, then they'll do the Buffy musical episode. Some of the character work is good though. Mbenga had a hell of an episode in season 2.

Orville is ok generic Trek but really uneven. The show starts really cringe, but the Isaac arc is genuinely great. Isaac is generic Data but more robotic, and harder to understand, so a little more scary... and they play with that. The Moclans are generic Klingons, but their plots feel extremely TNG. The biggest problem with the show is Captain Seth McFarlane who drags down every episode he's in. He's written as a sympathetic sexpest, it's just afwul. Whenever you get an episode about him, he's just begging to be back with his ex and being pathetic.

People like Lower Decks, but I find it to be shouty and obnoxious. The latest season was better. But it also leans heavily into "remember this reference" jokes, which a lot of people like because at least it's aware of source material, but just comes across as cheap nostalgia bait to me.

Disco is terrible. I truly wanted to like it. Every season I'd be hyped for the season's plot arc, then they ALWAYS screwed it up.

Picard is unwatchable, imo. People say it redeems itself in season 3, but I won't be baited again.

Strange New Worlds is pretty redeeming as far as New Trek goes. I feel like it's still missing something that the classics had, but it's still so much better than Discovery

I enjoyed Lower Decks. Picard was like wannabe Firefly. Discovery was gritty doomer, kinda. I wandered off after the second or third season and never made my way back. Never watched SNW.

Don't sleep on The Orwell.

Lower Decks is great a real love letter to the TNG era. SNW is ok bit too prequely at times but has a great cast and good enough plots.

Prodigy is actually one of the better ones if you can accept the youth focus angle.

Lower Decks is great and SNW is classico style trek and is also good. Disco is very up and down and Picard just fucking sucks, haven't seen any episode of Prodigy but have heard it's really good

There are now more good New Trek shows than bad. Discovery and Picard are bad, but Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, and Prodigy are all good. Plus, The Orville is honorary New Trek and it's good too.

To counter the popular opinion (nuTrek is garbage), Jessie Gender often posts about how newer Star Trek shows are pretty good and worthy sequels (and often exceed some older ones too). I don’t always agree with her, but I respect her Star Trek knowledge and opinions.

Here are some videos on specific shows. I opted for the most recent video I could find, unless it covered only a specific latter season:

Star Trek Discovery is Exactly What the Franchise Needed

Star Trek Prodigy Season 1 Review - Trek's Best First Season?

Star Trek Lower Decks is a Must Watch (Even For Non-Trekkies)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S1 - An Unhinged Critique

A trip of slightly older videos that are broader in scope -

A Critique of Modern Star Trek - By A Fan

Why Modern Star Trek Is Actually Great

A Message To Modern Star Trek Haters

And some general Star Trek videos by her that are great:

A Complete (& Unhinged) Guide to Watching Star Trek

Star Trek Explained (As Simply As Possible)

Fox News Doesn't Understand Star Trek

When Did Star Trek Get Woke?

Sex in Star Trek: Exploring Gene Roddenberry's Sexual Frontier

Why Spock’s Sexuality is so Dang Controversial (SEX IN STAR TREK BONUS)

Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Sexual Retrospective

Star Trek Doesn't Understand Eugenics

And some interviews she’s had with people making Star Trek:

Talking With Star Trek Picard USS Enterprise-F Starship Designer

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Producer on Ursula K. LeGuin, Radical Empathy & Writing

Chatting With Jack Quaid - The Boys, Star Trek Lower Decks

I Interviewed "Star Trek: Lower Decks" Creator Mike McMahan!

Making Star Trek Music with Lower Decks Composer Chris Westlake

A Chat with Star Trek's First Nonbinary Writer Alex White

SNW is a weird one. A really good cast and aesthetically gorgeous, a good mix of old Trek designs with what modern CGI and setbuilding can do

However it's also weirdly trying to be P r e s t i g e T V at the same time. The very first episode is all about how the captain is mopey and considers themselves unworthy of command because he saw a vision of his own death. It legitimately seems like every character they have has some kind of tragic or dark backstory, and all of it feel wildly out of place

Also the first episode shows us Spock about to get laid. Still not sure how to feel about that

It all sucks. It’s not even “prestige” it’s shitty action schlock. Nothing good has come from Trek since JJ turned it into Star Wars Lite

Lower Decks took 1/2 a season to find its vibe.

Which is a workspace comedy. But everyone wants to be there.

Strange New World is a prestige TV show, at it’s best it gives hope for the future.

No.

Star Trek is a pulp show from the 60s which is fun to watch. TNG is an iconic show and now classic nothing really needs to be said about on this kind of thread. DS9 subverted the optimism and introduced an episodic drama and was a good ending to the era. Voyager is understood to be best as pop Trek that scratched the itch for the time and kind of fell apart.

Nothing else will ever be worth while from the property and all that remains is just un-creative vultures attached to a "franchise" handing out trek themed slop on a corporate project managers schedule. It exists solely to engage the nostalgia segments of your brain and will do nothing to enrich your life. Picard won't even entertain you.

As someone who has only seen TNG and part of TOS, here’s what I’ve heard about new trek shows. Take this all with a grain of salt because I haven’t actually watched any of these:

• Discovery: Has some prestige TV characteristics. Chuds get angry about it because there’s a lot of LGBT and POC representation, and the characters talk about their feelings a lot. Gets better after the first 1-2 seasons (like many of the TNG-era shows). I bet this one is better than thinks it is.
• Picard: People generally don’t like this one. This show’s production apparently got all messed up from COVID lockdown. Patrick Stewart had perhaps too much creative input into Picard’s character. Sometimes the show gets dark and edgy. Some people really like the nostalgia fanservice in season three. Ah well, I’m still looking forward to watching the series because Q (my beloved) is in season 2, and I’ve heard he’s good in it. And I think I heard that a popular lesbian ship from Voyager becomes canon.
• Strange New Worlds: Lots of people like this one. Apparently it stays truest to the vibe of classic trek. People like it for its optimism and sexy, sexy actors. It’s the newest, so there’s not too much to say about it yet.
• Lower Decks: I think I’m looking forward to this one the most. Apparently it’s very, very good. Comedy series with lots of heart. Incorporates old trek lore in fun ways, and gets do so without all the limitations of live action. Gets better after the first 1-2 seasons (this seems to be a running theme with trek in general).

I mostly watched TNG, and Lower Decks just hits all the right notes. It makes exploring strange stuff in outer space seem as exciting and fun and weird as it ought to be

Lower Decks is good, pretty funny and entertaining. Picard is something different, but honestly worth a watch, good sets, good acting, good cinematography, writing is hit or miss, and it def panders to nostalgia. I feel like it pulled me in because I just love the actors and I'm probably a bit enamored by them. Discovery I grew to like in later seasons. I posted a while back that it felt fashy, but that impression wore off in later seasons. It does have a Marvel-esqu feel to it though and it's not my fave. I feel like the sub plots are too convoluted too. Strange New Worlds is fantastic in my book. The cast is top notch, writing might have been ripped off from TOS, but it's the prequel to Kirk's Enterprise, so it fits. The cinematography is dazling to my eyes - if there's one you watch for a Star Trek fix, this is it.

Yeah, Star Trek: Resurgence is great. It's a Telltale style game set in the TNG era and gets it. The first act is spot on quality Trek, and the rest is still decent multi-episode finale stuff. Thankfully avoids over-indulging in nostalgia as well - though Riker makes an appearance, which is sadly terribly phoned in - but I don't remember that obnoxious, masturbatory shit every revival does these days where the characters turn to the camera to talk about how cool they think the old stuff was.

Prodigy is a solid kids show, but it's not really going to scratch that Trek itch. It's action adventure that'd probably be a better fit in another sci-fi property. I still appreciate it, it's the kind of thing that's fun to watch with kids while still being adult friendly, and I'm not sure you could do a young kids show in the structure of peak Trek anyway.

Strange New Worlds is okay, inoffensive at least. I wouldn't go as far to say good, it managed to whiff an in-all-but-name adaptation of The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas which seems like it should have been a freebie. But at least it tried something that feels like it should have fit Trek. It's fan service-y in the previously mentioned masturbatory way. It has that modern "soy" (please for the love of god recommend me a better term to convey this) style that I find grating, but not as badly as it could have been. I do remember liking it's musical episode though and Anson Mount is hot as fuck in it (he's so far out of my usual type but god DAMN those cooking scenes at the start of Season 2).

Discovery is an utter disappointment. It starts off as an edgy "what if we gave Star Trek the Battlestar Galactica reboot treatment" then flubs it. By Season 2 they've already given up on it and instead decide to give it the JJ Abrams Star Wars reboot treatment - which is funny, given what he also rebooted, though I think it's more stylistic reminiscent of the worst of Disney Wars. Vapid garbage. I could have warmed up to the BSG-style like I did with Stargate Universe after the initial disappointment, I will never warm up to JJ Abrams.

Picard I hate watched. Truly one of the worst shows ever put to screen. I don't even know where to begin with this. Season 3 is apparently an improvement but I still couldn't make it through the first episode. This is new Trek at it's most masturbatory and vapid.

Lower Decks I can't comment on. I know plenty of people like it but I am repulsed by the idea of it.

I really enjoyed season 3 of Picard. The premise of S1-2 was so bad, but it appears they just said fuck it, we're doing fan service for S3. It feels like a good times TNG movie over 10 episodes.

Lower Decks starts off annoying but ends up hitting the same notes the Orville did, but with the serial numbers still on. Very good, and more adventurous than The Orville

BNW is ok but didn't really get into the groove it should have. It never gets the vibes of TOS like it should and it hasn't managed to be it's own thing.

The first two seasons of Discovery are the worst Trek I've ever seen, and I've seen the Animated Series. Third season becomes solid Trek about half way through, though it's actually Andromeda with the serial numbers filed off now. Worth a watch, might become something though it's not yet as promising as say season 4 of Enterprise.

Picard is horrific, all we wanted was Picard Murder Mysteries or something sedate and philosophical. And instead we get fan service garbage. Every so often it does something interesting like introduce some concepts from the Rihannsu stories into the Romulans, but it instantly flubs it by making it Space Elves rather than Space Romans.

I've enjoyed Lower Decks and Brave New World.

Lower Decks is too reference heavy for my taste and sometimes too omg random, but over all I like it. BNW usually feels good but is sometimes too quippy "modern", for lack of a better term. I'll have to think more about what I mean. But I enjoy it too.

Picard and Discovery I couldn't get close to finishing. If you love nostalgia you might like Picard. My irl friend who loves nostalgia thought Picard was good.