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'Strange New Worlds'' latest episode is a soap opera spoof, but hasn't 'Star Trek' always been a soap opera in space?
The latest 'Strange New Worlds' takes the silliness to warp factor nine, but soap opera plots have long been part of the 'Star Trek' mix
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"Strange New Worlds"' fourth season has doubled down on the show's long-established penchant for seeking out new genres beyond "Trek"'s traditional frontiers.
So far the Enterprise has encountered Martians, hangovers and Muppets, and now its latest mission, "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass", has made a detour into full-on soap opera territory.
Thanks to the meddling of Q junior Trelane (Rhys Darby), the ship's lighting is slightly off, day-to-day operations are punctuated by ad breaks, and the crew has developed a tendency to stare wistfully into the middle distance. Reminders that Starfleet's finest are living out their very own "Days of Our Lives"-style TV show are everywhere, but — for all the deliberate overacting and pauses. In. All the. Wrong. Places — is it really that different from regular life on a starship? Isn't "Star Trek" essentially a soap opera anyway?
Dictionary definitions of soap operas vary, but the general gist is that they follow the daily lives of a bunch of characters over an extended period of time. They're a broad church — the more glamorous US soaps are very different to their gritty, slice-of-life UK counterparts — but they're usually characterized by interpersonal dramas and a long-running nature.
So, aside from the fact that episodes of "Star Trek" are bunched into seasons, and there's usually a story of the week, the franchise effectively fits the bill.
That wasn't so much the case in the Original Series days, where episodes were resolutely standalone and most of the regulars on the bridge — even Sulu, Uhura and Chekov — were given minimal character development. Even Uhura's famous kiss with Captain Kirk was a one-off affair.
But by the time "The Next Generation" left Spacedock, interpersonal relationships were very much on the agenda — so much so that the Enterprise-D needed a counselor on the ship's manifest.
From day one, the show was getting busy establishing the backstories of the characters, with Commander Riker's previous relationship with Counselor Troi a matter of record, and Captain Picard's complicated past with Dr Beverly Crusher (her late husband, Jack, was Jean-Luc's best friend) adding an extra frisson to their working relationship.