Star Trek: The Next Generation, starring the likes of Patrick Stewart, LeVar Burton, and Jonathan Frakes, premiered back in 1987. It was the third series in the overall Star Trek Universe and opened amidst considerable doubt from fans, who had grown all too accustomed to the characters of the original series and could not imagine another narrative reaching the same kind of heights that TOS reached.
Star Trek: The Next Generation. | Credit: Paramount.
While The Next Generation eventually won them over after exceeding expectations, certain fans of the franchise still tend to find a range of shortcomings with it. This is despite the kind of beloved characters that it gave to fans, with one character, in particular, receiving a range of criticism simply due to the species it belonged to.
The character of Worf, a Klingon, became a notable addition to the primary cast of The Next Generation. However, due to the manner in which the species was denoted in the original series, quite a few fans continue to see his addition as a major problem, despite the notion not falling in line with the kind of vision Gene Roddenberry had, with respect to the overall Star Trek saga.
Worf’s addition to the primary cast in The Next Generation continues to be debated among fans
A still from Star Trek: The Next Generation | Paramount
The majority of criticism that The Next Generation initially received was down to the revamp of the primary cast. Gone were the likes of Leonard Nimoy’s Spock and William Shatner’s James Kirk. In came the likes of Jean-Luc Piccard and William T. Riker, which was a shock for many fans who, till then, saw the original cast as the faces of the franchise.
Furthermore, throughout the original series, the Klingon species in itself was portrayed as an evil species, that generally had a range of sinister aims that the USS Enterprise team fought against. However, in The Next Generation, via the character of Worf, the USS Enterprise received a Klingon member who initially joined as a junior officer.
However, eventually, Worf became the chief of security and tactical officer on the USS Enterprise and played a major role in a variety of narratives. This, especially owing to the kind of characteristics that were initially allotted to the species in the original series, was seen as a problem by many fans.
While The Next Generation was eventually able to prove its critics wrong and Worf became a fan-favorite character, the initial criticism in itself was perhaps directly contradicting the kind of vision the series creator, Gene Roddenberry had for the Star Trek franchise.
Gene Roddenberry wanted The Star Trek universe to evolve via The Next Generation
Michael Dorn as Worf. | Credit: Paramount.
Roddenberry’s The Next Generation was not merely brought forth in order to reprise the money-pumping franchise. It was also created in order to portray narrative development with respect to the overall franchise. Roddenberry’s ideas and vision about the Star Trek franchise were always related to pushing boundaries and exploring new ideas.
Amongst them, via The Next Generation came the form of introducing a bonafide protagonist in the form of Worf, who might have been a Klingon but was unlike the kind of characters from his species that had traditionally been seen in Star Trek.
Hence, while a departure from the original narrative undoubtedly, the character was not at all contradictory to the kind of vision the creator had for his work, which perhaps not every fan understood when Worf was first introduced. The character in itself was a deliberate attempt from Roddenberry to push boundaries and challenge the kind of stereotypes that existed in the overall universe.
That is akin to how things should, and have developed in the real world too, and in itself caters to a simple idea. It is not where one comes from, or what one is. Rather, who they are matters more, and Worf was deserving of the kind of status afforded to him via The Next Generation.
Both the original series and Star Trek: The Next Generation, are available to be watched on Netflix.
