Dear Star Trek Discovery, No.

As a kid, I looked forward to watching TNG with my brother. I watched Voyager locked away in my room, and secretly, I loved it. I’ve been known to dabble in DS9 even. So believe me when I tell you, Star Trek Discovery, I want to be your biggest fan. But I’m not. Not so far.

So this is my plea. Please stop hiring proven writers, and start hiring proven Star Trek fans. Because this is what proven writers don’t understand: I don’t need to see more space battles. I don’t need more action. I don’t need lens flares or space drama or heroes and heroines with intricate backstories that fall from grace and prove themselves at the last possible moment. I don’t need proven stories because I can get my sci-fi soap opera action sequences everywhere else. But you have the opportunity to do more. You have the opportunity to inspire me. Please show me a future where humanity is better, where society is better, where the future is one that’s not constantly at war with ever-changing enemies but is instead exploring the unknown to find new allies. I need that right now.

Listen. I promised myself I wouldn’t do this in front of you, Star Trek Discovery, but have you seen The Orville? I know it’s weird, but the last few episodes have been pretty good. It might be a better you than — well — you. I think you forgot that Star Trek was created for morality plays — to hold a mirror to society — to challenge us toward that better future. And where are you? Playing Star Wars? Stop.

You have a spaceship, and it’s time to turn this ship around. Stop flying it in circles above the same interpersonal relationships and interspecies politics, and point it toward the vast unknown. Point it toward a better future, and expand the Star Trek universe while you’re at it.