Michael Piller (1948–2005)

This is, as far as I know, one of the most honest and straightforward books published about the making of Star Trek, especially from the productions of the last couple decades.  (I was going to write "last few years," but then I realized that Insurrection came out thirteen years ago!)  Piller, the sole screenwriter for Insurrection, takes the reader through the process of writing the ninth Star Trek film, from the moment Rick Berman called him and asked him if he wanted the job, to the show more moment he watched the film premiere on screen.  Insurrection is one of three problematic The Next Generation films, and for that reason, its creation makes for an interesting read.  Piller includes a lot of treatments and dialogue extracts to show how the story changed over time.  Even from the beginning, the story never quite worked, and it seems like lots of people know this... but no one knows how to solve it.

The problem, I think, ultimately comes down to the central conflict.  The hook of the film is that Picard must figure out what made Data go rogue.  Or rather, this should be the hook.  It can't be the hook, though, because it ends up having a really dull answer: he malfunctioned.  If Piller and company had been willing to pursue this more and create a Picard/Data conflict that had some actual teeth to it, we would have had a much more interesting story.  Butting up against this, though, is the desire to make Insurrection more lighthearted, a return to The Voyage Home style of Star Trek... only no one can figure out how to actually make it funny, or make the humor work with the content.  A lot of the book is Piller receiving notes from various people: producer Rick Berman, the actors (especially Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner), the Paramount execs.  It's very noticeable that everyone is thoroughly committed to making a quality film, and indeed, most of the comments Piller gets are spot on... but the fixes he comes up with feel more like patches than solutions.  Everyone agrees that the Fountain of Youth idea doesn't really work, but rather than toss it, Piller just tweaks it.  Insurrection has a good idea at its heart, but the story needed a fundamental reworking that it never got.  Piller praises Berman and company for never taking the film out of his hands, letting it ultimately remain the work of a single writer, but what you end up wondering is if the whole thing could have benefited from someone else doing a strong rewrite.  But then poor Piller, who clearly gives his utmost to the project.

There are a lot of nice moments we never got to see, including the people of the Federation itself showing up at the end to protect its ideals, a moment of Gene Roddenberry utopianism that I think would have really shined if there had been a way to make it work within the context of the script as a whole.

That said, Fade In is an enjoyable insight into the writing process, nearly the Star Trek version of the Doctor Who tell-all The Writer's Tale.  Piller fills the book with interesting anecdotes and insights into what make the writing process work, especially in a place as fraught with competing interests as Hollywood.  The book is no longer available from TrekCore, but I recommend getting hold of an e-copy if you're interested in how Star Trek does get or has gotten made. show less

Political stability erodes under the threat of invasion.

Aaaaaand now it's better than The Next Generation. What the hell. There isn't a single bad episode all season, and a surprisingly large handful are great. I'm kind of glad I never gave this show a chance in the 90s - I get to watch it now like it's new (like Star Trek didn't die a slow, painful death over a decade ago), and I am excited to find out what happens next.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: show more D
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: C

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 2.3/4 show less

The galaxy goes to war.

Every season of this show keeps surprising me with its quality. There's always been a lot of talk about war in Star Trek, but, 30 years in, this is the first time you really see it in detail. It's not just some battles, or after-the-fact lesson-learning, or "by the way the Borg killed a lot of people now lets get on with what we were doing." They had to spend five seasons building to it in order to make it work, losing casual viewers in the process. Ballsy. I'm a show more little sad that I now only have 26 episodes left; they're only just beginning to exploit the Star Trek universe's potential.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C

Enjoyment: A

GPA: 2.7/4 show less

Democratic imperialists and former terrorists work together on a space station in order to keep away fascist imperialists.

It's considerably improved from the first season. Someone's paying enough attention to avoid the major plot holes and continuity errors. A few episodes are even good - but for every good episode, there are two bad ones.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: D
Acting: C
Music: D

Enjoyment: C

GPA: 1.6/4