Summary
- Star Trek is fundamentally about character relationships and love stories, says executive producer Alex Kurtzman.
- Love stories in various forms have always been a crucial part of Star Trek.
- Star Trek TV shows allow audiences to invest in characters' relationships across multiple episodes, offering depth and complexity.
Star Trek is "really a love story," according to executive producer Alex Kurtzman, and this is very evident in Star Trek: Discovery. Although Star Trek: Discovery is tightly serialized and action-packed, the series is fundamentally about character relationships, with the love story between Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) as the heart of Discovery. However, Alex Kurtzman points out that love stories in various forms have always been a crucial part of Star Trek.
The Los Angeles Times spoke to Alex Kurtzman to mark the end of Star Trek: Discovery and pointed out that Discovery, in particular among Star Trek shows, is "a riot of love stories". Kurtzman explained that whether in the form of iron-clad friendships among starship bridge crews, or romantic relationships, in Star Trek, "everyone's in a love story". Read his quote below:
There’s certainly a history of that in “Star Trek.” Whether or not characters were engaged in direct relationships, there was always a subtext of the love between them. I believe that’s why we love the bridge crew, because it’s really a love story, everyone’s in a love story, and they all care for each other and fight like family members. But ultimately they’re there to help each other and explore the universe together. If there’s some weird problem, and the answer’s not immediately apparent, each of them brings a different skill set and therefore a different perspective; they clash in their debate on how to proceed and then find some miraculous solution that none of them would have thought of at the outset.
Alex Kurtzman also discussed how Star Trek as a television saga allows audiences to invest in the characters' relationships across multiple episodes. Read his quote below:
One of the beautiful things about the shows is that you get to spend a long time with them, as opposed to a two-hour movie where you have to get in and out quickly and then wait a couple of years before the next one comes along. To be able to be on their weekly adventures, it affords the storytelling level of depth and complexity a two-hour movie just can’t achieve in that way.
Why Love Stories Have Always Been At The Heart Of Star Trek
Star Trek's friendships, loyalties, and families are rooted in love
Star Trek was built on the idea of the found family within a starship crew, but there's no argument that at the root of Captain James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) friendship with Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is genuine love. And that also goes for Dr. Leonard McCoy's (DeForrest Kelley) friendship with Kirk and Spock. Star Trek avoided depicting long-term romantic love between its main characters for decades. Even Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) remained platonic for years on Star Trek: The Next Generation before finally marrying in Star Trek: Nemesis.
In Star Trek, love is everywhere you look.
Under Alex Kurtzman's aegis, Star Trek on Paramount+ has allowed its characters to pursue and keep romantic relationships. Star Trek: Discovery is the modern gold standard for Star Trek romance, with three main love stories that end in happy marriages. Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and Captain Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano) strive to make their romance work on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and even Star Trek: Prodigy is exploring the love and loyalty between Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran). In Star Trek, love is everywhere you look.
