“I've always felt like Garashir was kind of canon.” Refurbishing a franchise and leveraging fans’ memories in Star Trek: Lower Decks

Abstract

Hollywood studios have established a trend of revitalising old franchises, creating nostalgia-driven reboots, sequels and spin-offs. These rely on the fans’ memories of the originals, especially those who read products conforming to the official releases. However, franchises have also started building stronger relationships with transformational fans, who engage in interpretive fan labour such as writing fan fiction, occasionally implementing their readings into the sanctioned material. In my thesis, I argue that Star Trek: Lower Decks shifts the balance between mainstream and marginalised audiences by incorporating fan readings and queer characters into canon. The show canonises the romantic relationship between Elim Garak and Julian Bashir, a fan-favourite ship that even the actors endorse. My analysis consists of three sections, employing a combination of textual and qualitative content analysis. First, I examine the episode they appear in to establish how the cameo of the characters is constructed. I then review reactions from fans familiar with the ship to understand their memory of the characters. Finally, I examine interviews with the actors to outline their interpretations of their roles. Summarizing these aspects, my thesis concludes that the use of this transformational fan labour and memory enables Lower Decks to be a spin-off that specifically targets and validates this part of the fandom, conforming to their desires by acknowledging queer characters.