Solving the Klingon dilemma on ‘Star Trek: Discovery’
There’s a simple explanation for the redesign
Let’s get this out of the way first: I love the Klingon redesign in Star Trek: Discovery, I find it ornate and almost tangible, evoking marble statues, rhinos and dinosaurs to the point I want to caress their skulls. (Certainly the advances in make-up and cinematography that make their bones look less like pastries helps.) I wish they were still as hirsute as previous incarnations, even if that means covering up the sensory pits on their heads, but ultimately it’s up to future filmmakers to decide if they want to harmonise the old and new designs.
The question the new make-up raises though, is whether Klingons from other Star Trek series, like Worf and B’Elanna Torres, “actually” looked like this? It’s presumably the producers’ intent, and similarly, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry always explained the difference between the original Klingons and those after the first redesign in 1979 was that improved production values simply showed what Klingons “always” looked like.
It was easy to assume as much until the 1996 Deep Space Nine episode “Trials and…
