This is the current crime of most every show these days. I feel as if it was normalized with the Star Wars prequels, and even a bit in the original trilogy, where an entire universe of people is crammed into an incestuous clique of the same dozen characters. Bad enough that Lucas didn’t have the balls or imagination to introduce new characters that didn’t orbit the same old group, but in the prequels it was especially bad. I almost vomitted when it turns out baby Annakin built C3PO.

The Hobbit was nauseating, where they were compelled to retcon in characters and arcs that simply didn’t exist in the novels; it went well beyond artistic licence into blatant crass pimping, because they had these big name actors lined up and had to use them.

Another example is Strange New Worlds. I like the show; I really do. Sure, it’s got a lot of flaws, but they’re doing ok. What bugw me the most is - again - the (again) incestuous need to cram every character from TOS in as fast as they can, as if they’re somehow going to appeal to the fan base by dragging in beloved characters. Especially since they’re only those characters in name only, with no resemblance to the personalities or abilities of the originals.

It’s a particular crime in the industry of pimping characters, and I hate it, and by extenion, the people perpetrating it.