DS9 was darker, sure, but it didnt lose the thread of Starlet being a quasi-military organization or the Federation being a civil union of vastly different cultures that shared the same ideals. New Trek (Picard) jettisoned even Roddenberry’s essential root of Earth evolving into an egalitarian society, because, you know, drama. Picard isn’t even a diplomat anymore. He’s just a doddering android spouting Hallmark platitudes under the delusion that Data was his best friend.
