IT’S SPOILIN’ TIME!!!!
Last week, I wrote a blog that started with a few paragraphs drawing comparisons between CAPTAIN GABRIEL LORCA and DONALD TRUMP. Let me be perfectly clear: I WAS KIDDING!!! But apparently, no, I wasn’t…at least as far as the STAR TREK: DISCOVERY writing team was concerned!
In what was probably the most obvious and direct reference to a political issue since Bele and Lokai were each colored half-black and half-white, LORCA/TRUMP says the following things during the most recent 13th episode, “What’s Past Is Prologue”…
I’ve watched for years; you’ve let alien races spill over the borders, flourish in our backyard, then have the gall to incite rebellion. The Terrans need a leader who will preserve our way of life, our race.
…we together will make the empire glorious again.
Here’s the full scene:
My wife Wendy, who normally doesn’t watch the show with me but just happened to be in the living when this line was delivered, asked me, “Are the writers always this lazy?”
Now that Lorca is the established bad guy, let’s draw a direct line from him to Donald Trump. It’s not that Wendy and I like Donald Trump or anything. But seriously, was this kind of dig really necessary? Should Star Trek be used to take cheap political shots?
I won’t say that this one line ruined the episode for me. I had other problems with it. The whole Die Hard meets Star Wars vibe was flashing at me like a siren during the entire episode. John McClane sneaking through the building talking to Hans Gruber on a cell phone. Han and Leia having to take down the deflector shield so the rebels could get close enough to destroy the second Death Star. And don’t get me started on the Games of Thrones “Moon Door” in the throne room! Why do the bad guys always have those???
No, I lamented that Lorca—an amazingly deep and complex character lo, these past eleven episodes (Mirror Universe origins or not)—suddenly turns into an over-the-top, gloating Bond villain with an accent that kept stumbling into cowboy drawl but never stayed there. Lorca was now simply a mustache-twirling evil-doer getting all the best lines and killing everyone in sight other than our hero Burnham. (“Ah, Mr. Bond, I see you survived again. Excellent…” Or how about “Join me, Burnham. Together we can overthrow the emperor and bring order to the Mirror Universe as father and son…I mean, snuggle-buddies or friends-with-benefits or however I can get into your… GURGHKKKK!”)
Okay, it didn’t happen quite that way, but I was still bothered by how silly this whole four-episode “trek” into the Mirror Universe had become, how two-dimensionally nefarious all the Mirror counterparts seemed to be. The endless fighting…everyone locked in a state of mind-numbing PMS (permanent mirror sadism). I was ready for the show to go back home. And I almost got my wish…
The ending of this episode actually reminded me a lot of the cliffhanger “conclusion” of the third season of Star Trek: Enterprise. After managing to fight past the bad guys, destroy the Xindi weapon, and beam out at the last second, the NX-o1 arrives back home at Earth. But guess what? It’s the wrong time period…and alien reptile Nazis have taken over the planet!
Granted, the Discovery went FORWARD in time, not back, and it was only nine months. But hey, look, the Klingons won the war and took over. Déjà vu all over again!
I have a philosophy: never blog angry. Seriously. But after watching this latest episode, I was ready to tear into Discovery (yet again!), and I didn’t want to do that. And so, wanting to decompress and make some sense of the chaotic action-fest I’d just witnessed, I let the CBS All Access app advance me to the latest episode of AfterTrek.
For those who don’t know, AfterTrek is “The Talking Dead” of Star Trek: Discovery. Lots of TV series now have these post-viewing discussion shows where cast members, writers, directors, and producers come on to discuss the latest episode and the series in general. A lot of times it’s fluff, but you can also get some fascinating insights, like this one…
So we WEREN’T crazy!!! This show WASN’T Star Trek after all! JASON ISAACS—Captain Lorca himself—just said so!
Wow, I feel so…vindicated.
Many fans like me have complained about this show not feeling like Star Trek pretty much since episode one. The crew didn’t feel like a team. Characters seemed bitchy and ornery. And even after folks on the ship began mellowing out a bit, scenes on the bridge still felt more like a North Korean prison camp. In previous Star Treks, Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, and Archer would get input and suggestions from a wide range of officers—Spock, Data, Harry Kim, Kira, Reed, Sulu, Troi, Tuvok, Dax, T’Pol, Uhura, Beverly, Chakotay, Trip, Chekov, O’Brien, Worf, Mayweather, Scotty, and even Wesley. The bridge was a place to share ideas, an open workspace where friends chatted but also teamed up to get the job done.
But on the bridge of the USS Discovery, unless you were Lorca, Saru, or occasionally the visiting Burnham or Tyler, you were little more than a wooden set piece on the television screen. I bet most fans can’t even remember the names of the three women stationed on the bridge (I call one of them “Captain America”)…and that’s tragic because WHEN HAVE THERE EVER BEEN THREE MAIN WOMEN OFFICERS STATIONED SIMULTANEOUSLY ON A BRIDGE IN STAR TREK??? Think about it. I suppose during scenes where Janeway, B’Elanna, AND Seven were all on the bridge at the same time, you reached three…likewise, if Yar, Troi, and Beverly were on the bridge at the same time. But in each of those cases, there were only seats for two of them; the others worked elsewhere on the ship.
Discovery had a chance to stand out in Star Trek history for having more women and more minorities in the cast than any previous series. But three of those women (one a minority) spend their time looking forward at the viewscreen or down at their consoles, never exchanging glances or really even making eye contact with anyone else…let alone chatting like other bridge crews have done. Their lines so far have been limited to status updates and responses to Lorca’s orders. Viewers have no idea who these people are…only where they sit (or stand). I’ve previously called this a “lack of banter,” but it was so much more than that. It was short-changing a good portion of this cast—all three of them female—and in so doing, short-changing the viewers, as well.
To me, this was just another reason why Discovery did NOT feel like Star Trek for me. And here was Jason Isaacs himself telling me I was right. Great!!! Time to write an angry blog, and I’d even get a chance to enjoy a smug, little “I told you so!”
But then I heard TED SULLIVAN, co-executive producer and writer of both this episode and “Lethe,” saying something that gave me pause…
Suddenly, I was a little less furious. The writers were aware that what they were doing was dissonant from traditional Star Trek. In fact, they were actually doing it ON PURPOSE…and not just because they wanted a darker, grittier show for a modern audience.
No, the writers fully intend to make Discovery “come around” to being a more traditional Star Trek show with hope and optimism and Starfleet nobility and teamwork…at least according to Ted Sullivan. The writers just wanted to show HOW a crew becomes a cohesive unit like the crews of the various USS Enterprises or Deep Space Nine or Voyager. Those crews were either already well-oiled machines when those shows started or else found their rhythms pretty quickly (even the merged Starfleet/Maquis crews on Voyager).
But Discovery is tackling this “evolution” much more slowly…and the writers needed a dozen episodes to give us the first glimpses of what is (hopefully) still to come. I’m not sure I agree with the choice, but I do still respect it as a choice.
And that means that this show is finally ABOUT something!
Y’see, up until now, if I’d asked you what Star Trek: Discovery is about, you probably couldn’t tell me in just one sentence. TOS and TNG? Exploring strange, new worlds and contacting new life and civilizations. DS9? Nurturing the political and spiritual healing of a people (and a space station) who had been under harsh occupation and were suddenly thrust into the center of importance in the Alpha Quadrant. Voyager? Finding a way home. Enterprise? Exploring the final frontier for the first time.
Discovery? Well, there’s a Klingon war, but we don’t really see a lot of that (we just spent a quarter of the first season away from the war and in the Mirror Universe). Is the show about secrets and duplicity (Lorca, Voq, Sarek, Mudd)? That’s hardly a show that should have the name Star Trek painted on it. Is it a show about violence and the unexpected loss of main characters like Georgiou, Landry, and Culber? Again, not really Star Trek. Is it about a new technology (the spore drive)…or is it about the personal voyage of Michael Burnham to self-realization? If so, those aren’t central pillars of the series so far, just two of many balls in the air.
So what IS Star Trek: Discovery about? And don’t just say “it’s about discovery!” That’s too vague and too easy. Reading Rainbow is about discovery, too, kids.
But if what Ted Sullivan is saying is that Discovery is about a Starfleet crew coming together and learning to be a team, then yeah, I can give them that. Again, it’s not necessarily the path I would have taken this series on, but I’m not getting paid to be one of the forty-seven executive producers on the show! Nobody asked me my opinion, and why should they? They decided on a direction and went with it. All I get to decide is whether or not I like that direction.
And do I? I don’t know yet.
But at least I know that there is a direction…and that there’s hope we might see something (eventually) that looks more like Star Trek than what we’ve seen so far. The writers are aware of what they’ve done, and they actually expected, even wanted the reaction that they get from many fans: THIS DOESN’T FEEL LIKE STAR TREK. That suggests that they DO know what Star Trek feels like, and maybe, just maybe, they’ll start giving us that in season two. Fingers crossed.
And maybe—like the crew of Discovery—I myself just need to overcome my own dissonance and evolve in the way I see this show. Perhaps…
So what about Donald Trump? Well, I’d like to end with one more clip from AfterTrek, because Ted and Jason touched on that point, too. And no, it wasn’t “lazy writing.” Just the opposite, in fact. And their reasons for making Lorca say what he said—like the reasons the writers had for making the show NOT feel like Star Trek up until now—are both reasonable and valid…
Again, I’m not sure I agree with their decision on a personal level. As a viewer, that’s my right. And as a blogger, I’m allowed to share that reaction. And as a reader, you’re welcome to agree or disagree with me just as I can agree or disagree with the direction of the series. Everybody wins!
But I still respect the writers, the actors, and the producers for working hard to create this show. It’s obvious that they’re giving it their all. And even if I don’t always like what I see, I’m still engaged enough to want to discuss it week after week. Not many shows get that kid of attention from viewers—positive or negative!
To me this show so far has been solely about Burnham about her “discovering” herself and everything else is just background or set dropping. Starting all the way back in the beginning when she couldn’t disassociate her humanity from her Vulcan upbringing. She has discovered she can, in the course of her actions which lead to her betraying her Captain (originally) to her redemption when she nicked her Captain’s Delta insignia off the New Klingon leader. Now in dealing with the Mirror Universe she is Discovering what it means to be an actual member of Starfleet not someone who expects the crew to do what she needs because she was an officer, but to do what needs to be done because she is a part of a team of Starfleet members who are working together. I am still with a number of TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT Trekkie’s that this is not yet Star Trek but it is getting there and when it does it may just be the breakout show it promised to be back when we first heard that it was being made.
While Burnham’s journey plays a big role in this series, so does Saru’s…and Stamets’…and Tilly’s. I think all of them are “discovering” themselves in some way. Obviously, Michael Burnham is the star and (supposedly) main character. But just as TOS is not about just Kirk or Spock, TNG is not about just Picard or Data or Worf (despite all of them maturing and discovering things about themselves), I think Discovery is about more than just Burnham.
But hey.,, that’s just me. 🙂
As a distant observer, my information is all second-hand at best as I am unable to watch the series. But with reference to the political Trump reference, there seems to be a principle here.
I am no lover of Trump, but with the state of politics here in Australia, I’m in no position to be critical of the political situation in another country. However, whilst this may have been a ‘cheap’ effort, an obvious mark, there is the issue that good fiction (I’m not saying ‘Discovery’ is good fiction – I’m in no position to judge) has a place as a vehicle for political and social comment. To many, that may have been ‘cheap’, but to the less astute, it may have been a beneficial nudge.
Hey, I get why they did it (the cheap shot), but I simply don’t agree with it. Imagine if TOS, instead of doing an allegorical episode about Vietnam, took a cheap shot at Lyndon Johnson or Richard Nixon.
I can appreciate the story they wanted to tell, but for me, and many other Star Trek fans, we already know all of this, and the the mirror universe has always been there since the 60s to show us the worst of humanity.
I see it as an insult to Star Trek to say that it takes 13 episodes for such a dynamic to come forward? We saw what happened in TNG:Chain of Command when Jellico took over command of the Enterprise. He nearly had a full scale mutiny on his hands with Riker locked up in his quarters. I assume that Discovery wasn’t filled with people fresh out of the academy, I assume they had experienced officers who had served on other ships who knew what the atmosphere should feel like on a bridge and who would not get silenced so easily by Lorca.
Trump only rose to power in this universe because we have the perfect storm of a messed up voting system that forces a two party system onto us which allows corruption to run rife (also known as The Swamp), and too many people feeling disempowered and beaten as a result for the former lasting for decades. So what’s the crew of the Discovery’s excuse for allowing their Trump to flourish?
Actually, considering that Lorca’s record in the Prime Universe was mainly that of the original Lorca (whom we can assume, is not an evil overlord-wannabe), it’s strange that Starfleet would put Mirror Lorca in charge of the Discovery. After all, his record probably wasn’t the “tough as nails” (or whatever it was they saw in him) that the Mirror Lorca would have had. Instead, Lorca was a failed captain who got his ship destroyed and was the only survivor…not great on the resume for handing over command of one of only two of Starfleet’s “last, best hope” starships. So why DID Starfleet give Discovery to Lorca/Trump? One wonders…
Because he was the only Captain free because his ship had just got destroyed?
Because this all exists as a dream inside of someone’s head, maybe PTSD ten years after the real Klingon War occurred at Axanar? Maybe that’s why the Klingons look funny, because this person’s mind them look even more scary…
Huh? The viewer needs 13 episodes of a dysfunctional crew to show it’s dysfunctional and needs to be fixed? I dunno, sounds like it’s an insult to the viewer a little bit. . . . .
OK, a LOT.
No way I’m buying a subscription to watch “Disco Incur No” first season after that.
Let me know how the second season turns out.
Another dissatisfied non-customer! 🙂
Why am I a non-customer just because I haven’t bought the most recent product? I “bought” TOS, TNG, & DS9 (Blecched on VOY & ENT, though) so I’m every inch a Trek ‘customer’ as the next guy/gal, it’s just that I decided to wait on spending $$ on streaming this until the verdict was in, and now that the season is nearly done I’m thinking it’s not worth it.
So, in reality, I’m a “customer” that the new Disco series did not RECAPTURE.
No good joke attempt goes unpunished, huh? 🙂
Lookin’ for confirmation bias in all the wrong places…..
Actually, it rolled behind the refrigerator. 🙂
Is aftertrek available anywhere after the initial airing on CBS all access?
Would be nice to watch it but since I am in Canada I can’t have CBS all access.
If you live in Canada, you can watch Star Trek: Discovery on the Space Channel on Sundays at 8:30PM ET.
If you can’t catch Discovery at its regular date and time, each episode can be found through participating On Demand channels, as well as the Space Go app. If you are anti-Space Channel, you can stream the series through the CraveTV streaming service. Of course, access to Discovery on the CraveTV app requires a monthly subscription fee to the service.
Finally, if you prefer the French-language version of the series, Canadian viewers can watch Discovery on Z channel every Sunday.
I can watch discovery no problem, was interested in aftertrek as I haven’t seen any of that.
It’s actually a pretty well done show. I thought it would be cheesier than it ultimately turned out to be. I don’t always watch AfterTrek, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis. Stay thirsty and prosper, my friends. 🙂
We intended it to be the Mirror Universe all the time.
Yeah, that’s it. That’s the ticket. Just ask my wife, Morgan Fairchild, who I’ve see naked….
Whom I’ve seen naked, not who. 🙂
At any rate it’s an admission they let they’re political way of thinking control the script writing. Which as a writer myself, I find stupid.
Depends on the show. When Aaron Sorkin does it, it’s usually brilliant. Here, however, it was more of a cheap shot. But as I said, I understand their reasons behind it.
Jonathan, I think you hit a point there. Good blog!
And I do also hope, that we will see something that feels much more like Star Trek in season two.
But I still have many other issues with this show and I think most of these are not “fixable” as they focus mainly around design choices (like set-, ship- and alien design).
I would like to concentrate this into one sentence and I’m furious to read if you agree with me:
If you do a new show and set it into a time period that is already very well known, you have to obey to the rules of that time period in every point – otherwise it is nonsense to put it into that time period as you do not use the setup that is already given to you. It’s like ordering a salami pizza and telling the waiter that you do not like salami and want onions instead.
There’s a certain leeway I was willing to give the creators in setting this series 10 years before Kirk. Obviously, making the sets look as cheap and cheesy as what was in the Desilu Studios back in 1965 is asking for way too much. So I expected a little bit of “modernizing.” What we got was a LOT of modernizing. The original uniform designs they had looked more similar to The Cage (essentially, imagine what they’re wearing now but with no reflective material anywhere and with dark gray/black pants). The ships could be snazzed up a bit, but again, they strayed way too far…both on the Federation and Klingon side.
In short, I was willing to give them some maneuvering room, but they ended up going so far afield that it became almost impossible to ignore the inconsistencies and look the other way.
Really?, They did it on purpose!, I feel like I went in to order a hamburger and they had served me 12 salads and on the 13th they bring me the little burger and they say “Hey, it was a joke, we wanted to surprise you , we know how to cook! ” I do not think it’s a good way to attract customers, and less when right next to “Dico King” there is a “McOrville” serving JUST what I ask. 🙁
Well, you don’t have to eat at Dico King (or did you mean Disco King?). And I find it interesting that two readers have just used food analogies to describe Discovery (see Matt’s comment about salami pizza). Now I’m hungry! 🙂
Ok, it’s good advice, I’ll apply it immediately.
good luck with the blog. Bye
Bye?
This happens to me for not reviewing the translation ….:( I do not know what the hell happens to the google translator … I just forgot telling him that I love his blog and that we will see you here … and translated: “I like = good luck “and” see you = bye “,,, if the translator of the Starfleet works the same no wonder that they end up fighting with Klingons, Romulans or anyone who crosses their path 🙂
La próxima vez, puedes decirme en español. 🙂
(Recuerdo un poco de la escuela secundaria.)
Season 1 of The Flash – Did this story line Much Better.
Mirror Lorca = Reverse Flash
Hmmm….
You know Dude, it Might be meaningful if we had some other context to place this show in. I mean I can’t say that Georgiou was a good Cap’n based on 2 Episodes. And we can’t say anything about Actual Lorca.
Eobard Lorca – Was only 1 ingredient in a lack luster Pie. So for them to now go….Oh so now you see why it’s not Star Trek is disingenuous. Let’s not forget There’s the Mutiny, Ugly Klingons, Dead End Tech, Cadet Mary Sue, Then there’s, the whole cartoonish nature of this So called war…. Lets see so far the Klingons have attacked a dilithium mine. and a plan,,,, errr no wait they just showed up there… So the Discovery could then run a Chinese Fire drill – fantastic! Serously that whole 133 Jump sequence reminded me of B.Bunny and E.Fudd. “here I am!” No Doc over here!”
Then there’s the Mutiny…. Ya know maybe,,, she should have trusted that her Captain knew what she was doing or at least would figure it out and save the day…
But that’s not even the biggest problem… which is that you have a production staff consisting of So many exec producers. That no wonder they cant get any thing done.
Then you got a writing staff who is more interesting checking off the SJ check boxes. Than telling good scifi stories. Or maybe it’s just a by-product of writing by committee…
But maybe If George W. Lorca had used some actual Strategery… He’d have gotten somewhere.
#BREAKINGTHEMIRROR,
S1 of the Flash on the other hand. All the characters on that show were outstanding, Likable and I cant say enough good things about that show..
Even When you knew something was up at the end of Ep1. It was fun To watch Tom Cavanaugh Play everyone. Even to the Point of Being a Mentor/Surrogate Dad… That was some masterful story telling
Okay, I can’t top that. Hats off to you, Mickey.
Thanks for posting those AfterTrek clips. In one of my replies to an earlier post, I had originally written a couple of paragraphs about how it seemed that the political allegories in Discovery were being smeared on with a trowel, but decided to omit them for brevity.
As a Brit, I’m certainly not wild about some of Trump’s foreign policy statements, but I do fully respect the democratic process, regardless of results. Millions of people voted for him, and if Discovery is now hinting that all Republicans are fascists, and therefore only Democrats can be enlightened, then Star Trek is navigating into some very turbulent waters indeed.
Much has been said about Star Trek’s rich legacy of examining social issues, but it’s also there to entertain, not just lecture. Yes, TOS dealt with social issues but told those stories through examining alien races/planets, and letting the viewer join the dots. It would have been very easy for Roddenberry to take a direct swipe at Nixon, McCarthy or whoever else, but he and the producers had the subtlety to not do so. By concentrating on the Federation and its evil counterpart, Discovery however has literally placed a mirror in front of the viewer and said “Look – this is you. Vote carefully folks!”
As for the latest episode itself I was highly underwhelmed as it plunged fully into Star Wars pew-pew territory, not least with Burnham managing to escape from a room full of armed stormtroopers before disappearing down a conveniently placed garbage chute. And I swear I heard the sound of a Tie Fighter as Lorca met his pantomime end.
I’m not sure where the show is going to go now. It’s killed off the majority of its most interesting characters, and I rather fear bland times ahead. Perhaps there will be a reset of sorts at the end of this season, moving towards the fabled ‘second series’ that Nicholas Meyer was rumoured to be working on.
My suspicion is that season 2 will introduce some new characters that will (hopefully) change the dynamic a bit. Remember that some of Trek’s most interesting recurring characters–Chekov, Ro Laren, Miles O’Brien, Martok, Weyoun, Seven of Nine–were not series regulars in the first seasons of their shows (technically, O’Brien appeared in “Encounter at Farpoint,” but he didn’t have a regular recurring role–or even a name!–until later in TNG).
Obviously, Discovery needs a main doctor character quite badly at this point. Beyond that, let’s develop the bridge crew. And how about a chief engineer? Stamets is more of a scientist than an engineer. Actually, he’s more like the engine! 🙂
Hello, greetings from Switzerland, very good article … thanks … but “alien reptile Nazis have taken over the planet!” in Enterprise??? Those were not reptile…… we saw reptiles in season 3…. and in season 4 in the mirror universe…
Well, I kinda thought reptile… 🙂
looks a little amphibious, no reptile skin… but hey who knows… 🙂
Maybe they’re changing the Klingon makeup again! 😉
hehe 🙂
or the Tellarit again…. 🙂
Gosh.. glad I checked out and never watched an All access episode.
I was vaguely thinking about looking in on it.. but no thank you.
Got better things to do.
it sounds like sadistic self inflected wounds to watch an episode.
I sure hope you don’t let you kid watch it with you.
Real fans of Trek will ban it as not-Cannon, even if CBS wants to brand it that.
No, Jayden doesn’t watch Discovery with me and won’t for a long time. We’ve just watched Star Trek III, and next we’ll do IV followed by the first few seasons of TNG.
But I don’t see Discovery as any kind of self-inflicted wound. I do still enjoy the show on a basic level. I just don’t enjoy it as any kind of Star Trek. Were this show NOT labeled “Star Trek,” I’d probably like it much more.
Hi Jonathan,
I’ve been reading your blogs on Discovery, good reading as always. Sometimes I think you’re a bit harsh, sometimes I think you’re not harsh enough but, on average, I have to agree. Oh, and you’ve been generally bang on with predicting how the plot will pan out.
I had reached the conclusion that Discovery is what it is some time ago. As a story outside the Star Trek universe it would have been quite good. Within it, I do struggle to forgive for a fairly lame start, turning the Klingon war into something considerably less interesting than it could have been (no wonder CBS hobbled Axanar), introducing a form of instantaneous travel that just does not fit within the Star Trek story and (long sentence this) the general lack of optimism. It could also really do with just finding a, for want of better words, ‘a sense of wonder’ if it wants to be Star Trek. Give us something new!
But, that said, I am still watching. I guess I’ve just had to do some mental compartmentalising to keep it away from all the other Trek I’ve enjoyed.
P.S. I wouldn’t get to hung up on the Trump thing. Well not until they construct a ‘trans-dimensional field interstice’, or ‘wall’ to you and me, between this and the Mirror Universe!
And I suppose the Mirror Universe will pay for this ‘trans-dimensional field interstice’? 🙂
Absolutely! It’ll be great, really great folks.
Does that mean you will skip the ill-fated Star Trek V? What about Star Trek VI? Surely that leads into TNG as we get to see Klingons make peace with the Federation, and see Worf’s descendent :).
Star Trek V will come after the last episode of TNG’s second season “Shades of Grey.” We’re going in chronological order by release date, not in relative Trek time.
Gotta have a plan! 🙂
Maybe there is a plan to get this to feed into the Kirk-verse!
Has no one noticed the Defiant is a classic constitution class ship?
The war is lost, Discovery somehow resolves this but in the process destroys the mycelial network, and a decimated starfleet cuts costs and goes back to basics in order to rebuild a credible force QED TOS era tech is born? Two or 3 seasons later…. And reaffirm the ideals Trek is known for.
This is all very risky though. These guys (the money people) completely screwed up the 50th Anniversary, released Beyond, an awful film that make ST V look like Lawrence of Arabia, and now they are playing Russian roulette with the franchise. If the ratings and subscriptions don’t perform, they will pull the plug and consign the franchise to another 10 years in hiatus.
You can brand any good sci if as trek if you choose, but it ain’t Trek. I don’t buy the whole “new audience” excuse. The issue is (and Ive said it before) too many cooks (producers/execs) which equals no single vision and creativity by committee. Lamentable!
Even with the turd pie they served up, it could have been edited to be more intriguing ….start with ep 3 and serve up the salient points from the dire first two eps as flashbacks…thus tantalising the viewer, maintain a mystery round Burnam and a fradual reveal. Nope…..too complicated. This mess is clearly why there were so many production delays….
And the galling issue is the one of the best characters and performance is burried under unnecessarily thick cumbersome prosthetics….Saru…what a shame…a lighter thinner design would have serve the crop and character better…but it’s worse then the Original planet of the apes in regards to the mouth….what a crying shame. Compare to Bordas is the Orville…big makeup, but great visibility of character and actor.
It says a lot that the best character is the bad guy, and now he’s toast, what next? Who cares, we have eps 10 and 11 of Star Trek Continues……ill go watch them for a fifteenth time instead…THATS HOW TO WRITE !!!
Fran
In a few more weeks, I’ll be writing a blog explaining why CBS really doesn’t care in Discovery succeeds or fails. Stay tuned! 🙂
They got paid already. There you go I wrote your blog for you 🙂
That you did!
Well Discovery has engendered many feelings in me, very few that have been pleasurable. Anger, Disgust, Boredom and even tedium as in I still have to get through 3 or 4 episodes to catch up. On the flip side that woman who plays Michael very good and I miss Michelle Yeoh so much however the evil Gremlins who run the show (Into the ground) decreed she must die, otherwise the show might actually get good.
This is however the first time I have felt insulted after reading that the showrunners expect us to believe that it is all planned and it had to take 13 episodes to supposedly trick us but it is starfleet prime timeline really. Ignoring the Klingons, the sets, the uniforms, the technology, the fact that we know that there are experienced Starfleet officers who would of joined the ship and detected things were not starfleet straight away. We are expected to believe that is a conspiracy or whatever as we say in the UK “Pull the other one it has bells on”. I know little about the Entertainment business but it sounds strange to me that you would put out a product that basically spends its first year shedding its customers, then turns round and goes surprise April fool next season will be so much better.
I have no basis in fact but lets apply Occam’s razor here could the above scenario be correct? Well yes assuming Hollywood executives breakfast on a diet of stupid pills or maybe some other pills or powders. It does however seem more likely that It starts of with some Idiot in charge who knows nothing about Star Trek, the fans, maybe not a lot about making Television but they have signed a big deal with Netflix. So he must be great therefore whatever he says is the word of God. He or She then proceeds to royally Sc**w it up decreeing it will be large it will be glamorous and not at all Star Trek.
This continues till he or she discovers a different interest maybe sexually molesting young stars and/or starlets who come to their attention. As far as I can tell this seems to be a major preoccupation with Hollywood producers and Presidents. Not Network presidents I hasten to add these seem a fine group of people, just presidents of the United States. This then gives the loyal Star trek fans who like an away team have snuck themselves behind enemy lines and into jobs on the show a chance to change the direction and rescue it.
Sadly I think this is beyond even Captain Kirk’s abilities it is like a beloved family pet who has been run over its back half crushed, panting away, looking at you with pain filled eyes blood dribbling from its mouth. A man puts down his dog there and then and the same thing should be done to this series. Lets hope that the rumours about a back up series are correct.
P.S. Has anyone seen the sign up figures for CBS All Access? Has the hoped for surge appeared?
I doubt the surge has happened or else we’d be hearing about it. As it is, getting hard subscriber numbers (or even soft but specific and not vague numbers) from CBS is like trying to get a look at Donald Trump’s tax returns.