The bottom line is that I don't have to watch it again until January something.
-
Features
Star Trek Discovery?
- Thread starter crazyfingers
- Start date
KeepTalking
Code Monkey
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2010
- Messages
- 4,641
- Location
- St. Louis Metro East
- Basic Beliefs
- Atheist, Secular Humanist, Pastifarian, IPUnitard
From everything I have read about the series, I am glad I did not pony up for that CBS subscription. I also no longer plan to catch up by getting a subscription after the complete season airs and cancelling, or by buying the season on blu-ray. I think the pilot episode was quite enough for me. Unless they make some major changes to the series, I am done with it. The Orville is scratching my Star Trek itch well enough, and it is actually a better series than I hoped it would be.
Star Trek Discovery should be renamed Star Trek Derivative. It shits all over the continuity of the franchise (Klingons, spore drive, Spock now has a sister etc) and substitutes it with nothing watchable or original in return. And that is the shows biggest failing. There is nothing original about it. Not one single bit. It is comparable to The Orville in that it copies every Sci-fi trope; but unlike The Orville, does it without a trace of irony.
Arctish
Centimillionaire
I started calling it Star Trek: Darpa after episode 4.
They did this whole set up of a secret science vessel with Star Fleet personnel wearing black comm badges, a radical new propulsion system being tested and causing weird physical effects, and a scary, lethal alien that turns out to be a big teddybear. I was expecting to see a Star Trek series dealing with the ethical dilemmas and practical challenges of conducting high stakes, dangerous research in a time of war. I was hoping to see a Star Fleet Captain charging forward into the unknown while striving to keep his ship and crew safe, fostering scientific breakthroughs for immediate weaponization while trying to live up to the ideals of the United Federation of Planets.
It could still happen. But the series is off to a wobbly start.
They did this whole set up of a secret science vessel with Star Fleet personnel wearing black comm badges, a radical new propulsion system being tested and causing weird physical effects, and a scary, lethal alien that turns out to be a big teddybear. I was expecting to see a Star Trek series dealing with the ethical dilemmas and practical challenges of conducting high stakes, dangerous research in a time of war. I was hoping to see a Star Fleet Captain charging forward into the unknown while striving to keep his ship and crew safe, fostering scientific breakthroughs for immediate weaponization while trying to live up to the ideals of the United Federation of Planets.
It could still happen. But the series is off to a wobbly start.
braces_for_impact
Veteran Member
I felt like it took half the season to start getting it's footing, and it's just now starting to get interesting. I admit that at episode 4 I was about ready to call it quits, then for me at least, things started suddenly getting better. I thought the last episode is getting pretty good, and I found myself investing in the characters some now. I'll watch season 2.
Philos
Veteran Member
braces,
I've been up and down with it and then gave up. It started to remind me of sci fi films I've picked up in the charity shop. Sorry if this offends anyone, but its just me.
A.
braces_for_impact
Veteran Member
braces,
I've been up and down with it and then gave up. It started to remind me of sci fi films I've picked up in the charity shop. Sorry if this offends anyone, but its just me.
A.
It's OK, we all have our own opinions. Frankly, what find insulting is people that think they have superior taste because of their opinion on a certain subject, I see this most often on the topic of music.
Jayjay
Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2002
- Messages
- 7,173
- Location
- Finland
- Basic Beliefs
- An accurate worldview or philosophy
You must be from the mirror universe. My excitement curve was exactly the opposite, I loved the first episodes, and it was downhill from there.
Oh and technically, season 1 isn't over, it's just halfway through. Season 2 has also been confirmed, I guess that'll air 2018-2019.
Malintent
Veteran Member
braces,
I've been up and down with it and then gave up. It started to remind me of sci fi films I've picked up in the charity shop. Sorry if this offends anyone, but its just me.
A.
It's OK, we all have our own opinions. Frankly, what find insulting is people that think they have superior taste because of their opinion on a certain subject, I see this most often on the topic of music.
You like music? moron.
I agree, there is definitely no accounting for taste. What is helpful to some, though, is hearing about why other people like one thing or another... You learn about that person, and you learn about how the topic is viewed from another angle...
Except for food, I think.... There is nothing to be learned about a person or the food just by knowing if one individual likes the taste of it or not.
All I have to say at the moment is that since we all got new phones last month, come January one of my kids can do the streaming and screen share to the TV and I get my tablet back.
Underseer
Contributor
Everyone I know who is a Star Trek fan is raving about the series (although each has certain criticisms), so I'm very interested, but I just can't see starting a whole subscription for just one TV show.
Not me. Big Trek fan here. No like Discovery yet.
jab
Veteran Member
Just watched the new episode, and as I feared from the ending of the last episode, the plot has indeed veered into my least favorite sci fi trope--alternate universe. And, following the tired unwritten guidelines of who among the good guys is likely to die, one entirely predictable violent death of a crew member occurs.
Jayjay
Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2002
- Messages
- 7,173
- Location
- Finland
- Basic Beliefs
- An accurate worldview or philosophy
I enjoyed the mirror episode (could have put spoiler alerts, but come on... it was obvious from end of last episode that it was going to be a mirror universe), and the death wasn't predictable to me, though it was welcome since I didn't really like that character that much. This could be one of the best episodes yet but it's too early to judge based on part one, but it still suffers from the same convoluted and forced plots as many other episodes... it feels like the elaborate plans are just an excuse for the characters to get into the position where writers want them to be, rather than naturally ending up there. If they got to the mirror universe with the spore drive, their best bet of getting out should be to try to go out the same way they came, rather than go on a wild goose chase for a ship from the future.
jab
Veteran Member
But the dialogue seems to indicate that other Fed ships without the spore drive have been crossing over, so perhaps it was not the spore drive that dragged them over.
If you pick two types of "good-guy" character that are most like to be killed off in a traditional "all-inclusive" tv show, and combine those types, the most recent crew death was eminently predictable, a cliche.
The episode was better than the previous ones but that isn't saying a lot.
I still have a hard time liking the characters.
I still have a hard time liking the characters.
My opinion hasn't changed. I could do without it. Kids really like it.
At least my new phone can handle the job and I can keep my tablet for me.
At least my new phone can handle the job and I can keep my tablet for me.
Jayjay
Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2002
- Messages
- 7,173
- Location
- Finland
- Basic Beliefs
- An accurate worldview or philosophy
So, the first season is over and it's been a few weeks. No need for spoiler breaks, anyone who wants to watch Discovery probably has done so already. Those who were waiting for it to come to Netflix, short summary: good to binge, every episode ends in a cliffhanger so you made the right call, it's better to watch it at your own pace than wait for weeks or months for the next episode.
As a whole, it just feels like fanfiction instead of Star Trek. There aren't a lot of scifi or moral stories, it's all about the characters and their growth. Those who liked DS9 or the longer arcs on Enterprise might be able to appreciate the arc of the Discovery, it's actually pretty good and a lot better thought out than anything that has come before it. But that's part of the problem: the individual episodes are subservient to the major storyline and they just aren't that good on their own. There are contrived plot twists that are there just to make it so that the writers' favourite characters get to do something that the writer thinks is cool and treklike, like fucking with green-skinned aliens or doing mind melds. There are long speeches about the Starfleet ethics, but the actual conflicts ring hollow.
I also watched the after trek talk show where they open up the background a bit, and the impression I get from Aaron Harberts, the co-showrunner, is that he's got some weird fixation with spores and mushrooms, and he thinks they are the greatest thing ever. And that shows. The series might as well be called "Star Trek: The Spore Drive", because that's how central that one plot device becomes throughout the show. Even in the last episode they spend something like 10 minutes on a completely pointless subplot about how the space fungus is harvested, which serves absolutely no story purpose over simply handwaving something about needing to replenish the spore supply. Aaron Harberts, if you are reading this: NOBODY GIVES A FUCK ABOUT YOUR FUCKING SPORE DRIVE!
Glad to get that out of my system. I don't have high hopes for the second season. Apparently, it's going to be about Stamets and his dealing with the death of his gay lover and of course, spores. But neither the character, nor Anthony Rapp, the actor playing him, are that interesting or charismatic. He's got no personality besides being gay and a scientist. And while most treks have had an extensive ensemble cast, the Discovery only seems to have three or so main characters that everything revolves around: Michael (who is obviously being set up as a transsexual), Saru, Tilly, and Stamets. I do think Soneque whatshername does a good job as a Vulcan-raised human, and Tilly brings much needed humor to the show, but everyone else seems just so generic that there isn't enough room for interesting character interaction. Basically all the characters I got invested in were supporting cast that were either killed or otherwise shoved to the side by the end of the show. I'd much rather have seen L'Rell join the crew at the end than go back to leading the Klingons, for example.
So much wasted potential.
As a whole, it just feels like fanfiction instead of Star Trek. There aren't a lot of scifi or moral stories, it's all about the characters and their growth. Those who liked DS9 or the longer arcs on Enterprise might be able to appreciate the arc of the Discovery, it's actually pretty good and a lot better thought out than anything that has come before it. But that's part of the problem: the individual episodes are subservient to the major storyline and they just aren't that good on their own. There are contrived plot twists that are there just to make it so that the writers' favourite characters get to do something that the writer thinks is cool and treklike, like fucking with green-skinned aliens or doing mind melds. There are long speeches about the Starfleet ethics, but the actual conflicts ring hollow.
I also watched the after trek talk show where they open up the background a bit, and the impression I get from Aaron Harberts, the co-showrunner, is that he's got some weird fixation with spores and mushrooms, and he thinks they are the greatest thing ever. And that shows. The series might as well be called "Star Trek: The Spore Drive", because that's how central that one plot device becomes throughout the show. Even in the last episode they spend something like 10 minutes on a completely pointless subplot about how the space fungus is harvested, which serves absolutely no story purpose over simply handwaving something about needing to replenish the spore supply. Aaron Harberts, if you are reading this: NOBODY GIVES A FUCK ABOUT YOUR FUCKING SPORE DRIVE!
Glad to get that out of my system. I don't have high hopes for the second season. Apparently, it's going to be about Stamets and his dealing with the death of his gay lover and of course, spores. But neither the character, nor Anthony Rapp, the actor playing him, are that interesting or charismatic. He's got no personality besides being gay and a scientist. And while most treks have had an extensive ensemble cast, the Discovery only seems to have three or so main characters that everything revolves around: Michael (who is obviously being set up as a transsexual), Saru, Tilly, and Stamets. I do think Soneque whatshername does a good job as a Vulcan-raised human, and Tilly brings much needed humor to the show, but everyone else seems just so generic that there isn't enough room for interesting character interaction. Basically all the characters I got invested in were supporting cast that were either killed or otherwise shoved to the side by the end of the show. I'd much rather have seen L'Rell join the crew at the end than go back to leading the Klingons, for example.
So much wasted potential.
jab
Veteran Member
The last episode rushed a positive, and not very believable resolution to the Klingon-Federation conflict.