Analysis of Star Trek Discovery Series as a whole

Evade

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122232027#Comment_122232027

Goin to be the most devil's advocate I can be, that happened in TNG too, in season seven.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122232027#Comment_122232027

Was again just done to please the Reddit fans who demanded Calypso tie ins.

CastorTroy

Sure Zora wasn't needed when Michael was able to identify the correct planet with 2 moons with no help.

Stark

The funny thing about Zora was how casually accepting they were of the ship gaining sentience without explanation when they should have been absolutely terrified. Like say the wrong thing and the ship could space everyone in an instant.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122232653#Comment_122232653

Zora explained that pretty well actually.

They should be trusted to do their job the same as any other sentient members of the crew.

eadrom

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122232664#Comment_122232664

any other sentient member of the crew who is able to space anyone they dislike in an instant. That’s not most crew people.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122232776#Comment_122232776

: )

Stark

Tbf they were a little too trusting of Data given his programming was shown to be easily corruptible on a few occasions. You'd hope they'd at least tightened their security after he hijacked the Enterprise for a family visit. But at least Data had gotten through the Academy years and Ensign/LtJG service without murdering anyone so he was somewhat of a known quality. Zora was brand new, they had no idea what kind of intelligence they were dealing with and were anthropomorphizing her without sufficient evidence. For all the knew, "we love you Zora" could have been the trigger for Zora to decide to kill them.

Evade

Of the main cast Data had been in Starfleet longer than anyone except Picard or Pulaski so I don't think think a few exceptional circumstances should count against the decades of predictable behaviour.

GreeBo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122232664#Comment_122232664

What year did Zora graduate Star Fleet Academy, I never heard her mention Boothby?

Inviere

Just finished the finale today. What can be said about the show has already been said in this thread really. It has many, many, many flaws....from the amateur fan fiction levels of writing, to the non existent character development, to the abject failure of world building. I hated the aesthetics of the show, the shallow visual effects, the filmography was lazy and jarring, the acting....you name it, it failed on all counts for me (an achievement in itself really.)

The best summary I can think of, is....

Discovery, a show about a crew (Burnham) dealing with constantly high stakes that nobody cares about, and a ship that can travel anywhere...but ultimately goes nowhere.

^^ Five seasons, and that's what it left me with. Zero desire to ever rewatch any of it, as for me, it's just not Star Trek. Star Trek's whole point, is (was) that if humanity could put its trivial differences aside, and be the best people we can be, then we can achieve great things together. Discovery seems to suggest that you should wear your childish immaturity and unprofessionalism on your sleeve, and it's up to the rest of society to adapt to YOU…

For me that's not Trek, it's not a message that encourages growth and positive change, and is unfortunately more a reflection of modern American society rather than something for people to strive towards.

Anyway, I'm done, glad it's over, and maybe, just maybe, in many years if I'm still around I'll watch it again to see if it's as bad as I remember...

GreeBo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122260696#Comment_122260696

Your penultimate paragraph sums it up for me, its a terrifyingly accurate reflection of current society. There is no greater good, its everyone for themselves and everyone has to except everyone else, regardless of what that means.

Rawr

It's the replayibility I wonder about. Previous Trek have also been very much a product of their time, but at the same time you can also see yourself re-playing these shows years later and some of the core themes still resonate. Some TOS episodes still work now despite very clearly being a product of the 60's, and the same can be said about the TNG-era shows.

But what of Discovery? I couldn't even muster an initial viewing of the show. As of now, my viewing went as far as the end of Season 3 and with that I have only ever watched these episodes once. I can't for the life of me imagine a situation where I would find myself wanting to rewatch. The show for the most part was just a blend of boredom & annoyance with Burnham, and this made the entire experience a chore to get though. Ultimatly I was only watching so I could join in on the episode discussions here…and then eventually it wasn't even worth it for that.

Discovery is also a product of its time, but alas for it, the current generation of Television appears to be geared towards disposable content to pad out the libraries of streaming servers. By design, I feel that shows like this may actually not be suited to rewatching. Time will tell, but I feel that Discovery may be relegated to little more than a footnote attached to an era of TV production that excelled at producing under-serviced & forgettable programs.

pixelburp

Well exactly. Therein lies not just a problem with Discovery, but modern TV in general: a lot of it, especially with the more anxious or binge-preferring streamers, is produced purely as ephemeral "content", designed not for slow consumption but to be watched, engaged with on social media, then forgotten.

TV, especially successful stuff, was produced as to be syndicated across all the various state and regional stations in America at the time. While rarely serialised it was often produced with an eye towards future airings; longevity was a somewhat baked-in concept.

All that said, I think Strange New Worlds, in being episodic, may outlast Discovery 'cos you can watch episodes in any order, and just pick the stories you enjoyed - no more than other series of yore.

ilovesmybrick

I'd agree with the above. I came back around on Enterprise rewatching random episodes when they came out on DVD or came back to TV after I had binged the hell out of TNG, DS9 & VOY. Gave it another shot at the time, and while the weakest of those four, it did really improve leaps and bounds as it went along. It would generally be in the rotation of Trek shows I will put on a random episode or two when cooking or cleaning or whatever. That just isn't possible with Discovery, all the episodes, maybe aside from a few in Season 1, are too inextricably tied into the rest to really be enjoyable on their own.

Don't get me wrong, that can be great. Some shows are just better that way, like the Wire, Sopranos, The Expanse, but I also won't put on random episodes here and there of those (with the exception of the Sopranos). They are a commited rewatch show and that's only every few years. I just don't see myself committing to rewatching a full season of Discovery again, and there aren't enough, if any, standalone episodes to tempt me to throw it on. I did do a full rewatch of season 1 before the second came out, and while better as a binge watch, it still wasn't great.

I don't even think it's that Strange New Worlds being episodic is what will give it the advantage, but it does help. It's just a better show, with better characters, and a stronger cast. Though the musical episode can go f**k itself! Which is fine, because I can skip it without any fear of missing much of importance to the overall season story.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122260696#Comment_122260696

Nail on the head.

I had to stop watching the current series. Couldn't do it anymore. My missus continued watching it while I tried to roll my eyes as little as I could while playing my Switch in the background.

What's with all the shaky camera? Literally just two people talking to each other in a scene and the camera is shaking all over the place as if it's filming the D Day landings in Saving Private Ryan.

We then went on to watch Strange New Worlds straight after and finished both series in two days. Felt like actually watching Star Trek.

tom23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122269908#Comment_122269908

I watched it to the bitter end. Made myself do it. And after doing it I hate the show. The USS Burham, wide eyed and emotional no matter what century she is in. Will never go back.

GreeBo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122268712#Comment_122268712

"accept"! :(

TheIrishGrover

I think there are some interesting episodes in Season 1 where the focus wasn't so squarely lasered onto Burnham: Isaacs' Captain was (Initially) very intriguing. And, I know it might be controversial, but I liked their interpretation of Klingons and thought the main Klingon character (Voq?) spoke it like a language as opposed. to. disjointed. words. And of course Enterprise/Spock/Pike/Number One appearing was a highlight.

But when the most interesting things about the show were almost the exact opposite of where the show went, then that really turns one off repeat viewing.

An interesting captain who's entire arc was completed in 9 episodes. Who went from interesting to farce within those 9 episodes. So, 5??? interesting episodes involving them?

An Interesting Klingon/"Human" character which basically turned into a soap opera by the end. Such a shame

REALLY enjoyable introduction of legacy characters. ABSOLUTELY and instantly smacked of desperation but welcome. But, actually came across as almost a pilot for their own show.

After that, TOTALLY forgettable (At best). I'm trying to break down season storylines into about 1-3 lines each and this is what I can remember (Without looking it up):

1: Start of Klingon war. Interesting Klingon & Captain. Mirror Universe boredom

2: Section 31 AI? Enterprise and time travel suit? Had to go to future for some reason I can't remember

3: Alien tears destroy warp. Burnham singlehandedly restores warp and rebuilds Federation

4: Travelling probe destroying everything. Orions were in episodes somehow. Were boring

5: Puzzle Hunt. Burnham stops Breen from getting weapon by learning how to love herself

That about right? (Honestly I may be TOTALLY wrong)

pixelburp

By chance the YouTube algorithm suggested a random Discovery clip (I had just watched a bunch of SNW clips, the Lower Decks crossover; man that was a blast wasn't it?): long story short, you really get a sense of just how wasted the presence of Michelle Yeoh had been throughout the series when you watch Captain Georgiou do her thing back in Season 1. Instead we got Queen Space Hitler shítting on everyone (and loving it, cos you go GirlBoss) instead of Yeoh showing real chops as an authority in the captain's chair.

Rawr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122280286#Comment_122280286

The very brief moment we got of Michelle Yeoh as a Captain was very much a highlight of the show. She managed to deliver a character who was very «Starfleet», and during that time Burnham actually made sense as a chaotic foil to the more by-the-books Captain Georgiou.

Alas, we lose that character within an episode and never really recovered from that peak.

If only they had cast & written Michael better, then maybe it could have worked…but alas it wasn’t ment to be…