I don't have CBS All Access and wasn't really interested in Discovery until I saw the announcements about Christopher Pike and Number One being added to the show in the second season.
So I decided I'd prep for that and get caught up by watching season 1.
Just finished yesterday. And I'm not sure what to think.
This is like the darkest Star Trek I have ever seen.
And as engaging as it was, it was kind of a mess for me.
So topsy turvy and nothing is what it seems.
For one thing, I miss the familial comradery of the Classic and Next Gen crews.
The only characters on Discovery that I actually found likable and really interesting were Saru, the doctor played by Wilson Cruz, and Michelle Yeoh's original character (and the latter 2 were both killed off).
Oh, and the Klingon chick, L'Rell. That was a great performance!
The main protagonist, Michael, is ok but I find the actress a tad over the top and annoying, plus I couldn't stop staring at her hairstyle and painted-on eyebrows.
Ash was dashing - until I saw where that plot was going.
Speaking of... how was that even possible, even for Star Trek? Physically modifying his body on the outside is one thing I guess, but what about his DNA and his blood and his nervous system and on and on...?
And grafting someone else's memories? I don't know, my suspension of disbelief was really challenged with all of that.
Also, I don't really care about the ship and it's fancy mushroom engine that requires being plugged into an organic host and the whole spore network that crosses space and dimensions.
Again, it's just reaching way too far, even for Star Trek.
Even the costumes are like track suits with pin-striping.
I did like the nods to original Trek, like the inclusion of Sarek and Amanda and the Orions and even mentioning the Betazoids (although my geek alert went off, wondering if they had been "discovered" yet at this point in previous Star Trek canon).
It doesn't bother me that there's this foster sister of Spock that has never been mentioned before.
I mean, why not? It adds to the lore, right?
Harry Mudd was also a lot of fun, as was the Empress version of Michelle Yeoh - but even that twist and spending half the season in an alternate universe was kind of taxing.
Like I really didn't find it a challenging idea. She even says something like "Parallel universes? How quaint."
Yeah, it was kind of a wild reveal to have the Captain be from the mirror universe - but then I kept thinking, really? After all the time he spent with everyone else in the main universe and the dangerous missions and banter and so on?
There seems to be a heavy attachment for Trek fans to the Mirror Mirror / militaristic alternate "bad Starfleet" idea.
But for it to be half the season? I mean it was definitely pulsepounding - how are they going to get out of this, and then this, and then this!?
And of course there was the obligatory time loop episode, too.
I don't know, I feel like they could get more creative or expansive if they are going to mess around with mirror universes or time paradoxes or whatever.
Stuff like the 2nd Picard getting shunted back to the past and walking side by side with his current self or alternate reality Denise Crosby going back in time to restore the timeline which then resulted in a Romulan daughter - I mean, that stuff really makes the mind go WOW. Not just the already-used idea of alternate reality Ming the Merciless Starfleet.
Also, why is every Admiral in Star Trek shady?
Would they really put Yeoh 2.0 in charge of their most important ship?
Is Cadet Tilly the new Wesley Crusher? Even he wasn't usually included in confidential Officer briefings.
Meanwhile, we see very little of the robot chick who is supposed to be third in command.
Also, it seems like Starfleet could do a better job of augmenting or reconstructing the pilot chick with the half-shaved head so she doesn't have metal sticking out of her face.
Like so much of it just felt like "We're trying to be different" but didn't hold up to what I think of when it comes to Star Trek.
Sorry for the complaining. I guess I just needed to get it off my chest.
I'm hoping the show redefines itself a little bit with Season 2.
I hear the doctor will be coming back. So that makes me happy.
And hopefully Pike's uniform is an indication of change in that direction.
So I decided I'd prep for that and get caught up by watching season 1.
Just finished yesterday. And I'm not sure what to think.
This is like the darkest Star Trek I have ever seen.
And as engaging as it was, it was kind of a mess for me.
So topsy turvy and nothing is what it seems.
For one thing, I miss the familial comradery of the Classic and Next Gen crews.
The only characters on Discovery that I actually found likable and really interesting were Saru, the doctor played by Wilson Cruz, and Michelle Yeoh's original character (and the latter 2 were both killed off).
Oh, and the Klingon chick, L'Rell. That was a great performance!
The main protagonist, Michael, is ok but I find the actress a tad over the top and annoying, plus I couldn't stop staring at her hairstyle and painted-on eyebrows.
Ash was dashing - until I saw where that plot was going.
Speaking of... how was that even possible, even for Star Trek? Physically modifying his body on the outside is one thing I guess, but what about his DNA and his blood and his nervous system and on and on...?
And grafting someone else's memories? I don't know, my suspension of disbelief was really challenged with all of that.
Also, I don't really care about the ship and it's fancy mushroom engine that requires being plugged into an organic host and the whole spore network that crosses space and dimensions.
Again, it's just reaching way too far, even for Star Trek.
Even the costumes are like track suits with pin-striping.
I did like the nods to original Trek, like the inclusion of Sarek and Amanda and the Orions and even mentioning the Betazoids (although my geek alert went off, wondering if they had been "discovered" yet at this point in previous Star Trek canon).
It doesn't bother me that there's this foster sister of Spock that has never been mentioned before.
I mean, why not? It adds to the lore, right?
Harry Mudd was also a lot of fun, as was the Empress version of Michelle Yeoh - but even that twist and spending half the season in an alternate universe was kind of taxing.
Like I really didn't find it a challenging idea. She even says something like "Parallel universes? How quaint."
Yeah, it was kind of a wild reveal to have the Captain be from the mirror universe - but then I kept thinking, really? After all the time he spent with everyone else in the main universe and the dangerous missions and banter and so on?
There seems to be a heavy attachment for Trek fans to the Mirror Mirror / militaristic alternate "bad Starfleet" idea.
But for it to be half the season? I mean it was definitely pulsepounding - how are they going to get out of this, and then this, and then this!?
And of course there was the obligatory time loop episode, too.
I don't know, I feel like they could get more creative or expansive if they are going to mess around with mirror universes or time paradoxes or whatever.
Stuff like the 2nd Picard getting shunted back to the past and walking side by side with his current self or alternate reality Denise Crosby going back in time to restore the timeline which then resulted in a Romulan daughter - I mean, that stuff really makes the mind go WOW. Not just the already-used idea of alternate reality Ming the Merciless Starfleet.
Also, why is every Admiral in Star Trek shady?
Would they really put Yeoh 2.0 in charge of their most important ship?
Is Cadet Tilly the new Wesley Crusher? Even he wasn't usually included in confidential Officer briefings.
Meanwhile, we see very little of the robot chick who is supposed to be third in command.
Also, it seems like Starfleet could do a better job of augmenting or reconstructing the pilot chick with the half-shaved head so she doesn't have metal sticking out of her face.
Like so much of it just felt like "We're trying to be different" but didn't hold up to what I think of when it comes to Star Trek.
Sorry for the complaining. I guess I just needed to get it off my chest.
I'm hoping the show redefines itself a little bit with Season 2.
I hear the doctor will be coming back. So that makes me happy.
And hopefully Pike's uniform is an indication of change in that direction.
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