Star Trek: Discovery
 

First two episodes were really good. Honours the canon and shows that have come before it while imbuing itself with a much-needed contemporary vibe that better reflects the kinds of shows people want to watch now. Seems to succeed at being a modern prequel where Enterprise failed (for a few reasons).

The proximity to the original series is good too, since it allows for elements of it to bleed across, and I am on board with the Klingons being antagonists again, since that's not really been the case since TOS (at a stretch, The Undiscovered Country).

I have no problem with the way they're presented in this series, either; I know a few fans have got all high and mighty about the changes to their look and, to an extent, their behaviour, but I think it all flies just fine. Nothing wrong with making them look a little more alien than just "people with ridges".

Sucks that it's only available on CBS All Access in the States; we've got it on Netflix here, so hopefully international numbers on more accessible streaming services will help bolster its audience figures to ensure it gets a good run, because I imagine it'll struggle at home with convincing people to pick up another streaming service. It's a double-edged sword, though; if enough people get CBS' thing to make it a viable series for several seasons, it validates the idea of splintering streaming services, which nobody wants.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying it so far. Only two eps in and it's probably going to be the best Trek since DS9. BIG CALL but I dunno, I'm into it.

I wasn't too crazy about it, but there was enough to keep me watching.

One thing that bugged me was the overusage of the Adam West Batman Villain camera angle. Made me think that everyone was up to something.

Also, who decided to name a girl character Michael?

I'm guessing one of two things (or a combination of both): the role was originally written for a guy and/or when they cast Martin-Green, they figured that 23rd-century people wouldn't be hung up on gender any more and are using the name as a means to demonstrate the point.

I mean, it's kinda weird, since in 10 years (show time) the women of the Federation will be rocking miniskirts but still. Can't account for everything.

What wasn't really to your liking, aside from the Bat-angle?

I know they are going for something different by mainly focusing on one character, but I hope they build up the ensemble crew and let other people get some focus too.

Basically right now The Orville reminded me more of "classic Trek" so I guess I wanted something more traditional, but without the terrible humour of The Orville and better production values.

Also, totally not anything to do with the quality, but I was totally distracted by Theo Gallavan playing Sarek..... first few times he appeared I was like "that dude looks so familiar"

Finally had to pause and check IMDB, and then I couldn't unsee it.......

Yeah, I didn't mind The Orville but it cribs pretty heavily from TNG in its execution, right down to the aesthetic, soundtrack and fadeout act breaks. And yeah, its humour is weirdly middling. Not that MacFarlane has been particularly great for several years but I dunno, felt... toothless? Saw someone describe it as "Star Trek, but for [MacFarlane]", which is pretty much on the money. Feels very much like it's just "I have the money and clout to do this so I'm gonna do it for me".

I'm sure the Discovery crew focus will broaden from hereout; read somewhere that the first two episodes are kind of like a 'prologue' for the wider series, since we haven't even seen the USS Discovery (or the main captain) yet. I've got faith they'll spread it around as it moves forward.

Had this exact reaction too tbh. Good Sarek though.

Meh. Marc Lenard is the only Sarek. Movie Sarek and Galavant just sounded like they were constipated. Too bad they can't find anybody who sounds like Marc Lenard. Episodes were good.

Last week's episode of the Orville was so good.

So it gets better? I've only watched the pilot so far and it was OK, like decent enough for me to come back for at least a couple more but it's nice to hear there's early improvement.

Yeah the second episode was a little bit like the Cage from TOS. The 3rd was classic TNG episode like "A Measure of a Man."

I'm going to wait until there are some more episodes available; I can't really do the whole one-episode-a-week-thing, anymore. Let me binge at my leisure.

I think both shows have the ability to give everyone what they want and i hope both will be allowed to continue to do so. I am, like others, a little annoyed to pay 5.99 a month to watch it however so I guess I will wait for the rest until it comes to American netflix in the spring sometime ( I assume).

I kind of wish they would have placed Discovery a little further back in the timeline tio allow them to frollic some and I am very very curiious to see how diffrent these Klingons really are.

STD, would you say that you were a fan of STD?

I caught just the first episode, and thought it was pretty interesting. I liked the look of the Klingons.

I am intrested I'll say that Klingons look awesome

I'm on the fence about what Michael did but over all I liked it ok hoping they only improve from here(I have faith it will because Voyager was a mess and we still got great stuff from it.)

Enterprise just sucked

I wish the Klingons did look more traditional, but I don't have a problem with change so I accept it.

To be fair the Klingons on the Original looked nothing like the ones on TNG onward

Really enjoyed the third episode. If they wanted people to sign up to some online service to watch the show, they should have showed that episode on TV. Seems like it is actually the "real" pilot, and the first two episodes were just "prologue".........

Interesting to see how they work this without messing with the timeline

"Whoa" at casual f-bombs being dropped in tonight's episode......

Fag or fuck?

Second one.....

Woulda been real ballsy to say fag in 2017...

Speaking of gay. First canon Star Trek gay couple.

Really enjoying this series. I've always been more Star Trek than Star Wars.

I really like Captain Lorca. Usually, the captain is a whiter than white character who follows all rules and protocol. It's nice to see shades of grey and a captain willing to do whatever it takes.

This is still really good.

@Impeccable - Sisko and Janeway both sat in some pretty grey areas a fair bit, but yes, Lorca is definitely the most morally questionable we've seen from the outset. How much do you think he knew that things wouldn't end well for the admiral when he sent her to negotiate? Seemed like an obvious ploy to prevent her from filing a report about taking Discovery away from him.

Also what are the odds that Tyler is actually that albino Klingon in disguise? At least decent, I'd say

I think he knew on some level she wouldn't return to file a report.

I'd not thought about that with Tyler. I actually thought more that he is a plant of Harry Mudd's and will work from the inside to smuggle Mudd back into Federation space that will somehow make things worse.

Just watched the latest one today.....

I think he certainly knew it could be dangerous, but was mostly just trying to stall for time and delaying her report with a mission.....

Also a solid possibility tbh.

The Klingon thing was a theory posited on Reddit, and there's weirdly a good amount of backing evidence for it. Some of it is specious but also kind of interesting:

Outside the show:
- Javid Iqbal, the actor credited as Voq (the albino), only has one credit on his IMDb page - DSC, and the only photo is of him in full Voq make-up.
- He was also the only main cast member not to appear on press tours in the lead-up to the show, and has no social media accounts. So, some people think that this is actually just a pseudonym for Shazad Latif, who plays Tyler; that Iqbal does not exist.
- Notably, Latif was originally cast as Kol - the Klingon who overthrew Voq - before being recast as Tyler. For... some reason.

Inside the show (directly from Reddit, because it's concise and explanatory enough):

The episode following this week's episode is titled "Lethe". The River Lethe comes from Greek Mythology, a river in the underworld whose waters would cause the drinker to forget their memories so they could be reincarnated into a new life.

If L'Rell tells Voq that he must sacrifice everything for his mission, consider this a two-fold hint. Voq is a spy, inserted into Starfleet under the guise of Lieutenant Ash Tyler, with the aid of the House of Mo'Kai, infamous for being a house of "deceivers" and "weavers of lies".

In order to resemble a human, Voq is infected with the Augment virus, dissolving his cranial ridges. While there are other means to do this aside from the Augment virus, it thematically fits with what he must do; sacrifice everything, including his own Klingon purity, including the torch he has borne for T'Kuvma, in order to secure victory.

We can infer that his memory is removed, as the title "Lethe" alludes to, so that he is better inserted as a Manchurian Candidate. In this regard, Voq sacrifices everything that composes his identity; he completely forsakes the entirety of his identity as a Klingon, his physicality and his soul, so that he can successfully infiltrate the Discovery as an agent so deeply undercover that he doesn't even know himself to be a spy.

This is further backed by the fact that this exact plotline has been used in licensed works dating back at least to 1983; FASA's RPG, Pocket Books novels such as Rules of Engagement, and reference book The Worlds of the Federation explain the TOS Klingons as Klingon-Human hybrids created to infiltrate the Federation. It also works as an interesting call-forward to Arne Darvin, which may also hint that Voq will be exposed by Lorca's pet tribble.

-------------

This is also a really good rundown.

I dunno, I could still see it going another way, but it's a pretty compelling/interesting argument, and it would make that tribble more than just a cutesy nod to TOS.

How isn't the place full of tribbles anyways?

Great episode last night.

It isn't star trek if there isn't a good old time loop story!

Uh oh!

No new episodes til January? Why are they doing this if they want to keep people subscribed?

Their "mid-season" break.

Anyways, Lt. Tyler is totally that one Klingon like a lot of theories say. Have a sinking feeling that they will pull a Battlestar Galactica and have him shoot Captain Lorca on the bridge.....

Just have a sinking feeling that Captain Lorca is going to die..... which is a shame because I really like him.....

There's another theory about Lorca floating around

Read at your peril

Cancelled All Acccess for the time being since there's no point to it without new episodes. Don't get why they are doing old TV crap like this in the new medium.

Hope many December cancellations show them the error in doing things the old way.

How much is it? Dunno if I would sign up to anything just to watch one show. I wonder how many subscriptions they got in the first place.

Yeah that doesn't seem like a smart business model, both the midseason break and putting it on a specific platform. We get the episodes on Netflix here, which makes way more sense than all these companies trying to launch a million different streaming services.

They did the same thing with The Tick on Amazon, which annoyed me tbh - what is with weekly episode dumps and stopping after six? That seems so dumb, and not really how people want to watch TV any more.

Tyler is definitely Voq tho

It's way too obvious which makes me believe it won't be as simple as "ha ha! I'm a traitor" Voq is probably going to have to choose if he wants to remain as Tyler and choose Burnham or T'Rell.

Engage season 1 part 2, make it so.

A One Take Frakes directed episode :y:

Best episode so far imo.

Yeah, pretty good episode.

R.I.P. the doctor

The cat is fully out of the bag now.....

Wonder how long they are gonna be in the mirror universe for....... more than a two-parter it seems.......

I feel like this will be the entire second half of the season

Vog is out of the bag. Maybe Mirror Vog could be the key. He becomes the Savior of the Klingon and Tyler can be fake human and bang Burnham?

Wait, why is a woman's name Michael here?

Been wondering that from the start

I guess because in the future, names know no gender.

SJW paradise!

I figured the role was initially written for a man.

Or Michael's parents might have wanted a boy.

Just watched it. Not a fan of that twist, but I'll see where it goes.

Well. I saw where it went, and I don't necessarily like it all that much.

It was unexpected. So, I'll give them that. Way too much violence for a Star Trek episode.

Honestly, I enjoy a grittier Star Trek. I always felt that considering the broad scope of its universe that what was presented was always remarkably tame in comparison and never quite met up. This version of Star Trek does this.

I think after tonight's episode if all this proves to become canon that it is pretty fucking cool. I think by revealing all this true history can open up new avenues for Star Trek to explore. Imagine a Star Trek after Voyager where all Star Fleet somehow uncovers all this "lost", "classified" and "forgotten" knowledge of its origins after believing itself to be all high and mighty.

Watched the first episode of Season two, and so far so good. I like Mount as Pike, and it seems they're giving the episodes more of a "beginning-middle-end" while also having an overall story arc. Looking forward to what is coming.

The Orville has been on fire recently though.

I have a theory after watching last week's episode last night

Haven't watched any of season 2 yet.

Make it so.

I'll be watching season 2 once all the episodes are available, at the end of April. I can't be doing with the one episode a week thing.

Netflix has ruined people. Gotta have time to process what happened and guess what will happen next.

Finished season 2. I thought it was much better than the first, and I look forward to what they might be able to do in season 3, now that they will not be constrained by canon.

I would definitely be interested in a Captain Pike-led Enterprise series, if Anson Mount came back as Pike.

I also like that they softened some of the changes that they initially made in the first season, like the look of the Klingons and their ships; we sad Trekkies don't like it when you mess with such things.

Biggest problem with season 1 was a big gap between episodes. The big reveals were guessed by most.

i appreciated the more 'trek classic' elements they brought in with respect to the klingons and their ships but i still would have really enjoyed season two without those visual nods

anson mount as pike was just simply inspired. he was great, and tbh i too would 100% be here for a pike-led enterprise series, even knowing what awaits him on the other side of it.

lol'd a bit at spock pretty much literally saying "and we can never speak of michael burnham or spore drives again" but, for whatever reason, it worked enough for me

as el vaq said though, at least they won't be held back by continuity or canon any more. should make it much easier to take this series to some new places they mightn't have felt they could before

although i question how much of the trek universe will remain all that familiar 930 years down the road; bold to assume there's even going to be a federation for them to fall back on or any familiar species/societies at all

they also pulled back on having the klingons always speaking klingon (deft write-around having tyler/voq's initial presence being the reason) -- and even when they did, they spoke it much faster/more traditionally than the painfully slow, staccato delivery of s1

I think if I remember correctly from Voyager and Enterprise, the Federation still exists in the 29th and 31st centuries, but it would be interesting to see it in decline, though I'm not sure if the next season should be set in the Alpha Quadrant or even the Milky Way Galaxy. Presumably with the mycelial network, you could travel well-beyond known space.

We are getting an Anson Mount-led Captain Pike series, which is awesome.

Then again, I thought it was awesome when they announced a Picard series, but that turned out to be a disappointment in the end.