Star Trek: Discovery 2017

"Star Trek: Discovery" is not just a TV show; it's a cultural mosaic set in the final frontier. It's like a cosmic Pride parade, celebrating every color of the human—and alien—rainbow. The series doesn't just push the envelope; it puts the envelope through a wormhole and into a parallel universe where diversity is the prime directive.

The bridge of the USS Discovery is a veritable Benetton ad of interstellar proportions. It's as if the casting call was a group text that said, "Hey, does anyone NOT have representation on a sci-fi show yet?" And the response was a resounding, "Beam us up, Scotty!"

Michael Burnham, our protagonist, is the epitome of a 21st-century hero(ine). She's like if Rosa Parks and Neil Armstrong had a baby, and that baby was raised by Oprah and Ellen in a zero-gravity environment. She's not just breaking the glass ceiling; she's shattering the dilithium crystal barrier.

The show tackles every social issue you can think of, and even some you can't because they haven't been invented yet. It's as if the writers' room has a checklist titled "Inclusivity Goals" and they're scoring higher than a Vulcan playing 3D chess. The Klingons have been reimagined as misunderstood outsiders, not so much the villains of the galaxy but more like that one cousin who's really into heavy metal and just needs a hug.

And let's talk about the storylines, which are more tangled than headphone wires in a pocket. The plot twists come at you faster than a tribble's reproductive rate. Just when you think you've got a handle on the multiverse, the show hits you with a revelation that makes you question reality itself.

In essence, "Star Trek: Discovery" is the avocado latte of television – it's what happens when you blend science fiction with social consciousness, then sprinkle it with a dash of cosmic dust for flavor. It's a bold journey not just into space, but into the heart of what it means to be truly woke in a universe that's as diverse as it is vast. So strap in, set phasers to 'woke', and prepare for a ride that's as enlightening as a pride rainbow. :rocket::rainbow:

I do like the show, but it's not Star Trek. If this was just a new sci-fi show that existed in its own universe, it would be incredible. However, the fact that they've tried to pass this off as Star Trek when it's clearly not sullies the experience.

If it wasn't already apparent, Paramount and CBS have no idea what made Star Trek great, and don't care either. The simple explanation is that the world of Star Trek is supposed to be optimistic; this is pessimistic. And I do enjoy pessimistic sci-fi, but there's so much of it, and to see one of the few optimistic sci-fi worlds turned into something pessimistic is a shame.

Fortunately, we now have The Orville, which is doing Star Trek better than anything has since Voyager ended in 2001.

The show is supposed to take place between Enterprise and TOS, but the technology is very different. For example, there are holograms everywhere. Why try to do a prequel again? Why not set this after Voyager? That would make a lot more sense, and they'd be able to add whatever technology they like, and not be constrained by existing continuity. Fortunately, it's not too late for the showrunners to say "hey, we made a mistake, this actually takes place X years after Voyager".

Last, they fucked up the Klingons. For almost 25 years, they had the look of the Klingons figured out perfectly. They're iconic. But this show (and the reboot movies) messed them up and made them look like generic sci-fi bad guys. What happened to their hair and beards? Also, the costumes are ridiculous, and their ship interiors look like they're made of coral. I do like the idea of having an albino Klingon though.

And I applaud their desire to use the Klingon language on the show, but it's pretty annoying having every Klingon scene subtitled. The previous shows used a common sci-fi conceit: the actors speak a language that the audience understands, but it's accepted that they're really speaking a different language. The viewer effectively has a universal translator so they can understand what's being said.

Also, it looks nothing like Star Trek. Once again, The Orville got that right, and this didn't.

All of that said, I do like the show. The characters are interesting (especially Doug Jones), I've enjoyed each episode, and I think the storyline is pretty interesting. But goddamn it, why did they have to try to make this Star Trek when it's not?

Binged all 3 seasons.

First things first: this was my first Star Trek series, I've never watched any other, only the original one's first episode. Apart from that, I've watched the 3 Star Trek movie with Chris Pine, and while I've enjoyed those, I've never took myself as a fan, didn't know where the story is originated from.
After 3 seasons of Discovery, I'm still not sure if I've became a "true" fan or not, but after all I've enjoyed this 3 seasons as a whole. I guess (from reading comments on youtube) fans of the previous tv shows' are won't agree with me, but I have to say that this is a fair sci-fi series.
But of course let's break this down further.

1st season: My overall thoughts were good, I loved the series, especially how Burnham was a different kind of character. I loved her for being unemotional, for being so rational, she embodied the Vulcan culture alone. She was fresh, she was the kind of character whom I've wanted to see on tv for a long time. I loved her relationship with Sarek, and the story was enjoyable too. Because I didn't have previous knowledge about the Klingons, I found them ultimately great and fascinating. I even loved the story arc however tangled and weird it became from one moment to the other (I'm thinking about the abuse of Ash Tyler, and his relationship with his captor over the time). So I guess there were some inconsistencies, some really bizarre storylines, but overall I thought that this first season was fantastic with its' faults too. I gave it 8/10.

2nd season: And so I've ventured to the internet, read a few comments, and was disappointed immediately. Fans demanded changes, the outcry for Burnham's lack of tears were shocking. I was flabbergasted. I didn't understand this, I still don't, because something being different is not a fault, and it shouldn't be bad. I know, I can't understand this, because I haven't watched the original tv shows, but for me, the first season had an awesome message: no matter who you are, no matter where you're from, no matter what color is your skin, as long as you are welcoming, you are welcomed in return too. It had a cute, whole-hearted feel to the series, and while that didn't dissipate, I've felt that everything changed. The story became flatter - rouge AI is a cliché - Burnham became too emotional for me (she cried every time somebody told her something), and she started to get on the Space Jesus path. I had to totally agree with this. No matter what kind of problem have risen, the crew "solved everything together" while Burnham did everything alone. She became the ultimateMary Sue character, and I've felt a great deal of apathy from this. Still, the other characters were great at least, and the story wasn't a total fail (with introducing time travel), so all in all it was saved. I only felt sorry for the actor who played Spock, because he is such an iconic character, he couldn't do justice for him - not that his character in overall wasn't in vain, I still think it was a huge gamble from a creators to bring him in, and I think it didn't work out for anybody at all. Anyway, it was a solid season, so I gave it 6/10.

3rd season: And oh boi, we went to the future, almost 900 hundred years flew by, and there were so much potential in it, I'm shocked that it flapped so hard. The story was plain boring - at first I felt it exciting, everything should have been new, fresh, and while it served some of that, after Burnham started to investigate the Burn, it became the same old recipe: she started to solve the universe's huge problem, so she could've continue on being Space Jesus - and she did that of course, not that it was a riddle she could do it or not. At least her relationship with Book was genuine, there was some chemistry between them (with Ash, it was forced), so I'm glad they changed the love interest. Book is far more suited to Burnham than Tyler was.
So the story sucked, it was boring, the antagonist was a joke, she reminded me of the Grinch all the time. The new characters were plain, we didn't get to know them better, and Tal was the biggest miss of this season. Also the biggest fail I've ever seen when it comes to a tv show becoming politicly accurate. I mean... I get it why it's so important for LGBTQI+ members to be represented, but the show failed so much to incorporate non-binaries, that scene with Paul and Adira was the biggest cringe of my life - and because this show wants to represent equalness, acceptance and all of that wholesomeness, it's a huge mystery why they couldn't make a fair scene to get the viewers understand why a human prefers to be called 'they' or 'them'.
But apart from that, Adira's storyline was the most interesting, and that's why I'm wondering why the creators haven't made anything with that. Being a symbiont when Adira biologically couldn't have been one, is much more interesting for me than the Burn. So because of these misses, because the story fell flat, because the creators kind of forgot about the first season and all of its' glory, I gave it 4/10.

Overall I have to say that while this is a good show with great potential and with good actors, there were definitely some miserably outstanding points: for example I think that Anthony Rapp is the worst actor in the world. His mimicry at this point is non-existant, he only has one face, and even when he is smiling, his eyes are burning with the boringness of his life.
Focusing on the characters are: Tilly was awesome, I wish she wasn't backburned in this third season, that wasn't justice for her character. Apart from Tilly, I don't really have a favorite character, all of the crew are awesome, I really love them, especially the crew on the bridge. I hope everybody will have an episode for themselves, becase they deserve it - so that's why I was sad that Michelle Yeoh left, her character was the sole star in this series. She was brutal, she was a true tactician, a warrior through and through.
Also we can't forget Doug Jones, I mean he is just perfect, and I really hope we will see him from time to time. His acting was very welcoming, his character was an awesome, interesting addition.

So all in all I liked this show, and I'm eagerly waiting for the next season, but I see its' faults. I hope it will progress well, that Burnham maybe change back, but if that wont happen, at least I still have a fairly written sci-fi tv show, and that will be enough for me for a while.

I’m extremely disappointed :cry:

I really enjoyed the first two seasons, which led me to rate it 9 out of 10. But, wait what happened to the subsequent seasons of 3 and 4?

Season 3 definitely took a noticeable nose dive, however it was still reasonable to watch, believing it was leading up to what we’d expected in the first two seasons.

Season 4…wow, what an utter s**t show! I’m unbelievably bored and even worse…insulted with their slow and basic storylines of morality. Spelling everything out to us as though we are preschool children, then ending each episode with a speech to summarise the lesson of the show.

To make it worse, it’s changed from an exciting science fiction, fantasy show in to a relationship drama. Why do we have to hear in such detail from every character regarding how they feel and why they did what they chose to do, followed by tears or drawn out depressing scenes.

Do the current writers of the show need a long break or counselling? Or are they trying to make their viewers deeply depressed.

I suspect Sonequa Martin-Green is pregnant again and I wish her all the best, however the show shouldn’t be taking it easy to accommodate her personal situation. I’m sure they could continue with the speed of action in seasons 1 and 2, bringing forward other characters to fill in whilst the Commander of the Discovery takes a back seat. I may be wrong, but I can’t think of anything else that would effect the show as much.

I’m on S04 E08 and I don’t even want to watch it.

:face_with_symbols_over_mouth::face_vomiting::cry::rage:

I rate this as a 3. Bad. I will change my mind, because this is incredible.

The first time watching, 8 to 9 seeped down to a 6.

I watch mediocre TV. Lots of Mediocre TV, i should enjoy this and be willing to suspend my disbelief. I have tens of thousands of hours of TV on trakt, and elsewhere, hundreds of scifi shows. This series is ... superlative garbage. I... hate this show. I shouldn't hate it, it's gorgeous and awesome and I ... hate this. I want to mildly be annoyed, or wishing it could do better, but i can't believe or make myself appreciate it and stop thinking about the stages it went through to become this bad and intolerable

As i started to deconstruct, things became apparent and awful, things i'd glimmered over, are dead ends, and immersive elements that are hit or miss when the story is good, detract from the pilot "movie" in catastrophic ways. Meddling is everywhere.

What ruins this show is not the acting, or the CGI, it's the story and the characters.

Then, it quickly dawned on me that this was a parody, because of one badly written Mary Sue of a character, Michael Burnham. Nothing about the show feels like it should exist when she is in the room, on screen or interacting with other people once you've seen Ep 2. As I watched, and become more disillusioned, the score dropped below a 5. i passed the point of tolerating the show's banality around the point of the second episode's flashbacks to Michael's upbringing and the "vulcan hello", because the character is integral, and damaged. but ultimately, you don't sympathise.

I can see what this was supposed to be, what it was, what it could have been. Burnham is a catalyst, as was Spock. But they overwrote the shit out of the character to get there, and it harms the entire fabric of the universe of the show to get to the point of where she is invulnerable and heroic, brave and stunning, awesome and likeable, charming and elfin, charismatic and effective, smart and capable, vulnerable and emotional, concerned and ruthless, etc.

Yes, we get it. Michael Burnham is a Disney Princess, along with Rey from Force Awakens and Padme from Episode 2, right ? There are action figures in the stores already, right ?

I will definitely keep watching because it's Star Trek, as this is supposed to be "The Original Series" prequel, No.

=FUCK THIS SHOW=

Everything about this show once you remove the billion dollars of money about to be poured into the franchise, is tepid. All the writers that have "polished" or dumbed things down, added a bit of pep or written out dialogue to make it more personable, more emotional, etc. are meddling with a concept that should not need this much work, to the extent that it's severely overwritten and layered insanity on top of insanity. Whatever was clever or good about the first, second or third draft is meaningless.

I don't even need to put a benchmark on this, because they have an android, wearing a Daft Punk Helmet, who is a woman. WHY ? Every answer i've seen to this flatly refuses to point to this character, perhaps because they have no names.

They are expendable, forgettable placeholders. Great.

Here's what I've created for a backstory, because it makes no difference whatsoever ... The Android probably has a tragic orphan backstory where her parents were a windows 10 desktop that suddenly died as a result of installing CCleaner and she was brought up all alone, and grew up on Earth as a triple-monitor desktop, answering search queries for Bing, and in 2120, decided to get a human body, and then in 2210 travelled the stars as a ship's computer, got into a relationship with their captain, which ended badly, had a sex change, hung out with her new friends on vulcan who preferred her as a vertical monitor setup ... and here she is, a highly decorated veteran ship's computer, a valued member of the crew of a starship, adorning a helmet with her vertical monitors showing her proud heritage of being a unique individual who knows who she is ... Oh, and she can also travel through time, her father is secretly Harry Potter, and she can wear earrings and smoke, because she's cool like that too, and, because it's the future, smoking is totally safe because of magic, er nanobots. and also, she's an android so she doesn't have to worry about being a slut, so she's had sex with like, all the cute alien boys and...

etc.

Why are there people with flashing headwear, why is there an android/robot on the crew, interfaces do nothing, or have standard controls. Why does the captain ask for things she knows don't exist. Is it because the crew wants Burnham to die ? I'd believe that. Part of me knows it's a writer's device to show empathy for the Protag when she's in danger, by being so concerned she's desperate for a different answer so she can feel she tried to help as much as possible.

And then there's the video-game holograms and tactical eye-tracking interfaces that don't do anything, that lack cohesion or thought or practical elements from a design POV.

Until i can get past the idea that this is a terribly overblown Fan Fiction like My Immortal or Warcraft the Movie, I keep hitting dead ends where i want to be positive and give it consideration unduly, or see what other people do like about it.

But I can't.

My brain keeps rejecting the writing, the dialogue,
the character motivations are garbage,
the names are irrelevant,
The design of visual elements is distilled failure.
The technical design is fantastic levels of failed design methodology and concept.
world building is broken at a fundamental level because there's no coherence within the established universe or themes, no bridging characters or elements exist other than ... there's phasers and communicators and the logo is the same.
the thematic elements of the "New" federation values,
the sudden expendability of a bridge officer versus a starship with armor and radiation shielding. or a shuttle. or a probe. On a science ship, i guess ? because I tend to trust the instinct of a naval commander that likes to jump on a jetski and "git er dun" to fix problems or investigate an anomaly in the wake of a sun's extreme radiation.

The fact that nobody countermands or prohibits "Michael" as an officer is ... problematic. To let someone with a deathwish be in command, let alone the captain's favourite, the crew must want her dead. This is the only explanation i've been able to conceive of that works here, and it makes the show better if you imagine that the only member of the crew wanting to keep her alive is the computer which is obliged by ethical routines it can't ignore, and the captain, who admires a brattish psychopath who would definitely murder everyone on the crew to prove a point. The speculation of a lesbian relationship is not dismissable, but it's trite and convenient, so there's a strong possibility it actually exists or was muted at some stage.

So, naturally, this is what makes good captains in the future. Ambition, Pride and bare metal confidence in being correct, brown-nosing up to people in higher command, and latent psychotic tendencies. FANTASTIC This, in spite of the Mary Sue elements of an orphaned girl, who is Spock's adopted sister, who has a secret vulcan power of telepathy, and has to be the best person of all time when she's in the room and is always the best; because she's a girl ! with issues! and she wants to help everyone by killing! Just put a fucking light saber in her hand and call her Rey.

I have zero compassion or sympathy because everyone who deals with this level of insanity and tolerates her deserves to die. Gifted isn't the right word, it's Magical thinking that makes this show awesome. By sharp comparison, this makes Enterprise better, and makes the rest of Star Trek worse.

This is sort of the Wookie Defense in a nutshell. If you can accept that there's a reason for this, or you didn't notice, or you did, and have no problems, fuck you. I don't have any strong feelings whatsoever on the Klingons as a threat or as a character, or as a race or culture, because, it is so poorly done in theme that it's obviously a "hook" designed to reel you in.

I don't even trust the hook, the reel, the fish, the fisherman, the concept is bankrupted by the script and design that went into this. I expect this from zombie movies, or first time directors, or reality TV shows, where you don't need a backstory.

Vin Diesel needs to race a car to steal a bank vault, f yeah, lets go with it.
Naval Pilot decides to learn to ice skate because he has cancer, then starts a nuclear war with Iceland, okay, maybe not.

First officer decides to jetpack into a radiation hazard, kills someone, then to hide the evidence, wants to kill the entire ship of people to stop them from becoming martyrs when they find the body, and then decides to attack anyway when everyone around her says no.

Classy. Top Notch Entertainment. 9/10 Excitement and Thrills.

Well. Discovery started off as being one of the best ever Star Treks I had seen in a long while!

The last 2 season where just a downhill battle to watch!

I'm sorry if I do offend anybody, but lately, not only with Star Trek, but a lot of other once good shows, everything is becoming more gay pride than ever and to me it just ruins a show!
Having gay scenes and men and woman kissing each other and girls that think they are not girls, but something else, just annoys me and YES, I was born in the early 70's which does make it difficult for me to actually even watch these scenes.

But to me, it just ruins a great show. And not only that, the one show with the singing and dancing! OMG! That was just the worst!

Disney, if you even DREAM of trying to do this with any Star Wars episodes it will ruins it for many many many viewers!
And I know, many of my Trekky mates already stopped watching Star Trek years ago because of the way it was heading.

Anyways.

Guys and girls and whatever you choose to be, that is your choice in life and this is just my opinion, so please don't cry.
Deal with it!

Consistently beautiful visuals, and consistently disappointing storytelling.

Luckily I’m a Star Trek fan already, but, especially when compared to Strange New Worlds, this is, by and large, a flop that rests upon the decaying laurels of its predecessor entries to the Star Trek universe, relying on modern visuals to mask what’s really just a poorly executed narrative (e.g., late-season dialogue is absolute trash).

I was initially thrilled to see the televised approach to Trek resurrected, but I’m beyond grateful that season 5 is the last.

For example, “Michael” could certainly be a convincingly engaging character, except that her character was clearly initially written as a man BY a man, as evidenced by the name and by her mannerisms. Give me a well-written, strong, woman lead any time, I’m here for it, but “Michael” ain’t her…

Worth a watch, for sure. It’s pretty fun most of the time, but def gives Rings-of-Power vibes in that it’s a masturbatory investigation of what happens when the show runners are trying to cater to the current societal zeitgeist rather than doing their best to make an actually engaging series (at the risk of sounding like a Ferengi, look to Fallout for inspiration when it comes to a well-told, strong, female-driven character arc).

I’d rather sit through a 5th run-through of Voyager than start Discovery anew for a second time.

Can’t wait for the next season of Strange New Worlds, though. Captain Pike is my pompadour Jesus.

Side note - I’d watch a whole show about Michael/Book’s adventures, provided that the franchise gets new writers for their saga.

I've seen every episode of every iteration of Star Trek. I've seen the cast get-together interviews. I've seen the behind-the-scenes and bloopers. I've taken several years to say anything at length about Star Trek beyond my appreciation for the analogy that is The Borg. Well, here goes nothing.

Star Trek Discovery turned me onto Star Trek broadly. I was always, confidently, a Star Wars person. The campiness of the older series and the look and feel overall just did not mesh with my sensibilities, especially as a child. Discovery modernizing and evolving the in-universe technology and raising the catastrophic stakes drew me in. It, yes, suffered, particularly later in the series of what reactionaries deem "woke" bullshit that felt particularly cringey and distracting, but, on the whole of Star Trek, it's not like it's a series that doesn't belabor its character's feelings and mushy interpersonal struggles. Odo and Kira come to mind immediately. T'Pol and Trip I'd argue was clunky and Worf and Dax probably the best in how they were developed.

I think what Discovery does best is its big-picture narratives. I'm considerably less concerned about any individual crew member and they feel less "iconic" perhaps precisely because they're servicing more cliche role-fillers in service to the broader picture than meant to develop into the next Spock. I do think Stamets, Saru, and Cleveland stick out star-power-wise in general, and while I don't mind Michael, I haven't been convinced, and I think I blame that mostly on the writing than her performance.

Star Trek has the same "problem" as Star Wars. You can't erase multiple generations of people's memories and feelings about dozens of episodes or characters. A franchise has to grow and iterate to meet modern landscapes, just like a person, sometimes in direct spite of gut-level reactions about what the property means or represents. To be sure, literally no one has a singular grasp on what is or isn't Star Trek, and I take any pissed off troll-esc opinion of someone personally affronted by more gay representation or chubby body types as lazy and hateful reactionary nonsense. Today, Discovery is trying to mirror today's conversation from "Hollywood" or "left-leaning" ideas, like the show about the struggle explore, defend, and live according to universally sensitive and translatable ideals always has. If there's a larger singular note I hear from Star Trek, I'm deaf to that frequency.

The Star Trek universe is one of the most nakedly idealistic fantasies you could ask for. It tries, sometimes, to lay a larger claim on the way we achieve its vision than feels remotely possible or even fleetingly sane, but the exact same impulse that turned me off as a a child keeps me intrigued as an adult. I didn't want goofy pontificators lecturing and awkwardly conveying an unconvincing struggle. That, still, turns me off whenever it comes up across any of the series, regardless of who's saying it. (Seriously, no one finds Sisko absolutely exhausting?) This universe is the bridge between the cynical Star Wars and the painful naivety of shows on The CW. It commits no bigger sin than any classic insanely-long-running franchise that attracts too-personal idealists to show run. The, by definition and existential circumstance, ever-fluid identity starts to crack because it has to as things evolve.

If you can learn and grow and change, but maintain your identity and through-line relationship to the franchise, the brilliant and compelling parts will shine considerably brighter than the cringe. Star Trek is daring you to believe in yourself like it does.

First season was fantastic and I think show would be much better off if it continued on that trajectory. Unfortunately, some fans weren't happy and nitpicked it to death as every episode came out without waiting for the whole story. It was genuinely fresh, intriguing and exciting.

Showrunners changed and second season seemed like U turn designed primarily around backtracking on everything those fans from first season didn't like (shade of The Rise of Skywalker). Little did they know there's no satisfying those fans, so they satisfied close to no one (or at least very few people). Also, let's never forget penultimate episode of the season where they decided to fill whole runtime with only the worst parts of the show. At least we got Pike, which is only reason to suffer through this season.

Third season started out fantastic, first few episodes it seems they are setting up a really compelling world (or time I should say) and compelling story, with new, stoic Burnham, but then they just rush through plot points and Burnham regresses to her usual whiny self. Mixed bag, but better looking than any other SF (movie or series) with some interesting stuff.

Unfortunately (or is it?), then they decided to launch Paramount+ or whatever it is and left us in europe without legal way to watch, and it's not that good that I go through trouble of finding it through alternative sources.

This is one of those shows that I was willing to forgive a lot for, being a hard-core Trekkie! I could overlook the obvious SJW crap, I could overlook the lead character being pretty much totally unlikable, as much as I hated it I could even deal with white straight men being relegated to the trash heap of the future, but it's just not Star Trek.

The fact that Michael Burnham is totally insubordinate at pretty much all times would have her thrown out of Starfleet. Remember Ensign Ro from TNG? Well, Burnham is Ro times 100 and she gets a free pass.

That being said, season 1 was a really good non Star Trek sci-fi show.

Then season 2 hit and it was getting silly and even less Star Trek than before and even more SJW. I started to fizzle out. Then season 3 was so out of bounds that it didn't even qualify as good sci-fi any longer. It seems that the people in charge of Discovery are more interested in not just doing the Roddenberry firsts (first black lead, purported first interracial kiss - but that has since been debunked) by having the first gay characters in Trek, then the first trans character in Trek and the show became more about those things than being Trek and they took this wildly stupid ride into the far future to try to give some kind of sci-fi to prop up these other SJW things.

So, now it's Picard and I hope they don't destroy that too.