Star Trek: Discovery

[The Ween]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

You folks who don't like the crew realize that

Spoiler:

Besides Burnham and Saru, the rest are not going to continue as main characters, right? The Discovery has a different captain,
doctor, science officer, etc. Not that you're going to like them for sure, just that it doesn't matter as much if you didn't like these

I had no idea and it's a bit....weird. Anyway, I'm not going to be watching it anyway till it's available to rent.

 

[Mighty_Jabba]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

I liked this a lot. I found the characters interesting. I also love how pretty this looks, it feels like a high budget movie. My biggest fear was that it was going to be like the Abrams movies, lots of shouting, running and explosons, but it wasn't. I'll be watching this.

 

[Spartan Rex]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

CBS and Netflix dispensed the first two episodes of season 1 of Discovery at the weekend, the latest Star Trek series and one coming off the back of nostalgia for older series like The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine and frustration with J.J. Abrams' film trilogy.
The double opener fell somewhere in-between these very different adaptations, offering more political and diplomatic intrigue than the action and emotion-heavy movies but still being a long way away from anyone ever calmly ordering hot EarlyGrey tea and slow dancing on the Holodeck.
Critical reaction was mostly positive, but what did the franchise's enormous fan base think?

To the Star Trek subreddit's credit, there were a lot of users deferring judgement until later in the season instead of making a snap assessment following the launch, and the reaction wasn't generally characterised by the kind of rabid fastidiousness that outsiders perhaps associate Trekkies with.
There were, however, quite polarised opinions.

The bad:

"My main grievances:

1) Too grim dark - Star Trek was supposed to be the one source of positive outlook on the future and yet we get another show about war/death/betrayal and destruction. Basically military sci-fi.
2) Too much melodrama - the constant bickering between crew members is NOT Star Trek. Can you imagine if people working in the Navy or on a Submarine argued this much? Or hell, imagine yourself in a board room of your company. Lets all chime in and bark back at the CEO. Nothing would ever get done. I want to see humanity working together not at each other's throats.
3) Unlikeable lead - the main protagonist couldn't be more unlikable if they had her kill a baby in her first scene. Rude, indignant, stubborn, overly emotional. Not to mention the actress seemed to be phoning in her performance.
4) The cinematography - I hate you forever JarJar Abrams for infusing lens flares and dutch angles into Star Trek. Now I can't watch a single scene without getting nauseous and distracted. Holly hell did we need 360 angles and cameras sweeping around actors every time they spoke dramatically. This is Michael Bay Level crap." - u/
"I just want a star trek show about exploration. Is that too much to ask?" - u/JeffCraig
"It has that really cheesy SyFy channel movie CGI. Everything is so.damn.shiny. Chrome ALL the things." - u/zerodry
"Not only is the story and direction too grim dark, but I also hate how grim dark the Klingons turned out to be. Yes, they are a scary warrior race, but they also knew how to party. Can you imagine the Discovery Klingons getting drunk on blood wine, laughing heartily while singing songs and embellishing stories of combat and glory?" - u/Manolo_Ribera

Here you have a captain who is not in control of an unstable first officer, let alone the ship. Both of whom leave the bridge during a face-off with a known hostile alien race to discuss orders the captain received from Starfleet. That's not the way it works and it has a terrible impact on a crew." - u/Willard2566
"I wonder if CBS realizes the message this might send showing what it's like with two women in charge on a starship, with them disagreeing with each other, one knocking the other unconscious, then that one waking up and pointing a weapon at the other."

​

 

[thecapn]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

I had no idea and it's a bit....weird. Anyway, I'm not going to be watching it anyway till it's available to rent.

Sorry for all the spoiler tags, this isn't one really, I just don't want to offend anyone...

Spoiler:

Yeah, a lot of people have been saying that. The first two episodes are essentially a Prelude to the actual show, which starts with ep.
3, where we're actually introduced to the crew of the Discovery. An odd choice, especially how CBS chose to market the show with an ep that won't actually be anything like the main show.

 

[Python]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

I thought the whole show centered around both ships and crews? Very weird if they are doing the first two episodes with one, and then moving on to the Discovery?

 

[thecapn]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

That's exactly what they're doing. Though, of course, there could be flashbacks:

Spoiler:

BIG SPOILER BELOW:::









The Shenzhou doesn't make it through the second episode.

 

[screamingmetal]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

I only got to see the first 2/3rds of episode 1 because of the delay from the football game and 60 minutes, and they didn't make the first "free" episode available on Xfinity on demand.
The characters have no charisma and didn't act like officers, the Klingons also had no charisma and didn't act like Klingons (they're no fun), the politics of the Klingon Empire didn't fit with what I know about them, the interior of the ships and costumes look terrible, and the nonstop music was irritating. Worse of all, NO other Prime aliens except for Vulcans and Klingons!
I hope that in later episodes you guys will see other known Prime aliens, but I'm seeing just a continuation of JJ Trek.

The pilot didn't do much to entice me to pay up to watch what I missed and future episodes. The characters and story just seem uninteresting to me.

 

[abake]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

Just watched the first two, and I quite enjoyed them.
They're more like the Abrams' movies in tone and look, but I found the whole thing intriguing enough to keep watching.

 

[noisetrigger]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

I enjoyed it mainly because it had the Battlestar Galactica reboot vibe. I always felt the old Star Trek shows a little too clean and safe.

 

[a-dev]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

If this and the Abrams movies were a full reboot - i.e. no connection or reference whatsoever to the original Trek universe I'd be able to accept them just fine. They're probably all enjoyable in their own right. But since they aren't a full reboot I can't help but go NOOOOO every five seconds.

 

[GeneralZodLives]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

If this and the Abrams movies were a full reboot - i.e. no connection or reference whatsoever to the original Trek universe I'd be able to accept them just fine. They're probably all enjoyable in their own right. But since they aren't a full reboot I can't help but go NOOOOO every five seconds.

This is me watching the new DC films.

 

[a-dev]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

Something I couldn't help but notice..the lead character, a female, is called Michael. Ermmm....

 

[abake]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

Is there a back story to that?

 

[thecapn]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

Well, in the "real world," supposedly Bryan Fuller originally wrote the character without any particular race or sex in mind, so maybe that's why, but from what I've read Martin-Green was targeted by the studio pretty early on to play the role?

Nothing on-screen yet.

FYI, not sure if you all care or not, but I've been reading the Discovery tie-in novel, Desperate Hours, which is supposed to be canon, and been jotting down notes. Anyone interested in some backstory additions? Happy to post it (otherwise it's all for my personal reference lol).

 

[screamingmetal]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

Is there a back story to that?

What I've heard is that Bryan Fuller has a tradition of giving lead female characters male names. The reason in the story is simply that Michael Burnham is named after her father.

 

[thecapn]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

The reason in the story is simply that Michael Burnham is named after her father.

According to the tie-in, supposedly canon, book, her dad's name is Calvin. Where did you read that?

 

[geekjosh]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

 

[screamingmetal]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

According to the tie-in, supposedly canon, book, her dad's name is Calvin. Where did you read that?

It was from the actress Sonequa Martin-Green:

“I also just decided for my creation and for my background and whatnot, that I was named after my father,” she continued. “So again, you sort of get a little bit of exploration of the father-daughter dynamic … I think it’s a lovely symbol.”

Which is from an interview with the Wrap:
https://www.thewrap.com/star-trek-discovery-female-lead-mans-name/

I guess the actors on Discovery have zero input on their characters, unlike the original series.

 

[jkno]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

I like the story, I like the crew, and the Federation ships. I don't like the new "Killingons" - they look like Nemesis Remans with a spice of zombie and Blade Vampires. I was almost waiting for the Klingons to start singing opera.

 

[thecapn]

Re: New Star Trek TV Series in 2017!

It was from the actress Sonequa Martin-Green:

Which is from an interview with the Wrap:
https://www.thewrap.com/star-trek-discovery-female-lead-mans-name/

I guess the actors on Discovery have zero input on their characters, unlike the original series.

Interesting...I will say it's possible that it's still true. In the book, her mom calls her dad Calvin in the midst of an argument. Could be Calvin is his middle name or a nickname or something like that. Pretty common in families that have generational names (Michael III, IV, etc). Until we see what she said on screen or in another book, though, I'll take Calvin as the "official" name for now

Also - had no idea Bryan Fuller liked to give his female leads male names. This is the first time it's so blatant though - I looked it up on IMDB and most of them were male nicknames for female names (like 'George' for Georgia) or names that could be either male or female (like Jaye).