5/10: Season one made me think we were getting some kind of Trek / Sliders mashup where they are lost AF in the multiverse and in theory closed all possible prequel issues right then and there. Nothing they could have done would match the show I thought we were in for.
Apart from many points already made in the thread for me the worst thing was the acting quality of the Burnham actress and some inclusive actors didn’t cut it for me in theirs quality and took me out the thing. It’s somewhat uncomfortable to say this because you get accused of all kind of things, but I liked many actors in the cast. I loved the cientific guy but didn’t like his partner (thought he overacted) I liked the asian badass emperor but couldn’t stand the spirit of the cello guy.
This is no mean as a disrecpect to them I just didn’t like it and when I read the scripts I liked them better than seeing them acted out.
Explain my score… Well it doesn’t have any characters I like, and that’s the first time in star trek that has happened for me. Just the most annoying people everywhere.
I’m happy that it introduced some new people to Star Trek. I think the diversity and representation on the show really resonated with some people, and made them feel more seen. I think these positive things it did probably outweigh any weaknesses the show had, in a larger perspective.
Personally, many elements of the writing, directing, and cinematography of the show really rubbed me the wrong way. It is, in my view, more akin to a Young Adult series than any previous iterations of Trek. It’s definitely an intentional appeal to younger viewers, and I feel like it probably succeeded in that. It’s not for me, but that’s ok.
7/10 I think its get hated on very unfairly, though it has significant structural issues that keep it from being the best of star trek. Even still, anyone who says that it didn’t have the heart of star trek is wrong I think, if it wasn’t still there in some essential way we wouldn’t have gotten the rest of new star trek.
Also anyone who says the futuristic starship designs in discovery aren’t awesome are just wrong, sorry.
I feel like my biggest issue with Discovery was that it failed to live up to its potential. There was a lot that it did right and it had some interesting characters but it never really stuck the landing on it’s major arc premises.
The war with the Klingons was disappointingly handled. I find the little glimpses we get of it in strange new worlds to be way more compelling than the season that actually sort of focused on it. In addition to that the stakes were always way too damn high. Like every arc was an existential save the galaxy from war with the klingons, mirror universe invaders, or super AIs, or solve the energy problems of the future. The show also lacked that sunny optimism that trek normally has. Every once in a while it’d reach for it and then come crashing back down.
Overall it wasnt horrible but meh. When season 4 went on hiatus I lost track of when it came back. I meant to get back to the series but I just never mustered the momentum to do so.
I also feel like Picard was similar though I enjoyed the final season of that more(likely because it shamelessly tugged at my nostalgia strings.
With Strange New World and Lower decks the showrunners have found a better groove for trek I think.
2/10. I get the impression that they couldn’t afford good writers, but the production heads could afford a LOT of cocaine. The end result is a Trek-ish setting around the biggest Mary Sue trope ever written against a character that they could not ever get up to ‘likeable.’ Watch as Star Fleet Officers constantly break the rules, run off without communicating effectively, disregard orders, or just plainly talk-back with amazing levels of snark to superiors. Somehow they are all written up as heroes instead of all being removed from duty and forced to spend years in front of councillors for their war PTSD… or time-travel PTSD… or mirror-universe PTSD…, discipline and corrective actions for their MANY examples of insubordination, their ship broken up to figure out space-mushroom instantaneous-travel in a post-dilithium universe, remedial training once cleared to return to figure out the changes in the world around them after the jump, and even then being kept on a short-leash because they obviously can’t be trusted: they don’t even fully trust each other and have demonstrated time and time again that they make the wrong decision because of their own ego…
My jaw was only the floor anytime the Klingons were on screen. They’re supposed to be these formidable warriors, not lisping fish people who talk at 3/4 speed.
The premise in the beginning is great (and I for one don’t even hate the Klingons) but it devolves into revolving far too much around Michael Burnham, a deeply unpleasant and annoying character.
So of course she Spocks secret sister and of course her mum is the key to saving the galaxy and of course her mirror universe equivalent is the Empress’s prodigy. She’s an annoying writer self insert character and annoys me every time she says a single word. If Michael Burnham was a better character or at least had less screen time, I’d like Discovery much more.
However, most crew members besides Burnham, at least those that actually get time to shine, are pretty great and the best thing Discovery did was introducing Anson Mount as Christopher Pike and setting up Strange New Worlds, which is a 10/10 so far.
Also, DIS is far too dark. You don’t notice it that much while watching the show but after watching SNW… I recently went back to watch a few Pike clips from DIS, to see how he compares to SNW and damn, DIS is gloomy and I definitely prefer my trek bright and optimistic…
One remarkable thing was that it paved the way for SNW.
All other captains were more interesting captains than Burnham, and that’s sad, because they were removing them so fast. The happiest point for me was when they made Saru captain, only to remove it later.
I’m ok with Klingons, I think it’s ok that each Star Trek generation rethink their visual language.
0 out of 10. I was hoping Michael Burnham would die in that EVA in the first episode because they were so annoying as a character a few minutes in already and it went downhill from there. The only character I did like, the captain in the first episode died not too much later. I stuck through roughly the first 5 episodes but when that security officer went into the cage with that wild animal and got very predictably mauled I just couldn’t stand the horrible writing any more.
Discovery lacked the DNA of other Star Trek in my opinion. Note that I did not finish the series so some of these things may have improved in the last season or 2.
It focused mainly around a few characters instead of fleshing out a great ensemble cast
The visual language of the show does not match Trek IMO. It’s too dark, too much blue, it looks like a Michael Bay thing
The characters did not feel like professional officers. Excess PDA, emotional outbursts, cowboy lone hero nonsense, snark, overt arguments, constantly raised voices, etc. In previous Trek, raised emotions were exceedingly notable, and meant something really important was happening
The klingons
I didn’t like many of the characters as people, including most of the main cast’s characters
There were things I did like
Great premise with the spore drive
I liked some of the characters, like Stamets and Saru
Great SFX
I’m sure I’m forgetting things, it’s been a while since I’ve thought about this show
I don’t rate any of the Star Trek shows. They’re Star Trek. I enjoy them for what they are. Ones that are closer to my taste I watch more than others. Discovery happens to be closer to my taste than a bunch of other Trek, other than that? It’s still Star Trek and I enjoy all Star Trek.
So nice to see this perspective! Somehow a few years ago it felt like the entire internet became obsessed with rating everything. I feel the same way, it’s all Trek!
Yeah same here. For certain franchises (Star Trek and Star Wars are two great examples) people tend to get really angry over whether or not something is “good” or “bad”. Most of the time it’s subjective but what difference does it make? Sure. You can focus on something and get really frustrated over whether or not something lines up to what you want but it doesn’t matter. It happened. Sitting there stewing in it and getting frustrated enough to write a novel over something you supposedly “don’t care about” feels… strange. I’d rather just let the people who like their stuff to do their thing while I do my thing. Giving it a numerical score and trying to categorize how good it is is a fruitless endeavor that has no ending. Just give things a chance. If you don’t like it then move on. If you do like it then you have a new thing.
That’s how I found out about a new awesome show called SurrealEstate. HIGHLY recommend. Thanks @StillPaisleyCat
Exactly. And often “what I want” is to be pleasantly surprised by something I didn’t expect to like. How can I experience that if I only stick to what I know I like? (obv don’t get me started on algorithmically suggested media)
Seriously though… check out SurrealEstate. I mean, you don’t know me or anything so you’ve got no reason to trust me, but I highly recommend going in and watching the first episode completely blind. I had zero idea what to expect but it’s a really well made show. Better yet, it’s filmed where I’m originally from! If you don’t like the first episode then you probably won’t like it but if you’ve got even a hint of intrigue then I recommend sticking around for it.
I’d explain more about the show but I don’t want to spoil too much. If you go in blind then the first episode is a trip and a half and really sucked me into the show. It’s serious and funny, relaxed and tense. Strikes a great balance and is truly well made.
Give it a chance! It’s a Canadian show on CTV but can also watch it on SyFy in the US. I have no idea where to stream it but it’s worth looking into. It’s really really cool. The first 15 minutes had me hooked because I was just so confused as to what the hell was going on. If I had looked into it more I would have had a better idea but going in blind really made me feel like one of the characters in the show which helped connect.
Also beautiful landscape shots of Newfoundland. Can’t go wrong.
I’m not good with scores so I’ll just explain how I rate Discovery.
Back in the 90s/00s I never understood the hate that some Trek fans had towards a new Trek series. Every time a new series premiered there was a large (or at least very loud) chunk of the fanbase hating on the new series. I liked them all. Some more, some less. But I enjoyed them all for being Star Trek and watched them all countless times. (same goes for LD and SNW)
To put that in perspective:
I still don’t remember the names of all the bridge officers on Discovery.
I only watch Discovery episodes once.
I never felt inclined to rewatch a single episode. It’s not that all of them are bad but there’s just nothing about them that makes me rewatch them. Especially since 90% of them are embedded in season-long story arcs. (same with Picard, although I do plan to rewatch season 1 and 3 at some point)
At first I liked Discovery for trying something new. I’m not one of those fans who wants a new Trek show to do exactly the same thing that other Trek shows have done before. You need to do new things if you want to keep a franchise alive. But when you do season-long story arcs you need a plan. And Discovery didn’t have that. It was quite obvious both in seasons 1 and 2. Season 2 was at least helped by Captain Pike. It’s hard to rate those two seasons because there were so many ups and downs. But in total I’d say the first two season were better than the 3rd and 4th seasons.
Season 3 was a chore to watch. Jumping to the future was like jumping the shark for me. There’s not nearly enough world-building to make that future interesting – and how can there be, when there’s only 13 episodes and all of them are part of a story arc.
Season 4 was okay. I give them credit for doing something big with non-humanoid and really strange aliens. But this story could have been told in the 23rd century with minimal changes. So why again are they in the future?