Star Trek: Discovery

[nx01a]

I kind of like Discovery, but it continues to put all its focus on the least interesting character on the show. Michael just isn't a compelling character even if everyone around her is fascinating and the overall story is interesting. But she did seem quite so bad in the first episode of season 2. Maybe it's because she showed actual emotions this time. I know she's supposed to be raised by Vulcans, but the actress can't pull off what Spock, T'Pol, or Tuvak's actors could with those characters.

Fortune cookie hint Lorca is coming back.

Spot on. The new engineer has more personality than Michael Burnham has shown in a season... and is far more likeable. Pike is instantly more Starfleet than anyone we've seen in a season, too.

"Not every cage is a prison, not every loss eternal."
The fortune cookie message is more of an in-joke re: Pike's [and Trek's] first episode, The Cage, as well as commentary on the loss of Sarek and Burnham's relationships with Spock. Plus injured Pike went back to the 'cage' of the Talosians in order to be free of his crippled body.

I never want to see Lorca again... except the real version that might be alive somewhere in the Mirror Universe.

I think they could salvage the show best by killing off Michael and refocusing on a larger, more likable cast. That would also explain in continuity why we never heard about Spock’s “sister” (because she’s dead)... not that continuity is high on Discovery’s list of concerns.

Also true.

Who could be mad at a Mount/Peck/Romijn early Enterprise adventures show?!

- sure, it's not surprising that Pike's science officer/Michael's competition would've been killed, but goddamn did he have a punchable face, too

- "Commander Jet Reno of Starfleet" is a pulp fiction name if I've ever heard one, and I hope she comes back

The science officer actor was a bit wooden, plus the character refused to listen to the Word of God that is Burnham. His coming death was painfully obvious.

I want more of Reno. Seeing her square off with Stamets would be great... but seeing her in the Enterprise engine room would be better.

[Sammael]

- "Commander Jet Reno of Starfleet" is a pulp fiction name if I've ever heard one, and I hope she comes back

She kind of looks like Janet Reno from the 90s.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

I know that this show has had a rocky production history but, Kurtzman aside, have they completely replaced the writers on the show? This feels like an entirely different show from the first season, which I enjoyed but didn't love. This first episode was a total blast. Pike is a brilliant addition and I just love how much lighter, looser, funnier and optimistic it all is. I honestly wonder if, while retooling the show for season 2, the creators saw the Orville and decided to take a page out of what Seth McFarlane is doing there, while mixing it in with a whole lot of JJ Abrams' Star Trek. It has much more of that sense of, um, discovery and wonder that is so part and parcel of Star Trek but with the more naturalistic, less idealized characters that you find in the Orville and the new Trek films. Either way, I loved it and with this and the Orville being on at the same time, it's a good time to be a (casual) Star Trek fan. Now, if only they could get that fourth movie going...

[nx01a]

Just watched 2x02 'New Eden'.

Another episode of Discovery that felt like real Star Trek?! I'm shocked yet pleasantly surprised... but I know they're setting me up for a huge disappointment next week when the xenophobic, honourless, cannibal rapists return with Bondage Empress in tow. These first two episodes were great, though. ^_^

[sunofdarkchild]

Holy cow....

That was...really good..Shockingly good...

The setup was straight out of TOS, the themes were pure Star Trek and handled with maturity, the characters were handled well, Burnham took a back-seat for once, and the moment when the classic Star Trek theme played was actually earned.

Maybe the old 'first-season growing pains' rule will hold true for Discovery like it did for TNG and DS9, because this was by far the best episode in the series so far.

[Pinsir]

I warned them to stop masturbating to Elon Musk! They couldn't help themselves though! Why would anyone name a school after a crazy hack that calls heroes pedophiles?

[Jokerz79]

Holy cow....

That was...really good..Shockingly good...

The setup was straight out of TOS, the themes were pure Star Trek and handled with maturity, the characters were handled well, Burnham took a back-seat for once, and the moment when the classic Star Trek theme played was actually earned.

Maybe the old 'first-season growing pains' rule will hold true for Discovery like it did for TNG and DS9, because this was by far the best episode in the series so far.

They weren't perfect but

Season 1 of TNG had: Encounter at Farpoint, The Battle, Too Short a Season, Datalore, Conspiracy, 11001001, & Heart of Glory.

While Season 1 of DS9 had: Emissary, Past Prologue, A Man Alone, Captive Pursuit, Dax, the Passenger, Battle Lines, Progress, Duet (One of the Best Episodes of Trek IMO), & In the Hands of the Prophets.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Just watched 2x02 'New Eden'.

Another episode of Discovery that felt like real Star Trek?! I'm shocked yet pleasantly surprised... but I know they're setting me up for a huge disappointment next week when the xenophobic, honourless, cannibal rapists return with Bondage Empress in tow. These first two episodes were great, though. ^_^

Aw, I didn't realize the Klingons were coming back next episode. They were my least favourite parts of season one and I've never been a big fan of most of Trek's Klingon stories. I was hoping we wouldn't have to deal with them this season.

This episode was indeed excellent, though.

[Cyke]

Shout out to Frakes and his direction here, with good motion of camera. I bet if you compare his very first job directing Star Trek with this episode, there'll be a world of difference there; almost like you'd never believe that Frakes would direct an episode like this if all you knew was his TNG work. Great, great job here.

Burnham took a back-seat for once

Don't get me wrong, I want more focus on the rest of the cast, too, but Discovery is something of a first in Trek in that it's a show deliberately about a central character. All the other shows were ensembles, and TOS had Shatner (by his own admission and regret) try to make it about Kirk rather than spreading the love, trying to make it about the Adventures of Kirk.

Now, opinions on how Burnham is actually handled and written are a different topic altogether, but I don't fault the show for focusing so much on her because that's the premise of the show.

With that said, they really do need to figure out how to better handle the side characters. I liked this episode a lot and it's a big step forward that the consistently-seen Owosekun actually got to join an away team, but she was picked for a reason (her experience growing up in a technologically-backwards community) and the writing never got back to that reason, still making her a background character but with just more face time. Tilly got some good development here, and I'd love to see more of that, rather than relegating things for Saru and others in future mini-episodes.

-----

And Pike continues to impress. Between Mount and Greenwood's iterations, I'm starting to think that Star Trek as a whole considers Pike to be the best captain they never had, the captain they wished they have. It could probably stem from the lengths that Spock went to help his mentor way back in the Menagerie, but both Discovery and the Kelvinverse depict him as affable and personable but professional. Kirk looks almost too casual next to him, Picard and Sisko seemed abrasive at first, Janeway inconsistent, Archer gullible, but Pike is either near perfect or flawed but without an ego to stop him from correcting himself. Just an easy-going good guy all around.

[nx01a]

I'm SO hoping for a Pike/Spock/#1 series set on the Enterprise! I don't think anyone wants a Section 31 series even with Michelle Yeoh, bless her.

[Minerboh]

Some fan artwork from me...
IMG_20190127_105108.jpg

[Anthony W]

Just saw the first episode.

Sarek: Hello Michael, welcome to my homeworld. As you can see it's a desert planet...that has a nice forest on it?

Mike: This...is going to be a long season.

Tilly: blah blab blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

Pike: Hello, I've come to save your show. I'm going to do in ten minutes what you couldn't do in an entire season, win over the fans. I'm also going to learn the names of your bridge crew.

Michael: They have names?

Sarek: I wanted you to teach Spock empathy

Michael: You wanted a kid to teach another kid empathy? Okay...

Pike, Michael, Redshirt and dude who dies in an attempt to subvert our expectations because he is wearing a blue shirt instead of a Red one attempt a rescue

Michael:Hey, check out our whirly ships! WHEEEEEE!

Pike: Uhhh...This is a little too "Picard in a dune buggy" for my taste.

Michael: Who in a what?

Pike: Forget it. Just make sure I don't die.

Jet: Hey I'm Jet, my wit is as dry as my mind is sharp. I could be a great engineer on the Enterprise before Scotty shows up.

Michael: Is this whole season a stealth Enterprise pilot?

everyone is transported to safety, except Michael who is saved at the last second. They also grab a rock

Michael: Well, guess it's time to go through Spock's stuff for some mysterious clues to follow for the rest of the season.

Looks at the clues

Michael: it's going to be a long season.

[Sammael]

I have to add this to the mix... the visual effects on this show a really outstanding. Looks like a damn movie on screen. And cbs streaming quality took a massive leap from last year. Now that's not hard to do since it was in a gutter, but still much better than it was. We still need 4k streaming and I'm pretty sure it's not that, and some shots still have that nasty ass film grain that no one in the real world wants to see, but overall it looks excellent.

[nx01a]

'Tin Man', 'Twisted', 'Elogium', 'Ethics', 'Vox Sola', 'Imaginary Friend', 'Masks', 'Nothing Human', 'Disaster', 'Force of Nature', 'Equinox'...
Damn, Star Trek: Discovery! Y'all borrowed heavily from *at least* those previous Trek episodes for 'An Obol for Charon'. Good episode with strong emotional beats and hilarious dialogue but ultimately derivative. Still better than all of season 1.
And next week looks like a slew of Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis episodes mashed up, including 'Thirty-Eight Minutes' and every episode where Daniel ascends... plus Farscape's 'Through the Looking Glass' thrown in for good measure. Still looking forward to it, though. Shocking.

[Cyke]

'Tin Man', 'Twisted', 'Elogium', 'Ethics', 'Vox Sola', 'Imaginary Friend', 'Masks', 'Nothing Human', 'Disaster', 'Force of Nature', 'Equinox'...
Damn, Star Trek: Discovery! Y'all borrowed heavily from *at least* those previous Trek episodes for 'An Obol for Charon'. Good episode with strong emotional beats and hilarious dialogue but ultimately derivative. Still better than all of season 1.
And next week looks like a slew of Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis episodes mashed up, including 'Thirty-Eight Minutes' and every episode where Daniel ascends... plus Farscape's 'Through the Looking Glass' thrown in for good measure. Still looking forward to it, though. Shocking.

I don'tthink it borrowed heavily from Disaster specifically, since every Trek show (including TOS and TAS) has had an episode where the ship goes haywire; indeed, any show set on any ship (even the Love Boat and seaquest) or vehicle (Knight Rider, Batman: TAS) has had that plot, and even the mundane settings like the Office (losing their internet) have such episodes. It's not a Trek-centric trope.

The key difference with Disaster is that the actual, um, Disaster is a plot device to forcibly separate the crew into team-ups or situations they normally wouldn't be accustomed to. Picard with children, or Crusher and LaForge, or Worf and Keiko, etc. This episode didn't really do that since the pairs are well-established already -- Burnham and Saru, and Tilly and Stamets, have happened several times by now. In Burnham and Saru's case, that pairing was by their own choice, and not forced like Tilly and Stamets (and Reno) or Troi, O'Brien, and Ro.