Current Events > StarDestroyer watches (and rants about) Star Trek: Discovery *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

So I have big issues with Star Trek: Discovery. I once made it to the first nine episodes and then I tapped out. I heard it gets a little better later on though in season two and three. Also heard it doesn't. I'll try to give this show a fair shot but bewarned, I'm big on Star Trek lore and I hate how this show shits on it.

S1:E1 - The Vulcan Hello:

So I'll start off with giving the show credit for how nice the special effects look. Which is also a problem when your show is set before TOS. I know they tried adding knobs and joysticks to the consoles but still... that space suit Burnham uses looks better than Voyagers :/

I also like the look of the U.S.S Shenzhou. I've always liked the look of a lot of the federation ship designs and this is no different.

Now my biggest gripe with this episode and the series as a whole is th Klingons. I took one look and couldn't believe how they massacred my boy. What the flying fuck are these? Bald, ugly ass masks, and all they do is speak Klingon and that takes up so much time. They also care about dead corpses, when we know that Klingons don't give two shits about an empty shell. And don't get me started on those fucking "bat'leths."

Also what the hell was up with all of these awful designed Klingon ships that showed up in the end. Not one fucking D7 Klingon Battlecruiser. Remember CE when Klingon ships used to look good? I remember. :(

I know I'm nitpicking with this one, but canonically speaking the Klingons do not have a cloaking device at this time. They gain them when they make their alliance with the Romulan empire later on in Kirks time.

I liked Saru the best so far. His species sounds interesting, and I hope to learn more about them in season 2 or 3. Saru is also pretty smart. He knew to leave the Klingon artifact alone and also how TO FOLLOW ORDERS. He actually reminds me of a good starfleet officer.

I liked the captain as well. She seemed like a good starfleet captain. I know what happens to her because I've seen the first nine episodes. Still I liked her character despite how brief her appearance was, kinda wish she never died in ep.2

So I'm going to leave it here and review/rant abou Burnham after watching episode 2. As a whole, the changes to the Klingons really take away from the episode for me personally. I couldn't get over it enough to enjoy this episode. The actual story arc of the Klingons starting a war with the Federation is a good premise for a show set in this era, but falls flat on its face when the show decides to disregard these same Klingons and makes them unrecognizable.

StarDestroyer posted...

I heard it gets a little better later on though in season two and three. Also heard it doesn't.

It's gets better in some ways and worse in others

The fact that the showrunners soft-reboot the show after EVERY season is rather telling of its quality

>_>


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But really there are sooooooo many things wrong with 'Discovery'

-Anachronistic technology
-The Klingons
-Spock having a goddamn adopted sister who's basically "Armin Tamzarian" levels of this-never-happened-so-lets-not-mention-it-ever-again
-The sister being a fucking Mary Sue who cries about everything
-The fucking Mirror Universe which I am oh so sick of

I could go on, but it's exhausting

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S1:E2 - Battle at the Binary Stars

So despite the awful looking Klingon ships and whatever those stargate looking fighter things were, that was a good battle. I enjoyed watching it. I thought it was stupid that the Klingon messiah ordered the ship to cloak (dropping shields) in order to decloak (with shields still dropped briefly) in order to ram a ship. Also found it stupid how nobody on the Klingon ship thought to scan for photon torpedoes while using a tractor beam (not a transporter :/ ) to bring aboard dead bodies. That must have been an old Maqui trick that the Klingons were unaware of.

Now onto Burnham. I have no issue with them trying to give her Vulcan characteristics, but did they have to make her Spocks adoptive sister? Come on now. Plus in these first two episodes, she has real difficulty figuring out when the correct time to be logical is and when it's time to be emotional. Like logic would have dictated that she use her phasers stun setting in order to proceed in capturing that Klingon messiah... a plan she thought of! Instead she gets mad that he kills her captain, and she kills him. Thus doing what she previously warned against. I also find it strange that after seven years of serving on the Shenzhou, she'd still rather reach out to Sarek all the time and rely on him, rather than the support and advice of her captain and crew. Might explain why she chose mutiny over trusting a woman whom she's apparently been close with these past seven years... even becoming her number one.

One last comment on this episode. Why the fuck is Starfleet handing out life sentences instead of rehabilitation? I know it's mutiny but come on Starfleet, sentencing a sentient being to life in prison without any hope of rehabilitation seems as if it goes against the ideals of the Federation.

I'm going to watch a few more episodes later but I need some fresh air, so I'm going for a walk in the river valley.

S1:E3 - Context is for Kings

So this episode begins with a predictably dark opening sequence where it wasn't needed. The introduction to the U.S.S. Discovery should have been handled in a much better way. Still a cool looking ship. The spore drive looks great, but way outta place for this era's Trek technology, it's a neat concept though.

I'm glad that we finally get to meet some more staple characters to the series like thicc Tilly <3, and Lorcan (you know this man is evil from the way he secretly puts that alien creature in captivity). I also enjoy the engineer whos name is escaping me right now. It's a shame that the episode didn't flesh him out more, the parts on the Glenn should have been longer and done just that. I see Burnham is also once again having trust issues. Instead of building the trust of her new crew, she's sneaking off behind their backs and going into places she's not authorized too. I like how Saru knows what kind of trouble Burnham is going to bring.

One final thought on the intro to Discovery. The theme is growing on me, but the actual intro itself reminds me of Enterprise. Don't care for it. I liked Voyagers intro the best out of all of the series.

S1:E4 - The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry

So I appreciate that they at least tried to make this into a Star Trek episode. They tried to show that the TG wasn't a ruthless and hostile alien but a misunderstood lifeform that only acted in self defence. Which they now have to torture in order to use the spore drive... :/ but hey they tried! I also like that they tied the theme of this episode into exploring more behind the tech of the spore drive.

I don't understand what the point of that security chief officer was. She was there to just be an asshat for a couple of episodes and than die? Tuvok, Worf, and Odo wouldn't have went down like that. They also wouldn't be intent on dissecting a newly discovered lifeform.

Tag.

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StarDestroyer posted...

I don't understand what the point of that security chief officer was. She was there to just be an asshat for a couple of episodes and than die?

Kinda, yeah.

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S1:E5 - Choose Your Pain

So once again they tried to and in a way they did make this feel a bit like a true Star Trek episode. I appreciate the message of not torturing a sentient life-form in order to achieve ones objective. Though this episode sorely missed (in this old mans opinion), the actual characters sitting down, and debating the ethical ramifications of ones actions like back in the old days. I also felt cheated that I never got to see Lorcans reaction to letting the TG go.

I also did enjoy that the side characters of this series got some development. Shoutout to the first openly gay male characters on Star Trek. This episode made me like Lt.Staments even more. He already feels like he belongs in TNG era Star Trek, not this dark shit they got going on. It was nice to see Saru show his insecurities as a commanding officer and learn from them. If they develop on this, he has potential to be a fine captain.

They gave me only a slight glimpse of my beloved D7... I shall reserve judgement until I see a real full close up of this ship.

One last thought: I never cared for Harry Mudd. So it wasn't a big deal for me. Would have much preferred Dwight in space tbqh.

StarDestroyer posted...

One last thought: I never cared for Harry Mudd. So it wasn't a big deal for me. Would have much preferred Dwight in space tbqh.

Oh just you wait, Discovery turns Mudd from a lovable conman and scoundrel into a fucking psychopath Joker-wannabe serial killer

>_>

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I am convinced there is an alternate universe with "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Mudd."

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HylianFox posted...

Oh just you wait, Discovery turns Mudd from a lovable conman and scoundrel into a fucking psychopath Joker-wannabe serial killer

>_>

I believe I shall see that happen next episode.

S1:E6 - Lethe

I'll make this brief. I didn't like this episode. I'm not a fan of the whole Burnham being an adopted daughter of Sarek thing. Also l don't see why Sarek was so emotional and had to use Katra Kung-fu on Burnham.

This episode didn't advance the main plot at all. The only thing that stood out was the Admiral being taken prisoner, and Lorcan refusing to rescue her without orders. Showing us that not only is he good at seducing Admiral cougars, but something isn't all that it appears. I know what though, as I've seen the first 9 episodes.

I also appreciated seeing thicc Tilly jog and wearing dem workout pants in this episode.

You seem to have a thing for "thicc Tilly."

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jumi posted...

You seem to have a thing for "thicc Tilly."

I'm used to Star Trek having pretty skinny ladies.

Season one is very bad. Two and three are better but the shows biggest problem remains. That it focuses on one character instead of.being an ensemble show and the character it focuses on is a terrible Mary Sue who feels straight out of a bad fanfiction. There are some good cast members (huge fan of Seru) who sadly mistreated for more and more Burnham.

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I hate marathoned the first season when I got a trial of CBS all access. It's such appallingly bad Star Trek that I can't even understand what their plan was for it to begin with. With all the people who worked on it someone had to say "Hey, this is just gonna piss people off". On top of that, it's not a very good show on its own. Most of the characters are terrible and inconsistent and, although it has some interesting scifi concepts, it's so focused on being as edgy as possible that it all gets lost in the shuffle in order to shove in some more ultraviolence and klingon tiddays.

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S1:E7 - Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad

So HylianFox nailed it with his description of what DIS does to Harry Mudd. If this series wasn't set before TNG, they could have easily replaced Mudd with a Ferengi and not have made Mudd into a serial killer. Speaking of TNG, the time paradox episode with the Enterprise D stuck in a time loop, was so much better than this.

I didn't need to see Burnham dance in order to find info on Mudd... That whole part felt unnecessary. Like why does Burnham need to dance with the chief of security, in order to get him to talk about someone that is a very real security threat to the ship? :/

S1:E8 - Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum

Episode was boring. Only thing I liked was the battle at the beginning with the ugly Klingon ships, and learning that Saru's race possess strength and speed humans don't, and always live in constant fear (must suck).

Klingons really need to start speaking english with eachother. Klingon language was not meant for good tv dialog. Much better when used for short phrases.

It has been a while since I saw that epiaode but I am willing to forgive them making Harry Mudd a crazed killer because of the time loop nature of the episode. That because he knew he wasn't perminatly killing he was allowed to do things he normally wouldn't do.

Yeah the way he is protrayed in Discovery is still a HUGE difference between his harmless conman self.

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I could live with Discovery and Picard if they were set in the new movie universe, but they had to retroactively ruin everything by setting it in the past.

It's like the people who are in charge of ST now hate Trek.

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Southernfatman posted...

I could live with Discovery and Picard if they were set in the new movie universe, but they had to retroactively ruin everything by setting it in the past.

It's like the people who are in charge of ST now hate Trek.

I may not like all their choices but I can tell they are fans of the franchise. I never doubt that for a second.

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creativerealms posted...

I may not like all their choices but I can tell they are fans of the franchise. I never doubt that for a second.

If they really are, could have fooled me.

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Southernfatman posted...

If they really are, could have fooled me.

Simply their ideas for thw franchise is different from yours, and mine. Yet I never get the impression they hate the franchise. Discovery and Picard feel like poorly written fanfiction.

I would never accuse them of hate.

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Ive always felt that excursions to the Mirror Mirror universe should be one-shots. Maaaaaaaaybe a movie?

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S1:E9 - Into the Forest I Go

Who would have thought that figuring out how to detect a pre-tos cloaking device could be so much work?! I remember when Kirk could detect the general vicinity of a cloaked Romulan vessel, which led to an amazing duel of Captains.

I'm surprised that they killed that big bad Klingon, and destroyed that ship of the dead in only nine episodes. Thought they would have saved that for the season finale.

Tyler was fucking useless. Lorcan was great in this episode. Burnham was just being Burnham. I liked how the Klingons didn't know what a universal translator was, despite encountering Starfleet with these devices before in ENT.... Literally the first episode of ENT.

Here we go, onto the mirror universe.

meralonne posted...

Ive always felt that excursions to the Mirror Mirror universe should be one-shots. Maaaaaaaaybe a movie?

The Mirror universe was done best in ENT.

I don't think the producers and writers of DIS hate Star Trek.... they just don't understand it very well.

S1:E10 - Despite Yourself & S1:E11 - The Wolf Inside

Well I definately liked the callback to my favorite ENT episodes, with the defiant. I also got a kick out of the whole cpt.tilly, torture booths, the same ruthlessness I've come to expect from the terran empire, and of course the big surprise of Emperor Georgiou.

I don't care for the Vox/Taylor arc. Vox says he is Klingon, but his actions show he is a Romulan. So deceptive, and without honour.

Also r.i.p doctor of the discovery. We hardly got to know you. Not even a single episode dedicated to you. This is why Crusher, Bashir, Bones, EMH, and Phlox would have informed the captain first, and then confront Vox.

S1:E12 - Vaulting Ambition

The Emperor/Burnham scenes were the highlight of this episode. I don't know why they added that mirror universe terrans have a low tolerance to bright lights. Whatever, with what changes they've made so far this is minor.

The Lorca twist was good. It reminded me of ole Eddington being a Maqui traitor twist in DS9.

I'm hoping this Tylor shit ends soon. I'm sick of these weird ptsd flashbacks mixed in with Klingon tits.

The Mirror Universe is always a stupid concept because none of these people would have ever been born in the first place if the Mirror Universe actually happened. It's like saying the Nazi's won WWII but we're all still here posting on GameFAQs, it just wouldn't be possible no matter how much ass pulling you do.

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S1:E13 - What's Past Is Prologue

I'm glad the mirror universe is over. Back to the now hopeless Klingon war. For a woman raised by Vulcans, Burnham isn't showing much logic here. What's the logic behind saving the ruthless, despotic counterpart of your former captain? Sounds emotional to me.

One of the things that made DS9 and ENT mirror universe episodes good, is that I got to know the crew of these shows beforehand and thus enjoyed the contrast that showed up in their mirror universe counterparts. Never got that with DIS.

It was also nice too see Saru in the captains chair, kicking some ass.

Gamerguymass posted...

The Mirror Universe is always a stupid concept because none of these people would have ever been born in the first place if the Mirror Universe actually happened.

Well it is Sci-Fi, and it's just a neat way to see some of our favourite good guys in Star Trek behave like bad guys.

Bump so it won't be purged.

I'll watch the final two episodes of season one tomorrow.

Why are they so insistent on setting all modern Trek at or before TOS timeline?

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Doe posted...

Why are they so insistent on setting all modern Trek at or before TOS timeline?

No clue, that's why I like Lower Decks.

S1:E14 - The War Without, The War Within

A boring episode. Now that the mirror arc is over with, we get to see how horrible the Federation is at warfare. Good thing Sisko would never let the Klingons kick this much Starfleet ass.

I liked how Saru is clearly a better captain than admiral hesitation. I also found it convenient that the admiral and Sarek were so close by to where Discovery jumped back from the mirror universe.... Sarek forcing a mind meld on Saru without him verbally consenting or time to think, I found this to be a bit disturbing.

S1:E15 - Will You Take My Hand?

What a lackluster season finale. It was boring. Only highlight was Georgiou, the Orions didn't even look green enough. Not one battle. I don't think they even once fired a phaser. I'm glad Tylers gone, and no more weird Klingon ptsd story arc.

I liked seeing the Enterprise at the end, and it was neat to hear the ToS theme.

S2:E1 - Brother

Captain Pike was great, he really gave me that TOS vibe. I loved seeing the original uniforms again. The Enterprise looked nothing like the original. Both outside and inside. I remember when DS9 did that TOS anniversary episode, the amount of detail that went into duplicating the original enterprise. They just said fuck it for DIS.

I liked the asteroid scene. I have no idea what those fast little flying pods were though. Also I felt that they should have included one of the much seen but never heard bridge crew, instead of that red shirt engineer. She came outta nowhere.

Tbf in Trials and Tribble-ations the whole point was nostalgia and recreating the old show.

Discovery still wants to look up to date in terms of what audiences see on TV which is just irreconcilable with TOS. That said, the obvious solution is to not write the TOS ship in the TOS era, but I guess the writers have no idea how to come up with something new without coating it in 'Member-Berries bait

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S2:E2 - New Eden

Ok, so this was a Star Trek episode. Discovery actually made an episode that felt like Trek. The Bridge Crew actually had things to do and say, and one of them actually went down on an away mission!

Meeting an "older" pre-warp human civilization was such a TOS thing to do. They also dealt with the prime directive, and religion versus science. Just like Trek would in the old days.

I'm curious to finally see Spock. I hope Discovery doesn't blow it.

S2:E3 - Point of Light

Blah... I didn't like this episode. I never cared for Tyler or these DIS Klingons. They have hair now at least. I feel like the only reason this Klingon arc of the episode existed was just to reintroduce Section 31 -_____-

I'm glad that annoying ghost organism was pulled out of Tilly. She was annoying the fuck outta me.

I'm also really not getting pulled into the whole scary red angel shit. It's just more blah to me right now.

I was happy to see the hologram of the D7 Battlecruiser :)

Doe posted...

Why are they so insistent on setting all modern Trek at or before TOS timeline?

so they can try to hit nostalgia and have cameos make up for terrible writing

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Doe posted...

Why are they so insistent on setting all modern Trek at or before TOS timeline?

Don't need to deal with keeping canon consistent, easier to explain away things that break canon. It's easier to go back in time and fuck up the future than go forward and keep all of history accurate.

Btw, @StarDestroyer do you know where the word "Mary Sue" comes from?

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StarDestroyer posted...

So I have big issues with Star Trek: Discovery. I once made it to the first nine episodes and then I tapped out. I heard it gets a little better later on though in season two and three. Also heard it doesn't. I'll try to give this show a fair shot but bewarned, I'm big on Star Trek lore and I hate how this show shits on it.

S1:E1 - The Vulcan Hello:

So I'll start off with giving the show credit for how nice the special effects look. Which is also a problem when your show is set before TOS. I know they tried adding knobs and joysticks to the consoles but still... that space suit Burnham uses looks better than Voyagers :/

I also like the look of the U.S.S Shenzhou. I've always liked the look of a lot of the federation ship designs and this is no different.

Now my biggest gripe with this episode and the series as a whole is th Klingons. I took one look and couldn't believe how they massacred my boy. What the flying fuck are these? Bald, ugly ass masks, and all they do is speak Klingon and that takes up so much time. They also care about dead corpses, when we know that Klingons don't give two shits about an empty shell. And don't get me started on those fucking "bat'leths."

Also what the hell was up with all of these awful designed Klingon ships that showed up in the end. Not one fucking D7 Klingon Battlecruiser. Remember CE when Klingon ships used to look good? I remember. :(

I know I'm nitpicking with this one, but canonically speaking the Klingons do not have a cloaking device at this time. They gain them when they make their alliance with the Romulan empire later on in Kirks time.

I liked Saru the best so far. His species sounds interesting, and I hope to learn more about them in season 2 or 3. Saru is also pretty smart. He knew to leave the Klingon artifact alone and also how TO FOLLOW ORDERS. He actually reminds me of a good starfleet officer.

I liked the captain as well. She seemed like a good starfleet captain. I know what happens to her because I've seen the first nine episodes. Still I liked her character despite how brief her appearance was, kinda wish she never died in ep.2

So I'm going to leave it here and review/rant abou Burnham after watching episode 2. As a whole, the changes to the Klingons really take away from the episode for me personally. I couldn't get over it enough to enjoy this episode. The actual story arc of the Klingons starting a war with the Federation is a good premise for a show set in this era, but falls flat on its face when the show decides to disregard these same Klingons and makes them unrecognizable.

You need to watch all of it to understand the lore portion. Doesnt actually shit on it.

StarDestroyer posted...

I'm used to Star Trek having pretty skinny ladies.

Wait for thicker Tilly

Southernfatman posted...

I could live with Discovery and Picard if they were set in the new movie universe, but they had to retroactively ruin everything by setting it in the past.

It's like the people who are in charge of ST now hate Trek.

Should watch the full series. Its no longer in the past.

ChocoboMogALT posted...

Btw, @StarDestroyer do you know where the word "Mary Sue" comes from?

No clue. I don't use that term very often. Where does it come from?

S2:E4 - An Obol for Charon

What a great Saru centered episode. I'm happy to have learned more about him, and his race seems both tragic and interesting. I hope they explore the Kelpians(?) and this Apex predator race some more. I have a feeling these predators that eat Kelpians are asshats!

I'm hoping this annoying tilly parasite organism goes away soon! The hunt for Spock is now officially on.

There's a reason it's called an ST:D

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"Gee, golly, gosh, gloriosky," thought Mary Sue as she stepped on the bridge of the Enterprise.

"Here I am, the youngest lieutenant in the fleetonly fifteen and a half years old." Captain Kirk came up to her. "Oh, Lieutenant, I love you madly. Will you come to bed with me?"

"Captain! I am not that kind of girl!"

"You're right, and I respect you for it. Here, take over the ship for a minute while I go get some coffee for us."

Mr. Spock came onto the bridge. "What are you doing in the command seat, Lieutenant?"

"The Captain told me to."

"Flawlessly logical. I admire your mind."

Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy and Mr. Scott beamed down with Lt. Mary Sue to Rigel XXXVII. They were attacked by green androids and thrown into prison. In a moment of weakness Lt. Mary Sue revealed to Mr. Spock that she too was half Vulcan. Recovering quickly, she sprung the lock with her hairpin and they all got away back to the ship.

But back on board, Dr. McCoy and Lt. Mary Sue found out that the men who had beamed down were seriously stricken by the jumping cold robbies, Mary Sue less so. While the four officers languished in Sick Bay, Lt. Mary Sue ran the ship, and ran it so well she received the Nobel Peace Prize, the Vulcan Order of Gallantry and the Tralfamadorian Order of Good Guyhood.

However the disease finally got to her and she fell fatally ill. In the Sick Bay as she breathed her last, she was surrounded by Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Mr. Scott, all weeping unashamedly at the loss of her beautiful youth and youthful beauty, intelligence, capability and all around niceness. Even to this day her birthday is a national holiday on the Enterprise.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue
Mary Sue is literally half Vulcan.

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legendarylemur posted...

There's a reason it's called an ST:D

It annoys me when people use this as the abbreviation. Voyager wasn't STV, Enterprise wasn't STE, and so Discovery isn't STD.

Yes, I know, STD funny. That's not a good reason.
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Well seeing as it's barely Star Trek, it should follow its own abbreviation pattern

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