Jump to content


Photo

Star Trek: Discovery. Series talk and discussion


  • Please log in to reply
981 replies to this topic

#961 djc242

djc242

    I know FHC by name.

  • Members
  • 585 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Los Angeles, CA

Posted 04 January 2022 - 06:55 PM

I'm enjoying this season a lot. I feel like they are taking more time with scenes and not rushing to action all the time. They are missing something as far as characters go. My first thought is a Worf type person.

 

There will always be things from the first season that just don't quite fit for me. I'll file all that right alongside the ENT finale, TOS finale, TNG's "Shades of Gray," and VOY's "Threshold."



#962 Whirlygig

Whirlygig

    Dances with Toys

  • Members
  • 1,431 posts

Posted 04 January 2022 - 11:35 PM

I don't disagree that they are slowing things down a bit (a good thing) however I find the writing lacking and so it falls flat for me. 90% repetitious psychobabble and unearned sentimentality if you have any one of Stamets, Culber, Gray, Adira, the computer, Saru, Book on screen. 90% overconfident ranting if Burnham is. Lazy stuff too. Like, oh how convenient, the Orion kid's dad was an advocate for whatever that other race was, wow, how lucky that was true so that the other dude could immediately forgive him and get over his own prejudice in 2 seconds flat...

#963 djc242

djc242

    I know FHC by name.

  • Members
  • 585 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Los Angeles, CA

Posted 07 January 2022 - 02:37 PM

Sounds like the show isn’t your cup of Earl Grey. After watching a few seasons you definitely gave it a shot. Just curious why you are still watching in season 4. It likely isn’t going to change enough to suit your taste. But if it is “hate watching” then that is some serious dedication.

#964 data_2006

data_2006

    Rick & Pat know me by name.

  • Members
  • 385 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Netherlands
  • Interests:Star Trek

Posted 09 January 2022 - 06:02 AM

I do think the 'mid season break' was not that welcome I would like to see the remainder (same with the 'breaks withink Prodigy prefer to just complete a season of one series before moving to the next... but still good to at least get multiple new star trek shows so there is something for everybody :)



#965 Destructor!!!

Destructor!!!

    It's not a disease it's a hobby.

  • Members
  • 1,883 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Ireland

Posted 11 January 2022 - 08:16 AM



Sounds like the show isn’t your cup of Earl Grey. After watching a few seasons you definitely gave it a shot. Just curious why you are still watching in season 4. It likely isn’t going to change enough to suit your taste. But if it is “hate watching” then that is some serious dedication.


I'm not who this comment was directed at, but I will say that the only reason I stuck with the show as long as I did was because it's called Star Trek, it's supposedly in the Prime Universe and I was clinging to the desperate hope that it would pull some rabbit out of a hat to make sense of itself and heal the rift it had created in canon.

 

The end of season 2 was where I threw my hands up and bailed. I can't stand the way the show is written. Even if it weren't for the canon issues, even if it weren't a Star Trek show, I just cannot stand the neurotic writing style, infinitely increasing stakes and ADHD cinematography.



#966 Whirlygig

Whirlygig

    Dances with Toys

  • Members
  • 1,431 posts

Posted 11 January 2022 - 12:05 PM

Yeah, that's basically the reason why I am watching it.  I don't actually go into it as a "hate watch", I always go in hoping that the next episode will be better than the last.  Maybe 1 in 4 episodes I think "well that wasn't too bad"...

 

I mean, my head is full of Trek trivia from everything else, so might as well keep it current, yeah?  



#967 MisterPL

MisterPL

    Yes the Troi figures hair worries me.

  • Members
  • 940 posts
  • Gender:Male

Posted 25 January 2022 - 11:17 AM

The only potential rift in canon I had a problem with was regarding the existence of such a powerful system of propulsion in the 23rd century. They certainly took care of that. At least Discovery didn't end up like the Pegasus:blink:

 

I'm glad that the Sphere data isn't as omnipotent as I'd feared it would become. I do like that a show's titular ship is actually becoming a character after all these decades.



#968 Whirlygig

Whirlygig

    Dances with Toys

  • Members
  • 1,431 posts

Posted 04 March 2022 - 11:34 AM

My list of every dumb thing they've done this season has grown so large that I now just give up.  Season earns an F from me.

How is it that this show manages to make the universe seem so small?

And also, how is it that the writers seem to have never learned the rule of thumb -- show, don't tell?

 

As the show goes on, basically what they are doing is trying to make every character some form of Barclay.  Full of neuroses which constantly interfere with their professional work.  It's basically a starship run by Gen Z.  The D had a counselor on board -- and yet you didn't see the main characters on the verge of nervous breakdowns every episode over, say, repressed daddy issues (see latest episode) during critical moments.  If any of the primary D crew were acting like they didn't have their s#!t together, it was because some anomaly had taken over their faculties.  I can tell you that I would not want to serve on a starship run by this crew (or Gen Z, lol).

 

Further to that point, who would want a constantly sarcastic asshole like Reno (or Stamets) for a boss?  Nobody.  But we are supposed to laugh because the writers view the fanbase as a bunch of neurotic nerds who behave the same way and will identify.

 

Now I am at the point where I don't know why I am watching.  I guess so that I can see the

Spoiler



#969 MisterPL

MisterPL

    Yes the Troi figures hair worries me.

  • Members
  • 940 posts
  • Gender:Male

Posted 06 March 2022 - 08:06 PM

I'm enjoying it. Episode 11 was particularly entertaining for this Gen X'er and his Gen Z Trekkie.

 

One thing that came to mind while watching this and TOS concurrently is how influential the music cues are. There was a scene in Discovery that made me think of a similar one in TOS (maybe from "Spock's Brain") that might have earned that "WAA-waa" kind of piece that Steiner (or Fried?) used to conveniently wrap things up with. (Like when Scotty makes a joke.)

 

I think it would be interesting to re-score key episodes of TOS with current sensibilities. "Shore Leave" leaps to mind. A less playful cue could change the entire tone without altering any of the images or dialogue. The music is certainly an underrated aspect of the modern shows. 



#970 djc242

djc242

    I know FHC by name.

  • Members
  • 585 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Los Angeles, CA

Posted 07 March 2022 - 02:44 PM

This season is a mixed bag for me. I like the concepts a lot. Many things in the early seasons of the show are just not great and hard to fit into the overall timeline. The thing that bothers me most is that by the distant future warp is still the mode of travel. In Voyager alone we had so many faster than warp options that after a few decades or even hundreds of years would have been perfected. It should also be easier for them to replicate the 23rd century technology of the spore drive, especially almost 1,000 years later.

They should have waited for the season to finish before airing Picard - it overshadows Disco in my mind.

#971 MisterPL

MisterPL

    Yes the Troi figures hair worries me.

  • Members
  • 940 posts
  • Gender:Male

Posted 08 March 2022 - 03:26 PM

They should have waited for the season to finish before airing Picard - it overshadows Disco in my mind.

 

It's been awhile since we've had two Trek series running concurrently! I feel spoiled.

I know what you mean about future tech. Sure, we have jets in the 21st century and still travel the globe on water like we've done for hundreds of years. However, I'd expect the same minds who developed a second generation spore drive to be able to replicate and implement it throughout the fleet. Maybe they explained why they haven't and I missed it.



#972 Whirlygig

Whirlygig

    Dances with Toys

  • Members
  • 1,431 posts

Posted 09 March 2022 - 04:24 PM

Let me see if I can remember this right...

 

There were problems with the spore drive that meant they shouldn't use it, weren't there?

Like for example whatever the heck happened to Culber, as if I even remember or care?  And what was happening to other entities/things within the same whatever the heck it was pocket / spore dimension or whatever?

 

And then somehow it became stable to use or something as long as you plugged Stamets in the right way or with the right type of hand gel?

 

And so then there was also this AI that was trying to hijack the ship and having the spore drive was even more dangerous because it was going to like gain access and then basically hop around the universe causing destruction?

 

So then luckily they defeated control either as a direct result of, or immediately before, travelling into the distant future with the ship?

 

And so then we were to believe that nobody would ever speak of Discovery or its spore drive in the past again?

 

Did I get that timeline right?  What did I remember wrong?

 

And now...in the future, they see the utility of it in a post-burn world, and who knows, they may try to replicate now?

 

Still good question why no other humans or other races in the galaxy would have independently re-discovered the same technology over all that time...

 

Now, am I still the only one who thinks all that above stuff sounds silly?  I believe there was even a giant tardigrade at some point because why not?

 

Lolz



#973 Whirlygig

Whirlygig

    Dances with Toys

  • Members
  • 1,431 posts

Posted 11 March 2022 - 09:07 AM

I finally was somewhat riveted by an episode of Discovery with "Species 10-C"...

It only took 4 years and slogging through all that baggage to get there...

I really enjoyed S2E2 of Picard also.

2 decent episodes dropping in the same day, maybe the Trek engine is finally firing on all cylinders? Better late than never!

#974 MisterPL

MisterPL

    Yes the Troi figures hair worries me.

  • Members
  • 940 posts
  • Gender:Male

Posted 14 March 2022 - 03:05 PM

I have to remind myself that TNG didn't hit its stride until it was into the third season, after almost 50 episodes. Discovery may be into its fourth season but its first three only amounted to 42 episodes so it's at least on par with TNG.

 

I think I've had a pretty good idea where this season was going from the start, as soon as I got a good look at the latest menace to our galaxy. Dealing with the different opinions of the newly reformed Federation representatives is proving as daunting as figuring out a way for our heroes to communicate with this strange new life-form.



#975 Whirlygig

Whirlygig

    Dances with Toys

  • Members
  • 1,431 posts

Posted 18 March 2022 - 01:29 PM

The finale was a little underwhelming for me compared to the previous episode.

 

Spoiler



#976 MisterPL

MisterPL

    Yes the Troi figures hair worries me.

  • Members
  • 940 posts
  • Gender:Male

Posted 19 March 2022 - 04:16 PM

Penultimate episodes are SO good at amping up the stakes. I imagine it's tough to deliver a good finale that isn't a cliffhanger.

 

I liked that everyone got to be heard, which seems to be a prevailing theme this season. It's important to have a voice, particularly when the issues are this big and so personal.

 

Species 10-C was pretty much what I expected, which is fine. The communication challenge was interesting. I'll admit to not being a fan of amorphic adversaries (from V'ger to Galactus and Parallax) so I was happy to see some kind of defined shape finally materialize.

 

Curious to see where the next season goes and more importantly who returns and in what capacity.



#977 Alex

Alex

    Yes the Troi figures hair worries me.

  • Members
  • 926 posts
  • Gender:Male

Posted 02 March 2023 - 10:21 PM

https://comicbook.co...ease-date-2024/

So DSC has apparently been cancelled. Season 5 will arrive in 2024 and be the show's last.

 

On one hand I'm not surprised; Kurtzman pretty much hinted at this when he said new shows were in the works and that Section 31 was likely going to be a replacement for DSC, noting that the reason they started working on it when they did was that "it takes a couple of years to do pre–production on a Star Trek series," before adding that the development time was longer than on most other shows. I think that was last year, (if it was 2021 please feel free to correct me,) which would mean that wrapping things up with DSC in 2024 and then having a new series ready for 2025 would be consistent with Kurtzman's plans to avoid any interruptions in new Trek. Likewise, knowing Picard was always intended to be three seasons, and knowing that two new shows were in development, it was kind of obvious that DSC would likely wrap up sooner than later, especially with SNW being far more successful. On the other hand, I feel like the low episode count necessitated by the serialized format combined with the low number of seasons doesn't really seem satisfying, and sets a bad precedent for future shows. I know we're not going to get 26–episode seasons again, but 18–22 would be nice for a show like SNW, as would a seven season run like in the old days. That being said, if DSC doesn't set a precedent for the rest of Trek, I'm fine with this as the three seasons I've seen of DSC have always felt like they were never really as interesting as other Trek series, and the way that season three ended honestly felt as if it was intended to be a series finale rather than a season finale. (Like, to the point where after watching it, I actually went and looked up if the show had been cancelled back then.) Supposedly one reason for the 2024 release date is to give the production crew extra time to wrap up the various storylines they're telling in DSC rather than just spontaneously pulling the plug, so I'm happy about that at least; it's better than having to cobble together a finale at the last second (ENT) or just ending without a modern finale (TOS) at all.



#978 MisterPL

MisterPL

    Yes the Troi figures hair worries me.

  • Members
  • 940 posts
  • Gender:Male

Posted 05 March 2023 - 04:08 PM

I feel like Discovery has told the story it always intended to – the ascension of Burnham to captain – and it did so in an entertaining way. The show successfully brought the franchise back to television (where I think it always belonged) and launched my favorite Star Trek series since DS9.

 

I'll miss that family of characters but I'll keep looking for them elsewhere.



#979 Alteran195

Alteran195

    Their ACTION FIGURES, not dolls!!

  • Members
  • 3,461 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Minnesota

Posted 08 March 2023 - 01:12 PM

Dont really care TBH, its run its course. Strange New Worlds outclasses Discovery completely, and once it started I lost practically all interest in Discovery.

#980 Whirlygig

Whirlygig

    Dances with Toys

  • Members
  • 1,431 posts

Posted 25 July 2023 - 01:24 PM

If the story DISCO intended to tell was the ascension of Burnham to captain...who was asking to hear that?

 

I can slog through one more season, but glad it will be the last.  Hope they have done their best in S5 to increase the overall quality of the series rather than maintain or decrease it.






1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users