A bunch of Press stuff on TrekCore

[Rahul]

I'm not uncomfortable with the idea and context, I'll just be disappointed if that what it turns out to be because it's just so derivative.

Though I'm hoping that it's limited to the trimmings. Between the show being called "Discovery" and all the chatter about "Hopeful future, Gene's vision, yadda yadda," if it turns out it is just about "War!," then there's much bigger problems. Because any series where the conceit and the concept are so far out of sync is doomed before it even starts.

At least the first season is purely a war show (at least according to the producers). Where every decision and everything that happens is directly influenced by the war, with the whole thing being 'grim' and not looking good for the Federation (clichè alert!), so much so that they needed to tell people even Harry freakin' Mudd is now a 'serious' character, because a 'goofy'-one wouldn't fit with the overall 'grim tone' of the war...

 

[Rahul]

This is Star Trek: derivative is what they do.



Waiting...

Yeah, no, you got that confused. It is bad Star Trek which is "derivative" of what they did before. I certainly don't want rehash 2.0. And I doubt many others want either.

It's the new things that interest me - and there ARE some! Simply the idea of following a woman through the ranks as the central point is already a nice change of wind. Or focusing on more than one ship. But I would hate it if this is embedded in such an unimaginative, rehashed premise. The one that succesfully focused on "War" between the Stars was usually the other franchise...

 

[CorporalClegg]

This is Star Trek: derivative is what they do.

Touche.

 

[cultcross]

Let's be real here: The war in DS9 was started by the Dominion. They drew first blood. And still, the writers went way overboard with the WWII-analogies. But on DIS, it's heavily implied that our supposed hero is the one who shoots first. Against advice and direct order of her Captain. Which leads to her being jailed (until Lorca pulls her out of jail for his own little nefarious purpose).

I don't know about you, but for me it's a massive difference wether our heroes got drawn into a war, or wether they themself decided to start one. Hint: I don't see one of those as "heroes".

I brought up in another thread the idea of wars being viewed through different lenses by different sides. I doubt the Dominion would agree that they started the war, as they gave ample warning of what would happen if the Federation continued incursions into the gamma quadrant. The Federation are portrayed as constantly expansionist and this has been the source of almost every conflict we've seen them involved in. The little 'atom by atom, cell by cell' trailer suggests that's the case again here. Burnham triggering a war accidentally as a result of this tendency to get into territorial and cultural influence disputes would hardly be unique in Starfleet history.

 

[Tuskin38]

I'm guessing those triangles are outposts along the border, referencing TOS which also used triangles to represent outposts.

 

[Kor]

I don't want the entire, optimistic TOS-era retroactively being declared "the aftermath" of WWII in space.

But it would be just like how the forward-thinking, optimistic jet-age economic boom of the fifties and sixties was the "aftermath" of WWII in real life.

Kor

 

[Mudd]

Let's be real here.

But it would be just like how the forward-thinking, optimistic jet-age economic boom of the fifties and sixties was the "aftermath" of WWII in real life.

Kor

Nailed it.

Kirk's Federation was awash in triumphalism.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

These look like monochrome displays (I know they literally aren't). Back in the day, they would be green and black.

One of the cool things that George Lucas did on the Separatists displays in Revenge of the Sith, and maybe some of the other films, was that the displays where two-color, presenting colors that were combinations of just red and green (as if that was adequate for the droids running the ships). That was not only obvious to me, but also still colorful and visually interesting, since he used a pretty full two-color palette, while at the same time interesting in-universe (for the reasons I've stated).

Here, in DSC, you can see it's not literally monochrome (there's obviously some use of red besides all the blue), but man is it practically monochrome. I keep thinking how much bandwidth is being sacrificed in these displays, in terms of neglecting color space. I'll hold off final judgment until seeing the show, but, yeah, virtually monochrome displays aren't really compelling to me, as something that's supposed to be futuristic. Even a two-color palette would be much more interesting, not to mention more sensible in-universe.

 

[Tuskin38]

According to TV Guide, that map up there does have 'easter eggs', planets/stars referencing the franchise.

 

[Kor]

From the article linked by the OP:

Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs) has a standing desk in his ready room, rather than the traditional chair-and-desk configuration seen in previous captains’ offices

That's good. That's very good. You burn more calories standing up than you do sitting down.

Kor

 

[cultcross]

Idea stolen from: Battlestar Galactica

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this little item from that story:

A bottle of Chateau Picard wine has a spot in Captain Georgiou’s (Michelle Yeoh) Shenzhou ready room

 

[Rahul]

Nailed it.

Kirk's Federation was awash in triumphalism.

Yeah. That's retroactively turning a positive future (the original Star Trek and it's various offsprings) into another vaguely dystopian one (like literally everything else, from Battlestar Galactica to Star Wars). I don't get why people get hired to do an IP, if they pretty much openly loathe what makes said IP unique compared to others. Brought to you by the guys that made Superman dark, broody and a murderer! Hollywood! Hooray.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

...Brought to you by the guys that made Superman dark, broody and a murderer! Hollywood! Hooray.

Or the guys who made Jim Phelps a villain (not as iconic as Superman, but still an ill-conceived re-characterization).

 

[BillJ]

Yeah. That's retroactively turning a positive future (the original Star Trek and it's various offsprings) into another vaguely dystopian one...

I tend to think the original Star Trek was vaguely dystopian. Wars and conflicts were everywhere, and many disagreements were settled with violence. Even among humans.

 

[Mudd]

Yeah. That's retroactively turning a positive future ...

No.

Cavill is a great Superman, BTW. Love those movies.

 

[Kor]

What's wrong with having the positive world of TOS as something that rose from the ashes of war? That doesn't make TOS dystopian any more than the real-world post-WWII economic boom years were dystopian just because they happened to follow the war.

Just as the real-life post-war development ultimately gave rise to the unbridled optimism of the JFK years, so the post-war setting of Trek gave rise to the go-getting optimism of James T. Kirk and co. Kirk was JFK in space.

Kor

 

[RAMA]

Engineering from the press tour

 

[Mudd]

What's wrong with having the positive world of TOS as something that rose from the ashes of war? That doesn't make TOS dystopian any more than the real-world post-WWII economic boom years were dystopian just because they happened to follow the war.

Just as the real-life post-war development ultimately gave rise to the unbridled optimism of the JFK years, so the post-war setting of Trek gave rise to the go-getting optimism of James T. Kirk and co. Kirk was JFK in space.

Kor

Yep.

TOS was created by veterans of the second World War less than twenty years after it ended.

 

[ominous_thunk]

Yep.

TOS was created by veterans of the second World War less than twenty years after it ended.

Makes sense. I actually think that having the Federation "earn" the positive society that we see in TOS lends strength to that vision of the future. If the first season of DSC serves as a crucible for building that kind of society, there are plenty of great stories that can be told there.