Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x02 - "Battle at the Binary Stars"

Right. I have to say I don't remember anything longer than a random exclamation or sentence in the tv shows...

 

I watched the premiere episodes yesterday, and then I watched the first (half) episode and stopped. I found the "battle of the Binary Star" to have far too much pew-pew for a show that had not really established its characters. Burnham is an interesting character, but I don't feel that we got enough to explain how her Vulcan demeanor and her prejudice relate to one another. Dividing the premiere in two episodes as they did probably created a vacuum in the second half that they filed with action.

For my money, I could have used with fewer scenes with the Klingons. I'm fine with the redesign, and I would be ok with the religious angle if it weren't thrown at us all at once. Much of this should have been a mystery to be revealed as the series progressed. The time take to show Klingon riturals, with their poor diction, not only took away from character development, it slowed the pace of the episodes.

 

Well the subtitles subtitled everything else fine.

All the other ships with names there are last/family names though, So maybe it is a mistake in the subtitles.

 

Well, you know...the Klingon scenes are bad.

I mean, nothing to do with the changes from the previous versions, or even the logic of what they're doing per se - although that's pretty thin. No "canonista" complaints here.

As TV, the Klingon stuff just sucks.

 

Know what, folk? Negative or positive, yin or yang, there is one simple truth:

WE ARE ALL WATCHING

Mission accomplished.

 

But will we keep watching is the big question for CBS?

 

Not at all.

I've watched what I've watched on a free one-week membership.

And I've decided I'm not subscribing to CBS All-Access right now because Discovery's not that good.

If I hear good things about it over the next couple of months, I may subscribe for a month in November to binge the first half of the season and decide whether it's worthwhile then.

 

Hi All

Decided to return after a new show was finally released.

Here are my thoughts on some of the scenes from the first two episodes.

Micheal was right, the war was going to happen no matter what, there was a slim chance of stopping it before it began but then there would be no overarching storyline to use as a background for the show.

Too much focus on the Klingons yakking at each other, I guess it was necessary for any new viewers to the franchise but it was painful to watch the actors/actresses deliver the guttural dialogue and slowed things down in a bad way.

I don't mind the new look for the Klingons and noticed that each house seemed to have their own unique facial features which was a nice touch, also showed us that some of the Klingon leaders were female.

Bit risky adding holograms to a show set 10 years before TOS if you ask me, its not really necessary and was bound to raise a few eyebrows, I suspect they just added it because it looked cool even though it brought doubt to the whole "Prime Universe Timeline" that the show is meant to be based in.

It has already been mentioned that some of the advanced technology feels a bit alt universe especially when we take into consideration that the Shenzou is an old ship and most definitely not state of the art for Starfleet in the mid 23rd century, however I must say that the look of the Discovery does fit more in line with the original series than the new films with the Shenzou design offering a nice callback to the NX01 plus the weapons used by the fleet seemed a bit antiquated for that period, I don't remember seeing a single photon torpedo launch by the fleet either, why not.

I liked Frain as Sarek, not too sure about the whole speaking across space but weve seen worse before in the other shows.

When will Admirals learn not to broadcast which ship they are on, its such a beginner mistake.

Someone has already mentioned it but I must agree, that court martial was strange, too many shadowy figures where we cant see their faces, it did have a bit of a Section 31 vibe to it, so does the Discovery itself for that matter, we know Micheal is going to somehow be released and it must take a lot of clout for that to happen when the alleged crimes are so severe, makes me wonder if one of those shadowy figures present is Captain Lorca himself.

Overall the two episodes were enjoyable when seen as one long pilot but I fear this show may end up suffering from the same story problems Enterprise did, that's the danger of going backwards in the timeline instead of forwards.

I didn't feel the need to go back and rewatch any scenes from the two episodes which to me is not a good sign, will keep watching for now though.

 

Really enjoyed Discovery. I wonder if the mind meld with Sarek leads to his Bendi syndrome?

Yes, it looks and feels like it's in the Kelvin timeline, but it's not. Was so engrossed in the story that I just didn't care. Nice to see political allegory in there, with the Trump-esq Klingons. Special effects and musical score were up there with the movies - incredible.

Performances were good across the board, though wish I hadn't seen the trailers as some of the surprises might've hit harder than they did.

 

Are you saying you DIDN'T watch?

Got your attention, or else you wouldn't be here.

That's my point.
LONG LIVE TREK!

Edit: I will bet real money you DO watch. You won't want to be left out of the conversation.

 

I've been wondering the same actually.

Though, I'd still prefer to think of that exchange as being between Burnham and "the left behind remnant of Sarek" rather than a long distance communication... unless something explicitly confirms the opposite.

 

Having watched the first two now my impressions are mixed. I liked the effects and the story for the most part. I'm not a fan of the new klingons. I don't think they look believable and that leader guy looks like he was dropped in wet paint.

I hated the idea that Sarek could communicate with her over vast distances. I despise when they introduce super powers to fill a plot need.

I can't say if I'll watch more of this or not. I can say I won't be paying for this once the trial ends. The outright greed and gall that CBS is trying to shake down trek fans here while the rest of the world can watch on Netflix? No thanks. They must realize that trek fans don't have CBS as a natural fit. Meaning its not the Sci fi channel as an example. So for one show on a network that I watch zero else they want me to pay more? No thanks.

 

I'm giving this a 7, and actually I think this part brought the first part up a little as far as what I thought about it.

I'm a little concerned with the sound editing for the Klingon voices. Sometimes it sounded like it was coming in by radio, other times it was clearer, but still the make up is hampering their ability to speak strings of consonants in a clear way. They did better in English, but it's still that guttural sound that TNG exemplified, something I don't care for. It also sounds like it was fed through auto-tune, and that computerized tone is something I can't stand.

I love the sound effects overall, hearing bits from TOS mixed in here and there. However, I'd prefer the sets be lit a little more (not just from a Klingon beacon, and even then the sets looked dark!)

I'd preferred it if they didn't have ready rooms, especially ones as large as a ship's bridge. No ready rooms in ENT or TOS, so how did they appear here?

I liked it, not loved it. I'm still going to watch to see what happens and see if my enjoyment increases. But for now, the first 2 episodes really left me indifferent about it, and for Star Trek, that's saying something major. I really felt no genuine excitement about it, but liked it, and that's what worries me. It was too wordy, and I truly would have preferred a little more going on in those episodes than pontificating on the bridge. It's TNG but not in a briefing room.

 

I would prefer that explanation (Burnham embodies something of Sarek's consciousness), but I fear the producers prefer the supernatural long distance phone call.

 

As others have pointed out (and dialogue from Journey to Babel confirms) Sarek (according to Amanda) has nothing against Starfleet but wanted Spock to follow in his footsteps and contribute to Vulcan institutions. Vulcan Science Academy for a (half) Vulcan, and Starfleet for a human. Seems consistent to me.

+

And in these two quotes we have Star Trek fandom, all fandom, and even all of the internet in one microcosm. Too little action for some, too much action for others. Too much change for some, too little for others. No other real thoughts about that, except I am just glad we have Trek back on TV to disagree about.

 

You've missed the entire point of why CBS is making this show, haven't you?

I said something very specific about what I've decided. If you were to suggest a real money bet addressing what I posted, here, I'd be glad to clean you out.

 

Well, that's a nice benefit of the subscription fee! I'll take it!

 

For me, I'm firmly in the camp of what I want from Trek, based upon TOS. That's the one I started watching in reruns (as well as first run TAS when I was 3 years old) and still strikes the right balance for me between words and actions.

Yes, it was more angled toward adventure, but you did have some great moments where great ideas and discussions were had.

I'm glad Trek is back on TV (in a way), but for me some of the dialogue in the first two episodes seemed more like two kids tugging back and forth on a toy or a TV preacher standing in the middle of his congregation.

 

I have to agree. In good space battles you have to have a good sense for what is happening in terms of the flow of the battle. It helps if you're following a ship that has a special "mission" in the battle to save the day. This battle looked impressive but had neither of the above. It felt a bit flat to me.

Great conflict can create great drama. And, what do you do if you're a peaceful society but threatened by a warmonger society? How do you adapt. You pretty much have to have space battles in that scenario. I suspect it won't be wall to wall space battles though. Trek always mixes in the personal side of things. Even DS9 didn't have battles in every episode during its war arc.

 

Wow, was really impressed with how much better Part 2 was. Only thing bothering me is how advanced the tech is in this show, being only a few years before TOS. Other than that, the acting seemed better, the pacing was much better as well. The space battle was really well done. CBS would have had better luck luring people into All Access showing this episode on broadcast as well.