Doug Jones IS that Orange Guy, Lt. Saru... Discuss here

I enjoyed how the character was written in the novel, but whether he acts like that on the show is up in the air.

I don’t think 2 Episodes is enough to judge any of the characters on.

If we just judged Data on his first two episodes we’d be thinking of a completely different character then what appeared in later episodes

 

That android that gets drunk somehow?

 

Yes

 

You know, I felt the same way about that line every time I saw it in the stuff leading up to the show, and even during the first viewing of the first episode, but in the second viewing it finally clicked: he wasn't actually telling US that he has some sort of special power through expository dialog. He was trying to manipulate Burnham into feeling the concern that he felt and withdrawing the ship - and possibly playing off of a racial stereotype that others have of his own people in order to do it.

 

He seemed a bit yellow to me.

 

I thought Saru was the lone bright spot in the two first episodes.

 

^^ For me that was Michelle Yeoh /Captain Georgiou.

 

I thought the character was written poorly. Like they were trying to shoehorn Picard into the 23rd century. Yeoh did well with what she had, but I expected no less based on the career she has had so far.

 

Part of your confusion might be your use of the word "bred". He never said that they were "bred" to detect death. What he said "my people were biologically determined to sense the coming of death; I sense it now." and by "biologically determined", he meant that they evolved that way.

In an interview, Doug Jones and the showrunners further explained why he species evolved that way, and he explain that the are a prey species on his planet, so his species have a heightened sense of awareness of danger. Just like -- for example -- a mouse in a meadow or a gazelle on the African savanna, they have heighten senses when it come to looking for predators that may eat them. That, along with a skittish nature that is always worrying about being eaten, would give that mouse or gazelle a way to sense that they are in danger.

Here's an excerpt from that article. I hope this clears up some of what you don't understand about Saru being able to "sense death":

“Doug Jones character plays Lt. Saru,” says writer-producer Aaron Harberts, who is showrunner on the upcoming CBS All Access drama along with Gretchen J. Berg. “What we can tell you that adds the context to that clip where he says he can sense the coming of death is that he comes from a planet where he’s a ‘prey species.’ He’s the first of his kind to make it to Starfleet.”

On Saru’s planet, there’s a dominant predator species that constantly imperils another weaker species called Kelpiens. As part of the latter group, Saru has evolved with heightened survival instincts. Such prey species tend to have a cowardly reputation in the Federation, but Saru should not be underestimated.​

 

I agree with the notion that Saru shouldn't be underestimated. After all he did show strategic and tactical thinking when he came up with the plan to cripple the klingon ship. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Saru develops this season.

 

For a cattle species, he sure doesn't have very much meat on him. What is there to eat? He's just all elbows and gristle.

 

He's different than most of the Alien "who reflects on what humanity is" character in Star Trek. Spock, Data, Odo, 7of9, T'Pol. Those guys were all cool and I think people are expecting Saru to be along those lines.

So far Saru reminds me of C3PO. Always looking to run away from battle. Not cool, but maybe an interesting side kick in the story.

 

Maybe the predator species had an obesity epidemic and only want lean, free range, organic, grass fed kelpians?

 

Saru? The one who came up with the plan to strap a warhead to a worker bee and have someone go on a suicide run to blowup the ship? The one who then voluntarily said he'd find the weakest point on the enemy ship so they could bring down the whole damn thing? Is he skittish? Yes, that's him fighting against his natural instincts. This is star trek not star wars, characters aren't 2d cardboard cut outs where they only have one character trait and act according to that.

 

What's elbows and gristle to humans might be filet mignon to the other species on Saru's home planet.

 

No

Not to mention not all prey species is nice and plump. What's a seal to shark? Or a school of fish to a blue whale? There was a crazy unsubstantiated theory that kelpians were prey to Klingons thousands of years ago. Made no sense, would of been cool, what have enjoyed multiple people having their head explode over canon violation lmao

 

That might be why Saru made it "out" to become a Starfleet officer.

That is, Saru may be "all elbows and gristle" even when compared to other Kelpians -- so the predator species on his planet often chose to eat his plumper friends first, passing over Saru. Maybe he wasn't worth the effort.

 

The predator species enjoys bone marrow and Sara has plent of that with those long bones of his.

 

I enjoyed Saru personally and frankly found it quite refreshing to see fear and apprehension amongst SF. He was charismatic in a neurotic way, somewhat camp and the only problem I have with the "coming of death" thing was the way it has been misrepresented, partially down to the editing used in the trailer.

As for Burnham being sexualised, I suppose it's a subjective question what constitutes "sexy" or an aspect of sexuality but for me the only way she was sexy was on her own terms, not by being deliberately presented as a sex object. I'm curious what aspect of the portrayal made you feel that way?

 

I, too, find it refreshing to have a character who is not so eager to face danger all the time.

He's the character that every horror movie needs (but doesn't have) who would say sensible things such as "I don't know if it such a good idea for us to all split up and search this old abandoned mental institution on our own to figure out what those weird sounds are."