I don't get the hate for Tilly at all. The "fucking cool" thing came out of nowhere and seemed gratuitously out of character, but that's because it wasn't really written as an in-character moment. It was nothing but a light tap on the fourth wall with no point other than: "Hey, did you people out there realize that we can use profanity since this is not broadcast TV?" (Not that I have any problem with profanity,
if it feels natural, which this didn't.) And it wasn't only Tilly; the whole exchange felt painfully awkward and shoehorned in. As far as what
really counts goes, I've liked her character. That scene in the mess hall where she was bargaining with Burnham and the computer over what to have for breakfast was quite endearing to me, as have been others.
But I guess nobody likes
every character, and that's why they make it an ensemble cast, so there's at least
someone to suit each individual's taste. I don't particularly
like Saru or Stamets, personally, although that is
not to say I entirely
dislike them, or haven't found anything about them dramatically compelling, because I
have. My least favorite as yet is actually Tyler, and I hope the rumors/theories about him are in some fashion true, so his character can get a bit of a reboot. As he is now, he's not working for me even a little bit. Seems bland and superficial in his performance...which, again, I
hope has been pointedly intentional up to now. Looking forward to tonight!
My favorite character is, of course, Michael. Wonderful concept and performance thus far, IMO.
-
MMoM
Oh, I wouldn’t say I “hate” Tilly. She’s simply unappealing. That is all. It's certainly not the language. God knows, we swore enough in the service that, if anything, I find the lack of profanity to be unrealistic of my military experience!
I
do know some Trekkers who absolutely despise her but, to be honest, I don’t think there’s enough there to despise without slipping into assumption-territory and inferences which may or may not be true. When I say she’s “unappealing,” she is literally that: nothing appeals to me about her characterization, which I find too close to Wesley (a character I simply found cringeworthy and a really big missed opportunity in terms of showing how a character could evolve over time into something more mature and deep. I would’ve loved to’ve seen a character arc that involved him going to the Academy, graduating, and getting his first assignment). My opinion of Tilly may or may not change and I’m open to that possibility. Just isn’t there now.
To be honest, I find the cast of
Discovery to be a mixed bag. I came into the show thinking I’d sympathise with Burnham, would find a nice Spock/Data analogue with Saru, and would find a throwback to Kirk’s style of command in Lorca. Not one of those predictions occurred.
I think Burnham is fatally flawed and I have absolutely no sympathy for her. I think the writers made a horrible, characterologically fatal decision in making her a mutineer. No character arc is likely to convince me she’s not better off rotting in prison, short of a temporal reboot (and that would be a cop-out).
Saru is…boring. And, as I’ve said elsewhere, problematic. I’m not certain they thought out very well how a society like the Kelpians could’ve evolved. It reads like a good idea on paper; on execution…less-so.
Lorca, so far, comes close to my original estimation and is, indeed, my favoured character thus far. But that is tempered by the sneaky suspicion that the writers are setting him up for a fall. That would be a shame, in part because it would do away with the only three-dimensional character I’ve seen thus far in the series.
Stamets has grown on me, a lot more than I expected. But, even so, I still find it odd that we do not have a “proper engineer” on the ship. I get that it’s an experimental vessel, but…
Ash, like Lorca, seems more “real” to me, perhaps because of my military background. Nonetheless, I figure the Ash=Voq theory will turn out to be fact, however implausible or unrealistic it seems right now (unless they go the Manchurian Candidate route…) and I’m not looking to invest too much more in him.
Who else is there? The others are ciphers and very undeveloped. It’s early-days, I suppose, but when I think of
Discovery, I get a very vague impression, like I’m viewing a scene through fog. Not a whole lot of detail for many of them. It could be that it’s because they’re attempting a serial-like method of storytelling and that will, of necessity, leave some characters underdeveloped. Very well. I just hope it doesn’t feel like this half-way through the second season!
