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Jason Isaacs VS Sonequa. Who Should Have Been The Series Lead? (Spoilers)

eschaton said:
As to the OP, as I said elsewhere, if you're paying attention, SMG is no longer truly the lead of the show. It has become an ensemble cast already.

In Act 1 she was the protagonist in almost every episode, virtually all dialogue was between her and the other characters, and her actions were generally the pivotal ones to saving the day.

In Act 2 to date she's no longer the focus of the series. She's one of the focus points, but all of the main characters are being given roughly equal footing. She gets to "lead" the A plot, but the B/C plots involve other members of the crew doing things integral to the mission completely independently of her.
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You say this a lot, but the fact is the A-plot still revovles around Burnham, and the A-plot is where the central focus is.

Sonequa/Burnham is still getting the lead treatment. Sadly, it's her story and the others are just along for the ride.
 
Hythlodeus said:
idk, the moment they announced Isaacs, the moment it was clear to me his character would only be there for one season. Same with Yeoh.
but I don't doubt they will find actors in the same talent and price range for next season
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I fear they were big names brought in to launch the series in the public eye. Will be surprised if we get their like for the second season.

As an aside, the writers are so fixated on duality and parallelisms that I expect Lorca will have to die in some similar fashion to what happened with the Buran. But I'm really hoping that perhaps that itch could be scratched by having him "sacrifice" himself to exile in the PU.

Doubt that Isaacs is in this for the long-haul, but I can hope. If both Lorca and Stamets are gone, I may be out.
 
Stamets isn't going anywhere. He's too important to the producers of the series, given what he represents.

I think Issacs will appear in Season 2, but on a limited basis and he won't be the Captain obviously. Which is a major waste of potential.
 
Kane_Steel said:
Stamets isn't going anywhere. He's too important to the producers of the series, given what he represents.
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You're probably right. But killing off Culber puts them in an awkward spot. They may cop out and bring him back from the dead, but the alternative would be a "happily ever after" that reunites them in spore space.

What exactly will the space fungus guy do when the space fungus storyline is over? (And please, please let it be over.)

EDIT: Just came across this troubling quote from Wilson Cruz on Den of Geek:
We'll see that these two people have a real connection that goes beyond this mortal plane and even the physical plane and, could lead to a really epic love story, which is what I'm being told. I am to be preparing myself to throw myself into it, and I am.
 
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SMG is capable of more than her character has been given to do so far. I suspect she'll come into the roll better in subsequent seasons. This season was the Lorca season. People will be writing fan fiction and discussing the character's motives long after the chracter is retired.

Unless Prime Lorca stays on for season 2, in which case, yes, SMG is going to have to share top billing, at best.We know they didnt finish the last couple of episodes until the first few aired. if I were CBS I would be doing anything to keep Isaacs on the show. He's one of the best actors that they've had for Trek, and the character is just that compelling. The Prime counterpart, if in existence might be even moreso.
 
buzsI9U.gif


*That's SM-G to you.
 
Kane_Steel said:
Is she? I've heard Walking Dead fans weren't too crazy about Sonequa.
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I liked her character. When the writers of TWD don't fall into lazy writing (my partner got killed/time to be antisocial and make bad decisions for few episodes) most of the cast has been pretty strong. Her performance was more nuanced that some, but it worked for me. I don't think bombastic monologue types would last long in that situation.

Its not my business but personally if I were to write Burnham's character, I'd stop with her uplifting "you took my pips but i still believe in Starfleet" speeches. Give her fight scenes. Let her adopt some of Lorca's methods without the ideals.They seem to have moved away from her internal dialogue already, so that's good. It might have been better if they'd just made her Vulcan. Now they need to really decide what they want to do with the character.
 
middleagednerdgirl said:
You miss the point. If he was just a "villain" of course they could write another one. He's one of the two primary characters, the most interesting character overall, and also the best actor, who makes everyone around him better. Losing all of that is a serious problem.

We don't know if Lorca is a megalomaniac or a freedom fighter. We don't know the truth about the relationship between Lorca and Mirror Burnham, we only know what the Emperor told Prime Burnham. She may be mistaken or lying. It's a lot easier to think your right hand man seduced your adopted daughter and betrayed you because he is evil than to think they both turned against you because you are an evil creature at the head of an evil regime. There are a number of ways this could play out, and "Lorca is a massively evil pedophile who is never heard from again" is only one of them. He might yet turn out to be far more complicated than that. It's also possible for Prime Lorca to show up. You may be right, but I hope not.
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I'm not missing the point, I simply disagree.

we have three episodes left and if what they've hinted at so far comes to be true, he ends up just being a villain with too few redeemable qualities.

Lorca is a great character, but I think the show could carry on just fine without him, whether it does or not we'll find out but with this caliber of writing the show would continue on just fine, especially on a ship with Tilly, Michael, Saru and Stamets.

in fact Lorca gone may open up our crew for more individual characters.
 
Isaacs and crew have started fillming season 2 of the OA. Doesn't mean much but they would probably be finished by the time season 2 of DSC starts filming, if he's coming back.
 
fireproof78 said:
I wouldn't either, but I'm clearly in the minority in liking Burnham and Saru's story, so I'm bound to be disappointed at some point.
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I love Burnham and Saru, their story is certainly taking a backburner to some other elements,

but season two I feel will hold more of Burmham, Saru, and Sarek,

I think SMG is getting a bit of a bad wrap and so is Burnham.
 
GeekUSACarl said:
I love Burnham and Saru, their story is certainly taking a backburner to some other elements,

but season two I feel will hold more of Burmham, Saru, and Sarek,

I think SMG is getting a bit of a bad wrap and so is Burnham.
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I agree on the bad wrap. I want to see more of those three so I hope you are right.
 
I like both characters but Lorcas character and storyline feels stronger, on saying that he may not survive to the next series or he could just stay in the MU.

In which case we shall see if Burnham is promoted back to Commander or even made Captain.

Many ways this could go, really depends on what length of contract Isaacs has.
 
I love the show, but I do kinda think the determination to make this a "below decks" show was a failed experiment. Here we are, focusing on the captain, wondering if and when will the lead become the captain, and wondering where the CMO is. It might just be in the DNA of Star Trek for the leads to be the command crew.
 
seigezunt said:
, but I do kinda think the determination to make this a "below decks" show was a failed experiment.
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Not so much a "failed experiment" but they didn't really know how to approach the concept. They shifted things around by making someone who wasn't the Captain the lead, but the Captain is still part of the main cast, plus the main cast also includes the XO, chief of security and someone who is identified on screen as the chief engineer, even though that is allegedly a mistake. Plus, the supporting cast includes a doctor who more or less fills the same narrative purpose as the CMO, but isn't the CMO because reasons.

Also, the show is just going to ridiculous lengths to avoid showing a CMO at this point. In Vaulting Ambitions Saru is called down to sickbay to make medical decisions. Never mind the fact calling the XO and acting captain down to sickbay for routine medical matters relating to how to treat a patient is way out of protocol and that only medical officers have authority in sickbay anyway, Saru doesn't even have a medical background, so why the hell would he be making these decisions? And then surgery is performed by the Klingon prisoner at gunpoint.

That line about Andorian tonsillectomies wasn't relevant to the story at all and could have been excised. As it stands, that's the only thing proving Culber wasn't CMO since the show more or less is treating him like he was anyway.
 
The Wormhole said:
Not so much a "failed experiment" but they didn't really know how to approach the concept. They shifted things around by making someone who wasn't the Captain the lead, but the Captain is still part of the main cast, plus the main cast also includes the XO, chief of security and someone who is identified on screen as the chief engineer, even though that is allegedly a mistake. Plus, the supporting cast includes a doctor who more or less fills the same narrative purpose as the CMO, but isn't the CMO because reasons.
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I thought the doctor they showed this week was the CMO. Maybe I'm wrong. If she's not, how the hell many medical doctors does this ship have?
 
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