Overall for the execution of the episode I still give it an 8.
BUT (and I'm going to rant a bit here):
1) I DO think this whole thing was what Bryan Fuller cooked up prior to leaving as this series and story was co-developed and other people who worked on it with him remained after he left. Plus it would be just the type of anthology story I'd expect given his original pitch because it (the Spore drive) doesn't really lend itself to going beyond one season - yet at the end the Mycelial Network is 'cured' - and Stamets is well enough to use it, and getting better at using it; but if you jump to another Star Trek era (as Fuller wanted to do with each season) - you don't need to deal with it directly.
2) The story was fine and somewhat interesting UNTIL you realize (and yes, this was probably what they thought would be the 'Big Surprise' Star Trek fans would love) -- A character from the MU crossed to the PU - took command of a ship - and even helped save the Federation while he was there
^^^
I personally think it's a big pile of crap the way it was ultimately written and shows these show runners (who pretty much were also responsible for the CRAP show Star Trek: Voyager) aren't really fans of TOS and 23rd century era Star Trek because they make a character that was wonderful and did (IMO) fit into that era in a time of war - but no - here again we have the cop out that he was the way he was because he's actually from the MU. And further, once he returns to the MU, he becomes a mustache twirling idiot (he was shown as very tactically competent too - so why he becomes utterly stupid once back in the MU is beyond me) - and just goes to show these show runners DON'T REALLY KNOW how to write a good ending for the character. Yes, there should be a way that he still gets beaten, but isn't turned into an idiot meme-villain to accomplish that...<---- And that's why you don't let writers who did this type of crap again and again on ST:VOY loose on the TOS era.
3) Ted Sullivan is disingenuous in that he claims he really liked TOS; although from his comments and overall execution of the series, he really didn't like that 23rd century characters weren't 'Utopian', thinks the classic 23rd century design aesthetic of TOS is 'too cheap/dated' - which is probably why none of the Fed ships have a round nacelle anywhere; nor do we have anything that even looks close to a TOS Starship/Constitution Class or any of the designs even done for TOS-R. And why? Because the lead show runner probably thinks they look 'cheap'. And again, I love the interior of the Crossfield Class and say go for it - BUT if you really wanted to show TOS fans you respected and were linking to the actual TOS era, a few D7 style Klingon ships and perhaps a Starship/Constitution Class (with a nice model like what was done for ENT - "In a Mirror Darkly") would have gone a long way towards showing what you've been saying from day one isn't a load of crap Les Moonves and the CBS marketing dept. asked you to spew to try and get those of us who love TOS to this day to give your show a chance. I'll bet you would have done the phaser and tricorder props differently if you were given the option too; but hey, they gave your comments some credibility.
Again, I AM disappointed that the show runners decided Lorca was going to be from the MU - BUT - they could have written his ending part of the arc better (and it's not like they were under some sort of time crunch because the episode where it's revealed is 37 minutes long - so THAT just shows they were just concentrating on the 'shock' value) - and once the 'big reveal' hit, it was back to the old tropes - and tossing Lorca the idiot ball - guess those old ST:VOY writing habits never die.
But hey, they also did a 'trope death' for Lorca - and since the Mycelial Network is a big Mcguffin, and Lorca was alive when he feel into it - maybe some writers with some talent can bring him back for an episode and really do justice to the way the character was written earlier in the series when he had a functioning/scheming brain and was a really good manipulator.
These showrunners all said "Trust us, we like TOS and know canon an it'll all work out in the end..."; and yeah it might, but if it does,it'll be because you use the tried and true Star Trek meme of some McGuffin reset <--- And with the chance they were given to write a cohesive overarching story - to have to resort to that at the end is just sad.
I also find it funny that they said "ENT was a problem for them..." considering the entire arc is based on a thread FROM the ENT series. The other sad thing is ENT Season 3 did a better job of a full season arc overall then the 15 episode Season 1 of Discovery - and honestly ENT's 2 and 3 part mini-arcs in its Season 4 were more cohesive then this 15 episode ST: D arc.
I was really intrigued by Lorca in the PU as he was written and portrayed in the first part of the ST: D series and even the first two MU episodes and thought that yeah, these guys had an interesting take on a non-Utopian 23rd century Captain damaged by experiences in a war - but no, it was all just to do something they thought was 'cool'; and they really gave zero thought on how to maintain the intelligence and manipulative cunning the character had displayed to that point.
Again, this arc did some interesting things, and did them well here and there; but overall, it's ultimately disappointing that the writing team dropped the ball HARD at the end, after all the excellent work the set design folks did. And also that Ted Sullivan seems to have such a disdain for TOS era ship designs of BOTH the Klingons and Federation that they can't even do a decent nod by showing either classic design once in those 15 episodes.
And lastly I did also find the Voq/Tyler story interesting; but here again, the writers seem to have dripped the ball (it could have been another way to explain Humanoid Klingons in the TOS era - but it really appears the Voq/Tyler experiment here is a one off, and ultimately a storyline that too disappoints in the end.
And where was all the "Deeper look at Klingons and Klingon House politics..." because if leaving Houseless Klingons stranded to die in a Battlefield (until you - 5 months later decide they have technology you want - so you return and take it); or that "Klingons will eat vanquished foes" <--- Yeah, doesn't really qualify as "A deeper look..." for me.
At this point:
- I was entertained by a large portion of it (if I'm being honest).
BUT...
- I really do consider it a reboot of sorts. If it is the 'PU', it's a PU that has much of the same history; but NONE of the original visual design aesthetic of the TOS I've known and like a LOT for the past 50 years (Yes, I'm that old..); so yeah I don't feel it's the actual TOS Universe I've been seeing Kirk and Co. adventure in - but a close facsimile.
^^^
And the sad thing is: Had the show runners just admitted this up front; I'd probably like the series a bit more than I do after 13 episodes; and I also really will be disappointed if we get a McGuffin reset at the end of the remaing. Some stuff was rally well/nicely done too, but to say this is ten years prior to 'my' Kirk and Spock, and that this connects/is a pre-cursor to their adventures. Nope, you guys were VERY disingenuous there, and no, I don't really think you respect, or like the actual TOS era that many still watch (with the 'cheap' designs and all) and enjoy in 2017. (And yes, I do think it was doable - IE you could really have shown a connection without sacrificing any story credibility or creativity; but it's not something any of the showrunners wanted to do - at all.)
At this point, personally, I hope they replace Aaron Harberts, Gretchen J Berg and Ted Sullivan as Showrunners for Season 2 - and do something that doesn't devolve into a sequence of tropes and McGuffins at the end; and further they either admit this series is another reboot in certain aspects; or do a bit more to tie it to the TOS era many know and still enjoy today.
VMMV.
Edited to add:
This looks 'cheap':
But this doesn't?:
Yeah, right!
BUT (and I'm going to rant a bit here):
1) I DO think this whole thing was what Bryan Fuller cooked up prior to leaving as this series and story was co-developed and other people who worked on it with him remained after he left. Plus it would be just the type of anthology story I'd expect given his original pitch because it (the Spore drive) doesn't really lend itself to going beyond one season - yet at the end the Mycelial Network is 'cured' - and Stamets is well enough to use it, and getting better at using it; but if you jump to another Star Trek era (as Fuller wanted to do with each season) - you don't need to deal with it directly.
2) The story was fine and somewhat interesting UNTIL you realize (and yes, this was probably what they thought would be the 'Big Surprise' Star Trek fans would love) -- A character from the MU crossed to the PU - took command of a ship - and even helped save the Federation while he was there
^^^
I personally think it's a big pile of crap the way it was ultimately written and shows these show runners (who pretty much were also responsible for the CRAP show Star Trek: Voyager) aren't really fans of TOS and 23rd century era Star Trek because they make a character that was wonderful and did (IMO) fit into that era in a time of war - but no - here again we have the cop out that he was the way he was because he's actually from the MU. And further, once he returns to the MU, he becomes a mustache twirling idiot (he was shown as very tactically competent too - so why he becomes utterly stupid once back in the MU is beyond me) - and just goes to show these show runners DON'T REALLY KNOW how to write a good ending for the character. Yes, there should be a way that he still gets beaten, but isn't turned into an idiot meme-villain to accomplish that...<---- And that's why you don't let writers who did this type of crap again and again on ST:VOY loose on the TOS era.
3) Ted Sullivan is disingenuous in that he claims he really liked TOS; although from his comments and overall execution of the series, he really didn't like that 23rd century characters weren't 'Utopian', thinks the classic 23rd century design aesthetic of TOS is 'too cheap/dated' - which is probably why none of the Fed ships have a round nacelle anywhere; nor do we have anything that even looks close to a TOS Starship/Constitution Class or any of the designs even done for TOS-R. And why? Because the lead show runner probably thinks they look 'cheap'. And again, I love the interior of the Crossfield Class and say go for it - BUT if you really wanted to show TOS fans you respected and were linking to the actual TOS era, a few D7 style Klingon ships and perhaps a Starship/Constitution Class (with a nice model like what was done for ENT - "In a Mirror Darkly") would have gone a long way towards showing what you've been saying from day one isn't a load of crap Les Moonves and the CBS marketing dept. asked you to spew to try and get those of us who love TOS to this day to give your show a chance. I'll bet you would have done the phaser and tricorder props differently if you were given the option too; but hey, they gave your comments some credibility.
Again, I AM disappointed that the show runners decided Lorca was going to be from the MU - BUT - they could have written his ending part of the arc better (and it's not like they were under some sort of time crunch because the episode where it's revealed is 37 minutes long - so THAT just shows they were just concentrating on the 'shock' value) - and once the 'big reveal' hit, it was back to the old tropes - and tossing Lorca the idiot ball - guess those old ST:VOY writing habits never die.
But hey, they also did a 'trope death' for Lorca - and since the Mycelial Network is a big Mcguffin, and Lorca was alive when he feel into it - maybe some writers with some talent can bring him back for an episode and really do justice to the way the character was written earlier in the series when he had a functioning/scheming brain and was a really good manipulator.
These showrunners all said "Trust us, we like TOS and know canon an it'll all work out in the end..."; and yeah it might, but if it does,it'll be because you use the tried and true Star Trek meme of some McGuffin reset <--- And with the chance they were given to write a cohesive overarching story - to have to resort to that at the end is just sad.
I also find it funny that they said "ENT was a problem for them..." considering the entire arc is based on a thread FROM the ENT series. The other sad thing is ENT Season 3 did a better job of a full season arc overall then the 15 episode Season 1 of Discovery - and honestly ENT's 2 and 3 part mini-arcs in its Season 4 were more cohesive then this 15 episode ST: D arc.
I was really intrigued by Lorca in the PU as he was written and portrayed in the first part of the ST: D series and even the first two MU episodes and thought that yeah, these guys had an interesting take on a non-Utopian 23rd century Captain damaged by experiences in a war - but no, it was all just to do something they thought was 'cool'; and they really gave zero thought on how to maintain the intelligence and manipulative cunning the character had displayed to that point.
Again, this arc did some interesting things, and did them well here and there; but overall, it's ultimately disappointing that the writing team dropped the ball HARD at the end, after all the excellent work the set design folks did. And also that Ted Sullivan seems to have such a disdain for TOS era ship designs of BOTH the Klingons and Federation that they can't even do a decent nod by showing either classic design once in those 15 episodes.
And lastly I did also find the Voq/Tyler story interesting; but here again, the writers seem to have dripped the ball (it could have been another way to explain Humanoid Klingons in the TOS era - but it really appears the Voq/Tyler experiment here is a one off, and ultimately a storyline that too disappoints in the end.
And where was all the "Deeper look at Klingons and Klingon House politics..." because if leaving Houseless Klingons stranded to die in a Battlefield (until you - 5 months later decide they have technology you want - so you return and take it); or that "Klingons will eat vanquished foes" <--- Yeah, doesn't really qualify as "A deeper look..." for me.
At this point:
- I was entertained by a large portion of it (if I'm being honest).
BUT...
- I really do consider it a reboot of sorts. If it is the 'PU', it's a PU that has much of the same history; but NONE of the original visual design aesthetic of the TOS I've known and like a LOT for the past 50 years (Yes, I'm that old..); so yeah I don't feel it's the actual TOS Universe I've been seeing Kirk and Co. adventure in - but a close facsimile.
^^^
And the sad thing is: Had the show runners just admitted this up front; I'd probably like the series a bit more than I do after 13 episodes; and I also really will be disappointed if we get a McGuffin reset at the end of the remaing. Some stuff was rally well/nicely done too, but to say this is ten years prior to 'my' Kirk and Spock, and that this connects/is a pre-cursor to their adventures. Nope, you guys were VERY disingenuous there, and no, I don't really think you respect, or like the actual TOS era that many still watch (with the 'cheap' designs and all) and enjoy in 2017. (And yes, I do think it was doable - IE you could really have shown a connection without sacrificing any story credibility or creativity; but it's not something any of the showrunners wanted to do - at all.)
At this point, personally, I hope they replace Aaron Harberts, Gretchen J Berg and Ted Sullivan as Showrunners for Season 2 - and do something that doesn't devolve into a sequence of tropes and McGuffins at the end; and further they either admit this series is another reboot in certain aspects; or do a bit more to tie it to the TOS era many know and still enjoy today.
VMMV.
Edited to add:
This looks 'cheap':
But this doesn't?:
Yeah, right!
Last edited:
Abrams was almost certainly the nadir of Trek. I basically think of ST09 as his audition reel for taking over Star Wars, his real love.
