I think there's a lot of discussion over this stuff simply because what Discovery gave us was so completely uninspiring. It had its moments and I think the acting across the board was pretty strong, but the writing never really rose above TOS season three quality.
I think that's a bit of a reach. From day one, a lot of the more hardcore Star Trek fans have wanted the Star Trek Universe to be internally consistent. What we got in ST: D really hasn't been. They deliberately set it in the time ( well 2 year after) of "The Cage"; as well as claimed "This is all taking place in the 'Prime' Star trek Universe that TOS with Kirk and Spock took place in -- Trust us..." (and stated same multiple times and in multiple news aeticles regarding the series production); yet:
- The ship uniforms are a big departure from what we saw on TOS - "The Cage" or in the second pilot which ultimately sold the original Star Trek series - "Where No Man Has Gone Before" - which is obstinately set in 2265 - 11 years after "The Cage". (And yes, we know the 'real world' production reason for this, but 'in universe' the one explanation is "These were standard ships's uniforms for about a decade'.)
- The ship interiors and viewcreen layouts are more consistent with JJ Abram's Star Trek 2009 alternate universe/timeline then anything in the 'Prime' TOS timeline.
- They effectively go out of their way to NOT show us any Federation of Klingon ship design that is remotely close to the design aesthetic presented in TOS - "The Cage" or the subsequent seasons of TOS in any Fleet shots or other single ship shots of ancillary Federation of Klingon ships.
The design of Pike's 1701 is a big departure from the original model design used for either TOS - "The Cage" or Kirk's 1701 first shown to the public viewing audience in 1966 TOS - "The Man Trap".
- TNG was the first 'continuation; and it used models and designs directly from the TOS feature films.
- DS9 used the TOS designs for the K-7 Space Station, Kirk's 1701; and a TOS era Klingon D-7 ship in DS9 - "Trials and Tribble-ations.
- VOY used the original U.S.S. Excelsior model and Klingon Ktanga ship models in VOY - "Flashback".
- ENT used CGI to recreate a model of the TOS era U.S.S. Defiant with the same look and color scheme shown in TOS - "The Tholian Web".
Of ALL the Star Trek series made for 'TV' (yes, ST: D is a 'streaming show' but is being broadcast on TV in Canada) - it's the first in the now 52 year history of the franchise that has not presented 23rd century era TOS Federation and Klingon ships as they have appeared in TOS and later Star Trek series franchise show episodes.
So, no the reason many TOS fans are positing 'it's a reboot' have everything to do with the visuals presented on the screen; and not because what ST: D gave in terms of story writing was 'uninspired', etc.
