Finally Watching Discovery - Was I Supoosed to Hate This?

So, thanks to Blu Ray I am finally watching Discovery. I tried hard to avoid spoilers for the last year or so, but have been aware of all the screaming and gnashing going on here abouts and elsewhere.

Anyways, I'm four episodes in and I'm liking it. Okay, not the best Trek ever - that's still DS9. But, it ain't the worst Trek I've ever seen neither - that's still most of Voyager. But, I've been watching Trek for about 50 years now and have gotten used to having some ups and downs along the way.

Admitted, it's got a different look than I'd expect for a prequel to TOS - but it could sort of follow the look established in Enterprise. Not a big fan of the blingy uniforms, or the yet-another-Klingon-redesign. But those things aside, I'm finding myself entertained and interested to see more. And am loving some of these new characters - especially Tilly and Stamets. And Dog Jones is doing some really interesting stuff with Saru.

Gotta say I'm not entirely sure what all the fuss has been the past year or so, guys. Yeah, it's dong some stuff in a sorta new way, but it still looks like Trek to me.

 

Just wait, I felt the same way but it got really . . . stupid. I felt the writing got worse and worse as the season went on becoming ridiculous after about the mid-season. I won't go into it because I don't want to spoil anything but lets discuss when you finish the season.

 

Most people seem to think the reverse.

 

Glad you are enjoying it, I feel it gets better and stronger as the season goes on.

 

I felt it got better too. Personally I would have preferred them to slow things down a little as it felt like they kept going from one big twist to the next without letting things breathe.

 

For me, the writing flatlined mid-season. Your mileage may vary, of course.

 

When you figure that out let me know. It's as baffling as hatred for other Treks to me.

 

Yeah, I watched it on DVD earlier this week and I liked it. Not perfect, but I'm glad I spoiled myself ahead of time and got all of that out of the way so I could look at the show on its own merits. And overall I thought it was the second best first season of any Trek series, including my favorite series-DS9. I put TOS's first season over Discovery's and that's it.

I thought the writing improved over the course of the season and I enjoyed the Mirror Universe arc a lot. The last two episodes did feel tacked on, but still had some good stuff in them. Granted the end of the war felt anti-climatic. I do wish that the bomb had been planted on Praxis instead of Qo'noS, don't get why they didn't go for that easy callback.

There were some episodes that dragged a bit, but overall, I thought the pacing for the season was good. The visuals were great, the best of any televised Trek series. And I thought the character work wasn't bad. Uneven, but wasn't bad. They had a character arc for Michael Burnham that worked by the end, even if some of the "We are Starfleet" stuff espoused by Burnham and Saru felt forced, and likely was the writers responding to fan criticisms (which I don't have a problem with per se, if those criticisms are valid, and the darker tone of Discovery likely did turn some Trek fans off). I liked Burnham's doomed romance with Ash Tyler. I thought Tyler played the tortured human/Klingon scenes well. Jason Isaacs was pretty good as Lorca. I liked Michelle Yeoh-sometimes more as Prime Georgiou and other times more as Emperor Georgiou. I do think Yeoh enjoyed being bad. Some of the other major characters were also starting to take shape over the course of the season and feel more like a cohesive team that we are familiar with on Trek by the end of the season.

Some of my complaints are the ones that have been said ad nausea by others, but putting some of those to the side I do think Discovery Season 1 made for some entertaining television-especially compared to the uneven first seasons for other Trek. I do think Discovery's fast pace and better production values gave it a cinematic feel and I really wish they had just said the show was in the Kelvinverse. It has that kind of feel and the heightened emotions and action.

It helps for me to reason it's a follow-on to Enterprise more than a prequel to TOS. And also that the show was conceived as a character-driven show (based around Burnham), and not an ensemble piece, though I think they might be shifting to an ensemble show next season.

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Found it to be a mixed bag myself, with no real clear line of ‘improvement/worsening.’ It had some good episodes and some bad ones. Some nifty shit, and some outright stupidity. Just like every incarnation of Trek.

And like every incaranation of Trek, I overall enjoyed it.

I suppose I was a bit more attached to all the leads that I was compared to some Trek series. Out of your mains, there was no say...Chakotay. Who could have been written out, and I wouldn’t really have missed.

 

[Sarcasm]Yes, of course you're supposed to hate it. It's not Star Trek, and if you do like it, you aren't a real Star Trek fan.[/Sarcasm]

I'm firmly in the camp if having liked it from the beginning in spite of some story issues. Being in the UK, and having it on Netflix meant I got to see new episodes as they came out, and strongly looked forward to it every week it was on throughout the run. I'll also say there are some things that seemed better on viewing later after seeing the entire series, but a few things seemed more annoying second time around.

 

I felt it held much promise and it was such a good feeling to see fresh Trek. The story did drag even early on with those blessed Klingon subtitles and the general dark tone. Given the OP has seen four episodes I can comment that I'm not entirely sure depicting the Klingons as one dimensional monsters helped either. They have left a bad taste in my mouth, in fact if I never see another Klingon again it won't be too soon. Not to spoil it but the progression of the series does take us down the rabbit hole with disappointing and cliched cringe moments and what ends up to be a very unfortunate resolution for at least one character. And the ending? Oh boy.

That being said it can really only improve.

 

Perhaps because of "screaming and gnashing" you heard about the show you went in with lower(or negative) expectations about the show. What we hear about a product both positive and negative can impact on how we feel about a product when we finally experience it.

 

It's a solid show. It's no "Orville" but it's fine and it can even get better. I got use to the look except for the Klingons and that is mostly due to the fact they look bad whether they fit or don't fit in terms of continuity. Stamets and TIlly were great like mentioned. Saru as well. Lorca was the main star for many even over Burnham but you might not like how his arc ends. It's one of the worst character betrayals in tv history. Burnham is the character I think most fans are conflicted over. Some love her some hate her some are just okay with her. I don't think many like Tyler but even those who do one thing is certain is both sides hates his hipster beard. I don't think anyone likes T'Rell as a character either but everyone likes the actress alot. It's Marina Sirtis all over again.

Jason

 

Look, basicly it's simple. There are folk out there who enjoy Star Trek, and like the writing and acting and everything there is to like about a show, or dislike ofcourse. And the fact that it's such a huge universe to play in.

And then there are the hardcore fans who have become so obsessed with what, in their mind's eye, is 'correct' Star Trek, nothing will ever satisfy them unless it's the perfect image they have in their heads.

So no. You're not supposed to hate this. You're supposed to be an openminded adult that isn't fixated on what color a bussardcollecter should be.

 

Eh but they didn’t

 

Agreed on all points !

Again, agreed. I'd have liked the Klingons and their ships to have been a bit more traditional, but....yeah, it's Trek and I like it. I'll take it over the Kelvinverse any day !

 

Indeed.