First Impressions

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Discovery' started by Damian, Dec 27, 2018.

  1. Damian

    Damian Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I got Discovery on Blu-Ray as a Christmas gift and am watching it for the first time (outside the premiere that debuted on CBS last year). I have watched the first 3 episodes thus far and thought I'd post a few first impressions. I've avoided reading any specific story threads about the series, though I'm familiar with some background information and have read the 3 novels released thus far.

    At the moment I'm still getting adjusted to the show. It's interesting to note the episodes don't have a standard run time. The first episode was 42 minutes and I wrongly assumed they would all be 42 (which was also the run time of Enterprise so it seemed to make sense). But the 2nd was 37 minutes and the 3rd about 47 minutes. Not a big deal really, just an observation.

    I'm trying to make some allowances for some of the production design. But I really don't care for the Klingon design. I try to be forgiving as we know TMP redesigned Klingons, TNG made some changes to Romulans, Enterprise made some changes to Andorian and Tellarite design. But between the new makeup and the uniforms, it's hard to see how the Klingons can effectively fight hand to hand, and the make up seems to cause a lot of issues with their speech. So no, not a fan of the Klingon look.

    It's also obvious they were heavily influenced by the Abramsverse movies. I still don't get the whole window instead of a viewscreen thing. But I'll let that pass for now. I guess we could say between the Kelvin through Discovery Starfleet was having a window fetish for that period for some reason and eventually went back to a traditional viewscreen. And again, I'll make some allowances for production design. I did for Enterprise and it's only fair to give Discovery some latitude as well. I'll get used to it.

    Now we are told this takes place in the prime timeline. There are one or two things I'm having a hard time buying with that. One is the forcefields that pop into place on the Shenzou. Now the Enterprise is a more advanced ship and they don't have those types of forcefields, they have to rely on emergency bulkheads. Why wouldn't the Enterprise have emergency forcefields as well? Not sure about that. Also, 100 years of limited contact with Klingons was noted. That takes us back pretty much to the end of Enterprise. Did the Klingons suddenly go quiet after the Augment Virus incident (which was almost 100 years exactly before Discovery)? I wonder if we will see any human looking Klingons on Discovery.

    Character wise--well I've only seen the Discovery itself once thus far. Lorca seems a very unusual captain. Something seems a bit off about him, but then I'll have to give it time. Cadet Tilley seems very insecure for a cadet assigned to an apparently experimental starship. Again, maybe there's more then meets the eye, but I found her to be a bit irritating so far. I was also a bit surprised at the chief engineers attitude toward Captain Lorca. His questioning of the Captain when he ordered him to take Burnham with him to the Glenn almost bordered on insubordination. And the spore drive that was introduced doesn't seem to jive with canon. If they have such an advanced drive, why is Starfleet relying on 'simple' warp drive 10 years later? I assume there will be an answer to that question in upcoming episodes.

    Well, just some initial thoughts so far. I imagine some of my questions will be answered in future episodes.
     
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  2. Lord Garth

    Lord Garth Admiral Admiral

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    Welcome aboard! I hope you enjoy the rest of the series. Lorca's the gruff type, so he probably appreciates a similar type of toughness from Stamets. Georgiou's my favorite character.

    I won't say anything else until you see more.
     
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  3. thribs

    thribs Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It is weird seeing Issacs going on about a new way to fly as he was in that Event Horizon film. We all know what happened there. :)

    Lorca is easily the best character there. He’s essentially Calhoun from the New Frontier novels. A no nonsense captain with a bit of a edge to him. Something that hasn’t been shown before in a leader.
    You’ve done pretty well not knowing any spoilers so far.
     
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  4. Damian

    Damian Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    That's right, I had forgotten that he was in Event Horizon. I did like the character Lorca when I read the novel "Drastic Measures", and yes I can see a bit of Calhoun in him. I haven't made any judgements really character wise outside of finding Tilley a bit annoying in her first episode and Stamets almost insubordinate behavior toward Lorca. But I'm keeping an open mind about them nonetheless because I get the sense there's more than meets the eye there. I know quite a bit of background about Lorca, Burnham and Saru thus far thanks to the novels. I actually found it helpful the have read those novels before seeing the series. I was prepared ahead of time for the whole Burnham-Saru dynamic along with some of the reasons for his cautious nature. And reading the novel with Lorca helped in the sense that despite his demeanor, there is a no-nonsense get the job done kind of personality there.

    But in general I've avoided reading most Discovery threads and articles outside of background info, like who's involved and some production background. I had heard bits and pieces, like I've seen references to the spore drive but I other than the name itself, I knew little else going in. I also know that Mudd makes an appearance later in the series, but have no idea what the circumstances are, and I also know the Mirror Universe makes an appearance at some point, but otherwise I have no idea what that will entail. So I know some very basic tidbits but nothing that gives me much hint as to where they are going with the show. So it will be a fun ride. The only bummer is I'll have to likely wait almost a year before season 2 will be released on Blu-Ray. But first things first....
     
  5. KennyB

    KennyB I have spoken............ Moderator

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    I don't think they were influenced as much as they are the two most recent productions, so yeah they are going to look more alike. They are both using trends and techniques from the 2010s.......Much like 1990s Trek all looks the same.

    As for the forcefields......it's been 54 years since preproduction on Trek was started. Some of what seemed "futuristic" in 1965 just doesn't now. We have not seen forcefields on the DIscoprise yet. I am betting they are not just florescent light bulbs now.

    At the end of the day it is a TV show........one that is over a half century old and not a historical documentary. I can deal with updates to tech and fashion.
     
  6. thribs

    thribs Vice Admiral Admiral

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    So you’ve read the novel? That last chapter must have confused you I bet?
     
  7. KennyB

    KennyB I have spoken............ Moderator

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    Which one? I have read both, but it has been over a year.
     
  8. thribs

    thribs Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Apologies, I was replying to Damian.
    The Lorca one with Kang and Kodos.
     
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  9. NeoStar9

    NeoStar9 Commander Red Shirt

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    Hope you continue watching and enjoy the show. Keep watching as questions you have will be ansswered.

    As for the runtime of the episodes there is no standard number. The episodes tend to take as much time as they need be on the long or short end.

    Force fields. I believe when Discovery started people did point out that there is an episode of TOS where they do talk about putting a force field around an entire room. Might even be the first episode of TOS (not the Cage pilot). We don't see it because budget and when the episode was made but the dialogue talks about what is being done. There is also the issue of just because we didn't see it in TOS doesn't mean they didn't have it because of when the show as made and we only saw so few ships in the fleet and the Enterprise isn't the most advance ship in the fleet as well.
     
    Last edited: Dec 27, 2018
  10. thribs

    thribs Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I had no issue with the force fields. It’s those bloody holographic communications they keep using. Just makes it look like Star Wars.
    What’s wrong with a viewscreen?

    That scene where holographic Sarek is leaning against Michael’s table. How does that work?
     
    Last edited: Dec 27, 2018
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  11. Damian

    Damian Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    A little bit. I remember what you are talking about because it was one of the only times in the 3 novels I read where something takes place contemporary to the show. I'll admit it stoked my curiosity and I figure that, along with some other questions, will be answered to some extent as I watch the show. Once I figure that out I'll probably re-read the last chapter of the novel.

    Yeah, and I am trying to keep an open mind about it. When Enterprise came out I knew they'd have to take some liberties to make it look futuristic and I kept an open mind there, so in fairness to Discovery I'm trying to give them the same latitude. The forcefields was just something that seemed inconsistent with canon. Another was the intra-ship beaming--I remember in the original series Scotty saying in an episode that was incredibly risky and dangerous. I was surprised to see it executed a couple times now on Discovery. I think maybe the writers are a bit too comfortable using the "transporter" plot device instead of, you know, having the crew actually walk to that part of the ship. Not a huge deal, but when they say it's supposed to fit in the prime universe canon then I figure I'm allowed to critique it within that canon (though I freely admit they really don't give a crap what little old me thinks--but I can still complain about it).----but all that being said, I'm engaged with the show and so far have found it entertaining, which is the most important thing I look for in any show or movie. And nothing in life is perfect.
     
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  12. guyute03

    guyute03 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I look forward to hearing your thoughts after you've finished the season.
    Enjoy!
     
  13. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    Tilly (and Stamets) gets better. The rest of the show? Not so much.
     
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  14. Vger23

    Vger23 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I'm glad you're enjoying it! It's a helluva ride...not perfect, but certainly a lot of fun, which wasn't the case with Star Trek for some time.
     
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  15. DaveyNY

    DaveyNY Admiral Admiral

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    The Discovery computer receives the transmission data and then does the best it can to project it into the area/room where it's being observed.
    To approximate the sending images actions, it uses whatever objects are handy at the receiving end.
    Thus Sarek leans against the desk in the room, even though he may have actually been leaning against a wall or even sitting in a chair.
    It has got to be pretty sophisticated software by that time, so I don't understand why folks find this so complicated.
    :shrug:
     
    Last edited: Dec 27, 2018
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  16. IMC Headquarters

    IMC Headquarters Screencaptioning Addict Premium Member

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    Gabriel Lorca reminds me of Rudy Ransom so much that I was waiting for the nucleogenic aliens to show up and start desiccating the crew...
     
  17. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Just assume they've retconned all TNG/DS9/VOY era tech into the TOS period. Because they have.

    2019 Star Trek continuity is about on par with the X-Men movie franchise.
     
  18. Takeru

    Takeru Space Police Commodore

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    I think a problem is that viewscreens are no longer perceived as futuristic considering facetime and similar apps, TOS could have used audio only communication but they didn't, they wanted it to be more advanced so they had a live image on the screen, DSC is using holograms for the same reason, to have it look more advanced than what the audience has at home.

    TNG era technology was never that different from the TOS era, they just had sleaker surfaces.:shrug:
     
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  19. thribs

    thribs Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The holographic stuff just looks silly to me. They’ve over complicated something that didn’t need to be.
     
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  20. Damian

    Damian Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yeah, I tend to agree. Enterprise struck a nice balance of looking futuristic from our perspective, but still being more primitive then the original series in technology.

    I know the discussion is more about holographic imagery, and I can agree that's probably more advanced then what they should have within canon (along with emergency forcefields instead of bulkheads IMO). I agree with some others I think a lot of that has to do with Star Warsifying Star Trek, at least from a special effects standpoint. I think some of it is "it looks cool on Star Wars so why don't we do it." Now, Star Wars if fine, but I hope they don't go too far down that road. Star Wars is fantasy. George Lucas will tell you himself he didn't give much thought to the science behind it. Star Trek was always a different animal. It is a 'science fiction' franchise. They had teams of people trying to think of the science behind what they were doing. Yes, it's fiction too, so they took liberties to advance the story, but where possible they tried to apply science to it. Even the production guys and illustrators tried to think of why things are where they are and what there purpose was before building it. It's one thing that I think maybe is starting to slip in favor of making Star Trek more like Star Wars. A shame if true because there's no reason they need to do that.
     
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