News DSC Season 2 Premiere Reviews

[PiotrB]

Pre-release reviews of the first episode of the second season of Star Trek Discovery. Possible spoilers.

• https://decider.com/2019/01/07/star-trek-discovery-season-2-premiere-brother-review/?utm_source=twitter_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site buttons&utm_campaign=site buttons
• https://comicbook.com/startrek/2019/01/07/star-trek-discovery-season-2-review/
• https://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/sta...k-discovery-season-2-episode-1-review-brother
• https://www.tor.com/2019/01/09/capt...r-trek-discovery-season-2-non-spoiler-review/

 

[Tuskin38]

Did they do reviews this early for the series premier?

 

[Midquest]

From Comic Book:

Alex Kurtzman directs the episode; Kurtzman is the co-creator and showrunner of Discovery. He's also known for co-writing the 2009 Star Trek film reboot and its sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness. His past Trek pedigree is on display in “Brother” and then some. The reboot films received praise for their stunning set pieces and criticism for not having much else to offer. Kurtzman delivers on the excitement here as "Brother" features the most stunning action sequence ever in an episode of a Star Trek television series. The episode excels by also providing the character moments and sci-fi problem-solving that seemed to take a backseat in the films.

Well, that sounds good to me. So we've got three reviews ranging from generally favorable to extremely favorable, and there don't seem to be any common criticisms yet. I take it as a good sign when reviewers don't identify the same issue collectively.

I'm cautiously optimistic!

 

[F. King Daniel]

Did they do reviews this early for the series premier?

Pretty sure there was a reviews embargo?

 

[Lord Garth]

I just read the reviews. I think those who are "in the middle" about Discovery will like the season premiere.

 

[Noname Given]

Did they do reviews this early for the series premier?

No. The S1 Premire 'party' (where they screened the first two episodes like a film) was on Tuesday 9/19/17, and the first episode premiered to the Public on both CBS and CBSAA on Sunday 9/24/17.

I also believe there was a public review embargo (IE - reviewers could post general impressions such as, "I liked it..." or "No, didn't care for it" after the event, but they couldn't post a full episode review until the day of the public premiere.)

But, they were also holding things A LOT closer to the vest (as it were) because ST: D was brand spanking new, and not a lot had been teased, while so far for Season 2 - you can find A LOT of story and behind the scenes info IF you want it.

 

[Tuskin38]

This is an interesting tidbit. Nothing majorly spoilery, just about what Pike and crew were up to during the war.

Spoiler

Pike and his crew sat out the Klingon-Federation war while in deep space on one of the Enterprise’s famous five-year missions. Despite being one of Starfleet’s most highly decorated officers, having missed the war left Pike feeling like he has to make up for something. That frustration boils to the surface during intense moments when he has to make key command decisions.

 

[eschaton]

Read all the reviews. The first was glowing (though the author admitted they thought the first season was great too) while the second and third seem measured and even handed. Actually a bit more critical than I was expecting, but this is a good thing, IMHO, because it means that copies are not just being distributed to friendly reviewers to hype up the show. Certainly I'm left with the impression it's better than the Season 1 premier - or at least CBS is more confident in it.

The one big impression I have is it seems like there's a lot going on in the first episode. Pike is introduced, and the crew are reintroduced. We have the introduction of the Red Angel threat. We have flashbacks to Burnham and Spock's youth on Vulcan. We have some high-octane action (likely the asteroid belt from the trailer). We have the introduction of Tig Notaro's character. It leaves me wondering if we're dealing with an extra-long season premier - something which is feature length.

 

[Midquest]

The one big impression I have is it seems like there's a lot going on in the first episode. Pike is introduced, and the crew are reintroduced. We have the introduction of the Red Angel threat. We have flashbacks to Burnham and Spock's youth on Vulcan. We have some high-octane action (likely the asteroid belt from the trailer). We have the introduction of Tig Notaro's character. It leaves me wondering if we're dealing with an extra-long season premier - something which is feature length.

This is my impression also. Saru has an arc, too. There's a bunch of character scenes and yet it doesn't feel overstuffed. Surely it's at least a little longer than the 42-47 minutes this show has tended toward?

 

[eschaton]

One other thought: We're really still having random characters tell Micheal how awesome she is? That was one of the worst elements of Season 1, and probably had more to do with the faulty accusations the character was a Mary Sue than anything else.

I mean, what is the narrative purpose of having other character compliment the protagonist - unless you're doing a romantic comedy or something and want to lampshade their desirability? Isn't the awesomeness of the lead shown through actions rather than words?

 

[Tuskin38]

It leaves me wondering if we're dealing with an extra-long season premier - something which is feature length.

This is my impression also. Saru has an arc, too. There's a bunch of character scenes and yet it doesn't feel overstuffed. Surely it's at least a little longer than the 42-47 minutes this show has tended toward?

Right now my Cable Box PVR (I’m in Canada) is saying it’s only an hour. But it also doesn’t have an episode description yet so it might not be up to date.

 

[Noname Given]

Right now my Cable Box PVR (I’m in Canada) is saying it’s only an hour. But it also doesn’t have an episode description yet so it might not be up to date.

You can fit a lot of setup in - in an hour - since you know you have another 13 (the second season is said to be 14 episodes total) to expand on said setup.

 

[XCV330]

This is an interesting tidbit. Nothing majorly spoilery, just about what Pike and crew were up to during the war.

good. he's no longer tired of deciding who lives and who dies.

 

[tomalak301]

I kind of wish CBS had more of an event around this. Maybe even premiering the first two episodes on the network, or at least opening the first two episodes on All Access that night. It's been almost a year since Season 1 ended so having a soft relaunch might be a good thing.

 

[Noname Given]

good. he's no longer tired of deciding who lives and who dies.

That was 3 years past now. He was pretty much over it by the end of "The Cage". I always read it as he was questioning some decisions he made on the Rigel 12 incident just a few weeks earlier.

Kirk went through similar episodes on screen after men were lost, but as we had ANOTHER episode with Kirk doing what Kirk does best for another 77 weeks (sans repeats of course ) - we saw how Kirk would just get over it and move on fast.

With Pike (up to this point) it was one and done - so we didn't get a real good look at how Pike really is overall.

 

[Tuskin38]

good. he's no longer tired of deciding who lives and who dies.

Spoiler

This implies the mission to Talos was part of Pike's 5 year mission, since that was 3 years ago. This also means his 5 year mission would have started in at least 2252, since the war ended in 2257.

 

[Jadeb]

I like what CNet has to say:

https://www.cnet.com/news/star-trek...scovers-a-new-sense-of-adventure/?openLogin=1

 

[Lord Garth]

This is an interesting tidbit. Nothing majorly spoilery, just about what Pike and crew were up to during the war.

Spoiler

Pike and his crew sat out the Klingon-Federation war while in deep space on one of the Enterprise’s famous five-year missions. Despite being one of Starfleet’s most highly decorated officers, having missed the war left Pike feeling like he has to make up for something. That frustration boils to the surface during intense moments when he has to make key command decisions.

Spoiler

This is a second chance to do something that wasn't done in the Berman Era. Not every ship was on the front lines in the Dominion War. The Prometheus for one, the Enterprise-E for another. Because Voyager was in the Delta Quadrant and no series in the Alpha Quadrant took place after DS9, there was never any place for the following type of story: what happens when a Captain who wasn't in The War takes command of a ship that was?

It can't be done in the Picard Series because too much time has passed, but if you treat the Klingon War as a stand-in for the Dominion War, it works like a charm when Pike takes command of Discovery.

 

[Tuskin38]

Based on these reviews, it seems like most of the footage we've seen so far has been from the first episode.

 

[NeoStar9]

We're so close. Glad we're getting reviews early this time. I fully understand why they held off them with season 1. They really wanted to hold things close and I feel not having reviews out there helped people make up their own minds without any outside influence in either the positive or negative direction. I really appreciated that I was able to come to my own impression which was and has remained very positive.

This is an interesting tidbit. Nothing majorly spoilery, just about what Pike and crew were up to during the war.

I like this part. That's a completely natural feeling to have.

What I don't want them to do is go overboard trying to be funnier. Let humor play out as it naturally would. What I would actually hate is humor being used to never allow a situation to become as tense, somber, tragic as it should be. Season 1 didn't do that. I'm really happy about that. It was a tense situation and it was appropriately so in tone. I'm not saying the trailers have shown that worry coming to life but that's always my fear trying to make some people happier.

That first trailer I feel was really edited to push a humor angle as well as an adventurous tone but I don't think that was true of how the show or those scenes will play out on the humor end of things. I feel the second and third final trailer are more accurate.