Spoilers General Disco Chat Thread

[Cyrus]

So I had an r/showerthought this morning.

Last night left me with the impression that they intend to really open the franchise up with a sort of scattershot "anything goes" approach to all the shows across the mythos. So I wonder if this might extend to the Short Treks as well.

It's become increasingly evident the QT film probably isn't happening. However, a Short Trek seems like the perfect outlet for him. And if they do intend to open the universe up, they could pretty much let him do whatever he wanted.

They have used Short Treks to audition writers interested in Star Trek, like Michael Chabon (now on the staff of the Picard show) and Mike McMahan (now doing the Lower Decks animated series).

Initially I thought they would use Short Treks to do any kind of Trek stories, some based on other series and some completely new stuff. But it seems that CBS doesn't look at Short Treks as a separate anthology series. What we have got so far are Short Treks based on Discovery. That is why they show up under Discovery in CBS AA and not their own section. And Kurtzman has said there will be Short Treks based on Picard and Lower Decks. Hopefully in the future they do open up Short Treks to be any kind of Star Trek story. It would be great if someone like QT would be interested in that, and if he is I am sure they will let him do whatever story he wants. But I am still hoping the Tarantino Trek movie happens.

 

[Alan Roi]

They have used Short Treks to audition writers interested in Star Trek, like Michael Chabon (now on the staff of the Picard show) and Mike McMahan (now doing the Lower Decks animated series).

Initially I thought they would use Short Treks to do any kind of Trek stories, some based on other series and some completely new stuff. But it seems that CBS doesn't look at Short Treks as a separate anthology series. What we have got so far are Short Treks based on Discovery. That is why they show up under Discovery in CBS AA and not their own section. And Kurtzman has said there will be Short Treks based on Picard and Lower Decks. Hopefully in the future they do open up Short Treks to be any kind of Star Trek story. It would be great if someone like QT would be interested in that, and if he is I am sure they will let him do whatever story he wants. But I am still hoping the Tarantino Trek movie happens.

Tarantino has done television before. He said he'd only direct 10 films, but he has worked in TV on a couple occasions, so might be willing to helm a Star Trek series if he's inspired enough and allowed to do what he wants to.

 

[excel101]

So I have to just get it out there. I like the ship porn of Discovery. The new images of Enterprise look amazing and I hope we get some updated versions of other ships in the series. But I'm still having trouble getting on board with the story.

I understand the need for serializing the story. Fine, but there should be more effort in bringing in the crew. While season 2 has done a great job incorporating them in, I do not feel it is enough. Also, the story is set at such a fast pace, only for it to grind to a slow screeching halt. And then Michael Burnham shows up and just cries in almost every episode. I get the emotional need, we are not robots here, but this seems to occur in each and every episode. It was fine at first, but it seems to be getting out of hand and feels overblown. It's as if the show should have aired as a teen drama on CW instead of a Star Trek series.

 

[Succubint]

I wonder if it's a deliberate choice to have characters expressing their pent up feelings in extreme circumstances rather than the more traditional stoic thing that's been common in entertainment media. There are a lot of problems in society which stem from men (and women) being expected to suppress their emotions, even when it would be appropriate to do so. It's far more healthy for people to process their hurt/grief/anger/frustration/confusion and so on, rather than try to keep them bottled up. And yet it's still seen as 'girly', 'melodrama', 'wussy', and teen drama-ish to express such emotions openly. I know it can get uncomfortable to view when it's not usually portrayed on screen, but I think it's a good thing in terms of normalizing a normal human reaction to great stress and overwhelming circumstances. Yes, they are meant to be a professional crew, but you might notice that they all still do their jobs with professionalism when called to. Even Michael who has cried a lot this season due to her situation. You might also notice that the show portrays adults talking through personal issues with each other, giving advice and support when needed. This is also sorely lacking on some shows. Hugh asking Cornwell for a professional consult is also great to see. Because we need to de-stigmatize mental health issues. It should be okay to talk about problems which affect us emotionally.

So, for me at least, it's welcome to see. Spock being dyslexic is another example where it opens up Trek to those who've felt under-represented or stigmatized in the past.

 

[excel101]

You make a good point. It certainly is something different and is interesting to explore. I liked that the show decides to build on what happened to characters before, like Culber’s feelings and him talking it out with It is certainly lacking before in the series. It seemed to build on the character and reflect the changes we’ve seen, which is the goal here.

I just feel that, at times, it could be toned down in certain situations.

 

[Alan Roi]

You make a good point. It certainly is something different and is interesting to explore. I liked that the show decides to build on what happened to characters before, like Culber’s feelings and him talking it out with It is certainly lacking before in the series. It seemed to build on the character and reflect the changes we’ve seen, which is the goal here.

I just feel that, at times, it could be toned down in certain situations.

in my impression, the highlighting of emotionalism in discovery in another way of how it connects with TOS. Anyone watching Kirk et al can see how emotional they all get, and that Spock's inability to express emotion being a major character point.

The TNG utopia by contrast seemed to tamp down on emotions in general, which implies that the expression of strong emotions don't have a place in a 'better' world for some reason, to the point where Ego driven TNG era poster boy Jean-Luc found he couldn't handle his own emotions when they surfaced hardly at all.

 

[Succubint]

I just feel that, at times, it could be toned down in certain situations.

I think that's fair, we all have different levels of comfort. For example Tilly is a polarizing character and is both much loved and much hated for being non-typical in her behavior as a Starfleet Officer. Many would like her to be much more 'toned' down, while some of us love her as is. However, I think that so far, the show has been careful to allow heightened emotion where it makes plausible sense, for the most part. Crew members dealing with trauma, PTSD, impending death/high stakes missions, personal or professional betrayal, relationship upheaval, the tragic loss of a friend/colleague/loved one and so on.

 

[fireproof78]

Crew members dealing with trauma, PTSD, impending death/high stakes missions, personal or professional betrayal, relationship upheaval, the tragic loss of a friend/colleague/loved one and so on.

I applaud that there is more of this.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

You make a good point. It certainly is something different and is interesting to explore. I liked that the show decides to build on what happened to characters before, like Culber’s feelings and him talking it out with It is certainly lacking before in the series. It seemed to build on the character and reflect the changes we’ve seen, which is the goal here.

I just feel that, at times, it could be toned down in certain situations.

Clearly, you've never met me. I cry during the Pampers commercial. Crying is awesome.

 

[SJGardner]

As much as I love the 24th century which I grew up with, its environment and the people have always just felt kind of emotionally stunted and sterile to me. Barring DS9, of course. It's really weird that the only member of the Enterprise-D crew I could relate to is Data who is literally unable to feel emotions.

It's interesting to look back at how utopian I've found the whole thing back when I was a teenager and how now as an adult it just reminds me of how society expects you to suppress your emotions all the time because it makes others uncomfortable. These "we've grown past our negative passions defining us" kinds of lectures just give me constant flashbacks nowadays to my parents endlessly blaming me for my negative emotions making them feel bad. So yeah, I was very glad to finally have a Star Trek series that acknowledges that people have feelings that sometimes feel kind of overwhelming, but that they also have people around them who support them. The fact that they're allowed to be human doesn't hinder their efforts to be professionals when duty calls.

This is one of the reasons why I've always liked Tilly so much. She's wearing her emotions on her sleeve, and despite knowing fully well that people consider her weird, awkward and sometimes annoying, she never pretends to be someone who she isn't just because of some societal expectations. It's weird how I've went from holding Picard before myself as the ideal role model to wondering if I couldn't be just a little bit more like Tilly.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

As much as I love the 24th century which I grew up with, its environment and the people have always just felt kind of emotionally stunted and sterile to me. Barring DS9, of course. It's really weird that the only member of the Enterprise-D crew I could relate to is Data who is literally unable to feel emotions.

It's interesting to look back at how utopian I've found the whole thing back when I was a teenager and how now as an adult it just reminds me of how society expects you to suppress your emotions all the time because it makes others uncomfortable. These "we've grown past our negative passions defining us" kinds of lectures just give me constant flashbacks nowadays to my parents endlessly blaming me for my negative emotions making them feel bad. So yeah, I was very glad to finally have a Star Trek series that acknowledges that people have feelings that sometimes feel kind of overwhelming, but that they also have people around them who support them. The fact that they're allowed to be human doesn't hinder their efforts to be professionals when duty calls.

This is one of the reasons why I've always liked Tilly so much. She's wearing her emotions on her sleeve, and despite knowing fully well that people consider her weird, awkward and sometimes annoying, she never pretends to be someone who she isn't just because of some societal expectations. It's weird how I've went from holding Picard before myself as the ideal role model to wondering if I couldn't be just a little bit more like Tilly.

I agree completely. It took me decades to come to terms with my emotions and the fact that a) most people struggle with the same things, and b) it's okay to sometimes lose control. That's why I can identify with Tilly, too. It's why I love both her and Stamets.

 

[JoeZhang]

Discovery has changed my relationship with TNG (not TOS which is full of human emotion) which I now find slow, boring and unemotional for all the reasons outlined above.

 

[SJGardner]

I agree completely. It took me decades to come to terms with my emotions and the fact that a) most people struggle with the same things, and b) it's okay to sometimes lose control. That's why I can identify with Tilly, too. It's why I love both her and Stamets.

I'm also really glad for Burnham as a lead too... as someone with a similar upbringing and emotional issues to mine, she really helps me to remember I'm not alone and I find it really easy to relate to her. And incidentally, the reason she works so well together with Tilly for me is that she seems to be teaching Burnham the same things about emotions that I think I need and/or want to learn.

 

[Vger23]

Discovery has changed my relationship with TNG (not TOS which is full of human emotion) which I now find slow, boring and unemotional for all the reasons outlined above.

I always found TNG era Trek to be far too sterile and neutered for my tastes. I like the shows, but they really fall flat in terms of dynamic characters. There are times, especially with TNG itself, where it just feels like anyone could be saying anyone else's lines in the same professional, passionless deadpan. And their devotion to this idea of "evolved humanity" always came off like they're a bunch of brainwashed cult members, with Picard as the leader.

 

[fireproof78]

This is one of the reasons why I've always liked Tilly so much. She's wearing her emotions on her sleeve, and despite knowing fully well that people consider her weird, awkward and sometimes annoying, she never pretends to be someone who she isn't just because of some societal expectations. It's weird how I've went from holding Picard before myself as the ideal role model to wondering if I couldn't be just a little bit more like Tilly.

Completely agree. I work with people at my job who constantly struggle with emotional expression, how to say how they feel, and worried about how others perceive them. I personally appreciate the fact that there are characters who go through a high amount of emotional distress and yet their crewmates still support them, and they are allowed to do their duties.

If I now think of an optimistic future I want to imagine one where people can express how they feel and be accepted.

 

[DaveyNY]

Completely agree. I work with people at my job who constantly struggle with emotional expression, how to say how they feel, and worried about how others perceive them. I personally appreciate the fact that there are characters who go through a high amount of emotional distress and yet their crewmates still support them, and they are allowed to do their duties.

If I now think of an optimistic future I want to imagine one where people can express how they feel and be accepted.

This must be why everybody put up with Connolly, he was obviously an emotionally stunted Egomaniac.

 

[fireproof78]

This must be why everybody put up with Connolly, he was obviously an emotionally stunted Egomaniac.

Well, we saw that in VOY too.

 

[TrickyDickie]

My main issue is when people are frequently / regularly angry....especially in reaction to small things that are not of deep consequence, from an objective standpoint. The petulant, pissed, pouty, sulky thing all the time is very difficult to deal with. The real world is not going to go perfectly their way all the time and those people need to learn that basic fact and grow up. They need to stop being so self-absorbed.

Tilly is great, just as she is. My wife and I both really enjoy her, and Mary Wiseman's masterful performance.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

This must be why everybody put up with Connolly, he was obviously an emotionally stunted Egomaniac.

I was amazed at how hard people took that character's death after only a few minutes of screen time. That's proof right there that the show knows how to make side characters and main characters that people care about and can relate to in one way or another.

 

[Alan Roi]

I was amazed at how hard people took that character's death after only a few minutes of screen time. That's proof right there that the show knows how to make side characters and main characters that people care about and can relate to in one way or another.

People do love their martyrs, even if they only get them for a few seconds.