Last season was a step in the right direction, exploring the "we are Starfleet" theme. I also hope the show has some strong leadership with Michelle Paradise, who I hope has something interesting she wants to say with Trek.
Without the Federation around -- or a version of the Federation that's recognizable -- "We are Starfleet" will become even more important than ever.
Season 1 -- Here's the wrong way for Starfleet to be.
Making a mistake.
Season 2 -- Here's the right way for Starfleet to be.
Learning from the mistake.
Season 3 -- Let's show these people what Starfleet is.
Teaching what they've learned.
Before anyone reads what I said about the first season in a way other than what I intended: I always sided with Georgiou in "The Vulcan Hello" and "Battle at the Binary Stars" and thought Burnham was in the wrong. I thought it was refreshing to see someone who I thought was wrong to be on the path to redemption and have her as the lead character. And Lorca's approach to running the ship also looked "wrong" and what I thought made it interesting was seeing this messed up Captain. Then, we see the Mirror Universe where Terrans are the polar opposite of Humans and whose approach is wrong by definition. When Discovery gets back from the Mirror Universe, Cornwell, Sarek, and everyone else feel pushed into a corner and reluctantly make the wrong choice and it's only then that Burnham stands up to Cornwell to make the right choice.
After spending an entire season showing the wrong way of doing things, Burnham finally takes a stand for doing what's right. Cornwell, who I think
wanted to be talked out of her course of action, relented, and then we roll into Season 2 where Pike is the Captain's Captain and continues to show them "how it's done".
So this is a very linear progression, despite how chaotic things have been behind the scenes, if you take the time to look at it. Showing how Georgiou ran a very Starfleet ship with the Shenzhou, how Discovery lost its way under Lorca, and then how they found their way back. How they discovered their way back. And now we'll get to see what they learned from Pike.
of bland in between moments of "OK, I'll let you do something vaguely compelling maybe a handful of times a season. But whatever turns peoples cranks. His and other Star Trek producer's "vision" produced 50 or so eps from the get go that are universally agreed to be so poorly regarded that when anyone says, Discos first 28 eps are better than anything Berman's era produced out the gate, supporters of that era tend to deflect by saying "that's a low bar" forgetting who built that low bar..
