Poll Will Burnham become Captain in Season 3?

[STEPhon IT]

Well, it's not a prequel in the third season. It takes place in the 32nd Century.

At the end of the second season, in the season finale "Such Sweet Sorrow", Discovery jumps 930 years into The Future with intent that they never return. At the end of the episode, those who remained behind in the 23rd Century, including Spock, recommended that Discovery and the Spore Drive be classified under the penalty of Treason and that they never mention Burnham again.

Classifying Discovery and the Spore Drive are things I can understand and can rationalize in-story. Their decision to make it so Burnham isn't allowed to be mentioned again, that just reeks of trying to satisfy fans who won't like anything Discovery does anyway. It's the one part of the episode I didn't like. I'd have rather had the Spore Drive still be classified but have the Official Record just say Discovery and the crew were MIA and leave it at that.

When they figured out how to explain why Burnham, the Spore Drive, and Discovery were never mentioned in TOS or any of the series that take place afterwards, what they came up with was, to quote a line from Mad Men, "the only [solution] that's equally offensive to all."

Not a problem, I doubt whatever DISCO developed will ever hold when it comes to TOS; it's a series which won't resonate much after it's first streaming run. Setting DISCO in a far outreach time was something the producers should've done from the get go, what it or any Star Trek series needs is a clean slate. A canvas where the producing team can create and not be bound to shit on and ruin everything was done so well in TOS.

 

[fireproof78]

TOS was ruined by Discovery? O_o

 

[Yistaan]

Imagine if a merchant sailing ship, crew and all, from the year 1020 magically appeared in the year 2020 in the port of Long Beach or something. If linguistic historians were even able to figure out what the time shifted crew is saying, I think a lot of people would be puzzled if "Who is the captain of this ship" is even a primary concern among the out-of-time crew.

 

[Lord Garth]

TOS was ruined by Discovery? O_o

It's all good.

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

Imagine if a merchant sailing ship, crew and all, from the year 1020 magically appeared in the year 2020 in the port of Long Beach or something. If linguistic historians were even able to figure out what the time shifted crew is saying, I think a lot of people would be puzzled if "Who is the captain of this ship" is even a primary concern among the out-of-time crew.

True. But the Universal Translators will magically solve this problem!

 

[dupersuper]

an alien captain does nothing for me.

I'm the exact opposite. I'm sick of only humans being series captains. Outside of background characters and the New Frontier books, captaincy's just a "homo-sapiens only club". I want Starfleet to be a truly interstellar organization.

 

[valkyrie013]

I don't see her as captain, She was set to become one in the pilot, but got her hiney kicked and inserted some humility. Is it still a goal? I don't know.
I see Saru as captain, with Georgiou as an "Admiral" type just hovering, but I don't know What type of Arc she is on..

 

[Vger23]

I'm the exact opposite. I'm sick of only humans being series captains. Outside of background characters and the New Frontier books, captaincy's just a "homo-sapiens only club". I want Starfleet to be a truly interstellar organization.

My take has always been "since this is a show for humans by humans, I am not interested in the leader being a non-human." Star Trek isn't real, so I don't necessarily care about the realistic portrayal of Starfleet as a "truly interstellar organization." It's the furthest thing from my priority list in terms of items I care about regarding the franchise.

We have enough struggles with portraying human diversity on television.

 

[dupersuper]

My take has always been "since this is a show for humans by humans, I am not interested in the leader being a non-human." Star Trek isn't real, so I don't necessarily care about the realistic portrayal of Starfleet as a "truly interstellar organization." It's the furthest thing from my priority list in terms of items I care about regarding the franchise.

We have enough struggles with portraying human diversity on television.

To me that's just silly. I can connect with an alien captain as well as a human, and would love to see a well done alien mindset and deep exploration of the culture and biology of a non-human captain.

 

[fireproof78]

My take has always been "since this is a show for humans by humans, I am not interested in the leader being a non-human." Star Trek isn't real, so I don't necessarily care about the realistic portrayal of Starfleet as a "truly interstellar organization." It's the furthest thing from my priority list in terms of items I care about regarding the franchise.

We have enough struggles with portraying human diversity on television.

I tend to lean this way, though I think that Saru has the greatest potential of the aliens we have seen.

But, I agree that right now we struggle with showing human diversity and would rather the writers take time to focus on those human cultures and exploring them in the Starfleet context and not feel the need to have an alien as captain because "Star Trek."

 

[Vger23]

To me that's just silly. I can connect with an alien captain as well as a human, and would love to see a well done alien mindset and deep exploration of the culture and biology of a non-human captain.

It's silly because you disagree with me?

 

[Tenacity]

I want Starfleet to be a truly interstellar organization.

Starfleet isn't a "homo-sapiens only club" but by appearances it is a homo-sapiens mostly club.

The Federation on the other hand would seem to be a interstellar organization, so there is that.

 

[dupersuper]

It's silly because you disagree with me?

Other way around, I think.

Starfleet isn't a "homo-sapiens only club" but by appearances it is a homo-sapiens mostly club.

The Federation on the other hand would seem to be a interstellar organization, so there is that.

That's one of the things I like about the comics, novels, cartoons and video games: easier for them to include more aliens without worrying about time and budget.

 

[Lord Garth]

We have enough struggles with portraying human diversity on television.

Yeah. If anything, I think people have regressed lately. Online, from what I saw, people had less issue with diversity in the '90s than they do Today. It's not good.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

I tend to lean this way, though I think that Saru has the greatest potential of the aliens we have seen.

But, I agree that right now we struggle with showing human diversity and would rather the writers take time to focus on those human cultures and exploring them in the Starfleet context and not feel the need to have an alien as captain because "Star Trek."

I could see the logic of this argument if we were talking about the creation of a new show with a new crew, but that's not even on the table right now.

In regards to DSC season 3, Saru is already there. He's already a major character and he's going to get that focus whether he's the captain or not, just like he already did in the first two seasons. Likewise, Georgiou will get focus whether she's the captain or not and Burnham will still always get more focus than anyone because she's the star. And if they want to add new characters and give them focus, they will, just like they already did with Lorca and Pike - but the time jump background of this season would make it really non-sensical for one of the new characters to be captain this time.

This isn't a question of who gets focus. It's a question of what type of development is best for the story and the individual characters.

Starfleet isn't a "homo-sapiens only club" but by appearances it is a homo-sapiens mostly club.

The Federation on the other hand would seem to be a interstellar organization, so there is that.

I like to think that Starfleet is significantly less human than it looks. There are tons of species that would be almost indistinguishable from humans on sight. In particular I like the idea that the Fabrini established a new home for themselves and, remembering how Kirk and the Enterprise saved their civilization, joined the Federation and have a strong cultural bend towards careers in starfleet. Or also that for every ship with 75% humans we see, there's another ship somewhere else with only 25% humans.

 

[Vger23]

Yeah. If anything, I think people have regressed lately. Online, from what I saw, people had less issue with diversity in the '90s than they do Today. It's not good.

Unfortunately, harder, more polarizing lines have been drawn.

I'm not sure that it was "better" in the 90's. Maybe those lines were just not as.....overt?

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

My take has always been "since this is a show for humans by humans, I am not interested in the leader being a non-human." Star Trek isn't real, so I don't necessarily care about the realistic portrayal of Starfleet as a "truly interstellar organization." It's the furthest thing from my priority list in terms of items I care about regarding the franchise.

We have enough struggles with portraying human diversity on television.

Yeah, but the point of aliens on Star Trek was usually not about how different they were from humans, but rather the aliens were a metaphor used for the examination of certain familiar aspects of humanity.

For example, Spock being devoid of outward emotion is actually a literary device/plot device for the exploration of human emotions.

 

[fireproof78]

but the time jump background of this season would make it really non-sensical for one of the new characters to be captain this time.

That isn't what I am arguing. I have no issue with Saru as captain but I don't want it to be assumed because Star Trek. As you say, it should make sense in terms of the character and story.

 

[Tenacity]

I could see the logic of this argument if we were talking about the creation of a new show with a new crew, but that's not even on the table right now.

There is Strange New Worlds. There are only really three established characters, and Number One could potentially be estalish as a humanoid non-Human.

Yeah, but the point of aliens on Star Trek was usually not about how different they were from humans, but rather the aliens were a metaphor used for the examination of certain familiar aspects of humanity.

Unfortunately aliens on Star Trek are (with a few exceptions) often depicted as all but Human, in terms of their cultures and social patterns. And if their system doesn't conform to some viewer's ideals, then they aren't different, they're wrong.

In Strange New Worlds, how strange and different are the worlds really going to be allowed to be?

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

...Unfortunately aliens on Star Trek are (with a few exceptions) often depicted as all but Human, in terms of their cultures and social patterns. And if their system doesn't conform to some viewer's ideals, then they aren't different, they're wrong.

It seems to me that when the writers wanted to highlight a human condition or societal flaw, they often embodied those things in the aliens they feature.

It makes for an easy morality play when our heroes meet an alien who they thing has strange ways, but then end up learning a harsh lesson because it was like looking at themselves in a mirror -- or like putting a mirror up to aspects of today's 20th/21st century society.