There are only two exceptions for now: TOS and Voyager 
Seems to be a natural law that Trek shows grow the beard in Season 3
- Thread starter Unimatrix Q
- Start date
I'd disagree about Voyager. Season 3 is a fun season and contains some of Voyager's best episodes. I think Voyager did find it's footing as a series from season 3 before losing it in season 6.
I happen to like the first two seasons, but I do think switching to The Future was the right move.
What's to "flame"? That's not the same as saying you think this season sucks.
I know how this place can be.
Sadly, that wasn't the case so we fall back on older models . In this case it might work.
Anyway...
TOS --> Yeah, I agree with the OP. Definitely doesn't apply.
TNG --> This one is the most obvious, clear-cut case.
DS9 --> I don't know. I think the second season is underrated, but I also don't think DS9 kicks into high-gear until the fourth season.
VOY --> I think there was more progress in the third season. The Kazon were left behind. So were the Vidians. They hit space Neelix was no longer familiar with. Kes grew up. They were getting close to Borg Space. There were some shitty episodes in there, but you have that in every season of VOY. All things being equal, I think the third season was an uptick.
ENT --> The problem with ENT wasn't its basic premise. It was the execution. Early Starfleet with nothing we take for granted on Star Trek being in place yet was a sound premise. And the best episodes took advantage of the fact that it was the 22nd Century. And the first season lived up to that premise more than the second season where most of it was just dull, dull, dull. And constantly calling out "Hey! We don't have the technology or protocols you see in the rest of Star Trek yet!" gets old after a while. It worked for the first season, but started to wear thin later on. At least for me. When the Xindi attacked Earth, that took ENT in a different direction. A direction that didn't make it TOS, TNG, or VOY by a different name and did more than just rely on "Look at what we don't have yet!" So I'd have to say yes, the third season is when ENT "grew the beard".
DSC --> I do not have a problem with the quality of the first two seasons (as just about anyone reading this knows) but the problem with being set 10 years before TOS was that it made things claustrophobic being that close. Because you knew that no matter what DSC did, no matter how much it would shake things up, it would always have to revert to the status quo in time for TOS to happen. No matter what DSC did, it had to explain "Why didn't we hear about ___ later on?!" By moving DSC to the 32nd Century, they don't have to worry about that anymore. They can go as big as they want, without having to worry about TOS. I don't know if this is "growing the beard" but it definitely is "going out on your own". I like "going out on your own" better than "growing the beard" anyway, because DSC slants more female than male.
TOS --> Yeah, I agree with the OP. Definitely doesn't apply.
TNG --> This one is the most obvious, clear-cut case.
DS9 --> I don't know. I think the second season is underrated, but I also don't think DS9 kicks into high-gear until the fourth season.
VOY --> I think there was more progress in the third season. The Kazon were left behind. So were the Vidians. They hit space Neelix was no longer familiar with. Kes grew up. They were getting close to Borg Space. There were some shitty episodes in there, but you have that in every season of VOY. All things being equal, I think the third season was an uptick.
ENT --> The problem with ENT wasn't its basic premise. It was the execution. Early Starfleet with nothing we take for granted on Star Trek being in place yet was a sound premise. And the best episodes took advantage of the fact that it was the 22nd Century. And the first season lived up to that premise more than the second season where most of it was just dull, dull, dull. And constantly calling out "Hey! We don't have the technology or protocols you see in the rest of Star Trek yet!" gets old after a while. It worked for the first season, but started to wear thin later on. At least for me. When the Xindi attacked Earth, that took ENT in a different direction. A direction that didn't make it TOS, TNG, or VOY by a different name and did more than just rely on "Look at what we don't have yet!" So I'd have to say yes, the third season is when ENT "grew the beard".
DSC --> I do not have a problem with the quality of the first two seasons (as just about anyone reading this knows) but the problem with being set 10 years before TOS was that it made things claustrophobic being that close. Because you knew that no matter what DSC did, no matter how much it would shake things up, it would always have to revert to the status quo in time for TOS to happen. No matter what DSC did, it had to explain "Why didn't we hear about ___ later on?!" By moving DSC to the 32nd Century, they don't have to worry about that anymore. They can go as big as they want, without having to worry about TOS. I don't know if this is "growing the beard" but it definitely is "going out on your own". I like "going out on your own" better than "growing the beard" anyway, because DSC slants more female than male.
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So, DSC finally moved out?
Hell, I think ST: D's second season is the BEST season in all of the Star Trek franchise since TOS season one. Nothing in ST: D season 3 so far has changed my mind on that. YMMV.
I still think DSC’s first season is really strong and only gets better on a rewatch.
I’m quite liking the new season, but I can’t say it’s any better or worse than the other two seasons so far. The beard was already grown by episode 3 personally speaking, but season 3 seems to be working for more Berman-era fans, so who am I to argue?
I’m quite liking the new season, but I can’t say it’s any better or worse than the other two seasons so far. The beard was already grown by episode 3 personally speaking, but season 3 seems to be working for more Berman-era fans, so who am I to argue?
I tend towards this way, but I was also all in for Burnham and Saru and their interplay from the word go. I had a similar reaction to TOS and that's been it for me in terms of Trek. Every other crew struggled to appeal to me, until much later on.
DIS hasn't grown its beard, it has improved one contextual flaw but without fixing the underlying issue of why it is a flaw. Placing the show before TOS was a flaw purely because the production team didn't care about any of the context of TOS. They only wanted the appeal of a prequel with none of the leg work to make it pay off. Otherwise we would have got the Federation-Sheliak War.
Putting DIS in the future means they can do more of whatever they want without regard for future events, but now they're saddled with past context they have glossed over. It remains to be seen whether they have a more sophisticated background in secret underlying their setting, but for now it is up to the audience to work out the details.
Then there is the Burnham fetish the writers maintain at any cost, even when there are vastly more interesting and appealing characters to explore. I find that to be the biggest hurdle. The start of episode 2, they talk about fixing the ship just as much as they talk about finding Burnham, despite the most important thing being the sphere data. Same goes for episode 1, the sphere data is the most important thing, Burnham doesn't have it, yet the season starts with her.
As for ENT, I would say it didn't truly get good until season 4. It got a lot better with season 3 because it finally dropped the TNG baggage, and tried an original format with a season long arc, but wasn't quite the right kind of story. Season 4 makes that impression stronger because of how on point the stories are for the setting. Season 4 is where the show really started to exploit its pre-TOS context in clever entertaining ways.
Putting DIS in the future means they can do more of whatever they want without regard for future events, but now they're saddled with past context they have glossed over. It remains to be seen whether they have a more sophisticated background in secret underlying their setting, but for now it is up to the audience to work out the details.
Then there is the Burnham fetish the writers maintain at any cost, even when there are vastly more interesting and appealing characters to explore. I find that to be the biggest hurdle. The start of episode 2, they talk about fixing the ship just as much as they talk about finding Burnham, despite the most important thing being the sphere data. Same goes for episode 1, the sphere data is the most important thing, Burnham doesn't have it, yet the season starts with her.
As for ENT, I would say it didn't truly get good until season 4. It got a lot better with season 3 because it finally dropped the TNG baggage, and tried an original format with a season long arc, but wasn't quite the right kind of story. Season 4 makes that impression stronger because of how on point the stories are for the setting. Season 4 is where the show really started to exploit its pre-TOS context in clever entertaining ways.
Honestly, I think at this point, people who don't like the show flatly are not going to like the show if their main complaint is Burnham. Burnham is the main character and that's not going to change, regardless of setting.
Burnham is not a bug but a feature.
Burnham is not a bug but a feature.
Ah, the Burnham fetish...! Or as it’s more commonly known in the trade, the “series lead”.
Hey, it's the 21st century! Everything is a fetish
TOS aside, yes, it seems to be a Trek tradition that the third season tends to be when the show hits it on all cylinders. Though I'm not sure it's accurate anymore to say the third season is when the shows grow the beard. Lower Decks had its beard right out of the gate, while Disco season 2 and Picard season 1 were actually very good seasons, but let down by bad finales.
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