Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 4x01 - "Kobayashi Maru"

[Charles Phipps]

Just from within Discovery's own narrative we've got Lorca, a guy who's official story is he scuttled his own ship and then got a better post, and Saru, a guy with no backbone or leadership skills ever shown getting the same ship. Meanwhile Burnham saved the universe twice and she still needs to prove herself. This is one of two things: a lead in to a story about how Black women can't catch a break even in 1000 years, or a story about Burnham needing to legitimately prove herself yet again with super tone-deaf optics. Either way it is slopping over with race and its implications.

I suppose it depends if you actually think the highest thing a character can aspire to in a series is to be the captain. Burnham has repeatedly shown herself to be a rule breaking maverick who constantly chafes at authority and disobeys orders. This is something longtime fans of the series hated about NuKirk. I absolutely love her as the star of the show but I was hoping Season 3's early parts were setting up for Burnham to realize that being a captain isn't for her. That she was better at being wild independent space hero.

But....its not where they went.

Of all the Kelvin movies, I really really like Into Darkness, but the Kelvin movies as a whole I have a problem with. If I was watching 'Star Trek Discovery' in a theater I might look at it more positively or forgivingly but as a series I'm just wondering, who is the audience? It's supposed to be the prime timeline but everything about it, especially the tone and the action just screams Kelvin timeline. It comes across as "generic Sci-fi show" than a Star Trek show.

I mean, it's been enough of a success that its effectively relaunched Star Trek in the prime timeline and it has been on television. I feel like 4 seasons in we can officially put to bed the argument Discovery isn't a success.

 

[AaronMorse]

Wait.. so there's been no Star Fleet Academy for the past 125 years? So it's all on job training? That seems very wrong.

 

[Charles Phipps]

Wait.. so there's been no Star Fleet Academy for the past 125 years? So it's all on job training? That seems very wrong.

Well presumably those dirty xenophobes on Earth didn't have a Starfleet academy.

 

[Brobdingnag]

Wait.. so there's been no Star Fleet Academy for the past 125 years? So it's all on job training? That seems very wrong.

Yeah, that one seemed a little weird.

 

[fireproof78]

The president last year was Kovich wasn't he?

Nope.

 

[Yistaan]

Maybe they have no officers (except for the few like Vance) in Starfleet, they are all enlisted people. No wonder there's a statue of O'Brien per Lower Decks.

 

[Brobdingnag]

Maybe they have no officers (except for the few like Vance) in Starfleet, they are all enlisted people. No wonder there's a statue of O'Brien per Lower Decks.

There's also one of Boimler, the inventor of downtime.

 

[Yistaan]

There's also one of Boimler, the inventor of downtime.

Yeah but which Boimler? :O

 

[cooleddie74]

^
I NCC what you did there.

 

[Judith Sisko]

At the NYCC panel for Discovery they said Rillak has Cardassian, Bajoran, and Human heritage.

This was confirmed on today's Ready Room.

 

[Brobdingnag]

Yeah but which Boimler? :O

It doesn't matter they look alike.

 

[Seven of Five]

I really enjoyed that. Great start to the season, even if these galaxy-spanning threats are getting tiresome.

The opening scenes where Burnham was trying to give the dilithium away was hilarious. I agree with those that said it was reminiscent of the Kelvin films.

The ENT theme playing was a sweet touch when the monument was named after Archer.

 

[Mark 2000]

I suppose it depends if you actually think the highest thing a character can aspire to in a series is to be the captain. Burnham has repeatedly shown herself to be a rule breaking maverick who constantly chafes at authority and disobeys orders. This is something longtime fans of the series hated about NuKirk.

You mean unlike OldKirk who break the prime directive a half dozen times and once kidnapped a federation leader and had a fist fight with him in a cave full of poison gas? And that’s not even getting into the movies.

But you’re right, they didn’t go that way. Instead they went to problematic way. My biggest complaint about last season besides its Akira/Looper ending was that the Federation existed at all and that they were just a bunch of feckless, sh!t eating bureaucrats. I hate that Disco is an errand ship on a short leash. They should have all the hand. The federation has nothing to offer them.

 

[Yistaan]

I really enjoyed that. Great start to the season, even if these galaxy-spanning threats are getting tiresome.

The opening scenes where Burnham was trying to give the dilithium away was hilarious. I agree with those that said it was reminiscent of the Kelvin films.

The ENT theme playing was a sweet touch when the monument was named after Archer.

I'm very surprised Archer is still held in high regard after the temporal wars, as I'd imagine a lot of people would feel he didn't do enough with his 900 year early inside knowledge to put measures in place to prevent them.

I hate that Disco is an errand ship on a short leash. They should have all the hand. The federation has nothing to offer them.

Except the President made it clear that they now can duplicate the spore drive, which means that Discovery is now just a thousand year old out of step crew whose only claim to fame, saving the galaxy with the spore drive, is no longer unique (and the President probably thinks anyone with a spore drive could've done what they did).

 

[Seven of Five]

@Yistaan, ENT is my least favourite series, and I would tend to agree with you about his legacy. But I'm a sentimental fool.

 

[Brobdingnag]

You mean unlike OldKirk who break the prime directive a half dozen times and once kidnapped a federation leader and had a fist fight with him in a cave full of poison gas? And that’s not even getting into the movies.....

In his defense, it was an IQ reducing gas... So he had regressed to a brute.

 

[cooleddie74]

The way Starfleet classified so much about the Delphic Expanse, the Sphere Builders and the Temporal Cold War I wouldn't be surprised if very little to none of Archer's direct involvement with the wars was ever made known. Given the sensitive nature of a 22nd century pre-Federation human's immersion in a centuries-spanning conflict to alter history I'm not shocked history may have been very quiet if not completely silent on Archer's involvement in the Temporal Cold War.

 

[Charles Phipps]

You mean unlike OldKirk who break the prime directive a half dozen times and once kidnapped a federation leader and had a fist fight with him in a cave full of poison gas? And that’s not even getting into the movies.

But you’re right, they didn’t go that way. Instead they went to problematic way. My biggest complaint about last season besides its Akira/Looper ending was that the Federation existed at all and that they were just a bunch of feckless, sh!t eating bureaucrats. I hate that Disco is an errand ship on a short leash. They should have all the hand. The federation has nothing to offer them.

I dunno, I think it's bad look that Michael shows an utter disdain and disrespect for the civilian elected democratic authority of the Federation.

Whenever military science fiction has an officer show that, it has uncomfortable authoritarian overtones.

 

[fireproof78]

I'm very surprised Archer is still held in high regard after the temporal wars

History has a way of making people feel less bitter and emphasize their accomplishments over their deficits. ENT is a perfect case in point.

 

[Brobdingnag]

...
The opening scenes where Burnham was trying to give the dilithium away was hilarious. I agree with those that said it was reminiscent of the Kelvin films.....

Indeed, like when he had to flee the Niburu (sp?) and later when he was attacked by the tiny monsters.