The thing about Disco's bridge officers is they were never main cast. They were co-stars, which in television parlance means they were on the bottom rung of the ladder. As it is, the show did more with them than it was ever required to do.
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- Thread starter Tuskin38
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I don't think that it was the fans wanting to know more about more characters that contributed to the backlash of Discovery per say, it was fans wanting more than all Burnham, all the time.
One of my biggest gripes with Discovery, among many, was just that Burnham was a terrible character to begin with and probably the biggest issue was that anything and everything had to focus on Burnham all the time... and the show just kept doubling down on it.
Now what i'll give you where the show suffered is when they DID try to explore some other characters... without relenting on the overwhelming focus on Burnham. It just doesn't work. They really needed to cool their jets on Burnham a bit. She can still be the main character but... drop her down a peg or two and let some of the other, much better characters shine through.
They didn't even use the concept of Burnham well, and that isn't the fans fault, it's the writers. The whole idea that the show wouldn't focus on the Captain and such, instead focusing on more junior officers was a great idea... that idea doesn't work when your character is the most important person to have ever lived ever in the Star Trek universe and everything that occurs is always directly related to her... Burnham would have worked if Burnham was a nobody who wasn't important. We... did not get that.
Burnham should have been Mariner. Then Discovery stood a much better chance of not being terrible.
EDIT -
As far as the other characters, I really didn't care about Owu or Detmer or the Two Random Guys Who Did Stuff In the Background (Reese?). I *DID* want mare Saru, Stamets, Culber, even Tilly got much better as we went on. It's mind blowing how they had a character as awesome as Saru but instead were like "Yeah, but what about more Burnham?"
I feel like when viewers need to be told "Oh, these guys were never intended to be main cast, we actually used them more than we were required to", then something's gone wrong with the storytelling. And when viewers want to see more of those characters, but can't due to budgetary concerns, then maybe something's going wrong with the budget as well. TNG wasn't required to do anything with O'Brien and DS9 didn't have to do anything with Leeta, but I'm glad the shows spent the money to give them an appropriate amount of involvement.
What does 'an appropriate amount' mean? I guess it means enough so that viewers are happy to see the characters show up again and not frustrated that they're still not getting anything to do. I feel like all the other Trek series before and after Disco had this figured out*, even TOS. Sure people would've liked Uhura and Sulu etc. to get more to do, but they participated to an extent that felt natural for the stories they were in.
(*Okay there's one exception I can think of: Mitchell on SNW. She should be as much of a character as Ortegas. And Ortegas should have more to do.)
Ortegas is such an odd outlier in SNW. The show generally does a pretty good job with being an ensemble but... Ortegas usually doesn't have much to do. I have noticed as the SNW progresses, Uhura is starting to get a minor Burnham treatment. I feel like Uhura is just a bit overused, while oddly enough Pike is also just kind of... there too much of the time.
I don't sense that Uhura is overused, although she has slightly fallen into the "super genius" trope, because apparently it's not enough simply for a character to be a competent technician and proficient officer.
My main issue with SNW S2 is why we needed to bring in Kirk when we've already got a fine ensemble. Unless the plan is ultimately to handover.
My main issue with SNW S2 is why we needed to bring in Kirk when we've already got a fine ensemble. Unless the plan is ultimately to handover.
He deliberately asked for a smaller role in Season 2 to take care of his new baby.
I think that's quite likely. I'd happily put money on Kirk meeting Bones soon(ish), getting promoted, and by S4 seeing Pike already showing signs of wanting to move on. They may want to weave in the accident, and that's a couple of years after Kirk takes command.
Thing is when O'Brien was on TNG he was listed as a Guest Star, likewise Leeta on DS9. Automatically that entitles them to more material than someone listed as a Co-Star. Co-Stars aren't even required to be named. That's how bottom rung they are. Disco did a lot more with the bridge crew than any show does with anyone listed as a "Co-Star."
Even then, Detmer's name actually originated from the novels.
It did? Which novel?
Well exactly. We know she doesn't succeed Pike as captain and she's never seen again on TOS. She doesn't break him out of Starbase and take him to Talos IV. So where is she?
Because some people like her?
Exactly. They are not the focus. Expecting them to become more is asking for disappointment.
Any expectations were set by the series itself, the audience just reacted to what they were seeing.
I expected it to be a Burnham based on the show itself.
I wonder if the people who don't understand how leads work would have been better served if the series was just titled "Star Trek: Burnham"?
Though it's weird that they think anyone who speaks must have more focus on them (that's not how contracts or stories work) and that even Ensign McKnight needed an episode fleshing her out.
The beloved DS9 didn't flesh out Nurse Jabara as well. Or did I miss that this was a storytelling crime, too?
Though it's weird that they think anyone who speaks must have more focus on them (that's not how contracts or stories work) and that even Ensign McKnight needed an episode fleshing her out.
The beloved DS9 didn't flesh out Nurse Jabara as well. Or did I miss that this was a storytelling crime, too?
That stuff is for Star Trek:Legacy to explore when they finally give us fans what we want most!
The true Star Trek: Legacy!
Captain Morn, Ensign McKnight, Nurse Jabara, Mot the barber, Ensign Jae and Detmer!
At long last, learn all you ever wanted to know about them.
Captain Morn, Ensign McKnight, Nurse Jabara, Mot the barber, Ensign Jae and Detmer!
At long last, learn all you ever wanted to know about them.
What about that pilot guy from Enterprise. Trevor Masonflower or something like that? I don't think they ever game him any lines from what I recall.
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