Actually enjoying Season 1 the third time around

[Ralphis]

Up until a couple weeks ago, I had seen all Season 1 episodes twice: once right as it aired, and a 2nd time a few days after they aired. My overall opinion of it was that it got a little better in the middle of the season, but early and later episodes left a lot to be desired.

Now, I loved Season 2 and have watched it four times all the way through, so I'm not a hater. But Season 1 for whatever just didn't sit well with me originally.

But I decided to rewatch it, and for whatever reason I find myself entertained this time around, even knowing where it's going (like Lorca being from the Mirror Universe). Heck, knowing Lorca is actually from the Mirror Universe is helping me chill a little this time around and enjoy the story. I was one of those "He's too dark for a Starfleet Captain!!" guys initially, so this is kind of a humbling experience.

The point of the rambling? Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Not enjoying Season 1 at first, but enjoying afterwards?

 

[dinzy]

Not with Disco, but with ENT. I watched the show when it aired and in many cases just had the episode playing while doing something on the computer. I watched it last year as the last rewatch of old Trek and liked it. I still hate the intro and still think Archer was a bit too ... Archer, but it was a decent show overall.

I usually hate rewatching stuff when there is too much new stuff to watch, but with Trek and Who, I have found that you can appreciate things on a rewatch that were just kinda meh the first time through. I also found that order of watching may have an impact. I watched TOS then TNG. I actually liked TNG Season 1 this time because it felt like TOS Season 4. I liked the campy goofiness of it which is something that made it hard to do the previous time I rewatched TNG.

I bet Picard is not as good on rewatch. Nothing will compare with the hype and the ~4:30-5 AM viewing.

 

[DigificWriter]

I'm anticipating this happening with DSC Season 2 once I get there, since the first time I watched, I didn't quite understand what the point of Tilly's storyline was and therefore kind of mentally checked out of the show since said story felt out-of-place as part of the series' Burnham-driven meta-arc.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

I loved season 1, but now I'm appreciating the ending of season 1 even more than when it first aired. Even though some parts of it still seem rushed, the resolution (regarding the Emperor's bomb) stands out as a little more nuanced than the fleet stand-offs we got for PIC season 1 and DSC season 2. I still enjoyed those, too, but if all 3 had been fleet vs. fleet, it would've been too much deja vu. Can't wait for season 3!

 

[Lord Garth]

I liked the first season of Discovery all five times I've watched it.

 

[Danny99]

It was frustrating to start off with the Klingon conflict and then divert into the mirror universe and turn Lorca into a cardboard villain, only to come back in the season finale and somehow fly to the homeward with a huge bomb.

I just can't get past the fact that with a talented actor like Jason Isaacs, they didn't decide to go with a PTSD angle or someone losing his sanity because of the conflict.

Just like Section 31 and some pseudo-Borg in Season Two, the writers gave us what they thought would we want in the mirror universe instead of actually doing some dramatic story telling.

 

[NCC-73515]

I also found S1 better than I remembered when I watched it again 2 years later after S2.

 

[Vger23]

I think I enjoyed S2 first-run more than S1. But, I have rewatched S1 more. I actually only rewatched S2 once and it was ok, but not as enjoyable as on first watch

 

[Ralphis]

Not with Disco, but with ENT.

Ditto here regarding ENT. I forced myself to watch it because it was 'new' Star Trek, but I think in the middle of season 2 I just stopped making it a priority. But a few years back in did an ENT rewatch and I found myself at least "somewhat" engaged in most of the episodes.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I watched the show when it aired and in many cases just had the episode playing while doing something on the computer...

I think this is key. Make each new episode a celebration. Sit with friends (virus lockdowns permitting) or family and then discuss the episode later over dinner. This is how many US TOS fans experience it in university dorm rooms in 1966. (It's also how my Australian friends and I enjoyed TNG in 1987, with airfreighted off-air tapes made by a US penpal, and later on for-rental tapes provided by Paramount/CIC-Taft for us to review.)

 

[amp]

Ditto here regarding ENT. I forced myself to watch it because it was 'new' Star Trek, but I think in the middle of season 2 I just stopped making it a priority. But a few years back in did an ENT rewatch and I found myself at least "somewhat" engaged in most of the episodes.

I've had similar experiences with both Enterprise and Voyager. I think when you watch these shows initially, you can be disappointed because the show on the screen is not the show that you'd like it to be. But years later, on a rewatch, you can finally appreciate the show for what it is and no longer be bound by your expectations.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I've had similar experiences with both Enterprise and Voyager. I think when you watch these shows initially, you can be disappointed because the show on the screen is not the show that you'd like it to be. But years later, on a rewatch, you can finally appreciate the show for what it is and no longer be bound by your expectations.

Exactly. Nothing can survive the Weight of Expectation™. I found Voyager far more enjoyable as something to watch an episode a day at dinner time than as a prime time thing on first viewing.

 

[VOODOOXI]

I thought it was great the first time around and I enjoyed season two even more.

 

[Uhura's Song]

I had not rewatched Disco or Picard until I started a Disco S1 rewatch this week.

I am up through the Mudd episode, and I am liking it, again. Choose Your Pain is my favorite. Sure, there were a couple bumps (interstellar mind melds & not going after Cornwell pronto), but very good in total.

Of course, I liked the first half of S1 & S2 better than the second halves on the initial watches. Especially S2.

 

[DigificWriter]

^ Why/how is Sarek and Michael's minds being linked across space a "bump"?

They explained why it can happen and how it's unique to those two characters.

 

[Go-Captain]

I kind of knew the plot twists going in when I watched DIS and still got so frustrated with DIS in the second episode of the pilot I couldn't finish it in one shot. Then it happened again with the third episode.

It wasn't until I watched a youtube documentary on Rick Berman, which points out all the behind the scenes garbage which went on in TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT that I decided to just turn my brain off in regard to external consistency. At that point I could mostly enjoy it on its own merits. It still bugs me that it barely has any consistency with the rest of Trek and barely maintains consistency within itself, but it's watchable. I was also able to realize the real flaw has nothing to do with the consistency or looks or agenda but with how Michael Burnham is writen.

 

[F. King Daniel]

interstellar mind melds

Already done in Enterprise between Trip and T'Pol and TOS between the USS Intrepid crew and Spock. Established canon.

 

[Uhura's Song]

^ Why/how is Sarek and Michael's minds being linked across space a "bump"?

They explained why it can happen and how it's unique to those two characters.

I thought it was silly. Just cause they explained it, does not mean they explained it well or I bought it.

Anyway, watched it all the way through, again. The two Pahvo episodes were good, with Into The Forest I Go probably my favorite.

I thought the Mirror episodes were pretty weak. Mostly on the basis of 2 (or 3?) instances of characters being surrounded by a room full of people with guns and miraculously escaping without getting shot. Come on.

I also thought the climax/resolution of the Mirror arc was weak. How does that huge ship not have shields up when they sent the signal to Saru? The whole thing falls apart without that first shot knocking most everyone out (who had a gun, anyway).

Last two episodes were better, but not great. Not sure I would trust L'Rell to not wipe Earth out. But I guess her fanaticism and desire to unite the Empire wins out. And those Klingons were awful relaxed about humans walking around on Kronos (for the first time in a 100 years), especially with a war on. And them being so warlike. Implausibly laissez-faire, to put it midly.

If a serial show does not stick the landing, it really hurts things. Disco failed on that both times. Not a wipeout, or a fall, but a stumble for certain.

The production value & quality actors in the new shows raise their floors higher than that of the episodic series'. But the fact that, in my opinion, the arcs do not hang together well, have non-sensical sequences, their serial nature, and the focus seemingly being more on emotional tugs/reveals rather than development or making sense, the ceilings are lower. YMMV.

I think I will wait on my S2 rewatch, but I think the pattern is the same. Strong first half, weak finish.

 

[rafterman1701]

I've had similar experiences with both Enterprise and Voyager. I think when you watch these shows initially, you can be disappointed because the show on the screen is not the show that you'd like it to be. But years later, on a rewatch, you can finally appreciate the show for what it is and no longer be bound by your expectations.

For sure. First viewing are always saddled with expectations, so you're reacting to all of that more than the product itself. I'm been mixed on DISCOVERY all along. Hating things, liking things, rebelling against choices. But I'm rewatching season one now, and knowing it's its own thing and it's not bad. I'm still not in love with things like the Klingon design, I've accepted it just looks different and will never look like I want it to, but I can watch it and enjoy it. Distance sure helps. Watch it later, away from the noise and away from your baggage.

 

[fireproof78]

And those Klingons were awful relaxed about humans walking around on Kronos (for the first time in a 100 years), especially with a war on. And them being so warlike. Implausibly laissez-faire, to put it midly.

I thought they had encountered human traders before. I seem to recall that Cyrano Jones and Mudd both operated in the Klingon sphere.

Just because there is a war on doesn't mean everyone runs out and goes to war.