Anson Mount as Pike SAVES This Show! Wow.

[Trekkin]

What 'saves the show' really means is that it finally has another male lead that Kane_Steel approves of who will hopefully take screen time away from Sonequa Martin-Green/Burnham who he dislikes.

Which is especially funny if you saw how well he did in his last leading role. At first he seemed to outright forget that facial expressions were a thing, then went in the opposite direction and settled on a permanent ‘whacked in the face by a shovel’ look to convey just about everything. All of which is bit of an issue when your character is mute.

Now, i’m not saying he isn’t perfectly fine when working with the right people. But he’s not exactly a font of charisma, capable of lifting sub-par or mediocre material by his mere presence and on-screen energy.

(Unfortunately for Inhumans, the actor with that ability was playing the primary villain. Everyone else got upstaged by a giant CGI dog.)

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Myself, I thought Anson Mount and pretty much the whole cast in Inhumans was better than good. The overriding problem on the show was the script, which itself had two major problems. The script seemed crafted to minimize the display of powers and of Inhumanity in general, in order to minimize the budget. But the greater problem was that it spent most of the limited time of the series with the main core group of characters split up, and with the most inhuman Inhuman of that core group all but entirely absent. Not to seriously delve into what was wrong with that series here, but to summarize I think Mount and the whole cast did really well with the material they were given to work with. Honestly, I found Mount to be quite charismatic and effective as Black Bolt, with those caveats. YMMV.

 

[XCV330]

What 'saves the show' really means is that it finally has another male lead that Kane_Steel approves of who will hopefully take screen time away from Sonequa Martin-Green/Burnham who he dislikes.

Yep.
And Anson Mount will be a welcome addition to the show, but it's a show that doesn't need saving.

 

[bigglesworth]

Barely recognized Anson Mount without the beard. Loved him in Hell on Wheels. Maybe CBS can get Common to do a cameo. I thought they had good chemistry.

 

[Kane_Steel]

So right now my opinion is Sonequa Martin-Green is totally making this show, I think her character is just absolutely fantastic and maybe one of the best lead characters in Star Trek ever, I'm continuing to watch Discovery because of her.

Cool. You're entitled to your opinion, but many would agree (even on this forum) that Jason Issacs easily overshadowed Sonequa/Burnham last season and commanded the screen. I anticipate Anson Mount will do the same this year.

Sure, her characterisation suffers from bad writing, but what in this series doesn't? But yeah, she's the best main character since TNG.

Wait, they make TV shows to make money?

A massive oversimplification, but I expected nothing less.

What 'saves the show' really means is that it finally has another male lead that Kane_Steel approves of who will hopefully take screen time away from Sonequa Martin-Green/Burnham who he dislikes.

Paul Feig approves of your post.


Sonequa's Burnham being terrible has to do with the way the character is written and presented, not her race/gender.

Lest we forgot my love for Danai Guirra (Okoye) and how she would have been a far better lead for this series, with a strong engaging presence.

There's also nothing wrong with having a Masculine alpha male lead on the cast to balance things out. Worked well with Jason Isaacs and it will again with Anson Mount. It adds to the diversity of the cast.

 

[Kane_Steel]

Which is especially funny if you saw how well he did in his last leading role. At first he seemed to outright forget that facial expressions were a thing, then went in the opposite direction and settled on a permanent ‘whacked in the face by a shovel’ look to convey just about everything. All of which is bit of an issue when your character is mute.

Now, i’m not saying he isn’t perfectly fine when working with the right people. But he’s not exactly a font of charisma, capable of lifting sub-par or mediocre material by his mere presence and on-screen energy.

(Unfortunately for Inhumans, the actor with that ability was playing the primary villain. Everyone else got upstaged by a giant CGI dog.)

Watch AMC's Hell on Wheels and you'll reconsider your stance.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Lest we forgot my love for Danai Guirra (Okoye) and how she would have been a far better lead for this series, with a strong engaging presence.

Nope - for the same reason OHMSS would have been shit with Connery. She's a great actor, but completely wrong for the character.

SMG has one of the most malleable faces I have ever seen. She does all her acting through emoting, which is the perfect conceptual fit for Burnham. And to suggest she has no presence is a grave injustice unless you're threatened by her charisma and intelligence.

There's also nothing wrong with having a Masculine alpha male lead on the cast to balance things out.

'Masculine alpha males' aren't compulsory.

 

[Marynator]

Jason Isaacs never stole anything from Sonequa, I've always liked him, but he was definitely secondary to her, and she's the one who won an award for her performance, winning over very strong competition from many veteran actresses. Her work on Discovery was truly nothing short of amazing, and she doesn't need a strong male co-lead to carry her series, as she proved in season 1. A handful of people on a message board really doesn't say much even if all share a similar opinion, Sonequa was very well received generally and she was even recognized for her fantastic work.

Maybe Anson's going to make a positive contribution to Discovery, well I certainly hope he doesn't make things worse! But when you say he's going to "save" it just sounds so very extremely silly as Discovery's already riding strong from its wonderful lead actress, and he's going to be a garnish not the main course.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

I liked Burnham from the start and continued liking her to the end. I didn't even warm up to Lorca at all until his fourth or fifth episode and while, at his peak, he was certainly more compelling than her, his peak was very short-lived and totally undermined by his final episode. Burnham had some poorly written stuff here and there that one may have to overlook to enjoy it, but Lorca's character was literally rewritten from the ground up midstream with no regard for what came before. He was like the tv show Lost in (fictional) human form. Highly, highly overrated.

 

[fireproof78]

Jason Isaacs never stole anything from Sonequa, I've always liked him, but he was definitely secondary to her, and she's the one who won an award for her performance, winning over very strong competition from many veteran actresses. Her work on Discovery was truly nothing short of amazing, and she doesn't need a strong male co-lead to carry her series, as she proved in season 1. A handful of people on a message board really doesn't say much even if all share a similar opinion, Sonequa was very well received generally and she was even recognized for her fantastic work.

Indeed. Jason Issacs was a nice addition but I certainly was not watching for his performance and his arc ended up deflating halfway through or so.

 

[Kane_Steel]

Nope - for the same reason OHMSS would have been shit with Connery. She's a great actor, but completely wrong for the character.

SMG has one of the most malleable faces I have ever seen. She does all her acting through emoting, which is the perfect conceptual fit for Burnham. And to suggest she has no presence is a grave injustice unless you're threatened by her charisma and intelligence.

That's debatable. I've seen lots of comments that question Sonequa's acting ability and 'emoting.' Danai is way more talented as an actress and deserves the praise she is getting now.

The writing is a major issue for the character as well. Perhaps Sonequa is a fit for the way the character is written... but many question how the character was written and whether the lead of this series should have been a different character altogether.

'Masculine alpha males' aren't compulsory.

Neither is any specific group. But having Pike's presence adds to the show and the diversity of the characters.

Jason Isaacs never stole anything from Sonequa, I've always liked him, but he was definitely secondary to her,

Even on this board, Isaacs was regularly praised as the breakthrough highlight of last season. Just go back and re-read the threads. I even made one comparing the two of them, and Isaacs is the clear winner in many of the threads and comparisons. Even in the episode review threads, many seemed compelled by him and critical of Burnham.

and she's the one who won an award for her performance, winning over very strong competition from many veteran actresses. Her work on Discovery was truly nothing short of amazing, and she doesn't need a strong male co-lead to carry her series, as she proved in season 1. A handful of people on a message board really doesn't say much even if all share a similar opinion, Sonequa was very well received generally and she was even recognized for her fantastic work.

Let's be clear. She won a Saturn Award. These are selected by a committee made up of J.J. Abrams , Bryan Fuller etc..

It really doesn't translate to Sonequa/Burnham being well received by audiences, at all.

Maybe Anson's going to make a positive contribution to Discovery, well I certainly hope he doesn't make things worse! But when you say he's going to "save" it just sounds so very extremely silly as Discovery's already riding strong from its wonderful lead actress, and he's going to be a garnish not the main course.

Again, you're entitled to your opinion. Many would disagree. To many, Isaacs was the main course last year, and I wouldn't be shocked if Mount did the same this year. He certainly has all the talent and presence to do so.

 

[fireproof78]

but many question how the character was written and whether the lead of this series should have been a different character altogether.

This is true of almost every single film and TV show I have ever discussed.

 

[Marynator]

Oh dear, I believe you're confusing "many" with "a handful", just because a few like-minded people you know agree with you doesn't mean you represent majority opinion, right? You say I'm entitled to my opinion, and of course we all are, yourself included, but something about how you're saying that to me is giving me this impression you feel my opinion is a minority instead of the other way around? Like you do know those people who post here don't represent a majority of fans, right?

I don't understand what you're saying about the Saturn Awards? They've been around for like over forty years and are from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, so what's wrong with her award? She's receiving that from top professionals of her genre, and Jason Isaacs was nominated but he didn't win. What's wrong with JJ Abrams, I mean like he's currently a leading science fiction creator? And you know also it has Steven Spielburg, James Cameron, and Bryan Singer, right?

Discovery's getting a second season because of how compelling Michael Burnham is, and how Sonequa knocked her performance out of the park. Like Jason Isaacs isn't even coming back, he's a disposable secondary character. Except for bringing them into the Mirror Universe, you could totally drop his character from the show and you'd still have pretty much the same story, well even with the MU you don't need Isaacs because really Stamets could've met Stamets, his mirror story was really more important than Gabriel's. But Michael was the central character through and through, Discovery was pretty much her story without question, even if you don't like that for some reason?

 

[{ Emilia }]

There's also nothing wrong with having a Masculine alpha male lead on the cast to balance things out.

I'm not sure I understand what needs to be "balanced out" there. With a "masculine alpha male".

 

[Jedi_Master]

Did the show need saving?

 

[mattman8907]

I wouldn't mind a Star Trek Series following Pike and Commander Una ("Number One"). be nice to see what Pike was upto on the Enterprise after his stint as CO of the Discovery.

 

[Marynator]

I'm not sure I understand what needs to be "balanced out" there. With a "masculine alpha male".

Maybe previous alpha males were too feminine? You know, with all their sensitivity, and tea drinking and cooking, not enough chest thumping and grunting and rescuing helpless damsels whose shows are failing despite winning awards and getting renewed?

 

[CorporalClegg]

I have to say I don't see what the big deal with having a Pike series is. They've already gone to that well three times - four if you count Orville. Plus all the movies.

 

[{ Emilia }]

Maybe previous alpha males were too feminine? You know, with all their sensitivity, and tea drinking and cooking, not enough chest thumping and grunting and rescuing helpless damsels whose shows are failing despite winning awards and getting renewed?

I'm just at a loss as to what kind of "balance" is needed and why an alpha male is important for it and what kind of "omg yay" it creates.

 

[Marynator]

I'm just at a loss as to what kind "balance" is needed and why an alpha male is important for it and what kind of "omg yay" it creates.

I was completely confused what a "masculine" alpha male means, and what other type of alpha male there might be? I'm only imagining one "omg yay" right now, he's going to put an uppity woman lead back in her place, I mean who does she really think she is thinking she can carry a Star Trek series mostly by herself, and all she's offering is an amazing and award winning performance, right?

(oh please do forgive my sarcasm)