Apologies if much of this has been said already - I don’t want to retread worn out paths (nor do I want to flog a dead horse), so please forgive me if little of this is in any way innovative.
So I finally watched season 2. I wasn’t going to originally, having been put well off by season 1. But I kept up to date with episode reviews by various people on YouTube, etc. so I knew what was going to happen over the course of the series, and I knew how it was going to end. Plus I wanted to make up my own mind, rather than rely only on what I’d heard/read.
Now, I’m a huge discoskeptic, but I was pleasantly surprised by this season. It was indeed an improvement on season 1. I don’t want to get into things I didn’t like here as that would be unnecessarily negative (and likely said before, more eloquently, by others), so I’ll focus on what I did like.
I liked how they toned down some of Michael’s “Burnhamness” in this season. Burnham often reminded me of season 1 Riker from time to time - inflexible and kinda unlikeable. I still don’t like Michael very much, but I feel like I understand her better - insofar as many of her interactions with other people appear to be her constantly trying to get one over on Spock. This is evident from seeing Michael’s interactions with Spock. And I think Michael’s feelings towards Spock are strongly influenced by her connection with Sarek’s katra. I think Michael is what Sarek would be like if Sarek didn’t have all that Vulcan emotional control. What I’d like to see with Michael going forward is for the writers to essentially do what they did with Riker - give Micheal more of a sense of humour and make her relax a little bit (I don’t think that’s going to happen, mind you, but I’ll come back to that below). But I’m encouraged by the fact that Michael did show some more personal growth this season - there was a glimmer of this in s1 - and I’m glad that she seems to be evolving as a character.
I really liked Spock. I thought Ethan Peck did a great job portraying a much calmer Spock than we ever saw in Quinto’s interpretation. And his interactions with Michael were fantastic. Some have suggested that Michael made Spock into the Spock we see in the canon universe. I don’t think that’s the case here - I think Spock helps Michael more to become a more centred person this season - Spock helps her deal with some heavy emotional stuff - and it’s dealt with quite well.
I think the Klingons were handled much better this season too. They felt much more like Klingons than they did in season 1.
I liked Captain Pike for the most part as well. He seemed somewhat insecure at times - but that’s consistent with what we know about him from the Cage (c.f. Dr Boyce scene in Pike’s quarters). I don’t think I want a Pike series though - there is too much potential for repetition of what’s been done before (which could kill the franchise again like last time). I feel Star Trek needs to go forward, not dwell on nostalgia - although the Talos IV episode was kinda cool so maybe some nostalgia is ok (also the inclusion of a Barzan was a nice “deep cut” species).
Everything else was about as I expected it to be this season - which was basically like season 1 (i.e. a reboot - I know, I know, it’s not “officially” a reboot but we’re not going to get anywhere with that debate so please ignore it), but I did see a marked improvement in season 2 relative to season 1. And the Discovery seems to run on steam, so numerous were the vents spewing steam onto the ship in various places, particularly Stamets’s lab (or was that engineering?).
Ultimately, as a reinvention of Star Trek and the creation of the “Prime universe* ” season 2 had potential.
*which I interpret as the unaltered Kelvin Timeline, not the canon universe from TOS to VOY - debating that with me here is irrelevant to any of my points by the way. Worf visited plenty of quantum realities that looked very similar to the canon reality where events were the same but visuals were different, so the Prime reality might as well be one of them for me. If you think it’s the same as the original canon universe, fine. I don’t, so let’s leave it at that (don’t yell at me lol).
I’m cautiously optimistic for season 3 in the 33rd. The potential to define and explore the whole astropolitical landscape of the alpha quadrant nearly a millennium into the future is an exciting prospect.
I got distinct “Battlestar Galactica” vibes from season 2 of DSC (c.f. The fight between Culber and AshVoq in the mess hall) and I think that’s the direction they’ll take in season 3. I view Burnham as basically a combination of Starbuck and Baltar from the RDM 2004 reboot. I predict Michael and Saru yelling at each other every week vying for command of the discovery, since there’ll be no official command structure to keep either of them in line. My caution comes from the fact that I seriously doubt the Disco will stay in the 33rd and will travel back to the 23rd around halfway through season 3 (like the side quest into the mirrored universe in s1, although I hope I’m wrong). But, S3 is the most interested I’ve been in DSC since it started. Onwards and upwards mayhap.
So I finally watched season 2. I wasn’t going to originally, having been put well off by season 1. But I kept up to date with episode reviews by various people on YouTube, etc. so I knew what was going to happen over the course of the series, and I knew how it was going to end. Plus I wanted to make up my own mind, rather than rely only on what I’d heard/read.
Now, I’m a huge discoskeptic, but I was pleasantly surprised by this season. It was indeed an improvement on season 1. I don’t want to get into things I didn’t like here as that would be unnecessarily negative (and likely said before, more eloquently, by others), so I’ll focus on what I did like.
I liked how they toned down some of Michael’s “Burnhamness” in this season. Burnham often reminded me of season 1 Riker from time to time - inflexible and kinda unlikeable. I still don’t like Michael very much, but I feel like I understand her better - insofar as many of her interactions with other people appear to be her constantly trying to get one over on Spock. This is evident from seeing Michael’s interactions with Spock. And I think Michael’s feelings towards Spock are strongly influenced by her connection with Sarek’s katra. I think Michael is what Sarek would be like if Sarek didn’t have all that Vulcan emotional control. What I’d like to see with Michael going forward is for the writers to essentially do what they did with Riker - give Micheal more of a sense of humour and make her relax a little bit (I don’t think that’s going to happen, mind you, but I’ll come back to that below). But I’m encouraged by the fact that Michael did show some more personal growth this season - there was a glimmer of this in s1 - and I’m glad that she seems to be evolving as a character.
I really liked Spock. I thought Ethan Peck did a great job portraying a much calmer Spock than we ever saw in Quinto’s interpretation. And his interactions with Michael were fantastic. Some have suggested that Michael made Spock into the Spock we see in the canon universe. I don’t think that’s the case here - I think Spock helps Michael more to become a more centred person this season - Spock helps her deal with some heavy emotional stuff - and it’s dealt with quite well.
I think the Klingons were handled much better this season too. They felt much more like Klingons than they did in season 1.
I liked Captain Pike for the most part as well. He seemed somewhat insecure at times - but that’s consistent with what we know about him from the Cage (c.f. Dr Boyce scene in Pike’s quarters). I don’t think I want a Pike series though - there is too much potential for repetition of what’s been done before (which could kill the franchise again like last time). I feel Star Trek needs to go forward, not dwell on nostalgia - although the Talos IV episode was kinda cool so maybe some nostalgia is ok (also the inclusion of a Barzan was a nice “deep cut” species).
Everything else was about as I expected it to be this season - which was basically like season 1 (i.e. a reboot - I know, I know, it’s not “officially” a reboot but we’re not going to get anywhere with that debate so please ignore it), but I did see a marked improvement in season 2 relative to season 1. And the Discovery seems to run on steam, so numerous were the vents spewing steam onto the ship in various places, particularly Stamets’s lab (or was that engineering?).
Ultimately, as a reinvention of Star Trek and the creation of the “Prime universe* ” season 2 had potential.
*which I interpret as the unaltered Kelvin Timeline, not the canon universe from TOS to VOY - debating that with me here is irrelevant to any of my points by the way. Worf visited plenty of quantum realities that looked very similar to the canon reality where events were the same but visuals were different, so the Prime reality might as well be one of them for me. If you think it’s the same as the original canon universe, fine. I don’t, so let’s leave it at that (don’t yell at me lol).
I’m cautiously optimistic for season 3 in the 33rd. The potential to define and explore the whole astropolitical landscape of the alpha quadrant nearly a millennium into the future is an exciting prospect.
I got distinct “Battlestar Galactica” vibes from season 2 of DSC (c.f. The fight between Culber and AshVoq in the mess hall) and I think that’s the direction they’ll take in season 3. I view Burnham as basically a combination of Starbuck and Baltar from the RDM 2004 reboot. I predict Michael and Saru yelling at each other every week vying for command of the discovery, since there’ll be no official command structure to keep either of them in line. My caution comes from the fact that I seriously doubt the Disco will stay in the 33rd and will travel back to the 23rd around halfway through season 3 (like the side quest into the mirrored universe in s1, although I hope I’m wrong). But, S3 is the most interested I’ve been in DSC since it started. Onwards and upwards mayhap.
