Discovery is losing me in Season 3, anyone else?

[Noname Given]

That Star Trek can't rely on nostalgia like Trek, it can try, but it'll fail. Otherwise the new shows would be more like Orville.

I think Star Trek Discovery season 2 proves that belief wrong. As a TOS fan who saw that series first run (in it's third season in 1969) I thought all the callbacks the casting of Anson Mount as Christopher Pike, And Ethan Peck as Spock, and Rebecca Romijn Stamos as Number One was great - And for me that season of Star Trek was the best season of Star Trek since TOS season 1.

I think it shows that no catering to nostalgia doesn't mean that everything's going to revert to TNG style 'Oroville-esque' Star Trek.

Lower Decks, Even though it's set in the post-Nemesis TNG era, And also does trade heavily on TNG nostalgia, certainly isn't anything like TNG of the '90s; And even though it's comedic in nature; I find it much more enjoyable and funny than 'The Orville' And don't consider it 'Orville-like' at all. (YMMV).

 

[NCC-73515]

I’ve no idea what an Omega particle is and I watched that episode a month or two ago. That’s how much impact it had.
Using it sounds fan wanky.

I'm sure many fans do remember what they watched. Perhaps they pay more attention, or care more.

I was a kid so I will use that as the excuse. My mom would constantly bother me to get a hair cut. I used to tell her I wanted to look like a Kazon. I even one time tried to make my hair mimic the Kazon. The picture makes me laugh to this day.

Post it! Remove the face if you want.

 

[dupersuper]

I have enjoyed Discovery through the first two seasons, and for the first 5 episodes of season 3 (through "Die Trying"), but I am finding myself disengaged from the season since then.

Anyone else finding themselves lost with Discovery season 3?

Just the opposite: I've enjoyed it far more than the first two seasons.

Same for me. I think it was a mistake for them to jump to the future because it has exposed a lot if the weakness that was hidden well in season 1 and 2.

...They were hidden?

 

[FederationHistorian]

Honestly, I’m waiting until the completion of the season to decide.

I was initially done after “Unification III”, then came back when I heard that there were more mirror universe episode. I’m pretty much waiting to see how this Osyraa arc ends.

 

[eschaton]

Okay, having watched the finale, in addition to what I said upthread...

The main issue with this season is pretty simple: There is no one in the writer's room who has any creative or original story ideas at all. They scriptwriting is fine - it does what it has to. But they need some latter day Joe Menosky to bounce some really wild sci-fi concepts to build story frameworks around. Because the underlying story for everything is so goddamned boring I might as well not be watching science fiction.

 

[Jadeb]

Okay, having watched the finale, in addition to what I said upthread...

The main issue with this season is pretty simple: There is no one in the writer's room who has any creative or original story ideas at all. They scriptwriting is fine - it does what it has to. But they need some latter day Joe Menosky to bounce some really wild sci-fi concepts to build story frameworks around. Because the underlying story for everything is so goddamned boring I might as well not be watching science fiction.

I thought they had an interesting concept with Gray’s desire to be seen. They botched it, but the underlying idea is good, and timely.

That concept is better than anything in the first two seasons, I think, so I’ll call it progress.

 

[Butters]

It's definitely lost me. I can't seem to find any of the things in it that I used to enjoy about watching Star Trek. I can't quite put my finger on it, and I'm not going to dwell on it for any amount of time.

Any of the criticisms I could raise against Discovery could also apply to the older series that I enjoyed. I suppose the only difference is that I cared enough about the other series to look past them.

Except for enormous and implausible interior of the ship. What's that about? Fans have been arguing over the specifics of the ships configuration for decades, and reluctantly turned a blind eye to Deck 79 type nonsense. The vast cityscape within Discovery does seem like a deliberate 'up yours' to the wrong kind of fan.

I suppose it's just a show, now. Like lots of others.

 

[fireproof78]

The main issue with this season is pretty simple: There is no one in the writer's room who has any creative or original story ideas at all.

Why would people want that?

I suppose it's just a show, now. Like lots of others.

That's all it ever was.

 

[eschaton]

Why would people want that?

Are you implying that the modern focus on sequels, remakes, and reboots shows that people really want to be comforted by the familiar, rather than to be wowed by something new?

I'd actually agree with you, to some extent. I mean the last top-grossing movie not marketed at children was friggin Avatar. And that was 12 years ago!

That said, not everything needs to be a blockbuster. Trek is niche market, not mass market. There's no reason it needs to just spit out warmed over TNG/VOY plots (which was the majority of this season, in terms of basic structure).

 

[fireproof78]

Are you implying that the modern focus on sequels, remakes, and reboots shows that people really want to be comforted by the familiar, rather than to be wowed by something new?

I'd actually agree with you, to some extent. I mean the last top-grossing movie not marketed at children was friggin Avatar. And that was 12 years ago!

That said, not everything needs to be a blockbuster. Trek is niche market, not mass market. There's no reason it needs to just spit out warmed over TNG/VOY plots (which was the majority of this season, in terms of basic structure).

I'm not implying it-I think that is actually the case. People do not want new. And Star Trek isn't going to risk it after the furor in Season 1 with Discovery. Once bitten, twice shy etc.

 

[Arpy]

I’ve struggled with this season, and after the finale am wondering if I should do as suggested recently and not try any more. Maybe I’ll just binge them in the future as full seasons.

This season is a mawkish mindless disappointment, made especially apparent after my beginning a rewatch of season 1 — far more intriguing, and delicious now knowing what we know about Lorca...it’s like watching a new series embedded in the old one.

 

[fireproof78]

There is nothing wrong in not watching. I'm almost there with how last episode ended.

 

[donners22]

I'm not implying it-I think that is actually the case. People do not want new. And Star Trek isn't going to risk it after the furor in Season 1 with Discovery. Once bitten, twice shy etc.

Much as I try to disengage from fan discussions these days, they do provide some mild amusement in that respect. Control is the Borg, the red bursts are the Iconians, it's an outrage that Beverley/Q/Guinan isn't in Picard, Future Guy will appear in Disco, Berman should come back to "save" Trek, etc.

The writers have been far too reactive to such reactions already (and Beyer in particular is churning out pure fanwank); I wish they'd hold to Nicholas Meyer's comment before Disco started that "art is a dictatorship".

 

[fireproof78]

The writers have been far too reactive to such reactions already; I wish they'd hold to Nicholas Meyer's comment before Disco started that "art is a dictatorship".

It would be nice but now they would rather be liked.

 

[eschaton]

I'm not implying it-I think that is actually the case. People do not want new. And Star Trek isn't going to risk it after the furor in Season 1 with Discovery. Once bitten, twice shy etc."

I don't think it's so much that people only want the comforting and familiar. It's that as new things are inherently risky. Some succeed, and some fail. Studios would rather shoot for a solid B than aim for an A and maybe fail entirely.

I do think that Discovery is now playing it too safe, and that's a big letdown. And it seems like Strange New World, for example, will just be giving the "fans" what they wanted. But Picard and Lower Decks seem to have been better well received (both by critics and fandom) - and show that CBS is still willing to experiment with different kinds of Trek

It's just the experimental phase of Discovery is over. It's just higher-budget Berman Trek now.

 

[fireproof78]

I don't think it's so much that people only want the comforting and familiar. It's that as new things are inherently risky. Some succeed, and some fail. Studios would rather shoot for a solid B than aim for an A and maybe fail entirely.

I do think that Discovery is now playing it too safe, and that's a big letdown. And it seems like Strange New World, for example, will just be giving the "fans" what they wanted. But Picard and Lower Decks seem to have been better well received (both by critics and fandom) - and show that CBS is still willing to experiment with different kinds of Trek

It's just the experimental phase of Discovery is over. It's just higher-budget Berman Trek now.

Or, as I have heard it described "Real Star Trek"

 

[eschaton]

Or, as I have heard it described "Real Star Trek"

I know you don't want to hear "The Orville did it better," but if that's all you want, then it's right there.

 

[fireproof78]

I know you don't want to hear "The Orville did it better," but if that's all you want, then it's right there.

Unengaging and uninspiring. I guess so.

 

[dupersuper]

Unengaging and uninspiring. I guess so.

It engaged me.

 

[Vger23]

Unengaging and uninspiring. I guess so.

Completely so. Entertaining? Yes, of course. But also derivative, inconsequential and immediately forgettable. Much like the later 90’s Trek it is based on became.

Again...not “bad...” but just kind of “there”....formulaic and McDonalds-like.