Spoilers Discovery Season 2 Featurette 'Becoming Pike'

[Timo]

Why, because of the part where central characters come and go!

Again, we got Pike because we lost Lorca. In a show already packed with characters in regular Trek fashion, we won't be getting anything good again unless we get rid of something else first - it need not be the skipper, but I'd hate to lose Saru, and Burnham is supposedly there to stay.

Giving the new character a season-long career need not mean placing him or her in a season-long single adventure, though. Season 2 is probably going to go that route, but S3 might not. And never mind S31.

I mean, an adventure that takes two or three storytelling hours to unfold, as opposed to just the regular 45 minutes, is fine. A main character probably can't be covered in that short a time, though.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[eschaton]

Why, because of the part where central characters come and go!

Again, we got Pike because we lost Lorca. In a show already packed with characters in regular Trek fashion, we won't be getting anything good again unless we get rid of something else first - it need not be the skipper, but I'd hate to lose Saru, and Burnham is supposedly there to stay.

Giving the new character a season-long career need not mean placing him or her in a season-long single adventure, though. Season 2 is probably going to go that route, but S3 might not. And never mind S31.

I mean, an adventure that takes two or three storytelling hours to unfold, as opposed to just the regular 45 minutes, is fine. A main character probably can't be covered in that short a time, though.

Timo Saloniemi

My point is basically that I really hope that Discovery doesn't "shake the etch a sketch" so to speak again for its third season. That it builds on the foundations of whatever we see this year rather than trying for some entirely new stakes-raising adventure with yet another captain (if Pike must go, Saru should get promoted).

I mean, basically we're seeing a movie format being used in TV. Our heroes face some existential threat, defeat it, and then have a new adventure. This works in the movies because there's typically a several-year gap. But if (for example) Marvel put only Avengers movies, and did it it every single year like clockwork, people would have gotten bored with the franchise. They only get away with three movies per year because each one features different characters.

Of course there will be character continuity, ala DS9. And hopefully the story they tell will be worthwhile. But my favorite serialized shows don't just think up a plan for each season, but have a multi-season arc planned. I really hope that Discovery heads in this way as well, otherwise it's really not using the supposed serialization to the fullest.

 

[Timo]

Well, getting rid of Lorca was preplanned from the moment the character was created (not necessarily "from the start", though). Pike has a similar fuse sizzling under his seat in that we know he "must" be on that other ship eventually. And ultimately Burnham is the series lead. So Pike being gone soon is more or less a given. And what comes after him is the interesting bit.

Does the show then "settle", with Burnham finally the Captain? That isn't a requisite for doing arcs that transcend mere seasons. Does it "settle" a bit less, with Saru the Captain and no new characters introduced, even though changes are still evident in the horizon? I simply feel this would be a loss, while the opposite would not detract from the Great Plan any more than going through Lorca and Pike did.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Noname Given]

I dunno. I will be really disappointed if Discovery has yet another wild pivot - and yet another galaxy-threatening serialized plot. It would be like if Enterprise used some version of the Xindi plot three times in a row. Basically, it establishes Discovery as an episodic show, only the "episodes" each last a season. Why is that inherently better than doing a bunch of mini-arcs and a few standalones?

IMO - This doesn't come across as a 'wild pivot' here.

If anything I like that we have a show that's not:
Yes, we have the same cast/crew for 7 years, and by the end EVERYONE is a Lt. Cmdr., but STILL ON THE SAME SHIP. Or you have a situation like that Post TNG's "Best of Both Words" where after Starflreet has lost the bulk of fleet and the experienced officers said fleet contained - NONE of the highly experienced officers from the 1701-D are reassigned to help the new ships re-crew and have officers with years of in the field experience and Riker (who said he wanted to be a Captain before he was 30) still sits at Picard's right chair watching Picard make all the decisions.

If ST: D continues past Season 2, I hope they never really get a 'permanent Captain', and we have a few crew member transfers in and out of the ship's compliment. YMMV.

 

[Campe]

Does the show then "settle", with Burnham finally the Captain?

I think the show ends with Burnham as Captain and/or sacrificing herself for the crew. I think we likely have a five season arc here. Season 1 - Lorca, 2 - Pike, 3 - Captain waiting on Vulcan, 4 - Saru, 5 - Burnham sacrificing herself leading into Tilly as Captain.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I don't want Burnham Dies in the End. American Beauty already did that.

Besides, it's a cheap copout.

 

[DaveyNY]

I don't want Burnham Dies in the End. American Beauty already did that.

Besides, it's a cheap copout.

If you stop to think about for a moment..
Star Trek has been using "cheap cop outs" since about the time of "Spock's Brain".

 

[cbl1]

Kinda the way in my mind I see the captains chair progressing (you can't just have a million different captains).

Pike shows the crew what a real star fleet captain is like and he takes them all under his wing. They succeed in whatever missions and the crew knows he will eventually return to the Enterprise. Then at the end of the season they find …. Prime Lorca.

Then Season 3 becomes about them finding a way to trust Prime Lorca like they were easily able to with Pike. But Prime Lorca comes with some baggage - being what his twin did to them all.

Sounds good - but then in my mind why would Star Fleet assign Prime Lorca to the Discovery when there are plenty of other ships that he could command where the crew wouldn't have bad memories (of course Prime Lorca could do something at end of season to endear himself to the crew so they wanted him to be their captain - I guess that's the only way this plot line makes sense).

 

[Jadeb]

I'd accept a cheap cop-out to get Isaacs back in the command chair.

(I don't really think it will happen, but, boy, I'd like Isaacs back.)

 

[CorporalClegg]

Disco captains: More turnover than Spinaltap drummers. Or a Fleetwood Mac guitarists.

 

[cbl1]

Isaacs has publicly stated he is all for a return.

 

[Kane_Steel]

Saru, 5 -leading into Tilly as Captain.

*Pukes*

Hopefully STD doesn't last that long.

 

[DaveyNY]

*Pukes*

Hopefully STD doesn't last that long.

You know...,
You can always go to your local 'FOX-doc-in-a-box' and get as many shots of "Orville Antibiotic" as you like.
Then just stay completely away from any STD's that should happen to come along which make you ill.

Doctor's are constantly warning their patients to avoid any intimate contact with someone who is infected.

And hanging around here is like immersing oneself in a STD Carnal Shower, with heavily infected bodies everywhere and then purposely dropping your bar of soap every chance you get!

 

[fireproof78]

I think the show ends with Burnham as Captain and/or sacrificing herself for the crew. I think we likely have a five season arc here. Season 1 - Lorca, 2 - Pike, 3 - Captain waiting on Vulcan, 4 - Saru, 5 - Burnham sacrificing herself leading into Tilly as Captain.

Sounds good to me

Let Discovery last that long

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

I think this show has Burnham-not-Captain baked into its nature, sorta like Clark on Smallville. That is, the producers on that show always promised that when he dons the cape, the show would be over.

Here, I can totally see Burnham serving under a succession of Captains until it's her turn in the big chair, at the end of the final episode - or within the last story arc anyway. This show establishes from the outset that she's on the command track, and despite all that Klingon War nonsense getting in the way, it's where she still wants to end up. I think this journey will be the framework to hang the series on, and getting her to be a Captain would be the end of it.

Back to Pike, dang but do I love this portrayal so far. I was once an extra on "Hell On Wheels" in several scenes with Anson Mount, and he certainly came across there as he did in this interview. With this Pike, we'll have three intriguing, memorable Captain characters for Burnham to play off of. I'm loving it, and hope the next one will be at least as awesome.

Mark

 

[Tuskin38]

*Pukes*

Hopefully STD doesn't last that long.

Grow up.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I think this show has Burnham-not-Captain baked into its nature, sorta like Clark on Smallville.

Yup.

 

[cbl1]

Why would a star trek fan root for Discovery to be cancelled? 7 seasons or bust!

 

[mattman8907]

so as much as im looking forward to seeing Pike on Discovery, it's a little disconcerting knowing that in 8 short years he's going to suffer massive radiation damage and gets confined to a wheelchair.

 

[Awesome Possum]

so as much as im looking forward to seeing Pike on Discovery, it's a little disconcerting knowing that in 8 short years he's going to suffer massive radiation damage and gets confined to a wheelchair.

They could actually sort deal with that without being over the top foreshadowing. Show that he’s deeply protective of his crew, someone willing to run into radiation to save some trainees. The trailer has hinted that this is his command style.