Is STLD what STD should have been?
- Thread starter nooobeee
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Oh yeah, Owo Anne Detmer. Love that character
I know what you mean, but I fear this may be a generational thing. For me, Burnham saving the day all the time is no different than Perry Mason winning the case every week, or Columbo solving the mystery every week, or even (gasp!) Kirk and Spock saving the day every week.
But modern fans seem to think that every Trek show has to be an ensemble show just because the TNG-era shows were.
Which is not the way things were back in the day.
Well, there is kind of a difference between Kirk and Spock (and McCoy!) saving the day every week, and Burnham doing it on her own.
I didn't really expect the rest of the bridge crew to receive the same level of development, but I would have liked a bit more than they got. At the start of S2 they seemed to be moving in that direction as well, but then that thread kind of got dropped.
I also agree with the poster who said that the way events always seemed to end up having personal stakes for Burnham did feel a bit contrived sometimes. Not necessarily consistently, but sometimes.
This isn't intended as a dig at DISCO. It will always have a place in my heart for finally showing a couple consisting of two men and featuring other non-heteronormative characters, something that Trek should have done well before this point. I've also generally enjoyed the series, though more in the far future than during the first two seasons. The production values have been...well, the first time I saw the pilot I was astounded. And if nothing else, it deserves credit for laying the groundwork for all that's followed.
Burnham is a main character and treated as such. Just like Picard goes on super secret spy missions.
See also JAG and Harm going toe to toe with Recon Marine or a SEAL team leader, or participate in CIA spy ops as Navy lawyers.
That changed starting with season 2. Burnham played a big part sure, but the other characters started getting involved more.
Heck, it was Saru that saved the galaxy in Season 3. Burnham helped stop Osira, yes but she wasn't the end all.
Trek is no stranger to "personal stakes" From "The Man Trap" to "The Turnabout Intruder". From "The Emissary" to "What We Leave Behind". World/Federation/Galaxy at stake? Call the only ship in the quadrant, the USS Enterprise. Some whack job is causing a ruckus? Turns out it's an old enemy, crazy brother or creepy clone of someone on the Enterprise.
Heck, in THE WRATH OF KHAN, not only does the main antagonist have a very personal grudge against Kirk but the Genesis McGuffin just happens to be the work of Kirk's old flame . . . and his hitherto-unmentioned son.
Doesn't hurt the movie one bit.
Triple stakes!!!!!
And note that in TMP, V'Ger just happens to communicate with the crew via . . . a recreation of a new crew member who just happens to be Decker's old flame.
Trek has been personalizing its crises since Kirk had to kill his best friend in the second pilot.
It also butt dialed Spock.
Also, why should we care about Decker or Ilia? We've never seen them before. Shouldn't that time be given to Chekov, Sulu or Uhura?
Just because Trek's done it before doesn't mean it was consistently a good move on the writers' parts.
No it not. But it’s very much part of Star Trek.
Well they no longer stand in a half-circle, arms straight at their sides and take turns saying their lines like in TNG, so we're getting there.
Has TV actually changed so much that shows based on one or two lead characters have gone out of fashion? I've never really thought about it, but doesn't seem entirely implausible.
Personally I don't think it's the concept of Burnham being the lead character that's the problem, it's the writing. They were writing stories about the USS Discovery running into galaxy-shaking events that all connected to its most important crew member, instead of using Burnham's situation to generate stories about her. These issues all went away when she became captain (aside from Owo and Detmer not getting enough to do), as she was now naturally the most important person in any arc involving the ship.
Speaking of Owo and Detmer, I never had a problem with how much any of the side characters got to do in Lower Decks. It would've been nice to see more of officers like Barnes and Kayshon (and especially characters like T'Ana), but I never thought "Damn, when are the people that have shown up in every bridge scene for five years going to get a chance to become people". I'm sure if Jennifer had been on Discovery she would've been a background extra forever... well, except for the episode where she got killed off.
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