Nitpicking and Random Observations of Episodes 1 & 2

[TheSublimeGoose]

Just wanted a place to discuss the smaller details of eipisodes 1-2.

{SPOLIERS!}

So, I took some general notes throughout the first two episodes, just so I'd remember things, with the intent of drawing up a little list here.

Before that, however; I will be getting in touch with CBS AA customer support tomorrow. I subscribed to AA, commercial-free. I downloaded the Xbox One app- it requires you to activate/verify the app on a seperate device. Couldn't, settled on my PC. There was no notification on the CBS AA site that the premier had been delayed. Why is an online premier being delayed for those who are paying a premium?! Then, at 8:48 EST... nothing on all access. I wasn't able to start watching until 9PM. Not a huge deal whatsoever, but again- I'm paying a premium, CBS.

Anyways, to the nitpicking and general observations:

1. "How long until that storm comes crashing down upon us?" Who talks like that?
   
   
2. Something about a well, a drought, 89 years, capustules(?), eggs, 1,000 years, a water table, and General Order one. Too much information in like 10 seconds, easy there, tiger.
   
   
3. The water SFX bursting up from the well was just awful. It's this massive geyser in CGI... then from a different camera angle it just shows the actresses being hit with a gentle mist of water, lol.
   
   
4. Too bad this initial scene felt so rushed- the natives seem wicked interesting! Incredible costuming.
   
   
5. Okay, drawing a giant comm badge in the sand was... no, it was really cheesy. I'm trying to tell myself I like it, but it was cheesy.
   
   
6. Wow! What a bridge! Is it just me, or have they toned the blue hue down and brightened the lighting a bit, since the trailers?
   
   
7. The uniforms are growing on me. However, I am not a fan at all of the lack of clearly visible rank insignia. That said, I think they're trying to make it clear to newcomers that Starfleet is first and foremost NOT a military organization. Anyways, I can tell they took inspiration from both TNG and ENT in designing the overall uniform. Any fashion experts know if that unique collar setup has a name?
   
   
8. The first bridge scene, crew interaction was wicked casual. Jokes abound, sarcasm, questioning orders. Again. I get that they're trying to establish that this is not just a "space navy." Just seemed odd.
   
   
9. No more random numbers/random groups of numbers with dashes in between them on the bridge stations! I'm digging the information displayed on the command screens.
   
   
10. The suit-launch sequence was pretty awesome. Got my adrenaline going a bit, to be honest.
    
    
11. Really like the medical officer's uniform- remind me of McCoy's TMP uniform.
    
    
12. Tkuvma sounds like Bane when he speaks Klingon.
    
    
13. Saru is referred to a "lieutenant". Then he is referred to (once) as "lieutenant commander" by Captain Georgiou. He is also referred to as "commander" by the helmsman (this is while Saru is has the con- while it may be okay to refer to him as 'captain' merely as a courtesy while in this position, commander would not be used this way- but 'commander' is an accepted form of address for a lieutenant commander)
    
    
14. Holographic communication is neat. Will allow for scenes to be acted out that wouldn't be possible otherwise.
    
    
15. Commander Burnham rushes to call Sarek, and he instantly answers... possibly explained by the later-revealed mind-meld connection.
    
    
16. Glad to see Sarek acting like a Vulcan, and not an ENT Vulcan.
    
    
17. There's a short sleeve version of the bridge uniform. Perhaps for enlisted personnel?
    
    
18. Vulcans can raise the dead now?
    
    
19. I enjoyed the clear physical toll battle took on the ship(s).
    
    
20. Very cool looking tactical/utility uniforms that the captain and Burnham don at the end.
    

Overall, I give it a solid 7.5/10. I'm excited to see where they take things. It didn't disappoint like I thought it would. The "new" Klingons are growing on me a bit. The technology doesn't bother me. We're in 2017, if TOS was made now, I'd expect it would look like this. It's an easy personal retcon for me.

I very much enjoyed Michelle Yeoh's performance, it could be powerful at times, and she came off as a competent officer. Sonequa Martin's performance was very strong, and I'm looking forward to watching her character arc. Doug Jones (Saru) I'm less excited about, but we'll see. From the previews, though, I'm most excited to see what they do with Jason Isaacs. I have a feeling that he could provide a very powerful performance.

Thoughts?

 

[Jinn]

1. Saru is referred to a "lieutenant". Then he is referred to (once) as "lieutenant commander" by Captain Georgiou. He is also referred to as "commander" by the helmsman (this is while Saru is has the con- while it may be okay to refer to him as 'captain' merely as a courtesy while in this position, commander would not be used this way- but 'commander' is an accepted form of address for a lieutenant commander)

Aaaaah, so he's the new Tuvok.

 

[TheSublimeGoose]

Aaaaah, so he's the new Tuvok.

Haha, yeah. Isn't there still a debate in some circles about Chakotay's rank as well?

 

[Jinn]

Haha, yeah. Isn't there still a debate in some circles about Chakotay's rank as well?

Yep. I'll just think of him as a commander...

 

[TheSublimeGoose]

Yep. I'll just think of him as a commander...

Agreed!

What did you think of the tiny rank insignia displayed on the combadge?

 

[Jinn]

Agreed!

What did you think of the tiny rank insignia displayed on the combadge?

Thanks for pointing that out, I completely missed it... I think that says anything... Although I'm in general bad with ranks. In TOS I had (and still have) pretty much no clue on what stripes on the uniform's sleeves means which rank. I just searched through chakoteya.net's TOS scripts for Lieutenant and Lieutenant Commander Spock until I figured that he was promoted after the Gary Seven episode.

 

[marsh8472]

The way the ships come out of warp and the way the phasers fired was too much like the Kelvin timeline tech. This change used to be explained away by saying the Kelvin timeline was one where tech got beefed up. People will have to go back to the drawing board to explain away why it's like this in the prime timeline with this series.

 

[Noname Given]

The way the ships come out of warp and the way the phasers fired was too much like the Kelvin timeline tech. This change used to be explained away by saying the Kelvin timeline was one where tech got beefed up. People will have to go back to the drawing board to explain away why it's like this in the prime timeline with this series.

Not really. Look at the 1701 'Burst Phser' effects in the Remastered portions of the videos below (also shows how inconsistent TOS 'Ship's Phaser' visual effects were in TOS Season 1):

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The Phaser effects were consistent with the TOS Remastered effects for 'Burst Phasers'

 

[Tosk]

Okay, drawing a giant comm badge in the sand

What did you think of the tiny rank insignia displayed on the combadge?

Not a combadge. Those don't exist yet.

 

[marsh8472]

Not really. Look at the 1701 'Burst Phser' effects in the Remastered portions of the videos below (also shows how inconsistent TOS 'Ship's Phaser' visual effects were in TOS Season 1):

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The Phaser effects were consistent with the TOS Remastered effects for 'Burst Phasers'

The NX-01 fired slow bursts like in those examples in their pilot episode too which is not so unusual. The ones in Discovery fire like a machine gun. It makes the firing speed of the Defiant look slow in comparison.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I sat down to watch episode one but less than 5 minutes in I had to get a notepad to scribble down issues/nitpicks:

• The Klingons look even worse than they did in the trailers, in large groups it's made even worse
• Our introduction to the crew is on a mission that violates non-interference in the natural development of a species (Starfleet doesn't go around solving all the natural disasters of pre-warp planets so they they'll have a chance to flourish, otherwise they'd get no exploring done at all, for all they know the species struggle to survive against the odds is what propels them forward faster than anything else--it may sound harsh but it's non-interference for a reason)
• If they have a map why not beam down to the exact co-ordinates?
• The ship can't pick up two life-signs but can somehow see a pattern made in the sand by them walking? If they're operating solely with optical sensors why not just fire the rifle until it attracts attention?
• The intro was very bland and the music was uninspired, basically just ripping off TOS but making it worse than "Faith Of The Heart"
• Michelle Yeoh is only down as a special guest star and doesn't look to be a series regular
• The warp effects are hellish
• The sets and overall designs are far too advanced for mid-23rd century, including the blingy uniforms
• Are there robots on the bridge?!
• Overly complex airlock, all you need is two doors--it works on every other sci-fi series so stop trying to show off
• Why not send a controlled probe inside of an officer in an EVA suit?
• Vulcans come off as cruel (essentially torturing Michael by making her relive the memories of her parents' deaths, Vulcans understand the impact and sway emotions have, they almost drove their world to annihilation before they imposed their mental discipline and control, they have feelings and know how strong they are which is why they've pursued a doctrine of suppression, it doesn't make them unfeeling to others, especially a child who doesn't have the mental fortitude to impose such controls)
• Sickbay comes across as a damned computer centre
• No one has seen a Klingon in 100 years? Yeah don't buy that. Had it been the Romulans I could go with it as they were in the midst of the first period of isolation at the time--but by the time of TOS no one had (knowingly) seen a Romulan before
• Since when did Klingon's have a caste system?
• A cowardly alien second officer who somehow made it through the Academy's psych evaluations and training to rise to his rank and position even though all he seems to want to do is run and hide?
• Klingons with cloaking devices before their alliance with the Romulans?
• Hideous ship designs for the Klingons
• The (assumed) comm officer asking others if there's any chance the Klingons can't hear them--know your damned job!
• Holo-communicators? What's wrong with a normal screen?
• The apparent distrust and ultimate mutiny on the bridge just doesn't make it feel like the crew had been together 7 years, in all that time there would be strong bonds of trust and faith in one another's abilities, so that chances would be taken solely on how well they know one another

After the serious disappointment that was the pilot episode I had very little interest in seeing the second, it didn't grab or motivate me enough in order to want to see how they got out of it.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Also did anyone else notice in Ep1 in the ready room near the end the scene where Georgiou was flipped? Her delta was on the right for a few seconds, that's just poor film making.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I think we're well past nitpicking or trying to reconcile Discovery with The Original Series.

Take it as it's own thing, based on what came before but not actually a part of it intended to slot in in anything more than broad strokes, and you'll enjoy it a lot more.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

I thought the walking in the shape of a starfleet delta was silly and screamed of Alex Kurtzman. It was only done so we could get the beauty shot of Shenzhou coming through the clouds. Instead of losing contact with the ship etc they could have just explained the Shenzhou being in atmosphere as being because of the storm causing problems with the transporters and they needed to be below cloud cover to get a sure lock or something.

The uniforms need clearly defined rank adornments, whether it be pips on the colour or embroidery on the sleeves.

I wish they would go back to phaser beams for the ship battles. The pewpew phaser bullets are bit hard to see.

I was fine with everything else.

 

[guyute03]

random observation - when Burnham was in that medical cat-scan looking thing I got Phlox flashbacks hard, when he was inside his cat-scan machine during Regeneration.

 

[Dipling]

This!

 

[Dipling]

I meant the same: "I wish they would go back to phaser beams for the ship battles. The pewpew phaser bullets are bit hard to see."

 

[JamesRye]

Also did anyone else notice in Ep1 in the ready room near the end the scene where Georgiou was flipped? Her delta was on the right for a few seconds, that's just poor film making.

Have you seen TOS? Hell, they would insert random cuts from previous episodes and then characters would disappear and reappear.

• The Klingons look even worse than they did in the trailers, in large groups it's made even worse

I think they looked truly alien, we didn't see all 24 houses on screen, so I guess the TNG style Klingons might exist.

• Our introduction to the crew is on a mission that violates non-interference in the natural development of a species (Starfleet doesn't go around solving all the natural disasters of pre-warp planets so they they'll have a chance to flourish, otherwise they'd get no exploring done at all, for all they know the species struggle to survive against the odds is what propels them forward faster than anything else--it may sound harsh but it's non-interference for a reason)

See "The Paradise Syndrome"

• If they have a map why not beam down to the exact co-ordinates?

I wondered about this too, perhaps they wanted to look at or do something else first.

• The ship can't pick up two life-signs but can somehow see a pattern made in the sand by them walking? If they're operating solely with optical sensors why not just fire the rifle until it attracts attention?

Valid point. I thought the idea of the delta symbol was to show that Star Trek was back. It was symbolic.

• The intro was very bland and the music was uninspired, basically just ripping off TOS but making it worse than "Faith Of The Heart"

Worse than Faith of the Heart? Please.

• Michelle Yeoh is only down as a special guest star and doesn't look to be a series regular

I expect we will see more of her in flashback form.

• The warp effects are hellish

Cant agree with you there.

• The sets and overall designs are far too advanced for mid-23rd century, including the blingy uniforms

Sure, it would've made more sense to set it in the Kelvin timeline. You can't do a post-Voyager show as the technology was limiting the stories and had become magic. An alternate timeline would've made sense.

• Are there robots on the bridge?!

Seems that way, would like to find out more.

• Overly complex airlock, all you need is two doors--it works on every other sci-fi series so stop trying to show off

Andre Bormanis praised the science on DSC, I thought it looked believable.

• Why not send a controlled probe inside of an officer in an EVA suit?

This was explained. The probe would've lost contact. Guidance was screwed.

• Vulcans come off as cruel (essentially torturing Michael by making her relive the memories of her parents' deaths, Vulcans understand the impact and sway emotions have, they almost drove their world to annihilation before they imposed their mental discipline and control, they have feelings and know how strong they are which is why they've pursued a doctrine of suppression, it doesn't make them unfeeling to others, especially a child who doesn't have the mental fortitude to impose such controls)

I think they were trying to help her deal with post-traumatic stress, but agree with this point.

• Sickbay comes across as a damned computer centre

Or it comes across as futuristic.

• No one has seen a Klingon in 100 years? Yeah don't buy that. Had it been the Romulans I could go with it as they were in the midst of the first period of isolation at the time--but by the time of TOS no one had (knowingly) seen a Romulan before

Klingons were unknown in Enterprise and were certainly isolationist.

• Since when did Klingon's have a caste system?

These Klingons are different. Klingons certainly had 'houses'.

• A cowardly alien second officer who somehow made it through the Academy's psych evaluations and training to rise to his rank and position even though all he seems to want to do is run and hide?

Maybe he's a great scientist and explorer. Starfleet (and specifically the Shenzou) aren't military organisations.

• Klingons with cloaking devices before their alliance with the Romulans?

Agreed - worst ret-con yet.

• Hideous ship designs for the Klingons

Alien and cool.

• Holo-communicators? What's wrong with a normal screen?

Isn't Star Trek about depicting the future? We already have 'face time'. This seems like the next 'logical' step.

• The apparent distrust and ultimate mutiny on the bridge just doesn't make it feel like the crew had been together 7 years, in all that time there would be strong bonds of trust and faith in one another's abilities, so that chances would be taken solely on how well they know one another

Burnhams PTSD was out of control. Stress makes the best of us act out of character.

 

[Tim Thomason]

The ship can't pick up two life-signs but can somehow see a pattern made in the sand by them walking? If they're operating solely with optical sensors why not just fire the rifle until it attracts attention?

Probably didn't want to draw the attention of any locals (which they unknowingly did anyway).

Vulcans come off as cruel (essentially torturing Michael by making her relive the memories of her parents' deaths, Vulcans understand the impact and sway emotions have, they almost drove their world to annihilation before they imposed their mental discipline and control, they have feelings and know how strong they are which is why they've pursued a doctrine of suppression, it doesn't make them unfeeling to others, especially a child who doesn't have the mental fortitude to impose such controls)

I chalk that up to the automated teaching program, which can't measure emotional reaction and didn't know of Michael's backstory.

Since when did Klingon's have a caste system?

Since TNG introduced the Klingon Houses, and expanded on greatly in DS9, especially Martok's background as a low-class commoner.

A cowardly alien second officer who somehow made it through the Academy's psych evaluations and training to rise to his rank and position even though all he seems to want to do is run and hide?

No psych evaluation yet, perhaps, and Saru was a science officer who may have only recently been given command responsibilities.

Klingons with cloaking devices before their alliance with the Romulans?

I've suggested elsewhere that I believe the Romulans are heavily involved in the plot. T'Kuvma's cloaking device is just the first clue in what I suspect will be a mid-season reveal.

 

[Nyotarules]

They should have set the show at last ten years before Burnham breaks out of jail and joins the Discovery. Having her in jail in 2256 and then a few months later on the USS Discovery, is ridiculous. Since the writers state it take place 10 years before TOS Kirk then she won't be in jail for very long will she?