The DSC novel Desperate Hours (or its author, I'm not quite sure) proposed that the uniforms from "Where No Man Has Gone Before" are a special uniform, only for Constitution class ships, while the DSC uniforms were the standard. As the years go on they were slowly replaced with successors of the "Where NO Man Has Gone Before" uniform and the DSC uniform gets phased out.
Pros and Cons of the season (and series) thus far?
- Thread starter BlueStuff
- Start date
By what metric? You can't use people on Trekbbs as a metric. Blog posts and comments by people who have CBS advertising, and paramount affiliates, because if it gets negative reviews, those ads and revenue could easily be pulled. There's no real way to track ratings, and CBS all access membership isn't a good way either because there's other shows that may be the reason for the subscription. So objectively whether you like or hate the show, how do you know or how can you honestly say, that most of the fandom likes the program? I'd really like to know.
Why is that? This site must be a pretty decent representation of Star Trek's core fanbase; at the very least there's no reason why this group would swing towards liking or disliking a particular Trek show.
Pros:
EDIT:
Pros:
- Interesting stories and well-written scripts.
- Excellent casting. All the performances have been great so far.
- Aesthetics. The uniforms, interiors, etc.
- Discovery and Shenzhou look gorgeous.
- Incredible effects. The spore drive effect in particular is beautiful.
- Stamets
- Culber
- Stamets and Culber
- Mycelium as a method of transportation. I'm fascinated by mycology in general, so the tech really appeals to me.
- Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad and Into the Forest I Go were some of the most fun, thrilling, and compelling episodes of Star Trek I've seen in recent memory. Outstanding.
- Story arcs with a smattering of standalones.
- Inspiring music.
- All the potential.
- Those episode titles are pretentious nonsense.
- Uh....not enough Stamets?
- Okay a real one. A little too much loose-thread plot dangling. Some mystery is fine, but there's a lot of "What the heck is his deal?" stuff. If season 1 doesn't offer some kind of resolution to Lorca's shifty quasi-evil captain story, I'm gonna be a little annoyed.
EDIT:
Pros:
- Lens flares in the first couple episodes.
- Klingons speaking Klingon with English subtitles. Love it.
- Little to no lens flares in subsequent episodes.
- Klingons no longer speaking Klingon and switching to English after Burnham's universal translator thing in the mid-season finale.
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That is a consequence of how Discovery is being channelled to the viewers compared to other Trek in the franchise. Gauging how liked or disliked it is is no longer referenced to ratings. That being said lack of ratings and the business decision to sell it doesn't have to require it being liked, just sold.
Pros
It has Star Trek in the name.
Stamets and Mudd have so far been interesting characters.
Cons
SMG's acting is wooden.
The CGI was cheep so they have to hide it with low lighting.
The stories and characters are written in a disjointed manner.
There are a lot of plotholes and scene's that make no sense.
The lighting is over-saturated blue.
The opening song is super forgettable.
Everything about the Klingons but especially the way the plastic makeup effects their acting.
It has Star Trek in the name.
Stamets and Mudd have so far been interesting characters.
Cons
SMG's acting is wooden.
The CGI was cheep so they have to hide it with low lighting.
The stories and characters are written in a disjointed manner.
There are a lot of plotholes and scene's that make no sense.
The lighting is over-saturated blue.
The opening song is super forgettable.
Everything about the Klingons but especially the way the plastic makeup effects their acting.
I'm talking about the reaction to episode 9, not the show in general, and I'm not simply using people on Trek BBS, I'm talking about general reception including critically (largely positive) and on social media platforms (likewise).
Pros
Star Trek is back
New modern look
Cons
The story so far is meh... (I want exploration, not a Klingon war)
The characters (main cast) are too grumpy
It's a prequel (Pretty sure the writers will mess up the timeline)
Not a positive future I expect from Star Trek
I'm still hopeful that this will turn into a great Star Trek show, but right now it's not doing it for me.
Star Trek is back
New modern look
Cons
The story so far is meh... (I want exploration, not a Klingon war)
The characters (main cast) are too grumpy
It's a prequel (Pretty sure the writers will mess up the timeline)
Not a positive future I expect from Star Trek
I'm still hopeful that this will turn into a great Star Trek show, but right now it's not doing it for me.
PROS:
I think it is interesting science (I don't know how science based the spore drive mycelium network is, but I'm going along with it).
It's shot beautifully. Looks like a feature film.
I love the original series sound effects.
I like most of the characters aboard Discovery.
Tilly. Adorable. (She's everything Wesley Crusher SHOULD have been)
I like that Lorca is not necessarily likeable. He's got something up his sleeve and that is a fun and interesting take.
I like the opening theme. It's a nice blend of retro meets something new.
CONS:
- All Access? Sometimes it's fine, other times it's frustrating.
- They lose me every time the Klingons are on screen.
- I dislike the aesthetics of the Klingons. I'm holding out hope they will explain the difference in their appearance (something about the spore drive, perhaps?)
- I tire of all the subtitles. A little bit here and there, I'm okay with.
- Even the storyline of the Klingons doesn't seem to hold me.
- Starting off with the prologue seems to have been a major misstep, at least if that's the only part that was shown on regular free television here in the States. It built up a lot of internet hate by people who never even saw the Discovery or her crew and think they know what this show is all about.
- EVERY Discovery post about anything getting little "hate" emoticons online.
- It seems like they are pushing boundaries just for the sake of pushing boundaries.
- Tilly's f-bomb, caught me off guard. In the moment, I would have let it slip.
- when Stamets immediately reciprocated, it seemed forced, like them saying,
"Aha! Look what we can get away with!)
- The same sex relationship does not bother me personally. I do know others (including family) who turned it off and will never return for that reason. Here, in the Bible-thumping midwest, by including it overtly, it's alienated some viewers who are otherwise predisposed to liking the show. It actually intrigues me how one can be a fan of Trek and not embrace such diversity you can encounter in real life, but I digress. I've listed it among the cons and that may not be the best place for it. I don't know how you deal with it much better than it's been shown on the show and not offend those who are predisposed to being offended by it.
- Same with the Klingon sex scene. It seemed like pushing boundaries just for the sake of it. I don't think it added anything to the story that could not be told, perhaps better, by not showing everything.
I like Trek best when I can watch it with family, or when it can inspire young people. With the random f-bombs and (Klingon) nudity, I don't feel comfortable letting my kids watch. Too bad.
One major thing - I feel this show misses the mark (terribly) by not having that utopian vision of humanity's future. Yes, the aforementioned same sex relationship is accepted without question by the ship's crew. The crew (perhaps) seem more realistic by having differing and, perhaps, competing viewpoints and agendas, but it seems to miss out on showing us that we can be something better.
My opinion has been "interesting sci-fi, but not good Star Trek." I like the show, I don't love it. I see potential, and I genuinely hope it can live up to it.
I think it is interesting science (I don't know how science based the spore drive mycelium network is, but I'm going along with it).
It's shot beautifully. Looks like a feature film.
I love the original series sound effects.
I like most of the characters aboard Discovery.
Tilly. Adorable. (She's everything Wesley Crusher SHOULD have been)
I like that Lorca is not necessarily likeable. He's got something up his sleeve and that is a fun and interesting take.
I like the opening theme. It's a nice blend of retro meets something new.
CONS:
- All Access? Sometimes it's fine, other times it's frustrating.
- They lose me every time the Klingons are on screen.
- I dislike the aesthetics of the Klingons. I'm holding out hope they will explain the difference in their appearance (something about the spore drive, perhaps?)
- I tire of all the subtitles. A little bit here and there, I'm okay with.
- Even the storyline of the Klingons doesn't seem to hold me.
- Starting off with the prologue seems to have been a major misstep, at least if that's the only part that was shown on regular free television here in the States. It built up a lot of internet hate by people who never even saw the Discovery or her crew and think they know what this show is all about.
- EVERY Discovery post about anything getting little "hate" emoticons online.
- It seems like they are pushing boundaries just for the sake of pushing boundaries.
- Tilly's f-bomb, caught me off guard. In the moment, I would have let it slip.
- when Stamets immediately reciprocated, it seemed forced, like them saying,
"Aha! Look what we can get away with!)
- The same sex relationship does not bother me personally. I do know others (including family) who turned it off and will never return for that reason. Here, in the Bible-thumping midwest, by including it overtly, it's alienated some viewers who are otherwise predisposed to liking the show. It actually intrigues me how one can be a fan of Trek and not embrace such diversity you can encounter in real life, but I digress. I've listed it among the cons and that may not be the best place for it. I don't know how you deal with it much better than it's been shown on the show and not offend those who are predisposed to being offended by it.
- Same with the Klingon sex scene. It seemed like pushing boundaries just for the sake of it. I don't think it added anything to the story that could not be told, perhaps better, by not showing everything.
I like Trek best when I can watch it with family, or when it can inspire young people. With the random f-bombs and (Klingon) nudity, I don't feel comfortable letting my kids watch. Too bad.
One major thing - I feel this show misses the mark (terribly) by not having that utopian vision of humanity's future. Yes, the aforementioned same sex relationship is accepted without question by the ship's crew. The crew (perhaps) seem more realistic by having differing and, perhaps, competing viewpoints and agendas, but it seems to miss out on showing us that we can be something better.
My opinion has been "interesting sci-fi, but not good Star Trek." I like the show, I don't love it. I see potential, and I genuinely hope it can live up to it.
Overall the show is merely above average to me, likeable at times, but nothing to get very excited over. There's been a couple of really good episodes, a couple of complete total horseshit episodes, and the rest in between somewhere.
Pros
Lorca
special effects
interior set design is wonderful, and I don't give a shit it isn't canon! LOL
Stamets before he turned into a junkie
Landry (dead)
Cons
Burnham
Saru (dumbest frickin' Star Trek alien since the Ferengi)
to many predictable scene outcomes
the forced romance with Burnham and what's his name
Stamets after he turned into a junkie
Pros
Lorca
special effects
interior set design is wonderful, and I don't give a shit it isn't canon! LOL
Stamets before he turned into a junkie
Landry (dead)
Cons
Burnham
Saru (dumbest frickin' Star Trek alien since the Ferengi)
to many predictable scene outcomes
the forced romance with Burnham and what's his name
Stamets after he turned into a junkie
Pros.
Lorca
Production design and special effects.
Props and makeup.
New tech ideas.
set in Cage era 23rd century.
The cast.
The uniforms.
Mudd.
Cons.
Burnham and her forced connection to Spock's family.
Dark mood lighting.
Almost everyone is an unlikable jerk.
Saru's teenage angst issues with Burnham.
The melodrama.
Klingons ect.
Klingon war being the main plot of the series.
The uniforms not being Gold, Blue and Red.
It doesn't look and feel like the era it's supposed to be set in.
Lorca
Production design and special effects.
Props and makeup.
New tech ideas.
set in Cage era 23rd century.
The cast.
The uniforms.
Mudd.
Cons.
Burnham and her forced connection to Spock's family.
Dark mood lighting.
Almost everyone is an unlikable jerk.
Saru's teenage angst issues with Burnham.
The melodrama.
Klingons ect.
Klingon war being the main plot of the series.
The uniforms not being Gold, Blue and Red.
It doesn't look and feel like the era it's supposed to be set in.
Pros:
Just about everything. I do have some minor quibbles with specific scenes and editing choices across the collection of episodes so far, but nothing significant. No main character is an irritant (not true of all Trek series), visuals are excellent, longer form story is refreshing change from episodic approach of most Trek (I like episodic Trek too, but variety is nice).
It probably helps that I’m canonistically promiscuous.
Don’t care about making “looks” fit together.
Cons:
Delay until next episodes.
Full disclosure—Trek, like Bond, is something I choose to experience with “rose-coloured glasses”. I came to each in childhood and have strong memories of fun upon which I draw when I watch them. I have some versions I prefer to others but, a very few isolated episodes excepted, I like all of it. If pressed, I can turn on the “critical eye”, but that’s a lot like work (I spend a lot of time critically assessing historical representations in film and television), so I reserve some entertainment for less critical viewing. Trek and Bond top that list.
Just about everything. I do have some minor quibbles with specific scenes and editing choices across the collection of episodes so far, but nothing significant. No main character is an irritant (not true of all Trek series), visuals are excellent, longer form story is refreshing change from episodic approach of most Trek (I like episodic Trek too, but variety is nice).
It probably helps that I’m canonistically promiscuous.
Don’t care about making “looks” fit together. Cons:
Delay until next episodes.
Full disclosure—Trek, like Bond, is something I choose to experience with “rose-coloured glasses”. I came to each in childhood and have strong memories of fun upon which I draw when I watch them. I have some versions I prefer to others but, a very few isolated episodes excepted, I like all of it. If pressed, I can turn on the “critical eye”, but that’s a lot like work (I spend a lot of time critically assessing historical representations in film and television), so I reserve some entertainment for less critical viewing. Trek and Bond top that list.
Pros:
1. Production Values
2. Acting - and I really like some of the characters (unfortunately my least is probably Burnham). Lorca and Stamets probably my favorites (and I thought I would originally hate Stamets).
3. Ship designs - have a good Starfleet look to them and will give them a pass on not needing to have them look overly 60's retro.
4. So far I have really like the storylines and except for a few items which could be fixed later on I don't see any real continuity issues.
Cons:
1. The Klingon Ships - The birds of Prey look stylish wise enough to give them a pass. But battle cruisers look nothing like what we have seen before. I can give a pass on updating looks to more modern versions but the battle cruisers don't have any style similarities to what we have seen before.
2. Uniforms - the look like updates to uniforms from Enterprise. We are too much further along in the timeline to have uniforms similar to Enterprise. They need to go closer to The Cage as others have pointed out (and I give them plenty of liberty as to re-envisioning). Heck even something that looked like a natural progression to ST:TMP I could accept (as I would accept that ST:TMP is what the uniforms always should have looked closer to if the TV show had higher budget).
3. Speaking Klingon - yea it slows down the pace of storytelling too much.
4. Not enough episodes left in season before the long wait for second season. Need another show to fill the gap.
So far very much a fan though and looking forward to second half of season.
1. Production Values
2. Acting - and I really like some of the characters (unfortunately my least is probably Burnham). Lorca and Stamets probably my favorites (and I thought I would originally hate Stamets).
3. Ship designs - have a good Starfleet look to them and will give them a pass on not needing to have them look overly 60's retro.
4. So far I have really like the storylines and except for a few items which could be fixed later on I don't see any real continuity issues.
Cons:
1. The Klingon Ships - The birds of Prey look stylish wise enough to give them a pass. But battle cruisers look nothing like what we have seen before. I can give a pass on updating looks to more modern versions but the battle cruisers don't have any style similarities to what we have seen before.
2. Uniforms - the look like updates to uniforms from Enterprise. We are too much further along in the timeline to have uniforms similar to Enterprise. They need to go closer to The Cage as others have pointed out (and I give them plenty of liberty as to re-envisioning). Heck even something that looked like a natural progression to ST:TMP I could accept (as I would accept that ST:TMP is what the uniforms always should have looked closer to if the TV show had higher budget).
3. Speaking Klingon - yea it slows down the pace of storytelling too much.
4. Not enough episodes left in season before the long wait for second season. Need another show to fill the gap.
So far very much a fan though and looking forward to second half of season.
Pro:
-Show looks great
-Rainn Wilson as Harry Mudd
-Emotional direction of Michael Burnham character
-Good overall ideas for what concepts are explored
Con:
-Confused writing and plotting
-Terrible makeup job for Klingons, grumbly yelling short grating statements with most of their dialog makes them just unpleasant to have on screen
-Lack of likable characters
-Show over-justifies Lorca's ends justify the means mentality
-Show looks great
-Rainn Wilson as Harry Mudd
-Emotional direction of Michael Burnham character
-Good overall ideas for what concepts are explored
Con:
-Confused writing and plotting
-Terrible makeup job for Klingons, grumbly yelling short grating statements with most of their dialog makes them just unpleasant to have on screen
-Lack of likable characters
-Show over-justifies Lorca's ends justify the means mentality
Pros:
1. The writing.
2. Having the main character not be the Captain means you can kill off the Captain or have the Captain be a rogue or anti-hero. Lorca is truly fucked up (and it's great to watch).
3. The chemistry between the characters, even when they don't get along.
4. Spore Drive makes things interesting.
5. Anything can happen.
6. They're making use of the Discovery design, which had been wasted since the '70s.
7. That intro.
8. They know how to throw a party.
9. Seeing Harry Mudd again.
10. The Ash/Voq Theory.
Cons:
1. I don't like the new Klingon design. Sorry, I just don't.
2. The focus is pretty narrow so far but this isn't really a con because, given what happened at the end of the mid-season finale, I expect that to change real soon.
This, in my opinion, is the best Star Trek since DS9 ended.
1. The writing.
2. Having the main character not be the Captain means you can kill off the Captain or have the Captain be a rogue or anti-hero. Lorca is truly fucked up (and it's great to watch).
3. The chemistry between the characters, even when they don't get along.
4. Spore Drive makes things interesting.
5. Anything can happen.
6. They're making use of the Discovery design, which had been wasted since the '70s.
7. That intro.
8. They know how to throw a party.
9. Seeing Harry Mudd again.
10. The Ash/Voq Theory.
Cons:
1. I don't like the new Klingon design. Sorry, I just don't.
2. The focus is pretty narrow so far but this isn't really a con because, given what happened at the end of the mid-season finale, I expect that to change real soon.
This, in my opinion, is the best Star Trek since DS9 ended.
Pros
Largely very good performances
lovely visuals
I like the ship design
I really like Stamets
Lorca is a very interesting character
Rainn Wilson perfectly updated Mudd while also having hints of the old performance in there.
Cons
"The whole season is one long episode" doesn't really work for me so far.
When taken out of the whole and out of context most episodes are fairly bland (thought they have improved as the season moved forward)
Klingon design and most of their part of the story have been uninspiring.
It doesn't really fit into the timeline they say it exists in.
I miss hopeful Star Trek a bit.
Largely very good performances
lovely visuals
I like the ship design
I really like Stamets
Lorca is a very interesting character
Rainn Wilson perfectly updated Mudd while also having hints of the old performance in there.
Cons
"The whole season is one long episode" doesn't really work for me so far.
When taken out of the whole and out of context most episodes are fairly bland (thought they have improved as the season moved forward)
Klingon design and most of their part of the story have been uninspiring.
It doesn't really fit into the timeline they say it exists in.
I miss hopeful Star Trek a bit.
Pros
- The characters, for the most part, are interesting, nuanced and enjoyable to watch
- Lorca gets his own mention, he is my favourite part of the show so far
- The acting is excellent from most of the main cast
- I enjoy the serialised nature of the show
- The visuals, particularly the space shots, are stunning
- I'm enjoying the show's ability to handle difficult topics with frankness and directness
- I like the 'hope for the future' angle that is maintained despite the war setting
- The vein of humour in the show is well placed, and actually funny, probably a Trek first.
- I like how characters fulfil narrative roles instead of just being there to fill a crew slot
- The relationships between characters are interesting and multi dimensional.
- The dialogue when it is interaction between characters or general conversation is good, however, see 'cons'.
Cons
- Don't like the constant fanwanky self referencing, it is distracting and unnecessary.
- The subtitled Klingon language drains the energy from every scene its in - just have them speak English!
- Landry was a horrid character
- The killing off of female characters and minorities
- The exposition is often clunky and more than a bit 'as you know, Bob'.
- The characters, for the most part, are interesting, nuanced and enjoyable to watch
- Lorca gets his own mention, he is my favourite part of the show so far
- The acting is excellent from most of the main cast
- I enjoy the serialised nature of the show
- The visuals, particularly the space shots, are stunning
- I'm enjoying the show's ability to handle difficult topics with frankness and directness
- I like the 'hope for the future' angle that is maintained despite the war setting
- The vein of humour in the show is well placed, and actually funny, probably a Trek first.
- I like how characters fulfil narrative roles instead of just being there to fill a crew slot
- The relationships between characters are interesting and multi dimensional.
- The dialogue when it is interaction between characters or general conversation is good, however, see 'cons'.
Cons
- Don't like the constant fanwanky self referencing, it is distracting and unnecessary.
- The subtitled Klingon language drains the energy from every scene its in - just have them speak English!
- Landry was a horrid character
- The killing off of female characters and minorities
- The exposition is often clunky and more than a bit 'as you know, Bob'.
Pros
Lorca is awesome.
Stamets is cool.
Everything looks great.
It's grim but in a good and very-refreshing-for-Trek kind of way.
They're not afraid to do some weird fantastical stuff (magic spore drive etc)
Cons
While I like the idea of the Klingons speaking Klingon, their all-Klingon plotlines haven't gripped me.
Kol sounded like the most generic cartoon villain ever as soon as Burnham got her translator working.
Ridiculous continuity-mandated slap on the wrist for murderous psychopath Harry Mudd.
Lorca is awesome.
Stamets is cool.
Everything looks great.
It's grim but in a good and very-refreshing-for-Trek kind of way.
They're not afraid to do some weird fantastical stuff (magic spore drive etc)
Cons
While I like the idea of the Klingons speaking Klingon, their all-Klingon plotlines haven't gripped me.
Kol sounded like the most generic cartoon villain ever as soon as Burnham got her translator working.
Ridiculous continuity-mandated slap on the wrist for murderous psychopath Harry Mudd.
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