I tend to find myself in the "not my Trek" camp when it comes to Discovery. Rather than beat a dead horse as to why (the character of Michael Burnham in general, disregard for continuity and the Prime Directive, and the forced melodrama to name a few), I'd like to visit an alternate universe where I've been named showrunner beginning with Season 3 and here are some of ways I'd like to "course correct" for the direction of the show.
Both The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine made shifts in aesthetic and story-telling that made those shows markedly different (better) in their third seasons. So, I’ve been named showrunner and the only directive I’ve been given is that I can’t get rid of Burnham. Here we go:
Regardless of how S2 ends, the show gets a little bit of a reset button. The end of the season results in Section 31 being publicly disavowed by Starfleet, which allows for them to become the unsanctioned organization we know. Georgiou and Tyler leave the show to be on their spin-off. They take Owosekun with them so her character can be fleshed out on a show that has room in the cast.
The final scene of S2 sees the Discovery arrive at Vulcan to pick up the captain they were supposed to pick up at the end of S1. The Enterprise is there as well so Pike, Spock, and Nhan can return to their ship. Doctor Culber, having gone through everything he has the past two seasons, ends his relationship with Stamets and takes a transfer to the Enterprise. Whatever conflict Burnham has with Spock extends to Sarek and Amanda. They don’t want to see her ever again.
We meet the new captain of Discovery: an Andorian played by Jeffery Combs.
S3 picks up three months later. The ship has undergone a slight refit including the removal of the spore drive and an aesthetic shift to a more TOS looking design (the nacelles look more like TOS-era ones, the ship interior is redesigned and made brighter). The crew also adopt the uniforms used by the Enterprise crew. This will be the ONLY "‘member Star Trek?” we see from now on. No more Enterprise/Pike/Spock appearances, no hitherto unheard of encounter with the Gorn, Tholians, Romulans, the Talosians, Harry Mudd, or other species that it’s explicitly stated first contact occurs with in TOS. And certainly none from Berman-era Trek like the Ferengi, the Borg, Cardassians, etc.
From a story-telling standpoint, the biggest shift will be away from Burnham being the main character and to a more ensemble approach to the cast and an abandon of being a full drama and injecting some comedy into the series. The new captain says the state of the engineering department is in disarray. He names Stamets chief engineer, but because he’s actually a scientist, Jet Reno is made his assistant due to her expertise. The new chief medical officer is a Vulcan male who clashes with Burnham over her (perceived) appropriation of Vulcan culture. This, coupled with the conflict with Spock/Sarek causes her to re-evaluate how see acts, prompting her to be more human and a little less pretentious. Lieutenant Detmer becomes security chief. Tilly takes over as helmsman, continuing her quest toward the captain's chair. So our main characters are:
The premiere will feature an attack on the Starbase where Discovery is undergoing refit. We learn that the attack is perpetrated by the Orion Syndicate and the goal is the theft of the spore drive itself. The Syndicate will serve as the season-long antagonists and will be played essentially as the mafia (in spaaaace!). Discovery will be tasked with tracking down the spore drive before they can figure out how it works or sell it to another power (e.g. the Klingons).
The season will advance with mostly standalone episodes focusing on exploration and science such as:
Both The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine made shifts in aesthetic and story-telling that made those shows markedly different (better) in their third seasons. So, I’ve been named showrunner and the only directive I’ve been given is that I can’t get rid of Burnham. Here we go:
Regardless of how S2 ends, the show gets a little bit of a reset button. The end of the season results in Section 31 being publicly disavowed by Starfleet, which allows for them to become the unsanctioned organization we know. Georgiou and Tyler leave the show to be on their spin-off. They take Owosekun with them so her character can be fleshed out on a show that has room in the cast.
The final scene of S2 sees the Discovery arrive at Vulcan to pick up the captain they were supposed to pick up at the end of S1. The Enterprise is there as well so Pike, Spock, and Nhan can return to their ship. Doctor Culber, having gone through everything he has the past two seasons, ends his relationship with Stamets and takes a transfer to the Enterprise. Whatever conflict Burnham has with Spock extends to Sarek and Amanda. They don’t want to see her ever again.
We meet the new captain of Discovery: an Andorian played by Jeffery Combs.
S3 picks up three months later. The ship has undergone a slight refit including the removal of the spore drive and an aesthetic shift to a more TOS looking design (the nacelles look more like TOS-era ones, the ship interior is redesigned and made brighter). The crew also adopt the uniforms used by the Enterprise crew. This will be the ONLY "‘member Star Trek?” we see from now on. No more Enterprise/Pike/Spock appearances, no hitherto unheard of encounter with the Gorn, Tholians, Romulans, the Talosians, Harry Mudd, or other species that it’s explicitly stated first contact occurs with in TOS. And certainly none from Berman-era Trek like the Ferengi, the Borg, Cardassians, etc.
From a story-telling standpoint, the biggest shift will be away from Burnham being the main character and to a more ensemble approach to the cast and an abandon of being a full drama and injecting some comedy into the series. The new captain says the state of the engineering department is in disarray. He names Stamets chief engineer, but because he’s actually a scientist, Jet Reno is made his assistant due to her expertise. The new chief medical officer is a Vulcan male who clashes with Burnham over her (perceived) appropriation of Vulcan culture. This, coupled with the conflict with Spock/Sarek causes her to re-evaluate how see acts, prompting her to be more human and a little less pretentious. Lieutenant Detmer becomes security chief. Tilly takes over as helmsman, continuing her quest toward the captain's chair. So our main characters are:
- Andorian Captain
- Saru
- Burnham
- Stamets
- Tilly
- Detmer
- Vulcan Doctor
- Jet Reno
The premiere will feature an attack on the Starbase where Discovery is undergoing refit. We learn that the attack is perpetrated by the Orion Syndicate and the goal is the theft of the spore drive itself. The Syndicate will serve as the season-long antagonists and will be played essentially as the mafia (in spaaaace!). Discovery will be tasked with tracking down the spore drive before they can figure out how it works or sell it to another power (e.g. the Klingons).
The season will advance with mostly standalone episodes focusing on exploration and science such as:
- A follow-up episode with the Kelpien homeworld to see how that situation is playing out
- An episode with a Tellarite ship to do some world-building
- A follow-up episode with Pahvo from S1
- A true first contact episode with a new species that has achieved warp drive
- A visit to the Saurian homeworld in an effort to flesh out Linus' character and that species
