Spoilers Speculations that came true

[Kor]

I predicted Lorca would be an evil mirror universe person, but I was wishing it wasn't the case because it's such cheap hack writing and Lorca was actually a good Star Trek character.
...

He's the good character Star Trek deserves.
But not the one it needs right now.

Kor

 

[The Wormhole]

And my point (well, one of them at any rate) is that they spent an awful lot of time denying the Ash-Voq connection – as you well know since you cited their denials – for something that wasn't supposed to be a surprise.

Indeed, they even listed a fake actor's name in the credits as playing Voq and even went so far as to give the fake actor his own IMDB page.

 

[Gepard]

Yet we're the ones who're wrong for thinking it was supposed to be a surprise!

 

[cultcross]

the way that the writers handled things like the Ash is Voq thing prove that it wasn't intended to be the huge "shocking twist"

How so, specifically? Because all the evidence of the actual show and the behind the scenes comments suggest they were deliberately trying to hide the reveal. I'm interested in what makes you think it wasn't meant to be surprising, especially since you have admitted to being so surprised.

 

[Refuge]

Well most casual viewers probably didn't give a rat's arse about who was credited with this role or that. However the way Ash was introduced was very convenient. Oh look here's a dude who happens to be likeable enough and is a prisoner with Lorca. Golly he even has some weird/sick relationship with L'Rell. Gosh now he's connecting with Michael and has this neat job on Discovery. Oh heck he got all wobbly when he saw L'Rell again ... do ya think he might be a tad fake??

If the writers were trying to be clever and hide that, then they were not clever enough.

 

[The Wormhole]

Well most casual viewers probably didn't give a rat's arse about who was credited with this role or that. However the way Ash was introduced was very convenient. Oh look here's a dude who happens to be likeable enough and is a prisoner with Lorca. Golly he even has some weird/sick relationship with L'Rell. Gosh now he's connecting with Michael and has this neat job on Discovery. Oh heck he got all wobbly when he saw L'Rell again ... do ya think he might be a tad fake??

If the writers were trying to be clever and hide that, then they were not clever enough.

Well, yeah, it was the most obvious plot twist out there as evidenced by the fact most of us figured it out nearly right away. But that does not mean the same thing as the writers intended us to figure it out right away. I'll entertain that as the episodes were being written they may have begun to realize the audience might clue in earlier than intended, which led to them changing the nature of Ash/Voq's transformation. EG instead of a simple surgical alteration and transplanted memories he now becomes some sort of weird surgical merging of the two people because no one would have expected that. Which we wouldn't because it doesn't make any damn sense.

However the writers most certainly did not sit down as they were beginning the season and say "we're going to have this one officer actually turn to be a Klingon sleeper agent and we want to make this painfully obvious to the audience as soon as he's introduced before we make the revelation official half a dozen episode later."

 

[Tuskin38]

and even went so far as to give the fake actor his own IMDB page.

That could have also been a viewer who made it. IMDb can be edited by anyone.

 

[The Wormhole]

I thought someone connected to the show admitted it was done by the show's production staff?

 

[Refuge]

Well, yeah, it was the most obvious plot twist out there as evidenced by the fact most of us figured it out nearly right away. But that does not mean the same thing as the writers intended us to figure it out right away. I'll entertain that as the episodes were being written they may have begun to realize the audience might clue in earlier than intended, which led to them changing the nature of Ash/Voq's transformation. EG instead of a simple surgical alteration and transplanted memories he now becomes some sort of weird surgical merging of the two people because no one would have expected that. Which we wouldn't because it doesn't make any damn sense.

However the writers most certainly did not sit down as they were beginning the season and say "we're going to have this one officer actually turn to be a Klingon sleeper agent and we want to make this painfully obvious to the audience as soon as he's introduced before we make the revelation official half a dozen episode later."

Honestly I lost track of who wrote what and had creative control of any one story feature. It would make sense there had been some tweaking as the story progressed and maybe that is the nature of a TV series, though I swear if I were a writer and had this master plan it would bug me if big changes were forced on me.