Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x01 - "The Vulcan Hello"

[Owain Taggart]

I really, really, really, hope the show gets better in future episodes. I'm not a hater. I don't care about the Klingons looking funny or the series being a reboot in all but name. I just want a really, well-written show with the Star Trek name, so this franchise that I love will continue on.

Yeah, same here. I thought the episode was so-so. I guess my main complaints are that it feels very bland.
Characters: Martin-Green's character and Saru are pretty much the only ones that really stood out, but maybe that will change over time.
The Klingons: My main beef with them is not how they look, but rather their entire presentation. I don't recognize any Klingon in what they're saying. Is it supposed to be established Klingon? The other part of it is that the Klingons, all of them, just sound really muffled, as if they have cotton balls in their mouths. And these were made to be more intimidating, but so far, I'm actually feeling like they're less intimidating due to the way they waddle.

Thankfully, the second episode was much better. I'll keep on watching, but it remains to be seen how long it has my interest.

 

[spunXtain]

I agree nothing makes sense with TOS and if producers REFUSE to at least make prequels more in line with Canon they should just move things forward. I disagree that nothing can make sense.

All they needed to do was
-use a non window view screen
-Have Blue and Yellow uniforms slightly updated from the cage and Where no man has gone before.(something like the current movie uniforms)
- A less busy ships interior. Sure it does not have to look exactly post Cage and Pre Wnmhgb but visual cues to bridge it would have been nice.
- Not have hologram transmissions. Just use the view-screen. We never saw hologram transmissions like that in starships. Just don't use it.
-Lasty use standard Bumpy and smoothy klingon. We got a great explanation in Enterprise of the Bumpy/smoothy klingons. This was a great chance to add to that and show both in this show. But NOOOO they just had to update the style and start the whole thing debate/ speculation of their look all over again.
-Do their research on Canon. There should be no big plot holes.

If they did these things it would have been more palpable and believable that it came before. But no they decided to do what they want and this is the result.

Enterprise with all it's faults at least TRIED. It's a much more believable prequel than Discovery.

I agree with all of this,100%. Enterprise had some rough spots but overall was very respectful of canon. This... is not.

 

[doublegoodprole]

The Vulcan Hello wasn't supposed to be "fun"; it was supposed to be action-packed, suspenseful, expository, and interesting, all of which it was.

Did you think Dawn of Justice was way better than anything Marvel puts out?

 

[Tim Thomason]

The Vulcan Hello wasn't supposed to be "fun"; it was supposed to be action-packed, suspenseful, expository, and interesting, all of which it was.

Well, I found it to be a fun episode, at least. The description of the "Vulcan hello," the attempted mutiny, the story of Voq the torchbearer, the suspense with the Klingons.

Just because I didn't like some of the Klingon scenes or the plodding dialogue, doesn't automatically make it a terrible episode.

 

[DigificWriter]

The Vulcan Hello isn't supposed to be watched separate to Battle of the Binary Stars; it's a setup episode for both the latter episode and the series as a whole, and is structured as such. It's not a failing of the episode if people aren't willing to watch the two episodes back-to-back as was intended.

The Vulcan Hello is fun in the sense that it was engaging, action-packed, suspenseful, and scary, but not in the light-hearted sense of the word, which is what the criticism of the episode not being "fun" was getting at.

 

[sttngfan1701d]

Episode 1 - 3/10
Episode 2 - 8/10

Much, much better. I don't know if the original intent was to split the episode, but it was a bad decision. If I wasn't a Trek fan and saw that pilot, nothing would've appealed to me except for some cool tech. The 2nd episode, however, actually went somewhere. It showed off what this show is capable of, and what "new Trek" means. I actually liked a lot about it.

 

[Mudd]

The Vulcan Hello wasn't supposed to be "fun"; it was supposed to be action-packed, suspenseful, expository, and interesting, all of which it was.

By "fun" I mean "entertaining." Not dull.

Discovery was "expository," I'll grant you that. Suspenseful or interesting? Not really.

It was a snoozer.

It did look expensive. The money wound up on the screen.

 

[CorporalClegg]

The Vulcan Hello wasn't supposed to be "fun"; it was supposed to be action-packed, suspenseful, expository, and interesting, all of which it was.

It's entertainment. "Entertain" is literally the root word. The essence of all those things it to be fun. People ride roller coasters and go into haunted houses because ultimately the thrills, and chills, and all that stuff is fun.

 

[Mudd]

The Vulcan Hello isn't supposed to be watched separate to Battle of the Binary Stars; it's a setup episode for both the latter episode and the series as a whole, and is structured as such. It's not a failing of the episode if people aren't willing to watch the two episodes back-to-back as was intended.

That's a poor rationalization - it paints CBS as stupid for putting a boring hour on broadcast TV as a come-on for a business venture that's of great importance to them.

 

[CorporalClegg]

The Vulcan Hello isn't supposed to be watched separate to Battle of the Binary Stars; it's a setup episode for both the latter episode and the series as a whole, and is structured as such. It's not a failing of the episode if people aren't willing to watch the two episodes back-to-back as was intended.

The Vulcan Hello is fun in the sense that it was engaging, action-packed, suspenseful, and scary, but not in the light-hearted sense of the word, which is what the criticism of the episode not being "fun" was getting at.

Then CBS should have aired them both together.

*Ninjaed by Denny.

 

[DigificWriter]

The Vulcan Hello was very entertaining. If you can't see that, the fault lies with you, not the episode.

 

[Tuskin38]

The Vulcan Hello was very entertaining. If you can't see that, the fault lies with you, not the episode.

No

 

[The Raven]

A fail of a pilot.

I can't imagine this drawing in people to there stupid pay thing.

Was worse then I could have imagined.

 

[doublegoodprole]

The Vulcan Hello was very entertaining. If you can't see that, the fault lies with you, not the episode.

And it also means the show was beyond reproach, apparently.

 

[{ Emilia }]

Complaining about the Klingons? Meaningless.

Complaining about the "look" and level of technology? Meaningless.

Complaining about lens flares? Meaningless.

Complaining about James Frain as Sarek? Meaningless.

Only if you're being overly and nonsensically critical.

I don't remember the initial response to Broken Bow being overexaggerated complaints about meaningless crap, which is what 90℅ of this negativity amounts to.

Try and be more respectful of other people's opinion or this whole conversation will jump the shark quickly. Some people don't agree with you, deal with it.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I don't remember the initial response to Broken Bow being overexaggerated complaints about meaningless crap, which is what 90℅ of this negativity amounts to.

^ Having complaints generally requires there to be something to complain about, and, for the most part, there was very little in this episode that was worthy of criticism.

Only if you're being overly and nonsensically critical.

I want you to learn this phrase and then repeat it like a mantra until it sinks in. "In my opinion..." People are entitled to their complaints just as much as you are entitled to your praise, and no one has a hold on any kind of objective truth about the quality or lack thereof of the episode or show.

 

[DigificWriter]

Then CBS should have aired them both together.

They did; the intention was for people to go to the CBS All Access app and watch BotBS immediately after TVH, or watch both episodes on the app from the beginning.

It's not the fault of either the network or the series' production team if people aren't willing to do that.

 

[{ Emilia }]

Beat ya, @Locutus of Bored!

 

[137th Gebirg]

So "Black Fleet", eh? Nice touch from FASA/Final Reflection. Yes, these Klingons speak of honor but not over the top TNG-style heavy metal Viking honor. John Ford would be proud! The extensive native Klingon language scenes were a bit muddy but not unwatchable.

Although I'm wondering if Shenzhou ever had shuttles. As others have mentioned, they could have sent a shuttle down to the desert planet to bring them up. A shuttle would have been even more useful to check out the ancient Klingon ship instead of the exceptionally dangerous spacewalk. I don't recall any in-dialog exposition about why a shuttle couldn't be used.

Love the new ship designs in the Starfleet. The Klingon ships, not so much. Not a single D-7 amongst them that I could tell, although there were a couple in there that bore a slight resemblance to traditional Klingon designs. Looking forward to more!

 

[Mudd]

The Vulcan Hello was very entertaining. If you can't see that, the fault lies with you, not the episode.

You're mistaken. It's clear that you were impressed, though.

It's not the fault of either the network or the series' production team if people aren't willing to do that.

You know that would make no sense in terms of business planning, right?

The whole point of putting part 1 on broadcast was to entice people to buy All-Access.