I really do wonder about the state of some people's minds. Star Trek was a cheesey, cheap little show made in the 1960s. They taped fabric onto the women actors so it looked like it might fall off at any time, "The Theiss Theory of Titilation". The bridge of the Enterprise was built with hammer, nails, wood and paper mache, by a bunch of 1960s workmen with their arsecrack hanging over the top of their trousers. The effects were limited, the phasers could shoot, but the phaser and camera had to remain completely still because the "phaser beam" effect was static. Same for the transporter, which was only introduced because they couldn't afford to build a shuttlecraft set piece. The acting was woeful by our standards, but television was a different thing then, for a different time. The entire concept of television was still evolving from being filmed stage plays.
But it grabbed our imagination, and those imaginations filled in all the blanks, fixed all the sfx problems, and we were able to go with it, even the thing with Spock's brain. Now, technology has moved on, and so has television. We have 3d printing, CGI, we can make anything come alive on screen, we have better materials for prosthetic makeups, and can have more imaginative aliens. Star Trek can move away from the "bumpy headed aliens" that it's been criticized for in the past. Our own technological advancement has outpaced 60's Star Trek, we're over shooting them. Their level of technology now looks too simple, too flimsy, too clunky to be something from our sleek, modern reality. And some people are complaining because it doesn't look like it was made in the 1960s anymore. What? There are people watching this new show on technology more advanced than was depicted in the 60s Trek. A modern mobile phone has more functionality than a TNG padd, never mind the etch-a-sketch they had on TOS.
And folks, it's perfectly acceptable to dislike an actor's performance or choices, but calling them a bad actor just because you don't like the show is rude. Case in point, I don't enjoy a lot of Ricky Gervais's comedy, it's just not my sense of humour. However, I've seen him interviewed and talking about bigger issues, and i really like him and think he's got some interesting views. Scott Bakula's delivery is always off, in any situation he talks like he's making an important announcement. The Voyager actors were told to dial it down to make the alien characters look more alien. How's an actor supposed to work with that? I don't enjoy the Stamets/Reno thing, I don't feel the spark, the delivery is always off. Sonequa is a fine actor, she has delivered again and again, and Michael is a very complex character. She allows different characters to draw different sides of Michael out, and there's nuance between Michael with Pike, or Michael with Spock, or Michael with Tilly. That's real, that's what you're like, different people draw out different aspects of our personality. Michael's an over-achiever, and sometimes that works to her advantage, and sometimes it's a flaw. Spock is the only character who calls her out on it, and her reaction to that brings humanity to her character. The "Michael with Spock" version of the character is warmer, softer, and my favourite Michael, it's a shame they've had to part.
Star Trek's great, but let's not get silly about it. Nobody wants a modern Star Trek show made by 1960s standards and limitations. You might think you do, but if they actually did it, you wouldn't like it. Discovery has holes, all Trek has holes. If you're going to get all uppity about everything on screen being canon, then you have to come up with an in-universe reason for there being someone standing on the bridge during that tense moment before they discovered that Burnham was in the ship, conducting the pace of the pause before they opened hailing frequencies. That's up there with Chewing Gum Guy in Sela's office in Unification (before the HD remaster, they removed him for that).
Come on guys, it's been a shitty year, and we've been waiting for Discovery all year. I know I have. I really enjoyed Picard, I didn't bother with Lower Decks, but it was Discovery I've really been waiting for. Can we just enjoy our Star Trek in peace?
