Outside of some issues with writing, one of my biggest issues with Discovery is pretty simple: Where is everyone??? This is basically two related issues. The "small universe" issue and the "empty universe" issue.
Despite being a series which takes place in the vastness of space, Discovery seems to be quite a confined series. We spend the vast majority of our time on Discovery or other ships. Absent flashbacks, there have been only four occasions where we have even seen a planet's surface to date, and in two of those cases it was for less than a minute.
Space travel is also shown as being really, really fast. Sure, Discovery has a Spore Drive which allows it to get anywhere more or less instantaneously, but other ships are shown to be able to arrive in a system within a manner of hours. Subspace communications seem to be much easier than in other Trek series. Sarek can have an instantaneous telepathic link across hundreds of light years. Hell, the pilot episode even had mention of the beacon being seen parsecs away, even though light can only travel at the speed of light.
We also keep running into the same small cast of recurring characters again and again. To an extent all latter-day Treks did this, but the serialized nature of Discovery means it's been taken to the next level. So, for example, we meet Mudd in the fifth episode, and then see him again in the seventh. Or admiral Cornwell just happens to be on the Klingon Ship of the Dead in just the right location to be rescued. And of course, the same thing is now happening in the Mirror Universe, but that is part of the trope, so it's more forgivable here.
Discovery's backdrop doesn't just seem weirdly small though, it seems oddly empty. Discovery always seems curiously understaffed, with few crew ever seen outside of the mess hall or the bridge. Often Culber was shown working totally alone in sick bay, with no sign of the CMO. One of the planets we have visited was uninhabited except for CGI energy beings. The most recent planet in the MU seemed to have a small rebel base, but no civilian inhabitants. We've seen briefing rooms in starbases, but not the actual starbases themselves. Did the showrunners blow all their money on effects, so that enough wasn't available for extras?
Anyway, I just wondered if anyone else was a bit bothered by this.
Despite being a series which takes place in the vastness of space, Discovery seems to be quite a confined series. We spend the vast majority of our time on Discovery or other ships. Absent flashbacks, there have been only four occasions where we have even seen a planet's surface to date, and in two of those cases it was for less than a minute.
Space travel is also shown as being really, really fast. Sure, Discovery has a Spore Drive which allows it to get anywhere more or less instantaneously, but other ships are shown to be able to arrive in a system within a manner of hours. Subspace communications seem to be much easier than in other Trek series. Sarek can have an instantaneous telepathic link across hundreds of light years. Hell, the pilot episode even had mention of the beacon being seen parsecs away, even though light can only travel at the speed of light.
We also keep running into the same small cast of recurring characters again and again. To an extent all latter-day Treks did this, but the serialized nature of Discovery means it's been taken to the next level. So, for example, we meet Mudd in the fifth episode, and then see him again in the seventh. Or admiral Cornwell just happens to be on the Klingon Ship of the Dead in just the right location to be rescued. And of course, the same thing is now happening in the Mirror Universe, but that is part of the trope, so it's more forgivable here.
Discovery's backdrop doesn't just seem weirdly small though, it seems oddly empty. Discovery always seems curiously understaffed, with few crew ever seen outside of the mess hall or the bridge. Often Culber was shown working totally alone in sick bay, with no sign of the CMO. One of the planets we have visited was uninhabited except for CGI energy beings. The most recent planet in the MU seemed to have a small rebel base, but no civilian inhabitants. We've seen briefing rooms in starbases, but not the actual starbases themselves. Did the showrunners blow all their money on effects, so that enough wasn't available for extras?
Anyway, I just wondered if anyone else was a bit bothered by this.
sure, Trek's speed of plot drive started with JJ.
