When will we get a planetside adventure?

[eschaton]

This is a minor gripe, but we have not had a genuine, planet-side "away mission" since the first few minutes of the first episode.

Episode 3: A real away mission to the Glenn, but since it was a sister ship, it just used Discovery sets.

Episode 4: Discovery briefly floated over the colony at Corvan II, but didn't land.

Episode 5: we got to see the inside of a Klingon prison ship, and (briefly) a starbase, but again, no planet.

Episode 6: we saw Vulcan, but only via flashback. There was the scene on the surface of a planet with Admiral Cornwell for less than a minute, but that was about it.

From the looks of things, next Sunday's episode will be an adventure where the crew is confined to the ship once again. We know from the trailer which includes season highlights that Burnham will be in some sort of forest (perhaps in Episode 9 - Into the Forest I Go) but this very well may be the only time we are on a planet through the entirety of at least the first half of the first season, if not the first season as a whole.

I'm starting to wonder if this is on purpose. Essentially, perhaps the show blew so much money in its early "production hell" phase that it doesn't have the budget for a lot of on-location filming, and needs to stick to the studio for the most part. Long story short, we're getting "bottle shows."

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Well, by the usual definition of "bottle show", episode 6 would not qualify; and the scenes are not really a flashback, but someone living a memory in a loop, so they're not exactly back in time or going through events prior to this episode. Furthermore, the episode ends on an alien planet, however briefly, and that would require the creation of additional sets and costumes, which it did.

Anyway, one of the trailers does show Burnham and company traipsing through a very Canadian-looking forest. We'll get off the ship, for sure. It's only a matter of time before we start hearing how so many of the planets Discovery visits looks like a boreal forest. I get what you're saying, in that the primary action of the show is all shipbound, but the way the narrative of the main story is playing out as a ship of war being used in a time of war, leveraging a tactical weapon that pretty much necessitates the ship be the center of action, I wouldn't expect them to do much planetary exploration at least in this phase of the conflict.

Mark

 

[Worf2DS9]

Maybe with them shooting here in Canada, it would be cool to see some wintertime location work, if the timing of production works out, and see a landing party (not "away team"!) on a snow planet, as opposed to some indoor set-work using styrofoam or soap shavings for snow.

 

[SolarisOne]

It's only a matter of time before we start hearing how so many of the planets Discovery visits looks like a boreal forest.

Just like Stargate, right?

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Actually no, the filming locales of Stargate were all in coastal forests, not boreal. The main difference is that pretty much all the forested areas in the Stargate universe were almost exclusively pine trees and other evergreen species.

Meanwhile, the planets visited by Discovery, Dark Matter, Killjoys, and other interplanetary shows will have a more even mix of deciduous and evergreen species, including birch and poplar. Still looks REALLY Canadian to the untrained eye, but there's a lot of variation in foliage up here, from sea to sea to sea.

Mark <--- didn't sleep through environmental science class

 

[tomalak301]

Wasn't there something in the trailer for the overall season that they were going to have a planetary away mission? The only one we've had was the very first scene of the series.

 

[ITDUDE]

The Pilot started with a very decently done away mission

 

[Longinus]

Yeah, I'd like to see some planets too. I bet they could do some really cool CGI enhancements these days to add some alieness.

 

[eschaton]

Yeah, I'd like to see some planets too. I bet they could do some really cool CGI enhancements these days to add some alieness.

Honestly, I don't care if it's even a real "outdoors shot" per se. A landing party who ends up in a planet-side settlement which was obviously constructed on a sound stage would be fine as well. Just so long as the Discovery crew aren't either cooped up onboard the ship or only traveling to other ships.

 

[Longinus]

Honestly, I don't care if it's even a real "outdoors shot" per se. A landing party who ends up in a planet-side settlement which was obviously constructed on a sound stage would be fine as well. Just so long as the Discovery crew aren't either cooped up onboard the ship or only traveling to other ships.

Yeah, I'm starting to feel a bit claustrophobic.

 

[Vger23]

I think this is an extremely fair criticism. I'd like to see more planet hopping myself.

 

[Refuge]

Discovery doesn't seem to be about discovering new planets and their life forms.

 

[Vger23]

Discovery doesn't seem to be about discovering new planets and their life forms.

Neither was about 80% of the content of any previous series.

Rescue missions
Cloak and Dagger
Starfleet couriers
Colony assistance
Space battles
Diplomatic missions
Anomaly of the week
Time trave to Earth's past

All these were individually just as prevalent within the franchise as landing on some planet to discover new life forms.

It's rose colored glasses when fans wax poetic about how Trek was always about exploring the unknown and meeting new aliens.

It simply isn't true.

 

[Refuge]

And yet Discovery still falls short ..

I disagree about the Trek I viewed. There was alien life forms, planets, you name it. There was actual adventure. Discovery is what it is and it is for now, a war show.

 

[toby]

The first season of Discovery is going to be 15 episodes long. In the first 15 episodes of TNG for example, 7 spent a significant amount of time planetside—that's almost half! I highly doubt this new show that's not really interested in exploration will come even close to that. If we're lucky we might get 2-3. When Star Trek was episodic and told almost 26 different stories every year, you could be assured there would be something for everyone in there. But with this focus on serialization and far less episodes, you either like this story arc or you hope for better luck next season.

 

[eschaton]

The first season of Discovery is going to be 15 episodes long. In the first 15 episodes of TNG for example, 7 spent a significant amount of time planetside—that's almost half! I highly doubt this new show that's not really interested in exploration will come even close to that. If we're lucky we might get 2-3. When Star Trek was episodic and told almost 26 different stories every year, you could be assured there would be something for everyone in there. But with this focus on serialization and far less episodes, you either like this story arc or you hope for better luck next season.

I understand what you mean, but on the first season of DS9 we still got onto planets a fair amount. Mostly to Bajor, but IIRC at least two other planets briefly as well. And Deep Space Nine was a space station with a revolving cast of characters (meaning you could introduce guests each week), while Discovery is a ship that moves around the quadrant and has a relatively small crew.

 

[zar]

Every episode (counting the first 2 as one, because it is) has introduced new sets, and that costs the same amount of resources whether they appear for 40 seconds or 40 minutes. It seems like money is no object with this show, but the story just happens to demand the majority of scenes being on the ship so far.

 

[Jadeb]

Anyway, one of the trailers does show Burnham and company traipsing through a very Canadian-looking forest.

I remember that, but wasn't that shot taken from Burnham's visit to the Discovery's spore forest? I remember being disappointed it wasn't a landing party, but maybe it wasn't the same thing.

 

[Krandor]

I remember that, but wasn't that shot taken from Burnham's visit to the Discovery's spore forest? I remember being disappointed it wasn't a landing party, but maybe it wasn't the same thing.

There was one of them in a forest and since we have a forest in the title of episode 9 that could be where we see it.

http://www.trekspace.net/star-trek-discovery-episode-guide/into-the-forest-i-go/

 

[Eric Cheung]

While I would like more planet visits, I think part of it may be by design. This show is the first truly lower decks Star Trek show, so we get to see the ship from the point of view of people who don't quite get the sexy assignments all the time. Stamets isn't the chief engineer, Culber isn't the Chief Medical Officer, Tilly and Burnham aren't even technically officers. Right now, Lorca, Saru, and Tyler are the highest ranking officers on the ship, though Burnham's now a member of the senior staff.

What might be an interesting dynamic is if the ship goes on an away mission, but we never see the planet, and only hear the gossip among the crew about what's going on down there.