Your postmortem thoughts on DISCO

[The Rock]

The more I think about it, the more I realize that that rape scene where the female Klingon raped that guy didn't belong at all in Star Trek. Was it necessary to show it in such graphic detail (even going so far as to show her nude)?! In Star Trek, implications of horrific incidents have been far more effective than actually showing said horrific incidents IMO.

 

[Quantum21]

Just happened along today on some info. Well over a year after season 5 Discovery signed off, the show is still in the Paramount + top 10 for "engagement".

I think that's a pretty good post-mortem.

 

[Turtletrekker]

The more I think about it, the more I realize that that rape scene where the female Klingon raped that guy didn't belong at all in Star Trek. Was it necessary to show it in such graphic detail (even going so far as to show her nude)?! In Star Trek, implications of horrific incidents have been far more effective than actually showing said horrific incidents IMO.

Prosthetic boobs do not equate to nudity and let's not forget that Tasha Yar was raised on a planet with "rape gangs", and that was back in the '80s.

 

[The Rock]

Prosthetic boobs do not equate to nudity and let's not forget that Tasha Yar was raised on a planet with "rape gangs", and that was back in the '80s.

The difference is that they never actually showed any of the rapes. Just mentioning them was more than enough to get across how horrible they were.

 

[Turtletrekker]

The difference is that they never actually showed any of the rapes. Just mentioning them was more than enough to get across how horrible they were.

What about all the times that Troi was mind raped? And people are clearly overstating how "graphic" the scene in Discovery actually was. We're talking about what, a second or two of screen time? What Spock did to Valaris in Star Trek VI was more visually disturbing.

 

[Uncle Sock]

Discovery was good enough for me to have watched every episode at least once. But I find myself never going back to rewatch it, which is odd because I go back to all the others (some of them a lot).

I will forever love Discovery for giving us Pike and Strange New Worlds. I loved Admiral Cornwell, but hated that she was killed off, even though her death was heroic indeed. I wish we had seen more of Airiam, who was killed off as well, unfortunately.

I never cared for the 31st century stuff. I also never cared for Emperor Georgiou. Would have loved it if Yeoh had simply stayed on as Captain Georgiou. Didn't like the characters of Tilly and Reno and the human with the symbiont in later seasons whose name I can't recall.

All in all, I feel like Discovery focused more on visuals than characters, and I also feel like it focused more on melodrama than the philosophical undertones I was used to from the Berman era-Trek. Discovery is still Trek, and with the greater emotional maturity I have achieved in the almost 10 years since it first aired, I can see the Trek elements in Discovery. But all in all, Discovery is at the very bottom of the list of Trek shows I like.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Exactly what it says on the tin.

Basically, in hindsight, what did you think of DISCO as a whole?

By far the weakest Trek series of them all, and personally speaking, the only truly bad one.

Granted, my visceral dislike of the first two seasons is speaking here, but I can't for the life think about any time I would want to revisit this dreck anytime soon. Its a wreck of a show, and I stopped watching it when it was new halfway through the first season. I've seen it since, but basically, anything and everything wrong about NuTrek (or KurtzmanTrek) can be traced here.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

It was a chore to watch and after finally accepting that I don't need to watch everything just because it has "Star Trek" in the title I stopped after season 3.

The major problem was that they wanted to do a prequel but not accept the limitations of a prequel. Redesigning the Klingons, shoehorning Spock into the story, advanced technology etc.
Sure, they addressed some of it but their fixes seemed contrived and lame; at least to me.

Then they got rid off the prequel-limitations (while ironically repeating the same mistake with SNW) with the jump into the far future but for me it was a bit too far and I couldn't get onboard with their 32nd century aesthetics.

Characters were either grating or bland (the only character I liked was Jett Reno) and while I appreciate Discovery's effort for more LGTBQI representation I found their couples lacking chemistry.

And really "The Michael Burnham Show" would've been a far more appropriate name for the show.

This actually sums it up much better.

 

[Quantum21]

Discovery was good enough for me to have watched every episode at least once. But I find myself never going back to rewatch it, which is odd because I go back to all the others (some of them a lot).

I will forever love Discovery for giving us Pike and Strange New Worlds. I loved Admiral Cornwell, but hated that she was killed off, even though her death was heroic indeed. I wish we had seen more of Airiam, who was killed off as well, unfortunately.

I never cared for the 31st century stuff. I also never cared for Emperor Georgiou. Would have loved it if Yeoh had simply stayed on as Captain Georgiou. Didn't like the characters of Tilly and Reno and the human with the symbiont in later seasons whose name I can't recall.

All in all, I feel like Discovery focused more on visuals than characters, and I also feel like it focused more on melodrama than the philosophical undertones I was used to from the Berman era-Trek. Discovery is still Trek, and with the greater emotional maturity I have achieved in the almost 10 years since it first aired, I can see the Trek elements in Discovery. But all in all, Discovery is at the very bottom of the list of Trek shows I like.

I've rewatched many episodes, and each season at least once. Eventually I'll do a full season 5 rewatch. It's one of Trek's most rewatch able shows in my opinion because it's so dense with plot points, information, asides, etc. By comparison, TOS for example is very straightforward.

Discovery, despite taking a different path, is closer to TNG's sensibility than even Picard, which sort of does a tracing paper version, but with heavier lines.

 

[Uncle Sock]

I've rewatched many episodes, and each season at least once. Eventually I'll do a full season 5 rewatch. It's one of Trek's most rewatch able shows in my opinion because it's so dense with plot points, information, asides, etc. By comparison, TOS for example is very straightforward.

Discovery, despite taking a different path, is closer to TNG's sensibility than even Picard, which sort of does a tracing paper version, but with heavier lines.

I'm curious. What are your favorite episodes?

 

[Quantum21]

I'm curious. What are your favorite episodes?

First Season: The pilot, Context is for Kings, The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry, Into the Forest I Go, Despite Yourself.

Second: Everything after: If Memory Serves.

Third: That Hope Is You, Part 1, Su'Kal

Fourth: Rosetta, Species Ten-C, Coming Home

Fifth: Under the Twin Moons, Face the Strange, Life, Itself

 

[ananta]

The more I think about it, the more I realize that that rape scene where the female Klingon raped that guy didn't belong at all in Star Trek. Was it necessary to show it in such graphic detail (even going so far as to show her nude)?! In Star Trek, implications of horrific incidents have been far more effective than actually showing said horrific incidents IMO.

It wasn’t a rape though, was it…? L’Rell and Voq were lovers?

 

[The Rock]

It wasn’t a rape though, was it…? L’Rell and Voq were lovers?

Really? I stand corrected then.

 

[fireproof78]

It wasn’t a rape though, was it…? L’Rell and Voq were lovers?

Not rape, no. The memory imprinting process basically created a weird amalgamation that started to bleed through and created a minor distortion.

 

[Mike Farley]

As a whole I liked DISCO better than VOY or ENT. I liked the cast although I wish they had bothered to develop the secondary characters even a little. 5 seasons and what do we know about Detmer? Or the coms officers whose name I don't even know? They had a big cast but kept bringing in new characters instead of exploring the ones they had. And I really disliked the way Empress Georgiou was handled. You don't team up with Intergalactic Space Hitler from a morally inverted Universe. You throw her under the penal colony. Don't get me wrong, I loved watching Michelle Yoeh chew up the scenery but I didn't like what they did with the character.

I don't know that they ever really figured out what show they wanted to make. Every season seemed like a fresh start. And more critically, I don't think they ever nailed how to tell a season long serialized story. The season would start with an interesting premise, then flounder around in the middle, then end strong.

The first two seasons were definitely the best. The third, not great. 4 and 5 were interesting premises marred by weak story structure.

 

[Pauln6]

Discovery had some great story ideas but the writers needed far stronger guard rails to retain the spirit and aesthetic of Star Trek.

Season One had some really exciting and shocking ideas but I was never fan of a star drive that allowed them to pop up anywhere. That was a story element that needed a specific, limited arc and draw a line underneath it after leaving the Mirror Universe. The Klingon War was quite an exciting story but the resolution was awful. We didn't need to see it resolved in a neat, highly implausible, bow with massive logic holes by our main characters.

The most irritating thing was the way transporters were used casually, without thought or consternation, beaming inside ships.

The second season also had some intriguing plot points but why oh why was none of it put into the context of Richard Daystrom? How hard would that have been? Clearly, if what happened with Control in Discovery had happened prior to TOS, there would have been absolutely no appetite for M5 among anyone in Starfleet, especially Spock.

The notion that the emergency blast doors are there to prevent blasts instead of being there to prevent catastrophic decompression after a blast was just DUMB as was the turbolift inside the TARDIS-sized shaft with artificial gravity was incredibly dumb (no more so than in Disaster, I will admit). And freely available time crystals? Ew.

Once they went to the future, I felt that the writers breathed a sigh of relief where they could indulge all their silly technological fantasies without the contraints of Trek's fantasy physics. I enjoyed the Orion stuff and there was a lot of potential here too, let down by the sheer stupidity of promoting a junior engineer with minimal command experience as first officer when Lt-Commander Nielsson is standing right there. It was very reminiscent and as equally silly as promoting a command ensign with 6 months in the job as a navigator as your chief engineer.

The final irritation was the way the command structure seemed to have more in common with a high school than a naval vessel. They should feel very comfortable with a Starfleet Academy show - I feel like they picked the show to suit the writers rather than because of public demand, but if they are going to do more starship shows, they need a naval advisor on staff. In some ways, the best Starfleet show, before its final season where they started massacring characters in silly ways, was the Last Ship. Put that in space, and I am there.

 

[FreddyE]

It was canceled the moment when it really found its feet. Nuff said.

 

[ScottJ85]

Overall I liked it but I found it to be pretty inconsistent. It feels like an experimental series, trying to figure out the right approach for modern day Star Trek. When it was good it was up there with the best of any of the other series. When it was bad it was at least bad in an interesting way and made up for it by having Michelle Yeoh kick dudes in the face.

 

[Uncle Sock]

I’ve had a pretty eye-opening realization recently. One of my biggest complaints about Discovery has always been the melodrama — all the crying, the constant focus on emotions, and the endless “I love you” speeches between crewmates. It always felt like a bit too much.

But the other day, I was rewatching “The Sound of Her Voice” from DS9 (one of my favorites), and by the end, Julian says something strikingly similar to what I’ve criticized Discovery for.

-----
BASHIR: Thank you, Miles Edward O'Brien. No, I have a heart, and I really care about all of you, even if sometimes it would appear that I care more about my work. To the woman that taught me that it is sometimes necessary to say these things. Lisa Cusak.
-----

And then O’Brien follows up with:

-----
O'BRIEN: I never shook her hand and I never saw her face, but she made me laugh and she made me weep. She was all by herself and I was surrounded by my friends, yet I felt more alone than she did. We've grown apart, the lot of us. We didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. The war changed us, pulled us apart. Lisa Cusak was my friend. But you are also my friends, and I want my friends in my life, because someday we're going to wake up and find that someone is missing from this circle. And on that day, we're going to mourn — and we shouldn't have to mourn alone. To Lisa, and the sweet sound of her voice.
-----

Now, sure — it’s not exactly the same thing, but it’s pretty close. And that’s just one example among many. Old Trek could be emotional too; it just handled those moments with a little more subtlety. Even Picard, when he finally joined the crew’s first poker night in “All Good Things,” basically told them he loved them — he just didn’t have to say it outright. In Old Trek, actions often spoke louder than words.

So, my earlier critique doesn’t really hold up anymore. Classic Trek had its share of heartfelt moments and open expressions of love. That realization has actually warmed me up a bit toward Discovery. It shifted my view from “it’s all melodrama” to more of a “the emotions are just a little too on the nose” perspective.

And who knows — maybe someday, once the traumatic memory of that awful turbolift scene finally fades, I’ll rewatch Discovery and find myself feeling a little more... lenient.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I'm a vocal supporter of Discovery while at the same time acknowledging its faults. But the turbo lifts. Ugh. No defending that.