Your reaction to DSC before vs. after

[Lord Garth]

It looked to me like a great many of people on this site liked it (cf votes). What happened to them?
There seem to be mostly disappointed people posting in this thread?

Voting is a more passive activity than posting. So, if all someone has to say is "I thought it was great!" and they don't elaborate, they're not apt to post as much.

Plus, to use a sports term: it's off-season. The hardcore will stick around. The softcore, not as much.

 

[Garth Rockett]

Started off cautiously optimistic, hoping for great things but tempered by the odds of achieving something really stand out.

Afterwards, I find a great deal to enjoy but was left underwhelmed by the plotting and some writing decisions. Hoping this can be rectified next year.

Pretty much this for me as well. There were a few moments in the series I thought Discovery might really be about to take off, but it never quite got there. There's enough positive there to make me think they can build and improve in season 2 (and beyond?) but it's still got a ways to go to measure up to my absolute favorite Trek series (TOS, DS9, TNG in that order), much less surpass them.

 

[Mad Jack Wolfe]

After
Ahh, the writing. You could lead a horse to water, but apparently you can't have decent writing on a Star Trek TV show...

I would have appreciated an earnest attempt at coherent writing, but even the half-baked ideas were presented in such a half-assed way that I simply lost hope for any improvement at all.

 

[Discofan]

Pretty much this for me as well. There were a few moments in the series I thought Discovery might really be about to take off, but it never quite got there. There's enough positive there to make me think they can build and improve in season 2 (and beyond?) but it's still got a ways to go to measure up to my absolute favorite Trek series (TOS, DS9, TNG in that order), much less surpass them.

I notice that you didn't list Voyager and Enterprise. Does that mean that you think DSC already measures up to these?

 

[Garth Rockett]

I notice that you didn't list Voyager and Enterprise. Does that mean that you think DSC already measures up to these?

I think it's probably a little better than Voyager, definitely better than the first two seasons of Enterprise, on par or slightly better than the last two seasons of Enterprise. I should probably clarify that although those didn't make my list of favorites, I like both of those shows. Basically, for me the Star Trek shows fall into the categories of ones I like (VGR, ENT, DSC) and ones I love (TOS, TNG, DS9).

 

[EnderAKH]

I'm the opposite of most here. I like Bryan Fuller, but I don't feel the macabre tone of most of his work was a good fit for Star Trek. Was more cautiously excited once he left. Over the moon after it was over. I looked forward to each and every Sunday while it was on. It wasn't without a few minor technical problems, but I am hoping having a more singular vision and some feedback from season 1 will fix them for season 2. If they don't, I still love the show and can live with it.

 

[Refuge]

I truly don't rate anything than one episode of Discovery higher than a six. It (for me) is way below any of the other Trek I've seen. In some ways it's made me value other Trek.

 

[alex08060]

Before : Star Trek: Enterprise v 2
After : Star Trek is back.

As stated before, with discovery finished I see no need to stick around at the forum everyday or every week.
Maybe once a month.

 

[Ralphis]

Before: I was just stoked that there was going to be new Star Trek to consume.

After: Mixed feelings, but mostly positive. I kind of miss the more "episodic" approach of older Star Trek, but I understand that serialized TV is 'in' now.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Before: "I hope this doesn't suck... I'll keep an open mind."
During: "Huh... that was cool."
Also during: "Well shit!"
After: "That was good! I hope season 2 doesn't suck!"

 

[Nerys Myk]

BEFORE: Not keen on the ships, the uniforms or the sets. Had no problem with setting, the proposed storylines or the characters.
AFTER: The ship has grown on me. The sets could use a little less blue. Still not sold on the uniforms. The storylines were a bit rushed and had too many predictable surprises. But overall I enjoyed what they were doing. The themes were very Star Trek. Liked all the characters. Solid acting by Issacs, Wiseman, Jones, Rapp and Latif. Less impressed by Martin Green and Yeoh, but both improved in the latter half of the season. And Mary Chieffo was great even hampered by a top of make up. Guest stars were also solid, especially Cruz, Wilson and Brooks,

 

[Long Syntax]

Hopeful ==> Disappointed

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Before: Hopeful, excited, eager.

After: Satisfied with exceptions.

 

[Gepard]

It's funny how pretty much everyone's final impression matched thier level of anticipation.

And by "funny" I mean "confirmation bias."

 

[pst]

me before: this is not the star trek show i want, but i'm excited for season 1...

me after: this is not the star trek show i wanted, but i'm excited for season 2...

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

I was expecting the heavier and grittier elements of DS9 gussied up with new effects and darker lighting (given the Klingon War element), but was pleasantly surprised that Discovery was planning on doing everything not like a previous Star Trek. That was an awesome surprise provided in Context is King, and even though some of the choices they made in the writing and characterization and plotting weren't...the best, it was definitely new and different. Now that it has ended, I'm not like blown away by it anymore, but I think its hit the right bumps along the way to provide us what might be the best Star Trek series to date as we head further. I mean, no first season was great as far as the latter-day Trek series go, it shouldn't be all too surprising that DSC would have the same trouble.

I'm hoping that they can get the tone and direction of the story (and for goodness sake, the lighting both in and out of the ship) down by season 2. I mean, we had to suffer through 2 whole seasons of TNG early day garbage (with a few wonderful highlights, granted. I'll admit that the garbage was at least fun to watch most of the time) to get to the meat of season 3, and those were long ass seasons.

 

[Xhiandra]

Before: wanted to like it. New Trek on TV? Sounded great. I had my reservations when I discovered it'd be a prequel*.

After: some good aspects, but the writing, which in my opinion is the most important aspect by far, is lacklustre; so I'm disappointed.
My opnion of DSC is mostly negative, but it's still too early for me to judge the show decisively.
Then again, that's not a good sign: series I love, (like, say, Firefly, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Wire, ...), I tend to love from the first episode onwards.
Good writing just draws me in very quickly.


*why is Hollywood so obsessed with prequels and reboots these days? Why not regular sequels or just independent projects?
Especially in this case, I haven't seen anything that would prevent Discovery to be a standalone IP.
They changed everything except a few species names and the general shape of the vessel(s), so it wouldn't have been any harder, they're just banking on brand recognition.

 

[Vger23]

Before it came out, I was publically very supportive (I always am, because I’m a Star Trek fan), but secretly pretty disappointed. I had no desire to see “Trek Wars” on TV nor did I feel like I gave a shit about Klingon politics, and I really wanted to see if they could do a serialized show about exploration and discovery. I was really bracing for disappointment, as I hadn’t made it through a first season of first-run Trek since 1987/88.


Now that it’s over, I’m amazed at how much it entertained me despite being what I thought I didn’t want and despite some clearly uneven writing. That’s the amazing thing to me…is that, by all measures, I should have bailed…but every week was just so much damn fun in spite of it all, that I just kept coming back. I think the series got better and better as it went along (even though the final episode was rushed) and I really connected with the characters. I also very much enjoyed debating and discussing the show with my friends and folks out here. I haven’t felt that way for a long time. The show seemed to bring the fun of being a fan back (disagreements, passion, and all). It also doesn't hurt that my wife loves the show...and it's something we can watch and experience together. That's awesome, because she doesn't feel the same about all of the franchise.


I think there’s massive room for improvement in S2, but thus far this is the best S1 of Trek since TOS from my perspective. That bodes well for the future, since most of the other series started to take off after that first season.

 

[Lord Garth]

It's funny how pretty much everyone's final impression matched thier level of anticipation.

And by "funny" I mean "confirmation bias."

I see your point, I definitely do...

... but I did start to have my doubts when Bryan Fuller was off the show and the premiere kept getting delayed. Then I saw the titles for the first four episodes, including "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lambs Cry" and was wondering, "What the Hell is this?!" And Jason Isaacs daring us not to watch was off-putting to me and seemed needlessly antagonistic.

Then DSC premiered, it lived up to what I hoped for initially -- despite what happened behind the scenes -- and I went back to my original excitement. But, I didn't feel the same way the entire time leading up to the premiere.

For the first few months, though, I didn't want to post here because I was thinking it would be like the ENT Forum in the early-2000s. And I wasn't in the mood for something like that no matter how much I like Discovery. Then I peaked in and figured, "Why not see how the forum is?"

 

[Vger23]

I see your point, I definitely do...

... but I did start to have my doubts when Bryan Fuller was off the show and the premiere kept getting delayed. Then I saw the titles for the first four episodes, including "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lambs Cry" and was wondering, "What the Hell is this?!" And Jason Isaacs daring us not to watch was off-putting to me and seemed needlessly antagonistic.

Then DSC premiered, it lived up to what I hoped for initially -- despite what happened behind the scenes -- and I went back to my original excitement. But, I didn't feel the same way the entire time leading up the premiere.

For the first few months, though, I didn't want to post here because I was thinking it would be like the ENT Forum in the early-2000s. And I wasn't in the mood for something like that not matter how much I like Discovery. Then I peaked in and figured, "Why not see how it is?"

I thought Jason Isaacs trolling us was one of the most fun things that's happened "behind the scenes" with Trek in decades. Sometimes the fans can be a little entitled and we act like a bunch of bullies toward the creative people. I like that he punched us in the nose.

In retrospect, he was already playing the villain!