now that the entire first season of Star Trek discovery is out and available for
viewing I guess it's time to answer the question is Star Trek discovery worth of
watch hello internets Rick here with a spoiler free review of series 1 so
Discovery's production was under scrutiny from day one unveiling her
fairly unpopular ship design and announcing that it would be another
prequel series rubbed some people the wrong way then there was the
announcement that it would take place in the primetime line continuity which
raised as many concerns as it placated how far would they go to make it period
specific does that even matter to you probably not an issue a law fiend but on
the other hand the old 60s aesthetic might be iconic but it's hard to deny
that it shows its age whatever decisions Star Trek Discovery made on this front
was going to upset someone and not just on the design front but the time period
they've selected ten years before Kirk places boundaries on the series fence
posting the series to meet certain events and technologies of the time
already defeated in Star Trek law discovery also faced the uphill battle
of the strange decision to limit its viewership based in the u.s. to those
who purchased CBS all access and if this is the sole reason for not watching the
series and I can't say I blame you but for every other country is available
on Netflix which is a much more widely accessible platform so I've been
avoiding the question have night is discovery worth a watch well yes yeah it
is does it have its problems yes yes it does looking back on the series now it's
over and giving it some space has allowed my manic Trekkie fanboy side to
die down a bit I was just overjoyed that there was a returning Trek series and
even if you're new to Star Trek especially if you're new to Star Trek
then this series has you in mind so let's delve into the review shall we
now I said if you're a fan of the latest Star Trek films then you'll probably
like Star Trek Discovery it's set in the continuity of the main series though
meaning that the events that occur in the 2009 reboot films remain separate
from this show aside from the occasional plot point or fanservice nod to the Trek
mythos discovery stands pretty well on its own as a separate Trek series you
won't have to watch 700 plus episodes of previous Trek to understand discovery
however if you're expecting another Trek series akin to the next generation or
Voyager or any other for that matter you're in for a bit of a shock discovery
is against the backdrop of the Federation Klingon war a dark period in
the Federation's history and perhaps this sort of dark tone and more drama
fuelled environment may be a gripping take on the Star Trek universe but was
it the right one to take for a series that needed to act as an icebreaker
to reintroduce Trek to a wider audience perhaps not but it certainly made a
splash when it landed this darker tone not exactly as gritty as sci-fi like
Battlestar Galactica is more like a pervasive atmosphere around the show
even a majority of the humor is of a darker grim note at least to begin with
it often clashes with the lighter ethos of Star Trek's hopeful future style
message but this is the deliberate choice that over time becomes apparent
as stated from the get-go discovery would be following the career of Michael
Burnham played by Sonequa Martin-Green of walking-dead Fame a human orphan raised
on Vulcan and a science to the USS Shenzou now this fact is important in
understanding her character her upbringing she is an emotional
compassionate creature raised in an environment of pure logic and this
creates a confusing personality to follow especially in opening episodes
she seems fundamentally quite unlikable arrogant this is on purpose I suspect
and it opens her up for a greater development later on in the series but
again I question the choice and can completely understand why some people
don't like her character note I say her character not the acting as when Martin
Green is given leverage to remote she does so justifiably well it's just not
often that Burnham's character gets a chance to really open up until much
later on in the series. But don't worry despite the promise that discovery would
follow the story of Burnham exclusively there are plenty of other characters to
meet and learn about however this raises another issue which we'll touch on in a
minute jason isaacs captain Lorca is the militaristic pragmatic captain of the
USS discovery and despite being a very dark individual literally thanks to his
- sensitivity to light he is a joy to watch as he manipulates and schemes this
wartime setting here does the series of benefits and allows a captain such
as Lorca an opportunity to flourish with his at any costs kind of mentality
Antony Rapps' Paul Stamets provides an entertaining watch as a grumpy scientist
whose lifelong work has been apprehended for the war effort
said work becomes the major plot MacGuffin for the rest of the series a
technology to allow instantaneous travel across vast distances people who know
their lore of Trek will have the added benefit of watching to see how this
technology will inevitably fail as such the advancement over conventional war it
wouldn't be abandoned so easily but it must be gone by Kirk's time Doug Jones is
Saru to begin with provides some of the drama for the series by brushing Michael
Burnham the wrong way from the get but there's a theme beginning to form
here like Stamets' standoffish attitudes to everyone around him or Lorca's grim
attitude to his own crew Saru's personality is negative
literally being an individual with a constant innate fear built into him and
a frustration directed at Burnham even if it's a justifiable frustration this
coupled with all the other characters presents a crew that's very difficult to
warm up to. they're not friends they are colleagues forced to work
together and you get the feeling that everyone in the ship probably doesn't
hang around much intent forwards the breath of fresh air is cadet Tilly and
dr. Hugh Culber the former fresh out of the Academy is a boundless optimist
although not exactly naive while Culber is a more experienced medical
professional with a deep well of compassion now these characters do
develop as the series go on all of them becoming more likable over time as
things happen to them and the inclusion of new characters later on such as ash
Tyler played by Shazad Latif and Admiral Cornwell do more to diversify the cast
that initial hurdle is there and deliberately so the majority of people I
know who have watched Discovery Trek fans or not stopped watching before they
were past this hurdle so perhaps the writers of Discovery made it a little
too high another thing is that many of the other individuals we see on the
bridge of the Discovery are there simply to push buttons and say yes sir
and this is a problem Discovery's had a very short time to tear its ambitious
tale and as such anyone else essential to the plot at
hand is practically ignored chances are you won't even be able to name these
characters by episode 5 because between them they've had about two lines despite
being in every episode of course the series too is bookended with layered Klingon
encounters not so much in the middle but the thick rubber masks and the near
total exclusive use of the Klingon language makes it difficult to see them
as anything but the antagonists. Hell, because of the redesign it even makes
them difficult to identify as Klingons more on that later l'rell and Voq mark
out the two Klingons we are supposed to be interested in and yeah I kind of was
but more what they were doing rather than their actual characters I didn't
find myself caring about them as much as I should and often was left questioning
their inclusion in the narrative altogether. The story line itself was as
admitted written backwards plot point Z is where we need the series to end
so how do we get there? The tale being told in Discovery is one
of personal growth every character has changed from start to finish some more
profoundly than others and by the end of the series we are left with the promise
of a more optimistic future the trek was known for but the journey to get there
is disjointed in places a recurring problem is that from the get-go
characters perform actions because the plot demands it often excluding their
own motivations as a person they're taking a step back in looking at the
narrative as a whole you can see why these events needed to happen the
overarching storyline presented a cohesive tale it's when you get close
that the details become mudded and often hand waved away by the fast-paced nature
of the plot there are plot points that remain
unaddressed as well as frequent discrepancies in travel time speeds and
distance other issues are the infrequent nature of sensor systems sometimes
picking up signals from light-years away other times not detecting a ship right
off their bow but to be fair that's nothing new to Trek it's just very
noticeable here for some reason but again as pointed out though there is
reason for character X to perform action Y the reason just doesn't reside within
the character but at the whim of the writing and a greater narrative of which
the characters obviously remain unaware it's a shame in a way but I feel that
this may be because the amount of story they had to tell left little room for
the smaller details occasionally individual episodes stand
out as interesting stories and from about episode 8 onwards discovery has
found its footing and it seems it's creating a gripping series of escalating
engrossing events it's here that it's more dramatic
approach darker tone and character adversity pay off in spades but I can't
go into too much without talking spoilers so I won't suffice to say the
weaknesses and discoveries story are muffled by the compelling spectacle
unfolding on-screen speaking of on-screen spectacles this is a simple
one to sum up the visuals discovery looks fantastic
its style and camerawork market is completely different in aesthetic to the
other Trek series but provides a good jumping on point for familiarity to fans
of the 2009 films it is easily one of the best looking sci-fi shows I've seen
rivaling things like the expanse but as with almost everything in Discovery it's
give and take although the space visuals are great they're rarely used in any
other fashion other than to provide panning shots of a stationary USS
discovery and man do they love their zooming shots the sets are well-designed
lavish if not a little dark at times and they make convincing starships the props
and sound design to are spot-on and the uniforms are crisp if a little
uncomfortable looking so the elephant in the room is the redesigns themselves
sartre discovery went a great distance to create his own style to make it
identifiable from any other trek series and in doing so it borderline breaks
continuity I'm I'm tired of saying that word by now but it was the showrunners
choice to set it ten years before kirk and that comes with a set of
expectations. Did I want to see the crew navigating around space in tactical
turtlenecks and want the visuals to match what we saw in the 60s episode the
cage? No no not really I'm sorry but it does look fairly dated
but I would have liked there to be more in common with the designs than what we
got after all there's a difference between a complete redesign and a simple
reimagining you're on the subject of redesigns though the Klingons to me
still look weird they don't look like that I know and people point out that
the Klingons have been redesigned before but then those people also need to
acknowledge that there are law reasons that were then provided to establish the
change we're here discovery has yet to do so outside of simply wanting to
create its own visuals mini rant over but depending on how much emphasis you
place on the law this may be a major turning off point for you as it is for
me but that's my personal opinion
as for the future well it has been renewed for a season - and my hopes are
high discovery escalates from a bumpy start to a triumphant finish
despite its hasty plot points and often disregard for character in earlier
episodes personally I feel that the setting was the wrong one for the story
they wanted to tell a post Nemesis or Voyager series would have functioned
equally well and freed them from the confines of continuity but despite this
it was certainly something to behold the visuals and the care taken with the
design shows, whether you agree with the new look or not it's hard to deny the
effort on display here the point I simply try to make is that you can
respect the Canon as well as tell a new story and in season 2 it hints that this
may be the approach the show's taking now that the initial plot is all wrapped
up perhaps with more time a longer run might benefit the series allowing for
greater diversity in its character roster and if not then perhaps
formulating a storyline that is tailored for a shorter series from the get-go
would minimize plot holes and details
overall discovery is worth watching yes if you can do so without too much effort
if you're a trek fan I can completely understand and often share your
frustration with certain choices made but I would encourage you to check it
out regardless perhaps with a level of disconnectedness consider it a
reimagining of established events if you don't mind the redesigns and just want a
good story it's best to watch the show now as it's only after viewing the
series in its entirety there's a lot of questions and actions become apparent
from a narrative standpoint if nodding the finer details the ride is fun the
visuals are spectacular and if you want to simply enjoy a rich feast for the
eyes the then this series easily provides and if you are completely new to trek
altogether or have only seen the 2009 films then this is the series for you
I can understand your trepidation to jump into Star Trek but be assured this
series has you squarely in mind design ed from the ground
up to fill in a new audience and it might even encourage you to check out
some of the trek lineage though that's not a requirement with all that wrapped
up I did enjoy discovery despite its issues and as often pointed
out every iteration of Star Trek has never made it out of space dock without
some subspace turbulence after all it's nine conic series like
Star Wars and look at the split opinions on the Last Jedi thanks for listening to
my review of discovery season 1 if you're new to my channel I hope you'll
stop in from time to time to see what I've been up to and if not thanks for
watching anyway you peeps are the reason I hurry home from work every day ...oh god
I need a life... until next time I've been Rick thanks for watching and good bye