Off-Topic Discussion > General Discussion
Star Trek Discovery -- This is the good ****
The E:
After months of delays and reports of behind-the-scenes difficulties, hot opinion pieces about how this show is going to be the worst based on the design of its hero ship and other drama, Star Trek Discovery has finally launched.
The first two episodes are up on Netflix right now (outside of the US, that is; Americans, in a unique move, are getting the worst imaginable distribution method for this show), and let me tell you: This is the good ****. Yes, the pilot episodes does have the seemingly unavoidable ten minutes of expospeak. But once we're past that (and once you get past the fact that this show avoids translation convention), this is probably the best Star Trek ever since the high days of TNG and DS9.
Mongoose:
I recorded the premiere episode that they actually deigned to air on TV, but I'd never so much as heard CBS's paid streaming service until they started advertising the garbage for this. Hey, remember when cable-cutting was supposed to save people money by cutting out content you weren't interested in? Now you get the privilege of paying for 7 or 8 disparate services per month at a similar combined cost! Progress!
The E:
I am fairly certain that Discovery will see a renewed interest in VPNs and torrents.
Black Wolf:
Wow. I strongly disagree.
Assume spoilers from here on out, I'm not going to use the tag.
It felt like it was made by people with no real understanding of why Star Trek works, and no respect for the setting or the universe. Had it been in the Abramsverse, that would have been one thing, but given they made such a big deal about how it was in the prime universe, I was deeply disappointed with the very little effort they made to ground it in a franchise with a half century of history. They made bizarre decisions like having a blue guy on the bridge who clearly wasn't Andorian, and then explicitly mentioning Andorians later. Why make up a new species? Take your throw away chances to ground yourself in the universe. The federation trial at the end and the portrayal of Klingons were particularly out of character - why didn't they have hair? Why make them klingons if they're not going to look like Klingons? Or at the very least, improve the look - the new klingons look more complicated, and the quality of the makeup is better, but they're so complex that you can't really see the actor under way all the makeup, so they not only can't emote to the audience, but it's hard to tell them apart because your brain can't see the faces properly.
Even aesthetically, nothing looked even vaguely like it was ten years before ToS. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a purist. I don't want it to look like it's straight out of the sixties. But some nods would have been nice - some physical controls instead of touchscreens, some indication in the klingon ship design, anything.
Even if you just try to forget about all the previous Trek iterations, it's a struggle to care about any of the characters. The only two that had any impact on me were Michelle Yeo and the Admiral who turned up in episode two, both of whom were dead by the end of the episode. And as far as the main character goes... if anyone thinks Sonequa Martin Green's character made any sense through the episode... I just don't get it.
The Klingon bad guys motivations were unclear, but what they did manage to get across was that the empire was in disarray, and that unifying would be difficult... Except it wasn't. It basically took zero effort besides turning on that light thing, and a 2 minute speech, and by the end of the episode 23 of the 24 were basically committed to the martyr guy. Sure, give me a complicated, internally divided antagonist faction, or give me a monolithic, unified faction. But don't pretend to be one, then just flip to the other and claim to have told a story.
Some reviews suggest it picks up after episode three. I'm hoping. I'll grudgingly accept the aesthetic stuff if they tell a good story. But I'm not hopeful off that start.
The E:
--- Quote from: Black Wolf on September 25, 2017, 08:09:23 am ---It felt like it was made by people with no real understanding of why Star Trek works, and no respect for the setting or the universe. Had it been in the Abramsverse, that would have been one thing, but given they made such a big deal about how it was in the prime universe, I was deeply disappointed with the very little effort they made to ground it in a franchise with a half century of history. They made bizarre decisions like having a blue guy on the bridge who clearly wasn't Andorian, and then explicitly mentioning Andorians later.
--- End quote ---
I mean, that could've something to do with Andorians not being actual Aliens? In ENT, which is where they got most of their characterization, they were basically slightly more easily enraged humans. Saru fulfills the Data/Spock role here, observing humans from the outside, and that perspective would be invalidated by having him be of a species we know is fundamentally similar to us.
--- Quote ---Why make up a new species? Take your throw away chances to ground yourself in the universe. The federation trial at the end and the portrayal of Klingons were particularly out of character - why didn't they have hair? Why make them klingons if they're not going to look like Klingons? Or at the very least, improve the look - the new klingons look more complicated, and the quality of the makeup is better, but they're so complex that you can't really see the actor under way all the makeup, so they not only can't emote to the audience, but it's hard to tell them apart because your brain can't see the faces properly.
--- End quote ---
Hmm. That is a good point. After all, we know that everyone on Earth looks like americans, right. It's totally inconceivable that an entire species has factions in its culture, or develops in some way. I wonder, do you have similar objections to the way the TNG and Movie Klingons looked? Because those certainly didn't look anything like the ones in TOS...
--- Quote ---Even aesthetically, nothing looked even vaguely like it was ten years before ToS. Don't get me wrong, I'm it a purist. I don't want it to look like it's straight out of the sixties. But some nods would have been nice - some physical controls instead of touchscreens, some indication in the klingon ship design, anything.
--- End quote ---
It didn't look anything like ten years before TOS, no. It does look like something ten years after ENT, though.
--- Quote ---Even if you just try to forget about all the previous Trek iterations, it's a struggle to care about any of the characters. The only two that had any impact on me were Michelle Yeo and the Admiral who turned up in episode two, both of whom were dead by the end of the episode. And as far as the main character goes... if anyone thinks Sonequa Martin Green's character made any sense through the episode... I just don't get it.
--- End quote ---
I do, AMA.
--- Quote ---The Klingon bad guys motivations were unclear, but what they did manage to get across was that the empire was in disarray, and that unifying would be difficult... Except it wasn't. It basically took zero effort besides turning on that light thing, and a 2 minute speech, and by the end of the episode 23 of the 24 were basically committed to the martyr guy. Sure, give me a complicated, internally divided antagonist faction, or give me a monolithic, unified faction. But don't pretend to be one, then just flip to the other and claim to have told a story.
--- End quote ---
"Unclear motivation"?
Have you seen both released Episodes? Because the motivation is very clearly spelled out: T'Kuvma wants to unify the Empire against the Federation, which it sees as encroaching on klingon space. He believes that the Federations multicultural outlook, despite its successes, is something that will eventually kill the klingon identity if it isn't fought against. He is a nationalist/identitarian/religious fundamentalist who believes that racial and cultural unity must be preserved.
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