dhmac

RedLetterMedia reviews the entire season of "Star Trek Discovery"





And given that Mike Stoklasa has a near encyclopedic knowledge of Star Trek (such as in the clips below), so his views on Discovery are worth hearing



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Defiant1

For legal reasons between CBS & Paramount, he can't. The movies exist separately from the TV series. Besides, Sarek and Amanda Grayson are played by different actors in each iteration, so Discovery Spock might as well be a new actor too.

Overall, I really enjoyed the season. Easily the best 1st season of any Trek series. Sure, I have some qualms about certain aspects of the show and I would love the show to be more ensemble-based instead of the Michael Burnham Hour, Every Hour, but that's stuff they can work on for Season 2.

Thrush

Bonus scene:

PatD

This scene represents everything I hate about Modern Trek. It relies too much on callbacks to previous series, it's dark, there's no real science fiction, and there's no "seeking out new life new civilizations, boldly going where no one has gone before". As excellent a show as it was, Deep Space Nine started this trend over 20 years ago and it led the franchise into obscurity.

Josh-da-man

The thing that really hurt Trek in the past twenty years wasn't DS9, but Voyager and Enterprise with their dull stock characters and bland storytelling. Those two series were the kind of Star Trek that people who hated Star Trek sight unseen thought it was. And we also can't forget the awful final two TNG movies. It's like they weren't even trying.

I also think that pop culture has sort of moved beyond the whole "seeking out new life new civilizations, boldly going where no one has gone before" theme. Modern audiences, and not just the Star Trek audience, desire darker stories filled with conflict, both interpersonal and political, conspiracies, and moral ambiguity.

Defiant1

Agreed on all points.

PatD

Star Trek used to stand out by offering the audience something different. Offering up something optimistic and smart in the face of constant nihilism-as-entertainment might find an untapped audience that has gone unnoticed. Something bland and dumb like Voyager and Enterprise wouldn't fit the bill; DS9 is pretty much every show on television now; but something like TOS and TNG in their heydey could find a following. "It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness" they say. Considering its never really been tried (and I'm aware of the JJ movies--they don't count), I say they should give it a whirl.

Hokeyboy

I don't think audiences want "darker stories filled with conflict" necessarily. They want quality, long-form storytelling that builds upon what has come before. Conflict, yes. Complexity and moral ambiguity, sure. But you can use those tools to build a story about exploration, communication, contact, and hope/optimism. Without endless filler episodes about holodecks or Psychology 101 familial relationships or "learning what it means to be human" or "hamhanded metaphors for contemporary issues", etc.

PatD

A lot of those "filler episodes" became classics over time. And arc-based storytelling doesn't necessarily denote quality. To each their own.

tanman

I agree. I think that especially nowadays with every TV series being a continual story I think they took the safe route and went along with every other show on TV. I think the braver route would have been to do something different. To bring back that hope and optimism. I think it would have stood out more and attracted more newer viewers. I'm not sure about the numbers and this is just my feeling but it just seems like STD didn't really attract any new viewers to Star Trek and even alienated some along the way.

tanman

This is just me but I think one of the unique things about Star Trek is that it's the only fictional world that I would actually want to live in. Yeah I know that sounds really nerdy but it's true. So it's those "filler episodes" to me that end up resonating with me. The episode about family right after the Best of Both Worlds I think is an episode that only Star Trek would do. It's such a simple episode about familial relationships but is one that draws you even closer to the characters. I think that's one thing that STD is sorely lacking is taking the time to do some world building and character building. I didn't really feel any differently for these characters at the beginning of the season vs the end of the season. I think that's pretty telling.

melasnus

Completely agree.
The original ST, TNG, and DS9 was must watch TV.
I tried the later series and none measured up and some were downright horrible.

Very true.

Sean O'Hara

The producers didn't want to do that episode, though, and tried to get the writer to insert a technobabble subplot on the Enterprise.


You didn't feel any differently about Lorca or Tyler after finding out who they really were? You didn't feel differently about Stamets after he mellowed out?

DJariya

More Star Trek TV shows, miniseries, animated and other projects coming courtesy of Alex Kurtzman, the new showrunner of Discovery. He just signed a new 5-year deal with CBS.

https://deadline.com/2018/06/alex-ku...os-1202413294/

DJariya

Kurtzman developing potental Star Trek series with Patrick Stewart returning as Picard:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/li...nchise-1104232


But, a deal with him is not done yet.

Deftones

Now this I can get behind.

Eric F

Probably be that Starfleet Academy show they keep mentioning over the years with Picard running it.

alfredog1976

Season 2 trailer:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yDIlBDRkPDI" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Draven

Looks great. Loved the old school uniform. Effects continue to look fantastic. Excited for the return!

randian

No love for The Culture?

Apropos of nothing, I totally understand not wanting to live in the universe of Warhammer 40,000

DJariya

Looks really fun. I wonder how far along they are in production because that's a lot of special effects in a 2+ minute trailer for something that doesn't air until 2019.

at the alien with the cold and then sneezing.

Anson Mount looks good as Christopher Pike. I do see a little tease about Spock.

DJariya

Sean O'Hara

Also confirmed that Rebecca Romijn will play Number One.

Thrush

Dont know about the new Captain. I though Lorca was great.

DJariya

You mean Anson Mount playing Pike? Pike's an established character in the Star Trek universe.

Mount's a decent actor.