Draven

There's plenty of Trek out there that follows those directions. I'm ready for some different stories in that universe.

lisadoris

I h ad this thought when they showed

eXcentris

I'm with you. This episode was much better than the first two, and good sci-fi is all I want. I could not care less about Star Trek history/continuity.

Defiant1

ST: Enterprise already dealt with this, and is set a century before ST: Discovery.

mikehunt

watching the 3rd one now. I wish they had made it more visually like TOS. Continues and New Voyages both proved good episodes can still be made that look like tos. I get the need to make it look more modern to get viewers but I wish they had done it in a different way

ugh, voice controlled site to site transport

I'm just going with this being in the JJ verse, or parallel universe that is closer to the JJ verse than it is to previous Trek.

tanman

But the difference is that you can see the moral ambiguity because it is still set in the world that Roddenberry built. That made it really interesting because it was so different. But the writers on DS9 didn't take that lightly. They dealt with all the choices that they had to make and why it was a different time then early TNG.

That's totally different then starting out the show as dark as it is and the entire crew seemingly abandoning what the federation stands for.

Personally its still early to form a final opinion but I had a lot more mixed feelings about the 3rd episode. I really like the first two but the Discovery seems broken and while I understand creating tension among the crew it just seems like nobody can get along. Feels more like Battlestar Galactica then Star Trek. And I'm sorry but I'm just not buying the fungus driven engines. They've proposed a lot of weird stuff before but that's right up there with breaking the warp 10 barrier and turning into salamanders.

It's almost like they're trying too hard on this show. Things just feel too forced. Like the roommate being the comedic relief.

Why So Blu?

Now we're cooking. This is some antihero / shady as fuck shit in terms of the new Enterprise and crew.

Josh-da-man

Lucius Malfoy has his own starship. What's not to love?

dhmac

Red Letter Media reviews the "Star Trek Discovery" 2-part pilot in one of their "re:View" segments:



(A better review than others, I think, due to their almost encyclopedic knowledge of Star Trek)

BearFan

I was really iffy after the first 2 episodes. The 3rd was much better

tanman

That's funny I thought the opposite.

I thought the pilot worked well as a stand alone movie to set up this part of the timeline but now that we're actually on the actual Discovery I have serious doubts.

1. The crew of the Discovery don't seem to function like a crew.
2. It doesn't feel like Star Trek. I agree with some of the comments that JJ Abrams did a better job making the reboot feel like Star Trek. For example the excessive use of Star Wars like holograms to communicate.
3. The technobabble really doesn't make any sense in the well established world of Trek. I mean seriously? Fungus driven enginess?! Are they called mycoengines? Also I'm not a big fan of the ship design. Especially the Klingons. It looks like whoever was in charge of the look of Micheal Bay's Transformers was in charge. Very haphazard.
4. This one is the biggest flaw to me. The characters seem to be more like stereotype one notes than real people that we will be able to explore over several seasons. Here's the morally ambiguous captain that's willing to break the rules during war. Here's the science researcher (astromycologist <- that is so ridiculous to type) that thinks he's hot stuff but is showed up by our protagonist. Here's the gruff security officer. Here's the comic relief. These characters seem about as deep as an inflatable kiddie pool. Every other series, even within the first few episodes, you could tell that the characters had more depth and they weren't just stereotypes. It's hard to explain but they feel more like movie characters where it's okay if they are only onscreen for a couple hours. But these are characters you're supposed to be able to journey with over several seasons. I think they sacrificed character development for an overarching plot.

However, all these complaints aside I'm not one of those that's going to give up on the show after just 3 episodes. This is just my initial thoughts on the series so far and there are a lot of things I like about it. The production values are amazing and I really like the title theme.

BearFan

I tend to think of episode 3 as the pilot for all but 2 of the characters and they all seem to have a bit of "more than meets the eye" vibe to them all. I'll agree with you if they all stay and act the same going forwards

As for the engine, the continuity may be fine, I have a feeling the engine will meet with a horrible end

I agree though, it seems less Trek than prior shows ... I assume that is intentional ... but I'll roll with it

Defiant1

I was happy that the crazy camera angles in the first two episodes calmed down considerably for the 3rd one. It is intriguing that the pissy astromycologist seems to openly loathe his CO. We've never seen a Starfleet crew act that way to each other before.

When I first saw the big Klingon coffin ship, it definitely reminded me of Scorponok in the Transformers movies.

How come this show isn't getting a separate thread per episode? I think there's enough interest to warrant it.

Ranger

Finally got the All Access CBS account and watched the first two episodes. Thought it was pretty good. I like the cast.

My only issue is the main title sequence. The music is OK, but the video is too bright compared to other Trek theme sequences. I like the comments that said it's like a Bond opening or a slideshow of Apple products.

Thrush

I agree with those who said the 3rd episode was better than the 1st 2. At least now I'm curious about what direction they're heading in. It also did a slightly better job of having us get to know the cast. In the 1st 2 eps they spent a bunch of time killing off people that the audience didn't know or care about.

Tom Banjo

Here’s a wild thought... what if this show is actually taking place in the Mirror universe?

Why So Blu?

whotony

Has there been any weird facial hair?

Flave

Nah, they don't have beards.

Defiant1

No. There would be a Terran Empire then instead of Starfleet and the Federation.

tanman

Ugh..I'm not familiar with that series but that short bald guy is the most annoying person. Even his laugh is highly irritating. And their knowledge isn't that impressive I'm pretty sure I know more about Star Trek then they do.

But they do bring up very good points. I think the irritating guy is just mad that it's not like previous iterations but the other guy does a good job of explaining why. Basically they don't know who the audience is for this new Trek. It plays more like the recent movies in terms of tone and story and I think we all know that Trek movies are a whole different animal then Trek TV and the problem is that what fans really want are Trek TV episodes that are less about the action and more about the ideals and stories. I think the guy hit it on the head when he said that the world of TNG you would want to live in. There is hope and there is an interesting world that you want to explore. With STD you wouldn't want to live in this world because it is so bleak and violent.

Why So Blu?

Agreed.

PatD

Bingo. This is why I'm pretty much done with Modern Star Trek. You know why they can't do a post-DS9/VGR/Nemesis Star Trek? Because that would take VISION. They would take actual world-building, and a philosophy to guide the stories. It's safer to do prequels, rebooting familiar territory, and mine nostalgia than build something new. It would be daring to do something optimistic and go against the grain of the ungodly plethora dark, bleak programming and no current show runner has the balls to do that. Star Trek used to make its own rules and follow its own course. Now, it just wants to be one of the crowd. So, I'm content to watch my TOS and TNG Blu rays and rather than fund something that's more of the same.

Draven

Thought the 4th episode was fantastic. I LOVE the look of the series - the spinning saucer for their spore drive is an awesome touch. Looks like a ton of money is going into this one.

I'm also really enjoying the science-turned-war vessel idea. These are the early days - the Wild West version of what Starfleet will eventually become. I've said before that there are plenty of post-utopia Trek stories out there. I am ready for the down and dirty origin stuff.

I do wish they'd calm it down on the subtitles with the Klingons though. I feel like I'm reading half the show

hdtv00

That's it I'm done this show isn't star trek, period.