Despite growing up watching The Original Series, The Next Generation, Voyager, and all the movies, one of the things I never really got to experience within the Star Trek universe was a new show. Technically Enterprise premiered when I was a pre-teen, but that landed with such a thud that it never peaked my interest. As such, one could easily say that "Discovery" is the first Trek show I've been able to watch "from the beginning" during its original airtime. What I found was a smartly-written, action-packed show that clearly pays homage to the past while forging ahead with new stories/plots as well. Though perhaps not perfect, after watching this first season I can cleanly say I'm excited to be watching Star Trek again!
For a sort of brief overview, "Discovery" takes place post-Enterprise but pre-TOS (to set the stardate, if you will). Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is a traitor to the Federation, having defied the orders of her captain, Phillipa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh), and inadvertently started the war with the Klingon Empire. Originally nothing more than a prisoner-in-transit, Burnham manages to endear herself to Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) of the U.S.S. Discovery, a ship developing a secret technology/weapon that could be used to end the war once and for all. Somewhat reprieved of her previous crimes, Burnham continues to help Discovery fight the Klingons and endure the fantastic (and sometimes fantastical) scrapes such a conflict inevitably produces.
That's just the very basic concept of "Discovery"--to go much deeper would be wading into spoiler-heavy territory--but suffice it to say that oh so much more is actually covered! For example...
-This is easily the most serialized Trek show of the bunch, so there are plot/character threads that run from pilot to finale. These aren't the "one-offs" of older Trek shows. -It's clear that show runners Bryan Fuller & Alex Kurtzman value the Trek cannon, as numerous references and key plot points abound that keen Trekkies will instantly pick up on (yet also aren't too reliant on those points so that new fans can't enter in, either). For example, a character played by Rainn Wilson is an immediate nod to TOS, while an alternate universe discovered will look awfully familiar. In short, a very good mix of "honoring the old stuff" while also telling its own stories. -A strong push on fleshing out just what "The Federation" stands for, which becomes a larger and larger concept as the season rolls along. Enveloped in a seemingly never-ending war with the Klingons, what steps might be too far to end it? The United Federation of Planets has always been as much of an over-arcing ideal as a tangible belief system, but "Discovery" changes that and isn't afraid to "get its hands dirty" diving into those tricky issues.
Of course, any Trek series might ultimately be defined by its cast of unique characters. Besides those aforementioned, we also have...
-Saru (Doug Jones), a commanding officer from a race that can sense impending death -Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif), a pawn (for both sides) in the war effort -Engineer Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and his partner, Doctor Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz). Star Trek has always been (or should be) a very progressive-leaning show, so the gay characters made all the sense in the world and truly add some great emotion to the proceedings. -Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), the plucky-but-overly-anxious cadet with dreams of command in her future.
By the end of this season I was invested in every one of the characters in this show (a great sign going forward!).
In terms of storytelling flow, I was hooked pretty much right from the beginning. The middle of the season experienced a bit of a dip (IMHO), but after the mid-season break it came back with a string of episodes that absolutely blew me away in both concept and drama (if you like alt-universe stuff or the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of TOS specifically, you are in for a treat!) right through until the very end, which teases a new intriguing plot line for season two!
I guess the bottom line for me with this first season of "Discovery" is how much fun I had being immersed in an intelligently-created Trek universe again! It isn't perfect, with the main flaw probably being some tonal tug-of-wars (likely brought on by Fuller creating the show and then being relieved of his duties far along into the process). My guess is that such issues should be ironed-out in the upcoming second season. I watched these episodes on a free trial of CBS All-Access, and they were more than enough to likely get me to shell out some cash for the service sometime during S2's run. In some capacity I'll always be a "Trekkie" at heart, and this one hit that sweet spot for me. I'm truly astounding by the multitude of poor reviews this series has received ("#NotMyTrek" and the like). To each his/her own, I guess, but this one comes highly recommend from this Trek fan!
For a sort of brief overview, "Discovery" takes place post-Enterprise but pre-TOS (to set the stardate, if you will). Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is a traitor to the Federation, having defied the orders of her captain, Phillipa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh), and inadvertently started the war with the Klingon Empire. Originally nothing more than a prisoner-in-transit, Burnham manages to endear herself to Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) of the U.S.S. Discovery, a ship developing a secret technology/weapon that could be used to end the war once and for all. Somewhat reprieved of her previous crimes, Burnham continues to help Discovery fight the Klingons and endure the fantastic (and sometimes fantastical) scrapes such a conflict inevitably produces.
That's just the very basic concept of "Discovery"--to go much deeper would be wading into spoiler-heavy territory--but suffice it to say that oh so much more is actually covered! For example...
-This is easily the most serialized Trek show of the bunch, so there are plot/character threads that run from pilot to finale. These aren't the "one-offs" of older Trek shows. -It's clear that show runners Bryan Fuller & Alex Kurtzman value the Trek cannon, as numerous references and key plot points abound that keen Trekkies will instantly pick up on (yet also aren't too reliant on those points so that new fans can't enter in, either). For example, a character played by Rainn Wilson is an immediate nod to TOS, while an alternate universe discovered will look awfully familiar. In short, a very good mix of "honoring the old stuff" while also telling its own stories. -A strong push on fleshing out just what "The Federation" stands for, which becomes a larger and larger concept as the season rolls along. Enveloped in a seemingly never-ending war with the Klingons, what steps might be too far to end it? The United Federation of Planets has always been as much of an over-arcing ideal as a tangible belief system, but "Discovery" changes that and isn't afraid to "get its hands dirty" diving into those tricky issues.
Of course, any Trek series might ultimately be defined by its cast of unique characters. Besides those aforementioned, we also have...
-Saru (Doug Jones), a commanding officer from a race that can sense impending death -Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif), a pawn (for both sides) in the war effort -Engineer Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and his partner, Doctor Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz). Star Trek has always been (or should be) a very progressive-leaning show, so the gay characters made all the sense in the world and truly add some great emotion to the proceedings. -Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), the plucky-but-overly-anxious cadet with dreams of command in her future.
By the end of this season I was invested in every one of the characters in this show (a great sign going forward!).
In terms of storytelling flow, I was hooked pretty much right from the beginning. The middle of the season experienced a bit of a dip (IMHO), but after the mid-season break it came back with a string of episodes that absolutely blew me away in both concept and drama (if you like alt-universe stuff or the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of TOS specifically, you are in for a treat!) right through until the very end, which teases a new intriguing plot line for season two!
I guess the bottom line for me with this first season of "Discovery" is how much fun I had being immersed in an intelligently-created Trek universe again! It isn't perfect, with the main flaw probably being some tonal tug-of-wars (likely brought on by Fuller creating the show and then being relieved of his duties far along into the process). My guess is that such issues should be ironed-out in the upcoming second season. I watched these episodes on a free trial of CBS All-Access, and they were more than enough to likely get me to shell out some cash for the service sometime during S2's run. In some capacity I'll always be a "Trekkie" at heart, and this one hit that sweet spot for me. I'm truly astounding by the multitude of poor reviews this series has received ("#NotMyTrek" and the like). To each his/her own, I guess, but this one comes highly recommend from this Trek fan!