The Star Trek: Discovery thread (Spoilers)

Is anyone interested in getting into it? I'm already skeptical about it, but I would have definitely watched it if it was widely available (as in, available on Netflix in the U.S.). The first episode will be available tonight at 8 PM (I just checked my TV; reports say 5:30 PM PST, 8:30 PM ET). As a Star Trek fan that watched all shows and films, I'm bummed out this won't be available to more people. I'm not going to subscribe to CBS All Access. So, if things don't change, the first episode will be my last.

I’m going to skip it. I’m a huge fan of Star Trek, but I refuse to pay for yet another subscription service.

Yeah I'm interested to watch it. I'm not a big Star Trek fan, I've only watched a bit of TOS and TNG. Luckily I think all episodes will be available on my Netflix, so I won't have to worry about the CBS bullshit. I'll have to catch it after work though since it's going to air like 4AM or something for me.

I'm waiting for reactions from people that like the good Trek (not the reboot garbage). I really hated the trailers, don't like the direction, hate the visual style, and hate all the crap surrounding the series. I'm expecting it to be awful but hope it will be good. A lot of people are comparing this to BSG, but that's not what I want from Star Trek.

Missed this and doesn't look they are going to replay it. Too bad it's not on tv or Netflix, not sure why they think we all can subscribe to every stream service that comes out. Prime and Netflix is enough for me.

@oursin_360: It's not on yet? At least, not here it isn't. I'm PST. And yep, fully agree about the subscription thing.

I just watched the first episode and I like it. The style reminds me of Mass Effect.

I hope we get some fun adventure episodes and it's not 100% focused on the Klingon stuff.

I DVRed the first episode and haven't watched it yet, but even if I love it(which is doubtful, pretty much nothing about the lead-up to this has filled me with any confidence) I still won't pay for CBS streaming crap. I'll wait to get it for cheap on DVD at some point maybe.

EDIT: Oh, I guess I DVRed like half the episode, thanks football.

I like it well enough. I'm not bored, which I can't say for the overlong pilots of TNG and DS9. Keep an open mind and forget what you know about Star Trek and you might enjoy it. The world and tech feel a little more authentic. The alien costumes have eye contacts now, so they don't look as human as before. The space scenes look good, more like disorienting 2001 or Mass Effect shots than Star Trek, but with more exuberant colors (and lens flares). I like the new uniforms. The two female leads are alright. Too early to judge them, but I'm not expecting the cast to be as likable. Michelle Yeoh is great. One negative is that there's too much music. Some good suspense, but I hope the show isn't going to just be about this Klingon conflict.

The episode was okay, but it didn't even finish the story, which is probably expected since they want to lure you in. Yeah, that's not happening. Looks fine.

Everything about the Klingons is bad. Face, clothing, ship design... all bad. Everything else was fine I suppose.

@wrecks: I was (am?) hoping there is some kind of explanation for the look. I hope it's not just because they wanted a new look for Klingon's. Then again, there are other issues in that sense too.

I like Star Trek stuff and Bryan Fuller stuff, so I want to watch it. I won't get CBS All Access, though, so I guess I won't.

Something about CBS owning the old Star Trek and Paramount owning new Star Trek and having to make it look different for legal reasons. I don't really care. I don't view it as the same universe.

Dont Klingons look the way they do in TNG because of a disease? Couldn't you just say at this point in the timeline the disease is at a different stage?

I thought the first two episodes were pretty solid. There was a little too much of the movie-like action for my taste, but I'm willing to keep watching and see where this thing goes. I always thought Sonequa Martin-Green was great in the Walking Dead so it's cool to see her in a bigger role here. At the very least it has me more interested than the last three movies did, which admittedly isn't saying much.

@hayt: No, in the time of this show, they'd look like they do in the original series still. There's an explanation in Enterprise as to why they look more human in the original series. There's also a fun mention in a Deep Space Nine episode where some of the crew go back to the Trouble with Tribbles episode of the original series. The way they look in TNG and most of Star Trek is their natural look, it was when Klingon's tried to mess with the genetic enhancements that made Khan so imposing that turned them into more human looking beings. It's a disease, but their look in the original series is due to the disease, not their look in TNG and beyond. Oh, and if I assume the scene correctly from Enterprise, they simply look more natural to how Klingons are supposed to be because in between Enterprise time and one of the movies with the original cast, they had cranial reconstruction surgery.

I condemn piracy but at the country where i live there no other option available.

@drachmalius: Wait, was the second part also on TV?

Tried watching the first episode. Got in about ten minutes and had to stop. I know that's not really enough time to form a fully thought out opinion, but maaaaan I really hated everything I saw. It both looks and feels distinctly unlike Star Trek. Not really surprised, considering what the trailers were like. I'll give it another shot when the whole thing is out; maybe get a free trial of their subscription service, blitz through the show and then cancel it?

@ntm said:

I'd like to think that considering everyone made a big deal that this was in the prime timeline, not the one created for the new movie series, that this will be addressed. If I had to take my guess, I could see a very obvious these old Klingson are far more pureblood, or further down the evolutionary chain enough that it leads to them looking basically like walking animals. They have almost no human traits in Discovery, and are more akin to an Orc honestly.

@relkin Could you elaborate on what about it feels distinctly un Star Trek? I'm not going to deny that I think there is an aspect of the aesthetics that take some getting used too, but as much as I may say it doesn't quite look completely like Star Trek I also think it doesn't look completely unlike Star Trek either. To be completely honest I felt like I was watching Star Trek with a Halo skin on it. It still had lots of very Trek like moments, dialogue, even certain set pieces. And don't even get me started on the noise. They went out of their way to call back to some of the most obscure random bridge noises that they used in the Kirk days.

I will say to those wondering, at the end of the second episode there is a teaser that sets into motion the rest of the season. I was far more impressed with where it looked like things were going. It didn't look completely like it was all the Trek that I think some people may want, but it looked bold and interesting in ways that I think could make it stand out. Plus I think it'll grow into being more of a Trek show. The aesthetics though, I don't know if you can make a big enough change to them at this point so it's going to take some getting used to.

Watched the first two episodes on the 2 day trial and cancelled my sub. The show would have to be really special for me to pay yet another monthly fee, and it doesn't appear to be. Maybe further episodes will move beyond reboot-style action and capture the spirit of the older shows, but I kinda doubt it.

And, yeah... the Nosferatu Klingon makeup design. Bleh.

Ended up signing up for Netflix to watch it, and have now seen the first two episodes.

Seems alright so far. The klingon redesign (and changes in their language? They may speak the same words, but it seemed to flow much better in the earlier shows, they spoke in staccato the whole time here) was incredibly unnecessary.

No Star Trek show has had a particularly strong first season, so it's too early to really judge it yet, but I certainly wasn't disappointed. Seemed on par with the Enterprise or Voyager pilot episodes.

Looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

Damn, they don't seem to include teasers in the Netflix version.

Yeah, that design choice got especially weird since they had basically already used it for the Remans in Nemesis and Enterprise (and Enterprise is still canon in the Discovery universe, isn't it?).

.... I guess they could tie it to more Romulan spy stuff with a Romulan/Reman genetic cure for the Klingon disease thing. There was a lot of Romulan meddling in Klingon affairs in TNG at least.

@devise22: As far as the look of the show goes, the various references in this thread to Mass Effect, or your mention of Halo speak for themselves. Those things each have their own looks, and Star Trek has it's. I'm afraid I'm not good at describing decor, but the visual styles of the ship interiors, or the tech in general in something like TNG versus that of Discovery are obviously different; they are so completely and immediately recognizable as being distinct from one another, that I kind of don't feel like I should have to elaborate, if that makes sense. I'll also say that I actually don't like the use of a lot of the old sounds, because it makes the contrast between what Star Trek used to look like and what it looks like now so much more apparent.

I could maybe see the argument that this...hyper-sleek aesthetic is Star Trek, because it's just the current day's idea of what future tech will look like, as opposed to what they thought it would be in the 60's with TOS, or in the late 80's with TNG. I personally don't think that argument flies, but I can see why someone would.

There's also the issue of pacing; I can't speak to the pacing of the overall narrative (as I didn't even watch a whole episode), but the cadence, or the rhythm of conversation is too quick. The little argument in the captains quarters between the first officer and the science officer in the first episode is a good example of this. Everything is too fast, everyone is too on the ball with their responses. It needs to slow down a whole bunch. Star Trek is a slow, thoughtful experience. I know that for the last several years it has in fact been the complete opposite of that, but I don't want to believe that is a permanent change.

As someone who even loves the black sheep Trek shows (DS9 and Enterprise) I can’t stand Discovery so far.

It started off promisingly with most of the first episode (It felt like it was taking it's time, letting it breathe but that second one makes the first JJ Trek look like old school Trek. The deus ex machina was in full swing with Michael and them making Klingons religious was just a weird choice. The death of the captain and making the albino Klingon the inevitable antagonist were both predictable and both are overdone tropes. Oh, and Albino Klingon looks like Buffy's The Master. It turned into an action movie where decisions were made without any logic just to have a “cool action scene”. The CGI was sometimes good but also often awful. Michael remarks on the beauty of the Klingon ship as she flies over it & it looks like a game that didn’t load the good textures in yet.

Also, the title theme is worse than bad, it's unremarkable and unmemorable. I hate the Enterprise theme but I at least get what they were going for even if it would have been better with Archer's Theme as originally planned. This theme just feels like Generic Movie soundtrack #74 and that's an even worse sin than Enterprise's Adult Contemporary theme.

I am very disappointed. I went in, not expecting it to be good, expecting New Trek and was getting hopeful as it went on but then it went full New Trek.

If the teaser at the end of episode 2 is anything to go by the show being called Discovery is going to be so ironic.

These new Klingon look like space egyptians more than anything. The architecture of the ships and armor all remind me of Stargate more than Star Trek.

It's a weird direction and as a fan of the new rebooted films I can also understand the frustration some fans felt at the material becoming more action focused. This show was a chance at making those fans happy, but I guess thats not going to happen.

I can see that comparison when it comes to the Klingon ship design and it's weird stairs all over the place. Stargate: Atlantis specifically had a habit of putting stairs like that everywhere. The angular brig design also had a hint of the human ships in SG-1/Atlantis. The bridge itself looked fairly consistent with the one in Enterprise though. Was a bit odd to use TOS sound effects as the only hint that this was set between TOS and Enterprise though.

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For me the biggest disappointment is the conceptual one - to do yet another prequel show and cram it in between Enterprise and TOS. I'd much rather have seen them make something set after the events of the TNG movies.

That would've allowed them to take in the scientific and technological advancements we've seen in the last 30 years without breaking any continuity with previous shows, explore new species and the relations to established ones without having to keep in mind who the humans were supposed to have contact with by the start of TOS, as well as resolve some political questions that were asked in TNG and DS9 (I'd still love to hear more about the environmental impacts of warp drives which they brought up in TNG S7's "Force of Nature").

So, I have much larger problems with the show's premise than its actual execution, which I think seems totally fine so far.

I could go for a new star trek, but everything I have seen about this one does seem to turn me off. I will have to look into it though. Sounds almost like a combo between Enterprise [yuck] and the huge episode arc of deep space nine I hated. I will see though :) I don't really know that much about it actually. I mean, how all seems to take place with a war setting in it just is very uninteresting to me. Star trek can be good with war episodes/arcs, but a whole premise on it becomes too much. Star trek is at it's best peaceful [in the big picture peaceful, doesn't mean there wont' be one off battles]. And it being a prequel if they ever do "explore" here come a ton of contrivances for if they do find anything interesting and new why it was never in the later parts of the series [ToS, TNG, ect].

I would rather just have them make it take place after everything else that already happened.

OK, so you make Discovery part of your title but offer no exploration? You have stupid logic like high tech radio can't reach trough a storm but human foot prints will been seen from the orbit? First officer who just can't follow orders? Again with human emotions clashing with Vulcan logic? Klingon's that have trouble of moving without appearing comically stiff?

Kind of combination of "already seen that" and "that's stupid" combined with really bad visual look and you got a very "meh" start to new Star Trek. When shows like The Expanse exist, this is really clearly a B-tier offering.

I'm surprised at all the negativity, I actually really liked the first two episodes. They even managed to semi-justify that really dumb "I sense the coming of death" line from the trailer by mentioning that Saru's species is basically the deer of their planet.

The first two hours really felt like a prologue so it's hard to imagine how the rest of the series will feel, but the idea of following a disgraced officer is pretty promising. The teaser for the rest of the season at the end of episode two made it pretty clear they're committed to a serialized story, but I hope they have at least a few 'planet of the week' episodes in there.

I love the look too, so even if it sucks I'll probably watch it for Star Trek lights and sounds.

This is the Giant Bomb forums, you shouldn't be surprised.

You bring me in with Michelle Yeoh, and then take her away? Dropped.

I thought the first two episodes were kind of average. I feel like I need to watch more to see how they handle character development, life on the ship and exploring and discovering new planets/species. I thought the directing was kind of fast and loose. It was very action-heavy and maybe I just did not expect that. The Klingon stuff was not the most compelling to start with, not to me at least.

I would watch it, but like others have stated, I'm not paying for CBS streaming services. I understand why they do it, but considering that I have Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon that I either pay for or chip in money for, I think I have enough other things that I can watch without having to throw money into that toilet as well...such as the other Star Trek shows. Speaking of which...(pulls up Netflix)

Second episode was alright. Looking forward to the real crew now. I'm not gonna get attached, though. This show is gonna get cancelled after probably one season, unless it gets put on a real network. Everyone is just gonna pirate it.

Big trekkie here, watched every scrap of Trek there is, some of it many times. Discovery made a really bad first impression with that pilot episode, only some of which was redeemed/resolved in that second ep. It's unfortunate that the part 2 only went live on the internet, so all those people on the fence about Discovery because of yet another subscription aren't going to get to see it. At this point, I'd recommend most people wait until the season is done, and then binge it during a 1-week free trial.

To me, the show really feels like it's trying a second or third season plot arc right out of the gate, and that they're not giving the cast enough time to breathe or the actors enough time to get a feel for the characters. That frenetic pace makes the whole show feel like a 100 meter sprint rather than the slow burn I'd expect from a season-long Trek story arc. We'll see, though. I remain cautiously optimistic.

@devise22: I think a big problem with all those callbacks is they weren't consistent with them at all. There are visual and audio cues from both Enterprise, TOS, and the Kirk-era movies sprinkled all over the set, sound, and costume design, in addition to fairly massive influences from JJ's reboot look as well. It just ends up feeling really unfocused and cluttered. The show really needs to form its own identity. My little brother (who's only a trekkie by osmosis) thought this was in JJ's timeline just on appearances, if that tells you anything.

I hated the title sequence as well, but for me the gravest sin was the overly artisy visuals. What I was hoping for was a CGI tour-de-force of the ship flying by all the cool new astronomical phenomena that have been discovered or theorized since Bakula's show ended in '05. Something more like Voyager, DS9, or TNG's opening. Why does it instead look like schematics drafted on parchment? The theme music did feel overly understanded. I would've liked something a bit more symphonic and powerful. The half-hearted effort at including the Trek music motif end just made me think the composer didn't know what to do with the title music.

@humanity: Many hardcore Trek fans are the franchise's worst enemy, honestly. I thought the first two episodes were rad (with minor nitpicks) and then went online to find a lot of people whining about those same minor nitpicks as if they were massive unforgivable sins. I'm beginning to see why no one managed to get a Star Trek show on the air in over a decade. The fanbase just eats itself.

@marokai said:

Yeah, I feel the same way. Discovery is pretty much exactly what I wanted from a modern Trek series so I find the backlash kind of baffling.

You can select Klingon subtitles on Netflix.

It's really not that baffling. People with different opinions from yours want something from Star Trek you don't.

To be fair, a large part of the backlash is about CBS All Access, not the show itself. I'd be happy to watch it develop if I didn't have to pay extra for the privilege.

I know it's a low bar but this was easily the best Star Trek pilot episode. I don't love it, but I will definitely keep watching.

But damn those Klingons look bad. The armor looks like something out of Oblivion.

Pro: I like their uniforms.

Con: Listening to Klingon. It sounds dumb. Can we just pretend we all have translators?

Pro and Con: I love Michelle Yeoh.

The Klingons kinda look like CeeLo's alter ego Gnarly Davidson.

You really had to say that? ... I will never get to see it in germany in any regular way :(

Edit: Oh, I'll take that back. It's on Netflix in germany.

I just googled the klingon redesign, and my god my eyes burn. Why even redesign the literal coolest looking aliens in the entire series anyway? Especially to make em look like that.

• Is the show about drama or about action?
• Is about difficult decisions and moral quandaries or about the swagger with which the characters execute decisions?
• Is there an ambition or attempt to communicate something true or insightful, or is it just formulaic exercise in holding pace and attention?
• Is it an episodic morality tale or a space soap opera story arc?
• Is it epic greenscreen bombast or nuanced chamber theatre?
• Can it even be anything but a sad and pathetic genre copy-pasta, travesty and parody of itself at this point, like every other long running franchise? Even in this golden age for TV-series.
• Does service guarantee citizenship?*

Those are the Q.s I can think of before I give it a try.

I mean, through this first double episode it's been action oriented, with the usual quips about logic vs human emotions, but that's kinda been the case with every Star Trek pilot sans TNG and to some extent DS9.

If you feel really strongly about getting answers to those questions before giving it a shot, I'd recommend you wait a few more episodes and see what people say then. It's really hard to judge the show on the first 90 minutes of it alone.

Just re-watched the first episode. I'm bummed that it's locked behind a subscription model. I think the show looks cool, with potentially interesting characters and new races, I like the tech behind it too, though I am against a lot of the differences considering where it is in the timeline. The Klingons' look hopefully has a reason to look like that, but it's not just that. It really runs into the same problem that the recent movies did (though those potentially have reason to look more advanced?) The design of the ships are much more advanced looking than even what's in TNG, and it's awkward that they use holograms when they use a small computer screen in TNG. Plus, it was goofy that Sarek, as a hologram sat down on the table next to Micheal. I just don't like the fact that they try to advance the look of Star Trek based on our perception of the future now, compared to the past. It may make it look like what we think it'll look like then, but it doesn't help the universe.

I just realized what the new Klingons remind me of... they look like dark Eldar or drow. Always pointy, all the time.