Star Trek Discovery

[Sunsilver]

So, uh, what did y'all think of the premier?

I'm like, 'hmmm...' just WHERE is this going to go from here?? If there's going to be any sort of a story,

Hidden text.

Michael is going to have to somehow get out of prison

. Then what??

They must have spent a fortune on makeup and special effects. I did not envy the actors playing the Klingons when I saw the heavy, heavy facial makeup and prostheses they had to wear! And those costumes look like they would be very uncomfortable to wear, not to mention doing serious damage to someone if you bumped into them!

Klingons have never looked like that before. They almost look like they are a different species from the ones we've known in the other Star Trek series. Right now, my feelings are sort of 'WHAT THE HECK??'


I couldn't help but think, as I watched the opening scenes, and the lavish sets and special effects (and costumes!); of the original Star Trek, with its oh-so-basic sets and blinking lights and sometimes ridiculous alien costumes. We've come a loooong, looong way, baby!! It boggles my mind to think back to 50 years ago, and it makes me happy and humbled to have seen the evolution of this.

I'm just a little puzzled as to where it's all going, and if they can actually make it work. But they made the original Trek work, without all the fancy sets and costumes, so let's hope they can pull this off.

Oh, and the post-trek interviews? Made me cringe. I didn't finish watching them.

[Primula Baggins]

I've only seen the first hour so far. As a lifelong Trek fan, I did not like it. I thought the writing was bad, complete with frequent "As you know, Bobs" and other painful rookie mistakes. There was a misspelled word in one of the subtitles—sorry, but that really bugs me. And Michael mispronounced "Sarek" all the way through! Her adoptive father! In the old-show episode that introduced Sarek, his wife called him "Sah-rek," not "Serrick." And the Klingons—they've been morphing through all the series, but this was really extreme.

And the "science"—*shudder* A sound-based weapon used in space?

It just didn't grab me, and I was deeply disappointed. However, I've read reviews of the first three episodes that seemed to find the whole arc to be pretty good. So, because

Hidden text.

in the next episode Michael gets away from the ship she's on, which was full of annoying characters (other than Michelle Yeoh's captain, who was great),

and because

Hidden text.

in the third episode, Michael finally arrives on the ship the show is actually about, and we finally meet the other continuing characters who are going to be a huge part of that show,

I will continue to watch for now.

[Sunsilver]

And the "science"—*shudder* A sound-based weapon used in space?

Yeah, well the fudged it by saying whatever it was set up sympathetic vibrations in the ship's hull. I'd have to go back and watch it again to see if they specifically said it was a SONIC weapon.

I thought the going back and forth in time to fill in backstory really did interrupt the flow of the episode. Another thing that bugged me was I had my PVR set to record it, but it was half an hour late starting. Fortunately, I realized that, and was able to fix it, but maybe missed a couple of minutes in the time the PVR took to flip from recording 'Discovery' to what was supposed to be 'The Big Bang Theory' (which interestingly enough, was a Trek-themed episode though I didn't watch it.)

Fortunately, the Space channel rebroadcast both episodes later in the evening, so I was able to record both of them without any interruptions. But the delay of the initial broadcast was REALLY REALLY annoying!

I wonder how many Trek fans missed part of the episodes due to the network's blunder??

[Maria]

I won't be able to watch this unless we sign up for CBS all access and stream it. And with our bandwidth bottleneck, I'm not sure it will be worth it.

[Alatar]

So I've only watched the first episode and it will be a week before I can watch the second, but so far? Easily the best Trek pilot episode. Seriously, go back and watch Encounter at Farpoint, or The Emissary, or Where No Man has Gone Before. Or if you really want to punish yourself, Broken Bow or The Caretaker! Despite all the brilliant Sci-Fi out there this is the first recent series that my kids want to watch with me, apart from Firefly. Galactica is too adult, The Expanse too cerebral, Farscape too... muppety! This is a genuine 21st century Star Trek, and it just feels "right" to me. The tone, the effects, the characters all feel like Trek. Is it clunky in places? Certainly. But that's part of the magic.

Here's a review I had to skip parts of cause it covers the second episode as well, but skimming through I agree with most of it.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/09/ ... ever-seen/

[Alatar]

Also, its wasn't a sonic weapon, it was a signal pulse that caused the hull to vibrate in harmonic resonance. Here's the dialogue:

GEORGIOU: Is that a weapon? It seems to be some sort of signal emitter.
Where are my filters? CONNOR: They're at 100%, Captain.
(HIGH-PITCHED SOUND GROWING LOUDER) (HIGH-PITCHED RINGING) - (HIGH-PITCHED RINGING CONTINUES) - CONNOR: Initiating emergency shutdown.
That noise is some kind of electromagnetic subspace wave-form.
Narrowing channel range.
Adjusting orientation to minimize dispersal.
Somebody turn it down.
Aye, Captain.
- All the way down.
- SARU: Acoustics are muted.
That's the ship's superstructure in sympathetic vibration.
It's a signal pulse.
Is there a message? This may be the message.

I accept there's a suggestion that there may also be noise, but I took it as being the signal waves vibrating the shipboard speakers. Its a bit of a fudge, but certainly par for the course Star Trek technobabble!

[Alatar]

And for the 30th Anniversary!

[Sunsilver]

Thanks, Alatar! Yeah, you're right, standard Trek technobabble!

And re: the video above, I've been recording a few TNG episodes, and am quite shocked by how bad some of them are! The last two I watched focused on Commander Riker, and I fast-forwarded through parts of them. The main problem was the lame plots.

Voyageur was MUCH better, IMO!

[Alatar]

Dear God no! I hated Voyager.

[Frelga]

That's illogical. It was my favorite.

I haven't had a chance to watch the new one, but maybe once baseball is over.

[Maria]

The only Trek I've disliked enough to not finish it was "Enterprise" with Scott Bakula. I liked Voyager.

[Alatar]

I think JMS nailed the problem with Voyager for me. It had so much wasted potential. A federation ship, have staffed with a terrorist crew, adrift in deep space with no lifelines, and inside two weeks it was business as usual.

Jesus, I don't even know where to begin. I guess in some ways I'd go
back to the original dream behind the show, which has been watered down in
all subsequent versions. A Starfleet vessel, the Enterprise, on deep
patrol on the very edge of Federation space, where you didn't have a
constant supply of nearby bases which would make the ship into little
more than a transport ship. Exploration and first-contact, and REALLY get
into what First Contact means...the difficulty of establishing common
language (toss the Universal Translator right out), pioneers on the
fringe, hoping one wrong word won't get them into a firefight.

I'd use the stability of the franchise to pursue the kinds of harder
stories less-stable and fiscally guaranteed shows aren't able to pursue.
Use it to mirror and examine current issues through a differently-angled
prism. To balance those, I'd get Harlan or someone else who knows the SF
genre intimately to pull out the most challenging and innovative short
stories to license/option and adapt into our format. I'd re-introduce
conflict between Federation characters. We'd see more of their personal
lives, not just playing cards and using the holodeck, but *real* stuff,
having affairs, getting married, getting fired, dealing with the feelings
that come when you're 45 light-years from home. I'd pack the place with
extras, recurring characters and guest stars to give a sense that this is
a BIG starship, with lots of people, a chain of command rather than five
guys on top and nothing but flunkies beneath, give it the real feel of a
crowded vessel on long, deep patrol.

I'd toss out the technobabble and have the characters ready to fight
their way out of some situations, and think their way out of others not
by reworking devices but reworking *themselves*, outwitting somebody or
something, surviving because they're one step ahead of the other guy.
Definitely more action. I'd treat the discovery of new worlds with more
mystery and wonder, rather than like going to the nearest 7-11 for
coffee. Dead worlds, ancient mysteries, beings beyond easy
comprehension. From time to time, our guys would lose, but they would
come away with a better understanding of themselves and the complex
universe around them.

That'd be a start, albeit a rough one.

[Inanna]

That sounds similar to how Ursula Guin writes her books.

[yovargas]

I'd toss out the technobabble

Well at that point you're not watching Star Trek anymore.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

For me there is, and always will be, only one Star Trek.

[Sunsilver]

I'd toss out the technobabble

Well at that point you're not watching Star Trek anymore.

You definitely have a point, Yov!

One thing that bothered me in Discovery was the ships just popping out of warp as if they'd been stationary all along, and had just decloaked. Um, no, don't think that's going to happen. It totally defies the laws of physics!

But then, a lot of stuff on ST does... Hey, what's one more thing?

Alatar, the Kardashians/Cardassians reference in that video had me ROTFLOL! Best part of the video...

Voronwë, which version of Trek is the 'only one' for you? TOS?

[eborr]

I though episode 3 was better, one thing still bothers me, it doesn't matter how hefty the make up is, you can always tell when it's Doug Jones behind the mark. I watched the horrible after show programme just to catch Doug talking, the creepy thing is that without his make up he still looks like an alien.

[Sunsilver]

Okay, I am upset! Due to the screw-up with the times last week, my PVR didn't record episode 3, and as I was away camping for a couple of days, I missed it completely! Grrr!

Someone want to give me a recap?

[Sunsilver]

Okay, geeking out here over the tardigrade, one of my favourite beasties! Except I think they got the number of legs wrong...

[Snowdog]

A bit of a necro-post here, but I'm good at that... I just started working my way through the 1st season of Discovery and have to say it's an aquired taste. I like their takes with the Harry Mudd backstory and the whole Mirror Mirror ish storyline is interesting. Still not sure where I rate this in my legendarium though. The fact I'n still watching it after 13 episodes says something I suppose.

The only Trek I've disliked enough to not finish it was "Enterprise" with Scott Bakula.

Yeah... didn't watch this when it came out. Started watching it and after the 3rd episode, we skipped to the last episode where they tied into TNG. That was enough.