Star Trek Disaster (oops I meant ‘Discovery’…)

Cadet Tilley. One of the characters from 'Disco' I think is great (if at times a little annoying)

 

Before I begin let me say I want Star Trek, whether it is a TV series or movie to be good.  I am a lifelong fan and I want the franchise I love to do good things. Unfortunately early on in season one of ‘Discovery’ I realized things were not going the way I felt it should have. We were told this would be a prequel series and would be in established Star Trek continuity and would be respectful to what came before. That clearly did not happen as evident with the use of the Klingons, the retcon of Spock having a human foster sister, the spore drive system (Voyager sure could have used that “old” technology in the 24^th century), the mirror universe angle, Section 31 is a “secret” organization that EVERYONE seems to know about… and the flaws go on and on. Sonequa Martin-Greene (aka SMG, previously from her NON-ground-breaking role on ‘The Walking Dead’) plays Michael Burnham who is a mutinous Starfleet officer whom helped start the war between the Klingon Empire and the Federation, don’t worry all gets forgiven for some reason. The rest of the “crew” are essentially background characters to her with the exception of Captain Lorca (later Pike), Commander Saru and Cadet Tilley, the chief engineer and doctor are there too. Add inconsistent pacing, tons of lens flares, special effects orgies, endless Deus Ex Machina to solve problems for the characters and situations, continuity errors galore, bad acting by SMG and this show is just a terrible mess of a series. People have pointed out that TNG had a terrible first 2 seasons but at least series lead Patrick Stewart (Picard) could act the hell out of what he was given to work with, can’t say the same for SMG. And speaking of TNG needing 2 seasons before it got good: I would argue TNG had more to contend with behind the scenes that caused them to suffer creatively such as a rotating writing staff, a Hollywood writers’ strike, limited budget and technology to utilize for the show (this was the 80’s after all, not much CGI in those days…) and so on. Star Trek Discovery has the benefit of hindsight and technologies that can help tell their stories and not limit them, etc.

L to R: Stamots, Saru, Ash Klingon, Beardy "Spock, unknown guy, unknown gal, unknown guy, unknown weird eyed gal hidden behind Tilley, Tilley

 

I am a Star Trek fan and I do want it to be good and do well. In the past TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT all had bad episodes and did suffer from time to time creatively. But not like this, not the way DISCO is suffering. It is consistently bad with too many cooks in the kitchen (Disco: 21 Producers with 8 of them being Executive Producers as compared to TNG season 2 : 8 Producers with 3 of them as Executive Producers).

Disco’s 2^nd season was a slight improvement over the first but not by much. Anson Mount was great as Captain Christopher Pike but sadly he will be gone in season 3, and judging by interviews given he doesn’t seem anxious to return to Trek any time soon. That’s just my opinion after seeing some interviews and the words/body language he used.

Admiral Forgettable and Anson Mount as 'Captain Pike'

 

Maybe the Captain Picard series will be good…there is always hope and hope is all we have.

 

 

Done with Discovery: Talos 4 Don’t Go There

I've had my misgivings with ‘Star Trek Discovery’ since it is premiere in 2017 and I knew that going the prequel route was not a good idea. Star Trek had already tried this in 2001 with ‘Star Trek Enterprise’ and it was cancelled after four seasons. I think part of the problem with Enterprise was the fact that diehard fans were dropping off due to continuity issues. For example I stopped watching Enterprise during season three because of the whole Xindi war story. This alien race brought a small death star-like weapon that cut a strip through North America, and yet this was never mentioned or referenced in any of the 4 Star Trek series that came before Enterprise. So when Discovery was announced that it was going to be a prequel I knew there was going to be continuity issues. And the continuity issues have been numerous and dumbfounding to a lot of diehard fans such as myself. But what they're going to be doing next week is too much for me to handle and I am seriously done with this series. 

A story arc that has never been touched on or referenced since it originally aired on the original series has been Talos 4. The story with Talos 4 originally aired in the two-part episode ‘The Menagerie’, Which was the story of how Captain Christopher Pike ended up living the rest of his life on the planet. It's an arc that concluded and the residents of Talos 4 have never been seen or heard from since; now for some reason Star Trek Discovery is going back to Talos 4.

Why? Why must we go back to the storyline that was resolved over 50 years ago. Why must Star Trek Discovery continue to screw with continuity? I'm getting so sick of this happening with this series. I've stuck with it during season two because of Cadet Tilly, Saru, and Anson Mount (from ‘Hell on Wheels’) as Captain Pike. But in all honesty Sonique Martin Green and her character ‘Michael Burnham’ are terrible. It just blows my mind that this character committed an act of mutiny and now is somehow redeemed and continues to be a part of this crew? That just confuses me to no end. 

I've mentioned this before in my previous blog post but I feel the biggest problem plaguing this show is the fact that there is 21 producers working on it, eight of them are Executive Producers. Compare eight Executive producers on Star Trek Discovery to 3 Executive Producers on Star Trek The Next Generation at any given time. Clearly there are too many cooks in this kitchen who have no idea what the recipe is to create a good Star Trek series. And I've heard a few people use the argument that Rod Roddenberry is one of those Executive Producers and my retort is: who cares? Just because his father created the franchise doesn't mean he's an expert on that franchise. If you go back and watch the documentary he did a few years ago about his father you will see that he himself will admit he was not a Star Trek fan for many years. But just like a born-again Christian who's found Jesus and now goes around preaching the gospel to anyone who listened people seem to think that Rod Roddenberry is the second coming. Trust me folks he is not, no offence to him but just because he shares his father's last name doesn't make him an expert. 

And speaking of experts my question to CBS is why don't they bring in some Star Trek experts? For example they could ask Rick Berman on how to make a Star Trek series since he helped to produce and create 4 Star Trek series. Or maybe ask Michael and Denise Okuda for their input; they are after all the authors of the Star Trek Encyclopedia and the Star Trek Chronology books. Or maybe they could ask some Star Trek novelists such as Michael Jan Friedman or Peter David for their input. 

Lately I found watching ‘Discovery’ a chore to get through. For example on the last episode I actually fell asleep watching it as I was bored. When I awoke I went back and re-wound the last 10 or 15 minutes of the show so I could find out what I missed and that's when the whole Talos 4 reveal occurred. For me that was the final straw, that's when I came to the conclusion that I could no longer try to get through this series, I simply have to drop it. 

In all honesty this isn't the first time that I've dropped a Star Trek series. As I mentioned earlier I was not a big fan of Star Trek Enterprise in its third season and I never watched it. I came back in season four because I was reading very positive things about it and the episodes that I did watch I really enjoyed, and I really felt that they were going in a better direction with the series but unfortunately it was canceled. I even stopped watching Star Trek Voyager halfway through its third season. I came back periodically for the remainder of the Voyager run but ever so periodically. In all honesty I've probably only watched half of the Star Trek Voyager episodes. My reasons for not being a fan of Voyager are numerous and could probably take up its own blog post but suffice to say I really liked the actors on that series; I just wasn't a fan of the premise, the writing, and the direction it ultimately took. 

In 2019 thankfully we have an alternative to Star Trek Discovery and it is called ‘The Orville’. It really does feel like what a Star Trek series should be. It's funny, it's lighthearted, the characters are relatable, and it is more of a ‘positive vision of the future’ than Discovery is. I found that in its second season it has matured and become a better show unlike its current Star Trek counterpart. So I'll be sticking with ‘The Orville’ for the for seeable future which I hope will be many seasons to come. 

And I do have my fingers crossed for the Captain Picard series that is supposed to be later in 2019. Patrick Stewart is a very talented actor and a very smart man, and I really don't believe he would get involved with a TV series if it wasn't going to be of high quality, so I'm very hopeful for that series. Also that series is going to be a sequel to Star Trek Nemesis rather than another prequel to Star Trek The Original Series. Enough for the prequel's already, we need to quit making trips to the well; sequel is where it's at.