Star Trek: Discovery

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Jeff of Earth-J June 9, 2024 at 8:09am

Here's me, trying to plow through the rest of this season, this series. I can't for the life of me imagine who's watching Star Trek: Discovery. It's so different (in all respects) from the original that I don't seeing it appealing to fans of the original series, yet what would be the draw for millenials who have never seen any previous Star Trek? I'm guessing maybe second generation fans of ST:TNG (the ones who refer to themselves as "Trekkers") who are drawn to it curious about a "new" Star Trek show, the same way fans of TOS ("Trekkies") were once drawn to ST:TNG.

LABYRINTHS: Discovery follows the last clue into the Badlands which leads them to the most incredible and amazing library I have ever seen. Burhman is thrown into a trace by the artifact and must prove herself worthy to win the day. She does, and learns the location of the Progenitors' tech, but is also forced to turn it over to the Breen lest they destroy the library. But the Primarch breaks his word and attacks them. Burnham orders Discovery to use the spore drive to jump to the location of the Progenitor tech while simultaneaously jettisoning and detonating the ship's nacelles to make the Breen think they have been destroyed. Her ploy is successful, but the Primarch again breaks his word and gives the order to destroy the Archive after all. Moll kills him and is accepted as the Breen leader on basis of her being L'ak's widow. Meanwhile, due to the explosion, Discovery has emerged from the jum,p 22 light years away from their destination... with no warp drive.
Jeff of Earth-J June 9, 2024 at 8:57pm

LAGRANGE POINT: The penultimate episode gets off to a rousing start with Discovery emerging from its jump between two primordial black holes. They have to use the pull of one to escape the pull of the other, then they discover the Progenitors' tech at the LaGrange point between the two black holes. Discovery has arrived before the Breen ship, but not by much. The Breen ship arrives and tractors the Progenitor tech aboard, but they don't know Discovery is there because Discovery is cloaked (plus the Breen think it has been destroyed). Now discovery has to find a way to secretly beam aboard the Breen ship, then de-cloak, drop shields, and beam the landing party and tech back to the Discovery. They concoct a plan which involves beaming aboard via an unprotected exaust port. I couldn't believe it. I mean, this season has been so derivative of... everything, really... I guess I shouldn't have been surprised they'd rip off Star Wars, too. I am now convinced that these swipes are purposeful and intended as "tributes" by the show's writers.

Anyway, Burnham and the landing party beam aboard the Breen ship in Breen armor and almost pull off their plan before they are discovered. (Oh, and there's another Breen ship on the way, too, in pursuit of the first.) But Michael acquired an additional bit of knowledge in the previous episode which may give her the edge in solving the final puzzle: "Build the shape of the one between the many." Oh, yeah... that ought to be a big help. The episode is pretty tense. the Progenitor tech seems to be a portal of some kind. At one point, Rayner is forced to reveal Discovery's presence to buy some time. Later, after Burnham and Book have been caught, Burnham subtly clues Rayner in to her plan: he is to blow out the forcefield of the Breen's shuttlebay which would blow everything inside out into space, including Burnham, Book and the Progenitor teach. Just before Rayner can comply, Moll enters the portal, followed by Burham. Discovery blows the forcefield and everything goes accordingto plan... except they cannot retrieve the Progenitor tech (because of writer's fiat), and Burnham and Moll are inside it.

I can hardly wait until this thing is over.
Jeff of Earth-J June 11, 2024 at 7:18am

LIFE, ITSELF: I must admit that I am glad this is over... this season and this series. It (the series) got off to a bad (i.e., very non-Trek, even anti-Trek) start, but got better when it shifted its focus to the future (even though the future was not one I would have hoped for my favorite franchise). I had high hopes for the final season, but those hopes where dashed when I realized how derivative the entire season was going to be... all flash and no (or very little) substance. As soon as it was over, Tracy turned to me and told her that the series finale had been spoiled for her when we were only a few episodes in. You may remember the exact same thing happened last season. It was the same person who spoiled it for her.

I can't for the life of me imagine who's watching Star Trek: Discovery. It's so different (in all respects) from the original that I don't seeing it appealing to fans of the original series, yet what would be the draw for millenials who have never seen any previous Star Trek? I'm guessing maybe second generation fans of ST:TNG (the ones who refer to themselves as "Trekkers") who are drawn to it curious about a "new" Star Trek show, the same way fans of TOS ("Trekkies") were once drawn to ST:TNG.

After an exaustive five minute search, I did find these remarks from a first generation fan: "[The Star Trek spin-offs] were certainly nothing like the original, and I have to hand it to them. They had the original blueprint to work from, and proceded to produce a show with time-wasting techno jargon, P.C. abundance (as much as they could fit it) and dramatic situations as tense as one playig the flute and being interrupted could possibly gain to get the blood boiling." He goes on to say, "Next Gen, the one most would call closest to a worthy successor, was at time the height of cold, dirt level dullness." I like ST:TNG, but I must admit he makes some good popints. Shows like Discovery and even Picard are barely even recognizable as Trek. I can put up with Strange New Worlds because, despite the showrunners' early assertions that it was part of original series continuity, it patentely is not. I can accept it as an alternate universe version, but I hate to think of anyone watching only the neo-Trek and thinking they are watching Star Trek.
Captain Comics June 11, 2024 at 12:03pm

My wife and I are trying a new save-for-retirement method of watching TV, in which we don't keep all the streamers active at the same time -- we save up a bunch of shows on a given streamer, sign up and watch them all, and then quit (again). It is saving us a surprising amount of money. Meanwhile, we always have MAX (free with our phone service), Prime (because Amazon Prime, with its free shipping, pays for itself) and Disney+ (because I signed up for a year in November 2023, and am stuck with it -- and without Hulu -- until November 2024).

One upside is that we're watching a lot of movies and shows that are on the various free services, some of them classic, that we "never got around to" before. We watched the original The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and Interstellar this week, two movies that were low on the priority list but which we enjoyed.

The downside is that we don't watch every hot show in a timely manner. Or even Star Trek: Discovery! We're getting near the tipping point on Paramount+ where we'll have enough to justify the $8.99 (or whatever it is). But we haven't watched it yet. Sorry I couldn't participate in the discussion of the final season.
- Jeff of Earth-J > Captain Comics June 11, 2024 at 12:13pm
  
  Oh, that's all right. I had assumed that you weren't commenting because I was a bit late getting started and maybe it wasn't fresh in your mind anymore. If you haven't read my thoughts yet (which I'm guessing you haven't since you haven't yet watched the episodes), I didn't think too much of this final season. I'm curious to know your thoughts, though, when you do watch it. I'll admit I didn't put as much thought or work into these summaries as I did for seasons past, but I do have other things to say, which I was saving for a rebuttal should someone disagree with my assessment. I also hope I didn't put so much of a negative spin on it that what I said colors your opinion.
Captain Comics June 21, 2024 at 8:52pm
We have signed up for Paramount+ for Discovery, Halo s2, Mission Impossible 7 and Annihilation. We had thought to get the seasons of Ghosts UK we haven’t seen, Babylon and Last Voyage of the Demeter, but apparently you have to sign up for Paramount+ AND Showtime to get those latter ones. There was no warning of this; ROKU listed those shows as available on Paramount and we didn’t know about the twist until we had already signed up. Watching TV is hard!

Meanwhile, we have watched the first eight episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, and we are no happier about it than you are. It is … not good.

I’ve enjoyed what you have pointed out, but I’d like to mention some other things, that probably only jump out by binging, such as:
- Moll and L’ak getting away every single episode has the unintended consequence of making our heroes look like idiots. They’ve got a starship – two starships in “Red Directive” – and can’t catch a couple of thieves in their space hot rod. What incompetence.
- Rayner is preposterous as a starship captain. Coming up through the ranks during wartime is no excuse for his inability to work and play well with others. As Commander Benson has pointed out concerning characters like Quicksilver, no military or police organization will tolerate that much insubordination by a single member. It doesn’t matter what he brings to the table; his destruction of esprit d’corps and unit cohesion outweighs it. It is only writer’s fiat that Rayner exists, and continues to exist.
- Three times in the first five episodes, someone says, “We only have one shot at this, so let’s make it count.” I’ve got two more episodes to go, so I may hear it again.
- Just like with L’ak and Moll somehow escaping every episode, there is, in every episode, increasingly preposterous excuses to keep Book around. Once or twice is plausible, but more begs disbelief – he ought to be in jail, like Burnham – but eight episodes in a row, Burnham finds some excuse for him to stay on Discovery, and somehow the entire chain of command overlooks how compromised her decision-making is when it comes to him. Looking at you, Admiral Vance.
- The saccharine, cloyingness of it all. Christ on a cracker, I feel like I need a shot of insulin after most of these shows. Either make up or break up, I don’t care – just stop talking about your damn feelings! Rayner being a jerk is actually a breath of fresh air sometimes.
- Everybody keeps getting surprised when the Breen act like the fascists they are. Oh, no, they’re breaking a deal! Oh, no, they have no respect for humanoid life! Oh, no, they’re threatening war if they don’t get what they want! You know, Discovery, being the good guys doesn’t mean you have to be stupid. Expect fascist militarists to act like fascist militarists, and prepare for it.
- Somehow, the scientists protecting the Proogenitor tech anticipate every single thing that Discovery could possibly do 800 years in the future to bypass their ridiculous metaphysical tests, so that Burnham has to take these tests. Pretty smart 800-year-old people, eh? Practically prescient.
- Yet L’ak and Moll have zero difficulty getting past all these tests, even though they’re terrible people.
- Not to mention the simple physical challenges that a 400-man starship can overcome, but would be impossible for a two-man ship. How did they get past the planetary defense on the necropolis planet, anyhow? We’re never told, and yet Burnham and Saru are almost killed, despite all the technical advantages of a starship and a 400-man cavalry.
- Another eye-roller: Discovery can never, repeat NEVER, just beam in and out. There’s always some reason that transporters can’t lock on (although, again. L’ak and Moll never seem to have any trouble). On the planet where L’ak and Moll created a landslide, there was too much dust for Discovery to lock on and solve the problem with the transporter. DUST. Wow, who could have anticipated dust when building transporters? Oh, right, every other Star Trek series. All of which managed to beam through dust -- even without 32nd century technology.
Sigh. Let’s move on to specifics:

“Red Directive”

Rayner is a real horse's neck. The stress of a ship at warp being held by a tractor beam threatens to collapse the warp field and destroy the ship, but Rayner doesn't seem too concerned that he is endangering Burnham's life.

It also endangers HIS OWN SHIP AND CREW and he doesn’t seem concerned. Surely there’s another way that two starships can stop a tiny ship? Two ships, actually, since Discovery is there, too.

Also: Burnham enduring the stresses of warp while OUTSIDE a ship does not seem remotely plausible. It looked suspiciously like the Fremen riding sandworms in Dune, and just as impossible.

Also, T’Rina is way too hands on with Saru. It has been established that Vulcans eschew personal contact since that initiates telepathy, whether they want it to or not. So no hand-shaking. No hands on the arms or claps on the back. And ESPECIALLY no touching the face, which T’Rina does.

And yes, it was obvious from the first episode that we were in for a whole season of finding pieces of a puzzle, and I have never watched Doctor Who. But I agree, points to Tracy for knowing a specific scj-fi show where this was done before!

I have to mention that Rayner was given so much to do in this episode that I knew he was going to stick around for the entire season (same with Book, Moll and L'ak). Which meant a redemption arc in the near future, where he'd learn that Burnham's warm-and-fuzzy approach is superior to that of being a horse's neck.

Also must mention my wire and I both mentioned how all-out they went on the F/X here, including Star Wars speeder bikes.

“Jinaal”

I may have hated every millisecond of this episode.

They break up, but later either reconcile of come to terms with it (I'm not sure which).

And I don’t care. Don’t. Care. They are tertiary characters at best, and none of this advances the plot. Listening to these two whine about their fee-fees while a desperate chase for incredible technology is supposedly also happening was torture.

This season has a number of new regular cast members.

I read somewhere that the actresses who play Detmer and Owosekun were doing other things this season, so they only made three appearances. So necessarily, we saw new faces at Helm and Tactical.

“Face the Strange”

The device Moll planted on Adira's uniform was a Krenim-made chronophage, informally known as a "time bug," which immediately begins to wreak havok upon Discovery.

Everyone seems to know what this time bug is, but there doesn’t seem to be any defense against it. That seems like a pretty big oversight. Why doesn’t everyone have one of these? Why doesn’t Discovery have one, and put it on the Breen ship? Why don’t the Breen have one, and put It on Fed HQ?

This is one of Commander Benson's "cool ideas" that sound great in the writers' room but turn out to raise more questions than they answer. Seriously, this "time bug" business is so far advanced from this century's technology, but is only used once and forgotten, that it's like when Doctor Strange or octor Fate come up with a really cool spell that is so powerful the reader is left wondering why he doesn't use it on Page 2 of every issue. (I'm thinking "teleportation spell" here, but there are plenty to choose from.)

Sometimes a plot short-cut isn't really a cool idea, kids.

Another thing that bugs me about this (so far) highly derivative season is that Moll look like one of the synths from 1982's Bladerunner.

You are, of course, referring to Pris, played by the legendary Daryl Hannah. She was wearing a wig in that movie, and it appears the actress on Discovery (Eve Harlow) is wearing something similar. (Her natural hair is black and wavy.) Hannah was wearing a lot of black eye makeup in Blade Runner, but Harlow may not have been -- she seems to have naturally dark eyes:

OK that's enough grousing for one evening. I'll pick this up later.
Captain Comics June 24, 2024 at 12:28am

OK, I'm back.

MIRRORS: Discovery tracks Moll and L'ak into a wormhole that is a gateway to interdimensional space. Burnham and Book take a shuttle into the anomaly where they find the debris of Moll and L'ak's ship as well as the ISS Enterprise, intact but abandoned. Lots is revealed about the mirror universe Enterprise as well as Moll and L'ak's relationship, but to make a long story short, the four of them must work together to pilot the Enterprise out of the interdimensional anomaly. They would not have made it without the help of Rayner and the rest of the Discovery bridge crew. Moll and L'ak escape in a warp pod (writer's fiat).

The heavy hand of writer’s fiat was all over this episode, especially with, as you noted (and I have noted in general) how Moll and L’ak manage to escape every episode—and this time even after their ship is destroyed! These are mighty resourceful thieves!

Also, not for the last time, Moll and L’ak are plainly the equals of Starfleet officers in hand-to-hand combat and phaser battles. Who needs all those years of training when you can just ask the writers to make you really good? Or to have Burnham & Co. carry idiot boxes? Either way.

Enterprise logs reveal that it was placed there by a science officer from that ship, who went on living in the 24th century.

Are we to think that’s Spock? They also say that someone took the emperor’s throne and tried to reform the Empire but was assassinated. I kinda think that’s Spock. In the original “Mirror, Mirror” the idea was clearly planted in Mirror Spock’s ear to hasten the Empire’s eventual collapse.

OTOH, there was a lot of advancement in the Mirror Universe story in Deep Space Nine, where it was revealed that the Terran Empire’s attempts to reform itself weakened it, and it was overthrown and enslaved by a coalition of aliens, including Bajorans. I guess that happened after the comments here about an emperor being assassinated?

Eh. I wasn’t crazy about “Intendent Kira” and that stuff in DS9 and didn’t pay much attention. Nothing matters to me about the dupes over there in the other universe. All that matters is that our guys get home safe.

But the Mirror Universe seems to be catnip for writers who like to write what-ifs about existing characters, that as I said above, doesn’t change anything about the status quo of those existing characters. So, yay for them. But again, I don’t care, and don’t much pay attention. YMMV.

It was nice to see the classic Enterprise again, even though it wasn't the "real" Enterprise.

Yes, it was nice. The Enterprise really is graceful, especially in big turns, despite not being the slightest bit aerodynamic. Although that might be nostalgia talking.

So I enjoyed it, despite my discomfort at virtually every character, from Book to Rayner, somehow recognizing it as a mirror universe starship at a glance. I guess the mirror universe is included in 32nd century education, and they saw the “ISS” on the saucer faster than seems possible? Maybe their personal tricorders alerted them to the ID silently before they spoke? OK, I’ve talked myself through it.

At the end of the episode, Burnham delegates a crew to pilot the ship back to a Starfleet museum.

Did that crew include Detmer and Owosekun? She mentioned a couple of names but I wasn’t listening closely. If so, that scene might have been given screen time to give an in-story reason for why those two were missing from so many ensuing episodes. If not, then it might have been given screen time to show Rayner (whose redemption arc was really too fast for my comfort) growing up a little, when he agrees that they deserved the honor.

Speaking of Rayner, I wondered how they found an actor so old that I’d never seen him before. My wife said, “Maybe it’s because he isn’t very good.” That made me laugh, but I looked it up, and I have seen the actor, Callum Keith Rennie, before—I just didn’t recognize him! He was in Umbrella Academy and Jessica Jones, for starters. I guess he was significantly younger, or his hair hadn’t turned gray yet, or he was really minor, or something.

WHISTLESPEAK: The clue recovered from the ISS Enterprise leads Discovery to a water tower designed to look like a natural rock formation on a dehydrated world, but they can't beam directly into the tower because it is covered by a field of writer's fiat. There were originally five such towers on the planet, but they required maintenance and the other four are no longer functional. The fifth one won't last much longer, and if it goes, the planet's population will die. A whole religious culture has arisen surrounding the one remaining tower, one which requires ritual sacrifice.

My wife figured out it was human sacrifice pretty early on. Once she mentioned it, I saw it coming, too. One wonders why the clever folks on Discovery didn’t see it coming.

Burnham and Tilly become involved and end up breaking the Prime Directive in order to save the race.

That seemed like an obvious direction for the episode, too, and I was waiting for it. At least after one of the Star Trek shows (I think it was Strange New Worlds) has done us the service of explaining that breaking the Prine Directive isn’t as court-martial-y and career-ending as The Original Series made it out to be. Apparently it can be forgiven, and often is, if lives are at stake. It’s more of a suggestion, it turns out, than a law. (Or Kirk would have been in jail until his bones were 800 years old.)

But my question is: Once they have broken the Prime Directive, and the planet’s population has been traumautized by their entire way of life turning out to be a lie, why didn’t Starfleet go ahead and give them a better life in return, by restoring the other weather towers? At least they wouldn’t live in a single oasis on Dune any more, desperately maintaining ancient alien technology, and would get their whole planet back. That might mollify their trauma a little bit. Otherwise, they have nothing to replace their religion/way of life, and will, I think, immediately fall to battling each other for control of the weather tower.

The clue they find leads them to Betazed, and another starship has reported that Moll and L'ak have been located. I suppose I should mention that the episode's title refers to the way the indiginous race communicates across long distances (a unique touch, I think).

Yes, it was a nice touch. Not enough of those on Discovery, which seemed primarily interested in the various characters' feelings instead of exploration of “strange, new worlds.”

Mofongo con Pollo a la Plancha o al Ajillo (in case those of you who have seen the episode were wondering).

That’s, what, the doctor’s abuelo’s recipe? You know, he dropped a reference to her an episode or two ago that seemed weirdly and jarringly inserted (“I can’t see the cloaked ship any more than I can the gods my abuelo prayed to” or summat). I guess they were trying some clumsy foreshadowing.

Anyway, mofongo is a Puerto Rican side dish made of plantains.

I didn't watch Discovery for two days because... well, I forgot (which speaks to how much this season is not clicking with me).

My wife and I had the opposite reaction: It wasn’t clicking with us, so we plowed through it as fast as possible to get it over with.

ERIGAH: Moll and L'ak have been captured. L'ak is injured. The Breen are on their way. L'ak admits that he is legal heir to the throne, and that his uncle needs him alive because of writer's fiat.

Sigh.

They negotiate. L'ak takes an overdose of something in sickbay to provide the opportunity for Moll to escape, but his plan backfires. He dies and Moll does not escape.

This is the first time in the whole season that Moll and L’ak aren’t inhumanly competent and get away. But they almost did. This despite the show bringing back the security chief from the first couple of seasons, who proved no more competent at stopping these common thieves than anyone else.

She does, however, offer to tell the Breen all she knows about Progenitor technology in exchange for her freedom. Book forms a telepathic link with the Betazoid artifact which leads them to an ancient library in the Badlands.

Book’s “empathy power” is SOOOO touchy-feely-Discovery. The writers really have to work to make it useful. But they do. Sigh.

Also, in the dystopic future Burnham and Discovery saw thanks to the time bug, it is an alliance between Moll and the Breen that delivers the Progenitor tech to the fascists and they use it to destroy Starfleet. So, I think we’re supposed to be alarmed every time Moll tries to ally with the Breen.

And I am. A bit. Even though I know it will all work out fine. Most characters in TV shows have plot armor, and I know that. And everything has to work out for the show to return next week, and I know that. I watch to be entertained by how the status quo is maintained, not fearing that it won't be.

But I’m also still simmering that this character is still a significant part of the storyline. I KNEW she and her partner would be part of the show to the end from the first episode, because Bad Writing, but I couldn’t see how it could be plausibly done. And I was right! It wasn’t plausibly done! She should have been in a Starfleet jail by episode 2. This is like a Beagle Boy outfighting the Avengers for eight consecutive issues.

I like the actress, and she did a good job. But come on.

Here's me, trying to plow through the rest of this season, this series. I can't for the life of me imagine who's watching Star Trek: Discovery.

About halfway through our binge-watch, my wife said “Who is this show made for?” I had to laugh, since you two were on the same frequency. And you are both completely right. This isn’t old Star Trek enough for the old’uns, and I can’t imagine what makes it cool enough for the young’uns.

It's so different (in all respects) from the original that I don't seeing it appealing to fans of the original series, yet what would be the draw for Millennials who have never seen any previous Star Trek? I'm guessing maybe second generation fans of ST:TNG (the ones who refer to themselves as "Trekkers") who are drawn to it curious about a "new" Star Trek show, the same way fans of TOS ("Trekkies") were once drawn to ST:TNG.

Interesting speculation. I’d sure like a Millennial to comment here, but I don’t know any.

LABYRINTHS: Discovery follows the last clue into the Badlands which leads them to the most incredible and amazing library I have ever seen.

It is pretty cool. But it looks an awful lot like the five-dimensional space in Interstellar, which presents as an infinite library (from the back of the shelves). You’ve mentioned “homages” before about this season, and this appears to be another.

Also, I would like to mention that the Archive is said to move around periodically so that it can’t be found and you can only be invited. Yet, Discovery finds them easily because it moves in a pattern! That is not how to hide! The Archive has not learned, as Monty Python would say, the Art of Not Being Seen.

Also also, Burnham goes to engineer Jett Reno to find out more about her history as an archivist, since, as the conversation indicates, she's like 400 years old and used to deal in shady antiques. But isn't that the character played by Carol Kane over on Strange New Worlds? I was kind-of baffled by that scene, as I always understood Tig Nicotero's character to be human. Did I misunderstand?

Burnham is thrown into a trace by the artifact and must prove herself worthy to win the day. She does, and learns the location of the Progenitors' tech, but is also forced to turn it over to the Breen lest they destroy the library.

This is Star Trek, so sure, this sad surrender turns out OK. But in real life, you weigh the destruction of the library against the destruction of all life, and you say "No." Further, you tell the Breen “If you destroy the library, we’ll use the Progenitor tech to destroy all of you.” Of course you won’t, but it’s really your only course of action. Giving the Progenitor tech to the Breen is suicidal.

Burnham does, of course.

But the Primarch breaks his word and attacks them.

Surprise! Well, not to us. But apparently Discovery humans cannot understand … all of human history.

Burnham orders Discovery to use the spore drive to jump to the location of the Progenitor tech while simultaneously jettisoning and detonating the ship's nacelles to make the Breen think they have been destroyed.

It’s nice that the Breen fell for a ploy that submarine commanders invented in World War I. Maybe they would! They don’t know Earth history! My only surprise is the surprised reactions of the bridge crew. Don’t they have history classes at Starfleet Academy? If an old guy on his couch can figure out this ploy, surely these young hot shots can.

Her ploy is successful, but the Primarch again breaks his word and gives the order to destroy the Archive after all.

I believe I’ve covered this. The surprise of the Discovery crew AGAIN at fascists being fascists AGAIN made my eyes roll so hard that I banged my head against the wall.

Moll kills him and is accepted as the Breen leader on the basis of her being L'ak's widow.

Again, the little man behind the curtain makes an appearance. The Breen have shown the “widow” zero respect so far, so the audience has absolutely no reason to believe this would work. But it does, because the writers make all the Breen go “Sure! Let's have an alien we've never seen before be our boss! Instead of, you know, all of us who have been angling for years to be the next boss. We won't take issue with it! Wel'll all just roll over!”

LAGRANGE POINT: The penultimate episode gets off to a rousing start with Discovery emerging from its jump between two primordial black holes.

The F/X here are really impressive. According to NASA photos, this is exactly what a black hole looks like, and Discovery gives us two of ‘em.

In fact, I’ve been looking for a place to say that the F/X on Star Trek: Discovery were pretty much movie quality throughout. Really, really good episode to episode. And they obviously pulled out all the stops in the first and last episodes. The pretty pictures between the usually dreadful scenes with people in them are what sustained me.

They have to use the pull of one to escape the pull of the other, then they discover the Progenitors' tech at the LaGrange point between the two black holes.

This is good science so far, kids!

Discovery has arrived before the Breen ship, but not by much. The Breen ship arrives and tractors the Progenitor tech aboard, but they don't know Discovery is there because Discovery is cloaked (plus the Breen think it has been destroyed). Now Discovery has to find a way to secretly beam aboard the Breen ship, then de-cloak, drop shields, and beam the landing party and tech back to the Discovery. They concoct a plan which involves beaming aboard via an unprotected exaust port. I couldn't believe it. I mean, this season has been so derivative of... everything, really... I guess I shouldn't have been surprised they'd rip off Star Wars, too. I am now convinced that these swipes are purposeful and intended as "tributes" by the show's writers.

This season of Discovery is stealing everything from everywhere. I can only HOPE it’s an homage. But when they started talking about sneaking aboard to lower the shields of the Death Star the Breen ship, I said “That’s the third act of Star Wars.” When they started talking about an unshielded exhaust port, my wife said something unprintable. And I said “This is as easy as shooting womp rats in Beggar’s Canyon!”

Also, while the Discovery crew members are in the Breen helmets, the camera shows their faces surrounded by heads-up display, seen as if they’re in Iron Man armor. In one scene, three of them are lined up, like three Tony Starks. It was cool when the Iron Man and Avengers movies did it, because they invented it, by necessity, so they could show Robert Downey Jr. Discovery could have handled it any number of other ways, but instead resorted to theft. Oops, I mean “homage.”

Michael acquired an additional bit of knowledge in the previous episode which may give her the edge in solving the final puzzle: "Build the shape of the one between the many." Oh, yeah... that ought to be a big help.

This whole puzzle trail has been rife with this sort of nonsense, created 800 years ago but still outsmarting Discovery, and providing “tests” so subjective that Burnham passes every one only by virtue of writer’s fiat. (And Moll doesn’t have to pass them at all, also by writer’s fiat.) Which is how this test will undoubtedly work out. I assumed it would make sense when the writers wanted for it to make sense.

So I’m not surprised. I was surprised when one of the characters pointed out that it’s so cryptic as to be useless. Thank you, writers, for lampshading your own cliches.

The episode is pretty tense. the Progenitor tech seems to be a portal of some kind. At one point, Rayner is forced to reveal Discovery's presence to buy some time. Later, after Burnham and Book have been caught, Burnham subtly clues Rayner in to her plan: He is to blow out the forcefield of the Breen's shuttle bay which would blow everything inside out into space, including Burnham, Book and the Progenitor tech. Just before Rayner can comply, Moll enters the portal, followed by Burham. Discovery blows the forcefield and everything goes according to plan... except they cannot retrieve the Progenitor tech (because of writer's fiat), and Burnham and Moll are inside it.

“We can’t lock on, Commander! There are too many writers in the way!”—interchangeable Discovery bridge officer, 2024

And not good writers! Right before Rayner attacks the shuttle bay, he says “Failure is not an option,” which is the third biggest action-movie cliché in the world. The second-biggest is “We only have one shot at this, so let’s make it count,” which has already been used this season three times. In this episode, Rayner follows No. 3 with No. 1, “Let’s do this.”

Which has already been used twice before this season (episode 5 and episode 8), and will be again (episode 10).

I can hardly wait until this thing is over.

That is exactly how my wife and I felt. We buzzed through it as fast as we could.

LIFE, ITSELF: I must admit that I am glad this is over... this season and this series. It (the series) got off to a bad (i.e., very non-Trek, even anti-Trek) start, but got better when it shifted its focus to the future (even though the future was not one I would have hoped for my favorite franchise).

Agreed. On all of this.

I remember how excited my wife and I were when a new Trek series was announced. When we finally popped for CBS All Access we launched Discovery with great anticipation. And then it was … well, not Star Trek.

There are lots of reasons why (like mutiny, anachronistic tech, incorrect uniforms, incorrect Klingons, re-written Star Trek history, etc.) but the biggest for me was “the future was not one I would have hoped for from my favorite franchise.” That’s a really big one for me.

When Star Trek debuted, all the sci-fi I was reading was incredibly dystopic, mostly taking place after the destruction of civilization due to nuclear war, pollution, overpopulation or any combination thereof. This continued through the ‘70s, with not only science fiction novels, but most Marvel, DC and Warren SF stories. The future, all these stories told me, was going to be a hellscape, because humans can’t stop being awful.

But not Star Trek. Star Trek told me we could improve as a species, that we were not destined for self-annihilation, that we could and will do better, if we just think it through. I latched on to Star Trek like a puppy hungry for its mother’s warmth.

Discovery wasn’t that. At all.

I had high hopes for the final season, but those hopes were dashed when I realized how derivative the entire season was going to be... all flash and no (or very little) substance. As soon as it was over, Tracy turned to me and told her that the series finale had been spoiled for her when we were only a few episodes in. You may remember the exact same thing happened last season. It was the same person who spoiled it for her.

Are we talking about the Doctor Who puzzle thing? For me, the first episode told me we were on a puzzle quest—I guess I got that from comic books or novels, since I’ve never watched Doctor Who—which was obviously going to be extended to the end no matter how implausible, and somehow or other non-regulars Book, Rayner, L’ak and Moll were going along for the ride, even though none of them had a plausible reason for doing so. I think I could have been forgiven by the Star Trek gods if I had just skipped episodes 2-9 and just went to the end where, yes, Burnham finally solved the puzzle, with Book, Rayner, Moll and (the deceased) L’ak all in the episode.

I should mention that when we saw the interface with all the triangles, I instantly understood the cryptic line about forming the space in between, or whatever it was. As a CHILD I learned how to make other triangles with wooden triangle blocks. So did Moll, apparently, who suggested making a big triangle with the little triangles. But the cryptic puzzle indicated negative space, so I assumed you would outline a triangle instead of making one. Then Moll tried her solution, and it didn't work, and I thought ... wait, it can't be this easy. The solution is what I learned playing with wooden blocks as a child?!??

Maybe they don't do that any more, because it took Burnham a minute or two to figure it out. A wooden-block puzzle. Took her a minute or two. I was stunned into silence.

Also, once again, Moll fights a trained Starfleet officer to a standstill. That's a mighty talented pirate.

Let's talk about the end scenes.

You didn't talk about them, but I will.

I wanted to mention that the ending lacked a few things. Mainly brevity. It went on and on as people said goodbye, and hugged, and said goodbye, and hugged some more and ... ugh. My wife said, "When will this END?" and I said, "Not until Frodo leaves for the Gray Havens."

(It wasn't our imagination. The show really was long, at 1 hour, 27 minutes, plus commercials.)

Also, it occurred to me as Burnham and Rayner hugged and said goodbye to the bridge crew ... that I didn't know any of their names. There was Tilly, no longer on the bridge crew; and Stamets, from engineering; Stamets' husband the doctor, from Sickbay; and ... oh, wait, I'm already not remembering names. Were Osekuwon and Detmer there? I don't think so. Instead we had Back-Up Navigation Girl whose name I don't know, and Back-Up Tactical Girl whose name I don't know, and Black communications guy whose name I don't know, and Asian guy who always said "weapons ready" whose name I don't know. Some others, possibly, whose names I don't know.

I know, I know, those names were (occasionally) MENTIONED on the bridge. But when did I meet these people? When was there an episode about them? Why would I remember names of people to whom I have no connection? Especially since, as the show progressed, they became replaced.

Think about previous Star Trek series. In TOS, Sulu got some moments in the first season, in "Balance of Terror" and "Naked Time" and others. Chekov's first episode had a LOT of Chevkov in it. Uhura had some great lines ("Hello, fair lady!" "Sorry, NEITHER.") and was front in center in stories like "Who Mourns for Adonis?"

In TNG we met ALL of the bridge crew, who all had some lines and camera time. I sure knew who everybody was in Voyager and DS9.

But as far as the viewer was concerned, the bridge crew in Discovery was Burnham, Burnham, Burnham, Saru, and more Burnham. Robot Girl had some lines in the first season, but they killed her off. Owokesun and Detmer were apparently supposed to be fan favorites, but they kept disappearing, and whatever private lives they had remain unknown. Security Chief what's-her-name was also apparently meant to be a player, but for some reason she left, too, until the last couple of episodes. There was a blonde chick in the first season who would sometimes have some lines, but she also disappeared.

All we were left with at the end were two no-name fill-ins at the forward stations, communications guy and weapons guy. Oh, and lizard guy. I don't even know what he did. This is SO not Star Trek.

Let's move on.

There was the scene with Book and Burnham on the beach. (At the wedding. What wedding? Saru and T'Rina! Try to keep up, there's a lot to squeeze in!) What happened? I don't know the specifics, because I didn't watch it. After nine episodes, my "touchy-feely" sensor had become finely tuned. When the duo beamed to the beach, I knew we'd have to endure interminable minutes of heartfelt something-or-other and sad looks and break-up/make-up "mystery." I got up and left the room. I let the dogs out, I went to the bathroom, I got some food. I didn't come back until the scene changed, and asked my wife, "Anything important happen?" She said, "His sentence was commuted." "Ah," I said. "Finally there's a reason he's not in jail."

Then I said, "Did they make up or break up?" And she said, "What do you think?"

I assumed they got back together, because that's been telegraphed from Book's first episode. But thankfully, I didn't have to watch the bad acting, or listen to the bad dialogue!

And sure enough, they got back together, because in the next scene they're all old and stuff, and they have a son who's about to become a starship captain. At what looks like about age 20. (Also, Burnham knows the wildlife around her RIDICULOUSLY HUGE AND GORGEOUS house by name.)

Man, you'd think that they'd have stopped this nepotism stuff by the 32nd century. This "captain" is a child. This is no future I want to be part of.

Then we have the scene that explains the Star Trek Shorts episode titled "Calypso."

In the Shorts story, Discovery has been station-keeping at some remote place for 1,000 years, ordered to do so by her unnamed captain. So it's, like, the 42nd century. That's all we know as a man calling himself Craft drifts by, and is rescued by Zora. He stays for a while, they have a moment, but he leaves to return to his wife and child. (Mirroring the bit in The Odyssey where "craft-y" Odysseus is rescued by, and stays with, the nymph Calypso. But his love for his wife and child are such that the gods order her to let him go.)

It's a terrible story for Zora, because it's obvious that she's sentient, but is ordered to be somewhere alone for 1,000 years. Then, after Craft shows up and leaves, she stays there, unable to leave because of orders given to her by people long dead. That is inhumane -- and very NOT Star Trek.

But, OK, we can imagine scenarios for why this might happen, and enjoy the bittersweetness of the story, which I think is what we're supposed to do. As a standalone (and a riff on classic lit), that's fine. But Discovery couldn't leave well enough alone, and tried to explain it.

Turns out Zora's order to stay is from Captain Burnham, who seems completely untroubled by sending a sentient life form into permanent, solo exile. (She spends almost the entirety of the last half of episode 10 with some sort of drugged-out, blissful grin on her face.) There is no "you can leave after saving Craft" or anything. Zora is permanently exiled to an eternity of loneliness*. Man, they really shouldn't haven't even tried to explain that short.

*Actually, we see Zora breaking down and losing her mind, i.e. dying, in the dystopic future seen by Burnham and Rayner in episode 4, "Face the Strange." So maybe she'll at least have the relief of DEATH.

Also, Starfleet turns out an honor guard of hundreds, if not thousands, of CGI ships to watch Discovery's last exit. Nice to see they've recovered from The Burn so well. Too bad this Starfleet is a bunch of a-holes who are exiling Zora for no damn good reason.

Oh, wait! One more thing to squeeze in! Agent Kovich is explained as a character from Enterprise, a show I didn't watch. There's a mystery I didn't know was a mystery, and now it's explained, and I guess I'm supposed to care, but ... eh.

I can't for the life of me imagine who's watching Star Trek: Discovery.

Well, nobody now. It’s over! And I hope my wife and I are the last!

They did set up a number of possible spin-offs, but I honestly hope none of them will happen. If there’s a God, Discovery’s 32nd century will be written off as only a possible future, and none of this series will ever be mentioned again. (Especially by Spock, who suddenly had a sister never before mentioned in decades of Star Trek. Let's not mention her again for decades more!)

It's so different (in all respects) from the original that I don't see it appealing to fans of the original series, yet what would be the draw for Millennials who have never seen any previous Star Trek? I'm guessing maybe second generation fans of ST:TNG (the ones who refer to themselves as "Trekkers") who are drawn to it curious about a "new" Star Trek show, the same way fans of TOS ("Trekkies") were once drawn to ST:TNG.

Preach on, brother. You’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again.

After an exhaustive five-minute search, I did find these remarks from a first-generation fan: "[The Star Trek spin-offs] were certainly nothing like the original, and I have to hand it to them. They had the original blueprint to work from, and proceeded to produce a show with time-wasting techno-jargon, P.C. abundance (as much as they could fit it) and dramatic situations as tense as one playig the flute and being interrupted could possibly gain to get the blood boiling." He goes on to say, "Next Gen, the one most would call closest to a worthy successor, was at time the height of cold, dirt-level dullness."

Ha! Can’t disagree. I found ST:TNG to be, by and large, boring. (Sorry, Millennials!)

I like ST:TNG, but I must admit he makes some good points. Shows like Discovery and even Picard are barely even recognizable as Trek. I can put up with Strange New Worlds because, despite the showrunners' early assertions that it was part of original series continuity, it patently is not. I can accept it as an alternate universe version, but I hate to think of anyone watching only the neo-Trek and thinking they are watching Star Trek.

"Come, come, Mr. Scott. Young minds, fresh ideas. We talked."

Seriously, I agree wholeheartedly, except for the last bit. Today’s younger viewers are watching Star Trek … as it exists now. They are not watching our Star Trek … and I don’t think they can. Because it’s not 1966.

As mentioned above, Star Trek hit me like The Beatles, and James Bond, and Silver Age Marvel, and the Batman TV show, and the rest of the ‘60s pop culture explosion. It was a certain time, a certain world, where these concepts and approaches had come to fruition all at once, born of the people of that time, and embraced by the kids of that time. Kids like me and, presumably, you (even though you’re a bit younger).

And that time has passed. What so excited us then is not only old hat, but so incorporated into the broader pop-culture landscape that even riffing on it seems like a cliché. "Beam me up, Scotty" has entered, and left, the common lexicon in our lifetimes.

Just like in comics, new approaches are needed for new generations in science fiction. The Silver Age Superman was big in his time, but DC has trouble even selling reprints from that era. And it’s not just Superman, but all of the Silver Age. The styles and approach of that era have given way to things that speak to today’s readers, that resonate better with These Kids Today (tm). We old folks like some of it, don't like other bits, but none of it is like it was in our time. When it comes to pop culture, we are now on the outside looking in.

Personally, I do like a lot of today's pop culture, and I do try to move with the times. I also miss a lot of my pop culture, simply because I miss my youth.

But OTOH, not all of it is passing fancy. Some of it is timeless, or should be timeless, and I do think Roddenberry's vision is one of those things.

I do wish that today’s writers could be clever enough to keep the core Star Trek ideas intact and write to make them work in today’s world … and, to some degree, I think Strange New Worlds does that. Which is reassuring.

But even so, I recognize that the writers of that show are several generations removed from TOS. They do NOT resonate with the concepts and ideas of that show, as we did so many decades ago. That they even get close with Strange New Worlds is something of a miracle. So I'll enjoy what I can as the things that I once considered mine are re-imagined by younger generations. Who will lose out by not recognizing the best parts of the past, but will make up for it by inventing things of their own. And the world will spin on, uncaring.

But sure, we older fans are going to kvetch and complain about the Star Trek they make, just just as we complain about everything else ... as we’re gently shuffled off the stage.

But having said that? Star Trek: Discovery really sucked.
- The Baron > Captain Comics June 24, 2024 at 5:52am
  
  the most incredible and amazing library I have ever seen
  
  Better even than the planetary library in the Doctor Who episodee "Silence in the Library", the one that introduced River Song? ("Hey, who turned out the lights?")
  
  Uhura had some great lines ("Hello, fair lady!" "Sorry, NEITHER.")
  
  "Fair maiden ", actually. which adds an extra level, since "maiden" could also mean "virgin".
Jeff of Earth-J June 24, 2024 at 10:55am

I’d like to mention some other things, that probably only jump out by binging...

Everything you say is true.

Surely there’s another way that two starships can stop a tiny ship?

You can betcher @$$ Captain Kirk would have thought of something.

It has been established that Vulcans eschew personal contact since that initiates telepathy...

Just to play devil's advocate here, at the time of Star Trek: Enterprise, any kind of mind meld at all was considered deviant behavior, and that was only a few decades before TOS. Perhaps Vulcan mores have changed in 800 years.

And yes, it was obvious from the first episode that we were in for a whole season of finding pieces of a puzzle, and I have never watched Doctor Who. But I agree, points to Tracy for knowing a specific sci-fi show where this was done before!

Have you ever seen the movie Anaconda in comparison the The Creature from the Black Lagoon? This season of DIS was comparable to Doctor Who's "Key to Time" season just like that.

Also must mention my wife and I both mentioned how all-out they went on the F/X here...

I don't recall if I mentioned that or not, but Tracy and I thought the same. It's almost as if they tried to compensate for the lack of story with over-the-top special effects.

Why doesn’t everyone have one of these? Why doesn’t Discovery have one, and put it on the Breen ship? Why don’t the Breen have one, and put It on Fed HQ?

If I had to guess, I'd say the in-story explanation is "outlawed technology" (but of course the real answer is "writer's fiat").

(I'm thinking "teleportation spell" here, but there are plenty to choose from.)

Off topic, but I seem to recall the in-story explanation for not using the teleportation spell too frequently is that such use would weaken the fabric of space/time (or whatever), which is exectly what did happen when Dr. Strange used it too often in the "Six-Fingered Hand" storyline in Defenders. We now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion.

Are we to think that’s Spock?

Probably. The inclusion of the ISS Enterprise serves no real purpose (other than the scene in which Burnham glances at Book working at her"brother's" station).

It was nice to see the classic Enterprise again, even though it wasn't the "real" Enterprise.

Of course, IRL it was the bridge set from Strange New Worlds redressed.

At least after one of the Star Trek shows (I think it was Strange New Worlds) has done us the service of explaining that breaking the Prine Directive isn’t as court-martial-y and career-ending as The Original Series made it out to be.

I can understand that "Non-interferance is the Prime Directive" in cases in which the Federation doesn't want to cause culture shock or introduce technology a race isn't ready for lest disaster ensue, yet in cases in whihc non-interferance would lead to the extinction of the the entire race, it would seem to be a moot point and there should be some wiggle room. "In order to preserve the society we had had to let it destroy itself."

But my question is: Once they have broken the Prime Directive, and the planet’s population has been traumautized by their entire way of life turning out to be a lie, why didn’t Starfleet go ahead and give them a better life in return, by restoring the other weather towers?

Didn't they? I kind of thought they did (or maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part). Back in the days of TOS, the Consellation class starships would initiate First Contact, but it was left to other classes of ships (science vessels or diplomatic vessels whatever), to do the long-term follow-up work. (I think it was Alan Dean Foster in the Star Trek Log series that fleshed this idea out, or maybe it was James Blish.) In any case, I would think/hope the Starfleet/Federation of the current era would have such programs in place.

My wife and I had the opposite reaction: It wasn’t clicking with us, so we plowed through it as fast as possible to get it over with.

We were certainly relieved when it was over.

About halfway through our binge-watch, my wife said “Who is this show made for?” I had to laugh, since you two were on the same frequency.

It is pretty cool. But it looks an awful lot like the five-dimensional space in Interstellar, which presents as an infinite library (from the back of the shelves). You’ve mentioned “homages” before about this season, and this appears to be another.

Yep. I missed that one.

Also also, Burnham goes to engineer Jett Reno to find out more about her history as an archivist, since, as the conversation indicates, she's like 400 years old and used to deal in shady antiques. But isn't that the character played by Carol Kane over on Strange New Worlds? I was kind-of baffled by that scene, as I always understood Tig Nicotero's character to be human.

I, too, thought of Carol Kane's SNW character (and it was fun to speculate that the two of them might have met), but I missed (or forgot) the implication that Jett Reno is 400 years old.

Did I misunderstand?

I think so.

It’s nice that the Breen fell for a ploy that submarine commanders invented in World War I.

I actually liked this bit. It reminded me of other "nautical" battles such as TOS's "Balance of Terror" and Kirk's tactics against Khan in Star Trek II.

I can only HOPE it’s an homage.

A "New Hope," eh?

Are we talking about the Doctor Who puzzle thing?

No, the thing that was spoiled for her was the [SPOILER ALERT!] flash-foreward to the future with Book and Burnham married with a grown son. [END SPOILER]

I should mention that when we saw the interface with all the triangles, I instantly understood the cryptic line about forming the space in between, or whatever it was.

As soon as someone (Moll, I think it was) said something about nine being the number of triangles it takes to form a larger trianglem bit Tracy and I immediately figured it out.

As a CHILD I learned how to make other triangles with wooden triangle blocks.

It kind of reminded me of those puzzles with matchsticks... you know: "Move one matchstick to make [usually a number or an equation]." I used to have a little plastic puzzle of various shape to be formed into a square. I gave it to my brother (a mathematician) to solve, and he immediately said, "I can solve it mathematically," and set about solving it almost immediately. I asked him how he solved it so quickly and he said he knew the area of the finished square by combining the area of the individual pieces (a big clue).

... wait, it can't be this easy. The solution is what I learned playing with wooden blocks as a child?!?? Maybe they don't do that any more, because it took Burnham a minute or two to figure it out. A wooden-block puzzle. Took her a minute or two. I was stunned into silence.

I'm not surprised Burnham and Moll solved this 800 year old puzzle... Tracy and I both had it figured out before they did.

I wanted to mention that the ending lacked a few things. Mainly brevity. It went on and on as people said goodbye, and hugged, and said goodbye, and hugged some more and ... ugh. My wife said, "When will this END?" and I said, "Not until Frodo leaves for the Gray Havens."

This episode itself was nearly an hour and a half long (as you mentioned), with 20 minutes worth of epilogues! Every time a scene would end and they'd move to another one, our groans got louder.

This is SO not Star Trek.

Preachin' to the choir.

And sure enough, they got back together, because in the next scene they're all old and stuff, and they have a son who's about to become a starship captain.

...which reminds me of another "homage" (in this case, to Dune): their son is named Leto. You know what the writers and producers should have homaged? Star Trek.

Then we have the scene that explains the Star Trek Shorts episode titled "Calypso."

We just discovered "Star Trek Shorts." We're three or four episodes in and I'm debating with myself whether or not to post a discussion.

It's a terrible story for Zora, because it's obvious that she's sentient, but is ordered to be somewhere alone for 1,000 years. Then, after Craft shows up and leaves, she stays there, unable to leave because of orders given to her by people long dead. That is inhumane -- and very NOT Star Trek.

Very NOT Star Trek and also very not the future I want to see for my favorite frnachise (but at least it is consistant with DIS in that respect). I read online somewhere that this aspect of the final episode was meant to cover up some plot holes created by one of the shorts, but we haven't gotten to that one yet. that is so very "comic book" (in the perjorative sense of the term).

Turns out Zora's order to stay is from Captain Burnham, who seems completely untroubled by sending a sentient life form into permanent, solo exile.

Another "homage" (in this case, to HAL 9000 in 2010: Odyssey Two).

Also, Starfleet turns out an honor guard of hundreds, if not thousands, of CGI ships to watch Discovery's last exit.

Perhaps it will make more sense to me after I've seen that short but, as I understand it, Discovery's final mission is a top secret Red Directive - the beginning of which is witnessed by the entirety of Starfleet! Also, wouldn't it have made more sense for the crew to abandon the ship the way it was than for Starfleet to restore it to how it originally looked? And once they did restore it to its original condition, why add the Zora AI in the fist place? Also, it is my understanding that the short depicts a possible future. As such, a continuity fix is uneccessary. Besides, this one raises more questions than it answers.

Oh, wait! One more thing to squeeze in! Agent Kovich is explained as a character from Enterprise, a show I didn't watch. There's a mystery I didn't know was a mystery, and now it's explained, and I guess I'm supposed to care, but ... eh.

I did watch Enterprise, but I don't care all that much, either.

They did set up a number of possible spin-offs, but I honestly hope none of them will happen.

I only hope the next Star Trek series is set in the original "Star Trek" universe, regardless of century. Until then, I've read that the next season of neo-Trek's Strange New Worlds has wrapped filming and will air in 2025.

Today’s younger viewers are watching Star Trek … as it exists now.

That's a depressing thought.

But sure, we older fans are going to kvetch and complain about the Star Trek they make, just just as we complain about everything else ... as we’re gently shuffled off the stage.

I thank you for responding in such detail to this season on this thread. Honestly, the thing I enjoyed most about the season is reading you ripping it apart.

But having said that? Star Trek: Discovery really sucked.

Jett Reno

Commander Jett Reno was a 23rd century female Human Federation Starfleet officer. She served as an engineer aboard the USS Hiawatha during the Federa…
Jeff of Earth-J June 24, 2024 at 10:58am

"...the most incredible and amazing library I have ever seen"

"Better even than the planetary library in the Doctor Who episodee 'Silence in the Library'?"

That's what it reminded me of! I'd have to see them both side-by-side to compare, but I think so, yes.

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