|
|
Post by wvengineer on Jan 8, 2019 0:46:33 GMT
I got STD, Season 1 from the library, I will go though the whole series and do an episode by episode review of it. I will try to be as objective as possible.
WARNING. POSSIBLE SPOILERS!
Edit: Strike that. There will defiantly be spoilers, and maybe major spoilers. Consider youself warned.
|
|
|
|
Post by GTCGreg on Jan 8, 2019 2:17:01 GMT
I got STD, Season 1 from the library, I will go though the whole series and do an episode by episode review of it. I will try to be as objective as possible. WARNING. POSSIBLE SPOILERS! Looking forward to your opinion. As I said in previous posts, I wasn't impressed. In fact, I found it so bad, I never watched the second half of season 1 even though I had free access. |
|
|
|
Post by wvengineer on Jan 8, 2019 2:47:27 GMT
Episode 1: The Vulcan Hello
This episode introduces us to our protagonist Michael Burnham. A human, raised on Vulcan with close ties to Sarak, presumably Spock as well, but so far he has not been mentioned.
This episode introduces the war hungry Klingon. The producers admit that they are supposed to parallel nope. It shows. Really it seems out of place for Klingons. Klingon are about combat for honor. There really is no honor behind their anti-federation hatred. Really, there is no logic to it at all. Also, Klingon only speak Klingon and are entirely subtitled. This is annoying in two ways. 1. It is difficult to watch with divided attention. I was trying to put laundry away and that makes it harder than normal for Star Trek to follow the story. Additionally, it is subtitled in both Klingon and English. WTF?? What is the point for Klingon subtitles? I normally don't have an issue with foreign films and subtitles, but this is a bit much.
The character of Michael is highly inconsistent. One minute she is a wide eyed kid in a sci-fi candy store out to explore the next new thing. In the next moment, she is a frightened kid afraid of everything, Next she is literally knocking out her commanding officer and trying to take over the ship. This person has a major personality disorder. So far, I'm having a lot of trouble taking her seriously.
The "Vulcan Hello" refers to an old Vulcan secret policy of shoot on sight when they see a Klingon ship. The idea is the Klingon's respect a show of strength, and by firing on them, they will see them as someone to be taken seriously. Waiting too long for them to fire first is seen as a sign of weakness. This is problematic in several ways. 1. It is inconsistent with established Klingon. Klingons will butt heads with friends, but firing on someone for no reason is wasteful. This is not seen in any other Trek I know of. 2. If this policy is successful with Vulcans, why is it a big secret? Vulcans do things for logical reasons. If this shoot on sight policy is effective as they claim, then why not make it standard Federation policy?
Having Michael run to her quarters to call Uncle Sarak strikes me as lazy writing, borrowing from Star Trek Into Darkness, where they call old Spock when they are in need of plot exposition.
Based on this episode, it has potential, but there are a number of head scratching moments. If nothing else, the episode is short. Only 36 minutes with all credits.
|
|
|
|
Post by GTCGreg on Jan 8, 2019 3:08:40 GMT
Like them or hate them, one positive trait of Klingons was their value of honor. The Klingons of Discovery have no honor, not even amongst themselves.
|
|
|
|
Post by WhutScreenName on Jan 8, 2019 16:13:12 GMT
...Also, Klingon only speak Klingon and are entirely subtitled. This is annoying in two ways. 1. It is difficult to watch with divided attention. I was trying to put laundry away and that makes it harder than normal for Star Trek to follow the story. Additionally, it is subtitled in both Klingon and English. WTF?? What is the point for Klingon subtitles? I normally don't have an issue with foreign films and subtitles, but this is a bit much. I watched some of the first season (also free from the library). Here's a funny thing, I didn't realize there WAS subtitles for the Klingons to start with... so I watched multiple episodes without understanding a word they said. I HATED that the most... only to realize later I had to turn that feature on specifically on the disk to get the english subtitles... made a bit of a difference. The funny thing was, when I watched the first half of the first episode on TV, the subtitles were there... I did find it strange to not have any on the disk. Overall though, as I said before, the Klingons are nothing like Klingons. I wish they had made them another race, rather than trying to call them Klingons just to keep continuity... which is less because of the terrible changes they made. |
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Jan 8, 2019 16:54:15 GMT
...Also, Klingon only speak Klingon and are entirely subtitled. This is annoying in two ways. 1. It is difficult to watch with divided attention. I was trying to put laundry away and that makes it harder than normal for Star Trek to follow the story. Additionally, it is subtitled in both Klingon and English. WTF?? What is the point for Klingon subtitles? I normally don't have an issue with foreign films and subtitles, but this is a bit much. I watched some of the first season (also free from the library). Here's a funny thing, I didn't realize there WAS subtitles for the Klingons to start with... so I watched multiple episodes without understanding a word they said. I HATED that the most... only to realize later I had to turn that feature on specifically on the disk to get the english subtitles... made a bit of a difference. The funny thing was, when I watched the first half of the first episode on TV, the subtitles were there... I did find it strange to not have any on the disk. Overall though, as I said before, the Klingons are nothing like Klingons. I wish they had made them another race, rather than trying to call them Klingons just to keep continuity... which is less because of the terrible changes they made. the more I read comments, the more I am glad I chose to totally ignore the show. |
|
|
|
Post by GTCGreg on Jan 8, 2019 17:26:55 GMT
the more I read comments, the more I am glad I chose to totally ignore the show. Smart on your part. I wasted half the first season before I came to that conclusion. Not going to make that mistake with season two. |
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Jan 8, 2019 18:01:58 GMT
the more I read comments, the more I am glad I chose to totally ignore the show. Smart on your part. I wasted half the first season before I came to that conclusion. Not going to make that mistake with season two. see, the citadel is useful. |
|
|
|
Post by ironhold on Jan 8, 2019 19:22:28 GMT
I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that if there's ever a new creative team in place Discovery's going right down the memory hole once it gets even close to paying for itself.
|
|
|
|
Post by the light works on Jan 8, 2019 21:40:45 GMT
I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that if there's ever a new creative team in place Discovery's going right down the memory hole once it gets even close to paying for itself. I would expect it to go sooner than that, if a new creative team comes into play. |
|
|
|
Post by wvengineer on Jan 11, 2019 1:55:43 GMT
Episode 2: Battle at the Binary Stars.
Another short episode, 39 minutes. This takes place immediately after episode 1. This episode features Star Fleet being Star Fleet, letting principles and questionable dialog take prescience over actual good ideas. Michael Burnham is locked up for her mutany. And star fleet is trying to negotiate with the Klingons, completely ignoring any history that they, or anyone else has had with them, and big surprise, they botch it up which leads to a full out battle.
I hope this doesn't become a thing, but leadership in the ST is stupid. They do not bother to do their homework and completely misunderstand their enemy. For people who claim to be skilled diplomats, they forget the first rule to understand the opposition.
The effects that you can see are impressive. Federation ships look reasonably well thought out in their designs and do fit in well with Star Trek cannon. The Klingon ships, however, are over designed to an extreme and completely standout in Star Trek cannon. On top of that, they seam to only have 3 color pallets in this universe. Dark blue and silver for federation ships, dark red and gold for Klingons, and dark yellow and brown for space shots. It can be hard to see what is going on at times.
Character inconsistency strikes again with a raid that Michael and her captain make on the disabled Klingon flag ship. After a intense discussion before the beam over about having to take T'kevma, the Klingon leader alive so they don't make a martyr of him, on her advice. She then intentionally kills him instead of capturing him.
It's a pretty basic episode, not too involved. Not bad in general.
|
|
|
|
Post by wvengineer on Jan 11, 2019 2:26:33 GMT
Episode 3: Context is for Kings
Set 6 months after the Battle of the Binary Stars. Michael has been convicted of Mutiny and sentenced to life in prison. While being transferred to a penal work colony, her shuttle gets in an accident and gets rescued by the USS Discovery.
Captain Lorca is CO of the Discovery, a brand new ship, one of two researching a potentially super powerful new drive system. He is not exactly made to be likeable. Lt. Stamets it the chief researcher, and he is even more unlikable. A bitter, disgruntles biologist who hate that he is not considered the smartest person ever. Then there is Cadet Tilly. Yet another person with several mental disorders. In this case allergies and social anxiety. The normal people get killed off pretty quickly.
Instead of warp tech, they use a fungus that is connected to every point in the universe. If this goes anywhere, this has the potential to break Star Trek. At some point they will have to write a way to completely destroy this tech considering it is never referred to again in the hundreds of years of trek that follow.
This episode is heavy on exposition and character development, and really short on story. The characters they introduce are more annoying than endearing.
|
|
|
|
Post by GTCGreg on Jan 11, 2019 3:17:15 GMT
The characters they introduce are more annoying than endearing. Not meant to be a spoiler, but one thing Discovery has is definite character progression. They become increasingly annoying in each episode, especially Michael. |
|
|
|
Post by wvengineer on Jan 11, 2019 15:12:16 GMT
A couple of the writing issues I have seen:
First is that MB gets blamed for single handily starting the Federation-Klingon War. At one point in Ep. 3 they shay she is responsible for 8000+ deaths at the Battle of the Binary Star. This makes no sense. MB's mutany was her trying to preemptively fire on the Klingons to establish their dominance. She never got the chance to pull the trigger. They never fired, yet the Klingons fire anyway. So she had nothing to do with them firing. If they had fired first, and the Klingons returned fire anyway, then it would make sens for her to at least share responsibility for starting the conflict.But she didn't so that line of reasoning is invalid. She did intentionally Kill T'Kuvma, despite her own warning that it would be better to capture him alive, thus dishonoring him. She killed him (you briefly see her change her phaser setting before she fires) thus making him the Martyr that she said they needed to prevent. For someone trained in Vulcan logic ('The needs of the many') Her action betrayer her own character. I could see that action being used to claim that instead of capturing T'Kuvma and ending the war before it starts with his dishonor, she creates the war with that action. But that is not what they blame her for. by this time the 8000+ deaths had already occurred. So if you take that line of reasoning that she started the war that way, she is not responsible for those deaths because they occurred before her action. Either line of logic is problematic and show poor writing.
The other issue is the Klingon justification for the war. In Ep 2. T'kuvma says: "Members of the Federation. What you call your most remote borders, I call too close to Klingon territory." So according to that, The federation may be close to Klingon territory, but they had not violated it. So by attacking the federation, they were actually the dishonerable ones for violating past agreements on territory. The whole thing is without honor.
A side nitpick. One of the things the Klingons use is their cloaking technology. They say that not all Klingons have this, just T'Kuvma's house. This contradicts the TOS Episode "Balance of Terror" Where they had not encounters ship based cloaking before then. They are surprised that it exists and figure that it must be very power taxing, a fact they use to their advantage to defeat the Romulans. I guess this is traditional Trek cannon continuity (or lack there of) at it's finest.
|
|
|
|
Post by WhutScreenName on Jan 11, 2019 15:26:07 GMT
A couple of the writing issues I have seen: First is that MB gets blamed for single handily starting the Federation-Klingon War. At one point in Ep. 3 they shay she is responsible for 8000+ deaths at the Battle of the Binary Star. This makes no sense. MB's mutany was her trying to preemptively fire on the Klingons to establish their dominance. She never got the chance to pull the trigger. They never fired, yet the Klingons fire anyway. So she had nothing to do with them firing. That's not why she's responsible. She's responsible because she killed the Klingon in space when she was investigating the object. That's what started everything rolling. And then, to follow that up, she committed mutiny. I agree, to say she was responsible because she fired on them, isn't true... but I don't believe that's what they were referring to. |
|
|
|
Post by wvengineer on Jan 11, 2019 15:31:15 GMT
Maybe they get more into it later in the series, but so far, they somehow tie her mutiny with the start of the war. So as written, that is the act that was somehow the catalyst. There really has not been any mention of her killing the Klingon on the beacon. Even with that logic, you have a clear case of self defense, even confirmed by her suit's flight computer, so you can not hold her responsible for that.
|
|
|
|
Post by wvengineer on Jan 13, 2019 0:38:05 GMT
Episode 4: The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry
The Spore Drive that we were introduced to in the last episode does not work. It is only good for a few hundred thousand KMs. More than that and they risk going off in the wrong path and getting lost anywhere in the universe. Also, In the last episode, while investigating the wreckage of their system ship, the Glenn, this discover a creature onboard that care tear though metal bulkheads and is impervious to phaser fire. MB is assigned to examine the creature, dubbed "Ripper" and see how it could be used for military purposes.
There is some back and forth on if the creature is truly aggressive or not, but there is nothing on the ethics of using it as a weapon. So a missed opportunity for the writers.
Eventually they figure out that the Glenn was using the creature as a biological supercomputer because it can interact with the spores that power their experimental drive system. This enables them to make the longest leap yet with the Spore drive ans save a mining colony from Klingon attack.
Overall, it's a solid meh. It's a rather surprisingly simplsitic episode. Pretty mush just moving the story from point A to point B, not really taking the opportunity to challenge things when they could have.
|
|
|
|
Post by wvengineer on Jan 20, 2019 18:52:05 GMT
Episode 5: Choose Your Pain
Captain Lorca has been captured by Klingons after being off ship for a meeting with SF command. Meanwhile, MB talks with the ship's doc and establishes that using Ripper as the control for the spore drive. Doc agrees. So the Ship is tasked with rescuing their captain. There is a argument between MB and the 1st officer about ripper and the commander does not feel that there is a risk, even though the doc's report should contains all the proof needed. Enter stupid decision making.
Lorca, we then meet his cell make. Harcourt Fenton Mudd. Originally he is a petty con man. Her is is a totally unscrupulous survivor who will sell out anyone to save himself. You can figure out from there how it goes.
Back on Discovery, they track where Lorca is being help and spore jump in. This causes Ripper to go into hibernation to keep itself alive. So now they are force to find a replacement. Lorca escapes and is rescued by Discovery and they jump out, this time using Lt. Stamets as a controller. That works. MB releases Ripper and we then find out that Stamets and the doctor are in a relationship.
Thoughts: First off, this goes completely against the establish idea of "Klingons don't take prisoners." Here not only do they take them, they use them for public spectacles and executions. I actually think they could have explained it, but they didn't even try or to say that it was unusual.
Next, during the meeting with SF command, they talk about the idea that MB was not responsible for the start of the war, but it is basically discarded. They have no problem using her as a scapegoat.
They start to wonder if Ripper is intelligent, but again, the ethical implications are completely ignored.
The gay romance between Stamets and Culber so far seems completly tacked on and pointless. I don't care about gay character if there is a reason for it, but so far it feels more like trying to play to a certain audience than to flesh out the character.
Overall, it has potential to be good, but it is completely wasted.
A final note on something that has been bugging me for a few episodes: These of shakycam. This use irregularly using shakycam. Some scenes have a smooth camera some are all over the place. So far I can't figure out the logic and it does not help. IF they are trying to add emphasis on certain scenes, the reasoning isn't clear. that mixed with the muted color pallet and oftentimes poor lighting, it can be rather headache inducing.
|
|
|
|
Post by GTCGreg on Jan 20, 2019 19:53:07 GMT
Episode 5: Choose Your Pain Captain Lorca has been captured by Klingons after being off ship for a meeting with SF command. Meanwhile, MB talks with the ship's doc and establishes that using Ripper as the control for the spore drive. Doc agrees. So the Ship is tasked with rescuing their captain. There is a argument between MB and the 1st officer about ripper and the commander does not feel that there is a risk, even though the doc's report should contains all the proof needed. Enter stupid decision making. Lorca, we then meet his cell make. Harcourt Fenton Mudd. Originally he is a petty con man. Her is is a totally unscrupulous survivor who will sell out anyone to save himself. You can figure out from there how it goes. Back on Discovery, they track where Lorca is being help and spore jump in. This causes Ripper to go into hibernation to keep itself alive. So now they are force to find a replacement. Lorca escapes and is rescued by Discovery and they jump out, this time using Lt. Stamets as a controller. That works. MB releases Ripper and we then find out that Stamets and the doctor are in a relationship. Thoughts: First off, this goes completely against the establish idea of "Klingons don't take prisoners." Here not only do they take them, they use them for public spectacles and executions. I actually think they could have explained it, but they didn't even try or to say that it was unusual. Next, during the meeting with SF command, they talk about the idea that MB was not responsible for the start of the war, but it is basically discarded. They have no problem using her as a scapegoat. They start to wonder if Ripper is intelligent, but again, the ethical implications are completely ignored. The gay romance between Stamets and Culber so far seems completly tacked on and pointless. I don't care about gay character if there is a reason for it, but so far it feels more like trying to play to a certain audience than to flesh out the character. Overall, it has potential to be good, but it is completely wasted. A final note on something that has been bugging me for a few episodes: These of shakycam. This use irregularly using shakycam. Some scenes have a smooth camera some are all over the place. So far I can't figure out the logic and it does not help. IF they are trying to add emphasis on certain scenes, the reasoning isn't clear. that mixed with the muted color pallet and oftentimes poor lighting, it can be rather headache inducing. Mudd character is in name only, as are the Klingons. As for the gay relationship, it appeared to me as only a, "Let's shove this in people's faces so we can check off that box." They do visit it again in later episodes but it never really goes anywhere other than to say they have it. As for shakycams, I hate them. Not only here but anywhere it's used. It makes me want to puke after about 2 minutes of watching it. It reminds me of my aunts old 8mm family videos we were forced to watch when I was a kid. The pan never stops. |
|
|
|
Post by wvengineer on Jan 20, 2019 19:57:36 GMT
Episode 6: Lethe
In the first episode, MB has this thing where she can talk to her step father Sarek over any distance because they mine-melded at one time and she has part of Sarek's katra. Yet another thing that was never mentioned previously in any Trek, despite being extremely useful. Instantaneous, secure communication over any distance? Something would have been very useful in many conditions. Would have completely changed Voyager, but this is new here.
Sarek is involved with trying to arrange negations with two Klingon houses that were forced out by the new leadership, so he goes to a conference. While on his way his shuttle is sabotaged by a "Logic Extremist", basically a Vulcan terrorist. Think of a Vulcan version of Terra Prime, only less interesting. Sarek is lost and dying.
MB uses her link with Sarek to find misewd with Spore drive tech and rescue him. In the process we learn about Sarek having a disagreement with the Vulcan Science Academy/High Command. The Vuclan Expeditionary Group is some arm of Vulcan that is seen as the missionary force of Vulcan to spread logic. Sarek was given a choice to have one person join them. Either MB or Spock (the first time Spock has been mentioned in this series.) He choose Spock, making MB think she was a failure for not making the cut despite being top of her class. Since Spock later decided to join Star Fleet, Sarek is dealing with guilt of his personal failure to live up to Vulcan ideals. It actually is a interesting view on things and does work with the later Sarek/Spock story. Sarek is rescued.
During this, Lorca has a visit from Admiral Saru to evaluate his mental state after his imprisonment. The who also used to have a relationship. This brings up many issues with SF and their disregard relationship restrictions and the chain of command. We have covered that elsewhere. this also drops a load of hints that Lorca may not be who he claims to be. Saru ends up going to the negotiations in Sarek's place. In what is not a surprise at all, it's a trap and she is captured in the Klingon house's attempt to win loyalty with her capture.
This episode is a mixed bag. The Sarek subplot is interesting and well done. The Lorca plot is not. It is predictable and problematic.
|
|
