*Minor Spoilers*
As a colossal geek, I have only ever really watched the original run of Star Trek: Generations when it was first on the air in the early to mid 90s. Even then I only remember fragments. Most of my knowledge of the universe of Star Trek is from the Simpsons, Futurama, or anything else that parodied it. That was until J.J Abrams brought out the reboot/alternative timeline films, which I really enjoyed. I personally felt that it was good for new viewers of the series, as it was a good starting point, and for old fans as it takes place in an alternative timeline (and featured Spock himself; the late Leonard Nimoy). After that I read up bits and pieces of the Star Trek universe for reference and ideas when I was/am writing my own pieces of Science Fiction.
That for me is my own history with this franchise. I think I want to really get myself stuck into it, but I fear it is too late. At least for what has already transpired. There are many series, featuring hundreds of episodes, some of which you need to just get through to get to the good ones. I really don’t have the time for that. I needed to get into it fully when it was on the air the first time around.
The last Star Trek series ending in 2005, so, other than the reboot movies, Star Trek hasn’t been on our screens in well over a decade.
Thankfully CBS have started up a brand new Star Trek series titled; Discovery, to help reinvent the show. Whether you are a die-hard Trekkie, a casual enthusiast, like myself, who is eager to learn more, or new to the series and wanted to check it out, then Discovery is a great place to start. Who knows, you might even get so involved that you then go back and watch the other six series (if we are not including the animated series… is it canon?).
The show is set a decade before the adventures of Captain James T Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew of the starship USS Enterprise, and stars Walking Dead’s Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham (Silly Star Trek… Michael is a boy’s name). Michael is a human who was raised by a Vulcan.
At this point I am just going to assume you have a little bit of Star Trek knowledge, or am willing to accept that there are other races in the Star Trek universe and that these odd names are just them.
Michael serves as first officer on-board the USS Shenzhou now, but her back story mentions that Klingons (there it is) attacked the settlement she was living on and killed her family before she was taken in by a Vulcan leader (played by James Frain, who was born and lived down the road from where I write this now). This Vulcan; Sarek, serves as Michael’s surrogate father and mentor, as well as turning out to actually be Spock’s own father! So there is your link to the original right there.
Anyway, other than a few raiding attacks on the outskirts of deep-space, the Klingons have not really been seen much in the last 100 years… so it is safe to say that they are not going to…
Oh no wait! The introduction scene shows a Klingon holding a meeting and pretty much declaring a war against the Federations (the good guys), so we should expect to see a lot more of them. The These Klingons (who now blue and looking suspiciously like Genestealer Cultists from Warhammer 40k, rather than just black guys… although they are still played by black guys) are being lead by a rogue whose intention is to show the other noble Klingon houses the way of war and unite them.
They hatch a little cheeky ambush plan that the USS Shenzhou, under the command of Captain Georgiou (played by Tomorrow Never Dies Bond Girl; Michelle Yeoh), go and investigate.
Shit kicks off and the Klingon armada arrives and a glorious space battle endures. The effects and CGI of this series so far looks great. There were no moments that I thought it looked cheap (or at least TV cheap, as films always have better effects than TV shows), and I really enjoyed what I saw.
The first two episodes serve as a prologue to the rest of the season/show. It ignites the Federation/Klingon war and introduces us to some of the key characters. By the end of it, some “stuff” has happened and I am not sure if it is going to take place a little bit afterwards and further into the war, which is when episode 3 is most likely going to start from and the true story of the show will begin. We get a little taster of it in the last 3 or so minutes of the second episode.
I am assuming that the way the story of these two episodes end, the main antagonist has only just started being moulded, so it will be interesting to see if that character returns, or if they were just added to start of this war for the purposes of laying the groundwork for the story; a means to an end, if you will, rather than playing a bigger role in it and causing more issues further down the line.
The reason the show is called Discovery, is because soon Michael will be on-board the USS Discovery under the command of Captain Lorca, played by Jason Isaacs, who seems eager to engage the Klingons in battle, maybe even being a little too bloodthirsty for his own good.
But of course this is all just hinted at right at the end of episode 2 in the “This Season on Star Trek: Discovery.
The annoying thing is that this is merely an introduction into the universe and mainly the character Michael. Whilst giving her a fleshed out background is great (especially as I didn’t particularly like the actress in The Walking Dead), we are not shown any of the other characters. Star Trek is famous for its cast of colourful characters, compiling of both human and alien, and other than an alien named Saru, who serves only to go against anything Michael says and question her actions, we do not see any of the major characters who will play a role in this season. Saru was reasonably interesting, but his sole purpose of going against Michael was his only characteristic. I am sure that he will feature more as the show goes on, but for now he was the only other character (who survives) that we actually got to know besides the protagonist.
It is unknown at this time if Star Trek: Discovery will be one story dragged over the course of the season, similar to how modern television shows are nowadays, or if it will bring back the old episode a week type job where each episode is its own self contain story line, only occasionally getting involved in a larger picture. Personally I think they will do a mixture of both, at least to begin with.
Modern viewers are not interested in a different story each week any more. TV shows have changed so much over the last fifteen years. Before it was a long season of 22 or 24 episodes, each 45 or so minutes of its own contained plot, only occasionally having a link to another episode, or even a double episode (see: all of the CSI’s, House, and Bones), but nowadays, viewers want a short Game of Thrones-esc season of 10 – 12 episodes, a full hour each and a story which covers the entire season (see: Narcos, House of Cards, Better Call Saul – sorry for the constant Netflix originals).
These Star Trek episodes are currently running at around 40 – 45 minutes, so I am curious if it is going to be a return to the old ways. It is a risk though. When Marvel’s Agents of Shield started, the first half of the first season were all their own individual story lines… and it bombed. I know so many people who stopped watching it and now regard it as “shit”. But when the show returned after the midseason break (that is another thing we have to put up with with modern television), the show focused on a single story line that stretched over the remainder of the season, and it was great. It has continued to do this for the next seasons, and I think it is a fantastic show.
ANWAY! Back to Star Trek. As I said before, these two episodes only serve as a prologue and introduction into the story and the lead character. It has hard to tell what the future holds for us, but for the time being, I will be returning next week to check out the adventures of the USS Discovery and hope that they do go where no man (or Star Trek show) has gone before, allowing the show to live long… and prosper…
Boom!
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