On the end of ST: Discovery's First Season

[dewline]

And I've just finished watching "Will You Take My Hand?"

I fully expect screams already in progress over the way the episode ended. Of shock. Of rage. Of joy.

Comments

[mystical_journey]

I never heard of the series but it sounds the ending of the episode was not very appealing.

An exercise in extremes

[ed_rex]

That was one frustrating series!

I nearly gave up after two or three episodes - the political/religious intrigues of the Klingons bored me to tears, and that wasn't helped by the way most of the actors seemed to be reading - with obvious effort - their lines phonetically, and I couldn't stand a space whale in Doctor Who, so the whole space mushroom thing made me want to hurl my computer at the wall.

But I persevered, and in a lot of ways the show seemed to come together. Emotionally, anyway. The last few episodes were pretty drama — if the viewer can forgive the various "scientific" inanities.

Long story short, I disliked most of the underlying elements (the Klingon subplots, the spore drive, the space tardigrade, the ludicrous resolution to the war, letting the Empress go - I could go on and on (and possibly on)), but got caught up by the character arcs as the show progressed.

I'll definitely give the second season a look, fingers crossed for world-building coherence.

But holy moly! was that ship a fucking luxury hotel or what? The bridge looks like a massive lobby. The only thing missing was a chandelier hanging over the Captains chair.

Set Design

[dewline]

I'm not sure I understand the need for such expansive sets either, aside from a sense of competing with the movies for eyeball time and room for camera crews to maneuver. And maybe occupational health and safety concerns for actors and crew alike.

Re: Set Design

[ed_rex]

I think the sets are emblematic of the bits I don't like. Namely, I get the sense that the show-runners either don't understand science fiction or just don't care about it. You'd think they believe that energy is free in the 22nd (23rd? O! I'm not the Trekkie I once was, that's for sure!), as if the Discovery is a TARDIS and not a regular spaceship subject to E=MC2.

Re: Set Design

[dewline]

There's an established techno-mythology here with Star Trek, so yeah, they're taking more liberties than "hard" SF has been comfortable with. Federation Starfleet is not at the level of Gallifreyan Time Lords, but the work of getting there is definitely a project they pursue.