PLEASANTLY SURPRISED BY THE NEW STAR TREK: DISCOVERY SERIES

[Jim_Campbell]

Thought, per comments on the GRIM RUMOURS thread, that we could do with a more appropriately-titled thread!

Not seen Ep4 yet (the wife's away for a week due to work and it's more than my life's worth to watch it without her…) but I'm really enjoying it.

Spoilers are fair game from here on in. Have at it. I'll be back on Friday, when I've seen Ep4!

[JamesC]

I think it's ace. I'm enjoying the design of the Discovery more every time I see it.
Episode 4 was good and offered some more surprises. I wasn't expecting the spore beast to be so integral to the plot (and neither was that silly cow security woman - I was well glad when she got mauled). Now the spore beast is ill though. Poor spore beast.
I'm still expecting Michael to mutiny against this crew at some point, probably destroying the spore tech in the process. I'm preparing to have my expectations confounded though.

[JOE SOAP]

They just nipple clipped a Third Stage Guild Navigator.

[JamesC]

I suppose you could see the spores as being something like melange. Never thought of that.

[TordelBack]

Glad it wasn't just me thinking Dune.  But there are much worse things to think of.   

So there was lots of good stuff in Episode 4, but there was also a big drop in the novelty factor.  If this is going to be just incremental steps in the Michael Burnham Story I'm going to get bored.  I'd definitely prefer a more ensemble-based approach, give other crew-members the spotlight, rather than just quick turns orbiting Michael's manifest destiny.  Bargain Basement Alan Tudyk had his spin this week, but it was all just playing off Michael and Lorca: I want to see a Saru-centric episode, one with whats-that-on-her-face Keyla, and that rather cool Doctor.  But thank goodness that awful Security Chief got chomped before I had to learn more about what the hell her problem was. 

But maybe we'll get to that, now that the spore drive has had its workout (and continuity-damaging concerns aside, I rather liked all of that spinning and zipping about).  And I did warm to Michael more this week, with her Federation scientist hippy side coming to the fore, rather than her wannabe-green-blooded ultra-pragmatism.

Main gripe: sweet Surak's scrotum, am I sick of subtitled Klingon dialogue now. It's not so much the reading, it's the haughing and clicking of a made-up language for 10 minute stretches.  We get it, bunch of bald lads shouting 'remain Klingon', now turn on the universal translator.   

Mudd next week I believe, fingers crossed for that one.

[Magnetica]

Main gripe: am I sick of subtitled Klingon dialogue now. It's not so much the reading, it's the haughing and clicking of a made-up language for 10 minute stretches.  We get it, bunch of bald lads shouting 'remain Klingon', now turn on the universal translator.   

Yes me too. I am used to reading subtitles so that's not an issue, rather it is the language itself. It seems to have a completely different feel to it than before - it's a lot softer than it ought to be in my opinion. Plus I can't help wonder if the writers are just putting random sounds in, or have they actually invented Klingon vocabulary and grammar ( and yes I know you can get a Klingon dictionary etc, but as  said this sounds different to what we have seen before)?

[Goaty]

Try subtitles on Netflix as it perfect on all languages including Klingon

[Professor Bear]

5 whole posts before someone starts complaining - it's definitely a Trek thread, but now I don't know why we left the Grim Rumors thread.

I watch roughly 5 episodes of fansubbed Japanese tv each week, and even I was bored of the Klingon subtitle scenes.
Also: this heavily damaged ship is just sitting there uncloaked inside Federation space for six months with no backup while the crew munch on dead people?  And Starfleet doesn't scuttle its ships in wartime?
And it's a personal gripe, but I hate seeing "bio-technology" in sci-fi, as it is basically one big hand-waving exercise and it would be quicker and more honest to just call it Plot Magic.

[IAMTHESYSTEM]

I 'm gonna wait till its available on download but thankfully all the rumours appear to be just that and Trek is back with a bang. Wahoo! 

[von Boom]

They just nipple clipped a Third Stage Guild Navigator.

Yeah, this struck me as well. The spice spores must flow!

[TordelBack]

Also: this heavily damaged ship is just sitting there uncloaked inside Federation space for six months with no backup while the crew munch on dead people?  And Starfleet doesn't scuttle its ships in wartime?

One might point at the Stargazer for (subsequent) precedent, abandoned at the battle of Maxia, merely presumed destroyed by her cowardly crew. Maybe the Federation territory around Binary Stars was lost/undefendable early on in the 6 month period?  Anyhoo, maybe this spock-up is where the doctrine of self-destructing/scuttling abandoned Starfleet ships originates from (I don't recall if NX-01 did much self-destructing).

As to the bio-tech = magic thing, well it's no worse than transporters.

[von Boom]

I have a notion that it isn't actually the spores that connect the universe, but they grow/collect where the connections take place, so Ripper would naturally know the paths of where it's primary foodstuff is located, migrating as the spores grow and diminish, thus its mind is a neural map of these paths.

The thing is that Ripper should only 'know' a small portion of the map so Discovery is going to need more Rippers to travel further and further.

[Goaty]

Well it is Star Trek...

[blackmocco]

5 whole posts before someone starts complaining - it's definitely a Trek thread, but now I don't know why we left the Grim Rumors thread.

I watch roughly 5 episodes of fansubbed Japanese tv each week, and even I was bored of the Klingon subtitle scenes.
Also: this heavily damaged ship is just sitting there uncloaked inside Federation space for six months with no backup while the crew munch on dead people?  And Starfleet doesn't scuttle its ships in wartime?
And it's a personal gripe, but I hate seeing "bio-technology" in sci-fi, as it is basically one big hand-waving exercise and it would be quicker and more honest to just call it Plot Magic.

Yeah, the whole floating-for-six-months thing bugged me a bit (have the Klingons just assumed not just T'Kuvma but everyone else on his ship are dead?) but I'm assuming the Federation hadn't returned because surely this is technically Klingon territory now...?
Some other things:
- Seems pretty clear Voq and L'Rell are going to have to start from scratch with T'Kuvma's work. Klingons seem to be carrying on just fine warring without him. Being Klingons, don't they just need any old excuse to start a scrap, the 23rd century equivalent of "are you looking at my bird?"?
- Taking bets Voq is going to be transformed into a human courtesy of L'Rell's answer to what he has to sacrifice?
- Is there something wrong with me that I'm finding L'Rell kinda weird-alien hot? Sorry. Had the same problem with one of the Klingon sisters in Next Gen.

[blackmocco]

Glad it wasn't just me thinking Dune.  But there are much worse things to think of.   

So there was lots of good stuff in Episode 4, but there was also a big drop in the novelty factor.  If this is going to be just incremental steps in the Michael Burnham Story I'm going to get bored.  I'd definitely prefer a more ensemble-based approach, give other crew-members the spotlight, rather than just quick turns orbiting Michael's manifest destiny.  Bargain Basement Alan Tudyk had his spin this week, but it was all just playing off Michael and Lorca: I want to see a Saru-centric episode, one with whats-that-on-her-face Keyla, and that rather cool Doctor.  But thank goodness that awful Security Chief got chomped before I had to learn more about what the hell her problem was. 

But maybe we'll get to that, now that the spore drive has had its workout (and continuity-damaging concerns aside, I rather liked all of that spinning and zipping about).  And I did warm to Michael more this week, with her Federation scientist hippy side coming to the fore, rather than her wannabe-green-blooded ultra-pragmatism.

Main gripe: sweet Surak's scrotum, am I sick of subtitled Klingon dialogue now. It's not so much the reading, it's the haughing and clicking of a made-up language for 10 minute stretches.  We get it, bunch of bald lads shouting 'remain Klingon', now turn on the universal translator.   

Mudd next week I believe, fingers crossed for that one.

Apparently episode 8 will be Saru-centric.

Not worried at all about the spore-drive and canon continuity. It's already being made so clear that logistically and ethically, there are real problems with it. (Seriously, what happens if this thing dies when they're behind Klingon lines...?) There's going to be a good reason why this ship isn't mentioned or remembered. Plus, it's top secret. Even with rescuing the miners, Discovery didn't hang around to do a "Captain's Log". In and out. No witnesses. Kirk and Spock may not even know this ship ever existed.

Landry may have been the stupidest crew member to ever grace a starship. Good lord. Good riddance. Waste of a good actress.

Finally, I think I'm the only person on the planet enjoying the Klingon subtitle stuff. Sorry. It's all my fault.