TV Review - Star Trek Discovery Season 2 Episode 1

Synopsis:

Spoiler Alert: Captain Gabriel Lorca has apparently betrayed the federation during the war with the Klingons and Captain Christopher Pike has taken command of the Discovery while they are on the way to Vulcan. They were headed to Vulcan to pick up their new Captain. But Pike had to take control after the Enterprise was damaged while responding to some strange signals. The Discovery resumes the investigation and that’s when the action begins.

Review:

I have a love/hate relationship with this show. I grew up on Star Trek. It’s the first show I remember watching. I even caught some episodes during the series initial run when I was a wee child. Most Star Trek fans never saw the original broadcast, only catching the series when it went to re-runs. I have been a loyal fanatic ever since and my Star Trek has to be done right! I enjoy the Abrahmverse because it doesn’t mess with my original time line for TOS. But now we come to Discovery and CBS attempt to bring Star Trek fans aboard it’s streaming service. I have to say I’m uneasy.

Technically this is one of the most brilliant shows ever produced, the action is great. The special effects are top-notch and The direction and pacing are fine also James Frain does an impressive job channeling Mark Lenard to give us an intense portrayal of the beloved Vulcan Sarek and I’m truly impressed with Anson Mount’s portrayal of Christopher Pike. He has the no-nonsense, brooding attitude that Jeffery Hunter brought to the character and he even slightly resembles Hunter. All in all it’s fun to watch. But fans are mixed at best (me) and upset at worst. Why are Star Trek fans not taking to this series the way they have other Star Trek series in the past? Why has it caused a rift in fandom? Here’s what CBS gets wrong which upsets us fan boys, as we’ve been dubbed. The first episode of season two has a discussion where Sarek says that he wanted Michael Burnham to teach Spock empathy when dealing with humans. Say what? Sarek did not want Spock to interact with humans at all at this time. He wanted Spock to attend the Vulcan Science Academy and Spock went on to Starfleet instead. Sarek did not soften to humans until the Journey to Babel episode and he still harbored some resentments towards the species, thinking they were inferior, until the events in Star Trek III. “As I recall, I opposed your enlistment in Starfleet. It is possible that judgment was incorrect. Your associates are people of good character.” – Sarek. (quote from Star Trek IV the Voyage Home.) Even though Frain does his best with what he’s been given, what he’s been given is not Sarek. This is why I have difficulty believing in the Sarek/Burnham relationship. It has nothing to do with her race or sex. I genuinely like the character so it doesn’t have anything to do with her as a person. It’s Sarek’s relationship to her. I did not have a problem with Sybok in Star Trek V because he had left on his quest long before Spock’s birth and being considered a rebel the family wouldn’t have discussed his existence at all. The Vulcans are so secretive that the Enterprise crew didn’t even know that Sarek and Amanda were Spock’s parents until the Journey to Babel episode, so, even though it’s possible for Burnham to have been raised by Sarek, and this not be known until now, it is way to out of character for Sarek. He was a character that practically dis-owned his own son after his son defied his wishes. Why would he take special interest in this human? If he did have compassion for this particular human then why do we see animosity towards humans as a whole until the events of Star trek III? Yes, Sarek married the human Amanda, but he considered her to be above average for a human, she was simply the best, better than all the rest. The presence of Michael Burnham in Sarek’s household is not, dare I say it, logical.

And now we come to Spock. The show has been teasing us with the fact that Spock is going to become a character on Discovery. We don’t see Spock (outside of him as a child during flashback scenes.) in this episode but we do hear his voice on a recording and so far, he’s well done. Ethan Peck has a beard (judging Spock from the trailer.) but other than that there’s a resemblance to Leonard Nimoy, he may even be more spot on to the character than Zachary Quinto. But even here, we get a hint of deviation from the source material. During the episode a character makes reference to the fact that Spock implies that logic is the beginning of wisdom. Yes, Leonard Nimoy’s Spock does say that but not until Star Trek VI. During the original series he is striving to seek leaving his emotion behind in favor of logic. To the point of seeking the Kolinahr discipline, which would purge all remaining emotion in favor of logic. It wasn’t until the events of Star Trek the Motion Picture that we see Spock embracing his human side and realizing that logic isn’t the end all of knowledge. So, CBS is managing to alienate a good section of the fan base it needs if Discovery is going to continue and be a successful Star Trek series. When you deviate from the source material you will fail. Look at the DCEU. With seven movies under its belt it has two bona-fide successes, critically as well as commercially. (Wonder Woman and Aquaman) which were the only two that stayed faithful to the source material without deviating. If Discovery is to continue and succeed with fans, it has to confront the issues I brought up and do some corrective maintenance. **1/2 (6.7 rating)

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Created by: Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman
Starring:
Sonequa Martin-Green
Doug Jones
Shazad Latif
Anthony Rapp
Mary Wiseman
Jason Isaacs
Wilson Cruz
Anson Mount
Ethan Peck
Composer(s): Jeff Russo, Alexander Courage
Executive producer(s): Bryan Fuller, David Semel, Eugene Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Akiva Goldsman, Heather Kadin, Gretchen J. Berg, Aaron Harberts, Alex Kurtzman
Producer(s): Geoffrey Hemwall, April Nocifora, Aaron Baiers, Jill Danton
Production location(s): Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Cinematography: Guillermo Navarro, Colin Hoult
Production company(s), Secret Hideout, Roddenberry Entertainment, Living Dead Guy Productions, CBS Television Studios.

Author Profile

Kevin Given

Kevin Given has studied with â€œ Longridge Writers Group â€ and â€œ Writerâ€™s Boot Camp â€ a speech/communications major from the University of Maine Presque-Isle/Orono sites. He has created the â€œ Karl Vincent Vampire Hunter â€ franchise which includes novels and comic books. They can be found on amazon, Indyplanet and Kindle. For a limited time you can get digital copies of â€œ Karl Vincent: Vampire hunter â€ # 1 and â€œ Files of Karl Vincent â€ # 1 for free on Indyplanet. Kevin is producing the third novel in the series â€œ Dracula Rising â€ (working title) and developing â€œ Foul Blood â€ into comic book form. Don't forget to check out the YouTube show " Comics: Let's Talk " hosted by Kevin Given