Picture courtesy of CBS
After nearly twelve years, the Star Trek franchise returned to the small-screen on Sunday with its latest addition to the canon: Star Trek: Discovery. Judging from the first episode, Discovery should prove well worth wait for die-hard Trekkies. For those new to the Star Trek world, Discovery looks to be a good introduction into Star Trek universe.
The story centers around Lt. Commander Michael Burnham, played by Sonequa Martin-Green, who is the first officer, or “Number 1” in Star Trek speak, of the USS Shenzhou, a Walker-class starship under the command of Captain Phillippa Georgiou played by Michelle Yeoh. As an aside, Shenzhou is an interesting choice because, in reality it was the name of the rocket used in China's first manned mission to space. So either Discovery's producers thought the name sounded cool or are using it as a marketing tool.
This episode occurs on star date 1207.3, which translates to the year 2256 on Earth. That sets this episode and the show’s timeline about a decade prior to the events of the original 1960s Star Trek series. Accordingly, this series looks to be an important historical marker for the missions of the star ship Enterprise. Indeed, based on the closeness in time of the two series it would be reasonable to assume that there will be some references Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in future episodes, especially considering that in the first episode we learn that Burnham has a connection to Spock's father, Sarek
The Shenzhou has been sent by Starfleet to the edge of Federation space to investigate a malfunctioning interspace beacon. Rather than malfunctioning, the Shenzhou finds that the beacon seems to have been intentionally damaged. As they contemplate the significance of this, sensors indicate that an object is hiding among the “ice, dust, and gases” around the beacon.Burnham volunteers to investigate and discovers that it is a Klingon ship masking itself with a primitive cloaking technology. At first, Georgiou and others Shenzhou crew members, especially Lieutenant Saru, the Kelpien science officer played by Doug Jones, are skeptical of the Burnham’s report. To be sure, Klingons have not been heard from in a century, and by most accounts were busy fighting a civil war among their ruling houses. However, Burnham’s proves her point by persuading Georgiou to target the object for a laser strike, which Burnham correctly predicts will force it to de-cloak. Faced with a much larger Klingon “Bird of Prey,” the Shenzhou and her crew frantically consider what its next steps should be.
The episode is an enjoyable watch that passes a bit too quickly. It however sets the stage for some interesting events as the series progresses. Externally, this episode sets up a deeper exploration of the Federation-Klingon conflict; an event that is often mentioned in the other series but has as yet not been explored in detail. Internally, this episode teases a number of potentially interesting storylines. Naturally most of these will focus on Burnham including her “human raised by a Vulcan” background, her relationship with Georgiou and Saru, and her rebellious streak. While the special effects are impressive, this episode suggest that the series will be returning to some of the themes that have made Star Trek “progressive sci-fi,” including multi-culturalism, racial and gender equality, feminism, and humanness. All in all, the episode is well worth a watch for Star Trek fans and anyone interested in good science fiction story. What do you think?
Written by lao.san on Sep 26, 2017
Although the show had the potential and circumstances to be a great work, unfortunately the series was below expectation to me. All i can say it has Poor plots and suspense-less incidents.
Star Trek: Disaster.
All has been too quiet in The Federation, so it's time for a "Star Wars"-level-slightly-off-Canon tale. In 2256, a self-anointed "prophet" has risen to "Make Qu'onos Great Again." In this reality, "we come in peace" is denounced as Fake News, to be viewed with contempt at best, with weapons firing at worst. So now that a state of war exists between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, what better thing to do than raid Federation prisons for "able/experienced" personnel. "Capt. Jack Sparrow" fears only the ennui of peacetime or a harmonious ship; nothing like a "Ro Larrin"-type officer to keep the shipyards busy with repairs to U.S.S. Discovery as things "get interesting." (Hey, if you want harmony, watch "Firefly" or "Futurama" episodes.;) For more up-to-date "Star Wars" cliches, I will have to find the current lineup of Jedi vs. "New Galactic Order" movies. I wonder that kind of medical staff will inhabit the U.S.S. Discovery's sick bay? And will there be a "miracle worker" in Engineering with the stature of yet-to-be Montgomery Scott? The show looks more entertaining than "The Orville," but that's a "Fox Comedy," whatever that is.;)
My respects and salutations to all fellow Trekkie fans, indeed after all the long wait for a new Star Trek series I was pleased to watch the first episodes that although they were spectacular in special effects they left me in some confusion and to be more exact, because of my age I have managed to see everything that is Star Trek (series, movies etc) and based on the technology, cultural and ethnic mixture plus the alien species that are included in the United Federation of Planets in this series and last but not least the Klingons of the Star Trek Discovery (in which I am curious on how many mutations have they went under until the Deep Space 9 version of them?), to make the long story short, this latest Star Trek seems to be a bit more advanced in technology ( at least in some cases) than the Star Trek Original Series which is supposed to be at least ten years later into the future, Finally I agree with the comments of BeVar and I hope that the script writers and the producers be a better study of my favorite series and try to blend timelines in a more logical manner and also remind them that not everything is about special effects and how realistic things burn and crash. Never the less I will keep an open mind and patiently watch it just to see how things will progress.
The splash screen here for the CBS broadcast said CBS All Access, so it may depend on where you are which one you see. Canada is in an odd position with this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the NetFlix catalog for Canada is the same as the States. Since the US has to watch through CBS All Access, they couldn't sell the show to NetFlix for Canada, and Space was the alternative.
Well, where to begin. The special effects are superb, eye candy. The story is true Star Trek cannon. The time line is a big mess. No way does this show seam or appear to before the original Star Trek. I am amazed the producers of the show purport that the time line is a before rather than a continuation of existing shows as well as movies. I am sure you will see this also. This does not take the enjoyability of the show away, in any way. What does take away from the show is the mechanics of Netflix and CBS. CBS is forcing anyone who wants to watch this show to sign up for their CBS ALL Access subscription, however, Netflix appears to be the lead producer of the Star Trek Discovery show. The leading credits of the show says, " A Netflix Original Series". The entire world, except for Canada, gets to see this show on Netflix. Canada sees the show on SPACE network. These two networks are double dipping to get the most money they can from the U.S. market. We are being fleeced all the time, anytime, the corporations can get away with it.
I'd like to hear what you think?
Ben, aka BeVar
I waited so long for this new Star Trek as it was pushed back more times than I've had hot dinners, or so it seemed. And with all the hype and drama surrounding the changes and the denials that it was a JJ Abrams style RE-boot, only to be left with a feeling of "Pppfffftttt, not bad". I will say it looks to have the potential to be a great show, but they certainly have a ways to go.