STD - The War Without, The War Within

[Makeshift Python]

Well, you'd have to be a fool to think it's as good as Season 1 DS9, or Season 1 Voyager. Or even, God help me, Season 1 Enterprise. Yes, that's the new high standard for this franchise.

I felt more invested in watching DISCOVERY's first season than I did for the first seasons of VOYAGER or ENTERPRISE. Certainly the latter, which I unconsciously gave up watching after 8 episodes when it originally aired. I didn't even hate it, I just became apathetic about it because of how dull and formulaic it was.

And of course it's even better than the dismal first season of TNG. Almost on par with DS9's first season for me, but it doesn't have its own "Duet", and TOS's first season is just on a completely different level from the rest of the franchise.

[clearspira]

I think the problem here is a problem that Trek fans expect better from their beloved franchise, and because of the mishandling of the direction of the series, namely that it's being created simply to sell CBS's all-access streaming service, we're not going to get that. Clever plots, tight continuity, and interesting characters take a backseat to that. And that's what it should be about, in the end. TOS, TNG, and DS9 proved that, otherwise they wouldn't have done so well. It really goes back to what I said about corporate greed.

Midnight's Edge on Youtube coined the perfect description of STD: it is Star Trek for people who don't actually like Star Trek.

That's basically what any fan says of a show/film they intensely dislike. I've heard that a lot by a subset of James Bond fans with CASINO ROYALE and the rest of Daniel Craig's run. They don't speak for Bond fans, and Midnight's Edge certainly doesn't speak for Star Trek fans.

This is why I'm so relieved of Chuck's levelheadedness with DISCOVERY, as opposed to what ME did where they simply screamed like a bunch of spoiled children at the microphones right after the premiere of the show "THIS VIOLATES TEH CANON!!!!!! I HATE HATE HATE HATTTEEEEEEE!!!" It's just so tiring, I can't understand how followers can get through any of their videos. Their "scoops" are even worse as they're not only incredibly super biased but in cases were false and just hide it under the "rumors" banner that fans unfortunately take as gospel anyway, which ME is well aware of and takes advantage of that.

At least from what I've gathered over their seething hatred of Kelvin films, DISCOVERY, and utter love for THE ORVILLE, it just looks to me that all they really want is Rick Berman's Star Trek, likely because that's what they grew up watching. With many different producers/writers taking a stab at Trek, you're more likely going to get a different spin than a regurgitating of an old style of television production. It's partly why I just can't get into THE ORVILLE because it just feels like I'm watching something a 90s nostalgia fest. I have my problems with DISCOVERY, but I appreciate that it looks more like a modern day television series with a more cinematic flair. But if their idea of a return of "real" Trek is Rick Berman style production, I'm afraid they're just going to end up hating everything Trek does from here on out. That Picard series is going to piss off so many people.

There is nothing wrong with admitting we want old Trek back. Read the other post I just wrote as to why people love Trek. But it comes down to the fact that you can't get into Orville because it is a nostalgia fest, I can't get into STD because it is like everything else today: dark. Everything now has to be ''dark and gritty''. Back to the Future 2 wouldn't get made today as pink hoverboards and fun 1980s themed cafes? Not dark and gritty enough. Not enough swearing and boobs either.

And as for ME, that is your opinion, one biased I think on the fact that you disagree with their views and I don't.

[Makeshift Python]

There is nothing wrong with admitting we want old Trek back. Read the other post I just wrote as to why people love Trek. But it comes down to the fact that you can't get into Orville because it is a nostalgia fest, I can't get into STD because it is like everything else today: dark. Everything now has to be ''dark and gritty''. Back to the Future 2 wouldn't get made today as pink hoverboards and fun 1980s themed cafes? Not dark and gritty enough. Not enough swearing and boobs either.

And as for ME, that is your opinion, one biased I think on the fact that you disagree with their views and I don't.

I was more speaking on production style, not necessarily tone. That's part of what makes THE ORVILLE feel so dated to me, it has nothing to do with its optimistic tone. I think DISCOVERY could use a more adventurous jovial tone, which the second season trailers seem to indicate a lot more than the first season (in case you weren't watching, that dark and gritty Klingon war storyline was kaput). That's a welcome for me. For example, I'm perfectly fine with the production style of the Kelvin films. They have an energy that the Berman era was starting to lack during its latter years. My issues with those films though have mainly stemmed from the writing and characterizations in ST09 and STID.

And it's not an opinion that ME spreads false info. Their trick is sprinkling factual stuff with rumors and that's how their viewers eat them up. It's a very old trick.

[Zoinksberg]

People who did not like Star Trek would not have paid the subscription to watch the show in the first place. Discovery was made precisely as the main event to sell CBS All Access subscriptions. It was betting on the Star Trek fandom to launch the streaming platform.

See, you get it, you just don't realize you do. Discovery was created for two conflicting reasons.

First, it was made to revitalize the franchise on the small screen. That is why they decided to take on current trends: making it highly serialized because stand alone episodes are a thing of the past, killing off main characters because red shirts are a thing of the past, and oh boy is it dark in both theme and lighting. They place it in a time that has a pre-established design but still future it up because it has to look cool and advanced. ( "It's not stupid, it's advanced" -The Almighty Tallest ) They put it in this time so they can relate a character to one of the most well known characters on the show, one everyone has heard of even if not a fan of the show. This show was conceptualized as something new to slap Star Trek on to build a new fan base. Same with the Kelvinverse, for better or worse.

The second reason though had to have come later, there is no way it could have been decided concurrently, is to sell All Access. Someone, somewhere said that Star Trek fans will pay to see Star Trek. Not an unreasonable thought by any means. The problem was that they were already creating something radically different to appeal to a new fan base, but then decided to try to sell it to the old fan base. They tried selling the old fan base something a large portion of them didn't want to buy, and hid away this NEW Trek where potential new fans weren't going to find it. Given the turnover in show runners, it is not the least bit surprising that this happened. CBS can't figure out what this show is supposed to be, and now is trying the Hail Mary pass of bringing in Spock and Pike (Given the rumors of religion playing a large part of season 2 Hail Mary is an apt term).

Enterprise showed us there could have been more, Coto put it on track to be something better. Another season might have saved the franchise. Or maybe it wouldn't have because people were tired, Nemesis was weak, and so it ended. Abrams did something interesting, but now I'm finding myself uncaring about that ending. I will celebrate if Discovery turns out to have a great second season. I will also celebrate if this season is bad and they put it out of its misery.

I will wrap this up because The Orville is on in a few minutes. I'm not going to call it "real Trek", but I am going to call it a far more enjoyable show than Discovery.