My review of Star Trek: Discovery season one and two

[Yukaphile]

That was why I was curious why he thought of TNG Season 1. If he'd rate it lower.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Did Yuka actually watch season 1 yet?

[Yukaphile]

No. I just know what I've heard, that people still keep harping on about, are from Season 1. Retcons, bad ones, a tonal change, and so on that I blame Bryan Fuller for. He wasn't even my favorite Trek writer. Not even on DS9 for his episodes I loved. That's why headcanon exists. DISCO Season 1 is STD to me, and TNG Season 1 is TGF, The Great Failure.

[Mecha82]

And this is also why his review is so good. It's from perspective of some one who did watch season 1 instead of basing his opinion on what others have said on internet and thus has actual basis for his opinion.

[Yukaphile]

I've learned enough to form my opinions, which is why I asked and was curious what he'd rate Season 1 TNG. Of course, it is entirely possible DISCO is just the "big new thing," and it will take its proper place in history. Chuck sure has taken that mindset for STID. I really do consider TNG Season 1 and Season 1 DISCO to be on par, with perhaps the only difference being that DISCO is highly serialized, which I've already illustrated is a weakness if you don't have a strong foundation. Because early TNG was more episodic, you could write it off later and indeed, most skip it and even Season 2 to head straight to Season 3.

[CmdrKing]

Finally making my way through Season 1 myself this weekend (just watched Vaulting Ambition), and it just struck me the right point of comparison for the show.

Moffat's run of Doctor Who.

Not so much that the two are of identical quality or have identical strengths and weaknesses, but that the comparison highlights what Discovery's doing.

Doctor Who, at its core, its episodic and draws heavily from the strength of hiring outside script writers, and that didn't change in the Moffat era. However, Moffat doggedly inserted an overarching plot in each series, and had some connecting tissue and arc words that were punched into those individual scripts. And consequently, the best episodes of the run were often those with the least to do with anything, because while Moffat was good at crafting plot mechanics or finding interesting sci-fi concepts, there was never a point he was making in that overarching plot, so it always became a big ol' distraction.

Discovery absolutely has something to say with its season 1 plot, about resolving an identity crisis (basically every subplot invokes this in one way or another), but this comes at the cost of having fewer writers and much weaker episodic plots. Consequently it tends to have one or two good *scenes* in nearly every episode, but the elements where that overall theme and the plot used to convey it don't gel will also create several *bad* scenes in most episodes (although as Phipps notes, the more stand-alone episodes Lethe, Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad, and Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum end up being stronger overall simply by being exceptions on both counts at once while having strong character beats).

So ultimately if those themes or the cast resonate with you, you'll definitely like Discovery, but if neither is true... it's a bad time. And the flaws are there even IF those elements resonate for you.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

So ultimately if those themes or the cast resonate with you, you'll definitely like Discovery, but if neither is true... it's a bad time. And the flaws are there even IF those elements resonate for you.

Having only seen each episode once, I'm a bit shaky on the plot nuances, so even with that it's hard for me to digest reviews much. But yeah, the character developments via their interactions and melodrama were just not very conducive for me. I'm not sure how off-base I am, but I remember a lot of the interaction to have the same gloomy trajectory or vector so my reflection on season 1 in particular has a bit of monotonous sentiment to it.

[MissKittyFantastico]

I've learned enough to form my opinions,

Was that from the same place you learned there was a Bajoran Orb in season two?

[Yukaphile]

I think CmdrKing summed it up best. There's so much bad and good hitting you, both are going to leave an impression. Yes, the bad stuff really soured me for a while. Since they seem to be shedding that, I am more willing to give it a fair shake. I mean, after all, most headcanon Season 1 TNG away. And good riddance. I think Season 1 DISCO will go the same way, and good riddance. It really is Trek's STD, haha. But even so, Season 2 sounds better, which I've already said (yet NOBODY will fucking tell me how past, "Go watch it!" ) and yes, Season 3 seems to be the big game-changer. I'm curious to see what happens. But yes, I'll warn people away from Season 1 DISCO. Same way I do for Season 1 TNG. My Peruvian friend who I walked through all the episodes, I've done that with. He has not seen a single episode in Season 1 TNG. And with good reason.

[MissKittyFantastico]

But even so, Season 2 sounds better, which I've already said (yet NOBODY will fucking tell me how past, "Go watch it!"

Elaborate.