(July 8, 2018 at 5:04 am)Wololo Wrote: On STD I can't legally watch the show but from SFDebris reviews I'm confident that's no loss. The crew display the arrogance and smugness of early TNG, the incompetence of early Voyager and the crazy of early "Duchess" Archer. And then they decided to dump their original plot for a mirror universe plot which destroyed any attempts to then for world and character building. Nothing about it tells me that it's worth watching.
Eh, not quite.
There's no 'the crew' in this show until the end. Instead, it's individuals with different agendas. And there's absolutely no TNG style "We solved all these petty problems you rubes are squabbling over centuries ago" arrogance at all.
The entire season is essentially about when following orders is justified, and when it's not. Michael made a bad choice in the premiere, literal mutiny, which rightfully cost her almost everything. She gets put onboard Discovery for what turns out to be nefarious reasons, and decides to act as the best possible by-the-book Starfleet officer she can be. And that backfires as well.
But, the show isn't just about Michael. Saru has a lot of character development, as does Tilly, as does Stamets, as does Ash. The Klingons' arc shows how they (re)gain cloaking technology, and how they went from squabbling, disparate houses essentially engaged in a long civil/cold war to the more unified force we see in TOS. The mirror universe plot was hinted at from the third episode, when we're introduced to Lorca, so it's not like it came out of nowhere. There's also a few Section 31 ties as well.
Don't trust the reviews. I have my issues with it (like I said, Michael's foster parentage, an uninspired/cringey pilot episode, and a really flat season ending), but the show is a lot better than I was expecting based on the pilot alone. There's a lot of conflict in it, but at its core, it's still optimistic. That people can learn from their mistakes, that they often do deserve a second chance, that principles matter more than cynicism or nihilism, that the galaxy can be a truly alien and remarkable place (seriously, some of it has the best aliens in the franchise, period... it's not just people with nose ridges), etc.
It admittedly takes a while to find its legs. It doesn't really hit its stride until episode 6 or 7, but I think it's worth sticking with. It's the best Trek series since DS9.
"I was thirsty for everything, but blood wasn't my style" - Live, "Voodoo Lady"
