Ever since Star Trek Enterprise ended in 2005, Star Trek fans have waited for the franchise's return to TV. Sure, JJ Abrams rebooted the series in 2009, but Trek has always been a TV show. Since I didn't catch Enterprise during its original run, I've been waiting for new Trek for almost two decades now.
When Star Trek Discovery was announced in 2015, I was hopeful but skeptical. The series would be another prequel series, set 10 years before Star Trek The Original series. It would not be an ensemble series in the normal sense, and for the first time in the franchise's history, the captain would not be the central character.
Having seen the first half of the series (comprising episodes 1-9,) Star Trek Discovery may very well be one of the strongest first seasons of Star Trek ever. With its serialized, long form storytelling (as opposed to the usual episodic storytelling we've seen in most of Trek,) it's a different storytelling method than Trek fans are accustomed to seeing.
Some Star Trek fans have come out against the series, saying that it's not Star Trek. I think it's both: while it doesn't immediately show us the hopeful and promising future we've been accustomed to in Trek, I think it tells a story about how we got there eventually, and the later episodes seem to be approaching that ideal.
Let's take a look at each episode of the first half of the first season of Star Trek Discovery.
When Star Trek Discovery was announced in 2015, I was hopeful but skeptical. The series would be another prequel series, set 10 years before Star Trek The Original series. It would not be an ensemble series in the normal sense, and for the first time in the franchise's history, the captain would not be the central character.
Having seen the first half of the series (comprising episodes 1-9,) Star Trek Discovery may very well be one of the strongest first seasons of Star Trek ever. With its serialized, long form storytelling (as opposed to the usual episodic storytelling we've seen in most of Trek,) it's a different storytelling method than Trek fans are accustomed to seeing.
Some Star Trek fans have come out against the series, saying that it's not Star Trek. I think it's both: while it doesn't immediately show us the hopeful and promising future we've been accustomed to in Trek, I think it tells a story about how we got there eventually, and the later episodes seem to be approaching that ideal.
Let's take a look at each episode of the first half of the first season of Star Trek Discovery.
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The Vulcan Hello/Battle of the Binary Stars
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Story Description: Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is the first officer of the USS Shenzhou. While investigating the destruction of a communications relay, the crew of the Shenzhou encounter a faction of Klingons who threaten to unite and present a clear and present danger to the Federation.
Thoughts: These two episodes make up the prologue for the series, setting up some of the characters, premise and story. It boasts feature film-level production quality and great performances from all involved. Michelle Yeoh is the kind of Starfleet captain we'd like to serve under - she's sort of like a proto-Jean Luc Picard. As for the Klingons, the makeup isn't exactly working in their favor as they act, and Klingon isn't the most elegant sounding language for acting. It's fun, but it's not exactly descriptive of Discovery as a series. Moreover, some of the character actions come as a bit weird or too contrived for my taste, but that's subjective stuff.
Context is For Kings
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Story Description: En route to a penal facility, disgraced Starfleet Officer Michael Burnham is intercepted by the USS Discovery. Discovery's captain, Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs), assigns Burnham on a mission to investigate the mysterious events surrounding the Discovery's sister ship, the USS Glenn.
Thoughts: Not gonna lie, I hated this episode when it first came out. Aside from our main character Michael Burnham and her previous shipmate Saru (Doug Jones), none of these characters were in any way likeable. They were all mean to Burnham and uncharacteristic of what we knew about humans in the 23rd century: that they were above pettiness and other 21st century emotions and concerns. It took me a while to justify their attitude towards Burnham, but to be fair justifications do exist. I've come to think of this early part as a consequence of switching over to serialized storytelling. Way back when Trek was episodic, the premiere usually introduced all of the characters in one go. In any case, this is Discovery's true first episode.While I can't say it worked for me, the concepts introduced in this story help set up the rest of the half season.
The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry
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Story Description: The crew of the USS Discovery deal with a potentially dangerous creature. Meanwhile, on the Klingon Ship of the Dead, the heir to T'Kuvma's legacy gets embroiled in political intrigue.
Thoughts: Here's where Discovery starts to find its legs. It's inspired by a number of classic Trek Episodes, namely TOS's Devil in the Dark, TNG's Tin Man, Encounter at Farpoint, Galaxy's Child and so on. Finally, it takes a stand that Starfleet isn't composed of a bunch of warmongers, but scientists and explorers. The Klingon scenes tended to drag, but I suspect the events of this episode will reverberate in the second half of the season.
Choose Your Pain
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Story Description: Lorca is kidnapped by the Klingons and meets conman and criminal Harry Mudd. Meanwhile, Saru and Burnham butt heads over the ethical repercussions of what a rescue attempt might entail.
Thoughts: The A story, where Lorca is kidnapped, is pretty solid. It reintroduces us to the Discovery-era Harry Mudd (Rainn Wilson), who is more serious than his TOS counterpart. The plot also introduces us to Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif,) who is one of my favorite characters of the series. The B plot continues the plot from the previous episode, and the ending is very Star Trek. Also, it has to be said: I'm glad that the series seems to consider The Animated Series canon.
Lethe
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Story Description: Sarek (James Frain), Burnham's adoptive father (and Spock's dad), is near death after an assassination attempt. Burnham must race against time and find him before it's too late. Meanwhile, Admiral Cornwell (Jayne Brook) meets up with the Discovery and finds out something regarding her old friend Lorca.
Thoughts: Discovery deviates from the main arc a bit for the next two episodes. This is a character-centric episode that focuses on Burnham's relationship with her adoptive father. There's a good bit in there too about her relationship with her adoptive mother, Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner). All in all, it's a really nice breather episode that further develops Burnham's character and helps her open up emotionally to her new friends on the Discovery. Personally, this is the episode where Discovery finally finds its footing and ends up being genuinely enjoyable for me.
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
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Story Description: Harry Mudd traps the USS Discovery into a time loop in order to unearth her secrets and sell the ship to the Klingons.
Thoughts: My favorite episode of the series thus far. The basic premise of this episode is similar to the TNG episode Cause and Effect. It uses the time loop concept to tell a love story, and for the most part it works. It reminded me of the episodes of Classic Trek that are fun, engaging and endlessly rewatchable.
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
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Story Description: Saru, Burnham and Tyler are sent to the planet Pahvo, where they must negotiate a treaty with the native species and use their giant transmitter to act as a sonar that can detect the Klingon cloaking device.
Thoughts: "If you want peace, prepare for war." This episode mostly acts as setup for the midseason finale, while also acting as a character episode for Saru. His race, the Kelpiens, are historically prey species, and are thus born afraid (one wonders how someone like Saru could get through Starfleet!) Saru experiences a life without fear and the results are intoxicating to him. This episode was written by Kirsten Beyer, who wrote a number of Star Trek Voyager novels and she knows the canon inside out.
Into the Forest I Go
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Story Description: Faced with the destruction of Pahvo, the USS Discovery is the planet's sole line of defense against a Klingon attack.
Thoughts: The nice thing about serialized storytelling is that when it pays off, it does with much greater magnitude compared to an episodic form. Into the Forest I Go (the title comes from a line by John Muir) is a very emotionally satisfying episode and at least for the moment resolves some of the series' arcs. There's a scene in this episode where Burnham looks at Saru and it was hard not to get teary-eyed. Also, in this episode Klingons were finally made to speak in English, and their scenes flow far better than their all Klingon speaking scenes. But as season finales go, it needs to have a little cliffhanger to excite us for the season continuation and it delivered. The next episode is directed by none other than Jonathan (Cmdr. William T. Riker) Frakes, who also directed a number of Star Trek episodes and two Star Trek The Next Generation movies.
So while Star Trek Discovery took a while to get off the ground, it personally turned into one of the most engaging and interesting science fiction shows currently out there. There are still a number of aesthetic and design choices that I'm not fully on board with, but I can live with it.
Star Trek Discovery resumes January next year, and once the season is finished, I might do another one of these. Till then, live long and prosper~
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