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PostPosted: Fri February 16th, 2018 5:07 am 
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Now that that the season is over, I was wondering if anyone else watched it? Every Facebook group I have been apart of is really conflicted about it. Personally, my major issues were the visuals (especially the Klingons and their ships) and they killed off the best (at least in my opinion) character Captain Georgiou. If you did watch it what did you think of it?

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PostPosted: Fri February 16th, 2018 5:46 am 
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I didn't like it at first. It seemed over half of the season was just leading up to the last quarter of the season. I did like the end result of the season in general. The way the episodes just tie together in one big story arc is not my kind of Trek, it seemed more like Battlestar Galactica. I know that is what they do to keep viewers watching nowadays. Eventually when this goes to Netflix to be binge watched in a weekend like Stranger Things and then wait a year for season 2.

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PostPosted: Fri February 16th, 2018 4:46 pm 
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dont have cable so, skip.

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PostPosted: Fri February 16th, 2018 11:16 pm 
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So, as many of you may recall, I have strong opinions about how CBS used an expensive and very limited subscription-based model for development of Discovery.

Further, I found their strategy to subsidize the shows financial venture on the backs of American fans of Star Trek distasteful and, frankly rude.

This of course makes me feel conflicted, because I don't want the first new series of Trek in over a decade to fail, or we may not see another for a very long time.

That said, I waited until last week to try a free trial of All Asshat... er... All Access so that I could watch the whole 1st season for free.

CONS:

The look of the Klingons...*Shudder*... I am not a fan of the new look. I know that the argument has been made that the look of Klingons has evolved over time, but I feel that the asthetic of this version is motivated by drawing fans of the Abrams-verse into the new show. From a marketing perspective, that might make sense, but from a long-time Trek fan perspective it's jarring and ugly. None of the other key species shown on the show had this sort of dramatic redesign.

The look of Klingon Ships and Equipment... *Sigh*... Again it feels like the producers just wanted to "Do their own thing" and completely ignore existing lore... Unfortunate, because the designs don't look terrible really, when viewed through a "Let's make something really alien-looking" sort of filter, but because we already know not only what a bat'leth looks like, but we even know what the Sword of Kahless looks like, the transition to the new style is that much more, again, jarring.

Now, to play Fek'lhr's advocate for a moment; I think I understood the motive for the changes to Klingon Ship and Armor styles, which unlike the look of the Klingons as a species, has an in-universe logic to it--at least within the Discovery universe. Specifically, that since the time of the Enterprise-era, the Klingons have ceased being an Empire. The focus of T'Kuvma's crusade, after all, is to reunite all Klingons... But I digress... Because of the fractious nature of the Klingons during this series, and with the strong role that the clan-ish Great Houses play within the existing culture, there is a certain elegance to the idea that each house has its own stylistic preferences for ship-design, as well as their apparel. This, to some degree, is borne out by the fact that from at least TNG forward, we know that the KDF's Naval fleet is made up of Ships built and owned by individual Houses. Even naval uniforms have a degree of individuality to them within the confines of a certain aesthetic.

From that perspective, having a range of ship and armor designs is fairly clever in the context of visual storytelling. But they're still ugly as hell...*Chuckle*... However, I find the jump from the state of the Empire as depicted in the Discovery-era to that of what we saw in TOS, to be absurd. Though, admittedly with one of Abrams' cronies at the helm, they were only shooting for marrying Discovery to the Abrams-verse, not TOS. And we all know what a crapshow they made of the Klingons in the latest films.

The Federation Uniforms... Again not really a fan, though there could be a certain logic to their evolutionary DNA-bridge between Enterprise and the Abrams-verse. Unfortunately, given that Discovery is set like a decade before TOS, I find the Discovery-era uniforms to be too far off point, if TOS is where they are meant to land--even if that TOS landing is in the Abrams-verse.

They do have an almost STO-like design feel to them, however, (all of the metallic bits on the shoulders and such), which is interesting if nothing else.

Hyper-dimensional Fungus-drive?... Really? I guess it was a narrative detail that was used to allow Discovery to be unique while bridging the travel-time challenges that pre TOS Federation ships were faced with... But still... Way too convenient in my opinion.

Now for the PROS:

The treatment of Klingon Culture in general...

Here... Here is where this series' first season shown brightly. All of the previous complaints aside, I felt that the Klingons were shown to be, well, very Klingon. From the long soliloquies in tlhIngan Hol, to the exploration of Klingon identity and the philosophical engines that drive what will become the Klingon Empire that we know from previous series, they got a lot right, and visual-aesthetics not withstanding, I pretty much enjoyed every moment that was focused on the Klingons. Especially the various touchstoning of details like the House of Kor (one of my favorite Klingons in Trek, though he does not lead the House at the time), and the use of a literal Barge of the Dead, thus finally bringing the throw-away line in ST IV that Spock speaks while retraining at the Vulcan Science Academy, when he identifies an image that the training computer presents to him as a, "Klingon Mummification Glyph", now we know that such a thing did exist.

General look of the Trek universe... This I liked. I thought they struck a reasonable balance between the Enterprise look and that of the Abrams-verse. The tech clues leading directly to the feel of the Abrams films of course. That said, I felt that the reliance on cybernetics and mechanical augmentation of various members of the Crew, was a little over the top if not without precedent--I mean Geordi did wear a visor and Worf nearly had to live in an exo-suit. But the presentation felt more Star Wars than Trek with the Weapon Officer of the Shenzhou, or Lt. CDR Airiam for example.

Still, all told, I felt that the overall look of Trek was there, in its own stylistic way.

Story-telling/ Setting... With the potential exceptions of what they've done to the established previous (canon) timeline, in the context of the devolution of Klingon culture and the mirror universe, and the aforementioned Fungus-drive conceit, I really liked the writing. Admittedly I am a sucker for season-long story arcs, and I really enjoyed the decision to focus on the 1st Klingon-Federation War as the backdrop for the first season. That was very satisfying.

-------------------------------

Bottom-line; nothing is going to make me respect CBS' approach to forcing Americans to foot the bill for the series, and the flippant J.J. Abrams decision to break the look of Klingons in Trek, simply because he didn't care one way or the other--and how that informed design choices in Discovery--are both unforgivable sins in my less than humble opinion.

However, I think that the bigger picture here, is that the series looks great and was very well written, and I have little doubt that it will do a lot for the future of the franchise by bringing younger viewers into the fold. Something that may make the old-guard cringe at times, but is something that has not really happened since TNG and to some degree Abrams.

I enjoyed watching the series, but will NEVER pay for CBS All Access, so it may be the last I watch of the show until they hit Home Media.

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PostPosted: Fri February 16th, 2018 11:29 pm 
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I watched the 2 episodes of the pilot and I've followed what was happening in the series.

As soon as I finished the second episode I knew it was not for me. Especially with the Orville playing at the same time reminding me what I liked about Star Trek.

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