Star Trek: Discovery

 I suppose I should review Star Trek: Discovery.  One of the big problems I have with the more recent Star Trek shows is that they lean heavy in the "Space Opera" label.  Or, you could say they are "character driven dramas".  I have no real problem with either of these "genres" as long as you tell compelling stories.  That is where the recent Treks all fall down.

If I were to give a one word review of Discovery it would be "Dumb".  Let's talk about the first scene of the first episode because it is indicative of the entire show.  We start with the captain and first officer on a dessert planet.  If they do not drill this well in time, they will be stuck on the planet for 89 years.  Also, they want to do this undetected.  Kirk and Spock beamed to a planet all the time, but never to do manual labor.  And, never would they be trapped on a planet for the rest of their lives.  

We will give them a pass on that, but it is leaning towards dumb.  We do get to know our characters a little bit, so good on them.  The storm is coming and they haven't reached the well.  What?  They had to walk to the well?  They get to the well and drill it out so it has water because that is how wells work.  Mission accomplished.  Now they need to get back on board their ship.  So, again they have to walk to a rendezvous point.  Natives can see them, so OK.  Are they going the right way?  How would we know, but trust Captain Georgiou.

More character development and so much for not being detected as the ship breaks through the dust cloud and you see the tracks that look like a Starfleet insignia.  So, instead of a couple of strangers just disappearing at the well, a giant space ship is visible throughout the planet.  Yeah, that is much better.  Ignore the fact that this "Starfleet insignia" did not exist at this time.  Only us dumb Star Trek: Original Series fans would know such things.  Ignore that the entire mission could have been done without leaving the ship.  Ignore all of this dumb stuff, and you will be fine.  After all, we got character development and fan service.

Now, let us get to Michael Burnham.  Why is her name Michael?  When Silvia Tilly mentions that the name is "interesting" they had an opportunity to explain it, but did not.  Whatever.  Anyway, we have this very emotional Starfleet officer, who behaves erratically and instinctively.  She is brash and sure of herself. Sometimes, she behaves quite illogically.  So, LET'S MAKE HER A VULCAN!  Better, let's make her Spock's adoptive sister!

In this way, the writers set her up for failure.  Every Original Series fan is not going to like her because she is not Vulcan like at all.  Further, there was no reason to do that.  It was dumb, like so many of the decisions they made for the characters of this show.

I have been a fan of Michelle Yeoh for decades.  She is the best character in the show -- both versions.  She is great.  Sylvia Tilly is also a great character.  No one else is compelling or interesting enough to mention.

Making a prequel is hard.  Particularly one from decades before.  However, that is no excuse for the super high tech equipment on the Discovery.  IF, their super fancy drive was in the test phases and very dangerous in the Pre-Original Series era, then it would be common in Star Trek: The Next Generation a 100 years later.  However, it wasn't.  So, let's be dumb and ignore that.  There are all these other aliens that existed in Discovery that didn't exist in OS or NG.  Ignore that too.  

For a show whose fans are notoriously picky about these things, let's just ignore this and move on.  I may have forgiven them for these transgressions if they told compelling, smart stories.  However, they would rather tell us stories about Michael Burnham's love life and a grand conspiracy to destroy all dilithium crystals.  A galaxy without warp technology could be an interesting thing to explore.  Nope.  We have to make it a grand conspiracy to solve.  How about this, a cabal of very powerful dilithium interests prevent the exploration of alternatives?  No?  OK.  Anyway, that is where I stopped.  Somewhere in the middle of solving this uninteresting conspiracy.  Ho hum.

There is diversity.  There is an exploration of the lives of the crew.  There are strong female characters.  There is open homosexuality.  To me, none of that matters because of all of the dumb. So dumb.  Exasperatingly dumb.  When you think they have gotten as dumb as it could get, they turn a corner and prove you wrong.  They could get even dumber still.  Sorry.  I just couldn't do any more of it.