I feel like I need to state this upfront. The headline makes it seem like I don’t like Star Trek: Discovery but, since it debuted in 2017, I’ve been a big fan of the series and I’ve championed it many times as the producer and co-host of Discovering Trek: Discovery on the Trek Geeks Podcast Network.
I genuinely love the show. I love these characters. I love how the series finds new ways to bring the messages of Star Trek to a modern audience.
Without Star Trek: Discovery and its undeniable success, there is no modern resurgence of Star Trek. It’s that simple. There has never been a better time to be a fan of Star Trek, and we’ve never had the embarrassment of riches that we have now as a fandom.
Admittedly, I’ve never written for or worked in television in any way. One could sit back and call me an “Armchair Quarterback,” and that would be a valid criticism that I would accept. Hundreds of people work very hard on every episode of Star Trek: Discovery and I appreciate the contribution of every single one of them. I am not trying to offend any of those people or minimize the exceptional work that they all do.
I’m an unabashed fan of Star Trek: Discovery and I will always be.
Putting the pieces together
All of that said, each season has seen the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery faces an unbelievable threat to humanity and/or sentient life—and the stakes seem to grow exponentially larger than the year before.
- Season 1 began the war with the Klingons where the fate of humanity and Earth was at risk.
- Season 2 followed the path of the Red Angel and our crew had to defeat Control before all life in the galaxy was obliterated.
- Season 3 saw the after-effects of “The Burn” and the growing threat of the second occurrence of that phenomenon.
- Season 4 had our crew trying to find the creators of the Dark Matter Anomaly which threatened all life on Earth and Ni’Var (and other planets if not stopped).
Each season is an intricate puzzle that must be solved before it’s too late and Discovery is the only ship that can save the entire galaxy.
It’s a format that lately I’ve been referring to as a Puzzle Box: you put the pieces of the puzzle together to unlock the solution to the problem in the nick of time.
To apply that to Star Trek: Discovery, the puzzle is the galaxy-ending threat. The 10 to 14 episodes in which the story is told are the puzzle pieces. Then you sprinkle in some plot twists. Some head fakes. Perhaps the occasional red herring. Then, you top it off with character building, allegory, and messages that resonate to get the puzzle’s solution.
I’ve discovered about Discovery that it’s all pretty exhausting after a while. Yes, a lot of shows do this, but I think that only adds to the problem.
I believe that Star Trek: Discovery has a fatigue problem that is on both sides of the equation.
It’s been difficult for me to admit because I truly enjoy the show, but every season I find myself wearier and wearier — to the point where I think the format is ultimately doing Discovery a huge disservice.
The stakes are constantly as high as they can possibly be and then each subsequent season doubles down on those stakes to make them even greater than the year before. It’s happened so many times now that I find it practically impossible for them to get any higher in Season 5 and beyond.
This also does a disservice to the viewer. At this point, I have a hard time buying into whatever the threat will be in the future because I’ve already been down this road four other times. When the threat is constantly of epic proportions, it inevitably leads to the point where there is simply nowhere left for it to go.
Additionally, it all occurs at a pace that can be pretty tiring. Whether you watch Discovery weekly or binge-watch an entire season, you’re pretty exhausted when the season finale comes around.
It’s a condition I feel is more prevalent with Star Trek: Discovery than any of the other shows currently in production. However, if Discovery has taught me anything, it’s that puzzles can always be solved.
Course Correction
I genuinely believe it’s time for Star Trek: Discovery to shake up its storytelling in a few notable areas.
Put the Puzzle Box on the Shelf: I believe that it worked the first couple of seasons, but I think the time has come to retire the “puzzle box” format. It’s no longer compelling or believable and I think it gets in the way of Discovery’s potential.
Introduce a series of mini-arcs: The serialized format wouldn’t necessarily have to go away completely. There could be shorter two or three-part arcs of plots to allow for some expanded storytelling and do some bigger things with these wonderful characters.
Give the bridge crew something substantive: Speaking of wonderful characters, after four seasons we’ve seen so precious little of the rest of Discovery’s Bridge Crew. Owosekun, Detmer, Bryce, Rhys, and Nilsson could all use some more stories featuring their character’s development. The one time we got an episode that really focused on one of the other Bridge officers, it was Airiam and that character died in the same episode. We’ve learned a little about them each year, but it’s time to feature them prominently and to do it more often. As much as I love the character and the journey she’s been on, Burnham doesn’t have to do everything. She’s the Captain now, she should learn how to delegate.
Get episodic every now and then: Discovery does this on a smaller scale from time to time, but this is something that Deep Space Nine did exceedingly well. Even during the height of the Dominion War, DS9 still managed to tell a lot of one-off stories that focused on characters or something lighter to downshift amid all the heavy topics during the war and their repercussions. Discovery could be served very well by being a little more episodic and, if the launch of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds tells us anything, it’s that episodic Star Trek will never go out of style.
The Roddenberry Vision
One of the things that Star Trek: Discovery did exceedingly well in Season 4 was First Contact with Species 10-C, the originators of the Dark Matter Anomaly.
It was its own challenge in unlocking the mystery of the DMA and I thought that aspect was something that the show did really well. It took this concept of seeking out new life and new civilizations and put a 32nd-century spin on it.
Discovery really leaned into that first contact situation hard and it worked.
For 56 years, Star Trek has taught us that the unknown isn’t always something to be feared, but we should always strive to understand. There isn’t always a “big bad villain” when the puzzle is assembled or, sometimes, we find out that we are the villain however unintentionally.
These are the types of stories that have always found their way into Star Trek—from Gene Roddenberry’s first script right up to today’s iterations of the franchise. These are Trek’s roots and when Discovery revisits them, it works brilliantly.
Boldly Go
Star Trek: Discovery is still great television and it’s the cornerstone of modern Star Trek. Without it, we wouldn’t have the amount of Trek we have today and that’s something for which I’ll always be grateful. I’m a fan—and I’ll always be a fan—I just want the series to live up to its full potential.
I stand in awe of what the amazing people on the show create and look forward to season 5 sometime next year.
Update: Trek Geeks has posted a companion podcast to this article, which we’ve embedded below.
Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news on Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, and more.
Mitch
May 18, 2022 at 1:08 pm
This is exactly how I feel! I love Discovery too but I also sort of wish that the arcs were shorter, less epic, and more character focused.
Pete Mitchell
May 18, 2022 at 4:03 pm
Enough Emo Trek already.
Chris
May 18, 2022 at 4:22 pm
I actually like the serialized story telling it worked just fine with deep space nine and enterprise, what they can get ride of is the social justice, woke clap trap, holding hands, sharing feeling flower child nonsense. At the end of season four Book was scolding beings that could wipe out humanity in a second, like they were children. “You better stop, or we will be angry at you” Pullllease! Terrible writing. Star trek is already diverse and inclusive without this non binary drivel thrown in our faces.
Richard
May 19, 2022 at 9:01 am
I agree. Discovery storylines are more about promoting Gayfest than Scifi. Fire all the writers and hire people who care about science fiction
Lenore Beleut
May 19, 2022 at 4:36 pm
I very much agree this is not Star trek it is all about the gay agenda being put forth in every aspect of each season. A well established character who is gay is one thing,
making every person in that community represented and their realities the character is not good story telling . Inclusion at the expense of a valid plot is ruining everything .
Samuel
May 19, 2022 at 4:46 pm
Needs to be less boring, put more ship scenes and destroying of parts of the ship. Fleet involvement in battles. An enemy that is easy to defeat, but as the battle progresses becomes more formidable. Maybe bring other franchises into the story with approval of franchises.
G.S.K.
May 21, 2022 at 9:29 pm
All the other great Treks did some comedic episodes quite well for a break. Think “Trouble with Tribbles” And what happened to the Holo Deck? Those were some of the best episodes in Next Gen and Deep Space 9. The existential threat plot device can wear pretty thin.
Sandy
June 4, 2022 at 4:55 pm
I enjoy Discovery, but I think being episodic would absolutely allow for the viewer to become more intimately acquainted with the bridge crew…beyond recognizing their faces and a bit of their bio…
Marc Wagner
May 19, 2022 at 8:35 pm
I agree with the author. If I could binge-watch the entire season, it wouldn’t matter so much but, alas, I can’t (at least not without having to avoid spoiler-alerts for 3 months at a time). Two or three week story arcs, mixed with occasional episodic stories focused on character back-stories would be perfect.
Remembering what happened in episode 3, that connects to episode 14 is just too tedious and confusing.
Jon Wiesman
May 18, 2022 at 1:09 pm
I agree 100% with this. Keep the wokeness. Keep the wonderful characters. Downplay the galaxy-threatening season-long arcs. Avoid melodrama.
Kill Wokeness
May 18, 2022 at 3:19 pm
First thing: get rid of the Wokeness!!! It’s killed the series and needs to be buried!! This show stinks and has been an epic boring dumpster fire after season 2!! Go Woke you go Broke!! Enough already!!
Mike
May 18, 2022 at 11:42 pm
Star Trek has always been “woke”. The degree to which whatever subject aired had more to do with studio restraints than what was originally written.
Richard
May 19, 2022 at 9:05 am
No. This has now evolved to constant storyline and developing ALL LGPQRTS characters. Can’t we drop this and have characters that are exciting and good at what they do than their FLAMING GAYNESS
Dan Nainan-Singh
May 24, 2022 at 2:17 pm
shut up, freak
Mama G
May 25, 2022 at 9:55 am
Meh. I love the show. I don’t love the clumsy wink wink bastardization of Roddenberry’s vision with the unnecessary and annoying non binary BS. Paul & Hugh have a related story arc- even tho we all know married people would never serve in the same command. The rest is just ham handed placating if who these writers think is their audience. But just like IRL- it’s a very small %.
As far as the Bernum character- she carried it well but it is time to expand on the central characters.
Adrian copland
May 19, 2022 at 6:58 am
Absolutely, heaven forbid other races would ever be as endlessly woke stupid ,being woke means we aint learning our mistakes in life ,so why on earth think it would have any relevance to future stories!!!
Joe
May 19, 2022 at 1:04 pm
Discovery is a trash bin fire. Please end this. Strange New Worlds is off to a good start. They will ruin it too if they start upplaying the woke crap. Write good sci fi and stop your political correctness bullshit.
Fibreguy
May 18, 2022 at 11:57 pm
It’s not the “Woke” that has made the last two seasons unwatchable. It’s the lazy writing. Whoever these writers are, they have no idea what made
Trek special. Science, logic, exploration of the unknown are the trademarks of Trek. These writers lack the understanding or the skill to translate that into watchable stories.
To be frank, there is too much violence in this show. The lesson is that violence resolves issues. That can’t be farther from Trek ideals.
Dan Nainan-Singh
May 24, 2022 at 2:20 pm
and enough with the crying and whedonesque quirky dialogue
you’re goddamn professionals working in space
Kimberly Hirsh
May 18, 2022 at 1:11 pm
I agree with this assessment of Discovery. Each season, the stakes are bigger. In Season 4, they were literally extragalactic. Once you’ve broken the galactic barrier and made first contact with a species living beyond it, where else is there to go?
The race to solve the puzzle box is exhausting. The hyperfocus on serialization leads to a lot of intriguing threads being introduced and tied off more quickly than I would like. For example, in Seasons 3 and 4 we saw what looked like they were going to be mental health crises for Detmer (PTSD from the jump into the future), Tilly (depression related to existential crisis), and Culber (burnout). In Detmer’s case, I don’t recall being shown the road to recovery at all. Tilly seemed to have two episodes of feeling bad that were magically fixed by deciding to become an instructor. And Culber I guess just really needed a vacation?
I really enjoy Discovery. In fact, I enjoy it so much that I wish there were more of it so we would have time to devote a whole episode to each of these characters.
I love Michael Burnham. But I also love so much of the rest of her crew. TNG started with a focus on the bridge crew and especially Picard, but opened up to give us time to get to know O’Brien, Barclay, and more. I wish Discovery had the breathing room to do the same.
I especially agree with this point:
“One of the things that Star Trek: Discovery did exceedingly well in Season 4 was First Contact with Species 10-C, the originators of the Dark Matter Anomaly.
It was its own challenge in unlocking the mystery of the DMA and I thought that aspect was something that the show did really well. It took this concept of seeking out new life and new civilizations and put a 32nd-century spin on it.
Discovery really leaned into that first contact situation hard and it worked. For 56 years, Star Trek has taught us that the unknown isn’t always something to be feared, but we should always strive to understand. There isn’t always a ‘big bad villain’ when the puzzle is assembled or, sometimes, we find out that we are the villain however unintentionally.
These are the types of stories that have always found their way into Star Trek—from Gene Roddenberry’s first script right up to today’s iterations of the franchise. These are Trek’s roots and when Discovery revisits them, it works brilliantly.”
Watching everyone work together to make first contact with the 10-C was exhilarating. It had all the delight of Picard figuring out the speech patterns in “Darmok” with an added bonus of getting to see a bunch of different people work together, leveraging each of their specialties to shine. This is foundational Trek stuff and I love when Discovery puts a spin on it.
I hope the writers will go a little softer in Discovery Season 5, giving it room to breathe. I look forward to seeing what they do.
Gavin
May 18, 2022 at 1:20 pm
I love Star Trek, but for all the reasons you listed above I couldn’t into Discovery. I ducked out at season 3 (I hear season 4 was better.) What I liked about Star Trek in the past was the ability to go back to an episode I particularly enjoyed and re-watch it. A season long arc just doesn’t allow that. Also, the emphasis should not be on Michael Burnham; it should be on the whole crew. I think the producers will steer the course you’ve suggested, simply because Strange New Worlds has proven to be extremely popular and well received (not to mention the writing and characterisation is SO much better).
Jmo
May 18, 2022 at 10:36 pm
I agree the new Star Trek show is exiting to watch. It’s relatable to the original series. I did like Discovery in the beginning but how many times we gotta hear the captain,”you got to trust me on this”. I think the captain has worn out her spot and put more aliens in the captain seat. Discovery has a large variety of aliens in its story line, I think the best one was its 1st lien in the captain chair.
Pete SI
May 22, 2022 at 6:10 am
For me it was Michael Burnham this Michael Burnham saving mankind. I just got so so sick of every story eventually leading up to Michael Burnham the great savior. James T Kirk all over again. I could barely make it thru season 2 without getting bored to death.
CMart
May 18, 2022 at 1:42 pm
I think seeing the episodic format returning to Star Trek via SNW — and the fact that it is doing so well — has spoiled us in a sense, making us all look again at what also currently exists in Trek and wishing they could achieve the same beneficial effect.
A season-long story line/puzzle box concept can work, but it has to be substantive in plot, and I think there hasn’t been much substantive planning out of seasons when it comes to Discovery and, especially (in my opinion) ST: Picard.
So, actually, I think what is really wanted is good quality story lines that keep us engaged throughout the season.
Mike
May 18, 2022 at 11:45 pm
Agreed. I think to do that successfully each character needs time to shine, and the stakes shouldn’t be as high as they’ve been. It might require more episodes, but at least there would be some breathing room before the action picks back up.
Kevin
May 18, 2022 at 2:16 pm
I am happy when any kind of Star Trek comes out of the gate. I’m happy that this show pleases a particular demographic; that being said. You cannot make Discovery good when it’s not. It is in some ways adequate because it gave us “Strange New Worlds” which is excellent. However all of the Star treks no matter the time or decade would always pull its audience to the vision of the show, it did not stoop to the vision of the people watching it. This show caters way too much to the audience of today. It would have more success if it offered the audience of today a true escape, from today! Star Trek always introduced the future much more effectively than Discovery is doing right now. Star Trek always had captains that were believable. Not only is Michael Burnham not believable as a captain, she is not believable and hardly likable as a character. I have seen Ms Green’s work in other shows and she harbored the same problem even there. (ie Walking Dead). Discovery seems to be focused on only a few messages of today in effect having a sort of “modern” tunnel vision. Yes it’s modern all right, but modern in a very limited way.
FilwithanF
May 18, 2022 at 11:46 pm
Very well said. I don’t watch science fiction shows for them to beat me over the head with political agendas. I each them to get away from all of that and explore new worlds and possibilities. They should stop the wokeness and do what the Halo show did: give us good sci-fi for the purpose of entertainment, not indoctrination.
Sybok
May 18, 2022 at 3:44 pm
This show is a turd. Flush it down and hope it’s not a floater
Peter Gresswell
May 18, 2022 at 5:01 pm
It is tedious. The universe threatening end of reality as we know it arcs have been overdone here (as they have been in Doctor Who by the way.) Get a new angle – how about just some mild peril! But most of all, how about recognising that a starship crew that seems to burst into tears at the slightest provocation is probably not going to pass first certificate class at StarFleet, let along be asked to take control of a spacecraft?
Glenn
May 18, 2022 at 9:16 pm
This last season started off decent but nose dived at then end when the wokeness went too far and Stacey Abrams stepped foot on Discovery…kinda killed the series
Hash Jaff
May 21, 2022 at 9:46 am
Discovery should drop star Trek before its name ,no thanks to the writers . producers and all those responsible for bringing this abomination to Star trek lineup, Gene Roddenberry must be turning in his grave.
Sutty
May 18, 2022 at 5:56 pm
Thank you for writing this. Lifelong Star Trek fan, but got worn out on Discovery, even though I like it. It deserves more than to meander the way Enterprise did. Another wonderful show that could have stayed on longer. Best wishes to Discovery.
pussinBoots
May 18, 2022 at 6:51 pm
fuck your opinion on anything. Removed from my news feed.
Mama G
May 25, 2022 at 10:07 am
Welp, ….Bye
Raymond
May 18, 2022 at 6:56 pm
I hope someone at the studio reeds your opinion. Because you are totally wright.
Cary
May 18, 2022 at 7:04 pm
Discovery has gone “woke”, and the only fix for that is cancellation.
John
May 18, 2022 at 8:50 pm
I really don’t like season long adventures, especially if they aren’t interesting. Ialsofeel there is too much emosionele and schmults in almost every episode and its too preachy. I stopped watching it in the middle of season 4.
Keith Thompson
May 18, 2022 at 7:01 pm
Get rid of Burnham and drop all the woke. In fact, cancel this dumpster fire all together. You have a few awesome characters and that’s it. Strange new worlds is where it’s at I think. And prodigy. Great show. Picard is just a fan service series that thankfully ends soon. P.s. get rid of your do all save all super captain Burnham before you ruin Star Trek forever
Westin
May 18, 2022 at 9:28 pm
This comes off like an article written by a disciple of Zack Snyder. I don’t mean that in a good way. The amount of small-mindedness in both the comments and some of the complaints in this article is pretty irritating. There are some good ideas here, some of which already were gradually done in season 4. But that can be fixed. Even some of the praise comes off as backhanded, but at least it seems honest.
James
May 18, 2022 at 10:13 pm
Way too woke. Stacy Abrams in the last episode was the last straw. Done with Woke-Trek.
-Jeff
May 18, 2022 at 10:32 pm
I guess it could be worse. It could be a mad-man bent on revenge that is threatening entire worlds or the federation.
Mike
May 18, 2022 at 11:38 pm
You completely quoted me: I was recently explaining the gist of Discovery to a friend and I said, “The whole galaxy’s in danger and Discovery’s the only ship that can save it.”
I agree. I’d love to see it go a little smaller in scale moving forward.
Fausto
May 18, 2022 at 11:40 pm
Discovery has been trash when judged as a star trek show since season one. The problem is not just with the storytelling but also with Jesus Michael. The show revolved around someone other than the captain from day 1. I would choose TNG DS9 and Voyager over Discovery any day of the week.I watch Discovery as a sci-fi show and not as a star trek show. It just isn’t Star Trek. There is no hopeful vision of the future and thensolution to every problem is Michael. Other crew members barely get any lives or arcs. Thenwould be tech genius isn’t solving anything. MICHAEL SOLVES EVERYTHING. In season 1 and 2 the most trek thing on the show was Saru. I don’t understand how a true trek fan can say they like this show. Ds9 is the gold standard and this doesn’t even meet the TNG or Voyager standard. Shows I’ve watched allnepisodes more than once.
Shayne
May 18, 2022 at 11:44 pm
Abandoning the puzzlebox and keeping the series arc format arent necessarily mutually exclusive. Whats needed is a MISSION. And it strikes me that the one mission that seems kind of obvious is that the Federation is still in pieces, compared to its prime, so perhaps a good mission is to get the band back together. Theres a great resource too for this, Andromeda. Yes the show was a tasteless mess, but that core mission, reuniting the systems commonwealth provided and intreging platform to hang the rest of that cursed series off of.
So imagine this;- The Federation charters the Disco to go off to the various reaches of the alpha and beta quadrants to reunite with the former Federation planets and species and naturally drama and action ensues, ending with hopefully, but not always, those planets resolving to return to the Federation. You get semi-episodic AND you get a series arc. And no puzzleboxes in sight.
Mike
May 18, 2022 at 11:51 pm
That’d make for a fantastic season of Discovery, especially if Burnham just captain’s the ship and doesn’t do everything.
Carmine Fazzari
May 24, 2022 at 12:48 pm
Nah. Every episode must show that a girl can do anything a boy can do.
And anyway…by the 32nd Century…Jim Kirk is extinct. So…its a girl’s world now.
Tom de Jong
May 19, 2022 at 7:24 am
Totally agree with the article, even before having watched season 4. I love how the writer is respectful of what has been delivered but has constructive and reasonable criticism. That’s how Trekkies make things better. Hating everything that is not TOS or TNG is more for the Star Wars crowd I hope Discovery will continue, with all the good advice from this article taken to heart.
Michael Downey
May 19, 2022 at 7:28 am
I stopped watching the show completely. Why? Well, let’s begin with the uniforms; they’re changed as often as athletes change their socks. Moving on to dialog, we’re given a lead character who feels it necessary to whisper nearly every line she delivers. There are times I have to adjust the volume just to understand what she’s saying. Dialog coach please! Last, but certainly not least, is the endless violence. There can be challenge without war. There can be conflict without war. Whatever happened to the Federation’s goal of exploration to seek out new life, new civilization, to boldly go where no one has gone before? Sorry folks. After two and a half seasons I personally discovered that Discovery isn’t about discovering at all.
Mama G
May 25, 2022 at 10:03 am
LoL. The reality of violence is very real and is hardly the biggest issue facing the creators of Discovery
Theron McDonald
May 19, 2022 at 11:10 am
I was initially going to ask just 1 question…
Why whoever writes the captions below the photos of the crew etc couldn’t bother to include ALL of the actors/characters names that are in the photos?
But after reading all of the other comments I’m inclined to call out the misogynistic, racist, homophobic etc folks.
I guess you’d prefer an all White, Straight, predominately male cast?
How in the world can you consider yourselves Star Trek fans?
As for the complaints about “Woke/Wokeness”.
Merriam-Webster
WOKE
\ ˈwōk
Definition of woke
chiefly US slang
: aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)
But we will only succeed if we reject the growing pressure to retreat into cynicism and hopelessness. … We have a moral obligation to “stay woke,” take a stand and be active; challenging injustices and racism in our communities and fighting hatred and discrimination wherever it rises.
Thats just one example, there’s a lot more behind the term “Woke”, if one cares to be informed but it’s not the “boogeyman” that some people want to make it out to be.
Some, not all, TV, Film & Stage have ALWAYS included forward thinking/“woke”, boundary pushing ideology because we (at least some of us) want to learn & adapt to the world in which we actually live.
The entire movement that is vilifying being “woke” seems to just want to bury their heads in the sand & pretend we live in a world that emulates the ignorance, racist, misogynistic, homophobic nature of the 1950s and past.
Mama G
May 25, 2022 at 10:13 am
Oh punkin. Your use of the whiny lefty social Ed language du jour is the very complaint adults have. Forced inclusion always fails. There was no reason whatsoever to take away from Tal’s character by changing its pronouns. We knew things were a little different with Gray and Tal. No need to beat anyone over the head with it. Paul and Hugh are great characters and are appreciated for their work outside of their bedroom. Even showing their interpersonal marriage moments is nice. Because it isn’t forced. Why do those like you never understand this concept?
Just A Nerd
June 26, 2022 at 11:01 pm
Well…considering the actor portraying Adira Tal is non-binary, I don’t see a problem with it. I think maybe they created the character with the intention of being non-binary. It doesn’t bother me either way.
I do agree that sometimes “wokeness” or “political correctness” can feel like you’re being hit over the head with it. It’s “different” than what is “normal” but that doesn’t make it bad. Sometimes it can feel forced and not organic which can be frustrating. But personally I think I would rather be “woke” and aware of other aspects of humanity and what they go through, seeing how they are different from me yet also the same. I may be a white CIS gendered male but I find it refreshing to see more representation of our entire humanity. I’m sure to non-binary (and other LGBTQ representatives) or even people of color it is nice to see someone else like them especially in a genre they enjoy. Star Trek has always been breaking boundaries and inclusive so what is the problem now?
I exist outside of LGBTQ culture but I am fine with seeing more of it. I might not watch a movie or show that focuses strictly on gay characters for example but it’s not because of their sexual orientation. There has to be something I identify with to bring me in. If a gay-centered show or movie has a good story or good characters, sign me up. If it’s good, who cares?
Plus there’s plenty of people who look like me in science fiction so let’s see some different people too. I may not identify with elements of it directly, but I use my own humanity and experiences to relate to their stories. It won’t make me, my wife, kids, or anyone who watches it gay or non-binary. It’s just a gender identity or a sexual orientation. If anyone feels different or likes someone of their same gender, those feelings were there long before a tv show. Maybe it helped them see that in themselves but it certainly doesn’t cause it.
Star Trek has always helped me to expand my mind and how to think critically, how to empathize with others. How to see yourself or someone you know in something alien. Maybe some people never had that awakening in their mind to seek out new life and new cultures which is the core tenet of Star Trek. If so that is a little sad.
Whenever I get frustrated with a show, I just stop watching it. It’s happened a few times. If it doesn’t work for you, that sucks and I hate that.
I agree that sometimes a season long arc can feel a little exhausting to some. I think an overall story arc broken up into smaller arcs with a few one-off episodes is a good way to do a season. The problem is longer seasons have more space to tell stories. Ten to fourteen episode seasons don’t have that luxury. Everything has to be tied to the overall story. Enterprise did way better in its final season with the smaller arcs (shame it got cancelled). I also read a lot of comic books so long-form story telling does not bother me. I could watch weekly or binge the entire season and not feel any anxiety. This style of storytelling is not for everyone though.
Aegis Vancouver
May 19, 2022 at 11:27 am
Disco has two basic problems. First, the season 3 and 4 writing was mediocre and did a disservice to Disco’s excellent cast. Chasing a “Big Bad” is boring and meh. Where are genuine 32nd century stories? By comparison, Disco season 2 was superb. Second, Disco has *too much* diversity. There has been no likeable cis male character ever in Disco’s history, unless one counts Saru, a Kelpien. If Doug Jones played a human, that would be one thing.
Mama G
May 25, 2022 at 10:05 am
Let’s not use stupid terminology like cis male. You can hardly criticize the show and use special Ed for woksters language
Russ
May 19, 2022 at 11:38 am
Couldn’t agree more. I can barely remember the names of the Discovery bridge crew. Too many new characters thrown in all the time.
I’d like to get to know the crew a bit more and see them behave a little more professionally. Burnham doesn’t have to be the focus of every episode and for someone raised by Vulcans she sure does seem emotional all the time.
Leah
May 20, 2022 at 2:02 pm
You put it into words perfectly!
Dragon Eustace CS
May 21, 2022 at 7:07 pm
DISCO’s primary problem is Michael “Mary Sue” Burnham and her grimaces combined with the clumsiness of the script.
Very Bad.
Gen Marion
May 22, 2022 at 10:14 am
Discovery is an embarrassment to the Star Trek franchise. The appearance of a controversial politician was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. The show, while good in the first two seasons, in spite of some cringeworthy moments, has evolved into the “woke” dumpster fire it is today. I will never watch another episode of this garbage. Shame on the writers who injected this virus into Roddenberry’s dream. Lastly, “Let’s Fly” is lame and unimaginative. I sure hope “Strange New Worlds” will be far more worthy to have “Star Trek” in its title!
Alexandre
May 25, 2022 at 5:48 pm
I agree with the puzzle box problem. but instead of mini archs I would prefer long archs with episodic stories happening during the arc. like stargate system. I know that long seasons with more than 20 episodes is not the reality anymore. but for me the problem of discovery is how the puzzle box is solved in a full circle within the season. look stargate sg 1 and how the problem wasn’t ever solved because it scalates with new problems during seasons. would be nice if season 3 emerald chain and osyra wasn’t just one season situation. I think we need problems and antagonists that last more than one season. what if osyra had survived and we have to continuing getting emerald chain conflict. and when osyre finally dies someone worse take over. but no they just destroyed this antagonist. we have no more emerald chain. so the anomaly puzzle looked so empty. I think that puzzle box could be episodic or arched. but escalated gradually. with some episodic stories and big archs 3 times each season. with antagonists and big problems being greater than just one season. also multiple antagonists, more races more information about galaxy situation. we need to see more info about the klingons and other races. also out of this galaxy exploration would be nice. but the most important long archs that lasts multiple seasons. just like I said about stargate we had season 1 to season 8 being an big goa uld arch with smaller archs inside it.
Ken Byrd
July 8, 2022 at 7:27 am
I’ve been championing the 2-3 episode mini arc idea for 2 years now. It’s just hard to maintain the tension for 12-13 episodes. Let them explore instead of saving the universe again.
Cliff
July 11, 2022 at 4:05 pm
I can agree with this article. As the writer said, it does not take me away from enjoying the series. But the suggestions could add some flavor.
My “complaint” of Discovery over the series has only been one thing. That PHASERS are becoming just guns with light. Please go back to the Phasers SFX and style of TOS and Next Generations. They are not pistols. Miss the old sound effect a bit too 🙂