I grew up with the original Star Trek and have recently been making my way through the full series streaming on Paramount+ - Next Generation, Voyager, Strange New Worlds, though I haven’t tackled Discovery yet. Great stuff with all it has to say about leadership, teamwork and - IMHO, the major focus, diversity - or learning to getting along with those who are different, be they Klingon, Vulcan or Borg.
Great piece. I have occasionally quipped that the real problem with Discovery in season one was in the casting: You don't hire Jason Isaacs to play an exemplar of Starfleet leadership, and his casting immediately pinged the ol' plot radar on his likely story development. The show was an occasionally frustrating mix of developments that were broadcast from the Delta quadrant and baffling swerves.
There are some parallels between Disco and Voyager: both were meant to be the flagship shows of a new Paramount corporate venture that never quite took off, neither show lived up to its promise (although Voyager was the much stronger show even with all its flaws), both shows best characters were not the captain (Saru, Seven). I think the real problem with Disco was that the people in charge learned all the wrong lessons of prestige TV and ran those misguided ideas through a therapy paradigm while ignoring so much of what made Star Trek unique, and SNW has consciously decided to correct those errors (while keeping some of the therapy paradigm, but toning it way down). They have the same number of episodes per season but the bridge crew on SNW are real characters.
That arc was…OK-ish, but even within that arc there were a lot of self-contained episodes where the only connection to the arc was that they happened during the arc.
Excellent observation on the self-contained episodes during the arc. My view of the commentary – and my own opinion – is that the arc was better than “OK-ish”.
Sorry, I am not & never have been a Trek fan. Absolutely do not intend to get into an argument with someone who is. Apologies for posting any comment. (-:
Sad that civilizations that can travel faster than light have not learned to live in peace.
I grew up with the original Star Trek and have recently been making my way through the full series streaming on Paramount+ - Next Generation, Voyager, Strange New Worlds, though I haven’t tackled Discovery yet. Great stuff with all it has to say about leadership, teamwork and - IMHO, the major focus, diversity - or learning to getting along with those who are different, be they Klingon, Vulcan or Borg.
Great piece. I have occasionally quipped that the real problem with Discovery in season one was in the casting: You don't hire Jason Isaacs to play an exemplar of Starfleet leadership, and his casting immediately pinged the ol' plot radar on his likely story development. The show was an occasionally frustrating mix of developments that were broadcast from the Delta quadrant and baffling swerves.
There are some parallels between Disco and Voyager: both were meant to be the flagship shows of a new Paramount corporate venture that never quite took off, neither show lived up to its promise (although Voyager was the much stronger show even with all its flaws), both shows best characters were not the captain (Saru, Seven). I think the real problem with Disco was that the people in charge learned all the wrong lessons of prestige TV and ran those misguided ideas through a therapy paradigm while ignoring so much of what made Star Trek unique, and SNW has consciously decided to correct those errors (while keeping some of the therapy paradigm, but toning it way down). They have the same number of episodes per season but the bridge crew on SNW are real characters.
For what it’s worth, Star Trek: Enterprise had a season-long arc (season 3 on the Xindi) that was well-received.
That arc was…OK-ish, but even within that arc there were a lot of self-contained episodes where the only connection to the arc was that they happened during the arc.
Excellent observation on the self-contained episodes during the arc. My view of the commentary – and my own opinion – is that the arc was better than “OK-ish”.
Could it simply be there are no Gene Roddenberry's anymore?
Well, TNG only got watchable after they sidelined Roddenberry and he hated DS9 so all told he probably would have made Discovery even worse.
Sorry, I am not & never have been a Trek fan. Absolutely do not intend to get into an argument with someone who is. Apologies for posting any comment. (-:
Not trying to get in an argument. Only mentioning that Roddenberry probably wouldn't have been a panacea.
(-: