Wow. I was not expecting this. Maybe I was hoping, or dreaming of something of this caliber, but I didn't think they could actually pull it off. This is prestige television. This is what they wanted. This is what I wanted. Maybe not everyone will like it... and maybe I won't either in the long run, but right now, watching it for the first time and caught up in all the hype, I like it. I like it a lot. I'm a little embarrassed to say but I kinda love it. And by God did they spare no expense. This show looks expensive! It's as large a leap forward in production value as JJ Abrams' 2009 reboot was to the movies before it. You can see some of those same visual queues like lens flares and dynamic cinematography, but at the same time,Discovery breaks new ground. They use that Abrams/Apple Store inspired aesthetic not merely as a base color pallet but as a jumping off point to try bold new things. The camera angles, colors and lighting, as well as character motivations, social subtext and story pacing are all befitting of no less a status than Prestige Television (like Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad or House of Cards), capable like all those shows of carrying an entire channel devoted to it's presentation, in this case CBS All Access. Sign me up, I guess, because I am not gonna miss this bandwagon. "The Vulcan Hello" The Story is simple and straightforward and perfect for the first episode of a larger saga. It doesn't bog us down with too many introductions or exposition. We suspect the cast will grow and evolve gradually over a couple episodes. Why? Because we're not even aboard the titular ship yet, the Discovery. It's all just a decompressed prologue to an incredibly focused saga, slowly unraveling for our enjoyment. The Klingons want to use the Federation as a catalyst to unite themselves against a common enemy (even if the conflict is manufactured). This is the Chekhov's gun that opens the episode and looms behind the scenes. We then jump to our heroes, two Federation officers of the USS Shenzhou. Commander Michael Burnham, our star, played by Sonequa Martin-Green (The Walking Dead), and Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) as her Captain Philippa Georgiou (only guest starring for a couple episodes). They get lost in the desert while aiding a more primitive civilization before beaming their banter back to the ship where they continue to bicker alongside a third crewman, Science Officer Saru, played by Doug Jones (famous for playing creatures inside costumes). He provides the pessimism as the third wheel in their triad, mirroring the Kirk/Spock/McCoy repartee of The Original Series which was always its secret sauce. Already I'm in love with this show. Then they stumble across a Klingon beacon and Burnham goes joyriding in a spacesuit because it looks cool to do so. She kills a Klingon -- largely by accident -- and confronts the past trauma of her parents' deaths (by Klingons, of course) which is what led to her adoptive life on Vulcan. This is the requisite backstory that propels the action, because the Vulcans and Klingons have a unique history. The Vulcans logically deduced the only way to earn the Klingons' respect was to basically shoot first (it became the "Vulcan Hello", the episode's title). And it worked, historically speaking. Burnham desperately tries to convince her Captain to do exactly that: shoot first! But when Georgiou refuses to do so without provocation (she's more of a Picard than a Kirk, afterall), Burnham attempts a sloppy mutiny which abruptly fails just as she's proven right. The Klingons have arrived. A war has begun. What I loved: Oh where do I start... The opening banter was fun and kept the beginning moving briskly. Even though we just got here, I truly believed these characters had a long history and deep relationships. They've all grown comfortable over the years and they feel like friends I'd love to spend time with. The background cast feels believably like a bunch of generic crewman on a large and complex naval vessel, like they should. The sounds, the lights, the details all convey the idea that this is complicated stuff, not something one or two people could ever operate. At the same time, it all looks really cool. There are so many little details that feel totally Star Trek like the uniforms, the comm-badges or the phasers. Familiar but new and fancy. I especially liked the transporter effects and the hologram glitches. Star Trek prequels have a controversial tradition of eschewing visual continuity, largely preferring to ignore the retro sixties production values they're most mocked for, and Discovery is no exception. Maybe the producers believe a modern audience would never validate those vintage vibes. Abrams toed this line pretty well in 2009. Star Trek Enterprise, our last television Trek over fifteen years ago... did not (but it got better). I'm sure Discovery will suffer the ire of many die-hard trekkers across the interwebs, but when it looks this good, I sorta don't care. And it looks really damn good, even if it's a little dark (like, literally the lighting is kinda dim). Plus I suspect an explanation may yet come later in the season by way of multiple dimensions, alternate timelines, or somesuch sci-fi silliness, none of which is unprecedented The point is, Trek fans have been whining about these technological continuity discrepancies for fifteen years and I'm over it. It looks good and believable for a show set hundreds of years in the future produced in 2017. Moving on. Tight scripting. Normally I'd find it hard to believe that Burnham could start off so believably buddy-buddy with Saru and her Captain and end the episode in mutiny, but the script, the direction and the acting all tied together tightly. We're supposed to feel like she's in over her head. Maybe she's succumbing to all kinds of suppressed emotions. The lifestyle of control she was taught on Vulcan is unraveling. She's only human after all. If it's awkward and desperate and contrived, it sorta suits the story. Burnham's emotions and logic have twisted until she can't see another path but preemptive violence. Likewise it's hard to disagree with Georgiou. There's no way a professional Captain of the "good-guys" would ever condone firing first (the Admiral did say specifically not to!). It's an impasse of dramatic tension and puts the characters in what I as a writer would describe to be a narratively beautiful "moment of choice". There are more character dynamics at play in that moment than most of the original Star Trek put together. Sonequa Martin-Green deserves extra credit as the show's main character. Normally Trek is an ensemble affair. A crew. A team. A family. Sure the Captain is always sort of the cornerstone of the cast, and usually gets the most screen time, but the recurring characters are never to be discounted. Scotty, Sulu, Worf and Data are equally as memorable as Kirk or Picard. But here, the "main" character is just an up and coming commander. This isn't just her episode for the week. I suspect the entire series will hold her in focus as her Captain, her crewmates, even her ship, come and go around her. It's a change to the formula, but I like it. She carries it and I want to follow her journey. Burnham's range of emotion -- Vulcan upbringing notwithstanding -- is ambitious and downright flirtatious. She's comfortable enjoying herself but she's never far from logic either, allowing the two to work together. Unlike a real Vulcan, she's passionate about her logic, and that's fascinating. She's also the most Kirk I've seen in a Star Trek character since the original series because she likes a good adventure. She has real flare about her and daring too, which shows in her eyes. She's a swashbuckler and she's gonna make sure we have as much fun as she does. At least until it all goes south. Big Screen. The show looks like money, and I'm talking gold-pressed latinum here. Rumor has it Netflix had already fronted the entire bill for a piece of the international streaming rights when CBS chose it for their flagship title to launch their own All Access platform, piling on even more cash. If you can watch it on a high quality screen, you won't regret it. The old TV shows of yesteryear are dear to my heart, but the way they are filmed couldn't be more bland in terms of stage direction and camera angles. Even the movies, often. But here they put thought into every shot. There's a lot happening on that bridge, for example. I wouldn't have minded if they slowed down a little bit to take it all in but the quick pacing keeps the show moving and sets it apart from the laid back and cerebral style of the past. It makes me want to watch it again (ok, let's be honest, I already have). That's a good sign (especially for CBS who wants subscribers to stay put). Hopefully future episodes will simmer down and soak in the moment a little. The Opening Credits might also be my favorite of all time. I always liked the TNG, DS9 and Voyager openings with their orchestral images of space travel, and I even came to appreciate the Enterprise opener with it's lyrical song (god forbid!) played over the future history of space flight. But this one is stylish and formalistic to an extent we've never seen before, blending homages to the classic music with schematics of ships and technology that swirl in and out of focus like inky water. It's safe to say I won't be fast forwarding it. CBS was nice enough to release the first two episodes on the same day, which makes for a great 2-part series premiere. Like a little movie to kick things off. But it comes with a catch: Only the first episode is available for free. If you want to see where that cliffhanger leads, you gotta sign up online with CBS All Access. I won't weigh on whether this is good or bad marketing right now, but it's an ambitious power play and time will tell if it pays off. I will say the visual quality is going to be much better through CBS All Access and this is a distinctly visual show you won't want to bootleg in low resolution. Episode Two "A Battle at the Binary Stars" opens with as much kick as the first, continuing the relatively quick pacing and pure iconic trekkiness. We open with a flashback to the first meeting between a young and very Vulcan-ized Commander Burnham, rejoining the human race for the first time since childhood, and her soon to be mother-figure, Captain Georgiou. They walk us through the Shenzhou right onto the bridge with all its bright lights and nostalgic sonar bleeping. It's a moment reminiscent of the first bridge scene in the 2009 Abrams reboot, but nonetheless just as effective. It's also a stark contrast with the eventual end of the episode, which transitions from this vibrant optimism and hopeful potential into gritty battle and tumultuous tragedy. Quickly we're plunged into war with the Klingons, back in the present, as the Federation arrives just in time to say, "We come in peace." Literally. It's a line that echoes a prediction from last episode that the Federation will say they come in peace when really they come to destroy their culture. A misunderstanding of epic proportions. The fight includes some cool ships and battles in a way that is surprisingly rare for Star Trek. I can count on one hand the number of times we've seen more than a ship or two appear together in battle and it's always fun. But the battle doesn't go well, and Bunham spends most of it in the brig and helpless until she escapes by out-thinking the computer's logic programs. The admiral's ship gets destroyed (such a great scene, and a great cameo by Anthony Michael Hall) and Burnham proposes a plan to hit back and capture the Klingon leader, make him look weak and save themselves from war. It fails. Captain Georgiou is killed. In anger, Burnham makes a split decision to switch from stun to kill and instead of capturing the Klingon leader -- which was her own plan! -- she kills him and makes a martyr out of him exactly as she feared. Worse, she can't even retrieve the Captain's body before being heartbreakingly teleported back to the Shenzhou where they abandon ship and return to Starfleet. She is promptly court-martialed and stripped of rank and the episode is over. Phew, what a downer! Conclusion: I realize now how dark this show can get. As much as I loved the Abrams reboot -- and so did everyone else at the time -- eventually the luster fades and people begin to notice the shortcomings. In the case of those films, the focus on action and spectacle over depth and social commentary became the rallying cry against it, even though I'd say they captured the fun camaraderie and optimism quite well. Here, I suspect the opposite concern. Discovery tries to be "about" something and sacrifices its adventurousness to do so. I think there will be more depth and "issues" but not in the usual "issue of the week" way Trek was known for. Personally, I'm okay with that, since Star Trek hardly did justice to half the issues people remember them for, and even that lip-service was seldom as progressive as they like to brag about. I think in the case of Discovery, they'll be more nuanced and subtle and that will be good. Maybe it'll even manage to be "about" something people really care about and it will build lots of new fans. But the loss of the adventurousness is maybe still a bummer. I liked watching Kirk smile and joke around with Spock and Bones and I thought from the way the show started, we were in for more of that. On the other hand, the whole point of that beginning upbeat spirit was to contextualize the tragedy and cost of the new war that followed. Ten years ago when I was high on Battlestar Galactica (no regrets!) I would've thought this was pitch perfect. Now I'm older and I appreciate the fun stuff, too. I guess we'll see which way this goes, but if it continues to look this good, I'm pretty sure I'll stick with it and not even care. Here's to production value and the return of Trek-TV! Next Episode: The series practically starts over, as Burnham goes to prison and gets transferred to the Discovery. Why? Who knows. Hijinks will ensue, I'm sure...
Until then , I'll see you in the future! Star Trek Episode 3 Review The Orville Review
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