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Star Trek Discovery: To Timidly Go Where the Franchise Has Gone Over And Over … And Over Again.

I really wanted to love the latest iteration of Star Trek. I’m a huge fan of the original series for its quirky stories and it groundbreaking premise;  and of Voyager for  breaking the glass ceiling over the captain’s chair and for delving into character, motivation and morality in a more realistic way than its predecessors. I was sad when Voyager ended and I had high hopes for  Enterprise. Dashed hopes, as it turned out.

Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed once again tonight as I watched the first two episodes of Discovery. My ‘trial membership’ to CBS All Access will be terminated forthwith.

Geez, people! Can’t you come up with something else?? The same tired tropes rehashed with new faces. The doomed captain ( Star Trek pilot, Star Trek movies (at least one) Star Trek Reboot, etc.) , the renegade first officer who will be convicted of treason or something but will eventually become the captain of a new ship (where do I start?)- to replace the one that was destroyed. Again, where to start? There’s always that destroyed ship.

As in the first Star Trek movie re-boot ( and the original series), I found myself more interested in the ‘first’ crew than the ‘replacement’ one that is destined to take over the series. Why waste time introducing interesting characters like Captain Georgiou  and then kill them off? I loved the concept of a female captain and a female first officer. A great story angle. But, no. Apparently, this was too good to be true, so the rest of the series will have a male captain were he is meant to be and the female first officer – as I assume Michael will once again be – will have to ‘prove herself’.

Bullshit.

Shades of Riker and Shelby.

And what the heck is with the Klingons? OK, it’s a hundred years after Voyager ( So I assume from the vague backstory provided) but they look nothing like any Klingons I’ve ever seen. Why was it necessary to re-invent the wheel in this case, while the rest of the story  is so predictable and recycled?

Oh, and the Vulcans. Can’t have a Star Trek series/movie/book without a Vulcan pulling the strings somewhere in the background. Or the foreground. In Discovery, the creators were so very clever in introducing a human character who was raised as a Vulcan. I suppose they might have thought it would be too much of a stretch to have another Vulcan or half-Vulcan First Officer, so they came up with the fabulously clever concept of a ‘human’ Vulcan.

Once again: Geez, people!

Visually, Discovery is lovely. It looks more like a film than a TV series, and I suppose this is down to the fact that each episode is intended to be seen in its entirety without commercial interruption – at least for those willing to pay for the privilege.

But, at the end of the day ( I hate that expression but it works here) I’m left with the feeling that the best thing about Discovery was the music ( ripped off from just about every sci-fi show from the last fifteen years) and the opening graphics ( incorporating the ‘ink’ theme from Arrival).

Sorry, not enough.

Maybe future episodes will make me eat my words.

Somehow, I doubt it.

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