7:05 Oh yes, yes yes, the cinematography of early Discovery was imo the best in the entire franchise. The way the opening scene with T'Kuvma was shot rotating around his head whilst the actor, Chris Obi, gives an absolutely stellar single-take monologue in Klingonese (despite later problems with prosthetics and speech I found this opening scene was one that didn't suffer nor did it limit my understanding the obvious spite he was conveying in his speech) was just a phenomenal establishing shot that really sets the mood and atmosphere of that first season.

There's a lot to like for sure. My biggest gripe was the reliance on the Mirror Universe. I'd always seen that as a very minor aspect of Trek and one that I never really enjoyed much, personally. Evil Spock, Evil Kira, Evil... anyone, just feels like fanfic to me. You've got a whole galaxy to play with in a future that you've created, I feel like there's stories to be told there that are worth telling that don't rely on what is effectively a gimmick. Hard to be upset about getting more of something you like though, even if it's maybe not your favourite flavour.

I've been rewatching Discovery right now, too, and one weird thing you notice between season 1 and season 2 when you watch them back-to-back is they literally turned up the lights between seasons. Sure, there is a canonical reason for why the lights on Discovery might have been dimmed somewhat in season 1, but even outside of that, the show becomes brighter as they move away from the darker war storyline into the more adventurous one in season 2.

my first impression of Discovery vs how i feel today is night and day. It was so different, i think it brought a much needed shock after the movies and the first series (tos, tng, etc). I think changing the setting to the future was the right choice and it really let the show breathe and be itself.

Discovery season 1 made me a Trekkie, so I love it! I’m an Old Nerd so I already had a lot of Trek knowledge just from *waves generally at the nerd-o-sphere*, but Disco’s far more diverse casting and focus is what really pulled me in. Also, I was delighted that when I attended Mission: Chicago and other fans asked what my first Trek was, no one judged me for entering the fandom with Discovery or made snide remarks about it. I’ve typically found that in all fandoms, the people who want to show up and engage face to face behave far more kindly than people do in online spaces. But that experience was so much more embracing than I’ve experienced in any other fandom. It really did feel like Fandom Family.

Personally, I think that the original intent - using scenes depicted in this two-part pilot, as flashback scenes intercut from episode 3 onwards would have been a better move from a storytelling point of view. Start with the scene of Burnham and Georgeo (I apologise for bad spelling and autocorrect) opening up the well on that desert planet, the two of them making a massive starfleet delta on the sand and then being beamed up. Then BOOM "several months later" and we're on that prison transport. The opening would have given us that glimpse of star trek hope but then whip us into a scene taking place months later where the mood is much darker. From that point of view we the viewers are wondering "what's happened? Why the mood change" and then gradually from the way the characters interact with one and other we build an impression of our protagonist Michael - a woman literally separated from the rest if the crew because she is (as far as we're aware) a mutineer and a war monger - she's not denying it afterall. Then, as she bumps into detmer and saru we get flashbacks to the scenes in the pilot - happier, lighter in tone, and sort of like the CW DC show arrow we get two parallel stories, building up the character but also drip feeding us the story, so by the time we jump to the mirror universe we know who Michael Burnham really is, and that she's not a war monger or a criminal, but a young woman literally sinking in grief and regret - questioning her actions despite the situation itself being a no-win scenario; qué the kobyashi manru links and how even if you can "come to terms with death" in an academic setting, in real life irs so much different. also add to that burnhams upbringing which is coded (either intentionally or unintentionally) as a "progressive" white family brining up an orphaned black girl - they bring her up white/Vulcan, changing her hair, how she dresses and interacts with others all so that she can integrate with white/Vulcan society only to be rejected by that society because of their own bigotry, yet instead of telling her that the system worked against her burnhams adopted family says "well maybe there were other extra credits yiu could have done etc." hiding the truth from her and lettingbher grow a massive inferiority conplex. So she joins starfleet, and her new mentor figure is another POC woman, and she follows her orders until she mutinies under the notion of "no captain you dont understand! How could you! My upbringing with the Vulcans tells me that i have to go over your authority because they know what to do abd yiu dont because your just human!!! - projecting her own inferiority towards others, and by extension in her own mind leading to her mentors death. This is then re-emphasies by her relationship with ash Taylor - a literal klingon imposter, and burnhams and her adoptive family finally having to hash their problems out in season 2 where they have ti admit that while they think they are progressive they have their own prejudices that they have to work through which they've unfortunately put into their own kids - a therapy session which was much needed as by season 3 Burnham is comfortable with herself (braided hair, a healthy relationship, embracing her humanity while not losing her Vulcan sense and aearch for logic and answers). I went on a tangent there, but I think the drip reveal of the events that lead to Burnham being imprisoned would have been much better received than the 2 episode pilot. Afterall, if we were gradually leaking back the secrets of the character Tilly, stamits and sarus early interactions with her would make more sense ti us as we the audience wouldn't know - can nichael be trusted? Should Tilly follow her advice? Recalling everything upfront takes away from that character build and the gradual reveal. Your no longer interested in the mystery because you know rhe answer, and because you know the answers the episodes focussing in Michael seem too much, rather than their original intent of a small section if the crew gradually growing to like and trust the criminal mutineer. And as that trust grows and our view if the crew expands we start to see that there is indeed a darkness in the discovery, but its ot michael its Lorca.

I rewatched (binged) Discovery S01-S03 during the COVID lockdown and it was honestly a lot better than I had initially remembered. I really appreciated the show doing something new with Trek in a way that still felt very much like Trek 🙂

Yay! you said the thing! Everyone harps on the uniforms from Discovery being too different and coming out of nowhere when you can CLEARLY see that they are meant to be a progression from the uniforms worn during Captain Archer's era. That's what they evoke and were a good idea.

Discovery season one, is a fascinating ride. From episode one onward, there is something special every time you watch. The concepts and ideas are there for a reason. The chances it takes with the narrative, and expanding the series is also worthwhile. I agree, we needed this

Finally a good faith conversation about Star Trek discovery Every time I look up anything about the show it's completely dominated by right wing Chuds screaming about how , *[Performative Gasp]*, Star Trek is woke Like bro where have YOU been smh Thanks for the video

"Aww look'it the baby trans" was adorable and sweet and Jessie must be protected at all costs forever.

Star Trek Discovery has some of the most shocking uniforms. Part sport clothes and part armor with all that metal above. (Even more with the mirror universe versions). A side from that, I really like the series as a whole. Saru and Pike are my favorite characters as well as Tilly and Stamets.

I like your after dark content because, to be completely honest, the runtime is closer to what my mental bandwidth can take.

i love discovery for the reasons you cited. when the show started i truly felt a sense of community and wonder i didn't experience for a long time. i really enjoy this format so i'd love to see you covering the S2. i agree with basically all your points. i do think the shenzhou was a little bit disappointing at first - the "impersonal" feeling made me feel like it wasn't a star trek serie but it kinda makes sense when you looking at the show now. looking back, i realize that they truly tried to do something both unique and respectful of the franchise and i'll miss this show dearly after the finale. anyway, thanks for this video and happy new year! i found your channel a couple of weeks ago and it's already one of my favourites.

Discovery had its flaws like the radical redesign of the Klingons, however it has its moments, some great episodes, especially season 1 with Lorca as the surprise villain. The best thing to come out of Discovery is the Strange New Worlds with Pike, Spock and Number One. I liked the Mirror Universe episodes also for probably one of the best mirror stories of all. Saru was a great new character. The later seasons had a bit of drag on episodes where things could have happened faster within episodes during the season long stories. Overall it was pretty good series. And it led to other series being created Lower Decks, and Prodigy.

Now that I've finished the video, I just want to say that your analysis of why the character of Burnham likely didn't resonate with fans in the ways that she maybe should have given all of the proper elements being place was very insightful. I think I'd heard about the premiere episodes being intended as flashbacks before, but I'd totally forgotten about it. I definitely agree that with better execution, Burnham could have been much more interesting to get to know while still using the same scenes. For my part however, there were some other things that didn't work about her character and her story. For one, I feel like her childhood trauma and fear driving her decision to mutiny was not conveyed well on an emotional front. I feel like that fact was told rather than shown and, more importantly, felt. I never felt empathy for her trauma and thus could never put myself in her shoes when succumbing to in deciding to mutiny. Furthermore (and I recognize how silly this will sound), I thought that all of her scenes with Sarek where they establish so much of who she is were cold and unengaging. Imperfect as Trek 2009 was, the scenes between Sarek and young Spock were engaging on an emotional level in ways that I don't think Disco ever quite achieved. Those scenes once again had a perfunctory "tell, don't show" feel to them. Also, as an aside, I've always thought people blamed Burnham for the war because she killed T'kuvma instead of capturing him and showing his weakness to the other houses. As for the Klingons, I'm with you in having no problem with changing the designs in concept. The idea of making them more alien and visually more distinct in terms of clothing, ships, props, and production design was a very interesting one that I could totally get behind. My problem comes from, once again, the execution of those ideas. As mentioned, the paralyzing prosthetics robbed the actors of their abilities to fully emote and more egregiously, took away a core aspect of the Klingon culture which should have (IMHO, of course) remained, their charisma and bravado. Even speaking their language felt belabored and slow with very little emotion. To me, the problems with the Klingon redesign can be summed up by simply looking at the redesigned bat'leth. The idea of changing it's look is fine, but the way they changed it made it pretty much the opposite of what a bat'leth has always been. It is now a staff weapon, with very little apparent sharp edges, and the main pointy bits facing TOWARD the user. Change is fine, but change without measurement is dangerous and unlikely to yield good results. Lastly, anyone who talks shit about the Shenzou can kiss my bumper! That ship is absolutely the best original ship design in all of Discovery and that's that!

I LOVE THIS JESSIE! I really hope you continue to review early Discovery as I have also started rewatching in preparation for the finale. So far it is really holding up for me! I'm just not a gore-girly so the more violent themes i have to fast forward through. I also love the representation as someone with several marginalized identities. The performances and cinematography are so nuanced as you said and so beautiful and in its special way signifies that there is some way out of the darkness we are all experiencing in our personal lives and in the world around us - brilliant allegory and commentary on our current climate as we live through it now. SONNEQUA DOUG MICHELLE ARE GIFTS 🥰

I've always loved the change in the Klingons to make them more alien. It almost feels like the purpose of it is to show how as Klingons let go of T'kuvma's way of thinking, they do change and it's for the better. The long term arc of this is seeing them go from so xenophobic to saving the Federation in the war with the Dominion.

I loved this review Jessie! You did a wonderful job covering the technical aspects of the episodes, I especially enjoyed how you talked about the exceptional cinematography by Guillermo Navarro (Guillermo del Toro’s long time collaborator)! You did a wonderful job highlighting the performance’s, the themes and the characters (love to hear some love for my baby fish boy Saru)! I can’t wait to see your next episode retrospective and I hope you have a great time not only with the rewatch of Disco but making this style of videos! 😊🖖💜

Discovery got me into the series and thus will always hold a special place in my heart i want to go back and do a full rewatch once it ends i catch random episodes live now and then and like seeing old friends

THANK YOU!!! Discovery is EXACTLY what the franchise needed!😩 So sad to see all the pushback it received… 😢

Omg I loved this! Totally nailed some of my thoughts on the pilot and I can see where the additions could have changed the story. Please keep doing more of these and I'll watch along with you. It's a great way to go into the last season. Also yes I'm totally cool with you posting these things over here on this page. Seems like a great way to help sort through all your amazing content

That was a great video! Will now watch them again!

I was revisiting S1 with some friends who are Trekkies, but didn't get into Discovery (not for usual reasons, they just missed it) and it was interesting to watch it after all the post-DISC shows + watching it in my 2023 mindset vs where I was in 2017. Even before that the very optimistic Star Trek rang hollow with me as I not only saw RL history unfolding with all its horrid glare, I also was becoming more educated on the problematic folks behind the scenes (Berman, Hurley, etc.) made Trek in the past and I found the shine from the 80s/90s Trek to not fufill me anymore in the wake of all of that. Then 2016 happened and was sort of listless like others were so the show in a way was what I needed. I didn't want a Star Trek that just showed me a utopia and never explained how it got there; dismissing all the harm going on right now as some boogeyman of the past. I needed a Trek show that acknowledged what I was seeing and metaphorically walked with me towards a light at the end of the tunnel, that despite all of horror around us that we needed to keep ourselves moving forward. In a way it accomplished that for me. Now watching Season 1 it it feels like such a weird outlier from the rest of the shows that came after it, even itself. Even though there are member-berries within it, it didn't feel like the premise rested on that the same way the other shows did (even though I love Lower Decks and SNW, we can't kid ourselves that the beginning premise of those shows wasn't some "return to nostalgic Trek normalcy"). It challenged convention and even if it didn't always worked, I appreciated them trying it when alot of fans never wanted to move beyond the conventions set by TNG. Even though I still don't care for the Klingon makeup, mostly because it looks too similar to the Nosferatu-like designs of the Remans or Krall from ST Beyond, I appreciated the writers making them more like a menacing, gothic horror society rather than the stereotypical space viking thing that I got tired of. Most of the main characters, especially Georgiou, Lorca, and Stamets, I really dug. Hell honestly my biggest regrets of S1 was that we didn't have prime Georgiou around or kept Lorca around as a grim soldier that eventually learned to find peace & live in a post-war Federation.

Discovery was my first Star Trek. I started watching Trek because of the recommendations of you and Tristan at Step Back. I really enjoyed Discovery. It was just what I needed to get into the franchise.

Great review! Very thoughtful, as always for you! If I have a say, keep ‘em coming!

I've been a fan since 1991, so I hosted a viewing party at my house, with a make-your-own-hesperat station and colored vegan marshmallows (to look like TOS food cubes) for dessert. Starting with Discovery, I decided to collect my thoughts with each episode of all the new shows. I started out with just a few paragraphs at first, but tended to write longer ones as each new series progressed, perhaps symptomatic of the serialization. Here's what I wrote the night of the premiere: The first two episodes had a Balance of Terror vibe, except that I wouldn't characterize T'Kumvah as someone who shared mutual respect with Georgiou in that encounter. I dug the dialogue. It sounded like Trek dialogue, but maybe a bit more realistic, and the banter was integrated a bit more organically than in Berman-era Trek (where they'd alternate technobabble with banter in fairly jarring swerves--even JJ-Trek did this). The playfully sarcastic banter even reminded me a bit of the lab technicians in Fuller's Hannibal, or even the Spock/McCoy or Odo/Quark banter previously seen in Trek. The producers made hay of shedding the Roddenberry rule barring conflict between officers, but I didn't see anything out of the bounds of previous Trek shows. My interpretation has always been that officers can show conflict as long as they share the same goals and give each other the benefit of the doubt. That said, that benefit has not been granted to Michael Burnham just yet. I'm interested in how she achieves redemption. The tone still felt like Star Trek, especially considering exactly how deliberately they contemplated taking action. I am intrigued.

I need to gush A LOT about Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Michelle Yeoh, Shazad Latif, Wilson Cruz, Blu del Barrio, David Ajala, Anthony Rapp, and Anson Mount….their performances are astounding…I’m tearing up thinking of some scenes, they were so moving. The first season took time, because it is so intense, especially the threatening power of the Klingons, and on the other end the of the spectrum, the intense fear of Saru, in these initial episodes. So very well done. It’s not perfect, to be fair, but the characters!!! The characters and acting absolutely floor me still.💙💙💙

So right about Saru/ Doug Jones! The character is as adorable as the person behind it. ❤❤❤

I personally think Disco's antagonists should've been the Tholians. With newer special effects, you could do so much more with them. You could introduce new types and new ship classes and tell more about their social structure. They're always annexing new territory, so the conflict writes itself.

This is such a good review, Jessie. It's the kind of review Disco could only get from a bright mind given the distance of time. Time for another rewatch myself!

I loved this video! Looking forward to seeing more like this and for the longer essays on the main channel and of coarse the upcoming movie! ❤🖖

Thank you mentioning James Frain's excellent performance as Sarek.

Personal head-canon on the uniforms. We know that even in 2401, "Frontier Day" is a big thing and they celebrated the 250th Anniversary. I think it's very likely that in 2251 (when "The Cage" style uniforms were in voguie) they would have celebrated the 100th Anniversary of Frontier Day, Starfleet would have had commemorative uniforms that were influenced by 22nd Century designs. The usage of these uniforms were purely up to captain's discretion. Although only officially created for 2251, some captains, including Lorca and Georgiou kept them for a few years longer until at least 2257, while Pike and other Captains went back to the traditional yellow, blue and red ones.

A wonderfully considered analysis of Discovery. But what I really came here to say is that I love that the color gradient you gave the Klingon in the thumbnail makes him look like Tealc's look in the pilot of the Stargate TV series. With this level of color understanding, I trust that your movie will be a great visual experience, once I get to see it for myself.

I am looking forward to this! I loved the season 1 'Time Loop Episode with the Really Long Name' so much!

Honest to gods: why there is so much hate for Discovery straight-up baffles! It’s so good!! Just wonderful.

Thank you! this is a great idea!

Never gave Disco a chance. It did not look at all appealing to me. But learning how much the fans disliked DS9(which i adore) made me reconsider my feelings on Disco. I haven't watched it yet, but I plan to. I was sad to hear they cancelled, and I feel like fans like me, unwilling to give it a chance, are a big reason for that.

yay! gonna be watching every week! gracias!

Season one of Disco is one of my favourite seasons of NuTrek, after Lower Decks Season Two. And Lower Decks Season One. And Lower De- you know what? I love Lower Decks. But watching Season One Discovery every week was pure joy and excitement. I adore it.

I love this format Jessie.

Finally! I’ve been waiting for a video like this! When I first watched it, I immediately liked it! I’m someone who needs a modern realistic look for a sci-fi universe to be believable. If the sets look too old and/or didn’t have enough budget or the tech is too outdated , then to me it doesn’t look believable. That’s why TOS as well as Classic Who is obviously a TV series for me and TNG is starting to look so as well with those chunky laptops or the dozens of tablet like an e-book that can only store a single work. Or the absence of an intranet on Starships or personal smart devices (like they use in The Expanse, for instance). And Discovery was the first Star Trek show to look like our actual future. Picard was the second. So I really love it. The other great thing is the look of the Klingons. They look believably alien to me, not just actors with little facial ridges. It’s bad enough that every alien is basically a variant of a human. Of course I know, the budget of TOS is to blame but I for once would welcome a full visual reboot and have the aliens look actually alien, more like in Mass Effect. And Discovery season 1 at least attempts that. And the blue uniforms do look a bit like the Alliance Navy uniforms from Mass Effect and the walls of thr Shenzhou remind me of the Normandy a bit. 😁

I am finishing season 1 of Star Trek Discovery and I’m loving it so far…

Nice to see you trying new stuff. Keep moving forward.

I actually adore the pilot. I regularly rewatch just season 1 of disco. As for Michael's arc, I only felt I understood it after my second watch thru. Tho the war would have started regardless of her mutiny. Her crime was against her mentor Georgeo in that in the face of an impossible situation, Michael didn't fight for her values, just for the life of her captain , and informed by her prejudice against Klingons. By the end of the season she asserts georgios values and stands up for idealism in the face of extermination of those same ideals, also recognizing the humanity of the Klingons. A change of heart reflected with Michael's late conversations with leadership.

Bravo! An excellent review / commentary on early Disco. I want to see more, especially as we wait for S5 to drop. Thanks, Jessie!

Omg Jessie I loved this thoughtful review. I agree with everything you just said, and you said it in a better (and kinder) way than I could have

I am Sooo glad you are retro reviewing Discovery S1. I loved this series, whatever its flaws and it gave me back y enthusiasm for Star Trek as a franchise willing to make bold (ahem) choices and take risks.

❤amazing points and a great way to start reviewing all of discovery

And a comment to top it off, a wonderful video. Thank you Jesse.

this was brilliant ... looking forward to more

Thanks for this review! I can't wait for the rest of our season 1 thoughts.

This is exciting! I was sad I didn't find your takes when I started watching Disco S1 last year

Thank you! I love Discovery but I have never gone back for a rewatch. I may have to do that now to prepare for the final season.

I love the review. In those first couple of episodes I was definitely feeling that Burnham got shafted, first the mutiny, then that section of the ship getting blown away. Her real challenge to surviving being a very passive person at that point.

Jessie please keep doing these retro reviews, I need the Jessie perspective on Disco.

This is the review/recap I didn't know I needed ❤❤❤

Really liked this video. I recently rewatched Disco season 1 too and I was low key amazed at how much I liked it. Not that I didn't before, but it was so much better than I remembered for some reason.

I've been tempted to rewatch season one for a while, I think you may have just given me the push I needed!

It took a while for Discovery to show up on UK TV, and when it did I misread the start date, and missed several episodes at the start. I caught up with Season 1 but getting the Seasons 1-3 BluRay box, and overall I've enjoyed the show, especially Saru, Pike and the radical shift in Season 3. I will agree about the Klingons not quite fitting, but surely that could have been explained and justified with some effort. I'll be watching Season 5 with great interest, and I hope to have good reason to raise a glass to cast and crew at the finale.

I remember people questioning back when it first came out things like “why did Spock never mention her?” and “why does Sarek seem closer to her?” And as much as I agree with you that it wasn’t necessary to tie her character to Spock like that, those questions always felt weird to me. Why did Spock never mention it? Same reason he never told Jim (his closest friend) and Bones (his doctor) that Sarek was his father (though funny that apparently neither bothered to check…), to the point both were surprised when they found out upon Sarek coming aboard the ship. Also same reason he never mentioned he had a brother! The man is the most closed-off person there is and he never talks about family unless he has no choice. And as to why Sarek would be closer with Michael than with Spock, we already know Spock and Sarek were VERY distant and barely ever talked. Sarek was also closer with Picard and arguably even Kirk than he was with Spock. Him being closer to Michael is only surprising insofar as him being close with a child of his is surprising (he really doesn’t seem to be a very caring parent who has good relations with his children), but it would be weirder if he were closer to Spock than to her.

Interesting review! 😁👍

Jessie, how dare you! How dare you make star trek look so cool and awesome! Now im buying uniforms to cosplay, asking questions of my identity, finding joy in little moments, qouting the tng crew, and even drawing fanart and designing my own star fleet ship! How dare you convice me to give this incredible franchise a chance! I love data and Tendi and Quark and Rom! I also love holding on to this idea that we will reach this utopian future together!

Fantastic video as always!! :) 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 ❤️💖❤️💖

I’m so glad you’re doing this! I’m rewatching Disco in the lead up to season 5. On episode 8 and so far I have been surprised at how much better season one is than i remembered. I definitely think DSC will be reassessed in coming years much like ENT has been.

I think the way that so many franchises have decided to play it safe is the saddest part of the reactionary crusades against them for inclusivity. I enjoy SNW but it's nowhere near as trailblazing as DISCO. Picard did a big space adventure for the last series instead of the more personal stuff in 1 and 2. It's the same over in Star Wars, say, where the big swings of Rogue One and Last Jedi have given way to Dave Filoni's mediocrity. Sure we're getting a second series of Andor but will we see anything as radical out of Star Wars in the next 20 years?

Happy New Year Jessie! Hope things get better and better for you. 🫶💕

Honestly, I find some elements of discovery to be good, but I really can't find more to like it and find it realy drops the ball when it comes to a bunch of characters over the whole show

Love this video.

The star trek segment is back🎉🎉🎉

I loved this!!

I want to see Jessie in the black void arguing with Mike stoklasa about Star Trek discovery

Hello, Jessie. The first two seasons are among a few things I love best about "Star Trek: Discovery," to be honest. Likewise, Doug Jones' portrayal of Saru, the score by Jeff Russo, Book's ship and some Power Ranger-esque 32nd-Century Starfleet uniforms. Yet, I'm more hyped about season two of "Prodigy" on Netflix than the final season "Discovery" on Paramount+. I do wish those who plan to watch the final season of "DSC" the best of luck. Happy 2024!

I wasn’t keen on the pilot but Discovery has constantly improved since then and, especially since they traveled to the future I’ve really liked it.

Discovery was the first star trek show i watched, and my second favorite series as a whole

I re-watched discovery recently as well❤, I look forward to watching your reviews!!

The Shakespearian quality worked so well for L’Rell though. Like, her face isn’t super expressive, but Mary Chieffo knows how to act. Her voice and body language are expressive. And she’s talked about how she did with Klingon what she does with Shakespeare (which is to not just read the text, remembering the sounds she needs to utter, but understand the individual words and phrases, in a way that allows her to actually inflect and emphasize different words in a more natural way. Consequently, she’s also the best Klingon in Discovery. Her lines sound less stiff, and consequently her character more complete and more real).

Discovery should’ve been its own re-imagined universe separate from the classic prime continuity, the writers would’ve been free to do whatever they wanted without stepping over pre-existing canon.

Thank you for doing this positive DISCO video, Jessie. Also, we love you too and hope you understand you are our local planetary queen that rules us all on NuTrek fandom planet.

THANK YOU. I've been baffled for a long time over why blame for the Klingon war was pinned on Burnham's mutiny when her mutiny didn't even work. Nobody else seemed to notice, so I wondered if I was missing something. Nope.

Your intro persuaded me to give Discovery a second chance. I'll watch along with you. I agree with your review. Your summary of the behind-the-scenes stories was all new information to me; your narrative makes sense. As we'll hear in the next episode: context is for kings (and queens, and monarchs).

Nice to hear someone talk about the contentious issues in a balanced way

I think it's time for a rewatch as it's the only trek show that I can't remember it's theme song ( and yes especially that one).

The term retro review on this is making me feel extra old now lol

It is not exactly my favorite Star Trek show, but I am grateful to Discovery for bringing back Star Trek to Televisions, and returning my interest back to Star Trek again. And I'm going to be honest, I'm going to miss this show once season 5 is finished.

My head canon for the tone difference in pre-SNW Disco and TOS/SNW was that basically Shinzou and Discovery represent the tail end of an era (arguably the 22nd century Enterprise era) and the Pike led Enterprise is essentially not just a new flagship Starship, but represents "the next generation" of Starfleet in general, like you get to see how Starfleet is evolving its aesthetics to match their 23rd century attitudes and values, the beginning of the Prime Directive era if you will. I don't know if it was intentional but I liked to think the ncc1701 was meant to impress in a big way hence the groovy 60s look 😅 Feel the same about Georgeau (never can spell her name). Terran Michelle yeoh is fun and interesting but prime Phillipa I constantly miss.

Interesting! It'll be good to hear more of your thoughts on Discovery because while it was one of the first Star Trek shows my sister watched, she had to dip out for it ending up a bit bleak and greyscale and that's coloured my perspective of the show

THANK YOU!!!! Discovery is my favorite Trek. Michael rocks!!!

Who else here had Discovery as their first trek? It was mine and i wrote a gushy other comment on it and was curious about how many others there might be

I love that disco is trying to revisit the look of the klingon but in addition to the practical problems caused by the prosthetics, I think that a bigger issue is that they still look like people wearing prosthetics. Making them look completely alien would have been a great move. This might have meant that vulcans also needed a redesign for a more cohesively alien look for all these species, but that would have been even more controversial.

Where do you get your Star Trek costumes ?

Bravo. So glad you're doing this. Discovery is totly my favorite too. Cuz it has tons of queers, great production value, wonderful character development, and storylines that still make me think.

I tried watching Discovery recently after coming back to Trek through Strange New Worlds. Compared to the comfy Original Series vibes of SNW, Disco felt like it was doing too many new things all at once (non-episodic stories, a single character's point of view rather than a crew view, the darker war setting) and it left me cold. I managed maybe four episodes before tapping out. Still, this video got my interest sparked again so I'll maybe follow a few more of your episode guides to see if I want to jump back in to Disco

Discovery was my first intro to star trek and I will never stop being grateful to it's queer diverse cast. I am now on series 5 of Deep Space Nine, and have watched all of lower decks, strange new worlds, Picard and prodigy. I'm considering watching Voyager (tho gave up because SA and neelix gave me the idk) and my partner is trying to convince me to watch TNG. Deep Space Nine is like fast becoming one of my favourites and Discovery is to blame. Idk, I didn't get the opportunity to watch Star Trek as a kid, and I'm mid 20s in age and star trek is such a comfort and the community is beautiful. I'm just so so grateful for Star Trek Discovery. And I guess as an aside the anger at it that was a small part of my watching it, though I have always been a sci fi nerd, just historically through Doctor Who and many books

it is genuinely annoying that we've been stuck in prequel mode since 2001. We're finally escaping it with Discovery season 3 and beyond and Picard, but what I wouldn't give for a "Next Next Generation" show set in the 25th century exploring the Gamma Quadrant or something.

Love this one

I don't love the Klingon design but I love that it exists. Between their looks in DISCO, SNW, TOS, movies, TNG and Kelvin, it makes them feel more like a varied species rather than just guys in masks. Just wish we got a story with differing Klingon designs co-existing.

I find Discovery to have been a DIRECT result of the dark storytelling that started in deep space nine. It directly addresses the issues that I had with the war, espionage, torture and "the ends justify the means" that were prevalent throughout that show( things that I heavily dislike about that earlier show because it seems that the purpose of which is for shock value just in an effort to be different from its better received predecessor). And the narrative purpose of having that Darkness be present in this season of Discovery lays the groundwork for the eventual Redemption of Starfleet that we see at the end of its first season( making it more like the Starfleet that we remember). And I personally think that that was a narrative genius move by the early production staff. Also I know that I've spoken about my most recent marathon where I'm rewatching everything Star Trek( thus far I'm currently up to the first season of next gen), the start point that I chose was the few short Treks that narratively take place before this(such as Michael as a child on Doctori Alpha and Saru on Kaminar), which made the switch to this series a bit less jarring. And then was a very nice segue into the first two seasons of strange new worlds that we now have. All that being said I never hated this season from its outside I was one of the most vocal in my enjoyment of the start of this era even as far back as 2017 when it was airing and there was that interesting discourse. I found everything from the set design to the costumes to the cinematography to be top-notch theater quality which is saying something given that it came out right at the height of GOT/TWD fervor.

T'Kuvma is Spider-Man 2256! He straight up wears a Spider-Man costume, and he sure talks like Miguel O'Hara. Even yet still more proof of the secret crossover.