Sunday night saw the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery, the first Trek
show since Enterprise ended its run
in 2005, and the newest incarnation after the rebooted alternate-timeline J.J.
Abrams film series. I should say now that I consider myself a fan of Star Trek, but by no means am I a
Trekkie, or Trekker, depending on one’s preference. I grew up watching episodes
of The Next Generation – Picard will
always be MY captain - and later seeing the films that followed on the big
screen in the late nineties with my dad. It was only later in life that I came
to appreciate the original series and the perfection that is Wrath of Khan.
Discovery is very
much its own thing, for better and (at times) worse. What’s clear from the very
beginning, and perhaps most refreshing, is that the show has done away with Gene
Roddenberry’s strict “no conflict rule” as far as the characters go, something
that Bryan Fuller - the co-creator of Discovery
and (briefly) its showrunner – was adamant about. Sonequa Martin-Green leads
the show as Michael Burnham, Frst Officer of the USS Shenzhou, a human who was
raised by Spock’s father, Sarek, and close friend of Shenzhou’s Captain, Philippa
Georgiou (played wonderfully by Michelle Yeoh).
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| This chair is comfy. You should try it out sometime. |
The first episode, titled "The Vulcan Hello,"
explores Burnham and Captain Georgiou’s friendship, as well as their
differences when it comes to leading missions and their diplomacy with the
Klingons. It’s obvious that Burnham wants to, and probably should be the
captain of her own starship, as it’s made clear multiple times that she’s
served under Captain Georgiou for seven years, but she’s hesitant for reasons
that I’m sure will continue to be explored. Despite the focus on Burnham,
however, I found myself much more interested in Captain Georgiou. Yeoh is a
terrific actress and she commands every scene she’s in with perfect confidence.
In other words, she’s an excellent captain on screen and off.
We’re supposed to be rooting the entire time for Burnham to
be right when she and Captain Georgiou disagree, and yet I found myself mostly
agreeing with the captain, if nothing else because of Yeoh’s performance. On
the other hand, the appeal of Burnham is that she is flawed, perhaps more so
than Trek fans are used to, which
gives her a refreshing edge and unpredictability. The ending of the first
episode – involving a ballsy move by Burnham - came out of left field, at least
for me, which made me glad that I could jump right into "Battle at the
Binary Stars."
“Battle” is much more action-heavy and deals with the
fallout of Burnham’s insubordination, making it a slightly more energetic and
fun piece than the first hour. I would strongly advise watching both episodes
back to back, as they essentially act as one pilot, but that, of course, is up
to you. The conundrum I found myself in after concluding episode two was that I
was very intrigued about the show’s direction going forward, despite not
completely enjoying what I had just seen. In other words, the first two
episodes are somewhat dull, yet they set up some fascinating questions and
potential arcs for the rest of the season. I’m surprised that my reaction wasn’t
as favorable as I expected, given that Fuller’s involvement with the show ends
with episode two. He’s a writer I’ve admired for many years, whose career began
on Voyager, and who, in my opinion, should be in charge of Discovery.
Do a Google search and you can easily find most of what went
down, but the short version is that Fuller and CBS did not see eye to eye, the
result of which appears to be a mishmash of ideas displayed on screen. Fuller objected
to David Semel being chosen to direct the first hour, and I can see why.
There’s no life to the cinematography, no awe, no wonder, and sadly, no
excitement. Regardless of whether you’re a Trek
fan or not, Star Trek should be
exciting. Abrams, for all his flaws, at least understood that, and it’s a shame
that things seem so muted with Semel’s poor direction. (Fuller apparently
reached out to Edgar Wright to direct in the early stages. That would have been spectacular.)
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| This suit protects me from all the hate. |
The result is a show that is rife with ideas and limited on
visual imagination. Fuller is someone who understands visual storytelling. If
you’ve watched Pushing Daisies, Hannibal, or American Gods, you know instantly that Fuller knows what he’s
doing. He chooses exceptional directors – David Slade’s work on Hannibal and American Gods is unlike anything I’ve ever seen on television – and
brings a polished level of craft to his shows. They’re inventive, fun, and most
of all original in their
storytelling. It’s something that Star
Trek desperately needs, and hopefully something that Discovery can still pull off.
Score
-Matt Giles