Dinner Table Philosophy: The Overzealous Message of Discovery

Discovery’s attempts at tackling social issues feel more as though they’re channeling a soap opera in space rather than the nuanced philosophical debates we’re used to. “Oh, look, another impassioned speech about justice! And there’s one about loyalty! And… wait for it… another about hope!” It’s almost like there’s a speech bingo going on, and frankly, it’s a huge disappointment for a franchise that used to bring people together with its positive take on the future and discourse on what it means to be human.

While the show has tried desperately to tackle modern social issues, it often comes off like someone who’s just discovered philosophy and can’t wait to tell everyone about it at the dinner table. We get it, Discovery, you’re woke. But maybe a touch more subtlety? A sprinkle of nuance, perhaps? While The Expanse was undoubtedly created out of the same social justice idealism and was anything but nuanced, I enjoyed it a lot because, shocker — it was actually a well written show with intriguing characters.

Continuity Warp: Where Did Discovery Go Wrong?

Social issues aside, perhaps one of the most unforgivable failures of Star Trek Discovery showrunners is their complete disrespect for the timeline. These oversights pull fans out of the experience, Star Trek fans in particular. I’m not sure how CBS could have possibly missed this one since there is a whole SubReddit dedicated to debating Star Trek’s most nuanced intricacies to a fault. My only conclusion is that the writers and executives simply don’t care. It’s a challenging tightrope to walk to be fair — honoring the past while crafting something new — but Discovery’s leaps of logic often feel more like being thrown into the vacuum of space. Star Trek Youtuber, Major Grin has done a great job documenting Star Trek Discovery’s continuity failures in this playlist.

Finding the Star Trek “Magic”

Star Trek Discovery is on a quest — not for new life and new civilizations – but for that classic Star Trek magic that captivated audiences for decades. Here’s to boldly hoping for a return to form in the vast cosmos of space television. Unfortunately, it’s doubtful we’ll get it from the  upcoming fifth season or any new “Kurtzman Trek” to come. It’s hard to say whether or not Rodenberry would be proud to see what recent Star Trek has become. He’s from a different time, after all. But what I can say is that if Rodenberry were still around, he would have written a better show.

If anyone writing on Star Trek Discovery had any appreciation for science fiction, they would at the very least, focus on getting the continuity right. It’s one thing to mess up the plot, characters, and feel of Star Trek as a whole. After all, their goal was to “update” Star Trek to reflect a modern day, mainstream audience. While I personally find the notion to be completely unnecessary and ridiculous, I can at least respect the idea. What I have absolutely no respect for however, is their complete lack of effort to ensure that the story and every other detail remained canon. If there is one thing that shows how little the writers and producers care about Gene Roddenberry’s original vision, it’s this. They didn’t even do the easy stuff, like make the technology of Discovery at least remotely conform to pre-Kirk era Star Trek. If any half talented science fiction writer had actually worked on the show, that would have been the first thing they did.

With the announcement of a new Picard series and a section 31 series planned, it’s clear that CBS desperately wants to revive Star Trek and return to its former glory. However, if their complete lack of dedication do Star Trek Discovery is any indication, they won’t succeed. It’s clear they have no vision for the franchise and can’t even bother to get writers who know how to write decent characters, much less decent science fiction that isn’t a slap in the face to everything that came before it. Star Trek Discovery season 2 will be no better and unfortunately, it doesn’t look like CBS is about to change their ways anytime soon. My money’s on seeing more “Star Trek” that continues to throw everything we love about Roddenberry’s Utopian vision in the garbage.

You can find my first article on Star Trek Discovery here.

Here’s a playlist full of Star Trek Discovery’s continuity issues

Watch the full playlist here!

This brilliant meme really sums up the issues with the plot:

Now, about Michael Burnham.

I will never be able to comprehend why the writers chose to set up the character of Michael so poorly. I mean, they  made her commit mutiny backed by the worst reasoning they could possibly come up with and in turn, completely trash all potential credibility and likability of the character. Then somehow, they still expect the audience to actually follow the “hero’s” story? What a bunch of crap writing!

I only watched the second episode to witness the inevitable backlash Michael had to deal with from failing to take over the ship. Seeing her get sentenced to life in prison was immensely satisfying. Even with the crappy un-Star-Trek-like lighting for that scene, it was easily my favorite. In my version of cannon, she rots in prison. Want a real woman in Star Trek? Stay away from Michael and see Captain Janeway, Lt. Torres, and Seven of Nine in Voyager or Major Kira and Dax in Deep Space Nine. And don’t even get me started on the amazing character arc of Councelor Troi in Next Generation.

Also, I should probably mention the “Klingons…” I’d say they reminded me of orcs from Middle Earth, but I wouldn’t want to insult the orcs. But forget the costumes, their cringey way of speaking, and the completely garbage dialogue for a moment. They could have gone to any star trek convention in the country and found better actors to play them. The Klingon parts were hard to watch for so many reasons, but I couldn’t help but feel the actors hated dressing up like fake Klingons just as much as I hated watching them. There was absolutely no passion there. I started skipping through the Klingon parts because I couldn’t handle the cringe. It felt like I was watching a cheap sci-fi rip-off of Star Trek. Anyways, this show sucks and I’m sick of writing about it. Go watch The Orville. Their cast has a gay couple and a bunch more diversity if you care about that sort of thing, only they don’t need to brag about it to make up for poor writing or unlikeable characters.

For a more recent review, check out this guy’s take on why Star Trek Discovery Sucks!

Season 2 Episode 1 Review

For more of my thoughts on Star Trek Discovery, check out my newest article, Star Trek Discovery Still Sucks And CBS Won’t Learn Their Lesson