Star Trek Discovery - The Vulcan Hello

Did everyone else howl with delight at the return of Star Trek?  I sure did.

How long has it been since the pioneering series graced the small screen?  12 years?  Much too long.   And much to our collective consternation, Star Trek now disappears into the ether of subscription TV.

Sigh.  Well, set my phaser to stun, there's money to be made.  (You do realize a good portion of the rest of the TV viewing world gets to watch it on Netflix already.  But not us.  Not us.)

Will I take the bait and dole out the money needed to watch the rest of this series.  Based on the strong start to this entry the answer is yes.

Let's get to it.


Strong Women

Passing the Bechdel Test is a good start.

Oh, how I long for the days of Buffy and Xena.  Strong female characters setting the tone and doing what is normally entrusted to the "testosteroned" plenty.  To boot, our new characters Micheal Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green of Walking Dead fame) and Captain Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh of just plain fame, fame.) are actually placed in a situation of peril to open the episode. As strong empowered women they display their intellectual acumen and playfully match wits.

You have to love it.  Take that Kirk and Spock!

The resolution of their dilemma sets the stakes for the episode immediately and the urgency is only compounded later on in a big way.

But first, lets take a closer look at our characters.


The Featured Crew

Martin-Green sure does clean up well from her recent encounter with The Walking Dead  
Her character of Michael Burnham is headstrong, confident and perfectly capable.  I find her name interesting.  One could conclude it is derived from the Archangel Michael.  Michael did God's work and will lead His (Her?) forces against Satan, or in this case, the Klingons.  Note, our Michael also took "wing" when she soloed to the Klingon beacon alone and unafraid.  A nice metaphor.

Her last name, "Burnham" is derived from the ancient Norse, "brunnr"  which means "Spring".  A time for new life and renewal.  Surely God's work.

Did I say she was headstrong?

When faced with a "Kobayashi Maru" like scenario she gave her Captain the Vulcan nerve pinch!

That's mutiny.  For someone who grew up with the Vulcans and rose to the rank of First Officer, I think she needs to learn a little more about restraint.  (Yes, as we learned, the Klingons did kill her parents.  But mutiny against her Captain/mentor?  Wow,that would send you back to day one of the Academy.)  Georgiou came out of it rather quickly and I daresay Burnham may have executed the pinch a little too high.

Spock usually got it a little lower on the shoulder.

It's always a pleasure to see Michelle Yeoh.  I think I first saw her onscreen in the Bond flick, "Tomorrow Never Dies."  (Essentials of her filmography include, "Croughing Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Sunshine".)  Yeoh, as the captain, exudes authority and lends the nascent series the gravitas it needs to get a jump start.

Doug Jones plays Science Officer Lt. Saru.  He breaks the mold in this role as his character is rather timid and perhaps overly cautious.  Jones' performance is reminiscent of the his character, "Cochise" of Falling Skies fame.  The physical mannerisms are similar in that they are somewhat clumsy or awkward.  But he is no fool.  Kudos do go out to Saru in sniffing out the rat in Burnham's bridge seizing power play.  

The rest of the crew got short shrift in this pilot.  Perhaps they will get a chance to fill out as the series progresses.

Let's talk the aliens.


 New Life and Old

The Klingons look rather Crustacean don't you think?  In Star Trek lore they've undergone several changes but this one seems deliberate.  Even their clothing is rather hard-shelled.  If I were to hazard a guess, I think it a counterpoint to the softer humans.

Even the aliens to start the episode were encased in an exoskeleton of sorts.  (The Crepesculan I think they were called.)

Perhaps the point is these species are acclimated to the dangers of deep space while the softer humans are seen to be out of their element.  Your thoughts?

I do like how the Klingons have remained true to their heritage what with the tribute to Kahless and the funereal cry for the dead.  I missed that.

The Vulcans were represented too.  But not just any Vulcan.  Sarek, father of Spock.  James Frain did an excellent job and it is always good to see him too.  He recently did superb work in the BBC America series, "Orphan Black" where brought new definition to the word malevolence.  Sarek is well remembered by TOS fans.  He was played by the illustrious Mark Lenard.  

That my friends are large shoes to fill.  Hopefully, this new series will feature Sarek as it progresses.  It would be nice to see how Frain handles this beloved character.  (There is also word we will eventually be introduced to a young Spock!)


The Tech Front

It's hard to avoid the advances in digital special effects in this day and age.  We're a far cry from the Styrofoam rocks used in the original series.  Even The Next Generation Star Trek used video screens to communicate with each other.  Here, we see 3D holograms used complete with spatial interaction.  The Admiral above actually turns to look at Burnham as if he was physically there!  The same went for Sarek when he moved about Burnham's quarter and sat down.  Pretty amazing.

Digital advances are good for us but it ages the original series rather badly.  That's the price to pay for innovation but it makes our reconciliation with the original series rather painful.


Odds and Ends

The original Star Trek was never afraid of casting a harsh light on the society of it's age.  Race relations were as difficult then as they are now.

The Klingons of Discovery are of dark skin and the only outlier is the pale skinned, Voq.  As seen above, he is considered a mistake and without a "House" to swear allegiance to.  I wonder if the people behind Discovery decided to flip racial predominance.  If so, good.

Discovery also may have taken a look at today's politics or the aversion to global unity.  The Klingons are seen as tribal and their unifier is war.   Something we've had to face of late.

The Klingon ladies seem a bit buttoned up.  (See above.)

A far cry from sisters Lursa and B' etor who weren't afraid of showing a little cleavage.  (And a little more hair!)

The Klingon vessels looked markedly different.  The lead vessel that confronted the Shenzhou was somewhat similar to the old school Klingon vessel in that it had the extended neck that led to the main bridge area.

All the other vessels that answered the Torchbearer's signal were are of a variety of sizes and shapes.

Here is what what we are used to seeing in the Klingon Battle Cruiser and the Bird of Prey.

Much cleaner and they both have the extended neck.

I'm thinking the Klingon ships in the Discovery series are lacking in uniformity because they are split along tribal lines.  (Plus the main ship is "encrusted" with coffins.)  We're bound to see more fleet uniformity once the Klingons rally together to face the Federation.  (At least I hope so!)

Discovery was everything I hoped it would be.  And I'm not going to say, "and more" because I have pretty high expectations.

Coming off their 50th anniversary where they barely publicized a major motion picture was a real disappointment.  Hopefully, this will jump start the franchise and lead to a more successful cinematic experience.  The word is, they have another script for a fourth movie with Chris Pine, Zachery Quinto and Chris Hemsworth committed.  Hemsworth played Kirk's father George Kirk in the reboot.  If Kirk's father returns I suspect time travel will come into play.

Will they reboot the "Kelvin timeline?" 

Discovery looks good enough to stand on it's two feet.  The subscription service doesn't seem to have hurt Discovery's viewership in that CBS is saying they've gotten a lot of people to sign up.  Especially after the premier on regular TV. 

 

So, it's time to open up the checkbook people and Warp speed into the future Mr. Sulu!  (Or whomever is manning the helm in this series!)