Star Trek: Discovery - Season 1 Review

Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I feel like I need to write a few more words about all those episodes of this poor troubled space show I just watched. For closure and stuff.

Discovery's not the only Star Trek series to have massive behind the scenes problems during its first season; Star Trek: The Next Generation in particular was famously a mess at first, leading to two of the worst seasons in the franchise's entire run until Michael Piller took over as head writer and got the series on track. Deep Space Nine and Voyager, on the other hand, entered their best seasons when Piller left, and Enterprise finally began to shine when Manny Coto took over. You can kind of see this for the Original Series as well, as many of the best episodes came after Gene Coon was brought on as a producer.

So after analysing this pattern I've determined that for Trek series behind the scenes issues are bad for overall episode quality and a change in showrunner is typically good. But for Discovery the behind the scenes problems included creator Bryan Fuller getting kicked out before filming even started, so does that count as good or bad? I had some opinions on that subject while watching the episodes, but now that I've finished the whole season and I've had time to think about it I'm ready to revise those ratings and decide whether the series is really as terrible as people on the internet think it is, or if it's actually as great as other people on the internet think it is.

It probably goes without saying that this is going to include huge SPOILERS for events in the first season taking place between The Vulcan Hello and Will You Take My Hand? but I'll leave this warning here just in case. Plus I may end up spoiling parts of earlier Trek series and movies as well.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-15: Will You Take My Hand? (Quick Review)

Episode:

15

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Writer:

Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts

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Air Date:

11-Feb-2018

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm sharing my opinions on Star Trek: Discovery's first season finale: Will You Take My Hand?

There aren't actually all that many Star Trek episode titles with question marks in. I'm sure it's not something you've ever wondered or cared about, but out of 707 titles, this is only the 6th to have a question mark in the title, after the Original Series' What Are Little Girls Made Of? Who Mourns for Adonais? and Is There in Truth No Beauty? and Deep Space Nine's Doctor Bashir, I Presume? and Who Mourns for Morn? Hey, that Morn title is a play on the other one! I never realised that.

The episode's written by showrunners Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts, and directed by Akiva Goldsman, so they've got the Context is for Kings team back together for this one, more or less. There's only one episode of Discovery so far I haven't been keen on, and it wasn't that one, so no warning signs there for me. Though whenever Akiva Goldsman's involved I can't help but be just a little concerned that Mr Freeze and the Riddler are going to pop up at some point and have a pun battle.

By the way, it says (Quick Review) up there, but that's basically a lie this time. I won't be going through the story scene by scene like I usually do, but you'll be getting a similarly epic mountain of text. Plus I'll be throwing out massive SPOILERS for the whole episode, so please factor that into your decision to read any further. I'm also going to be considering the whole rest of the franchise up to this point fair game, so don't be shocked if you find spoilers for things like Deep Space Nine, Star Trek III, Star Trek IV and Star Trek Into Darkness underneath as well. But not Alice in Wonderland this time.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-14: The War Without, The War Within (Quick Review)

Episode:

14

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Writer:

Lisa Randolph

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Air Date:

04-Feb-2018

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm writing about Star Trek: Discovery's The War Without, The War Within.

It's debatable whether Discovery's had the best episodes of any Star Trek series' first season, but one thing that's not in dispute is that it's got the longest titles of a Trek series first season. The War Without, The War Within is the 10th longest title in the franchise's history, meaning that Discovery's already claimed three slots in the all-time top ten. Hopefully they can do better next season; I want to see them knock For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky off the top spot in time for the story's 50th anniversary.

The episode's credited to Lisa Randolph, who also wrote The Wolf Inside just a few weeks back. I guess that explains why it wasn't called The Wolf Within, as she was saving the alliteration for this one to get a higher combo. It was directed by David Solomon, who did a whole lot of Buffy and Dollhouse, plus everyone's favourite episode of Firefly (Out of Gas). He never did any Angel though, weirdly.

Beyond this point there shall be SPOILERS and not just for this episode. Well mostly for this episode, but I may also mention some things that happened in earlier Trek.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-13: What's Past is Prologue (Quick Review)

Episode:

13

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Writer:

Ted Sullivan

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Air Date:

28-Jan-2018

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching Discovery season one's antepenultimate episode What's Past is Prologue. Wait, hang on, Trek already had a story called Past Prologue! It was the second episode of Deep Space Nine. Though now that I think about it the first episode of DS9 stole its name from a Next Gen story called The Emissary, so it's only fair.

The title comes from The Tempest, which means this is the second Discovery episode in a row to take its name from a line in a Shakespeare play. The phrase 'vaulting ambition' appears in Macbeth, and is spoken by a character trying to talk himself out of committing regicide, while in The Tempest 'what's past is prologue' is said by a character talking someone else into it. So I'm spotting a bit of a theme there. I don't know if that was deliberate though, as this one's by a different writer.

With this Ted Sullivan becomes part of the elite group of writers who've written more than one episode, and Olatunde Osunsanmi becomes the only director so far to return. So if you were ever curious about what would happen if the writer of the episode with the shortest title (Lethe) teamed up with the director of the episode with the longest title (The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry), now you know: they made an episode with the most average length title. Organise the episodes by the length of their name and you'll find this in the exact centre of the list; it's spooky is what it is. I thought both of their previous stories were decent enough though, so no warning signs there. In fact, I've actually been pretty hyped for this one, mostly because the title maybe possibly hints that we're getting some backstory and explanations at last.

This is going to be one of my relatively quick reviews, meaning I won't be going through the episode scene by scene, but you'll still find massive SPOILERS for this story and the ones that preceded it below. In fact, I'll throw in some spoilers for other Trek series like Deep Space Nine for you as well, plus Return of the Jedi and Alice in Wonderland.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-12: Vaulting Ambition (Quick Review)

Episode:

12

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Writer:

Jordon Nardino

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Air Date:

21-Jan-2018

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm writing about the shortest ever episode of live-action Star Trek! Discovery's beaten this record twice already, but it's outdone itself yet again here as without the 'previously on' clips and the trailer they like to put at the end, the episode's just over 36 minutes long.

It's called Vaulting Ambition by the way, which is a quote from Macbeth, a story I know absolutely nothing about! But if I wasn't so completely clueless, I'd probably mention that it's from a soliloquy by a guy who realises he's got no good reason to murder a king other than his ambition. Some titles have been a little too obscure, but this one's perhaps a little too clear.

But if you want SPOILERS you're in luck, as my review's going to be full of them, for this episode and probably earlier ones too. I'll also give away the ending of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland at some point, so there's something for you to look out for.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-11: The Wolf Inside (Quick Review)

Episode:

11

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Writer:

Lisa Randolph

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Air Date:

14-Jan-2018

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I've finally managed to get a review to land on the correct day! Or at least that's what it'll look like after I mess with the post date to shave a half-hour off. It was more luck than planning this time, as I didn't realise until the last minute that I was writing this on 17/01/2018; a perfect day for a Star Trek post in my opinion.

Unless you're in a country which flips the date to 01/17, in which case it's not.

But I'm not writing about Kirk's crew, I'm writing about Star Trek: Discovery again, as I have done 10 times before. Well, 12 times if you count those trailer reviews, in which I blessed the internet with my hot take on the first draft USS Discovery's boxy ass. This time I'm giving you my reaction to The Wolf Inside, which according to IMDb is the title of exactly zero werewolf movies. I thought I remembered it being a Telltale adventure game at least, but I just checked and the game's actually called The Wolf Among Us.

This is one of my (relatively) quick reviews, which means that instead of a long tedious scene by scene commentary I'll just be sharing my tedious opinions. There will however still be SPOILERS; mostly just for this episode, but I may mention a thing or two about events in earlier Trek episodes.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-10: Despite Yourself (Quick Review)

Episode:

10

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Writer:

Sean Cochran

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Air Date:

07-Jan-2018

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm finally getting around to sharing my thoughts about Star Trek: Discovery's new episode, Despite Yourself! I've left it a bit late I'm afraid, as by the time I'm posting this the next episode's almost out. Could be worse though, as I'm 25 years late on my Deep Space Nine reviews.

Discovery's been a bit lazy itself, with the way it took December off, but it's back now for season 1, chapter 2, and Trek veteran Jonathan Frakes is at the helm! I've been waiting for this episode ever since watching the episode of The Orville he directed, Pria, as I was curious which would turn out to be better. Not that a TV director has that much influence on an episode, it's not like he wrote it, but I'm still interested in how it turns out. Which of them is going to impress me more, Despite Yourself or Pria?

There'll be huge SPOILERS for the episode, by the way, and probably earlier Trek episodes as well. Though this is just a quick review and I won't be going through it scene by scene like I usually do with TV shows.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-09: Into the Forest I Go (Quick Review)

Episode:

9

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Writer:

Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt

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Air Date:

12-Nov-2017

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about Star Trek: Discovery's epic mid-season finale, Into the Forest I Go! I mean I'm just assuming it's going to be epic. It was originally scheduled to be the first episode to air in January after the break, but it got moved forward for a mysterious reason and I'm theorising that reason to be that the last episode was significantly less than spectacular and they wanted more of a hook to get people eager for chapter 2.

The episode is the directorial debut of Chris Byrne, who's directed absolutely nothing before this so I can't have any opinions about his work whatsoever. Though he was a second unit director on several episodes, including Discovery's pilot, so I expect he knows which direction to point the cameras. Writers Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt have got even less on their IMDb pages, but according to Memory Alpha, the repository of all Trek knowledge... they wrote the Discovery mid-season finale Into the Forest I Go together. Well, that's a big help.

This is one of my rushed scruffy reviews, meaning no long screencap commentary, just a few opinions and observations. Also SPOILERS, for this and earlier Trek episodes as well.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-08: Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum (Quick Review)

Episode:

8

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Writer:

Kirsten Beyer

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Air Date:

05-Nov-2017

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I've got another rushed Discovery review for you. This time I'm writing about Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum, which I've had to type so many times now in my notes and for filenames that I don't even have to check how to write it anymore.

Memory Alpha tells me that this is the ninth Trek episode with a Latin title, after Sub Rosa, Dramatis Personae, Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges, Ex Post Facto, Non Sequitur, Alter Ego, Terra Nova and Vox Sola, and I hope it's a hell of a lot better than most of them were, because that's the opposite of a 'Best of Trek' boxset. Memory Alpha doesn't mention that it's also the eleventh title with a comma in it, probably because who would ever care?

This is the first ever TV episode to be written by Voyager novelist Kirsten Beyer, and I'm not sure if I should be worried about that or not. I've never been keen on Trek tie-in novels, and I'm not all that keen on Voyager either, but she'll likely know the Treknical terms and suchlike better than most so there's a chance I may end up pleasantly surprised by how much closer to classic Trek this one feels.

If you want to read further, prepare for SPOILERS, both for this and earlier relevant episodes of Star Trek.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-07: Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad (Quick Review)

Episode:

7

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Writer:

Aron Eli Coleite & Jesse Alexander

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Air Date:

29-Oct-2017

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm watching an episode that skips the pre-credits entirely and jumps straight into the action, so I'm going to do the same for a change. SPOILERS tho.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-06: Lethe (Quick Review)

Episode:

06

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Writer:

Joe Menosky & Ted Sullivan

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Air Date:

22-Oct-2017

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm trying to get some words written up about the new episode of Star Trek: Discovery in a hurry before a newer one comes along.

Lethe was written by Supergirl writer Ted Sullivan and Star Trek legend Joe Menosky... who wrote that episode of Deep Space Nine I hated. He's written better stuff than Dramatis Personae though, like Next Gen's Darmok and almost every Voyager two-parter. To be honest, I wasn't all that keen on a lot of his Voyager or Next Gen work, but I've got no worries about this episode. Discovery's been so consistent for me so far that I'm sure I'll like this episode exactly as much as I've liked the other five so far. Probably.

This is one of my quick reviews, so there'll be no recap, but there will be lots of SPOILERS, both for events in this episode and maybe a couple of other Trek stories. I won't spoil any episode that hasn't aired yet though.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-05: Choose Your Pain (Quick Review)

Episode:

5

|

Writer:

Kemp Powers

|

Air Date:

15-Oct-2017

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching an episode of Discovery with a title that sounds like it should be a quote from a Mortal Kombat game.

This is one of my quick reviews, meaning that I'm writing it in a rush and I'm leaving out the scene-by-scene observations I usually do. There'll still be plenty of words though and many of them will be SPOILERS for this episode and earlier ones.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-04: The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry (Quick Review)

Episode:

4

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Writer:

Jesse Alexander & Aron Eli Coleite

|

Air Date:

08-Oct-2017

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm watching Discovery's fourth episode, The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry... holy shit that's a long episode title.

In fact, at 38 letters it's the second longest episode title in all of Star Trek after The World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky! It kicks the crap out of Doctor Who's recent The Pyramid at the End of the World with its pathetic 28 letters.

The episode was written and directed by a bunch of people I've never heard of, so instead of filling space with what I think about them, I'm going to get straight to the part where I say that this is going to be a really rushed scruffy review without the long recap I usually do. It'll still have SPOILERS for this episode, but I'll probably not be spoiling much else.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-03: Context is for Kings (Quick Review)

Episode:

3

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Writer:

Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts & Craig Sweeny

|

Air Date:

01-Oct-2017

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm got another rushed Discovery review for you. I'm up to episode 3, Context is for Kings, which is a weird name. Very un-Star Trek. Though to be honest, I'm just happy we're actually getting new Star Trek episode titles again; it's been a long while.

The episode's written by showrunners Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts, who also wrote the last episode, but they're joined this time by Limitless creator Craig Sweeny. Lots of writers. They even got a writer to direct it: Batman & Robin's Akiva Goldsman. Funny that the third episode of The Orville was directed by a notorious writer as well; I hope Goldsman did as good a job as Brannon Braga did.

This is one of my quick reviews, meaning that I'm skipping the screencaps and in-depth scene-by-scene observations, and going straight for the SPOILERS. I'm considering all 51 years of Star Trek up to this point to be fair game for my spoilers, especially Where No Man Has Gone Before, plus Where No One Has Gone Before and other episodes with super space travel.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-02: Battle at the Binary Stars (Quick Review)

Episode:

2

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Writer:

Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts

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Air Date:

24-Sep-2017

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, you're getting a second Discovery quick review! Because they split the pilot into two separate episodes and then released them back to back to give me more work.

This half of the story is by a different pair of writers, as Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts have taken over from Bryan Fuller and Akiva Goldsman. They also took over the series from Fuller as they're the current showrunners, so hopefully this episode will show that they know what they're doing.

It seems like they got a little mixed up when they were coming up with the title, as Battle at the Binary Stars sounds like it belongs to an old-school Battlestar Galactica story. I'm not complaining though. In fact, coming after Charlie X, Yesteryear, The Naked Now, Past Prologue, Parallax and Fight or Flight, it might be the best second episode title Star Trek's ever had! Kind of gives away what happens though.

This is going to be shorter and scruffier than my usual reviews, with no screencaps or recap, but there'll still be plenty of SPOILERS for these first two episodes. In fact, I might spoil a little of earlier Trek as well, especially Star Trek: Nemesis and J.J Abrams' Star Trek movie from 2009, but nothing that comes after. Because for the first time in this site's long 18 month history there is no next time yet for me to spoil!

Star Trek: Discovery 1-01: The Vulcan Hello (Quick Review)

Episode:

1

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Writer:

Akiva Goldsman & Bryan Fuller

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Air Date:

24-Sep-2017

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Hey, look at this thing that finally exists for real!

Today on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm reviewing the massively expensive, endlessly delayed first episode of Star Trek: Discovery, the first Trek series on TV for 12 years. It missed Star Trek's big 50th anniversary by just over a year, but it's just in time for Star Trek: The Next Generation's 30th! Almost. If they'd just waited 4 more days...

I'm so excited to get the chance to watch this at last because I've had this question on my mind for months: which one's going to be the crap one, Discovery or The Orville? Can they both be good? Also, the 2009 Star Trek movie feels like J.J. Abrams trying to make a Star Wars film, The Orville is obviously Seth MacFarlane attempt at making a Star Trek series, so I'm curious about what Discovery's trying to be.

This episode's co-written by the writer of Batman and Robin and Lost in Space, but I'll try not to let that influence my judgement. After all, this is a modern US TV show with a room full of other writers working on every episode. For instance, the original story for this one came from the co-writer of Transformers and Star Trek Into Darkness! I'm going to stop looking at the credits now before they put me off.

This is going to be a super quick review, written in a hurry without screencaps or a synopsis slowing it down. I'm just going to leap straight into giving SPOILERS and sharing my thoughts on this major cultural event/TV show.