Gino Sabato

My love/hate relationship with Star Trek Discovery Let’s just revel in the fact that Star Trek is back on television, well in a way. Really the show is being hawked by CBS as the flagship for their not so new anymore CBS All Access platform. This is an online ONLY platform available for a small monthly fee. I wanted to give Discovery a little more than a season to judge it fairly. I knew a production of this caliber would have a break in period to set up character development, story lines etc… I have no expectations of greatness from the first season of any Trek series. But now that we are several seasons in to the 2nd season I find myself torn intellectually and emotionally about the latest Star Trek Series. It’s Star Trek. At least that’s what the title says, and all the major players are there. The federation, the Klingon's, the Vulcan's and even some new faces. Even some old friends are making, or are going to making an appearance. We get to see Captain Pike in his prime as well as Sarek and Amanda (Spock's Parents) and other characters from Trek’s past. The show is set a mere 10 years before TOS and most of the expected elements are there to be consumed by those of us that have been waiting 10 years for a new Trek TV series. From the beginning I have just not been able to latch on to this series with the same enthusiasm I have had for Trek in the past or that I expected I would have while anticipating it’s debut. I don't feel like there is any plan at all. I believe they are writing these shows as they go with no story board etc... I think the story lines and plots are regurgitated story lines with only slight differences. I don't care for the format at all. It doesn't begin like any star trek series and each episode can not stand on its own. While most modern versions of star trek have extensive story arcs, for the most part you can watch a single episode and have some sort of conclusion at the end. I am not fond of the characters. I think some of the acting is exceptional but the characters are not representative of what i would expect from star trek in this era. The weak story lines are not just poorly developed but they fly in direct opposition to franchise canon. It's not just the tech, I understand that things are going to look more impressive than in the 60's but some of the tech is more advanced than on TNG. Also the idea of the federation being aware of the alternate universe at this time period makes no sense. Especially considering that Spock's sister and father are aware of its existence it should not have come as such a surprise to Spock when it happened a decade later. Also it seems like everyone is aware of section 31 and it is well established canon that only a select few that are not part of section 31 even have heard rumors of its existence. It's good TV and I will watch, but it's not Star Trek.