Joseph Lystad

I watched it from the beginning and while I haven't watched every episode, I can say that it is getting better. The opening monologue is a great addition, and the show tonight had a comedy roast of "Normal Guy" that was hilarious. They're trying some new things outside the usual format, which I like. Overall this is a fun show. It's not up to Craig Ferguson's level with his legendary, otherworldly flirting ability and seductive Scottish accent, but for what it is, it is very watchable and strangely addictive. I would encourage them to keep experimenting and switching things up.

This is *the* ST show to watch. Hats off ladies and gentlemen. Discovery has been getting better, but this show captures the old-time spirit of Star Trek with a fresh coat of paint. Captain Pike is the most engaging captain I've seen since Patrick Stewart came along. The timing, pacing, and script are all high-level. Now unlike some, I don't mind a little woke this or that, after all the original was pioneering in its day, but it should not eclipse the storyline nor be heavy-handed. Hopefully, SNW can show others how it's done. There was real tension in the 4th episode like you don't know where it's going. Many other Star Trek series of lesser stature became formulaic, where you could predict the ending. Also, and this is important, they haven't fallen back on CGI eye-candy using up time to pad thin scripts. This time, Paramount listened to us the fans and not just its own executives, and it shows in spades. We should be so lucky. I hope this show goes on for many years. If you are an old-time ST fan who hates every other series, lose the preconceived notions. I haven't felt this much fun since watching the original movies like STII. I guess the only reason why I didn't leave 5 stars is because they didn't try to digitally recreate Leonard Nimoy's Spock, but I doubt we have the technology to do it right yet and besides the actor who portrays him does a great job. One last thing, anyone can find plot holes and nitpick any fictional series to death. Why? Because it's FICTIONAL! From a scriptwriting view, it is WHOLLY IMPOSSIBLE for hundreds of writers spanning half a century to all create a perfectly thought-out fictional universe. When I watch any series, I watch for the overall story, not the fine granular details. Unlike The Expanse, nothing in Star Trek is realistic. NOTHING! From the way the ships move to the way lower officers speak, to the way the military is portrayed, to the way aliens all look humanlike, to the way their devices are designed to fail without automatic safeguards. Read 'The Physics of Star Trek' for more. In short, great sci-fi is less about portraying exactly accurate science (which would be boring--loss of bone density in space anyone?) as it is presenting moral dilemmas about the human condition. This is what the original series excelled at, and what I think this new series has continued.

I don't know what to think about this show. The writing is the weak spot. It is shot like it is a movie, which, in my opinion, is a mistake. Everything is too dramatic, too important, which makes it unbelievable at times. Sometimes the dialogue stinks--really. One part was when a character needed brain surgery, so an engineer literally took a non-sterilized motorized screwdriver and performed it with this screwdriver in about 10 seconds with no blood or healing time. Absolute bunk. And spore drives?? Hire a science advisor. NOW! This show does not know exactly what it wants to be, and seems to want to be like BSG, the Expanse, and maybe Farscape. But Farscape had humor and rich characters. The Expanse, realism, and BSG had a great storyline--for a while.So, this is Star Trek for a young generation who might not be familiar with any of the other ST shows. There has been a long enough gap, 20 years, that older fans of TNG and the like are now aging and dying off. For the first time crowd, this is good a sci-fi reboot that they'll recognize. For the old(er) crowd, they won't recognize the show as Star Trek except in passing yet as I said, your 50-60 year olds are on their way out in terms of demographics. It wouldn't take a whole lot of work to make this show better. 1) Get more likeable characters 2) lighten up 3) drop the goofy godawful nonsense--brain surgery in 10 seconds, fungus drives, tardagrades. 4) Don't rely on great CG to make up for sub-par writing. 4 stars for what it could be. Bottom line, this show is enjoyable if you don't think too hard and are able to watch it as a reboot of ST, not a continuation.