Red Shirt Rejects host Kyle Nelson gives us a review of Star Trek Discovery’s Season Four premiere episode.
It would be impossible to begin this review of the first two episodes of Star Trek Discovery without mentioning the news that dropped two days ago, that the show was pulled internationally from Netflix. After watching the first two episodes of season 4, it’s an absolute travesty that fans outside of the US and Canada have to wait until some time next year to catch up, because this is some of the best Star Trek to date.
Previously On Discovery
In case anyone didn’t catch season 3, we found the crew of the Discovery stranded in the 32nd Century, roughly 900 years in the future. In this future an event called The Burn destroyed most dilithium in the galaxy, rendering the Federation impossible to govern, administer, and protect. This resulted in a nearly complete collapse of the Federation, leaving a handful of worlds. Even Earth, and the now renamed Vulcan no longer remained members. This set the quest for the crew to not only acclimate to new conditions and dealing with being forced to leave their own time, but to also figure out what caused the Burn and to rebuild the Federation. Having solved that mystery in the season 3 finale, the Discovery finds itself on the path to rebuild the Federation by earning back the trust of former member worlds.
Star Trekiness is Back
It’s no secret to anyone who’s talked to me in the past or read my previous reviews on Discovery, that I’ve not been a fan. Season 1 was pretty terrible, and season 2 was wildly uneven. Season 3 did a lot of heavy lifting. It gave the show the reset it needed to refocus on it’s great characters and find a story where we could really explore them. The fish out of water milieu of season 3 really helped ground the show in a way it had never really been before. It slowed down to not just tell us how characters felt, but demonstrated the implications of their feelings by bouncing them off clever standalone plots and new amazing characters. In the midst of all this, however, there was a certain almost intangible quality missing — it’s Trekiness. Trekiness is something I’ve used to discuss and review other Trek shows over the years, and I am glad to say that it’s back in Discovery in spades. And what I mean by that is they’ve returned to a true ensemble format focusing on scientific or philosophically based conflicts that challenge the ensemble’s moral core or sense of reality. They also use technobabble, a lot of technobabble — and it’s glorious!
Production Values Are Better Than They’ve Ever Been
Let’s face it, if you’re a fan of Trek, production values aren’t the thing that really excites you, but most people really come for the spectacle and craft involved in putting together slick action sequences, or props that look like functional equipment. In this day and age, that stuff is important, and Discovery absolutely nails it. At times, the blending of CGI and live action is still imperfect, or the editing might be a tad overdone. Overall, the show executes at a high level. In particular, I feel the need to call out Olatunde Osunsanmi who directed the first two episodes. He has consistently been one of the most visually impressive directors to make Trek episodes, and he continues to impress here, whether it’s lacing together intense action sequences or steadying us in the middle of deep introspective grief. The visuals he crafts are absolutely striking and alone make the show worth wild to watch.
SPOILER WARNING FOR THE FIRST TWO EPISODES
Moral Conflicts Abound
What’s refreshing about this season, and so far the thing I love about it the most, is that in the midst of a new galaxy threatening event, the show keeps us focused on the cast, and the stakes for the show are really rooted in how it impacts them. We care about what’s happening because we care about them. The conflict that takes center stage for the newly minted Captain Burnham is weighing the old Vulcan proverb, the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few. This conflict is introduced through another potential mother/mentor/authority figure for Burnham to instinctively clash with, the new President of the Federation (whose name completely escapes me). She follows along on the Disco for a rescue mission and judges Burnham’s performance poorly. Simply put, she thinks she fails the Kobayashi Maru test. In a no-win scenario Burnham will try to save as many people as possible while gambling with the life of her crew. She effectively accuses Burnham of a survivorship bias — and she would be right. What makes the conflict so great, is that Burnham has always been a bit cavalier when it comes to rules, she makes her own, and even though I wouldn’t call her reckless she certainly is willing to put her crew into more danger than is probably necessary. It was refreshing to see her finally called out on it.
The Show’s Not Just About Burnham Anymore
The other great thing that began in season 3, and continues in this season, is that the show isn’t just about Burnham anymore. Other bridge crew, who were basically nameless for season 1, actually contribute to solving problems on the bridge. And if you happen to not like one character, wait five minutes because there are so many characters to latch onto and follow their journeys.
Wrap Up
Ultimately, I don’t know if this season will stick the landing. With the threat being so vague and amorphous it’s hard to gauge where the season can go, but there’s a ton of storytelling potential any which way they choose to go. All I know is, is that I need more of this.
Assorted Thoughts
- Calling the new station “Archer Spacedock” and then playing some notes from the end credits of Star Trek Enterprise was a nice touch.
- Book is just the best.
- The Adiral Tal/Gray arc is just a delight to watch.
- Book’s ship is the first ship trying to be like the MIllenium Falcon that actually succeeds at being cool.
- I love how we are seeing the technological progression 900 years makes.
- Give me all the technobabble.