The new Star Trek: Discovery season two trailer released today at New York Comic Con has fans buzzing and gives us the best look yet at the upcoming season with a lot of new footage. Like the first look trailer released at San Diego Comic Con, the NYCC trailer is still heavy on the first couple of episodes of season two, but it also includes bits of footage up to episode seven. If you haven’t already, please out our SDCC first look trailer analysis from the summer. Today we are going to jump in with another deep dive and cover all that is new from the NYCC trailer.
This analysis includes spoilers, so let’s get started…
Search for the USS Hiawatha
As we saw in the First Look trailer and was confirmed in today’s panel by Anson Mount, the first mission Captain Pike undertakes with the USS Discovery crew (while still in his USS Enterprise gold uniform), is into a dangerous area of space with nasty rocky asteroids to find the USS Hiawatha.
The USS Discovery among the nasty shards of rock
Pike proclaims “If there’s anybody down there, I won’t leave them to die”
A worried Pike proclaims “This feels bad…”
Crew move about on the asteroids
In the distance is the wreckage of a ship
The team scales down the hull of the ship
Lt. Nhan, Pike, and Burnham in EV suits near the wreckage of the ship
Pike and Nhan, phasers drawn
What’s left of the ship crumbles
Burnham is trapped by wreckage
Burnham runs from falling debris
Spock, Michael and the “red angel”
In the trailer, we learn that Spock has seen what he describes as the “red angel” early in life, and as we saw in the First Look trailer, Burnham has too.
Burnham sees this figure while trying to escape the wreck of the Hiawatha
Amanda Grayson, the mother of Spock and Michael, comes on board to visit Burnham
While they hug, various shapes of the angelic symbol flash by on the computer screen
Spock is found…and he needs a haircut
As we learned in the First Look trailer, Spock is on leave. He left the USS Enterprise to work out the mystery of the seven red spots in what seems to be a kind of pilgrimage or personal mission. In this new trailer, we see Spock from Discovery for the first time, appearing rather unkempt with long hair and beard, and unconscious.
An unconscious Spock is wheeled in on a gurney
Spock is woken up with a hypospray.
A better look at Spock from a CBS press shot
Spock being seen a bit unkempt and on a personal pilgrimage is reminiscent of how he will look in the future while undergoing the Kolinahr ritual as shown in The Motion Picture.
Spock on Vulcan during his Kolinahr
Secret agent Georgiou, of Section 31
As we learned this spring at WonderCon, there was a bonus scene from the season one finale which showed the former Emperor Georgiou being recruited into Section 31. In the new trailer, we see her up to some sneaky dealings.
What looks like a Klingon is really a holographic hood which reveals…
Former Terran Emperor Georgiou, Section 31 operative
There’s that black badge again
During the panel, Michelle Yeoh implied that she’ll be masquerading as Captain Georgiou when it suits her needs for her clandestine missions. As we learned at the end of season one, the official Starfleet line is that Georgiou was rescued from the Klingons near the end of the war, only a select few know the truth of her origins in the Mirror Universe. The scene with Pike, Georgiou, and Burnham seems to bear that out. Pike in a very friendly manner asks her how it feels to be back in the saddle again. It was discussed during the panel that Pike is not one of those cleared to know about the Mirror Universe.
Pike gushes while Georgiou smirks
Georgiou gives the universal “bring it on” hand gesture
Klingon Classic
As was strongly hinted at by Discovery makeup designer Glenn Hetrick back in August, yes the Klingons do have hair. They’re regrowing their long locks after shaving them as a wartime ritual. We also see a holographic representation of a classic Klingon battlecruiser, from the detailing it’s more like the newer K’t’inga than its predecessor, the D7 class.
A holographic image of a classic Klingon battlecruiser is projected during a meeting of the 24 houses.
Klingons meet with L’Rell and Tyler
A white-haired Klingon uses an energy device. Note the facial markings denote House of Kor, like Kol from Season 1.
The device shoots a beam into L’Rell and Tyler
A look at Chancellor L’Rell with hair as the beam reflects on her face
Weird science with Tilly and Stamets (and Reno)
Chief Engineer Denise Reno of the USS Hiawatha (played by guest star Tig Notaro) appears to be the sole survivor and can be seen back on the Discovery working with Stamets and Tilly.
Stamets and Reno peer into something organic looking, possibly the cocoon she discussed on a late night talk show
In another scene, Stamets proposes something alarming to Tilly while Saru looks on. He seems to be yanking something out of Tilly.
Stamets: “This might hurt a bit”
Stamets aims the device and fires an energy beam at Tilly
The beam pulls something out of Tilly while Saru looks on
The chunk pulled out of Tilly goes flying, Saru ducks
It is possible the above scene has something to do that little spore that embedded itself in her back in season one? At the time, the showrunners hinted they would do something with it.
A spore floats down to Tilly’s shoulder in the first season episode “What’s Past Is Prologue”
In another new scene with Tilly, Stamets, and Reno a big energy ribbon explodes out of the reaction chamber.
Tilly touches the reaction chamber and can tell something is wrong
Reno shoves Tilly to the ground
Stamets ducks just in time
The energy discharge blasts across the engineering lab
But wait, there’s more
Here are a few other new moments from the Star Trek Discovery season two NYCC trailer.
Saru with a sassy finger waggle at Pike says to hold tight
Worker Bees running around a large structure
Sarek meditates
Someone holds hands
Tilly has an action hero moment phaser rifle drawn
Saru is injured Burnham helps him
Burnham tells an injured Saru: “you are my family”
Figures in a dark corridor
Tilly excitedly shouts “I’m doing something impossible!”
Burnham smiles and nods back at Tilly humoring her
Burnham sorts through a holographic data cloud
Pike, in his USS Discovery uniform, says “Nobody gets left behind”
“Aye Aye Captain”
In the captain’s ready room, Pike tells Burnham they must determine the intent and source of the signals, referring to the 7 energy bursts first revealed in the SDCC trailer
Saru says he’d like to believe in something that’s comforting
Number One warns Pike: “Something about this isn’t adding up, be careful Captain”
“Are we ready to execute this deeply insane plan of yours?”
Pike stands, looking worried
Two space suited people hurdle at each other
More from NYCC
There is more to come from our coverage of New York Comic Con, including a full report from the Discovery panel and interviews. So stay tuned.
Star Trek: Discovery is available exclusively in the USA on CBS All Access. It airs in Canada on Space and streams on CraveTV. It is available on Netflix everywhere else.
Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie.
Pike’s “gold” Enterprise uniform is more bright neon yellow. He probably changed to the disco uniform because it was blinding everyone.
I love the colourful uniforms, it makes me even more irritated how drab Trek design can be at times. I love TOS and the Kelvin timeline movies partially because they’re so vivid and striking, the monochromatic looks of other iterations work way less for me. I’d love for DISCO to adopt the Enterprise uniforms.
I would NOT. I like the DISCO uniforms for reasons I’ve previously stated ad infinitum.
I like the Discovery uniforms. The problem is they don’t work with the era they are supposed to be in. If it were set 50 years before TOS I think it might work better. But not 10 years before. Not when we saw what they were wearing 15 years before.
Logically it seems odd that a service would change uniforms so often, but heck we know form TOS to Wrath of Khan that a huge change from drab to bold back to drab casual to bolder formal took place over a relatively short period of time. Just as we saw in TNG how we got several styles of uniform on TNG then the DS9, Voyager, Generations outfits, to the First Contact and forward uniforms in again a relatively short period of time (though at least from Encounter to some point before First Contact the color scheme stayed fairly consistent.
Of course on the other hand we see roughly a 70 plus year period of almost the same exact uniform being used from Wrath of Khan, to at least Picard’s academy days, but before the end of the his Captaincy of the Stargazer, with only losing an under shirt being the big change…
So really it’s hard to apply logic when in fact, it’s been primarily things like cost, change in Costume department head, or referencing current fashion trends in real life that have been the primary factors in what style has been used in a show or film.
Wearing both uniforms side by side makes sense to some degree. There were DISCOesque uniforms worn by Starfleet officers on TOS: Commissioner Ferris (“The Galileo Seven”) and Garth of Izar (“Whom Gods Destroy”) That never made much sense in the 60s, but now it does, thanks to DSC…
Commissioner is not a Starfleet rank, it is a civilian government position, probably akin to Under-Secretary of the Air Force or something like that in our time. Ferris’s costume had no rank or starfleet insignia of any kind. (it does resemble Discovery uniforms, though.) The other Commissioner we saw in Trek (Nancy Hedford in “Metamorphosis”) did not wear costume similar at all to Ferris’s.
Garth was no longer active duty and was in a mental hospital. TOS re-used Ferris’s costume for Garth, nothing more.
@thory — are you saying visual canon doesn’t matter!? *gasp*
I’d put much more stock in the outfit Garth wore in the mental hospital where he seemed to be dressed in accordance with his perceived status, role and importance. So his Captains uniform from a previous era in Starfleet. Was DISC influenced by this uniform? Who knows. But it does make for a nice visual tie in, if however coincidental.
“Commissioner is not a Starfleet rank, it is a civilian government position, probably akin to Under-Secretary of the Air Force or something like that in our time.”
Ferris is just as much of an asshole as Heather Wilson, too.
Ferris wasn’t a Starfleet officer–he was a civilian. And Garth was a mental patient. Neither were wearing Starfleet uniforms.
LOL, since TOS I’ve hated that color
The white haired Klingon has red facepaint like Kol, and wearing a outfit very similar to his.
He might be from the same House.
Maybe he’s Rynar, father of Kor.
Speculation: The D-7 hologram they’re showing off is a prototype. The Klingons will edge towards are more TOS/TMP look, all using the same ship types to show their new unity, throwing off the rather baroque starship designs they’ve been using during their disunion. And I’m hoping to see the augment virus-infected TOS versions, too. Perhaps in a “Let THEM interact with the humans!” declaration.
Yep it sure looks like that’s the plans for a D7 that I assume L’Rell is proposing to the council.
A fan actually asked about the smooth headed augment virus-infected version of the Klingons during the Q&A, Kurtzman said they don’t have any plans to show smooth Klingons.
No smooth-head Klingons, But it will kit perfectly with 1969’s Trek? Why not just say it’s in its own universe? The backpedaling and patronising is wearing thin.
Kurtzman is making the right call. It’s a makeup change, and it’s ok to handwave the change. It was funny when DS9 acknowledged it, Enterprise ruined it, and now Disco is restoring it to a simple makeup change, and we should just let them.
I don’t think DIS is changing the canon of it though, we simply won’t see them which I think is fine. It would’ve been a nice easter egg it’s not necessary either.
Because it’s NOT its own universe. End of story.
To be fair, it isn’t even really Star Trek.
@Mr Limpopo — for starters, we don’t know that any of the Klingons seen in TOS are desecedants of the Augments from ENT. We also don’t know whether Worf’s Reference in DS9 is referring to those same augments or not. For the sake of putting those unfortunate episodes behind us, I’d prefer to think all those augments were sent into exile, and we never saw them. In my mind the TOS Klingons look like the TNG Klingons which look like the DSC Klingons. No issues with canon at all that way.
In your mind. Ok.
C’mon, really. On the Klingon homeworld they have a show called Star Trek and each week the Destructorprise visits a new world filled with Klingon-like humanoids who each have different ridges on their heads.
But do you seriously care about seeing the TOS Klingons again? Most people don’t seem to care for a reason. And most identify with the later Klingons for a reason, besides they just look more alien they have been around a long, long time now and represented in every show and film except TOS.
I have said this before in the past, the difference between changing the Klingons in TOS is NOT the same as changing them in DIS. In TOS, it came down to time, money and technology why they looked that way but they always wanted to make them more exotic which they did when TMP came around and they have been given the same look since TSFS. DIS just changed them because Fuller wanted to be different, which is fine, but NO ONE was asking for a drastic Klingon change in the first place and it simply didn’t work so they changed them back.
But the TOS Klingons have been long gone now and I think most are happy they stay that way.
I just don’t give a rat’s about how well it ties in with 1960s designs. It’s the 2000s, FFS. As long as they pay tribute, I’m good. Sound design for transporter, Sickbay, etc.
More specifically he said that the flat-forehead Klingons are probably out there somewhere. He also pointed out the decision to not adhere to 60s standards of makeup. So definitely no intention of showing them, but also not ruling out their existence. Canon is upheld!
Unfortunately the producers got it wrong again.
That’s NOT a D7. That looks more like a TMP K’tinga class.
There is nothing in canon that says the K’tinga didn’t exist until after TOS.
Do you really think the detail-less D7 model would stand up to today’s effects? There’s wanting familiarity and then there’s unreasonable expectations.
Hell, Enterprise’s D-7 predecessors had more detailing than it did.
That’s splitting hairs to an extreme level
So you watched TrekYards too.. LOL
Spock…..really not sure.
Georgiou as Section 31, gonna be terrible. The woman is a former mass murderer!
The Klingons! Oh my! Why was it so bloody hard to get them right from the off?? They look sooooooooooooooooooooo much better. Kudos to the show runners for at least listening to the fans where they are concerned.
After Runaway and these Klingons I have glimpses of hope again.
LOL, yes the Emperor of the Mirror Universe now working as a spy for Section 31! What can go wrong? ;D
It’s kind of funny how Section 31 in the KU thought they could handle a serial killing megalomaniac like Khan and it blew up in their face (in one case, literally).
And now Section 31 in the PU is using yet ANOTHER serial killing megalomaniac to do their bidding.I guess some people just have to learn their lesson the really hard way.
At least she is not sworn in as a Supreme Court judge.
Ugh…too soon
Ugh, yeah, don’t remind me. This is why we retreat to fantasy worlds like Star Trek in the first place, real life can feel too depressing, especially lately.
If you are going to vent about politics on this thread, at least get the verbiage right. http://www.answers.com/Q/What_are_members_of_the_US_Supreme_Court_called
A sad and bitter LOL. You said it. BOOM!
Yeah, too bad they didn’t get Mirror Lorca before … you know. He at least knew how to fit in with Federation types.
Yet mirror Kirk, McCoy, Scotty and Uhura had no idea how to fit in. Weird.
” yes the Emperor of the Mirror Universe now working as a spy for Section 31! What can go wrong?”
Exactly. Reminds me of the plot of Robocop 2. Let’s take the mind of a warped serial killer and put it inside our new killer robot. That would work GREAT!
This is why the Georgeau in Section 31 concept is doomed to failure. Both plot wise and cinematically. The entire concept should have been scrapped. And yes, I’m saying so BEFORE seeing the final product. I guess it’s possible they may find a way to make this work. But I have severe doubts to put it mildly. The other parts of the show feel like it might work, however.
Yeah, I was against their showing us an adult Spock, but they’re doing it, so I’m trying to think positively, at least until we actually SEE it.
I wish they’d get Spock’s make-up right, though. Peck looks way too pink; TOS Spock had yellowish skin, and in TAS, he was frankly yellow. When green blood shows through translucent skin, it doesn’t look PINK!
Actually I always thought Spock’s makeup in TOS had a greenish hue because of his green blood.
I think it did, but I think that was dumped when the movies started.
@Corylea — the bluish lighting of the scene makes it hard to tell. It does appear green around the beard hairline in one shot. I think we’re going to have to wait and see. Either way the lips are clearly plump with red blood. I truly wish they’d finally come up with a modern Vulcan makeup that addresses the reality of a green-blooded character, now that they have the technology to do it. Just like the Orions. Why would they have pink eyelids, and mouth interiors?
I’ve always assumed that Vulcan lips are pink because of an opaque pigment. Since their lips would be light green if their lips had their blood showing through translucent skin — but they clearly aren’t in TOS — then Vulcan lips must be opaque, and the pink must be some sort of pigment.
Yeah maybe Vulcan lips are just constructed differently than human lips which have thin skin
@corylea — I can’t wait to find out the evolutionary reason for a green blooded creature to develop thick pink lips!
Seems to me they would be a deeper green than their skin, just as Caucasians have pink, because the capillaries are red ….
As to the interior mouths, I was interested to see Shran in “Enterprise” recently; it looked like Jeffery Combs had rinsed his mouth with blue food coloring. And surely it would be simple enough for makeup to put blue [or green] eye pencil to line the pink eyelids just inside the lash line. Models do it all the time.
I think the DISC season 1 redesign of the Klingons was a good idea in concept. Make them look more alien so as to suit the plot about culture conflict, and spend some more time adding myriad cultural details to the ship, set, prop, and wardrobe design. (I was actually really impressed with the attention to detail on the latter from reading the articles on this site.) It just didn’t come off right in execution with the big stupid mush mouths, monster claws, and such. I support what they tried, but these season 2 versions are definitely easier to look at.
Exactly Eric!
The intent was noble, it’s really the execution of it that bothered a lot of people.
It’s all in the execution. They had to be recognisable.
These “new” Klingons are basically just the blue lizards with traditional Klingon hair. So really now you have the best of both worlds. The make up is updated and more detailed, but they now look recognisably Klingons. Had they done this from day one I think you’d have only had a few moaners, and they’d have been the never happy crowd.
I don’t think the intent was even noble. I think it was more to change them because they wanted their Klingons to be their Klingons. It felt more selfish than noble.
But again, if the show was better overall the change would not have been as big a thing to complain about.
If you want something more alien and different, then make them a different alien!
You can’t rename an apple an orange, just because you want to.
They look somewhat better, but the facial structure still has some way to go.
The Klingorcs look even worse! Hahaha, This show just keeps shooting itself in the foot!
Um, sure, whatever.
No. Please feel free to try again, though.
No. I’ll stick to my opinion and won’t to be swayed by the mob, thank you.
Um, you’re the mob.
No Jim, they are the tiny minority.
Number One is a BABE!!!!!!!!!!!! YOW!!
I agree. It looks like she is no longer a walking freezer unit as they described Number 1 in The Cage. 😊🖖
That was actually Dr. Dehner is “WNMHGB,” but point taken.
Oh geeze, you’re right!
Number One was never described as a walking freezer unit. That was Elizabeth Dehner in “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
I have to say Majel looked better in that hairstyle, though.
That’s why you get Rebecca Romijn to play her. :)
Yep – but Sonequa is my Number One. Particularly in that photo of her in Sick Bay… that smile <3
I have to applaud the writers of DSC for taking on the criticisms from the fans. We can’t redo the first season and there’s no point crying over spilled milk, so let’s start again and go boldly to a successful series! LLAP!!!
Yep! I give them complete credit for trying to right the ship. This tells us they DO want to get it right. It doesn’t mean they will but they are trying and there are a lot of people like us who were disappointed with season one but is acknowledging this.
I don’t want Discovery cancelled or to disappear, just the opposite it I want it to THRIVE and become a series I can say I love like all the others.
And with the Picard show coming hopefully we will have two great shows in time where one will honor Trek’s past and the other will go farther into it’s future. A little something for everyone.
Are you surprised they do want to get it right? Of course, they do. Nobody WANTS to get it wrong. It doesn’t mean they may not fail but nobody sets out to do a bad show.
I’m talking about making it more accurate canon wise. Fuller was clearly operating with a different mentality and that was to make it his own while keeping some familiar elements like the phasers or transporter sounds as homages. But he didn’t seem all that concern to have it meld to TOS in any meaningful way. The Discovery ship told you he wanted to shake it up as much as possible and why so little of it looks like it even belongs in the prime timeline.
Now it seems like a concerted effort to try and tie it to TOS with the changes and pushing for more established canon like that shot of the D-7 along with everything else. That’s all I meant.
They are supposed to be professionals and have had the benefit of not only 50 years of ‘Trek history but the fanbase telling them it’s wrong. If 95% of us screwed our jobs up like that you can’t just say “no use crying over spilt milk”, you’d be fired.
So with that in mind, they have very little if any margin for error in season 2
Super-excited. That trailer was glorious. Also love the new Spock, nice rich voice, and soulful “human” eyes. I trust the Peck genes for gravitas and moral centering are also present.
Here for this!!
Totally OT, but Stephen Colbert did the funniest impression of Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch the other night!
Marja,
Agreed. It was a hoot.
Damn Spock! Always taking extended vacations and ignoring his personal grooming whenever some crazy hippy ideas get into his head.
LOL +1
That’s probably why Sarek needs to meditate so often. “Dad-burn kids! What did I do wrong!”
I wonder if Part of the new changes for the klingons are because the actors themselves wanted to have more breathing room when acting in the make up. The actors were certainly struggling with their dialogues in the first season so this could also be a way to fix that issue.
Just adding hair doesn’t make the makeup easier for the actors, though. Actually, it might make it heavier because they now have to carry around a wig.
Yeah, but from that still photo of L’rell the facial makeup seems to have been lessened and they can clearly emote more.
I don’t know….L’Rell’s prosthetic looks slightly less heavy than in Season 1, but with only that very brief shot in the trailer to go on I could definitely be wrong.
Er… how would adding hair change any of that? The makeup hasn’t changed.
Yeah, I hope they got rid of the entire second layer of lip from the prosthetic masks. Egad, that must have been difficult for the actors to speak through.
Also here is bit of unneeded trivia for Trekkies: Peck’s grandfather, the legendary Gregory Peck’s last acting role was in the remake miniseries of The Moby Dick where Captain Ahab was played by Jean Luc Picard himself, Sir Patrick Stewart.
Yes, we know.
Actually I didn’t know that until now. That’s pretty cool though!
Not all of us knew this, I’ve never seen the version with Sir Pat. Nice bit of trivia there, alphantrion.
Gregory Peck also played Ahab in the 1950’s film version. Nice to see it come around full circle.
Makes you wonder how Spock was shaving at the beginning of TMP, and why he would bother.
Or why he would trim his bangs and let the rest go, for that matter. File under dumb design
If shaving the head is a wartime ritual- the original group had them shaved from the start. Did they consider themselves at war before all the other houses were summoned?
Yeah the reasoning is a bit lame and doesn’t make a lot of sense (we’ve seen them at war COUNTLESS times now) but I’ll take it!
To rectify canon all they have to say is that it was a one off prompted by T’Kuvma. Say, a sect out there always does it, but this time it caught on Empire wife. That would also explain why the proud warrior race had hair in all other war appearances in Trek.
They probably did because T’Kuvma’s whole mission was to start the war. He probably had them do it, like a cult leader prepping his flock.
I don’t think this makes sense cuz they weren’t unified under T’Kuvma. His beacon is what brought them together and they were already hairless by then. It really isn’t an explanation, just the producers trying to save face by changing the design to appease angry fans when really they should’ve just done it in the first place.
I like that. The others could have shaved their heads to actually follow T’Kuvma, or to fake it, like Kol.
Maybe they didn’t shave because of the war with the Federation? Nobody saw them for decades, could be that they simply had other wars going on?
Must’ve been the little known great war against hipster beards.
Yep. It feels like a VERY weak attempt to explain the lack of hair. And it’s amazingly weak considering we’ve seen Klingons at war before with full heads of hair. Is that a custom that gets jettisoned only a few years later? Sorry. That explanation just doesn’t fly. Better to just add the hair and not talk about it.
Klingon hair!!!
Gloooorious hair!
This show was very so-so first season but I’m thinking season 2 may win a lot of us doubters over now. I can’t think of one bad thing for me personally with all the news today, literally not one. Fingers crossed! :)
Considering, until Kor tried to unify them, the Klingon houses were all at war with each other… giving them hair now means they’re unified now. It is a blatant retcon, however when has this not been the case when discussing reasons for the change in the Klingons looks?
Kor? Kol? I’m so confused. I thought he was Kol of the House of Kor. It was T’Kuvma who tried to unify them first, and succeeded, but Kol inveigled them into his own orbit when he fed the devotees on Sarcophagus.
My guess is that this is not the Season 2 producers thought they would bring us when they said it would be “the effects of the war.” I was honestly looking foreword to some episodes where Discovery shows some wounded colonies trying to get back on their feet, which would push the idea that Starfleet was learning to be what it is in TOS. With Pike, they can just say they are Starfleet that we know and love and move along to tell a great, perhaps moving and cohesive story. Bloody Weeping Angels!
DIS honestly should’ve did that in season one. They did absolutely none of that and why the war arc just felt so lacking for so many people. I don’t understand how you create an entire season around a war story but then show practically nothing of the war? It’s why so many people had problems with the first season.
They may do some of that in season two but I wouldn’t hold my breath. It look ike they really have moved on completely based on the trailers at least.
They got overly distracted with the Mirror storyline. And totally disserved Lorca. [sigh]
I’m just hoping if we do see Lorca again, he’s the Prime, actual, real, Prime, not Mirror Lorca miraculously re-constituted ….
They talked up the Klingon war BIG TIME in promoting S1. Then it got relegated to the ‘B’ story and all but forgotten about because of the MU garbage. It feels like the story construction went, “Our big thing will be that the Captain is from the MU and he’s trying to get back.” And they worked backwards from there. Adding the Klingon war as some sort of distracting side bar for the beginning. Then they solved their little MU thing but realized they had that pesky war issue to wrap up. So they came up with the idiot hollow planet and I have a bomb thing.
It wasn’t the Klingon war arc per se. It was that the show was about MU Lorca more than anything else but to keep that secret they came up with all this other (and much better) subject matter like the war itself and the Burnham redemption story and failed to do anything with it.
Love what they are doing with Pikebut please get rid of Burnham. Her inner emotional turmoil is plain annoying and Sonequa Martin-Green acting is simply bad. The the most uninteresting Star Trek character ever created!
They’re not going get rid of the first female, black lead however much you dislike her. The show is her arc and it would also be criticised politically.
She has been rather boring to date though. I’ll give you that. Green hasn’t mastered Vulcan acting like precious cast members and so it makes Burnham seem a very dry character.
I haven’t fully warmed up to the idea of Burnham or that she’s Spock’s sister. Maybe it would help if they at least didn’t have her narrate her thoughts. I don’t like that style. Showing the lower ranks on a ship – I really like the Pocketbooks Dreadnought! and Battlestations! stories when I read them 20+ years ago. I may have to reread those.
I agree with you on the Spock’s sister business; she could have been raised by a colleague of Sarek’s and we’d still see Sarek sometimes, but it is what it is. Many of us theorize it’s because DISCO’s showrunners wanted a direct tie to TOS.
I think her personal narration is akin to the Captain’s Personal Log, which works, sometimes.
Michael isn’t vulcan.
Jesus wept, I obviously know that but she is brought up Vulcan, which is made very clear in season one. That is why she has such a cool demeanour in the first episodes.
I hated T’pol at first but man did that change by the time Enterprise ended.
Me too.
She playing a human raised with Vulcan cultural norms. Sonequa is good actress who performs according to the writing and direction she is given. She is supposed to have duality of being human and raised Vulcan.
And that would have been interesting. Too bad they didn’t dive into that beyond the one episode they did.
Let’s be honest, Patrick Stewart’s initial acting as Picard left some things to be desired too. Give SMG a bit more time and I’m sure she’ll blossom. Cuz otherwise it’s gonna be a long series lol
albatrosity. Wha..?!!
Uhh yeah season 1 Picard was over the top. He grew into the role as most of them did.
She comes off exactly as she should – a human doing a Vulcan impression because…that’s what she’s been raised around. It should be stiff and off-putting. It’s what others call her out for. It’s what Ash started to peel back when she finally allowed herself to just feel and be in touch with being human. Ironically you’re also pointing out what I think is deliberate for the character, that women in the workplace are supposed to be certain things but when they are those things, they’re labelled boring, cold, and a lot worse. Burnham feels she has to be this one thing. It’s even discussed in the Discovery books. Let her plot flesh itself out. I’m sure she’ll feel a lot different when all is said and done.
Thank you PEB, and very good point about women in the workplace!
I still don’t get this … I think SMG has brought a lot to the character. I think most of her Vulcan demeanor rubbed off when she was on Shenzhou with Georgiou as her mentor. She was there something like seven years.
And her reactions to Tilly in “Magic ….” [the Mudd ep] are hilarious.
I just think some folks aren’t really tuned in to nuance in acting….
Or maybe she’s just poor in this role eh?
Yep. If such characterizations are there then they needed to cast a better actress. I don’t think they are there. I think she is more the victim of bad writing, myself. Everyone on that cast was.
I agree, the writing just isn’t that good to me. I wish I could see the nuances in SMG’s performance like Marja has pointed out but I can’t say I did on first watch. But Doug Jones in particular had to be a completely out of character Saru down on that one planet where he went totally nuts and threw away all of his Starfleet principles. It’s a miracle they could ever trust Saru as an officer after that, erm, episode.
Just popping in to say I like Burnham and if I were to get rid of (or substantially change) any character it would be Saru. Different strokes. Though Burnham’s Spock connection does feel forced and fanfictiony to me.
Agreed, by herself the character is not actually bad, but the Spock connection seems really forced. In a way this plot point kind of drags the character and prevents her from being more independent. It’s like something she constantly has to drag around, like a dead weight holding her down. The character will be much better when she shatters this bond and becomes her true self.
This is just my opinion but I have a feeling Burnham, Saru and Tilly are the three characters completely safe from getting killed off. Burnham for obvious reasons, mostly being the lead. Saru is the Spock/Data/EMH of the group and being so unique compared to the others will keep him there. And Tilly just seems to be very popular now. I woudn’t go as far as to say the ‘break out’ character but probably close enough. And that’s mostly because she seems to be the only one who can smile and crack jokes on that ship for some reason.
But yes agreed about the Spock/Burnham connection. It still feels way too fan servicy for me too. But hey we are now getting Spock and that was the point at the end of the day. They know what sells. Don’t be surprised if the two end up sharing quarters in season 3. I’m joking, but not completely. ;)
No Spock for season three please.
I’d rather it be how they used Superman on the Supergirl show. A few appearances and that’s it.
I agree with you which is exactly why we should expect Spock in season 3. ;D
Maybe they won’t do it, but at this point I won’t be shocked if Kirk shows up and Captains the Discovery for a few episodes next season.
Oh God. You’re taking the good feeling I have over the Klingons and making me worried again!!!!
LOL sorry! It mostly in jest obviously. But I do say that BECAUSE I was the one around here who calling people idiots if they thought they would ever see an adult Spock in the first place. And I only believed that because I was going by what the PRODUCERS had said over and over again. I was the one who ended up looking like the idiot (but to be fair that’s not hard for me lol) because they totally went back on their word in literally months after saying it.
But this all goes back to what I think is really happening and that CBS didn’t like where the AA subscriptions landed and told them they had to make the show with more Trek elements. That’s really my only theory WHY it’s looking and feeling so different from first season. But most of it (so far) seems more good than bad at least. I don’t have one issue with any of the changes so far. Not one OTHER than turning season 2 into a back door Spock story.
But I do hope they get it out of their system now and then season 3 it’s all about DIS. But we can’t completely dismiss more TOS characters will show up there either. The door has now been opened. How wide, I guess we’ll see.
I agree with why CBS is doing both Spock and Picard. But I honestly do not see that turning into more subscribers. Enterprise had low numbers and as much as most of us like season 4 and it was much better, it did embrace Trek history WAY more than the other seasons did. And it didn’t help the ratings any. ST Beyond many think was the most Star Trek of the KU movies. Yet it performed the worst at the box office of the 3 movies. In fact, the one that was the least Star Treky was the one that performed the best! So I’m not so sure that linking to TOS or even TNG is the best move for CBS to get subscribers. I think that making the show good would prove to be the better option. But even then I think they have an uphill battle ahead of them.
And of course, I could be 100% wrong here too. These are just quicky observations on my part.
Well I can definitely see more subscribing for sure, but I don’t know if it will be anywhere near what CBS is expecting. I have no doubt the Picard show is going to be much more popular than DIS is now, but yes it doesn’t mean it’s going to be popular enough to be deemed a success either.
But you’re right, even when they had tried to bring in more Trek elements like Enterprise fourth season or in Beyond, they still failed. But I think because people had already turned away from those products so it was hard to get them back, at least with Enterprise. Beyond it’s harder to say because STID was a successful film financially, although it did sour fans. I just think Beyond wasn’t a very interesting film to most people and the KT films seem to be dying in general now. But yes making it more TOS didn’t save it at all and in fact may have scared more casual audiences away.
The Picard show is a bit different because the curiosity factor will be there from the start like the first KT film. A lot of hardcore fans will be curious to see where Picard is now. And a lot of people really want a show in the 24th century again so those people will probably show up too, at least at the beginning.
The quality of the show itself will determine how many of those stay once the curiosity is gone though.
Oh Jaysus no
I said that before! I’d lay even money that Lt. Kirk shows up in season 3.
Perhaps. Superman appeared in about 1/3 of season 2. Nothing in season 3. And is appearing the the Arrowverse crossover this year. But I still think his appearance on Supergirl feels far more appropriate and organic than Spock’s on Discovery.
Burnham is one of the show’s best characters, played by one of the show’s best actors, and she is a VERY popular character.
Hear Hear!
Thank you
I like this statement, and I likee your screen name, Land O’
With the amount of people disagreeing, that’s obviously not true.
Wow… Just…. Wow.
For once we have a female poc protagonist and of course we gotta get rid of her to make it about one of the old guys, again. Classy. Trek fans be like…
I never was a big fan of Kirk, compared to other characters, but I would consider myself illogical if I ever said ‘get rid of him’.
There are characters I may like less than others but I never found myself hating any of the trek mains or find them useless. You are allowed to dislike her character but your response seems a bit over the top.
I think it would be very interesting [if Lorca comes back in Prime form] to see Burnham learning to trust someone innocent who so betrayed her Federation ideals in his Mirror form.
Also they have said that Burnham IS the main character, and the Captain is a secondary, which is good, to see things from the First Officer’s point of view. I totally love SMG as Burnham [and as a person, she seems very ebullient and positive in outlook].
Oh please grow up. You know it could be because the character is poorly written or she’s just not suited for the role. Stop forcing it into a gender or race issue.
“The the most uninteresting Star Trek character ever created!”
Not by a Long Shot.
Especially when you consider just how many characters there have been in the history of Star Trek.
Yes I too really like Burnham. I can understand how she may seem divisive for some people but that character has the biggest potential to be great. Maybe not a Picard or Kirk level of greatness but I DO believe she can be iconic in time. Just my opinion though.
Sorry what? Sonequa is fabulous actress. If don’t like Michael whatever but Sonequa is good. Also let not ask for only female black lead in Star Trek to be fired.
Rarely if ever have I ever seen a lead in a modern series who seems so ‘off’ … as in, she doesn’t seem to fit the universe around her. It’s like seeing Steven Lack in SCANNERS, only maybe worse, because it feels to me like you stuck a Star Trek fan into a professional production as the lead.
Burnham for me is kind of like 1st season Riker, where the character feels like a gawking tourist in the Trek universe rather than an inhabitant.
And yet the actress was very good on TWD. I just think this is maybe just unfortunate casting, but magnified enormously in a negative way by writing choices that are sometimes godawful, plus the general mediocrity of the directors, who all could learn a lesson by watching Senensky, Pevney and Daniels TOS eps on a long loop.
Call me dense if you want, but I just don’t see what you mean here. You’ve given examples, too. I feel like Burnham is very comfortable where she is. She lives the ideals of the Federation.
Perhaps a Marc Daniels could help her “nail” some aspect of her character as he did for Nimoy, with his suggestion for Spock’s intonation of “Fascinating.”
But I really don’t get all the criticism of SMG’s acting as Burnham. YMMV I guess. Or maybe it’s the scripts.
“The the most uninteresting Star Trek character ever created!”
Don’t you remember Harry Kim? Or Kes?
Or Dr. Crusher. Wesley Crusher. Troi. Geordi LaForge. Even Capt. Picard was so perfect he was surprisingly dull. Riker, while not a great character himself, at least came across as more human more often.
I can think of other characters that are at least as uninteresting as Burnham. Perhaps even more so. But I agree. As the lead, she is awfully uninspiring. I’m not blaming the actress. I’ve never seen her in anything before but she’s probably a capable professional. I blame the writers and the directors for Burnham’s bland persona.
Hairy Klingons!! INCLUDING L’RELL!!!
Also, a D7/K’t’inga! Since it seems that the schematics come up during a meeting of the Klingon houses, maybe they are going for a “this is our newest and therefore most powerful ship” angle??
Pike seems to have white streaks in his hair in some scenes. I think I have said before that this version comes off like a cross between the original from “The Cage” and the one from the Kelvin timeline, and this reinforces that impression for me.
I am a bit skeptical about how well the Red Angel thing will fit into Spock’s so far established canon biography. But we’ll see…
I like Sarek’s glass decor! And Saru’s mossy bed!
Spock’s “canon biography” before TOS is very minimal, so this shouldn’t be an issue. He had a teddy bear. He wandered off into the desert. He got into fights. He had trouble with the neck pinch. He loved Mommy. He argued with Daddy. He smiled at the sight of singing plants. He had a brother and a foster-sister. And… that’s about it. I can’t imagine how the red angels could possibly contradict any of that.
Yeah the greatest advantage this show has in terms of showing TOS characters is we know practically nothing about them before they joined the Enterprise. There might be a line somewhere on TOS what a character might have done before but it’s usually so vague and inconsequential it’s pretty easy to do whatever you want with them.
The only thing we really knew about Spock before working with Kirk is that he served with Pike. THat’s really it. So they can do whatever they want frankly outside of giving him kids. And the way they gave him a sister out of nowhere even THAT is not out of the realm of possibility now lol. In fact don’t be surprised we meet Spock’s son and Burnham’s nephew in season 3! ;)
This whole Spock thing is just too soon… I only hope they do it right.
I don’t love the hair. They looked so much more alien without it. It really is a great look as far as I am concerned. And it appears they’ve gone back to the shaggy hair metal band hair as well. IMO it makes them look more fake than real. But whatever, I’m sure legions of fans who detest the slightest change to visual continuity will be delighted.
The problem I had with the season one look of the Klingons was that it was the ONLY look. If they had mixed the new with the old designs, maybe illustrating the differences between houses, I don’t think it would’ve been as big a deal for fans, and it would’ve shown the diversity of what is supposed to be a vast Empire.
Exactly. All it needed was a few background hairy ones or even an explanatory line. Then fans of the blue lizards could still be enjoying them now.
I’m not complaining though. I’d much rather have the definitive look.
Watch, some of the same people who criticized how the Klingons looked in Season 1 will say that the hair looks FAKE!
Calling it now.
And for the record, I LOVED how the Klingons looked last year!
I think you’re going to be disappointed Gary. The bast majority of us who criticised the new Klingon look agree that they would look a lot better with hair and beards. I think think any us expected Michael Westmore Klingons.
So at least for me and folks like Tiger2, your “call” is plain wrong.
I’m actually quite surprised at how far a little hair goes for these Klingons. It helps SO much more than I ever would have thought.
Can’t say I’m overly concerned about hair on every single Klingon. I just want a few connections that tell us we’re in the same universe, that’s all.
I got into it as the season went on. At first I disliked the inclusion of Klingons at all, then the makeup seemed so very cumbersome, but as the season went on it became clear how *alien* they were.
Not just “warriors who dress like KISS with a mystical background of belief in a warrior god.” But ALIENS.
I guess I just don’t get this weird obsession of wanting to make them look more alien. They already look more alien now than most of the other major aliens in the franchise. I mean no one is calling for the Vulcans or Romulans to look more different. No one seems concerned Trills are humans with dots. Bajorans just have funny noses like Vulcans have funny ears but they basically look human.
The overwhelming majority of aliens on Star Trek look humanoid. No one seem remotely upset or bothered by it. Obviously Klingons themselves looked more humanoid on TOS but they were given a more exotic look in the films.
I mean I’m ok if they wanted to make them look more alien but I never cared that they did because so few does now. And they didn’t do that for the other species, so I don’t get why Klingons and only them were changed so dramatically in DIS when the rest were given their traditional looks.
I 2nd that. Do not see why the Klingons need to be more “alien” when none of the other ST aliens need to be. They are all just human actors in some sort of make up or prosthetic. They pretty much all look human to me. Even the nu STD Klingons look like humans in masks. So I just don’t get it.
That was actually something I was kind of expecting. Really thought we would see TOS Klingons as well as ridged ones. Perhaps even KU ones. I looked for them in the pilot episode and saw none. Was disappointed right there. Thought the different houses would be comprised of different races. I guess that was too much to ask for.
I got use to the no hair but I don’t mind the hair but does everyone have to have long hair. Some should have stay bald. I not overly invested in it unlike some of Star Trek fandom.
I’m sure we’ll still see some baldies.
I want a Captain Pike series now.
Before you even see if Mount is any good?
I’m sure he will be great as Pike since the character is pretty much a blank slate. It was seeing the picture of Rebecca Romijn, as Number One, that makes me want a Pike series.
I will watch Rebecca Romijn recite the phone book.
I would prefer not to have a Captain Pike show but I would definitely give it a chance. So far I like all the actors on his ship at least although I never seen Peck in anything before, so have to see how good he is as Spock.
The only way Pike won’t be good is if the character is written badly. Mount is a great actor, imo.
I second that!
Me thinks this season is to ‘test the waters’ with how this version of Pike and the Enterprise crew are received. The production team are certainly investing alot into getting the right cast, for one.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they get their own show sometime after 2020 or so.
@Dr. Beckett — I’d like to see April show up either during DISC and this Pike series. He’s a Commodore if TAS canon is applied, and certainly could be an admiral if not.
Exactly. I don’t see why they would introduce him and the Enterprise crew at all, otherwise.
I see why. To get more TOS connections in an attempt to get more CBSAA subscribers. I feel I can promise that the Enterprise and Pike would never have showed up had the subscriber level been close what CBS hoped for.
I guess he is finally used to having women on the bridge. Especially now that he is commanding DISCO.
#HotSpock
🌶
Even Wilson Cruz couldn’t help himself on the panel about how hot Peck is lol but as a straight male I couldn’t agree more, the man is gorgeous! Really excited to see his Spock now that I’ve heard his voice and gotten a feel for what he’ll bring to the character.
Apparently Klingon hair now grows at a rate of about an inch a week. Where’d all that hair come from, L’Rell??
Extensions
I am sorry but I cannot and will not accept the new TOS uniforms. In principle I am glad that they tried to replicate the original uniforms, but the mismatched collar and large seam down the front of the tunic looks foolish, in my opinion.
I feel they work in context of this show’s aesthetic.
“Young minds, fresh ideas. Be tolerant” ;)
Uhhh that is because they are based on the current Disco uniforms, although the colors coincide with the colors from TOS made 53 year ago. Anything TOS….. GOOD!! Anything new….. BAD!! Sorry, I couldn’t resist the sarcasm – but I do have to admit as a man, I guess it would be nice to have all the females run around in 1960s mini-skirts haha.
Hmm, so the Klingons still have enlarged, oblong skulls but they added hair on top of them? Won’t that look even goofier? Oh well, at least the season will be centered holy visions of angels. Time to head back to Nimbus III.
Hopefully they got rid of the elongated crystal skull look too.
God almighty, keep the gold uniform on. These ridiculous blue discovery uniforms are just a farce.
Disagree 100%
Agree w Marja 100 percent!!
I do prefer the TOS style uni’s here, mostly because I think the DSC uni’s are too form fitting, and a bit cluttered. But I don’t hate them by any stretch.
In the Spock on gurnee frame, did anyone notice a new ship design schematic on the wall panel? At least I think that’s what that is. Yup! It’s even clearer in the upper left corner.
Maybe he’s not on Discovery but a different ship.
‘hurtle’