Spoiler alert but it's not the kind of spoilers your thinking of, it cut's a lot worse.
Straight up and simply put, Star Trek Discovery is absolutely without a doubt the worst Star Trek series in the franchises long and luxurious history.
First off I should point out, I'm a Star Trek fan and have been for over 30 years, so certainly not one of the earliest fans but certainly not a newbie either. Some of the things I've loved about Star Trek were it's ability to tackle serious issues about society and not just the benefits but the repercussions and negatives of what technology can provide for us. It explored not just the great black unknown of space but the issues that plague our society even today and did so with well written stories that extrapolated on age old themes in interesting and thought provoking ways.
Now fast forward from Star Trek The Original Series, Star Trek The Animated Series, Star Trek the movies, Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek Enterprise even Star Trek the new reboot movies and where at Star Trek Discovery. All of the preceding series did there best to fit the new technology in with the old technology and even promote the classic series and ultimately honor Gene Rodenberries vision of a bright and hopeful future.(even the reboot movies continued the legacy by putting the new movies into a completely different timeline which removed any chance of messing with one of Science Fiction's most beloved series and timeline period.) The most striking changes were brought about in Star Trek The Motion Picture and The Next Generation which altered the Klingons drastically and added a terrific back ground for this well loved alien race. However there changes were incorporated into the original timeline seamlessly and later well explained in the Star Trek Enterprise series.
Now along comes Star Trek Discovery. Personally I enjoyed the interesting ship design changes, the new uniforms and even new alien characters. Those are great and I continue to watch the show not for the show anymore but simply for the eye candy. However and here's the tragic addition for those who haven't seen the series yet, they have had the audacity to 're-invent' the Klingons. This is not only a dumb move but a complete and utter waste of money. Worst of all it no longer fits with the timeline it's supposed to be a prequel to. Not only have they completely re-designed the Klingons(which for every fan I have spoken to was seriously NOT WANTED), but they have even re-designed there culture, there starships, there way of life. In short it's a complete abomination of the franchise and the major turn off for the series. However it doesn't stop there, obviously hoping to grab the 'explosion every 5 minutes' kind of modern audience, they bombard the senses with blinking gadgets and silly over the top dramatic explosion scenes that are so over the top it's practically destroying the magic of believable.
Then there's silly features like sending someone over to a derelict spacship in a space suit because apparently while they have the technology of enhanced space suits that will allow a person to head on over, check out a wreckage and prevent them from getting radiation harm(for a limited time of course), they couldn't simply modify a probe to head on over and do the job without risking someone's life. (Gene Rodenberry would be rolling in his grave with that one.) Worst off, instead of trying to understand an alien race(which obviously happens due to the multi-species society shown inside the starships) she reacts in a completely non-starfleet way and just stabs the re-designed Klingon and starts the Klingon war.
From here the series get's worse with silly time/space shifting made possible by animal cruelty and later human cruelty but justified in the name of war(does that even sound Star Trek - Starfleet like to any serious Star Trek fan???)
The main issue with the entire series is it's complete lack of respect for the original series and the series that followed it. Star Trek Enterprise created some controversies but overall I loved the series because it did expand upon the show, added some new aspects, explained others and above all did it's best to fit in well with the rest of the Star Trek lineage. Star Trek Discovery doesn't even try to.
What the writers and directors 'think' is cool and are a bunch of good ideas are simply not in any way shape or form. It's a complete perversion of a well loved Science Fiction series and it simply makes me mad that they put the Star Trek name on this show. As a separate entity it might have worked but as a continuation or in this case prequel to the Star Trek universe it's a complete and utter disaster of biblical proportions.
I've noticed there's hints of a series 2 and 3 but honestly if it continues to be this bad, I think it's going to be cancelled very early on in Season 2.
Sadly the worst Star Trek series ever made which is a shame because they had the potential to add some really special additions to the Star Trek legacy but have ultimately failed by trying to tie a new series that wants to be like the new re-boot movies to the original line of series in a timeline that's set in stone and isn't open to the radical ideas they wanted to incorporate.
My honest recommendation for long time fans is not to watch this series or support it as it's simply ruining a great thing. What I would recommend you view is a series called 'The Orville' which to be honest is more like the Star Trek I wanted to see return to the TV than the complete waste of money that is Star Trek Discovery. Some people got up in arms about Star Trek Enterprise but comparing it to Discovery, well Star Trek Enterprise now looks like one of the best new series for Star Trek ever made.
A massive disappointment that I'll probably watch just to see the new alien species, tech etc(and fix the terribly written stories while watching them in my mind so they actually fit), but a Star Trek series it is not.
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