I only like about 30 episodes of TOS, but I still consider it my third favorite series. The cast is extremely relatable, I think the shows ideals are probably the closest to my own, and I like how even the terrible episodes usually had an interesting concept.

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I felt pretty much the same way while watching it during its initial run. I didn't really become a fan until the two parter where the Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar invade the Gamma Quadrant. In hindsight those early seasons were better than I gave them credit for.



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https://i.imgur.com/8ySC8wf.jpg

S3 of Discovery was likely the worst yet. The Su'Kal storyline would have worked as its own one-off or 2-parter episode (its conclusion was surprisingly affecting), but to make it the conclusion/culmination of the entire season and make him be the source of the season-long "Burn" mystery? That's the best they could come up with a completely blank canvas in the 32nd century?

It honestly feels like the writers just wanted to find a way to make Burnham captain by the end of the season (because everything must always revolve around the greatness of Burnham at all times) and thought this storyline was a way to get Saru out of the picture temporarily to make that happen.

The villain went back to cartoony evil in the finale after an attempt to make her mildly interesting for an episode. She also died in the most anti-climactic way ever (I have no idea what she pushed Burnham into and clearly she didn't have much clue either). Some mysteries throughout the season also went absolutely nowhere (what about that mystery song/rhythm that somehow everyone knows across the entire galaxy? Never got an explanation on that).

They did try to develop other characters like Culber and Tilly this season but I don't think they were entirely successful at that either. Without Pike and Spock from S2 (or Lorca from S1 pre ridiculous reveal/transformation), S3 became nothing more than the Michael Burnham Show completely. It's clearly what the writers always wanted, but this show has no real direction beyond that at this point. Such a waste.

I guess I'm the outlier here. I like both Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek Picard.

Not every episode is great. But some are.

Not every character is great. A few are downright annoying. I never liked Captain/Emperor Georgiou on Discovery, and I'm not a fan of Tilly. I get tired of Saru as well.

But some characters are good. I thought Jason Isaacs gave an inspired performance as Captain Lorca in Season 1. It really pissed me off when they revealed that he was from the Mirror Universe and was just a cartoonish bad guy instead of a complex character. I also think Stammets and Culber are great characters.

The first time I watched Star Trek Picard I wasn't impressed. But when I re-watched it recently I thought it was great. I don't know what was different the second time around. I think I just paid more attention the second time, and I really got into the season-long plot arc.

I have high hopes for Strange New Worlds, especially since they announced it will be more episodic rather than one long continuous arc.

I can't really disagree with any of this. Having Su'Kal be the cause of The Burn was just about the most anti-climactic thing they could have done.

And yes, it does seem that the whole thing was just a pretext to make Burnham the captain. I'd much prefer that they bring back Jason Isaacs as Captain Lorca.

I don't even entirely dislike Burnham as a character, but the entire show can't simply be an excuse to show how great/smart she is at all times. I feel that's what S3 has developed the show into at this point (and without any Lorca/Pike/Spock to stabilize it, the other characters simply aren't strong enough) and I don't see any way out for it.

Strange New Worlds is certainly an intriguing concept. I expect/hope it will be much better than this.

Prime Universe Lorca could still be out there somewhere to bring him back but of course there's the problem about them being 800 years in the future now (not that time travel has ever stopped Trek before).

One thing does bother me about moving the ship and the crew 800 years in the future. I simply can't believe that the technology 800 years in the future hasn't really advanced much past what they had in the time period the Discovery came from. Think about how much technology has changed in just the past 120 years. 120 years ago, people rode horses and mailed letters to each other. No cars, no planes, no radio, no tv, no cell phones, no computers.

I'd think the technology would be completely unrecognizable, and I'd think the Discovery crew would look like savages compared to the people of the future. Instead, the future people never even figured out to build a spore drive. :mad:

Yes it should have been something like a 200 year jump. 800 years was an absurd amount of time (and it made their dismay early in the season about how the Federation had declined even more ridiculous; they were very lucky it still existed in any way whatsoever).

Update: I'm about 7 or 8 episodes into the first season of Enterprise. It's pretty good. It definitely has the feel of the original series and I'm actually enjoying the differences in the political background, regarding how Earth fits in to things and what the other races are up to. I hope Strange New Worlds is done like this show.

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Glad you're liking it. There are a lot of terrible episodes, imo, but there are quite a few good ones too.



Season 1: Great first episode, but loses a lot of momentum immediately afterward. I like many of the "getting to know the crew" episodes, but there were too many of them. I liked the sense of awe of being in space. I liked Archer being a bit naive at first, but they kept him that way too long. The TCW stuff is good. The Andorian stuff is great. I ended up liking about half of the season's episodes. Favorite episode: Fallen Hero. Least favorite: Dear Doctor.

Season 2: The writers seem to have run out of ideas. There are several episodes that are...umm..."inspired" by other stories. The first few episodes very strong though. I particularly liked Minefield & Dead Stop. After that it hits a wall with a lot of mediocre to terrible episodes. There's still some good stuff to be found though. Favorite episode: First Flight. Least favorite: tie between A Night in Sickbay and Cogenitor. Or maybe Precious Cargo. Or maybe Bounty.

Season 3: A big improvement. the Xindi plot is a bit slipshod, but still interesting.The war gives the show some needed tension and drama. And we finally start to see some "high concept" stories like Similitude. There are still a few skipable episodes, and 2 or 3 truly terrible ones. One negative: Bakula doesn't play angry well. Favorite episode: Twilight. Runner up: Azati Prime/Damage/The Forgotten. Least favorite: Extinction.

Season 4 - My favorite. I think it's one of the most consistently good seasons in all of Trek. Not the best season, but a season that had very few bad episodes. Daedelus and These are the Voyages are the only two bad eps. T'Pol finally stops having to suffer through decon scenes and massage sessions. Archer is written better. It's a prequel done right, imo. It connects to and expands upon what came before and does so imaginatively. I also like the multipart format because it allows time for action and character development. Favorite episode: Observer Effect. Least favorite: These Are the Voyages.


Top ten episodes:

Twilight
Observer Effect
First Flight
Dead Stop
Similitude
Judgment
Proving Ground
The Forge/Awakening/Kir'Shara
Babel One/United/The Aenar
Azati Prime/Damage/The Forgotten


Final random thoughts:


- B&B should have bowed out after season 1.
- The cast is very likeable
- Jolene Blalok is a trooper for putting up with all the crap done to her character.
- The makeup artists did an exceptional job. Their stuff looks better than the stuff done 15 years later.
- For all the negatives, the show still featured a lot of very good episodes and deserved a few more seasons.

Interesting that the Paramount Plus commercial I saw during the game included Anson Mount's Pike, and not anyone from Discovery or Picard.

I'd say there's a very good reason for that.

I'm somewhat reeruned. Patrick Stewart provided the voiceover. Which admittedly I had turned off, but still.

There's a second ad with Ethan Peck's Spock that I didn't see, as well.

Either way, seems pretty clear that PP (lol) is treating the show as a tentpole, although I don't know how it can possibly start to air before the end of the year. And I would assume production on s2 of Picard will be finished first.

Was it this one?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KMylfQGbzwA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>


It has Pike, Picard, and Burnham in it.

No, I'll link the ones from yesterday.