Star Trek: Discovery (Part 3)

Thanks, I was just about to create one and did a search just in case. And the lovely Saru on the cover as well.

Link to Part 2.

Ancient DLer here, fan of ST and TNG series.

Will this show ever be on network tv? Or be sold on DVD? I'd like to give it a shot but there's no way I'm paying for CBS all access for one show.

r2 Some on Reddit are speculating November or December, in time for Christmas. The second season will probably start airing early next year, so it would make sense.

You could also sign up for a CBS All Access one week free trial period and binge the show before the paid subscription kicks in. Or pay $6 for one month ($10 without ads). Would that come cheaper than the DVD/Blu-ray?

*My first sentence refers to the show coming out on physical media, not on network TV.

R3, sound advice, thanks.

[quote]In this EXCLUSIVE BONUS SCENE from the season 1 finale of #StarTrekDiscovery, Mirror Georgiou receives a surprise invitation from Leland (@alanvansprang) to join a mysterious organization.

The clip is geo-locked to North America. It's a cool scene but would probably have dampened the effect of Enterprise showing up had it been included as a coda in the finale.

I'm also a fan of the original and TNG. I haven't seen any of this or read any reviews. What's the general consensus on its quality?

There is no consensus yet. We'll have to wait for a couple more seasons to air. I for one loved it but you'll also hear shortly from posters who despised it.

However, what's undeniable is that it looks expensive and that it's different from the previous Trek shows.

Thanks, r8. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

I loved it too. It's very strange, a lot of the characters start off as unlikeable or annoying, but by the end of the season, I realized I loved all of them.

Update from the showrunners on the second season: 13 episodes, production starts in April, no release date yet.

If you'll remember, the first season was also supposed to have 13 episodes originally but they eventually extended it to 15.

WonderCon panel with behind-the-scenes department heads. Too much good stuff to include about the future of the uniforms, continuity, Saru... so I'll just leave this snippet here about a female same-sex couple possibly featuring in the second season.

[quote][bold]Aaron Harbers:[/bold] In terms of your question on same-sex couples on the female side, you may well be already watching one and just don’t know. As a gay man, what is really important to me about presenting gay characters is that they always lead with their competence and their character first, and not with their sexuality. So, that is true of all of our characters on our bridge. All of our characters who are so different, they lead with their professionalism and their strong character first. So, you may already have a window into a relationship and you just don’t know it.

Owosekun and Detmer.

[quote]Aaron Harberts: The idea was to always be in the Prime Timeline. Obviously, there are questions and concerns and things that are different. Our technology is a little different. We have a ship that runs very differently. We are our own show in a lot of ways. Season two is really exciting for us. This is our opportunity to really show how Discovery fits into this Prime Timeline. We are firmly committed to that.

They really need to stop insisting it's in the prime timeline.

If they stopped doing that, the diehard trekkies would be a lot more accepting, I think. But, to continue to insist that a show that violates many of the basic elements of the original timeline is just begging fanboys to lash out.

TOS rewriting its own rules all the time didn't bother diehard Trekkies back then but some technology getting refreshed to be more appealing to the 2018 audiences and all hell breaks loose.

In any case, it's just a TV show, not a religion. If the IP owners say it's the prime timeline, the audiences either have to accept that or flip the channel. And those lashing out as if their life depended on it would do well to focus on real-world problems instead.

[bold]Season 2 to focus on science vs. faith in the Federation[/bold]

More news from that panel mentioned upthread. Airiam's getting explored next season and they're calling her an augment. Perhaps she's the lesbian?!

[quote]Aaron Harberts: So, last season was war and finding a way to peace. So, for this season – for lack of a better word – is sort of about “spirituality” in Star Trek. What is the role of serendipity versus science? Is there a story about faith to be told? Leaps of faith. We are dealing with space. We are dealing with things that can’t be explained and you have a character like Michael Burnham who believes there is an explanation for everything.

[quote]And it doesn’t just mean religion. It means patterns in our lives. It means connections you can’t explain. Who enters your life and who leaves your life and these indelible impressions people make, and the journey you take and don’t realize that along the way you gather things up you need. That is one of our biggest ideas now and it is threading through all of our characters’ lives. We’ve talked about how the Federation is an interesting organization and how everybody had managed to come together and put aside differences, but that is one area that we felt hadn’t necessarily been explored.

Please don't go overboard with religion; ruined DS9 for me.

Your [italic]pagh[/italic] is weak, r16. The Prophets do not look kindly on a curmudgeon.

Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) and Spock's son (Adam Nimoy) got married.

Dax did think Spock was hot...

[bold]'Star Trek: Discovery' Showrunners Tease "Classic Trekian" Tone in Season 2[/bold]

[quote]During a panel at WonderCon, showrunners Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts were asked about the tonal difference Star Trek: Discovery and past Star Trek series and whether there’s a limit to how far they’re willing to push the envelope.

[quote]“I think that we are aware of the fact that it is a different era and it’s a different format for the show,” Berg says. “I don’t think we’re all necessarily gunning for shock value. Everything always comes out of character for us and story. So, if it feels like something that really would happen in that world and that context, we go in that direction. It’s not a group that leads with, ‘We want to shock people or horrify people or get them talking about it.’ Because it has to follow out of where we are in the story and where we are with the characters, always.”

[quote]Harberts adds, “This was an interesting season because it was set against the backdrop of war. One of the things that we are looking forward to in season two is a tone that we can now be in a more of an exploratory phase, a more diplomatic phase, maybe a bit more of a ‘Trekian’ chapter of this. But everything for us - like Gretchen said - is really driven by character and we felt that that was a great way to...and you’ll learn more about Saru this season, and we had to lay some pipe early on too. What are those threat ganglia? What do they do? What do they represent in the Terran Empire? And a lot of that stuff will fold back in when we’re back on the air.”

[bold]Star Trek: Discovery’s Doug Jones Says Saru Shouldn’t Be Captain (Yet)[/bold]

[quote]I think the character of Saru, I mean he very much wants to be captain. He’s been on that deck for so long in the command track and as the first of his species to have gone through Starfleet Academy and have come out as a high ranking officer on a Starship, he’s the first of his kind to ever even come close to this, so he’s got a lot to prove and he’s got a lot to say. But, me personally, as Doug Jones the fan of Star Trek, I think the dynamic of that character works very well as a first officer; as second fiddle to a captain. And that’s me personally.

[quote]I think [Saru will have] the captain’s chair one day. Early on, we’re only about to start filming season 2, there’s still a lot of room ahead of us. So I think for now, he still has more to learn in the leadership department and the courage department under a captain who’s been there and done that a lot, a seasoned captain.

Oh, Saru, why you gotta be like that? We're all rooting for you!

Anyone have a good recipe for Threat Ganglia Pho?

[bold]‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Adds Anson Mount In Key Role For Season 2[/bold]

[quote]Mount steps into the role which was played by Jeffrey Hunter in the original 1966 Star Trek pilot episode titled “The Cage.” Captain Pike was later portrayed by Sean Kenney in a later episode titled “The Menagerie.” More recently, the character was played by Bruce Greenwood in the J.J. Abrams-directed 2009 Star Trek feature as well as the 2013 sequel Star Trek Into Darkness.

Do we like or do we like? Hunter had the most amazing ass in the whole of Star Trek and it will be hard to top that, pun very much intended.

"TOS rewriting its own rules all the time didn't bother diehard Trekkies back then"

"Back then", there was no such thing as "canon" - that's a recent development.

r24 Fine, call it "retconning continuity" then, if the word canon as a "recent development" triggers you.

r25 Just leave it. Old fans are beyond obnoxious and will resort to attacking your syntax to try and prove a point. As if any of it matters.

Anson Mount has appeared numerous times in lists of actors who could replace Jeffrey Hunter.

The funny thing is that no one seemed to care one way or another that Bruce Greenwood was cast as Captain Pike.

But many people are invested in whoever they cast to replace Jeffrey Hunter - a very interesting distinction.

I hope he looks exactly like this when he plays Pike, just to hear those sweet, sweet nerd screams again. The more provocation, the better.

And retcon him into a homo while you're at it.

r27 Interesting. The butt padding assistant better get it exactly right with this one OR I WILL NOTICE!

[quote]I hope he looks exactly like this when he plays Pike, just to hear those sweet, sweet nerd screams again. The more provocation, the better.

The screams wouldn't be because he doesn't look like Pike. Trekkies would be upset because Starfleet is a military organization (okay, technically a scientific and exploration oriented organization, but with a military command structure) and that look wouldn't make sense or be allowed.

It's world breaking and pulls you out of the story when there are such blatant continuity problems. THAT is what they are concerned about.

Personally, there are some things that I just don't care about - like updating the special effects or ships. I'm moderately irritated by changes to technology because it makes certain story points invalid, but science itself is usually a McGuffin, so it's not that bad.

What bothers me is the utter lack of imagination by going to the mirror universe well once again or inventing characters like an adopted sister for Spock, rather than a whole new character. They could have easily created their own Vulcan who adopted a human orphan - Sarek could not possibly be the only Vulcan on the entire planet who has ever dated or mated with a human. He can't possibly be the only Vulcan who 'likes" humans. They didn't need to trash Spock and Sarek's history to do STD. It was purely a failure of creative thinking that brought us an adopted sister.

[quote]The screams wouldn't be because he doesn't look like Pike. Trekkies would be upset because Starfleet is a military organization (okay, technically a scientific and exploration oriented organization, but with a military command structure) and that look wouldn't make sense or be allowed.

Yes, that... that was exactly my point; they ought to stir up shit just because. I know I would have. I know Fuller would have. Those are some lucky, lucky fans that neither of us is the showrunner. Because I've had it up to [italic]here[/italic] with them.

Looking good!

Now compare their 🍑s, just to be certain.

He's already changed his Twitter avi to that nightmarish sight.

They [italic]really[/italic] liked their disabled persons extra ghoulish back then, didn't they?

Yes, please!

"Fine, call it "retconning continuity" then, if the word canon as a "recent development" triggers you."

"Just leave it. Old fans are beyond obnoxious and will resort to attacking your syntax to try and prove a point. As if any of it matters."

Huh?

Just saying that back then, there was no canon when it came to throw-away hour long tv shows. It's a relatively recent development, and while it can be fun, I see no need to get twisted up in knots to justify "canon" when, virtually without exception. the canon was "this is this week's story -do you even remember last week's story?"

For instance, there are people who get inordinately exercised about inconsistent star-dates in Star Trek = in a tv show that was made before the home vcr was even invented. Honestly, who gives a fuck? You would have to be sitting there with a notebook!

[quote]You would have to be sitting there with a notebook!

Well, what else would they be doing in their parents’ basement?

The most recent issue of the Discovery comic tells the story of Stamets discovering the mycellial network and gives backstory for his relationship with Culber. It makes it fairly easy to see how two people who are so different could fall for one another.

And we find out that he specifically requested Tilly when he came aboard Discovery to work on the spore drive.

[bold]Tig Notaro Boards 'Star Trek: Discovery'[/bold]

[quote]The former [italic]One Mississippi[/italic] star [and noted DL foe] will guest-star on the sophomore season of the drama, taking on the role of chief engineer Denise Reno of the USS Hiawatha. In typical [italic]Star Trek: Discovery[/italic] fashion, the series does not reveal the number of episodes each actor is slated to appear in. Production on season two begins this month. A return date has not yet been determined.

[quote]The USS Hiawatha was briefly mentioned in the [italic]Star Trek[/italic] video game [italic]Starfleet Command[/italic] as an Akula-class ship affiliated with the Federation Starfleet. Notaro joins a season- two cast that includes Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, aka Captain Kirk's predecessor on the USS Enterprise.

r37 That last part is very interesting, thanks!

Look at the cake this Toronto-based baker came up with for the production team celebrating the start of Season 2!

I'm wet everywhere and legitimately can't decide whether I'd eat that or seat on it. The mother of all Sophie's choices right there.

[bold]Star Trek: Why the Original Janeway Left 'Voyager'[/bold]

After bits of gossip floating around for two decades, all was finally revealed this week. By Garrett fucking Wang, of all people. I've been trying to get to the bottom of this for the longest time now and have even resorted to badgering random Canadians here on DL for any insider info on what had transpired with Bujold. Read and be at peace, at long last.

[quote]Garrett Wang, another Star Trek: Voyager star, is now one of the hosts of The Alpha Quadrant. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Nana Visitor was a guest on the podcast and mentioned that she had heard Bujold was fired from Voyager. Wang decided to set the record straight by stating that Bujold wasn’t fired, but quit.

[quote]“We would shoot, and she’d just run off of the set, she wouldn’t even socialize,” Wang revealed. “So I stopped her, I kind of blocked her path, I asked her, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ And she stopped, and she kinda gave me the once over, and she felt like, ‘Hm, I guess I can share with this guy.’ And it was Genviève Bujold, the French-Canadian actress, so she looks at me and she says, ‘I feel as if I cannot trust anyone.” I said, ‘What do you mean by that?’ She said, ‘Well, I come in, and I want Janeway to be Captain first, woman second. I don’t want hairstyle, I don’t want a lot of makeup, but I come to work, and they give me hair, they do my make-up, and they lie to me.’

[quote]“So she quit the second day, and she realized that the shooting schedule would be crazy, and she had two very young children at home, maybe ages three and five, and she thought, ‘I’m never going to see these kids grow up, I’m not gonna be around. The shooting schedule is nutty, they didn’t do the things they promised me in the beginning,’ and thank god she quit before we aired one episode, right?”

[quote]Wang went on to say that, after the difficult time the network had had finding an actress it liked for the role the first time around, there was a rumor that they would recast Janeway as a man. Then, in order to keep the gender ratio the same, they’d fire one of the male actors and replace them with a woman. Whether the rumor was true or not, it never came to be because they found Kate Mulgrew.

I feel about five pounds lighter right now.

Reddit remains sceptical:

[quote]I am very skeptical of this account because Rick Berman has discussed numerous times how, why and when he fired her. Wang is a nice guy but he wouldn’t necessarily have the whole story, especially if Berman et al told people she quit to save face.

*skeptical

[quote]Just saying that back then, there was no canon when it came to throw-away hour long tv shows. It's a relatively recent development, and while it can be fun, I see no need to get twisted up in knots to justify "canon" when, virtually without exception. the canon was "this is this week's story -do you even remember last week's story?"

[quote]For instance, there are people who get inordinately exercised about inconsistent star-dates in Star Trek = in a tv show that was made before the home vcr was even invented. Honestly, who gives a fuck? You would have to be sitting there with a notebook!

Who? Well, they do.

But, if you don't give a fuck, why bother arguing it? Or why bother watching it? Whether so-called canon is or isn't important lies in the individual, but if you don't care - why do you care if other people do?

Apparently, you also give a fuck - just the opposite one from all those canon-loving folks.

Seems like arguing about whether canon is important is one notch down from arguing about the details of canon itself.

I know it's Vivienne Westwood and I'm glad he's glad but man... guys with elephants pants will never not look crazy to me. Seems like he stepped off the set of TNG, circa first season.

*elephant pants

Grammarly's truly useless for fashion stuff.

Young Spock confirmed to appear in flashbacks. No confirmation yet on present-day Spock so I'm thinking he might be on an away mission when the two ships meet. We'll see.

I'd be happier if they left old characters alone. DISCO was great and became more Trek like by the end of the season so there is no need to mess with more TOS characters.

Imagine the outrage if they start the second season with Burnham dining with Sarek and saying, "Well, that business with the Enterprise last week was something else, amirite?" And then just leave it at that.

Shirtless Saru informs us that season 2 starts filming tomorrow and proceeds to buzz his hair off.

In other news, it was revealed the show had to change 25% of Enterprise's original design for legal reasons.

I have been a fan of Star Trek since my childhood. I am really having trouble getting into this incarnation. The stories just aren't capturing my attention the way TOS, Next Generation or DS9 did. I keep watching and hoping that it eventually does.

I didn't like the Klingons, but loved everything else. The Klingons weren't like Klingons at all. I don't mind their look changing but their behavior. They were like another species.

r51 For what it's worth, the showrunners said season 2 is going to be more Trek-like.

r52 But they [italic]are[/italic] another species, Blanche, they are!

As an optimist, I remain positive that it will be more Trek-like next season, R53. It has great potential.

Did you finish all of season one, R51. I think the quality of the writing and acting kicked into overdrive immediately after the Harry Mudd and the space whale episode (which I loved justbfor the goofy pleasure of it all.) from the point through to the end of the season, things gelled, paces quickened, and entertainment (for me, anyway) went into warp.

I'm really excited about seeing Pike in action. I started watching TOS for the first time after DISCO had ended and I was totally convinced I'd be seeing his gorgeous peach galavanting across the galaxy after that wonderful (unaired?) pilot. But no, Gene giveth and Gene taketh away. And replaces The Butt To End All Butts with... [italic]Shatner.[/italic]

R55, Admittedly, it did get better in the second half. I will definitely watch Season Two.

It looks like we're for-sure getting Culber back. Wilson Cruz missed the first day of filming because the rotten weather in NYC on Monday ended with his flight being canceled.

While stuck at JFK, he did a Twitter Q&A, and confessed that he had a crush on Riker as a gayling.

r58 My bet would be on flashbacks. I can't normally stand them but I'll make an exception for these two.

I was overseas and downloaded a few episodes from their Netflix for the flight home. First off, overseas Netflix blows American Netflix out of the water. More importantly, the show REALLY holds up.

[Tilly slowly realizes that Phillipa is from the Mirror U]

Tilly: Oh, she's not--

Ash: No.

Tilly: So, she's from--

Michael: [Nodding] Mmmm.

Tilly: You're the Terran Emperor. [Attempts half-hearted Imperial salute]

Michael: Don't do that.

I loved that exchange too, R60!

I would watch it if that Rapp creature wasn't in it.

You know, I wasn't the biggest fan of Wilson Cruz's acting on this show but he's been so wonderfully involved with the (gay) ST fans on Twitter that I'm fine with him returning in any capacity now.

Three new character breakdowns for the second season. And holy shit, they're putting Tig in a wheelchair. She's also described as a recurring character so no luck for those hoping she'd just have a guest appearance. But [italic]is[/italic] she "extremely physically fit" enough? Looks pretty frail to me; hope she stocked on calcium and cholecalciferol before taking the role.

I'm more curious about them casting the rest of the crew of the Enterprise. Unless Pike is going to end up as captain of the Discovery, don't we have to see at least Number One? I guess they're saving Adult Spock for a while.

Tilly : Did you ever think, when you signed up for Starfleet, that you'd be forced to see war and death?

Michael : Death found me when I was a child. So, yeah. I knew what I was getting into.

Tilly : I don't think I did. Not really. Does that make me naive?

Michael : It makes you optimistic.

r66 Yeah, that one's a gem as well.

[bold]‘Star Trek 4’: S.J. Clarkson Becomes the First Female Director in Franchise’s History[/bold]

[quote]The studio announced at CinemaCon in Las Vegas that it was planning a fourth movie with Chris Hemsworth, who appeared as Chris Pine’s father in 2009’s “Star Trek.” Zachary Quinto is also set to return. Paramount is developing another “Star Trek” film from J.J. Abrams and Quentin Tarantino, but sources say it is still being written and would come after the fourth movie.

[quote]While details on “Star Trek 4” are vague, sources say a key plot point sees Pine’s character running into his father (Hemsworth) in a time travel ploy.

[quote]J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay penned the screenplay. Abrams and Lindsey Weber will produce through Bad Robot Productions, while David Ellison and Dana Goldberg of Skydance Media will executive produce.

[quote]Clarkson is best known for her work on the TV scene with shows such as “Dexter,” “Bates Motel,” “Orange is the New Black,” and “Jessica Jones.” She recently directed a handful of episodes for Marvel’s “The Defenders.”

Season 2 production video with glimpses of new alien races/faces and female uniforms to be worn on Enterprise.

OP pic — big cloaca face

[quote]‘Star Trek 4’: S.J. Clarkson Becomes the First Female Director in Franchise’s History

This is a bit misleading. They've had a number of women direct TV episodes, most notably Roxann Dawson, and Discovery's had two episodes directed by women.

However, I believe this lady can thank Patti Jenkins for the job.

[quote]Season 2 production video with glimpses of new alien races/faces and female uniforms to be worn on Enterprise.

Hey, a Saurian!

And what appears to be Anson Mount's backside in a The Cage-era uniform.

r71 The first sentnce of that article (which I omitted because it sounded too much like the title) addresses that.

[quote]S.J. Clarkson has been tapped to direct “Star Trek 4,” making her the first female to helm a film in the “Star Trek” franchise.

Shatner's such a bad sport. Being so graceless at that age is never a good look.

I'm just glad Isaacs doesn't take shit like that lying down.

As someone who shed actual tears at Leonard Nimoy's passing, I'm really going to have to dig to have an emotional reaction when it's Shatner's time.

r76 Yeah, Nimoy's passing was heartwrenching for me as well, even more so because of that last exquisite tweet he posted. Dignified beyond belief.

Tumblr fan fiction of Stamets waking up from a PTSD nightmare after visiting the USS Glenn, post-accident.

I guess that artist must be dealing with some [italic]serious[/italic] shit in her own life. Perhaps there's even a Spacey tangent to it and she's dealing with her own abuse.

She's displaying her work on Twitter as well. She's from Ukraine and she seems sweet enough so I hope Star Trek provides her relief and inspiration for years to come.

I still remember how cathartic it was for me, watching Voyager with a woman commanding a starship right after coming home from school where I was bullied for looking faggy. Two seemingly completely unconnected issues but people find solace in the strangest things.

I actually kind of like those, and I generally think fan art is horrifying.

[quote]I still remember how cathartic it was for me, watching Voyager with a woman commanding a starship right after coming home from school where I was bullied for looking faggy. Two seemingly completely unconnected issues but people find solace in the strangest things.

"When I didn't have any friends, it made me feel like maybe I did."

Found my new phone wallpaper on Tumblr as well. Always wanted a rainbow combadge.

I'll pretend it's drenched in the tears of bitter Trekkies.

How nice for you, honey.

r82 = bitter Trekkie

Oh, sorry, I meant [italic]Trekker.[/italic]

If they don't get every single strand of Pike's hair exactly right, we riot.

The doggo at the end is precious.

What [italic]are[/italic] these "upfronts", anyway? I've always imagined the stars going to their knees behind closed doors, begging TV execs for cash. Am I totally off base here and it's way more mundane than that?

[bold]A dozen years after near-death, Star Trek’s future may be stronger than ever[/bold]

[quote]On May 13, 2005, Star Trek: Enterprise ended its four-season run with the controversial two-part finale, “These Are the Voyages… ” The finale infamously brought in cast members from The Next Generation to tell the final chapter in Enterprise’s story, and it was viewed by some as a disrespectful and ignominious end to 18 almost-unbroken years of Trek on the small screen.

[quote]So, what happened within the last dozen years to right this franchise ship? Let’s just say, resolving corporate machinations or creative differences doesn’t happen at warp-speed.

A long-ass article, taking stock of where Star Trek is today. Despite how it is generally viewed these days, some of those 'Enterprise' episodes still hold a special place in my heart; my pleasure centres go off just thinking about how cosy most of that show felt to me.

[bold]Growing up gay on TV: Wilson Cruz on 'My So-Called Life' and 'Star Trek: Discovery'[/bold]

[quote]“This franchise has been around for over 50 years, and to not have LGBT characters represented was an obvious missing piece of the world,” says Cruz, whose character, Dr. Culber, technically died in season 1 but will return in season 2. (It’s complicated). “So many LGBT people have been fans since the ’60s and have been wanting the LGBT community to be a part of this universe. For them to be thanking us, it’s so moving.”

[quote]But Cruz may be even more thrilled about reaching newer Star Trek fans.

[quote]“I think about young people who are watching the show and, I hope, feel that their futures are being represented in this relationship,” he says. “That they see our relationships are as worthy of representation as everyone else’s—because they are.”

Wilson Cruz was terrible on Discovery: so wooden and bland. I'm happy his character is dead, but I'm worries he might pop up anyway.

The first paragraph tells us he's coming back.

[bold]Remote Controlled: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Cast, Creators on Reinventing Sci-Fi Franchise[/bold]

[quote]As Dr. Hugh Culber, Wilson Cruz played half of the first openly couple in “Star Trek” history opposite Anthony Rapp as Lt. Paul Stamets. Cruz recalled receiving an email from a young fan in Germany who wrote that watching “Discovery” has helped inspire him to come out as gay to his mother.

[quote]“For me, that’s what it’s about,” Cruz said. “In this moment that we get to help this generation imagine a future worth their while. That we get to express to them a future where they are celebrated for their differences, not just tolerated. That our loves ar equal in scope and beauty and to be part of that is life-altering.”

Cute. Power of representation, bitches.

[bold]'Star Trek: Discovery' Showrunners Out; Alex Kurtzman to Take Over[/bold]

[quote]Out are Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts, who originally took over the role at the helm of the drama from Bryan Fuller. Executive producer Alex Kurtzman, who has guided the franchise (and a few of its feature films), will take over as showrunner on season two. As part of the change, Kurtzman will now also oversee the Discovery writers room for season two.

[quote]Sources say the decision to oust Berg and Harberts was based not on the creative but instead for leadership and operational issues. Production on Discovery's first five episodes of season two are near completion, with Kurtzman likely taking over for episode six and beyond. Berg and Harberts, who were longtime collaborators with original showrunner Fuller, will likely still be credited on the episodes they oversaw. Sources say the budget for the season two premiere ballooned, with the overages expected to come out of subsequent episodes from Discovery's sophomore run. Insiders also stress that Berg and Harberts became increasingly abusive to the Discovery writing staff, with Harberts said to have leaned across the writers room table while shouting an expletive at a member of the show's staff. Multiple writers are said to have been uncomfortable working on the series and had threatened to file a complaint with human resources or quit the series altogether before informing Kurtzman of the issues surrounding Berg and Harberts. After hearing rumors of HR complaints, Harberts is said to have threatened the staff to keep concerns with the production an internal matter.

[quote]Sources tell THR that Discovery is nearing what has been characterized as a planned production hiatus after episode five, which will allow Kurtzman time to regroup the show's writing staff. Production is not expected to be impacted by the showrunner change.

[quote]In another departure for season two of Star Trek, THR has learned that executive producer Akiva Goldsman did not return to Discovery after serving as Kurtzman's right-hand man during its freshman run. Goldsman was brought in to help build the world of Discovery, but the veteran producer, who directed the season one finale, is said to have had a management style and personality that clashed with the writing staff. It's unclear if Goldsman will continue to receive an exec producer credit on season two.

Bad news because Kurtzman is shit but awful behaviour shouldn't be tolerated. At least Akiva's out as well so that's something, I suppose?

🎵 Aaron and Gretchen, sitting in a tree, A-B-U-S-I-N-G the writing staff. 🎵

Sometimes I really fucking hate knowing how the sausage is made.

[quote]Harberts said to have leaned across the writers room table while shouting an expletive at a member of the show's staff.

Dear Lord in Heaven! He SHOUTED an Expletive???? That's worse than the Holocaust!!

The writers are mentioned in the ousting of these two and Bryan Fuller's guy too. They're either a bit sensitive or the network is meddling or something. The reports above state that people THREATENED to file reports with HR, not that they actually did, so it couldn't have been that bad. Anyone good at reading between the lines?

Although it's funny that Fuller got ousted from this show and then American Gods.

r93 Doesn't matter. Unprofessional conduct is unprofessional. Those people were they coworkers, not their family members or their friends. When you're at your place of work, you adjust your behaviour accordingly. The days of "that's just showbiz" are over and thank fuck for that.

r95 He also left the 'Interview with the Vampire' TV series after that. He's making quite the reputation for himself.

*their coworkers

[quote]Sources say the budget for the season two premiere ballooned, with the overages expected to come out of subsequent episodes from Discovery's sophomore run.

Seems like this sentence concerns Reddit the most. People keep mentioning the dreaded clip show. TNG had apparently gone through much the same:

[quote]This is shaping up a lot like the first couple of seasons of TNG. A cast that gets along famously while there's complete chaos in the writers room. All we need is Gene Roddenberry's lawyer giving script notes...

This is the first piece of DISCO fanart that caught my eye and made me want to see more from the artist. Love this style for some reason.

Also, I totally ship these two now.

[quote] Insiders also stress that Berg and Harberts became increasingly abusive to the Discovery writing staff,

Can you believe that putz !

[quote]Seems like this sentence concerns Reddit the most. People keep mentioning the dreaded clip show. TNG had apparently gone through much the same:

Maybe, but "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" also started as a money-saving episode, and that turned out well.

Point being, talented writers can do better with restrictions than "Shades of Gray."

[quote]Anyone good at reading between the lines?

r94 The network wouldn't have put such a stain on those two showrunner's resumes if this were just simple politicking. If the trades reported in such a blunt way that they had been abusive to the writing staff, that means the atmosphere was really fucking toxic and unbearable and what we're hearing about was only the tip of the iceberg. Also, notice how neither of them denied being abusive. That's a big tell right there.

Now for the main news... drumrolls, please!

[bold]Alex Kurtzman Inks $25M Overall Deal Extension With CBS TV Studios, Will Expand 'Star Trek' TV Franchise[/bold]

[quote]Under the new pact, Kurtzman will serve as the show's lone showrunner after taking over Star Trek: Discovery from Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg, who were recently fired from the series. Kurtzman will also expand the Star Trek franchise for the small screen, developing new series, miniseries and other content, including animation.

[quote]The new deal comes as rumblings about another Star Trek series, featuring Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Star Trek: The Next Generation's Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, have been heating up. Sources say Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman, who left Discovery after season one, are attached to the Stewart-led reboot. CBS TV Studios declined to confirm the Stewart project as sources say a deal is far from completed and may not happen despite the fact that the actor recently teased his potential return to the franchise.

I don't know about you, but my nerd jockstrap is about five different kinds of wet right now.

*showrunners' resumes

More details:

[quote]The potential new shows are said to include:

[quote]A series set at Starfleet Academy from creators Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz. The duo most recently developed the CW’s reboot of “Dynasty” and previously created shows like “Gossip Girl” and Hulu and Marvel’s “Runaways.”

[quote]A limited series whose plot details are being kept under wraps.

[quote]A limited series based around the “Wrath of Khan” story. Khan’s full name is Khan Noonien Singh. He was famously portrayed by Ricardo Montalbán in both the original series episode “Space Seed” and again in the film “Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan.” Benedict Cumberbatch then played the character in the 2013 film “Star Trek Into Darkness.”

[quote]An animated series whose plot details are being kept under wraps.

Does any of that excite you? I have to say I'm bored by the very thought of a series centred around Khan or the Academy.

r102 excites me. Well, his news.

[quote] A series set at Starfleet Academy

Didn't they already do that.

Kurtzman is one of the worst things to happen to the Trek franchise since, well since Berman went off the rails and they let Braga run things.

The season opener being over budget doesn't sound that extraordinary to me. From what I hear that's quite common, and they always take the money from future episodes of the season. So I doubt that's the true reason. What I do believe though is problem with budget in general. That's what a studio is usually concerned about most. Behavioral problems usually just become relevant when they pose a financial risk. Constant abuse could mean that risk in terms of litigation.

I hear that Enterprise had a similar problem with Braga and the writing staff which caused some defection. I guess when you're dealing with artists which writers are after all, you better be good to your staff.

[bold]‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Landing In Hall H At Comic-Con[/bold]

[quote]CBS All Access and CBS Television Studios have set plans for bringing Star Trek: Discovery to San Diego Comic-Con, led by a Hall H presentation Friday, July 20. The chock-full panel will include castmembers Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Mary Wiseman, Anthony Rapp, Mary Chieffo, Wilson Cruz and Anson Mount along with executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin.

[quote]The panel will be moderated by Tig Notaro, who will appear in a guest role as Chief Engineer Reno for Season 2.

Spinoff talk, trailer maybe, Anson Mount presenting his booty to fans for closer inspection in order to determine whether it matches Pike's closely enough, brand new merch... can't wait! I'd buy every single one of those glorious combadges if I was there.

They've also added James Duff, the creator of The Closer and Major Crimes as a producer. He wrote for Enterprise, so he's not new to the franchise.

Unfortunately, he will probably try to write his husband onto the show.

r110 Yeah, I wanted to post that news here when it was announced but it's a bit dry. Just general housecleaning, really.

Phillip P. Keene appearing wouldn't bother me as long as he can act. I mean, the actress playing Detmer is the editor's daughter, and we have Notaro's stunt casting. Patty Jenkins has packed WW2 with her personal friends as well. Again, no problem for me as long as they can act and it's written well.

[quote]Phillip P. Keene appearing wouldn't bother me as long as he can act

Yeah, about that...

I mean, does Star Trek really have a tradition of acting excellence when it comes to guest appearances as an alien of the week? I'm watching TOS for the first time now and awful acting seems to run in its veins from the very start, even when it comes to recurring characters.

And let's not even get into DS9 being what it was [italic]despite[/italic] Brooks being one of the worst leading actors I've ever seen. Speaking of that ungrateful bitch, someone on Reddit the other day found this Google Groups discussion about him from 1994, with people moaning about him getting cast due to political correctness. Plus ça change...

Avery Brooks’ portrayal of Sisko was a one note “Captain Chip-On-My-Shoulder.”

[bold]Why Don't We Have a Star Trek Show From the Aliens' Point of View?[/bold]

I agree with this so damn much. I already mentioned in this or an earlier thread that my brain just about melted when Saru told Burnham (from a position of authority!) not to treat him like one of her xenoanthropology subjects. For some reason, he became extra [italic]real[/italic] to me in that moment. I know we'll probably never meet an actual sentient alien species in real life, so "homo sapiens privilege" is not a pressing concern, but I still love the feeling of Saru telling me my species ain't all that and to get the fuck over ourselves already. (He then spits in my mouth and calls me a maricón in the porn version.)

However, perhaps a whole show would be an overkill. I'd be happy with just one solidly-written episode that would extend that Saru comment to a full hour, so I could revisit it over and over again. What do y'all think? Might I just be into degradation play maybe?

Bingeing TOS for the first time. In the episode Space Seed, the "20th-century expert" says we cracked warp or something similar to that in 2018. Ha! How optimistic they were. I must have missed the eugenics wars in the mid-90s as well.

However, that's not what caught my attention. Said expert literally takes one look at the brown guy in the stasis pod and proceeds to speculate that he must be from northern India, a Sikh ("They're the most fantastic warriors!"). Scotty then says "They're all mixed types: Western [whatever that means], mid-European [?!], Latin, Oriental [ouch]." Because as we all know, there were no non-whites living in the US in the late 60s when the show was made, let alone decades into the future. Must be from India!

The constant misogyny and workplace sexual harassment I got used to by now because you can't get around it, but this racist shit really caught me off-guard. Wasn't this written and produced in L.A.? Was L.A. really as bad as the rest of the country in the late 60s when it comes to racial issues? I can't believe how far we've come in just fifty years, on all of these fronts. Makes me wonder what society will look like fifty years hence. Will Discovery come off equally deplorable then, I wonder?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks "Space Seed" is racist as fuck. Not the least of which is Mexican Ricardo Montalbán playing South Asian. He's so good at it that you can grit your teeth and overlook it, but you also may note that they appear to have given him whatever the Indian equivalent of blackface is, which they blessedly skipped for Star Trek II.

[quote]Was L.A. really as bad as the rest of the country in the late 60s when it comes to racial issues?

The Watts riot was a year and a half before the episode first aired.

The Star Trek novels actually had a clever handwaving of the fact that there was no Eugenics War by claiming that the War was what was ACTUALLY behind the unrest throughout the mid-90s, including in the Balkans and Somalia. It was actually a pretty cool alternate history.

[quote] Why Don't We Have a Star Trek Show From the Aliens' Point of View?

As far back as 1977 there was a filk song that gives a taste of what that could be like. It's been twenty years since I found this song and I think it is a quite interesting concept.

Neutral Zone (The Romulan View)

r117 Thanks, I really appreciate your reply. I thought I was going to get pounded mercilessly so was afraid to check in until just now when I have some news to share. A Mexican being cast to play an Indian was something I learned when researching the show after having posted that reply, and it was just the icing on the cake. I mean, I'm glad Montalbán got a job but still... oy vey.

I don't want to give the impression that I'm shitting on TOS. I actually can't stop bingeing it because it's quite excellent once you get used to its aesthetics. The storytelling, the inventiveness, seeing where subsequent ST series draw from, and their views on technology at the time are incredibly captivating. Which is exactly why those parts that have aged especially poorly disappoint me so much. It all comes from a place of love.

I'm watching TNG for the first time as well and the fourth episode of the first season made me nervous immediately because a group of black tribal people capture a white woman. Here we go again, I thought. But they managed to subvert it cleverly by the end. What a difference twenty years makes! I'm on the fifth episode right now and I'm enjoying my ass off.

EW's first look at season 2.

[quote]“Beyond that, we’re really going to be digging into family,” says Martin-Green, including the complicated roots of her character Michael Burnham, a human raised on Vulcan by Spock’s parents.

[quote]“A lot of questions are going to be raised; some are going to be answered,” she says coyly.

That kinda does look like a modern reimagining of the Enteprise's interiour, doesn't it?

[quote]According to EW’s caption, this is Burnham walking onto the bridge of the Enterprise, although the Trek experts at Trek Movie speculate, based on a production video from earlier in the spring, that it might actually be Burnham walking into a room labelled 3F, which they think might be Spock’s quarters.

[quote]The other image, from EW’s print edition, shows a new design for the Saurian race first showcased in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, in the form of a character named Linus, who looks to be a science officer.

[quote]“His name is Linus, and he’s a Saurian,” says Martin-Green. “We’ve seen his species before, so I’m excited to see if [fans] can pinpoint just exactly where.”

I hope the fact that he's the science officer means that Saru will stay as captain and Michael will be his Number One.

r123 Yes! That would be the ideal scenario for me. Although I've heard two mindblowing suggestions the other day as well: Pike's Number One becoming Discovery's captain, or them picking up T'Pol on Vulcan to become their new captain. What do you think about those two options?

T'Pol would be highly unlikely. Enterprise was set 100 years before ToS, and she was 62 years old then.

In theory, Spock died when he was 162 on New Vulcan though the accuracy of that when you cross multiple timelines is questionable. Granted Sarek was supposed to be almost 200 when he died, but that all just seems awfully old to be racing around the galaxy.

I found this photo-op page for the upcoming convention, with a list of ST alums and their prices. It's sad, funny, and illuminating at the same time. The Shat, Sonequa, and Takei are top dogs currently with $100 a pop for an individual photo, followed by Anson Mount, Anthony Rapp, and Walter Koenig with $90. Although why Joe Piscopo is worth more than Jeri Ryan I will never understand. Terry Farrell charging as much as Kate Mulgrew, Jason Isaacs, and Nichelle Nichols seems peculiar, but she must know something I don't. Sam Vartholomeos (the twink who dies in the DISCO two-part premiere) charging more than Jeffrey Combs is an actual WTF moment.

r125 Yeah, some of them do live over two hundred years. Although they'd probably make T'Pol an admiral at that advanced age, not a starship captain.

Terry is doing it in costume. That's why.

I'm surprised that Anson Mount is getting away with charging that much, given that he hasn't even technically been on Star Trek yet.

Don't find it sad. Even the lower-tiered ones can clear a LOT of money, much of it under the table, in a weekend.

She's doing it in a uniform without makeup, which itself doesn't look that complicated, to begin with. So the humiliation of having to wear that uniform that made you famous gets you extra dollars? [italic]Gurl.[/italic]

Anson Mount is probably hot right now because of the Inhumans and whatnot. He seems like someone who's always been vaguely famous, even though I have never seen him in a single thing apart from Inhumans. Where he never even spoke.

[quote]Anson Mount is probably hot right now because of the Inhumans and whatnot. He seems like someone who's always been vaguely famous, even though I have never seen him in a single thing apart from Inhumans. Where he never even spoke.

You never saw Crossroads, starring Britney Spears, one of the most celebrated works from Shonda Rhimes?

No, seriously.

[quote]So the humiliation of having to wear that uniform that made you famous gets you extra dollars? Gurl.

I don't know if it's that humiliating. She makes some extra scratch and gets fawned over. I saw her do a panel on Star Trek and feminism with Marina Sirtis and Nana Visitor at a convention in NYC a few years ago, and she appeared to be having a great time. She's gorgeous in person.

I highly recommend going to a panel that Marina is doing. She's AWESOME. And if you don't, she will have you EJECTED INTO SPACE!

No, I'm not an American so my pop culture references aren't and will never be the same as yours. But I have seen Crossroads being mentioned left and right when this casting news dropped. Still, it seems weird that he'd be hot today because of a single movie in 2002 that looks like an objective flop, both judging from the critical reception and the audience vote on IMDb. I guess you had to be there.

That feminism panel sounds nice and makes me like Terry more now. This is probably the panel I'd be most excited about if I were at this year's Comic-Con. It's a shame no one from DISCO will be there.

He's worked pretty steadily since Crossroads. He was the lead on a series called Hell on Wheels that also starred Colm Meaney. It ran for five seasons, although I don't know how, because I don't know a single person who watched it.

I think he's going to be a great Pike.

Found the screengrab of a Saurian from The Motion Picture. I think the redesign isn't an improvement per se, it's just less scary. I like them both but I'd only make out with the modern version.

r131 Oh, yes, I now remember that it was actually Hell on Wheels, not the Crossroads role that people in the Star Trek subreddit were gushing over when the casting announcement was made. Every other comment was about that series which I had never heard of before. I'm very excited about him playing Pike.

They released the high-res image of the Saurian yesterday. How shiny are those eyes? I just wanna lick 'em!

Comic-Con panel tonight. All will be revealed.

Well, some of it, at least.

I don't really "do" donuts per se, but in this case...

Do you think he should sport that bushy beard on the show as well? He looks manlier and sexier, although I'm sure some would get triggered by a Pakistani with a beard being on ST.

Learned a neat little thing just now - if you put ":orig" at the end of the URL of an image that's been posted on Twitter, you'll get the original size. This one is so zoomable you can literally see the lint on Linus' uniform. Also, his fleshy ears make me want to order a pizza. Nifty.

Who said you can't teach old bitches new tricks?

Rebecca fucking Romijn is coming back from the dead to play Pike's Number One !!!

[quote]Just call me “Number One!” Honored to play such an iconic character in #StarTrek Canon originally played by the First Lady of Star Trek, Majel Barrett-Roddeberry!

Trailer! I'm smiling. Ear to ear.

Some more info from the panel:

A visit to Saru's home planet confirmed for S2, they said there will be (additional) Easter eggs in S2 and that they are syncing up with canon, family is a theme for S2, more L’Rell, Spock confirmed.

Will air early 2019 but in December we will get 4 standalone short films called Short Treks. One explores Saru’s backstory. Each mini-episode will be 10-15 minutes long & will feature Tilly, Saru & Harry Mudd.

r139 Thanks, I had to watch this non-geo-locked one.

Literally shaking as I'm typing. That was legitimately one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Pike commanding DISCO and both of the ships working together?! That. Is. Insane!

THIS IS THE POWER OF MATH, PEOPLE!

r142 Incredible line.

Christ Almighty, people on Reddit are already bitching that Romijn is ever so slightly too old for the role. They have the stardates figured out and everything.

They should delete him and reshoot with me!

Oh, gods, look at Anson Mount shaking his booty!

Here's more on Short Treks

r147 This one sounds intriguing and makes me wonder whether a known character will reveal him- or herself at the end of the episode.

[quote]Aldis Hodge will star in another as Craft, a man who finds himself as the only human on board a deserted ship.

I see Shazad went to a barber between the doughnuts this morning and the panel in the afternoon.

That's from last year's SDCC.

r150 Damn, catfished by a hashtag! Didn't even see Jason Isaacs there.

R144 I didn't see much complaining. To be fair, Romijn does look like an old hag compared to Majel as Number 1 -- but who cares. As far as I know, no one knows how old that character is.

They're 13 years apart in age, which is nothing. And who cares, anyway. Just make her a bad-ass character to get back at the studio and the women in the test audience at the time turning up their noses at a strong female character, that's all that matters. Okay, some more thoughts now that my hysteria has subsided somewhat.

Why doesn't Pike call another starship from Earth or one of the starbases? Seizing DISCO like that seems... impolite, if not outright rude. They were minutes into warping from Earth to Vulcan, which is an established path, so what gives? Additionally, those red lights are spread over 30.000 light years, they ain't going anywhere. Note that Voyager was flung 75.000 light years from Earth.

LOVE the uniform a woman from Pike's crew is wearing, with the miniskirt and black sheer tights (leg warmers?). I'll never back down from saying that miniskirts and shorts with exposed legs on women and men, serving on starships, are outrageous. I could literally see both of Uhura's buttcheeks the other day and she was just standing. It's demeaning and unprofessional, especially on a military-science vessel.

That was Spock's quarters Michael was in, maybe? If so, it looked [italic]sweeet.[/italic] You don't really hear the phrase "foster brother" on TV that much, do you? I want more of that. I want to see FAMILY in all shapes and sizes this season.

Also, I want Burhnam to politely suggest to Linus he really shouldn't sneeze on others like that and him freaking out, "Don't treat me like one of your xenoanthropology subjects! This is part of my [italic]culture!"[/italic] However, I'll be pissed if they only ever use him for that one gag.

Rebecca Romijn - a great choice that I wouldn't have considered in a million years.

r154 I love getting blindsided like that and I love seeing actresses who have faded away somewhat getting another chance. So this is an especially delightful bit of casting news for me.

That looks so spacious and tasteful.

Just my foster sister, browsing casually through my personal log yet again.

That collar is everything. Why isn't this a trend yet?

Mount looks so boyish when clean-shaven, doesn't he?

Gorgeousness.

I didn't know whether to post this in the Drag Race thread or this one.

Alaska Thunderfuck as Commander [yeah, right!] Troi. Pretty spot on, I think. Although she needs just a smidge more of general uselessness to really inhibit the character.

R154 A recurring role on a Star Trek series isn't exactly what I'd call a second chance, especially since she seems to work consistently on tv.

And so, the inevitable occurs:

[quote]“Yes, you will be seeing Spock this season,” teased Kurtzman. That tease continued in the sizzle reel for Discovery Season 2, where it became clear that Captain Pike’s arrival on the Discovery is in part a mission to find a missing Spock.

This is just getting ridiculous.

Mount is not Jeffrey Hunter, but he looks damn good.

r160 she needs Data running after her with a knife saying, "Kill zem! Kill zem all!"

r161 It's a wholesome popular show that gets you fan love and convention money until the day you die; I'd call that the very definition of a second chance. Haven't seen her in anything since Ugly Betty so she's been pretty much dead in my eyes. Just look at that Chicago Hope admiral.

r162 How is it ridiculous? I like that conceit. I don't understand why so many on Reddit are annoyed that we're seeing more of Spock, although admittedly I am only a season into TOS and TNG as of right now. He might annoy me when all is said and done. Like Princess Leia, there can never be enough of Spock in my view.

New season, new filter.

Someone suggested Pike needs Discovery because of its spore drive, which is all the explanation I need. Though I did get the impression they dismantled it before heading to Vulcan? We'll see.

Full video of the panel.

They are bringing back Cruz.

While some may cheer, as a storytelling issue, it's a huge problem. Then again, Khan's blood and Spock's Katra before that already jumped that shark, so why not.

It has to do with "the nature of the mycelial network", I believe Rapp said at the panel. I think Pike will force Discovery to use their spore drive again and that's how the two will meet again. Of course, those red lights might play a part as well. I don't really mind and I see people on Reddit liking Cruz's character because he was steadfast in his convictions. I only wish he displayed the same level of conviction in his acting; there's no excuse for such a wooden delivery on a 2018 Star Trek show. Peak TV, people!

Also, I'm claiming Linus as my fantasy boyfriend right now so Stamets better stay the hell away from him.

Has Saru never shaken a hand before? I mean, what is this even?

He can be such a goofball and as a goofy person myself, I'd love to see him become a captain eventually.

This thread got totally derailed for me by r134. I read the last 30 posts and yet I always return to the butt on the right in this picture. Urgh... the things that should be done with that ass.

r170 Hell yes, we are definitely on the same page there. In fact, I kept staring at it for the longest time before posting it here. I also kept looking at his bulge but ultimately decided it's really just a phone in his pocket.

Here's an even more zoomable version. Inspect those pixels!

[bold]Anson Mount Talks Playing Pike, Reveals How Many Episodes He’s In Of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’[/bold]

Mount says he's contracted for all 13 episodes. Is that just a technicality or does that necessarily mean he'll appear / get credit in every episode? Because that's HUGE. It would lend credence to the theory that Discovery is getting a new captain each season and we'll only meet the new captain on Vulcan at the end of season 2.

Michael Chabon wrote the Shorter Trek with Aldis Hodge.

Yup, should be good.

[bold]Doug Jones Talks About Meeting Saru’s Family In ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 2[/bold]

[quote]I have my own family back on my home planet, which we are going to meet in season two. I’m very excited about visiting my home planet. This season we are back to exploring and back to what Star Trek started as.

[quote]We meet some family. And the questions will be answered as to why am I the only Kelpien who ever joined Starfleet and how did that happen. That is going to be addressed. Between that regular episode and the [Star Trek: Short Treks] mini-episode I am going to be doing as well, a Saru mini-episode.

[quote]Also, not only are we going to go to my home planet and meet some family, but I am also a prey species. That means there is a predator out there. Who is that? How do they have a thumb on us? All of that gets addressed and answered too. And my evolution might be part of that as well.

Can't wait! I'm so glad they didn't relegate this to one of the Trek Shorts only.

I don't need Klingon boobs again, but I hope we get more of the racier content. Or even not racier, Michael and Ash dancing to "Love and Happiness" was one of the sexiest things Trek has ever done.

[bold]STLV18: Jason Isaacs Talks Canon, Controversy, Space Wedgies And Why He Joined ‘Star Trek: Discovery’[/bold]

[quote]Isaacs had a lot to say about the costumes on the show, describing them as a “gastric band” due to how tight they were. He joked that this was one area where the show wasn’t living up to its ideals, saying:

[quote]Although the future is all-inclusive when it comes races and sexuality and physical types, but there can be no creases, apparently. It was very, very important from CBS that the clothes should never have a crease in them.

[quote]He explained how for Discovery the solution to minimize creases and solve the “Picard Manuever” issue of the jackets riding up whenever you stood up was solved by having the jackets zipped to the pants. However, this created a new problem that whenever you lifted your arms up, you would get a “front wedgie” creating what he described as “space camel toe.”

[quote]The actor noted that when the first image of Lorca was released, it revealed a “tremendously controversial crease” which he joked resulted in “everybody getting fired.” In the end, the only way to make things work was for him to have two jackets, one for when he was seated and one for when he was standing, and they had to swap them out between takes.

First photo with The Crease, referenced by Isaacs.

Showrunner and actors say that Spock will be different from what we're used to because it's set ten years prior and he's not yet formed the same way he was in TOS.

Also, Anson Mount said the actor playing Spock is even more handsome than him. Now I can't wait for the reveal! Will we be salivating over... [italic]Spock[/italic] next year? A shirtless and very much ripped Spock, maybe? Oh, my.

In other news, Rainn Wilson revealed that his Short Trek was written by one of the Rick and Morty writers.

[bold]!!! New series with Patrick Stewart confirmed !!![/bold]

[quote]It is an unexpected but delightful surprise to find myself excited and invigorated to be returning to Jean-Luc Picard and to explore new dimensions within him. Read my full statement in the photo.

By the way, I just finished the first season of TNG for the first time and [italic]I'm[/italic] pumped about this. I can't even imagine how those who have grown up with TNG are feeling right now.

[quote]Alex Kurtzman brings @SirPatStew onto the stage to announce the next Star Trek series to monstrous applause and one “HOLY SHIT!” from the audience.

Video of the meltdown.

A better version was uploaded just now. Though I don't understand... he says he spent the first twenty minutes of that meeting explaining why he has to turn it down but then something changed. A bigger paycheck? I don't blame him, really. Hope Mulgrew joins him now that Orange is coming to an end.

Woo hoo!!!

I want to mount Anson

Isaacs is just too fab for words. A great storyteller, just like Mulgrew and Stewart. He can always go into standup if he ever gets bored with acting.

I hope it wasn't just money that brought Stewart back. He's seemed so done with it in the past, although he was open to considering more X-Men movies but changed his mind when he saw Logan and realized they weren't going to top it, so he does changes his mind.

r188 Yeah, he even acknowledges in the video that he was done, done, DONE with Trek and had been quite vocal about that in the past. I'm sure all the different circumstances played a part in this decision - from the paycheck, to the state of the world, to him getting older and thinking about his legacy, to his limited options on TV and in movies post-Logan, and of course, to the adoration of the fans/audience. There's no substitute for a good old deafening applause when you're an actor, after all.

He seemed to be moved to tears by it all so I'm sure he'll translate that into this project. I'm just glad he's back.

Patrick Stewart is fantastic! I hope he can have Ian Mckellan be in the new series tooo

If Jean-Luc Picard is back, please please please let him be an explorer and diplomat (like in the TV series) and not an action hero (like in the movies).

r191 People are speculating it'll take place at the Academy and that he'll be a teacher there. I'd like that as - contrary to the opinion of the vast majority - I wouldn't want a series set in space post-Nemesis. The technology at that point is basically indistinguishable from magic. That's also why I like prequels so much.

No word on the rest of the TNG cast, huh?

I'm sure they've all been clamouring to be attached to this project in the past six months. And I don't blame them; it's a sweet gig.

Though I don't much like this "It's going to be an antidote to Discovery - back to basics!" talk I've been seeing around. Because that usually just translates to "less PoC and gay characters, please". I hope it's as diverse as Discovery, so the holdouts will have no choice but to get used to the new normal.

Isaacs talking about the countless emails from the racists he received at r187 was heartbreaking. I just hope that guy reuploads the video as it was one of the most entertaining STLV talks ever.

It was announced today that the DVD and Blu-ray of the first season of DISCO are hitting stores November 13. I recall someone asking about it upthread.

Family photo.

From their Twitter:

[quote]On November 13, Season 1 of #StarTrekDiscovery will be available on Blu-ray DVD [bold]with 2 hours of special features including deleted and extended scenes![/bold]

Can't wait!

Holy shit, another Klingon redesign confirmed for Season 2! I didn't mind their look, really, but it alienated a lot of the fans, which is always unfortunate.

I've got a feeling they're trying their best to fix all of the (too) radical crap Bryan Fuller came up with.

Apparently, the series itself is the baby of Kristen Beyer, one of the Disco writers who's also done the excellent post-series Voyager novels. I'm hoping that means she's going to work in some of the incredibly rich universe the writers have built up since the last TNG movie into the official canon. It would be a shame to lose it.

r199 That's really reassuring, thanks. Kurtzman should just run and coordinate the whole TV franchise, not the individual shows. He's best at that.

I could see the Klingon re-design have budgetary reason. But then again, they also mentioned that DSC would be brought closer to existing canon. So, yeah maybe they explain that we have just seen certain species/kinds so far.

r201 Yeah, he also said we've only met 6 out of 24 Klingon houses in the first season. So it might be a creative decision that the members of each house have a distinct look. Maybe in the future, not all of the houses survive or are simply not shown.

By 24, I was of course referring to the great houses, not the lesser ones.

The grayed & stricken text of Troll 5229 has ruined this thread.

We got us a Spock.

A hot Spock.

Production registered two new Star Trek trade marks, "Star Trek: Reliant" and "Star Trek: Destiny". Don't find them terribly exciting. Not even sure they're registered for a new TV show. Could be for a game or other off site projects.

There was a very good three-part Star Trek novel called Destiny. There's zero percent chance this is related to that, given that it was a story which involved characters from TNG-VOY and lead to the Federation almost falling to a massive Borg invasion.

One wonders if they will get pointy ears naked

r208 Gregory Peck's grandson that one

Short Treks start October 4th, with one rolling out monthly.

First in the hopper is "Runaway," the minisode about Tilly.

R201 I hope they bring the Klingons back to more of their previous appearance because that was the biggest problem with the show for me.

That's my Tilly! I missed her.

She's learned how to do a great smoky eye since graduating from the Academy.

R206 They also trademarked Star Trek Lower Decks at that point, and it was just announced as the new animated series.

Star Trek: Ceti Alpha V was trademarked, and some are speculating that could be the limited series being developed. Maybe there will be one limited series about the Reliant and one about Khan's "colony" on Ceti Alpha V.

I found some images from the Discovery 2019 wall calendar. The photo for June is Stamets and Culber getting ready for bed.

What they did there, I see it.

I just watched the latest Short Trek - Calypso. I liked it, but it felt like generic scifi, not specifically like Star Trek. But Aldis Hodge... damn, he is hot. And a great actor!

They're courting Michelle Yeoh for a Georgiou spin-off. It's most likely Section 31 based, but I confess I'd like to see a prequel about Prime Georgiou more.

Is it just me or are they milking the franchise too much already? I like Discovery a lot. And how can one not look forward to a Picard show? But I'm good with two shows at a time. Specifically the character of Georgiou was not compelling enough to want her for her own show. Bizarro Georgiou was a badass, but still pretty one-dimensional.

The latest Short Trek revealed that Saru, if possible, is even braver than we thought.

I loved, loved, loved that the first human he met was Georgiou.

[quote]Is it just me or are they milking the franchise too much already?

The short Treks were purely financial.

The first season of STD was basically paid for by sales of international distribution. After the financial failure of the first season, international distributors refused to pay as much. CBS thought to make up the shortfall by doing these short Treks. However, they couldn't sell them at even greatly reduced prices from the original ask.

Final S2 trailer. January 17 can't come quickly enough.

I'm sure they have some good stories and probably an overall exciting second seeason. But I still don't get the benefit of this being a prequel. They're boxing themselves in because the canon is pretty elaborate already. A post VOY would leave them wiyh lots more freedom for their writing. Half of the articles and reviews I read are about how the show follows or disobeys the canon and what needs to happen to be within canon again. It's tiresome. Why bring back Spock? So we get to see a troubled verson, a pre-Spock. Why did it have tobe Spock? Why not Newvok who is a blank slate?

Don't get me wrong. I liked Discovery's season 1 a lot. But the prequel issues were just distracting, not enriching the show. Just my 2 cents.

And yet another season of Grace and Frankie has dropped seamlessly...

[quote]But I still don't get the benefit of this being a prequel. They're boxing themselves in because the canon is pretty elaborate already. A post VOY would leave them wiyh lots more freedom for their writing.

FREEBIRD!

Sorry, but the last two posts don't make sense to me.

What happened to Jason Isaacs?

R219 Financial failure? What are you even talking about? The short Treks were created to provide All Access subscribers some fresh Star Trek content while they wait for a new season in an attempt to reduce cancellations. CBS was not looking to make money off international sales of a few short films; what a stupid claim.

Sigh this show still sucks and now it seems to be going for even more gimmicks. Spock. AGAIN. And HE'S NOT LIKE HOW YOU REMEMBER HIM. Shock, another excuse to completely change the character.

This show is just creatively bankrupt.

They've confirmed that the Phillipa Section 31 spinoff is happening.

Not sure how I feel about this announcement. I liked pilot-Phillipa. Not sure how only-bad parallel Phillipa can work. I always found this parallel version a bit too over-acted and cartoonish. We'll see.

[quote][R219] Financial failure? What are you even talking about? The short Treks were created to provide All Access subscribers some fresh Star Trek content while they wait for a new season in an attempt to reduce cancellations. CBS was not looking to make money off international sales of a few short films; what a stupid claim.

You are wholly incorrect. Details about the finances behind STD are widely available in the press.

CBS was indeed looking both to bolster content and make make up for the loss of revenue from much lower than expected international sales. It did not meet expectation of those distributors, so they would not pay as much for the second season. As pointedly, many international distributors would not pay for these shorts, so they were not available upon release in some international markets.

The only thing stupid about the claim is the person who refutes it without having done his homework.

Can you post a link, r230?

[quote]Netflix reportedly paid more than 100 percent of the cost of Star Trek: Discovery in order to obtain the rights to distribute the series internationally...According to Variety, the average episode of Star Trek: Discovery costs upwards of $8 million to produce.

The asking price for the short treks dropped precipitously over the course of negotiations.

Thanks for posting the link, very informative.

That article doesn't say anything about Short Trek episodes. I think it makes sense that they were only produced to keep subscriptions up until DSC's second season starts. Don't think they were meant to be a big money maker. Not reading anything about lower than expected international sales. From what the article says I understand that Netflix is the only international distributor.

[quote]That article doesn't say anything about Short Trek episodes. I think it makes sense that they were only produced to keep subscriptions up until DSC's second season starts. Don't think they were meant to be a big money maker. Not reading anything about lower than expected international sales. From what the article says I understand that Netflix is the only international distributor.

Well, there is no one summary article that covers the entire topic and you can only link one article on DL. It's covered in multiple articles that go back months and requires that you synthesize data to draw some conclusions.

While there is some connection between using the short treks to maintain subscriptions in the US on CBS all access, the vast majority of shows don't produce interim content to keep their fans interested. Netflix certainly wouldn't need such content to prevent subscription attrition in the international markets.

There are additional articles that suggest that the high per episode cost for STD, combined with the reduced payment for international distribution rights by Netflix, was a big driver. CBS thought that they could get a big chunk of change - $30 million by some estimates - for the shorts. There were no takers and the price continued to drop. At one point, the rumor was that it dropped to $10 million for them and still no takers. That's why accessing them outside the US and Canada (where there was a different distribution deal) had been much more difficult.

While released in the US beginning in October, last I heard, they still weren't available in most international markets. Since Netflix holds the international rights to STD, including these short treks, some have suggested that the monthly release of short form content is inconsistent with their strategy that incorporates binge watching. But, does it really make sense that they'd forego them when these could be binged along with the first season. It seems more likely that money drove their decision.

You can find additional relevant articles with a minimum of searching now that you have this article as a jumping off point - one side point. Read the articles very closely. There is a battle going between the folks who want to prove Discovery is a roaring success and those who want to say it's a dismal failure - parse the data.

Remember, it's a business and all parties involved want to make money. So, ask yourself whether the interpretations make sense in light of who is spending money, who is making money, and who is spinning the information in the best or worst light.

r225 He's on my dick

R234 Well, obviously Netflix is in a completely different situation than CBS All Access, which is a new service with little content. Netflix has a large library of original programming, including shows and films, that premiere throughout the year. All Access is being sold on the appeal of Star Trek; Netflix was never sold on the back of one particular piece of original content.

And to even claim that CBS was looking to get $30 million for four 10-15 minutes short films is straight up insane. Short films have very little value as content. And if CBS already had a first look deal with Netflix for Star Trek Discovery content, they would obviously gauge Netflix's interest before producing them. Could you not have posted even ONE article that supports your ridiculous claims?

The one article you did post says that Netflix may have been forced to pay for Discovery for as many as five seasons. That's in addition to the Space/Crave deal in Canada, where Discovery is a huge hit. If Netflix is already locked into multiple seasons, which pay for production of the show, how can Discovery be a "financial failure" at this point? If CBS created Short Treks for financial reasons but couldn't sell them, why are they making more?

And for that matter, why would CBS be putting hundreds of millions into developing another season of Discovery, the Michelle Yeoh spinoff, 2 animated series, the Picard show, etc. if Discovery and Short Treks were such failures? It just doesn't make any sense.

[quote] Could you not have posted even ONE article that supports your ridiculous claims?

[quote]Well, there is no one summary article that covers the entire topic and you can only link one article on DL. It's covered in multiple articles that go back months and requires that you synthesize data to draw some conclusions...You can find additional relevant articles with a minimum of searching now that you have this article as a jumping off point - one side point. Read the articles very closely. There is a battle going between the folks who want to prove Discovery is a roaring success and those who want to say it's a dismal failure - parse the data.

I guess we can see where you stand. You may be right, or I may be. Until it's all over and more details are revealed, no one will know for certain. One could just as easily argue that developing additional series signifies success and support for a robust franchise OR it could be that CBS All Access lacks any true marquee properties and franchises (not currently available for free in most cases), so is milking the one they have that has the the largest built-in fan base.

Based on previous comments by CBS (granted, it was under the Moonves regime), the longer-term play is for CBS All Access streaming service to rival other paid streaming services. The path that other operators, such as Disney, are taking is slowly pulling their properties from other services in favor of their own. Content is king in streaming services.

However, after all the articles I've read, I'm satisfied with my conclusions. However, "could you not have posted even ONE article that supports your ridiculous claims?" as well? Contrary to when you asked, I did post ONE article that supports the first point I made regarding the financial arrangements for STD. What were you expecting, an annotated and footnoted bibliography of articles?

You're welcome to disagree, but try to keep it civil.

That was...enjoyable.

I wanna fuck Captain Pike hard.

Why do they have to bring Spock and other old characters? I would enjoy the show much, much more if they just dropped this.

Prequels are tiresome. I enjoy STD and look forward to the Picard show but the best option would be to do a post Voyager show.

Never would have taken pock as a nasty fuck child. That blue dragon/snake was evil.

R241 What? I thought that was clear. He had terrible nightmares so his mother taught him to draw. I inferred he was drawing his nightmare. That’s when he and Michael first met - she saw him draw the dragon. He shut her out, less from rejection - which was certainly there. His father betraying his mother mortally offended him as a Vulcan. But as a child having a human half sister suddenly presented as he was battling nightmares, which is an *emotional* problem was supremely un Vulcan and humiliating.

That was a remarkable key at the end that Michael could draw the access key to his personal logs.

Child Spock unleashed his nightmare on his adopted sister. He was mean. She was understanding.

Child Spock was a dick

Just so I know for sure: Ethan Pack is not entirely straight, right?

Who is these days?

I meant "Peck", sorry.

When they wrote the new engineer character I wonder what make them come up with the name Jet Reno. When I read that, I immediately thought of Janet Reno. Probably just a coincident. Right? I liked that character. I hope we get to see a lot more of her.

Yeah, I thought Janet Reno as well, and I'm not even American. I like her character even if Tig's delivery of lines is not that great.

R245 I don't get it. Because he's wearing a tutu for Halloween? I don't know if he's actually straight, but he has a girlfriend. He's hot as hell either way.

"Fortunately, I was raised on Vulcan. We don't do funny."

Best laugh this show has given me.

No love for Discovery? This season feels more Trek like so far.

I’m loving it. Pike!

Pike grew on me quite quickly. I like him. Between the battered characters he seemed to be the only one who is even keeled and came with the least or no baggage.

I don't know about this season yet. Call me an eldergay because I keep comparing the show with the predecessors. And so far I can come up with quite a few things I like and a few things that bother me. First, I couldn't care less why the prime directive is called differently or why the uniforms or ship design doesn't match TOS. I don't want them to spend precious air time for a lengthy, but drama wise irrelevant narrative to explain all that. Second, I feel that form-over content-discomfort. So many raved about the look, SFX, the stunning cinematography. And I agree with that. The show does not look cheap. But there are so many scenes that are gimmicky and merely show off the latest and greatest in visuals. At times I find it highly distracting. I actually wished they dialed it back a notch and focus on drama and story telling. Third, by now they have so many interesting characters on the show that they inevitably neglect some or resolve deep character-driven stories too quickly and superficially.

The good: I really do like Pike. Then there is the overarching mystery that keeps me interested. The look of the show IS indeed fantastic. No episode is ever boring.

Burnham is the weak link. As a main character she should be sympathetic but I just don't like her. I'm surprised that I actually like Pike, but Saru should be the captain.

This season is shaping up to be much better than last year. It's actually starting to feel like Star Trek again, and I love Anson Mount as Captain Pike (he can mount me any day)! I'm still not able to get over the prequel thing, though. I wish they would just admit that the show takes place in an alternate time line and not the Prime universe like they try and keep telling us. I really wish they had just set the show like 50 years after the TNG/DS9/VOY era.

It’s understandable for anyone jumping into Discovery who are not Trek nerds. If you didn’t follow the canon from the early 1960s, this series *precedes* Original Star Trek and precedes the creation of the Federation of Planets.

This does not align with canon. Anyone who remembers Canon recalls that in First Contact, Zebulon Pikes original warp flight resulted in first contact with the Vulcans. The Prime Directive came from them and the existence of a federation of intelligence species was implied.

We know the in TOS’s pilot, what happens to Pike and how that became rewritten as an episode and that the Pike character became written in to multiple episodes in different series. Here, Pike and Enterprise as the original captain sets the idea the Federation would have been relatively new at the time Kirk and Spock were new.

Since Spock becomes science officer - and the first vulcan bridge officer on a Federation vessel, this sets a timeline that we’ll see Spock in the future. At least, at a point where he either returns to Vulcan or becomes a Federation officer.

[quote] precedes the creation of the Federation of Planets.

No, it doesn't.

You mean Zefram Cochrane, r256

R256's considerations are exactly why a prequel bothers me. All these points to consider are way too distracting from an otherwise interesting premise and story.

R259. Thank you! I knew I got something wrong there with the name.

Just watched E2 and it was excellent. Really enjoyed it even though the script was a bit of a retread from a similar plot in TOS.

I don't mind a plot retread now and again, but let's avoid the more ludicrous ones such as members of the crew de-evolving into animals, regressing to childhood, or getting shrunk.

Is anyone else waiting with bated breath for a character foible—just one would be great—with Michael Burnham? Talk about a Mary Sue! If there was ever a difficult challenge anywhere in the federation, she conquered it. If there is ever a question about some arcane creature, she knows the answer immediately. I love Sonequa Martin-Green very much, but Jesus, why won’t the writers give her just one flaw? She would be so much more believable—and relatable—to flawed humans like ourselves. Make her snore, Give her an unusual hobby. Hell, just let her have absolutely no answer to a difficult or obscure question every now and then.

R263 If you recall the first three or four episodes of the series, she was definitely flawed, but they dropped that for some reason. The showrunners could have at least played with the old Human vs. Vulcan internal conflict for a while longer (or raised Vulcan, in her case). I'm not really sure what else they could add at this point. I think it is a bit of wasted opportunity because there is more room to have a flawed lead when she is not the actual captain of the ship.

With Spock's introduction they could perhaps have her feeling inadequate compared to him, which drives her to make reckless decisions in an attempt to gain his approval or prove herself a more competent officer. Maybe there is a sibling rivalry between them that pushes Burnham to revert to the more impulsive Burnham we saw early in season 1. They could combine that with more interpersonal conflict between her and Sarek that was established in season 1. Finally, give Mia Krishner an actual character to work with. That might all add up to an interesting family dynamic.

I finally remembered why the new Klingons looked so familiar. Can't wait to make my own Klingon forehead.

Well, there's our Section 31 spin-off.

I really enjoyed the performance of the actor playing Amanda. ST:TOS only showed her in the Journey to Babel episode, but she was quickly forgotten. By contrast, the ST:DIS writers—and this actor—have turned Amanda into an interesting 3-dimensional character I look forward to seeing again.

I like this new season but that part where they extracted the alien from Tilly is just ridiculous. They didn't even try to make a contact or find out what the alien wants.

They're also not done with it.

Didn't care for this last episode at all. Four stories where two of them would have worked just fine. And I understood maybe half of what they said. Michael and Amanda were whispering almost all of their dialogues. Why, I don't know. And the Klingon chancellor probably had too many prosthetics in her mouth to speak clearly.

But THE EMPEROR!!!!!!!!

Having the Klingon story in last week's episode didn't make much sense. It wasn't related to Discovery or that Red Angel mystery - at least I am not aware of a connection. So why should I be invested in the Klingon chancellor or her off spring?

It's a opportunity for them to show the spin off series section 31

And to fold Ash back into the main story.

Not putting a lot of stock in this, but growing rumors that CBS might cancel Discovery.

Yeah, sounds pretty unlikely with everything they have at stake with Star Trek.

I may have gotten a little verklempt with Stamets and Tilly were singing "Space Oddity" so she wouldn't be scared.

Regarding the future of Discovery, if we don't get official confirmation of renewal within the next two to three episodes, then something is going on. I do think there is at least a grain in truth in some of the rumors that are spreading across the fandom that CBS is uncertain about Discovery's (and Star Trek as a whole) future. Much of the decision made about Trek were done under Les Moonves and with him out of the picture, CBS seems to be in a bit of chaos. Despite CBS's positive spin, All Access has not been the success they hoped for and while the service likely won't disappear yet, there are likely questions if the number of subscribers they are getting justifies the cost of Discovery; Discovery is CBS's most expensive show. Also, a red flag come up a couple weeks ago after producers announced a Section 31 spin off. The next day the head of CBS all access downplayed the 31 show saying it likely wouldn't debut until after one show ends. Under Moonves, Alex Kurtzman.was given total control of the franchise with the directive fro Moonves that he wanted enough Star Trek so that there were new episodes year round. It now seems CBS is changing its mind on that - the Picard show has yet to be officially given the active production go ahead which realistically need to be in production ASAP or it will miss the fall 2019 launch date that CBS originally announced.

One thing that annoys me about discovery is that it's not actually part of the prime timeline, but producers keep trying to deny that fact. The show is being produced by Kurtzman through the Bad Robot license. The Bad Robot license which was originally negociated with CBS back in 2007, grants Bad Robot an alternative copyright which means they are allow to produce Trek but it has to be visually different and continuity distinct from the original CBS [prime] content. This is why the show does not actually connect to the other shows. I wish they had just set Discovery 50 years after Nemesis and then the timeline shit wouldn't matter so much.

FREEBIRD!

r278 ah Picard show is already started shooting and they will probably do a three season serial.

OT but; any fans of the project ST: HIDDEN FRONTIER here? It’s been years since it finished, but I have fond memories how I loved watching it growing up and appreciating the gay s/l front-and-center.

Jorian Zen-Dao the Trill is my favorite ST character of any series even if he isn’t canon, and all the better that he and the actor playing him (the adorable Adam Browne) are really Out as gay. Bobby Rice was beyond cute as tormented gay Bajoran Ro Nevin, and as gay Terran character Peter Kirk (yes, related to James) in another more famous ST fan project named PHASE II.

R281 um actually the Picard series has not begun filming at all. The show was given a pre-production go ahead meaning they locked a contract with Patrick Stewart and they brought in writers to breakdown the story of the first few episodes. The show has not been given the go ahead to go into active production which is interesting as original publicity stated it would launch in late 2019. The three season was a comment made by Patrick Stewart not CBS basically saying he and the writers envision the show lasting three seasons, on the other hand, the executive in charge of CBS All Access keeps saying it will be a limited series. I'm not saying this won't happen, but all these Trek shows were approved under Les Moonves and with him gone a lot is changing at CBS quickly.

This video, though a bit conspiratorial, does a good job at outlining why Discovery is not following the original Star Trek continuity and the licensing issues with Star Trek.

[quote]OT but; any fans of the project ST: HIDDEN FRONTIER here? It’s been years since it finished, but I have fond memories how I loved watching it growing up and appreciating the gay s/l front-and-center.

Fan? I don't know if I would call myself that. But as silly as it was, there was a genuine sweetness to it, which made it difficult not to root for.

Oh, goody, now we have conspiracy theories about Star Trek. JFC, why can’t you tinfoil hatters stick to Hawaiian birth certificates, Benghazi, and yellow cake? Better yet, why isn’t paranoia a recessive trait?

Just finished watching the first 4 episodes of this season, and I have to say what a vast improvement. It almost feels like I'm watching Star Trek again, albeit a much after paced version. I'm really starting to like the characters and I've got to give Anson Mount credit he's done such an amazing job with Pike in so few episodes. Also love the new dyke engineer.

This week's episode was probably the show's best to date.

It’s been great this season, but I wish the pace would slow down just a little bit. There was so much going on so fast in that last episode it was almost too much to digest. It could have used more slow moments. Or one less subplot. And no, I’m not an old person.

I agree. There are just too many heavyweight stories going on at the same time. They lose their emotional punch, if the viewer doesn't get the time to properly digest them. Saru is dying? Oh my god, that's terri... oooh...Tilli has been eaten alive by the... wait, the ship is in danger.

Loved the new engineering woman. Fixing up with duct tape

Saru's basically a stereotypical gay man and physically he is totally revolting.

Project much, R291?

I wouldn't say he looks revolting. I do think though that the actor is wearing too many prosthetics. Same goes for the Klingons. And the prosthetics are too obviously rubber. Sometimes less really is more.

The Klingon baby head was kind of creepy.

How is the gay storyline? Is it still going strong?

I didn't like this episode. It was too much of everything, too many stories at the same time. I thought the last two were a bit more Trek like, but it's still not Star Trek. Saru was my favorite but I didn't feel anything but annoyance with his story line in the last episode.

And I'm having difficulty understanding Klingons, Airiam, sometimes even Saru, I guess everyone with prosthetics.

R288 I agree, the pacing of the show throws me off a bit but increasingly that is how TV is done these days. The scene between Michael and Saru when she was about to help him die was fantastic. The first season really lacked solid character moments and I'm glad they're starting to develop relationships between these characters.

R295 Nothing much on the relationships between Stamets and the doctor guy but Wilson Cruz is supposed to be returning this season.

R296 The Klingon episode was terrible and I really wish they would have dropped the Klingons from this season's story. Also I thought the guy who plays Tyler was terrible in that episode which surprised me because last season he was one of the solid actors.

Tig Nataro is perfect.

Yeah, the last episode had some problems. And Jett Reno still needs a purpose in the show, but her scene "with the guy who wants to run a ship on mushroom" was a lot of fun.

Maybe I misunderstood but back when they announced Reno's character she was listed as Discovery's new Chief Engineer.

Anyone know how I could go about pitching an idea for a Trek based half hour situational comedy?

Seeing as how it would be a sitcom, it would be relatively cheap to produce and the main character/casting I'm hoping for could be had for little to no cost of production.

Tigataro has one character, herself.

She's somewhat interesting.

Good to see that the lesbian mechanic with attitude has survived many centuries into the future.

I liked the gay energy

What energy was that, Rose?

The gay energy that their Valentine's Day episode involves a gay couple finding each other across universes.

Finally watched it.

Liked it.

Pike is hot.

The Emperor is delightfully evil.

The Klingon2Human trans man is interesting.

Burnham, her adoptive brother and the Red Angel is interesting.

I really like Stamets but Culber is just... Why. They should have let him stay dead and have Stamets fuck a cute Vulcan.

Michelle Yeoh is the best thing about this show. She really makes the most of that character. I wish they used her more, but I can see why they don't because she pretty much steamrolls over everyone else. I think the actress playing Burnham is ok, but the character as written is such a sad sack it's hard to really enjoy her as the hero.

Michelle Yeoh is having so much fun playing evil

I’d be happy if they did any character development on someone, [italic]anyone[/italic] other than Michael for a change. It took season two’s opener before they even game the bridge crew names! Star Trek is about story first, setting later. And to tell good stories you have to get the viewers invested in the characters. The episode with Owo is their first attempt at doing this (and the Short Treks count too as they gave us more info about Tilley and we got to hear Saru’s origin story) and even then she only had some throwaway lines. That’s a good start. What about this android (appearing, anyway) character? Giving her a few scenes would be great.

I'm finally watching the first season, which is out on DVD. I am actually glad they are introducing the major characters slowly so we can get used to them, and even allowing some to die early in the series. It is weird to me how so far most of the male Starfleet characters (except Lorca) are nervous nellies and how the female Starfleet characters are so fierce and indomitable. Jason Isaacs is very sexy and mysterious as Lorca, although his American accent is a little wobbly.

The new Klingon look is very hard for me to get used to, especially considering that B'Elanna Torres from "Voyager" (which is canon) was half-human, half-Klingon (it's impossible for me to imagine any human being mating with the Klingons as they look on this new series--they're like armadilloes).

The lead woman is fantastic--at once likeable and very strong and compelling. I also really liked Michelle Yeoh as Captain Georghiu.

My son turned out well.

r204 I'm back with a vengeance, hon! And with my record (rightfully) expunged as well, for your personal viewing pleasure.

I pop in here from Reddit after six months and I see such dry desexed conversation. There are straight guys over on Reddit getting wet over Tyler's new beard. Where are the comments about Mount's perfect padded ass? Or his lavishly decorated office that was possibly the reason for the cost overruns and the showrunners getting sacked? Or Peck's Big Dick Energy? Or Romijn's facial smoothing? Are there still any gays left here? Are we just not doing thirsty anymore? Oh, well.

r309 Yeoh is so great. I bet she has a rider in her contract that she has to get all the best lines. She redoes a lot of them in ADR later on, which gives her extra leeway to make them memorable, I guess. That woman is magnetic.

r312 I enjoyed reading your take; very refreshing. What episode are you on? Tell us more, if you will, please.

Personally, I was pleased that when the jahSepp resurrected Culber on this plane, they choose to resurrect him in the nude.

r315 Me too. The naked fetal position also worked on a symbolic level - like he was figuratively reborn, and the actor said the character might be a bit different now in his new body.

This promo photo for the episode actually showed him with the ass portion of his uniform eaten out by the fungi, but I don't think it was on full display like that in the episode itself. Too bad. And they sure worked hard on making his face look like a homeless dude. That first camera closeup made me jump!

And it was nice to get confirmation that they're married.

r317 They're not, the "widower" line just sounded great in the moment, I guess. Whatever, I'm sure they look at marriage quite differently in the future.

[quote]They have been together quite a long time. They are not married… maybe some day they will be, but they have been together for a long time and it was important for us to feel that.

R314 I'll give it to the costume designers, they do a great job on the padding of both Mount's and Rapp's ass. Interesting note, if you watch the original Star Trek pilot "The Cage," Jeffrey Hunter also had a very nice ass so I guess they're continuing that aspect of Pike's characterization. Mount is sex on legs though.

r314 WTF? Are you on amphetamines?

r319 Hunter's Pike has the best ass in all of Trek; that tooshie alone carries a staggering 75% of his performance in that one episode, with the rest going to his insane blue eyes. Gersha Phillips capturing Hunter's ass-ence in Mount was my main concern before the season had started. But she more than came through, I think.

r320 Yes.

For those of you who keep on top of the rumors, the Admiral Cornwell's reference to tachyon particles gives credence to the online gossip about who/what the red angel is.

r323 You'd think that, but then the two captains offer possible explanations for those tachyons (time travel, cloaking devices, transporters) and she basically says "Yes. No." to all of that. So we're none the wiser.

Nevertheless, I think it'll end up being time travel. Because Discovery being stranded a thousand years into the future in the Calypso short still needs to be explained somehow.

The rumor going around for weeks now is that red angel's true identity does involve time travel.

Anyone else looking forward to the Saru-centric episode tonight? Kaminar looks positively paradisiacal, which will make the Ba'ul look that much scarier by comparison.

Doug Jones is amazing.

What I find even more remarkable is that "Control," which does the threat analysis for Section 31, is actually taken from the Star Trek novels. Never thought I would see the day when that started happening.

Ok, taking off my “I’m critical of you, Star Trek, only because I love you” hat, and saying that this episode was one of the best that ST:DSC has produced thus far. Fighting oppression, preventing genocide, giving people hope, disobeying orders regardless of the consequences because the character knows there is a greater good at stake—these are what Star Trek has always been about. Great episode!

Doug Jones is a treasure and r291 ought to be ashamed of his cunt self.

Cruz looks jacked but I think growing his beard back will help him with the weathered look he's got going on right now. I also think he's in command of his character much more than in the first season. Stamets hasn't got a clue there's trouble ahead for their relationship, has he?

Any idea when we'll hear if Discovery has been renewed for a third season? Last season they renewed the show after just four episodes had aired.

They've done a lot of PR surrounding Ethan Peck as Spock, so they might wait a couple more episodes until after he shows up before announcing it. It's just better optics that way.

CBS was slow to renew The Good Fight which is also on All Access. There is a lot of rumors going around about the future of the Trek franchise including the possibility of cancellations. The Picard series which was supposed to debut this fall is still not has not been given the greenlight to begin casting and full pre-production. If CBS wants another season of Discovery out by fall 2020, they need will need to renew by the spring.

Third season is a done deal, they're just waiting to adorn the renewal announcement with some All Access subscription numbers, would be my bet. I read somewhere that this is a big show for Netflix overseas, so it's not just the US' numbers that are getting scrutinized here.

Production on the Picard show starts by April, eight months after its announcement. That doesn't seem weird to me at all. The pre-production on Discovery's third season has been ongoing for some time now as well.

I wish the camera would stop spinning.

I still think Wilson Cruz sucks.

Meh

Agree on the spinning cam. To me it feels like a gimmick to beef up a scene that has no action, just staid conversation. But it makes my head spin, and it's too transparent for a directing device.

S2E6 with Saru and Sarana was just delightful with the Red Angel summoning Discovery for interventions.

But couldn't the RA do this without Discovery?

Is the whole point that Discovery is recording the RA's peace making?

Stay tuned for the apparition of Spock next week.

I love the move away from the cheap static camerawork on Trek (ENT experimented with it already), but the spinning around the table has happened twice now under different directors and it has [italic]got[/italic] to stop. Bitches be copying each other, and it doesn't even serve the scene; it's not like the conversation in the most recent episode was a war council or something. I wonder if that's Kurtzman's go-to trick and he forced the director to do it during storyboarding. There wasn't even a stylish variation in speed, just a breathless twirling around. Stahp.

r334 What do you not like about Cruz?

[quote]But couldn't the RA do this without Discovery?

r336 I think the RA needed the Ba'ul stronghold to rise from the sea and expose themselves in order to incapacitate them. So the RA might need Discovery, it might be testing Discovery, or both.

I'm just glad that somehow Rogaine finally made it to the Klingon Empire.

I wish they had selected a different look for the Kelpiens. The head of Saru looks like somebody just spread some rubber liberally on the actor's face. It's just too much. Sure, it looks less human, but it doesn't look alien, just rubber-y.

This was the original design for Saru but proved to be too unwieldy.

R333 Then you'll be waiting a long time because CBS AA continually gets lumped in with Showtime numbers, as of only last week, so CBS AA clearly isn't the runaway success CBS envisaged. Then when you factor in all the upcoming new streaming services like Disney, then CBS AA is going to struggle even more.

Still they should be grateful for even half of the signups this wretched mess has given them.

You sound... not objective.

[quote]R336:Stay tuned for the apparition of Spock next week.

Spock’s dead?

r343, reappearance seemed so mundane.

And yes, Spock is dead. Many times depending how you look at it.

That personality twist they've been teasing for so long better be Spock being super catty all the time. I will accept nothing less.

Ok I'm totally in lust with Anson Mount as Captain Pike. Not only is he fantastic in that role, but he fills those tight Starfleet blue uniforms very well (yes, I know it's padded). It's likely that he's only going to be a one season deal though.

r346 Gorgeous man and magnetic in the role. The writing helps, of course. But yes, this is definitely just a one-season deal. He's already looking for a new gig, along with Peck.

R346 He's so beautiful. And he had some really intense chemistry with the guy playing Leland in those few scenes he had. I wish they made him gay.

Some of the weekly promo shots for this show are so pleasing to the eye. I love Amanda.

r348 There was a moment when Pike's new office on Discovery was revealed where I thought "There's no way a straight guy would have decorated a place so tastefully as Pike has, and with no black leather either!" But him being into women is canon, and the fans would go nuts if they made him bi.

Everyone should be bi in space.

Officially renewed. They didn't even wait for Spock to appear, as I had speculated they would.

[quote]Additionally, Discovery writer Michelle Paradise — who joined the series in season two — has been promoted to serve as co-showrunner for season three. She will continue to work alongside franchise captain Alex Kurtzman on the series.

R351 this is good news. This season has been a vast improvement over last year. It feels far more "Star Treky" this season. My only beef with the show is I wish they would slow the pacing down just a bit.

What does our poster with the hate boner for Discovery have to say about the renewal? I guess all the rumours in the Youtube comments weren’t right?

I think this season has been an improvement over last. However, I’m not a big fan of the emphasis on action, and the writing is really bad in places. Also, Sonequa seems lovely as a person, but I’m not sure that she can carry a show as her acting is a bit corny and over-the-top.

I’d still rank it above Enterprise so far, though, and maybe a bit behind Voyager.

Suck it, haters.

I'm calling Rebecca Romijn as captain of Discovery in season three right now.

I could see them going with a female captain next, but Romijn’s character is a Lieutenant Commander. Why would they make her acting Captain over someone like Commander Saru? I would bet on a new character.

R353 When you watch the Discovery hate videos on YouTube it becomes clear through thinly veiled statements that their issue with the show is having a woman of color as the lead and two homos kissing. My issue with the show is the pacing. It moves too fast at times and it becomes too easy to miss important plot points. But this season is showing a lot of promise and it's important to remember that it took TNG, DS9 and to a lesser extend Voyager and Enterprise several seasons to find their footing.

Tilly just got married.

I like to name my cat tilly

[quote]When you watch the Discovery hate videos on YouTube it becomes clear through thinly veiled statements that their issue with the show is having a woman of color as the lead and two homos kissing.

r357 Definitely. We've moved from outright hateful statements, which are now considered unacceptable and gauche, to coded language about "not real Trek". It's funny to me how much more in your face The Orville is with the non-hetero stuff than DISCO, and yet it's the latter who received most of the "SJW" jeering when it first started. You don't tend to hear a peep from those people about the "gay agenda" on DISCO anymore, because the gay characters are written so organically. There's zero lecturing of any kind.

Regarding the pacing, it's still finding its footing there. Furthering the season-long arc, having the weekly action piece, and then throwing in very slow intimate moments (which I love!), is a tough balancing act. It works for me, but I can see why it might not be for everyone.

r356 Well, shit. Why [italic]isn't[/italic] she a Commander? I guess I just don't understand why they would cast someone like Romijn for a glorified cameo. Do I maybe have an inflated perception of her celeb status? How big is she in the US these days? Perhaps she's the Red Angel?

R360 The Orville uses their "gay" characters as a laughing stock or for shocking/idiotic plotlines. There's the difference.

Peck, who finally makes an appearance tonight, seems to have done his homework. And then some. Do you think getting asked about his grandfather at every turn gets old for him? I guess that's the bad part of having a legendary grandparent.

[quote][bold]What elements, if any, have you pulled from Nimoy and Quinto's performances?[/bold]

[quote]With all due respect to Zachary Quinto's Spock, which is so wonderful, I mostly paid attention to Leonard Nimoy's depiction because we are of the same timeline. I spent a lot of time with the original series and his performance. As I would review my lines, I would have an episode on and try to absorb the musicality of his voice and pay attention to what he did. I saw someone who had a great awareness of the emotional world around him. Spock's often referred to as a computer, unemotional. But I think he's [italic]deeply[/italic] emotional; he just doesn't interface with the emotion going on around him. He chooses very carefully how to engage with it and speak to it. Often, we may fall into hysterics, joy or anger over a given situation. He tends to see that but operates from a place purely from logic, which is quintessential Spock. There's a wisdom to Spock, but I think with him comes emotional struggle and strife. That was what was on the page for me for [italic]Discovery[/italic]. Somebody who's having deep feelings in his life, and it's shaping who he will become.

R360 I suspect Romijn will be back one or two more times.

Her star has definitely faded quite a bit, though. Her last role was on a second-tier cable show called the Librarians.

r363 Damn, I had no idea she was on that show. Yeah, that would certainly knock her down a notch or two on the celeb totem pole. Funnily enough, starring on that show must've had the opposite effect for that E.R. guy and that guy from Angel.

Despite that, she has bigger name recognition than Mount, who isn't all that well-known outside the US. So I'm still hoping there's a twist and they do something more substantial with her going forward.

Everything with this show just feels wrong.

Do you happen to have any tangible critiques that don't involve your immediate emotional response only? Or could you at least elaborate on that one a bit?

Are they trying to say Spock was autistic? That's actually kind of a cool idea.

Is it just me or was that episode really short? And also sparse somehow. I called Airiam being the RA in the second episode and I really hope that turns out to be true. It also tracks with the article I posted at r16.

I want a husband who will talk to me like Amanda talks to Sarek. How do I make that happen?

r367 I think it's more like a Vulcan version of dyslexia, rather than straight-up autism. I imagine having a reading disorder in the highly learned Vulcan society must suck way more than on Earth.

Yeah because that's exactly what everyone wanted, a Vulcan with special needs R367. Rolls eyes. Though I do like seeing where the hack writers will fuck up next.

R357 Hardly. Trek has always been diverse and DS9 did not suffer endless criticism from having a black man as the lead nor three African American men in their starring cast. So nice try, but you'll have to face facts the problem is with the lack of talent regarding SMG. Trying to whip up a silly frenzy by saying racists and those not woke just like to be 'haters' for not liking ST:D is incredibly juvenile and misses the point entirely. It's a mess of a show, constantly pulled into very different directions by the myriad of creative 'minds.' It has no identity (apart from piggy backing on past ideas/themes) and it lacks a singular cohesive narrative. The cast isn't fleshed out enough, and Michael is too much of annoying, smug, know it all that is portrayed as some godly, wholesome martyr, even which the writers do give her the obligatory shallow human flaw cliche, she still bounces back like nothing happened. It rings, false and hollow and incredibly superficial.

There was never a doubt Discovery would not be renewed. CBSAA has nothing else of substance that would come close to generating press and attention (even if it is mostly negative) and Trek fans have proven themselves over fifty years to swallow just about any old shit served up to them and dip into their wallets. It also helps Netflix is still probably paying for nearly everything.

Wait. I just got that. It’s ST:D? Oh, my. Why did I not realize that before. No wonder they’ve had no so many infectoin/disease related plots.

Well if everyone is going to complain about disco then you all should start another thread base on that. Lets go back talking about tonight's episode. I really enjoyed this episode and next week's is going to be cool. As Michael is plotting a course to Talos iv. As some of you are aware that the enterprise visit that planet or will visit later in life. It's going to be interesting

As soon as my partner saw it he was oh my god and after the episode schooled me on the significance of that planet

OMG, not TALOS IV!

My wild guess for the Red Angel: The red angel is actually from the Department of Temporal Investigations trying to undo what Bryan Fuller started. Not the red angel is from another time but Discovery is. Discovery warped into this time frame and messing up the timeline. Haven't really thought that through entirely, but it would explain the advanced look of the ship designs and the previously unknown spore drive. There are some unknowns with this idea, but for now I'm sticking to it.

[quote]There was never a doubt Discovery would not be renewed.

Oh? How many comments ON THIS THREAD were telling us that it already had been and all these announcements of future series were smoke and mirrors?

Talosians next week, bitches. My favorite aliens in my favourite Trek episode of all time. Now looking more cabbage-y, but also kinda... testicular? Yes? No?

r375 I really wonder how those YouTube buffoons are going to behave around the new Picard show. Stewart is a sacred cow even among the most ardent of Orville fans who have shunned Trek because of DISCO. Are we going to get videos assailing this old man and his work on a weekly basis?

I wonder if we will see Vena there?

The Trek hating troll was going on and frothing at the gash about how Star Trek Discovery wasn't gonna be made and that the Picard show was not shooting despite the pre production already had started. He was everything might be cancelled. I hope said troll is somewhere slitting it's wrists right now.

[quote]Star Trek is boldly going on a new mission where only men have gone before. Hanelle Culpepper will direct the first two episodes of the upcoming untitled Star Trek Jean-Luc Picard series, making her the first woman to direct a pilot or debut episode of a Starfleet series in the franchise’s 53-year history. All 13 feature films in the Trek universe have also been directed by men.

[quote]Culpepper has directed two episodes of Star Trek Discovery on CBS All-Access. She helmed the episode titled Vaulting Ambition in Season One as well as an upcoming episode in Season Two, now underway on the subscription streaming site.

I want a captain pike nude scene please

I need a Pike&Tyler porn parody yesterday. So much tension there and it all starts when they both touch that button on the console at the same time...

Every time he's onscreen, I'm looking for a glimpse of Pike's ass or crotch bulge. Those pants hide nothing! But the show often finds a way to obscure him. The start of this ep though, nice view of his bulge. Yum!

R381 Tyler always seems ready to bend over for the right man/alien. I never bought Tyler/Burnham unless she topped.

R382 I noticed the bulge too when we was walking down the corridor with Michael. Anson's ass looks amazing but all the male actors on the show (with the exception of Doug Jones) have "ass padding." Jason Isaacs has joked about the padding several times during promotion for the first season.

Lt. Commander Airiam is now infected with the download from the probe from the future?

This does not look good...

They're all padded to perfection, even those male extras on the bridge who never speak. I hope they hold onto these blue uniforms just a bit longer; it's not as fun with the black ones.

That moment I mentioned earlier. You can almost hear the cheesy porn music starting, can't you?

r385 She got rooted via a QR code! I suspect all sorts of shenanigans from her now.

R386 I hope Pike makes Tyler shave, groom and shower before fucking him.

I really, really like Shazad Latif. To me he is the sexiest man on TV and I cannot watch him enough. But his character needs to be straightened out and get a real purpose. Having him joined Section 31 feels contrived; him being on the ship feels contrived yet again. And he is just there. What is he doing on the ship? Does he even have an assigned station on the bridge?

In general, I think the show has too many characters, and the writing is not able to handle them all. They tease viewers with interesting aspects from each character, even the most minor characters. But then there is no going deeper development for any of them. That goes for the bridge crew, Jett Reno (what is her job on Discovery?), Tyler, Number One etc. It's very frustrating to see all these potentially interesting characters, but never actually getting to know them. I want to add Culber to this point, but it looks like there is more to come about him. I just wish they spend more than three scenes on character development and less on the Vulcan soap plot.

The Picard series that definitely isn't actually about to begin production posted a cast breakdown. It's a clever ruse to throw us off the scent.

Given that one of the colorful misfits for whom Picard serves as mentor is described as an expert in positronic brains, I assume the show may have something to do with Data.

I like the idea of a Star Trek series that's not about Starfleet. Bit like Rogue One not being about the Jedi.

r387 No, those are all his best bits! I want Pike's taint to be blood-raw after Tyler is done eating that. And I bet his musk is extra musky, because of his double-dicked Klingon "heritage." So definitely don't make him take a shower beforehand, silly Tilly.

r388 They wrapped up Saru's family drama and Michael's will be finished this season, plus Stamets' love drama is currently ongoing. I firmly believe once the "main" characters are explored enough, they're going to expand onto the other crew. Airiam's arc is now starting, for example. There will probably be way more of that next season. But yes, the episodic formula of previous Treks was slower and allowed for more character exploration. They also had more episodes in a season and weekly resets, so there's that.

Tyler is a liaison. He doesn't get an assigned station on the bridge as he's not a bridge officer. He liaises between Section 31 and Discovery, I guess. He informs Pike about the sorts of things you can't convey in a conference call from the Starfleet HQ.

Love Reno (rank Commander, btw) but I think Notaro might not be down for a full-season appearance. So it's not all in the writing. Totally with you on Number One, though.

r389, thanks for posting, but I am not going to look up that link. I started avoiding articles that gets me spoilers of any sort about a show. Going slightly off-topic there was that scene in an older Doctor Who episode where Rose re-appeared out of nowhere in the Donna Noble season opener. I had not heard that Rose would return; and I really didn't see it coming. It was a great moment for me as viewer. It's so hard to avoid this type of spoiler nowadays, but I really want to try. I am hoping for a sensational experience when watching the new Picard series. The only info I want to know about it at this point is the air date of the first episode, nothing else.

Anson Mount as Christopher Pike is one of the best things about this season. Are we prepared for his inevitable fate?

R388 I love Shazad Latif but I actually think his acting is really flat this season. Last year he was fantastic, probably one of the highlights of the season but this year it just seems like he's phoning his performances in.

I guess they recast Airiam this season because they were planning on featuring her more prominently. The actress who played Airiam in season 1 now plays a different minor character named Lt. Nilsson.

r393 Totally agree. He's [italic]beautiful[/italic] - there's simply no other way to put it - but some of his line readings and mannerisms this season come across like he read the script only five minutes ago in his trailer. Though I wonder if that stiltedness might be an intentional acting choice and is the result of him juggling Voq's memories inside him as well. Last season, that shit was all submerged so all we got was pure Ash, with some PTSD on top. I guess I just refuse to believe Shazad would phone it in two seasons in when he's trying to crack Hollywood. Bitch, he is [italic]hungry[/italic] for it.

r394 Yup. I have to laugh at people on Reddit constantly guessing that the actress might have requested another role because she got fed up with the makeup process. An unknown Canadian actress, standing right next to the great Doug fucking Jones in full facial prosthetics, in the first season of a huge American production, is going to bitch about her makeup. That sounds totally plausible, doesn't it?

R388 Characters like the various bridge crew are essentially glorified extras (they’re credited en masse as “costars”). It’s either have recurring background costars or just fill these roles with extras or random day players (as TNG generally did). They are not intended to be fully fledged characters.

There is a hierarchy of characters on television shows. Regulars (Burnham, Saru, Tilley, etc.) and guest stars (Sarek, Amanda, Culber, etc.) generally get the development and interesting scenes. Costars (Detmer, Airiam, Owo, Rhys, the black female doctor, etc.) generally get to deliver exposition or just sit there. It’s unrealistic to expect Discovery to develop every minor character who appears. How much development did Nurse Ogawa (one of TNG’s costars) get across all the episodes and movies she appeared in?

r396 Great points. People tend to gloss over all those nameless officers who sat at the conn next to Data after Wesley left. And yet they keep saying how we know too little about Detmer and Owosekun, who have been the only ones at those stations and who have actual speaking lines.

Though I still think they'll get explored more next season, even if they are just glorified extras. The fans have been bitching about that the most, I think, now that the Klingons have been fixed and the lighting has become warmer.

It seems odd to create a character like Airiam who requires such extensive makeup, without giving some exposition about her backstory. Why not just make her a regular human?

I don't know, saying "I am this and that and this is my backstory" immediately upon meeting the character for the first time seems like an awkward and dated way of doing exposition these days. I cringed when Saru unloaded his backstory onto Michael in the first season, as if they had never met before. I don't mind Airiam getting explored more gradually, with the curtains being removed ever so slightly with each new episode.

True, but they could include a few lines that would indicate something about Airiam - like is she an alien species, or a cybernetically enhanced human?

The showrunners settled on calling her an "augmented human" back in October but yeah, I also wish there was a throwaway line about that on the show itself. Though I'd imagine it's hard to include that elegantly into a conversation without it coming across as awkward. On the other hand, Michael had no problem saying Owo grew up in a Luddite community without her being present. Also, Tilly said she'd be lost when it comes to sifting through the sphere's data without Airiam's help, which implies some greater processing capacity on Airiam's part.

On the other hand, I'd hate for Airiam to become just a precursor to a Data onboard Discovery

Or she may be the precursor to the Borg.

[bold]Santiago Cabrera & Michelle Hurd To Co-Star In ‘Star Trek’ Jean-Luc Picard Series On CBS All Access[/bold]

We have eye candy!! Loved Heard in Daredevil - she has gravitas coming out of her ass. As for Cabrera, I don't need to know anything more about him past that face.

I'll create a proper thread once the title of the series is revealed.

Damn, Peck is a tall fucker. Can't wait to see how Pike reacts to the news that those two have been to Talos IV.

Presumably it was not forbidden to visit Talos IV at the time of this series, so Pike should have no special reaction when the words “Talos IV” are mentioned (unlike every officer a few years later and beyond).

No special reaction? He literally had a life-changing spiritual experience there two years prior.

So who do I contact at CBS about doing my idea for a half hour STAR TREK situational comedy?

I think it might work unless the Trekkers have zero sense of humor.

Already in the works. It's animated, though, but Frakes said he read some of the script and found it hysterical.

The Star Trek: Lower Decks animated series is a comedy.

Well shit!

I wanted to do STARFLEET'S FINEST centering around Lt. Commander Barbara Adams and her first command post on the USS Whitewater.

[quote]Lt. Commander Barbara Adams and her first command post on the USS Whitewater

That legitimately sounds like five different kinds of fabulous and amazing from the names alone. I'm not even going to google Whitewater to see if it's an inside joke in the US or something, because I don't care.

Join the further adventures of Lt Cmdr Barabra Adams as she assumes her first command post aboard the USS Whitewater in the printing department.

She, along with her team of erudite officers:

Ensign Gabriel Koerner, a young and recent Starfleet graduate who battles obesity and acne and dreams of "being naked with a woman....any woman."

Lt Anne Droidz, an obsessive cyborg with a penchant for photography.

AUK (Aware Undertanding Knows), a highly developed life form who no one but the Commander can see.

Each episodes wnds with her waxing philosophic in the ship's counselor's quarters. The counselor isn't really listening...she is sketching unicorns.

Beautiful Ash Tyler for Ash Wednesday. And no, that's not grease; those are his natural oils that make you go insane with lust should you happen to catch their scent.

r413 That was amazing. As a kid watching Voyager, I always instinctively felt in my little gay heart there was more camp and more fabulousness to be squeezed out of those Janeway scenes in her ready room, and you captured that perfectly. Too bad most of Trekdom is too straight to ever get it.

r414 would bang hard

[bold]Stacey Abrams, Star Trek Nerd, Is Traveling at Warp Speed[/bold]

[quote]She has seen every iteration of “Star Trek” and can recite with picayune detail the obscure plot points from incidents buried deep in the canon. She likes space-time anomalies. She admires Captain Picard but reveres Admiral Janeway. One of her favorite things is “Shattered,” the 157th episode of “Voyager,” in which the ship goes through a temporal rift that tantalizingly splits it into different timelines.

[quote]“I love ‘Voyager’ and I love ‘Discovery’ and of course I respect the original, but I revere ‘The Next Generation,’” Ms. Abrams said in a previously unpublished interview with The Times last summer.

[quote]She was a little tired because she had stayed up too late into the night, for too many nights, binge-watching the newest addition to the franchise, “Discovery.” Yes, in the middle of her campaign.

I had no idea.

I liked her before. I love her now.

Oh my the latest episode was great. I love how they did a quick summary in the beginning. That's all I have to say without spoiling it. Another thing. I didn't know a gay doctor can fight that well, not a typical cat fight lol... and i love how saru handle it.

r418 I gasped when that summary started. Was also surprised at the punches the doctor threw. I'm enjoying Cruz's acting so much more this season; it's like he's completely disoriented in his body at all times. The Frankenstein's monster anger was unexpected but makes so much sense. And we officially have a gay breakup in our Trek!

And how hot does he look in this black V-neck? Jesus Boricua-fucking Christ.

Imagine, just [italic]imagine[/italic] your hair looking this good after having had an embarrassing public fistfight mere seconds earlier.

Pike had so much more chemistry with every dude on the show than the female love interest they got him (but I get it, she's the OG, gotta write her in). When he was sipping booze in his quaters with Tyler and he loosened his collar? I almost thought some gay shit was about to get down!!!

r421 Right?! I chuckled when they were in Pike's quarters, just casually sipping... whatever that was. I'd try to find one excuse after another to spend more time in that gloriously decorated room. The golden lighting in there makes anyone's skin look amazing.

In other news, they went too far with the peachy bum padding this episode. My heart can't take much more of this, people! And you could clearly see Mount's balls in one shot as well.

Is there any specific reason why they need so much butt padding on Star Trek, of all places? Not that I'm complaining...

I don't think it's Star Trek per se, it's just because of the blue uniforms they're using right now. Most of the main (male) characters don't have an Instaho-grade ass, so those pants would look really unflattering on them. Every little sag and irregularity gets magnified by blue pants in HD, so it's just the costume designer looking out for the talent. I wish the makeup department was as diligent as Gersha Phillips is in this regard.

And of course the same goes for the white pants Wilson Cruz was sporting in the first season.

New Spock is hot

He's hot but his beard could look better. Hopefully, the barber on Discovery adjusts his edges because they need to sit lower. A nice hair wash should be transformative as well.

Whelp, the first shot by the shippers has been fired. They do look like they're slow dancing on a dance floor in that last image, though.

I have to say I loved how that scene was done. You don't often see fights with guys ending in a vulnerable semi-embrace with both parties achieving emotional release like that. Just beautiful.

DIHom joH chalDaq!

R429 = the sound Ash Tyler makes while deep throating Captain Pike

Wilson Cruz fighting abilities is more believable then when he was on the movie Supernova he looked like one of the gays who would often be placed in a trash can in high school by jocks then him being able to defend himself in that ship by the villain. Lol he look like he would of started crying after the first bout. Lol. Now on disco he's butch up. I hope he will be able to straightening things out and return to being doctor and then reconcile with Stamets Or maybe he will start falling in love with Ash. Oh I love Michelle Yeoh. In fact i had to watch crazy rich asians because she was in it. I probably look at other movies of her

Yeah, he definitely looks more jacked these days.

[quote]Or maybe he will start falling in love with Ash.

I've made up my mind and now I want this to happen. Although, consider the optics for a moment - a resurrected murder victim falling in love with his murderer. Yikes. Perhaps pre-MeToo but definitely not these days, I should think.

[bold]It Was a Big Week in Politics for Star Trek: Voyager Fans[/bold]

[quote]The show’s lasting influence can be felt in two stories from this week about prominent Democratic politicians, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Stacey Abrams, both of whom are fans of Voyager and, in particular, its lead character. The first surprise nod to Trek in the political sphere came from the Daily Mail’s unexpectedly wholesome interview with Blanca Ocasio-Cortez, who described how Voyager became a portent of her daughter’s future success.

[quote]“One of the last things she did with her dad before he died was sit with him and watch a Star Trek: Voyager episode on TV,” Blanca explained. “In one scene, Captain Janeway (a character played by Kate Mulgrew) appears and my husband, who could no longer talk, pointed at the captain then at Alexandria, and back and forth, to say to her he thought she’d be like Captain Janeway one day, someone in charge.”

I decided as a kid I'd follow Janeway anywhere and that remains as true to this day. Can't imagine the effect she must've had on young girls. Representation really does make a difference and I'm sure we'll hear similar stories about the gays on Discovery twenty years from now.

Compare padded ass at r422 with unpadded original. Yes, there is a difference but not much. The padding only highlights what's already available.

"You think the beard is working?" - Just that tiny little line made that brother/sister relationship work for me. Before this line, the relationship was so dry, so high concept and felt manufactured. Then a little zinger like this and you feel there are siblings talking.

r434 I mean, that's not the best shot for comparison because those dark pants are not as fitted as they could be. I suspect there's a couple of pancakes under there and nothing approaching r422. But damn, look at that tummy. That's my favourite body shape on a guy. So sexy.

Here's a nice comparison between the padded Mount and Doug Jones, who is unpadded because it makes him look lankier.

r435 I felt their sibling relationship in the entire lead-up to that zinger, when he teased her about asking rhetorically. That whole rapid-fire exchange really sold me on their connection.

Had no idea you can get an article in NYT covering your wedding. Judging by the surnames, I'm gonna take a wild guess and say the groom's family made that happen.

Rapp and Cruz also pictured in attendance.

DISCO editor describes the evolution of the wonderful flashback scene at the beginning of the most recent episode. The last tweet surprised me, though of course it makes perfect sense. But can you imagine having to track all those people down?

[quote]And one last note - my assistant, John Mullin, had to work tirelessly to secure the releases we needed to use the clips (lots of background actors to clear) from TOS. He was also instrumental in locating some of the original TOS sounds.

I've started falling in love with this series, in particular Tilly ("This is the power of math, people!") and Pike. And I thought this episode was more lovely than brilliant. It allowed for a proper demonstration of the Talosian's powers and Vina was given more of a character than TOS. I just cannot get on board with Burnham. She veers from likeable to insufferable and she veered close to the latter in this episode.

One thing I'll say about the padding - did they pad Jason Isaac's crotch in season one? Because there was a bit of a bulge on display there...

Yes, I think Isaac mentioned the front padding in an interview somewhere. Mount's balls are all over the place in some shots so I don't think they're doing that with him anymore.

*Isaacs

Curse his extra S!

Anson Mount has an Asian wife and French bulldogs. Gay?

I don't know about that, I just know he [italic]adores[/italic] his dogs and takes them everywhere.

His French bulldog died in December, by the way. You just know it destroyed him.

[quote]Rapp and Cruz also pictured in attendance.

A lot of the cast was there.

r447 Ah, thanks, they were the only ones featured in the NYT article. I thought it was weird they'd be the only ones there.

It makes me happy that they seem like a close bunch overall. While TNG has fallen in my esteem over the years, just because so many elements feel so dated, the fact that the cast adored and continues to adore each other just shines through.

Such was not really the case with DS9 or VOY.

I love the drama that comes with VOY, though.

OOF! R450!

How do I pronounce Michelle Yeoh's last name, Yoh or Yee?

The former, r452.

Thank you!

now go back to the snake pit where you belong

[bold]‘Star Trek’: Evan Evagora Joins Picard Show As Series Regular[/bold]

[quote]Evagora, a Melbourne, Australia, native, is the youngest of seven siblings. His mother, Marie, is of Maori descent and moved from Auckland to Australia at age 20. His father, a one-time professional boxer named Xristos, immigrated to Australia from his homeland of Cyprus at age 3.

[quote]No details about the role Evagora will play on the Picard series, which is still cloaked in some secrecy.

Fuck me. Sadly, he seems to be straight.

r457 whoa

Star Trek's answer to KJ Apa.

R459 No show needs an answer to KJ Apa.

R444 I'm thinking he might be bi at the very least. Based on his twitter, he seems to have spent a lot of time off-set with Ethan Peck during and after the production of season 2. I've heard Peck was seen out and about in Toronto's Church St. gay village during his time in Toronto.

r461 His Insta screams total pussyhound to me. Where did you find him on Twitter? I can't find him there, nor is his account tagged in any of the news about his casting, which is odd.

Pussyhound? His Instagram screams screaming bottom to me.

R462 are you talking about Anson or Ethan? Anson's insta and twitter are public.

r463 That company he keeps is some textbook straight douchebro stuff. I get zero gay or bi vibes from him. Don't be deceived by him being a model and showing his ass - he knows what's making him money.

r464 Oof, sorry, I thought you were talking about the newly-cast Evan Evagora and didn't even check the reply you were referring to. My bad! Anson pings to me slightly. But Ethan doesn't, at all.

To clarify, I'm also talking about Evagora in my reply to r463. Eurgh, what a mess I've made.

Ethan Peck has or had a long term girlfriend named Molly. She appears frequently on his insta

i wanna bum them all

Sorry, I got confused, too. I thought we were talking about Evan Evagora's instagram, really responding to r457's link.

Just to get everybody on the same page: We think Mount = straight, Peck, Evagora = bi/gay.

Did I summarize that right?

Personally, I think Evagora is 100% straight, Peck is straight (though his super butch voice might be throwing me off), and Mount is just a gentle old soul, but still straight.

Now Shazad, on the other hand...

This photo made me smile from ear to ear.

Man, that was a sad one.

Poignant episode. And just like that, my darling Airiam is no more. I thought them giving us more of her backstory in the previous episodes would have made this episode more effective, but some are pointing out that it's exactly the expectation set up in this episode of getting more of her in the future that makes her sudden end so tragic.

Was that the first all-female landing party in the history of Trek? Peck looks smashing in his costume, mainly because he has perfect posture, the bitch. Admiral Cornwell's hair is so fucking dry, omg. Did you see how she subdued Pike when she arrived on Discovery? That broad had Spock on her mind and nothing else.

Written by Michelle Paradise, who is the new co-showrunner for the third season. So that's promising.

[quote]Was that the first all-female landing party in the history of Trek?

Kira and Dax spent a few episodes where they were the only ones on the mission.

r474 Ah, I see. I was trying to recall if Janeway and B'Elanna or Seven ever went alone anywhere as well, especially on a high-stakes tactical mission like this one.

I was worried that Commander Nhan was going to get red shirted, but managed to survive another episode.

Is this a forthcoming of the borg one day? Or skynet?

Do you actually think the beard is working?

OMG, a Vulcan belly laugh!!!

Loved the casual gay relationship counseling from Spock. I’m loving Peck more and more in the role.

I like him too. I just wish he didn't play Spock. There are some aspects I like in that story line. But I still think having Spock and his family on the show present more constraints than opportunity in terms of stories. The Vulcan brother story could have gone anywhere if it had been some other Vulcan. With Spock, Pike, and being a prequel people - and writers - keep wondering, how they all gonna make it fit into canon. But yeah, Peck turns out to be pretty good in this role. Wouldn't mind him staying on the show.

r479 Loved that. And also how caught up he was on all the gossip. "I noticed Culber moving out of your quarters." Bitch, you've only been on the ship a day or so!

I can't get over Pike's Mojave-inspired room. The ceiling and those panels in the back remind me of the western banded geckos Pike had undoubtedly been playing with when he was growing up there.

Imagine lighting like this on TV back in the 90s. All hail LEDs!

R473 Airiam's death was very emotional and I think better than any main character death e.g. Jadzia's or Yar's, in the history of the franchise. I do agree with you that her death would have likely been even more moving and emotional if she had been featured more substantially throughout the early episodes of the season.

I am totally in lust with Peck as Spock. There is something about Peck that gives bi vibes. There is something about him that just doesn't read 100% straight.

I don't get the bi vibe. The vibe I'm getting is all gay.

R484 If you look at Peck's Instagram, he has been in a relationship with a woman named Molly for years, long before he was even on anyone's radar. This makes me feel it's not a bearding situation, which is why I think he might be bi. He and Anson seem to be very chummy *wink wink*

Those two were probably chummy because they came to the show at the same time. And I'm sure the marketing team encouraged them both to take selfies together as it comes across well if the actors playing Pike and Spock get along in real life as well.

r483, what makes you think Airiam is dead? With the knowledge of a thousand life forms for thousands of years, couldn't she end up the Borg seed/queen?

I think the Borg Queen came onto the scene only after Picard; they didn't have a single representative to speak for them before then.

And the Borg already exist at this time, they're just in the Delta quadrant, that's all.

R488 From First Contact and episodes of Voyager it's established in canon that the Borg Queen existed long before the Borg ever assimilated Picard.

That included a time paradox but okay.

*involved

I believe that Airiam evolves into the Borg.

Regarding Peck. his partner's name is Molly Swenson and they have been together for years.

Who the fuck cares about Peck in real life. Let him fuck whomever he wants.

Now, if they made Spock gay or bi or fluid or whatever sexual orientations they have in space - which wouldn't be hard to imagine considering how gentle his friendship with Kirk was in TOS - I'd be delighted.

R494 I always though by Star Trek's time most people would be inherently fluid given that humans are fucking around with beings who belong to other species.

Dis bitch.

r495 Fluid in the sense that they sleep with opposite-sex alien individuals, sure. But not in the sense that most are bi. Though that's a nice thought as well. I would die if Pike casually mentioned his ex boyfriend in a conversation and then never returned to that again. But you know there'd be a revolt even over a throwaway line like that.

R496 I think that given how xenophobic human can be, humanity would get over gender and adopt more fluid sex practices long before it would ever be totally comfortable with getting sexual and romantically with beings for other planets. Several former Trek writers, like Ronald D. Moore, have stated they believe humans would be far more bisexual but conventions of 20th and 21st century television prevented them for discussing this outside of the mirror universe episodes. I agree the huge swaths of the fandom would flip their lids if Pike or any of the "macho" male characters discussed being anything but straight. I mean read the comments of people on reddit or youtube and they can't stand the show's "liberal agenda" with a black woman lead, and two fags kissing.

Burnham: “I express myself through my work...not my choice of decor.”

Spock: [ quickly scans the room ] “Clearly.”

At least they’ve maintained the original Spock’s ability to convey snark, but with plausible deniability.

r497 I recall watching a YouTube video last month from an old Trek convention with Sirtis and McFadden, and there was a comment from twelve years ago, saying how he thought the first two seasons of TNG were great but then they started with the liberal agenda and he stopped watching. So this is truly a never-ending story, in the Trek fandom and elsewhere.

My favourite new comment from those people is "Can we drop Michael and Tilly and just have a show with [white straight male] Pike?" Like, yes, we all love Pike, but could you be even more transparent as to your real thinking there?

Well, we all knew this was coming, didn't we? Though I'm surprised they didn't mention Peck as well. Honestly, if they don't make Romijn into the Red Angel, I'm going to consider this the worst casting decision ever. We're five episodes removed from the finale and she's only made one appearance, ffs.

This non-event cited in the article made me laugh.

[quote]Meanwhile, with production on Season 2 of Discovery now wrapped in Toronto, Mount was involved in an on-set physical altercation in August last year with a director while filming an episode. The incident reportedly stemmed from a discussion of a scene, and Mount gesticulating and pointing, which was the action of the scene in question. In acting out that scene before the cameras were turned on, the actor’s hands made physical contact with the director.

[quote]Quickly after the incident occurred, it was reported by the production to CBS HR, which reviewed the matter. The department spoke to all parties involved, including Mount and the director, to determine what happened. Based on those discussions and the inquiry, the incident did not result in any disciplinary action against the actor. Even before HR got involved, Mount apologized to the director and work on the episode continued. The incident is said to have zero to do with Mount leaving Discovery; one source close to the production told Deadline that “we would love to find a way to work with Anson again.”

R500 Yes, given Pike's place in continuity (assuming Discovery is part of the TOS to the end of VOY continuity) it was a given he was never intended to be a continuing lead character. I'm sad to see him go because not only is he easy on the eyes, but I thought he was fantastic as Pike. This announcement reminded me that Romijn was playing Number One. I'm assuming she's going to appear in the later episodes because she's only been on screen for what 5 minutes this whole season. I'll be honest unless her character gets considerably more airtime in the last batch of episodes, if Number One is the Red Angel I'll kind of be disappointed. It will feel like a twist for the sake of a twist. My money is still on Airiam being the Red Angel.

I do find it very interesting as well that they don't mention Peck as I also assumed Spock would be limited to just this season.

It may have been an oversight in reporting. Because him serving on Discovery without Pike makes no sense and I doubt they'd keep a character like Spock around just to occasionally say hi to Michael.

Red Angel or not, Number One needs to [italic]bring[/italic] it in these last episodes.

Flippin heck, look what I just found while looking for Ash Tyler gifs on Tumblr.

I'm more down with Ash/Culber stuff but this works as well.

r498, Spock being snarky is a reaction to her snarky comment about his beard.

Like TRUE a brother and sister.

I think they may have just mentioned Mount and Romijn because they're bigger names while Peck is still relatively unknown. I doubt Peck will return as Spock as well.

Yeah, that would explain it as well.

nice one

Well the Youtubers who can't stand Discovery because of it's quote "liberal agenda" are all bitching about Anson Mount not being in season 3. Now, I'm sorry to see Anson go don't get me wrong but it was always clear he was only going to be around for one season. Although I have to say, I've actually enjoyed all the new season 2 characters far more than original main cast. Pike is great, I love the new Spock and although we haven't seen enough of her, I really like Reno.

Speaking of Youtubers, I don't get this vloggers who allegedly hate the show yet spend so much time talking about it.

Does Reno drive a taxi in a holodeck production of On The Town?

[quote]Speaking of Youtubers, I don't get this vloggers who allegedly hate the show yet spend so much time talking about it.

r508 At first, it's just the thrill of the views and the comments boosting your self-esteem, and then it's the little check they get in the mail from said views. Sometimes also cheap crap from the viewers if they have their own P.O. box. It's not much but it gets highly addictive. I know one of them was a really nice guy who was excited about Discovery in the first season but then suddenly changed sides completely because he saw the views got bigger and the like/dislike ratio got better if he was being hateful. It's sad the lengths some will go to to appease the commentariat in their videos. When the times comes, I hope he's at peace for enabling the alt-right neckbeards who routinely try to destroy anything featuring strong female characters.

As for Reno, it's more Tig's "fault" than the writers' for being absent most of the time. Doubt she'd come on as a regular unless the pay situation changed substantially. Which it won't.

r507 So simple and yet so hot.

R510 If I recall correctly, Tig Notaro is a personal friend of Alex Kurtzman and he offered her a guest role. He was so happy with her performance that he asked her back but it was based on her schedule. My guess is she'll make some guest appearances next season.

The fans seem to adore her - some saying she's the best engineer character ever - but Tig doesn't strike me as someone who has the energy to do the full season and all that comes with that. She'd need to completely rewrite her schedule as well do do that. But money don't stink, so we'll see.

Tig's scenes with Stamets in that one episode where they were tripping on mushrooms were some of the best this season and it's a shame she can't be a regular character.

R512 I really like her character, she's like the McCoy of engineering. Tig's stand-up career takes her on the road a lot so her availability to appear on Discovery was limited. Added to that the show is shot in Toronto so it's not exactly around the corner as she lives in LA. I hope she returns next season.

What on earth was that scene with Georgiou, Stamets, Tilly and Culber LOL. Almost feels like it was written specifically for people who think everyone in the future should be fluid.

I must of missed something, who was that blonde woman that walked on to the bridge and took her station?

It was Airiam's actress from season 1.

The bigger deal within the show was that she was coming in to take over for Airiam.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the Red Angel being Michael's mother, but I adore Sonja Sohn, And she really resembles the actress who plays Michael in the flashbacks.

They've shown that Phillipa has a softer side (she kept making goo-goo faces at Voq and L'Rell's baby when no one was looking), but I think this is the first time she's openly shown how much affection she has for Michael. I liked that.

The scene with Hugh and Cornwell was great. As was the one with Phillipa also trying to push them back together. I do confess a little surprise at descriptors like "gay" and "pansexual" still being things in the 23rd century. Not so much because I expect everyone to be bi, or whatever, just that it seems odd that, in a society that's so tolerant of everyone being who they are, that you'd still need to carve out an identity like that.

[quote]It's sad the lengths some will go to to appease the commentariat in their videos

The woman who used to recap the show for io9 was a total and complete cunt. She had made up her mind to hate the show before in premiered, and while she clearly didn't like the bulk of the episodes, it was really funny to see her twist into a pretzel in order to justify that position on episodes ("Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" in particular) that she clearly enjoyed.

She left io9 partway through the season, and she continued to recap the show just to cunt it up. The guy they have this year is a lot more balanced.

[quote]Not so much because I expect everyone to be bi, or whatever, just that it seems odd that, in a society that's so tolerant of everyone being who they are, that you'd still need to carve out an identity like that.

We call people blond and short and Asian and left-handed all the time. Those descriptors aren't there because of oppression. We're just different from each other and there's nothing intolerant about pointing that out and/or celebrating it. I assume the same is the case here. I'd hate to live in a world where everyone is so tolerant to the point that I'd be ashamed to say I was gay and attracted to guys only. That's even worse than the current situation!

We do. But I can't think of any instance in Star Trek where someone was being referred to by a nationality, beyond Chekov, and that was his own descriptor. There don't seem to be any distinct nation states by the time of the Federation. And the only instance I can remember of someone mentioning race as something directly to humans was a comment from Sisko, and I remember that seeming odd at the time.

"I like men only" is something I would believe a 23rd century human would say. I just don't know that, as LGBT people completely assimilate into society, than "gay" would exist as a distinct identity. For better or worse, we're starting to see that happening now.

I disagree. "Gay" is a lovely word and I don't see why it would need to disappear when it's so much succinter than "I am romantically and sexually attracted to men only." People in the future might be more tolerant but I'm sure they'll still enjoy the economy of language as much as we do.

I didn't mention nationality anywhere in my previous post; "Asian" refers to an ethnic background. And race/ethnicity was certainly mentioned in Trek - see my comment at r116.

Well, no one called Det. Kima Greggs as the Red Angel, did they? I was so, so annoyed that it was Michael... until that twist happened. Anyone else kinda distraught by that scene where she was choking in the chair? That was rough and it even made Georgiou queasy. I swear I glimpsed Prime Georgiou earlier when she said "It wasn't my story to tell". She's softening up!

I love the dialogue on this show. "I'm cringing already" - sassy admiral! "I'm scared" from Michael was also very effective and humanising. What the hell else [italic]do[/italic] you say before you're about to die on purpose?

Spock's ass in that exosuit, though. That shit was outrageous! Why was Culber dressed like a bar singer when he wasn't in uniform?

I always thought the idea of everyone going pansexual in the future was a stretch, it's human nature to have a sexuality after all. It's kind of annoying to see the "straight and gay people are stiff and conservative" mindset happening these days with all the fluid folk coming out of he woodwork. But I do feel like there will be no stigma about experimentation, less boundaries and all the repressed bisexual and whatever crowd will be totally open. I do think that terms like bi/pan will disappear since it's already being replaced by the "no labes" "fluid" "queer" lingo.

Mirror Universe is apparently one big pansexual fuck fest though, good to know. Hope we visit again someday and see Mirror Spock and Pike getting it on.

[quote]Mirror Universe is apparently one big pansexual fuck fest though, good to know. Hope we visit again someday and see Mirror Spock and Pike getting it on.

That part got established in DS9. The Intendent was fucking everybody up in there.

What a stupid episode. Time travel stories are the worst.

"I'm not into labels" is so often used by people who enjoy being comfortable in their glass closet. Which is fine; whatever works for them. But there's an implication sometimes that there's something dirty or dated about labels. I hate to break it to them but I quite enjoy labelling myself as gay and doing so does not diminish or restrict me in any way. Quite the contrary, actually - it's liberating and a source of great pride for me.

Anyway, here's Spock's shiny firm - and very much edible - peach. His bulge was nowhere to be seen, though.

R527 they padded Spock's ass to perfection in that suit.

MOM!!!!!!

Ok so, I wasn't surprised the Red Angel isn't Michael because I felt that was too obvious, but I'm not sure how I feel about her mother being the angel.

I am disappointed by the use of the word gay. I don't know if everyone will be pansexual by the 23rd century, but I think we would have moved away from labels by that point or at least how we understand sexual identity today.

What's wrong with how we understand sexual identity today? Shouldn't we just let people label or not label themselves if they so choose? Isn't the absolute freedom to decide either way without repercussions or shaming the general direction we should be heading in? The world in which "gay" is considered a dirty word is certainly not the world I'd like to live in.

Honestly, I find it a bit bizarre to find this line of thinking here on DL of all places. I think it might be born out of this infantile notion that more (straight) men would have sex with other (gay) men if only it weren't for those pesky labels. But it's societal attitudes towards homo- and bisexuality that determine that, not labels themselves.

Can I Remind You That This Is A Sci fi show. We don't have any idea what we will call ourselves in the 23rd century. Chill out

R531 no one is saying gay would be viewed as a dirty word, I just think that the word gay in its current connotation will survive another two hundred years. However, Star Trek is a show written in present day so what can you do? I mean even TNG used words like "Indians" that 30 years later is not PC.

Ugh, the mother as the red angel kind of deflated the season for me. It was a lacklustre reveal.

r532 And no one will be speaking the same English we do today, and yet it's spoken on the show nonetheless. So why is the "gay" word the one that stands out to you so much?

I don't know about you, but I'm perfectly chill. I just happen to prefer actual arguments over throwaway bitchy retorts.

Anyhoo, to gracefully steer the conversation away from self-hating homosexuals...

Everyone who has ever seen The Wire probably screamed when Sonja Sohn showed up at the end, whether it made sense for the Angel to be Michael's mother or not. Best black lesbian TV cop ever! (Hopefully I haven't triggered anyone with the L-word; who knows if this retrograde word will survive in the future, after all.) Watch the entirety of The Wire if you haven't yet, as preparation for the next episode of DISCO. It can be done!

I still don't understand why those bio-neural signs in Airiam were Michael's and not her mother's, though.

And Michael becomes the Red Angel, goes back and changes the timeline of the Daedalus Project, her parents never die or they die before she is born and she never becomes Spock's sister and order is restored.

God how I love a time paradox.

R537 well the writers stated that by the end of the season Discovery would align with canon so this is possible. I think it would just make more sense to say that Discovery is in an alternate timeline because Michael is dead in the TOS, TNG, DS9 & VOY timeline.

I hope Airiam comes back as the Red Angel. With one episode of development, the character was already more interesting than most of the characters the show has introduce. I feel like there's a lot more they could explore with her character.

I think Spock will be back as a guest star in the future (just as Sarek and Amanda appear every so often). I doubt he'll disappear for good after the season is over.

Well, we know that both Pike and Spock end up on the Enterprise...

[quote]Well, we know that both Pike and Spock end up on the Enterprise...

Not necessarily, R540, they already have lived through the initial Menagerie events. There's nothing that says they must both end up back on Enterprise.

They end up on the Enterprise for Spock to return the damaged Pike to Talos IV

R542, that's a stretch of the phrase "end up."

"Did you just call me 'Papi?'"

I like Tilly, but the writers are overdoing her naive nervous boisterousness. For example, the scene where she bursts into the conference room and babbles about the auto-opening doors.

I like the Tilly in the Terran Universe. Bitch was fierce.

I feel like we're not talking about Spock's ass enough!

I'm afraid Discovery's Spock is not aligned with canon. The asses don't match.

At PaleyFest this weekend, the cast and showrunners said this season's ending will be unexpected and change everything! Anthony Rapp stated that if this doesn't satisfy fans who've taken issue with the show's place in continuity nothing will.

A couple other interesting things: While the addressed Anson Mount's departure - which also is going to be unexpected allegedly - nothing was mentioned about Peck despite Peck being present at the panel.

Speculation? My hunch is either we find out we're in an alternative timeline or somehow the timeline is reset so that Burnham's past basically never happened.

I was a little annoyed about the killing plan. It didn't make sense to me. Maybe a fellow DLer can nudge me back to the right path if I missed something. First, they plan to trick the Red Angel by killing Michael, so RA must come to the rescue. But as a backup they also plan to stop short and save her if RA doesn't show up. If Michael really had been the RA why was she expected to stop by then if there was no real danger to begin with? If Spock hadn't prevented the rescue, Michael would have been brought back without the need for RA to show up.

Also: Why was the killing act so cruel? Administration of anesthesia would have been totally ok. She needed to be dead. Suffering was not part of the plan to call the RA.

R549 There are rumors going around reddit that Discovery some how ends up in the future post-voyager.

So he's totally going to be back next season......and he pings loudly for me.

R550, yes, the plan makes no sense if the RA was not Michael, since it depended on the "grandfather paradox" as they took pains to point out. Example 15,235 of why time travel plots suck ass.

Example 15,236. If Michael was to eventually become the RA, wouldn't the RA then already have known about their plan? And why wouldn't the RA have just showed up before they tried to kill her? It would make sense for them to have excluded Michael from their planning from the beginning for just that reason. Time travel stories are the WORST.

after seeing Michelle's Yeoh performance on discovery, I really loved her. I have downloaded some of her previous work, such as crazy rich asians, crouching tiger hidden dragon and tomorrow never dies. Just finish hidden dragon. And enjoyed it. I cannot wait for her section 31 spin off

Well, Sonja Sohn acted the hell out of that.

R554 I LOVE time travel stories, but so far this one, while interesting, isn't my favorite.

So the mother was 950 years in the future. Per short Trek Calypso, Discovery drifted in space for a thousand years before taking Craft on board. Hmm... What does it all mean?

Differently a Borg vibe going on here

R558 Here's my theory, in order to prevent Control from getting the Sphere data, Discovery will end up trapped in some kind of time loop or hidden (like the red angel suit was supposed to) so Control can never access it. I also believe that it is Micheal who is sending the signals from the future in an attempt to help Discovery.

How is it that the little girl adopted by Zarek and Amanda is so much younger than the 12 year old Michael who loost her parents.

Hmmm.

Because the younger actress is a year+ older now. It's the same girl.

Peck Jr finally makes an appearance...

Ali Momen was in four episodes last season - including the two-part opener - and returns this episode, so I bet he's a goner. He has a nice Insta, mainly because of his dog, and no girlfriends to be seen anywhere.

Beauty.

And perhaps the photo for the new thread?

Whelp, Pike knows what's coming for him.

That was a pretty strong episode.

Yes I Agree. The next episode looks good too

My guess only two episode left?

Loved the episode. Pike was amazing. Anson Mount looked beautiful.

I loved the little autoantonym game they played in the mess hall, and Linus' self-satisfied expression when he scored a point. I liked Reno's talk to Culber, but I don't think it's her place to tell him to get back together with Stamets. Perhaps this is better for both of them? Or was she just saying he should stop avoiding Stamets and stop behaving like he doesn't exist?

Mary Chieffo does outstanding work with just her eyes, as of course she's completely limited by her facial prosthetic. I feel like Latif's delivery has improved markedly since the start of the season.

It's incredible what this show has done for the character of Christopher Pike. It's as if the whole season has been a love letter to him. Whatever your opinions on Discovery, you can't deny that this is exactly how bringing back old unexplored characters should look like.

[quote]Mary Chieffo does outstanding work with just her eyes, as of course she's completely limited by her facial prosthetic. I feel like Latif's delivery has improved markedly since the start of the season.

I REALLY liked her two big scenes.

And thank God there was no Sylvia "I have to talk and talk and talk just because" Tilly.

Gotta love that Discovery has given us three confirmed LGBT characters on the show so far (+a dead wife but oh well) and it’s only been two seasons. I hope they don’t stop there.

Hold on I forgot pansexual Georgiou and her mirror boytoys

Here's a gorgeous shot of the Enterprise's bridge.

It looks different. My childhood is ruined.

r571 I love that and hope it represents the new normal.

r573 Two episodes left and Romijn has only been in one episode so far. She better be turned into a Borg queen and catapulted into the Delta quadrant before the season is over. I suspect she's getting a badass heroic death instead. Or she might go with Discovery into the future?

Pike back in his uniform next week. The planet Xahea in the background was featured in Tilly's short Trek. Perhaps they might want their dilithium recrystallising technology and use it on the newly-acquired time crystal?

This entire season has blown me away. I loved the first season but honestly Season 2 is just some of the most epic and well done Sci Fi I've ever seen in my 38 years of being a geek. I am fully convinced they're telling the origin story of the Borg and I'm living for it. Anson Mount as Pike is excellent in every scene and so damn handsome! I can't wait to see how the season ends and what it sets up for season 3 but I know I'm gonna have some major Trek withdrawal when it's over. Just hope the Picard show premieres this year to hold me over!

The Picard show, which may or may not be called Star Trek: Destiny, is either already in production or going to begin very soon.

[quote]"I was [italic]hatched[/italic] ready" - Linus, a.k.a. Bamboo Boy

That exasperated grunt Michael let out when Spock insisted he come with her on her mission is exactly the kind of shit I do with my sister. The writers nailed the sibling relationship with this little detail that requires no dialogue at all.

r576 But YouTube tells me that show is mere days away from getting cancelled because "they bowed to the SJWs and cast too many coloured folk!!1!"

R574 It was supposed to begin production last week, but it appears to be slightly delayed. However, Patrick Stewart is now back in LA according to his twitter so I'm guessing filming starts soon.

Are they filming in LA and not Toronto like Discovery? Well, that's very good.

Why? It'll be mostly interior shots anyway, so does it really matter where it's filmed? I assume there won't be many extras in this.

Discovery has already been renewed for season 3.

Not to rain on your parade, but four years ago Jeb Bush was considered the republican front runner. Jussaying...

I do see differences though, too. Four years ago, the republican front runners switched every two months because none of them ignited enthusiasm until Trump came along. I'd say the Democrat have a couple candidates everybody feels real good about. I know, I have two candidates in the pool that I really want as president. I don't feel like I only have poor choices. So hopefully the decision process is a bit more predictable and a populist is not needed.

Someone give R582 a compass.

#Georgiou 2020!

Sorry, posted in the wrong thread. Hope it didn't ruin your day.

Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Kronos, Regina Andor, Emperor Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius 2020!

R574 Romijn is exiting Discovery at the end of the season, so she’s not going anywhere with them. Since she’s playing an existing character from TOS, I’m not sure if her dying would fit into cannon. Even if it did, I think it’s unlikely they would kill off an existing character.

Is there a reason you’re expecting Romijn to have a significant role?

r587 It would fit into canon perfectly, as the current events take place two years after The Cage, which is the first and the last time we saw Number One in TOS.

[quote]Is there a reason you’re expecting Romijn to have a significant role?

Because she's Rebecca fucking Romijn, that's why. Why cast a bigger name than Anson Mount and Ethan Peck [italic]combined[/italic] and then not do anything epic with her?

R588, I don't know who Rebecca fucking Romijn is without having to Google. And if I did, I'm sure my reaction would be, "oh, her."

Well, not everyone had the good taste to watch Ugly Betty back in the day, so I can understand the confusion.

I would consider her a solid B-list star given her TV and X-men background. Especially based on the fanfare the DSC PR machine gave her, I would have expected her to have an equal part as Ethan Peck. When she was announced I actually thought they introduced her as a regular along with Mount. Considering how much air time she really got it's ridiculous to cast her.

Well, I did Google her and it seems she's bulked up recently.

New thread!

I wanted to use a shot of Pike for the new thread but it would just make us nostalgic and bitter after this season wraps up.

Gosh, what a handsome man he is.

R588 I think maybe you have a distorted view of where Romijn’s career is at this point. She just came off a second-rate show on TNT called the Librarians. A two-episode guest arc on a show is not below her. It also gives her convention cred (because she can now list Star Trek in addition to X-men, etc.), and I suspect that’s where she will be making a big chunk of her income going forward.

Yeah, she can make money just on cons for the rest of her life. And honestly, from the way she talked about it on her social media, she had a lot of fun doing it, so why not?

And we

move on

to the

Next Thread:

Goodbye, Part 3!