This weekend is the season finale of Star Trek: Discovery and we here at TrekMovie aren’t the only ones speculating and reflecting on the moment. We have gathered some highlights from across the web to get you ready for the big day.
Fan-made Disco-ized Enterprise
The inclusion of the USS Enterprise in the season finale is a subject of much speculation, and so one fan decided to make their own. The following Discovery version of the USS Enterprise was posted on Vimeo by fan Carlos Daniel.
Finale food prep
NPR’s “The Salt” for has an article to help foodie fans get ready for the season finale. Titled Pass “The Fortune Cookies, Hold The Ganglia: Feasting On Star Trek’s Discovery,” they offer up recipies for mycelial pasta, “Burnham Burritos,” blueberry pie and homemade fortune cookies. Alas, they offer no way to prepare your own ganglia.
NPR is getting ready for the finale with Discovery inspired food
Saru II Men
On last Sunday’s After Trek, actor and Discovery fan Justin Simien suggested that someone should make a video with the scene of Mirror Saru bathing Michael Burnham with the music of Boyz II Men song “I’ll Make Love to You.” Trek fan Sarah (@minervamoon on Twitter) obliged.
More Pre-finale Disco Bits
As the finale approaches a number of people across the web are starting to reflect on what it all means.
The Mary Sue: Star Trek: Discovery Has Lost Three of the Best Things About It.
io9: My Favorite Character on Star Trek: Discovery Is the One I Initially Hated the Most.
Washington Post: TV needs a really great space saga. ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ comes close, but the longing remains.
Ars Technica: Star Trek Discovery: “I’ve made a lot of bad emotional choices” – In which we explore what happened to the narrative arc of this show.
ScreenRant: Saru Deserves To Be Captain Of Star Trek: Discovery.
The season finale of Star Trek: Discovery will be available on CBS All Access on Sunday, February 11th by 8:30 pm ET. It will air in Canada on the Space Channel at 8:00 pm ET the same day, and be available on Netflix outside the USA and Canada on Monday, February 12th at 8 am GMT.
Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie.
How come one person behind his desk can program better CGI in a few weeks than a multi-million-dollar production in months?
Agreed! Did ya see that fella that removed Henry Cavils Mustache for Superman with a 500.00 home computer and did a better job than a several thousands of dollar CGI job… I also recall the movie District 9 and how all that CGI was done for pennies on the dollar compared to modern effects house rates and it was as good or better than anything seen before it.
I did not, but you see that all around. I do not get how people find Discovery’s effects so overwhelming. They might be okay, but they are so exaggerated and comic-like at times that you can barely see the quality. It often times looks quite cheap for that reasons.
I agree. Star Trek: Continues SFX is far better.
Thanks Gary! 😜
I agree. Most of the visuals come across as a cut scene from a video game.
@Markus Actually nobody said Discovery’s effects are overwhelming. The muddy CGI, and even the lack of outer space shots (like when it comes to show Admirals’ ships), has been uniformly criticized, and you could say even the creators have admitted to it by saying their CGI budget was too low in the beginning. This is something they may easily fix in season 2, and it is far easier to fix than, say, the bias of their writing team!
Yeah the outer space shots especially feel disappointing at times.
She really looks fantastic. Modernized look but true to the original. Although, in all honesty, there is something I would add as a subtle effect – a blue glow behind the deflector dish and the inside of the warp nacelles.
Because they can’t. You weren’t actually being serious?
It’s a decent stab at giving the 1701 a “Discovery-themed look” (and making it quite ugly in the process), but in no way compares to what I’d expect from a professional.
(Sniping from the sidelines is easy–as opposed to doing actual, creative work.)
Funny thing was I did it in less then 18 hours. Point is, it’s a low budget type of “style”. Of course it doesn’t look as professional as it could/should, because these things take time (more than I had/wanted to spend), and more than one professional. You can find really well done realistic render from other fan videos, that easily took 2-3 months to render/composite. In all fairness I wasn’t looking for the best retake on the 1701 (which I have done in the past, and it proves to be remarkably outdated for “realistic lighting and render”), I was interested in seen what/how they’r doing it for the show, and of course try to test if 1701 would fit in as it was, without changes. (a bit of nostalgia as well rsrs)
Are you series Markus? Because it was cute but far from great cgi.
You think taking a random Image of the TOS Connie and putting a friggin’ Shader on it is “Better CGI”?
You didnt see saru running in that one episode? worse cgi than star trek 5
Some Trek fans are worse than DC fans…. Have fun killing the franchise
I’ve heard through the grapevine that the Enterprise WILL be in the finale…for real. Hope it’s true.
I heard it’s going to be Han and Chewie in the Falcon who come to the rescue in this weekend’s episode
Not a bad Enterprise. Did a good job of adding texture and detail while being true to the overall design.
Kewl receipes. I’m preparing for the finale by watching A.G.E.N.T.S. of Shield, CW’s Teen Flash & The Legends of Tomorrow, and Filmation Presents Jason of Star Command – get me in the mood. Having trouble focusing on my work thinking about how spellbinding Empress Philippa is … instantly iconic and unforgettable Mirror Pippa – how you enchant me so. But at what price victory, ya know? I mean, do you think … shudder … do you think we could win the war … but but … LOSE OURSELVES?!? Not if totally-not-dull Michael Burnham has anything to say about it … #GoosePimples
I heard Clint Howard is going to be in it. Balok time travels from a dark future where the First Federation has been wiped out by horse people. Everybody gets hammered on Tranya.
Wonderful pitch! LOL
I’m amazed anyone would think that ship looks good. The lights on the nacelles are hilarious. If the Enterprise ever looks like this I’ll throw my TV out the window.
Well, to be fair, that Enterprise is from ten years in the future. The Enterprise of which Discovery supposedly takes place had needles in front of the nacelles that didn’t glow, a much larger dish, and paper printouts.
Any Constitution-class ship would do, if you ask me. Wouldn’t necessarily need to be the Enterprise. But I’d be surprised if it would stay that true to the original design. Judging from the Defiant wireframe graphic seen in the first MU episode, the parts of the design that can probably not be attributed to a century of modifications (obviously pure conjecture on my part here, concerning which parts are supposed to be original) indicate a slightly more streamlined design, very similar to Matt Jeffries’ proposed Phase II redesign, with a more tapered engineering section and a more dominant saucer.
Oh and of course you can bet on the DISCO design team to add some more blinkenlights.
Of course a more dominant saucer would be ironical given how Discovery’s saucer is so undersized compared to that giant triangle engine section and endless nacelles. That unbalanced aesthetic disturbs me whenever I see it!
This is a nice example of how TOS design aesthetic *does* fit in with Discovery and modern sensibilities if carefully modernized without losing the core idea (which is, opposed to Eaves, smooth simplicity and elegance). In this case, they used the cartoonish outer space light effects of Discovery to their advantage to blend in the different ship design more gracefully with the rest of this (design) universe. The effect is so drastic that funny enough, people think the model has been changed itself, but I think it is mostly a result of making the hull more reflective and add that blue lighting.
I’d still change a few details of the ship itself, like losing the “satellite dish” deflector (or at least the spire in its center), maybe add a blue glow to it, and definitely lose the spinning red bussard collectors. But the basic shape and hull smoothness totally works!
Pike’s version of the Enterprise had those little “nipples” on the nacelle caps which were then re-used for “Mirror Mirror’s” ISS Enterprise. Also, nice to see Ars Technica write an entire article condemning the series’ Mirror-Universe arc BEFORE the finale, and then concluding “let’s see if the finale changes anything.” Will they issue a correction? Write a new article? *Yawn*
I agree with the points int the ScreenRant link –> Saru should be the captain of Discovery in Season 2. And abandon the storyline of Burnham’s rehabilitation. Enough already. Time for new adventures.
I think it would be much more fitting for Saru’s arch if he died in a final act of bravery, and posthumously he recommends Burnham for command.
Nooooooooooo. Sounds like “Bury your Kelpiens” to me!
All this CGI test does is prove to me further how dated the design of the ship is. Does not hold up. Glad Discovery is retconning the visuals.
Anyone who thinks the FX in DSC aren’t great is simply in denial. Mic drop.
I wish the space shots were less frenetic to be honest. I still can’t make out what a DISCO bird of prey looks like that- it’s very clear that while the budget for everything else was enormous, the CGI was paid dust.
“DSC FX denier”. Is that as bad as climate change denier?
This looks very similar to what we eventually saw…
I’m softening my opinion on Discovery, I have hung up my hater cap but I have to agree with the criticism of Discoveries Special Effects. They are few & far between, dark, contrasty & quickly off screen.
I cannot see the $7 Million on the screen & was disappointed all the way through.
As far as the Enterprise goes, I don’t think they had to re-design it as much. A lot could be done with lighting & having The enterprise lighting itself.