Star Trek: Discovery just started production on its fifth season, and series star Sonequa Martin-Green (Captain Michael Burnham) took a quick break from filming to pop over to London to help launch Paramount+ in the UK. While there she talked a bit about the upcoming season, Tilly, and who she would like to be with in a crossover episode.
Expect the unexpected in season 5… and Tilly too?
Speaking to Games Radar in London, Sonequa borrowed a phrase from the interviewer to describe Discovery season five:
I think that’s a great phrase, I’m going to steal it. ‘Expect the unexpected.’ I think that is exactly right. The three words I would use to describe season five are ‘refreshing, invigorating, and lovely.’
When reflecting back on season four, Martin-Green said Michael’s goodbye with Tilly as she left for Starfleet Academy as a favorite, calling it “really special.” The subject of Tilly came up again when asked where she would like to see the show go:
Is there anywhere you’d like to see Discovery go where maybe it hasn’t gone before? Whether that’s high concept or very specific character episodes.
Now we have gone past every other Trek in terms of the timeline, I’m excited to continue this new future. I’m excited to see more technology [and] I’m excited to see more character development with our core, those characters that we’ve just come to love so much.
I just want to see more and more interactions with the crew of just the Discovery amongst themselves. I’m excited for more of that.
And more Tilly?
Yeah, exactly!
Currently, there is no confirmation of what kind of role Mary Wiseman’s Tilly will have (if any) in season five, however showrunner Michelle Paradise has suggested she will be returning in some capacity.
Pictured: Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham and Mary Wiseman as Tilly in season four
Crossover with Star Trek legends?
The next season of Star Trek: Picard is bringing back the main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which lead Metro UK to ask Martin-Green if she would like to see some Trek legends show up on Discovery:
When asked whether she would ever hope to share the screen with any Star Trek legends, Sonequa listed Kate, Sir Patrick [Stewart], Whoopi [Goldberg] and Avery Brooks, while also saying: ‘I want to work with so many people.’
‘I am very much in support of crossover episodes and us getting an opportunity to work with some of the people whose shoulders we stand on,’ the actor said.
Executive producer Alex Kurtzman has confirmed there is going to be a Star Trek Universe crossover of some sort, although that is assumed to be between the current series.
Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham in Discovery season four
Sonequa and Kate in London
Speaking of legends, Martin-Green attended the UK event along with Kate Mulgrew who was there to promote Prodigy and The Man Who Fell to Earth (available on Paramount+ in the UK and Showtime in the USA). The pair appeared together on the blue carpet.
Kate Mulgrew and Sonequa Martin-Green in London at Paramount+ UK launch event on June 20th
The pair also appeared on stage to talk about Discovery and Prodigy at the launch event.
Kate Mulgrew and Sonequa Martin-Green in London at Paramount+ UK launch event on June 20th
Keep up with the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.
Very ho-hum on Discovery right now. I just can’t pretend to be excited for it at this stage but yeah, I’ll be watching regardless lol. I’m very excited to see where Prodigy and Janeway will be going next though!
I did like SMG idea of seeing Picard, Sisko or Guinan in the 32nd century. I know she was just answering a journalist question but that would sound like fun. And who knows, maybe Guinan is still living by that time. ;)
If by “ho-hum” you mean “meh”, well I’m ho-hum too. Gave up on DISC at the beginning of season 2. Just couldn’t deal with Burnham and how everything revolved around her. Then decided to give it a chance and came back to it to re-watch season 2 and 3… and decided to continue watching season 4. I won’t talk about what I think of season 4 because I’ll probably upset the posters here who can’t wrap their heads around people expressing negative opinions… Suffice it to say out of curiosity I will watch season 5 but have ZERO expectations. Actually I expect it will continue the trend of the many issues in season 4 that I found very irritating… But that’s just my personal opinion and I know a lot of people love this show.
Yep, ho-hum=meh! That’s very much where I am right now.
The irony is I was super excited for seasons 2 and 3. It’s probably the most I had been excited for Star Trek since the days of DS9 once the Dominion story line started. But in the end, both seasons just failed to deliver what they set up IMO. I won’t even bother with my thoughts on season 4. I’m completely conflicted with that one too and what helped put me in this rut. I do think Discovery is a much better show from where it started, but still faaaaar from great unfortunately.
Anyway, I’m not trying to turn this thread into another negative Discovery discussion. Kahless knows there are already enough of those lately lol. It was just my first reaction reading the article and an unfortunate one. Just being honest. I’m hoping season 5 will turn it around but out of all the current shows, this is the only one I’ve basically given up on.
And most posters here seems to be in the same boat as us reading a lot of the threads; especially talking about season four. It seem to be a frustrating experience for most. But sure I know people love it too but the enthusiasm level still feels a lot lower compared to a lot of the other new shows.
We’re still watching it here. But it’s not “must see”.
I always end up seeing it at least three times even so. One of our kids and my spouse both seem to want to watch it with me sporadically.
By contrast, most of the household gets through SNW, Prodigy and Lower Decks the week they are released.
And our teen who felt burned by the Icheb abattoir scene in Picard still waits until every new live-action season is over to decide whether to invest in watching it. Keep mentioning it here because “the wait till the season’s over to decide” has become a significant thing recently in streaming. Streamers need to understand that there is an ongoing price to delivering something super offensive to core viewers.
I gave up on Discovery half way through last season. I gave it three and a half seasons and just cannot take anymore. They did give us Strange New Worlds, so I’m grateful for that.
Agreed, same here. SNW works for me…
Gave up on DSC at the end of S2, and no regrets. Enjoying SNW, though.
The middle of S4 was pretty rough, I’d say, but it closes really strong, with a well-plotted finale with very classic Star Trek themes. Give it another chance when you have a lazy weekend to binge the rest of it.
True that, Discovery is arguably the worst iteration of Star Trek ever. Way to sappy. Hard to watch, cringe worthy nearly every scene. Everybody’s friends, nary any boundaries at all between crew and command officers. Needs to be more disciplined and dispassionate.
I’m a late comer to Discovery. I just finished the sixth episode of Season 3, where they finally found Starfleet. Season 3 has been interesting but so far, I prefer seasons 1 and 2. Season 1 had the Klingon War and the drama with Michael Burnham, the Klingons, the Mirror Universe and Lorca, and Ash Tyler’s split character and the wonderful mirror Georgiou (she’s one of my favorites, Michelle Yeoh rocks!).
Season 2 was even better with the addition of Spock and Pike and the fight with Control. Also, I love Jet Reno. It looks like she and Stamets have a fun relationship, each respecting and liking the other and trading barbs for fun. Kind of like how the Spock and McCoy relationship developed, although that came out of something where there were real differences of viewpoint, real conflict.
With Season 3, the setting is definitely dangerous, the Dark Ages of the Galaxy, but I find myself missing past characters like Lorca (yeah he was evil but he was great and unsettling and I’m a fan of Jason Isaacs), Spock, Pike, and Tyler. Book seems interesting in that he’s an independent operator, kind of like Star Trek’s answer to Han Solo. I don’t care at all for Indira, sorry, at least not yet. That episode on Trill was the one I liked the least. And I thought a human-symbiot joining wasn’t possible in the long run as established in TNG’s “The Host,” right? Well, it’s not the first time Discovery has kind of broken canon, with the Klingons having he cloaking device 10 years before TOS, inter-ship beaming and forcefield establishment, and other displays of technology (beyond holograms) that weren’t in the original Star Trek. I guess you just have to roll with it. Although, now that I think about it, why was the cloaking device necessary to have for season 1? Was it just the way for the writers to have the Klingons bring the Federation to its knees. I mean, wasn’t it always implied in TOS and TNG that the Federation had the edge technologically over the Klingons and the Romulans?
Besides the quibbling about canon, I really agree (tho I’ve been watching since day one.) I liked season one a lot, loved season two, but since then it hasn’t really hit. I feel like there’s a possibility season five will figure some things out and be a bit more fun/compelling but..who knows.
It’s supposed to be 900 years after the human-Trill joining on TNG. That’s not hard to explain as simply being the result of medical advances in that time.
Honestly any of them could show. Picard is an android, Sisko is with the Prophets, and Guinan, like you said, who knows how long she lives.
Maybe Pike is still living on Talos . . .
An elderly Guinan would definitely be an interesting way to tie the eras together. Perhaps ‘Ten Forward’ is still open!!
Discovery was once very good. These days, it’s not. I still watch it and enjoy aspects of it, but it has definitely gotten weaker since they jumped to the future. SNW, LD and PROD are all so much better than DIS and PIC, by a very wide margin. I wish there was more consistency in terms of writing quality. I’m a Star Trek fan who will watch every show they make, but they need to do better with some of the series.
Agreed unfortunately. I like the 32nd century setting a lot but its feeling a bit squandered sort of the way the Kelvin universe felt with those movies to me. But loving SNW, LDS and PRO. Picard sucked both seasons but I’m hoping having the entire TNG cast back will finally bring out the potential I was hoping it would have in season one. Sadly that’s the only reason why I even care about season 3 at the moment. So I’m hoping it goes out as they are promising and with a big sentimental bang!
We’re of like minds. On this point, at least. :)
SNW is a rare example of a spinoff show being a hundred times better than the show that spawned it (Discovery). The writing on Discovery has gotten so bad these past two seasons, and so much time has been wasted on non-characters like Gray and the one-dimensional cardboard bridge crew.
To me it all comes down to the show runner. Most people who don’t like the show today seems to point to the last two seasons of it when Michelle Paradise became the sole show runner of the show. She is the one making all the decisions and driving both tone and the major story line. It’s why I think she should be replaced or at least have someone else there to take control of the creative direction. To make it clear: someone better. ;)
Sadly, I have to agree.
Why do you feel the need to single out the trans actor for criticism? There are plenty of other poor performances that you could have chosen to illuminate- but you had to pick Gray? I wonder why…
Out of genuine curiosity when did you find Discovery “once very good”?
I loved season one and most of season two.
me too. also some of 3. didn’t see 4 because I live in a country undiscovered by paramount.
Watching SNW has made me forget about Discovery COMPLETELY.
The only reason I haven’t forgotten about Picard season 3 is because it has been promised as a ‘love poem’ to my favourite series, TNG.
I REALLY hope I am not let down by Picard 3.
One of my favorite episodes of TOS is “The Devil in the Dark,” so I’m glad that season four was kind of a riff on those themes. I’d love to see the show continue to do that kind of thing, working on themes of communication and empathy amongst seemingly implacable foes. I kind of thought Book’s sentence set up a great possibility for a spin-off. It would be cool to see a show about Book helping out refugees of the DMA.
Can’t wait to see S5. I enjoyed Lower Decks and Prodigy so far and Picard S2 though i found S1 to be better and Strange New Worlds has so far been great but imo it’s not up to the quality of writing, acting and character development that Discovery has. Discovery is right up there with DS9 which to me is the best of Trek.
Discovery writing is dreck.
In your opinion Anthony. In my opinion the writing is fantastic and is better then all the new shows including SNW.
Anthony is right, SNW is light years ahead of disco…
I have to agree the drop in quality after season 2 of Discovery is alarming!
Recently re-watched S4 of DIS and it was fantastic. The show is very nuanced. Can really see how well the arcs of the main characters have developed over the years.
Yes SMG, let’s add characters from other series to give Discovery some legitimacy and for your character to no doubt make them look useless as you save the day once again… please no.
You know, that would be something I would LIKE to see as a crossover! Just imagine a spaceship full of greats like Picard, Riker, Janeway, Sisco, Pike, Kirk, Spock, Archer, etc. having to deal with some big catastrophe and try to come up with a plan. They try like 5 things, all don’t work. Then Burham comes, does her rogue thing and saves the day!
Doesn’t seem like fun? Of course not, not like that. But just imagine Boimler watching all this and losing his mind! THAT would be great! :P
Maybe Discovery gets yet another new captain and this time it’s Boimler or his doppelganger.
There just seems to be a ton of chatter about crossover characters of late. Just an observation.
While speculating, setting aside for the moment that Avery Brooks seems to have retired, he’d be the most likely candidate to reemerge from Prophet land to pay a visit to the 32nd century. I’d watch that.
So would I man! ;)
Disclaimer: I didn’t watch DS9 except for the first few episodes and Sisko was the one thing I liked. So I might not have a big attachment to the character but I did like him from what I saw.
That said, even though it would be great to see Avery Brooks back, it might be a long shot. But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t do that storyline with another actor playing the role. As long as the casting is good. Look at Pike, Uhura, Spock, and soon Kirk. Sure, it might be weird since Sisko is a contemporary of Picard and TNG and THEY aren’t recast. But still, better that than no Sisko at all. Same goes with Odo or other actors that obviously can’t come back, sadly.
If they want to bring Sisko back, and Avery Brooks won’t do it, just have Cirroc Lofton play him. I think he could pull it off.
He absolutely could not pull it off, thanks to the difference in their voices. That’d be like replacing a foghorn with a bicycle horn.
I would think the Backup Doctor from Voyager’s Living Witness would be most likely.
Im looking forward to another season of Disco. I loved S4. It had its flaws but it was a great heady (a new word I’ve adopted thanks to Mark K Altman) sci-fi story with great guest stars. Please no hiatus this time and I want to see the wonders of the 32nd century. I want to see the inside of an Eisenberg or Mars class ship. What can they do? What cool weapons or tricks can they do? I’m loving SNW, but can’t wait to return to my favorite new trek.
“Please no hiatus this time” What do you mean by this? There has to be time between seasons, episodes are no longer made in ten days. This is the reality of tv now. Or do you mean time between seasons for the characters…?? TBH I think “character rest” is underrated on tv these days, and if there’s one thing I’ve felt about the Discovery crew for this past seasons it’s “these guys need some time off.” I was slightly frustrated we only got that at the end! (But only slightly because honestly I just don’t care so much about the characters anymore, they’re just not as compelling as they were in the first couple seasons, for me.)
I think they mean the gap within the season, as happened with seasons 1 and 4. They’ve cut the order to ten episodes in line with other shows now so I suspect that is over.
Hopefully the “Expect the unexpected” Sonequa Martin-Green speaks of for season 5 of Discovery, means they will start behaving like a professional Starfleet crew. At this point, that would really be unexpected.
I was amused to see the photo of Kate Mulgrew and Sonequa Martin-Green together because just the other day I was watching an episode of Voyager and had a stray thought about how great Janeway was in commanding her crew to get out of tough spots even though her ship was out of contact with Starfleet, and by contrast, if that episode was a Discovery episode instead, it would be crying and group hugs.
Burnham could really use some pointers from Janeway on how to captain professionally. Maybe a Janeway hologram can make an appearance and do just that.
I know ‘Expect the unexpected’ is a common phrase but it makes me think of Thomas Riker pretending to be Will Riker in the opening of “Defiant”…now bringing him back would be put out of left field lol
If they found a way to bring Riker next season on Discovery then my anticipation level for next season will go from a 3 to 10+!! ;D
And they have to find a way to get Frakes in there to keep his record of appearing in every Star Trek spin off show. It’s only this show and Prodigy he hasn’t appeared on yet. Prodigy almost feels too easy to get him on there but if they can figure out how to do it in Discovery, even if it’s a Riker hologram or jumping to the future via GOF for an episode, I would be pleased….mighty pleased!
Oh yeah I forgot about SNW. That one is a bit trickier outside of time travel obviously. Of course he can always view one of their missions via a holo–I’ll stop typing before I get banned.
I kind of like the holo episode idea. You could even have a live action version of Titan Boimler tag along as the Starfleet nerd/history buff nitpicking all the historical inaccuracies and ultimately retconning TATV!
LOL nice! I would be all for a live action Boimler too!
Captain Boimler clearly . . . they haven’t played musical captain’s chair in a while now . . .
You nailed it! Discovery and it’s crew are not credible on any level.
Janeway routinely got her crew into mortal danger on the thinnest of justifications. I found it frankly unrealistic that the crew would have continued to go along with her side quests that not only slowed their return to earth but put the entire crew in danger for very little reason. (Even if the story often later created a justification so she wouldn’t be too much in the wrong.)
I don’t feel there’s much point in comparing–in real life and with fictional characters. It’s endlessly subjective and reductive and just makes everyone involved miserable. But pretending Janeway didn’t have her flaws as captain, that she was somehow perfectly professional, is ehhhhh. It just doesn’t fly for me. (Not to mention that comparing women to each other is the oldest, most tired sexist trope…when Janeway’s whole existence was framed around thumbing the nose at sexism…)
Well I never tried to claim Janeway didn’t have her flaws. I was only saying she behaved professionally as captain and expected the same from her crew. It really doesn’t matter male or female though. Every live action Starfleet captain, even Archer, behaved like you would expect a captain to behave. Burnham is more like ‘Acting Captain Wesley Crusher’ compared to the others, and it really makes the ship look like it is being run by people who would turn on the water works the first time any of the other live action Starfleet captains ever dressed them down.
More Tilly is not encouraging me to get back to DSC. A character who drove me mad quite often.
Now that SNW is the Kurtzman era show that is the closest to the spirit of TOS, the news on DSC is all meh now.
You know it’s funny that Sonequa mentioned Avery Brooks’ name. It’s the first time he’s been referenced by someone within the current Star Trek Universe in a long time. I wonder 🤔🧐 if that’s a hint about what’s to come on Discovery this year? With them being in the 32nd century and doing high concept sci-fi, like Star Trek: The Motion Picture, maybe they’re gonna do a story that involves the Prophets in the 32nd century?
I had a funny feeling when Wil Wheaton was interviewed after his appearance on Picard that he might be showing up on Discovery this season too because he said in the interview that “with Star Trek being like it is today, he totally expects Wesley to pop up again, he just doesn’t know when”. Maybe that’s a hint that Wesley is gonna be on Discovery soon? Maybe something’s happened with the Prophet’s and they’ve become more antagonistic towards the Federation and it’ll be up to Captain Burnham and Wesley Crusher to find out what’s wrong with them so they go on a search for Captain Sisko? He’s still in the Celestial Temple but because he’s in there for too long he’s lost his sense of self, of who he is, and it would be up to Captain Burnham and Wesley to bring him back.
A “man out of time” story for Captain Sisko would be a very cool way to bring him back and Starfleet in the 32nd century really needs him right now because they are still rebuilding after the Burn. Oh, man, I would so be behind this, if they did this 🙂. We’ll see, right 🤞? Live long and prosper, Trekmovie 🖖
“Avery Brooks’ name. It’s the first time he’s been referenced by someone within the current Star Trek Universe in a long time.”
That’s simply not true at all. His name comes up quite often in interviews with the casts, writers, showrunners and directors. But he’s retired.
I haven’t heard his name referenced in a long time. I’ve heard Captain Sisko ‘s name and that’s different then hearing Avery’s name. But, if I’m wrong, then my mistake. You’re wrong too though, Lorna.
Avery’s not retired. He’s a tenured Acting professor at Rutgers University. He was blacklisted from Hollywood for some reason, they weren’t sending him scripts anymore, and so he left it in 2013. That doesn’t mean he’s retired because he was forced out of Hollywood and this comes directly from Cirroc Lofton.
He talked about Avery on one of his podcasts back a year or two ago. He also said that Avery would return to acting in a heartbeat, if somebody would send him a script. So I don’t know why people keep saying he’s retired because he’s not. Being forced out of Hollywood because no one will send you a script and leaving Hollywood on your own terms is two different things.
Avery didn’t leave Hollywood behind, it left him. If everyone wants to keep believing that he’s retired, then go ahead, keep believing it. But I know different and I heard it direct from Cirroc Lofton, who goes to visit with Avery all of the time, and Cirroc has never once said that Avery’s retired. Live long and prosper, Lorna Dune 🖖.
Well that’s great to hear for sure, but I don’t think he’s begging Hollywood to put him anything at this point either. I looked at his IMDB resume recently and the last TV/Movie role he did was back in 2001. It would be nice to see him back as Sisko but I’m not holding my breath either. I think he’s happy teaching and putting on plays.
Tiger, 2, he’s largely retired from that Rutgers teaching gig now though. However I understand that he’s now open to acting again, so perhaps Kurtzman could entice him back into the franchise. I would love to see a DS9 mini-series on P+.
I frankly don’t understand why we can’t get some Trek special event limited mini-series on P+ like the NM Khan thing, or a DS9 revival? Why does it always have to be a multi year series, Shor Treks excepted of course?
The only reason his last acting credit was 15 Minutes is for various different reasons but as I stated in my earlier reply, Tiger2, Avery stopped getting scripts. Cirroc Lofton mentioned about how Avery was getting scripts and then the scripts stopped coming in. Cirroc said that Avery had been blacklisted in Hollywood and neither him nor Avery knew why. Cirroc also said that if the scripts started coming in to Avery again, he would be more than happy to check them out because acting is what he loves to do.
As I said before, this comes from Cirroc Lofton himself and he talked about Avery and what he was up to on an episode of his podcast from a year or two ago because a lot of people were wondering if Cirroc knew what was going on with Avery Brooks and how he was doing since he hadn’t been seen in awhile. Now Avery has stated before that he felt that Captain Sisko’s story had been told but that’s the go-to line with these guys and these characters. If the story is good enough and if they ask him and send him a script, Avery Brooks will more than likely say yes. A man out of time story might be the right idea and the only place to do that would be on Discovery because Starfleet is still in a rebuilding process and they don’t have a lot of experienced officers there in the 32nd century.
So having a highly decorated officer like Captain Sisko make his return on Discovery makes sense because he’s needed. He wouldn’t just be retreading DS9 if he was in the 32nd century, far away from DS9 and those characters. He could meet all new characters. He’d have to adjust to the fact that Jake and his daughter that Kasidy was pregnant with are both long gone.
There’s a lot they could do with Captain Sisko if they put him in the 32nd century. There’s a lot of pathos and drama that could be wringed out of putting Captain Sisko in that setting and situation and that may be what draws Avery back because now Captain Sisko has to grow in a completely different way. Take the Prophets away too, so now, instead of replaying the Emissary thing, he’s just Captain Benjamin Lafayette Sisko, man out of time. Of course, if he comes back, he won’t be a Captain anymore because they’ll probably give him a promotion.
He’ll either be an Admiral or maybe they’ll bring back the Commodore title just for him, Commodore Sisko. That has a nice ring to it 🙂. There’s countless possibilities what can be done with Captain Sisko. All they need is Avery Brooks to say yes.
And with all these legacy characters returning, the possibility of seeing Avery Brooks has increased exponentially. Michael Dorn said that he would never play Worf again unless Worf had a significant amount of screen time. Worf is in Picard season 3 but he’s not in it for a significant chunk of the season. Yet Alex Kurtzman convinced him to come back.
So if he can get Michael Dorn to sit back in the makeup chair again, then I think he can convince Avery Brooks to come back, if they have the right story. Live long and prosper, Tiger2 🖖.
Just love Star Trek Discovery can’t wait for season 5🙂🤗🙂!!!
The last time when things were Unexpected, Trip Tucker got pregnant.
Oh no. Not even close. On “ENT,” the reveal of Romulans taking a lead role in the Vulcan political heirarchy. On “TNG,” (in the TNG movie, anyway) when Data was killed — I still can’t believe they did that so such a beloved character. On “Picard….so many: Picard dying and later revelations showing Picard is really an Soong android like Data. The Borg joining the Federation was probably the biggest WTF moment in all of Star Trek lore.And for me, the biggest **DOINK** moment was the what happened to Tomulus (and by default, Remus too) I mean,with the death of Picard, given his age, Picard eventually had to die. But blowing up all of Romulus — that was mind-blowingly massive. While Picard cam return as an android, you can’t bring Romulus back. No enemy and no Romulan War or any Neutral Zone. It is now all gone (even though a few off-planet Romulans still exist) On “DS9,” the biggies were Nog becoming Grand Nagus, On “Voager,” I still can’t believe they got rid of Neelix before the actual finale. Or Janeway destritubg the entire Borg Collective (or Seven becoming president of the Earth in “Picard.”) On “Discovery,” got rid of captains Gabriel Lorca AND fan-favorite captain Philppa Georgau (sp?)…. and in later seasons, the complete destruction of The Federation, and then the galaxy-wide Burn. So no, Trip getting pregnant wasn’t the biggest surprise moment. Since that episodee — at least in the Trek timeline — there were,lots of surprising moments, some bigger than the Trip reveal (hell, killing him off and having him join Section 39 was jaw-dropping). And everything I listed here happened AFTER the pregnancy. So they were all in the “biggest surprise since….” category)
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Please! For the love of god! Don’t drag Avery Brooks into this!
Harsh
Absolutely they’ve already ruined Picard
More Tilly?
Pass, thanks. The show felt a bit more grown up / less tedious when she departed. So I would say leave her “at Starfleet Academy”. Sorry for quite the biting assessment, but honesty is the best policy.
I thought moving to the 32nd century was a great idea and still do, as hate the constant prequels. But, they’ve sorta wasted the premise and exploration of this time period. They could of had fun with the fall out of the Temporal Cold War and technological advances etc. but the Discovery tech sometimes actually felt more advanced! (just shows the people running the aesthetics during the early years hadn’t a clue… probs thanks to Moonves’ input / people not understanding the canon / visual history of the show).
But for me, the best Star Trek shows on at the moment are Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds (yes, it’s another prequel with pre-established charaters, but it’s pretty damn good!) and The Orville.
Both Picard and Discovery can go. Though, I am looking forward to Picard season 3, if they deliver on what they are promising. I do hope post-Picard, SNW is the last prequel and we stay in the 25th century and beyond.
Oh and forgot about Prodigy, which is fine for what it is. At least the show is set in the post-Nemesis era. Just needs to tone down on the Star Wars-ian feels now and then. Definitely got better as the season went along, though and great to see Janeway back (the timeline meddler!).
Oh, dude. Agree 100 percent. So many Trek possibilities without rehashing the current shows. (If them must build on one, Picard is captain of “Titan” in the novels, and Janeway leads the Full Circle mission back into the Delta Quadrant in the novels as well.
Sonequa comes across as so charming and engaging in interviews and I think she is a good advocate for Trek, however I just don’t really relate to the Burnham character at all. The constant need to defeat the big bad of the series is tiresome. And as others has said she is the center of the universe in Discovery. I feel the writing just isn’t that good compared to other current Trek series such as SNW and Prodigy, Lower Decks keeps me entertained as it’s Trek but fun. Discovery just doesn’t pull me in anywhere near as much. I’ve given it 4 seasons, I’ll continue to watch it as I watch all Trek series, however my enjoyment is diminishing as it goes on.
Sonequa as a person is great. I’ve met her and she’s friendly, sweet, and extremely likable. But her acting in my opinion is pretty one-note, and Michael is not a well-conceived character.
I honestly don’t think its the acting as much as it is the writing.
Dislike extremely. Not the fault of Ms. Green’s acting. She does an incredible job with the scrips she’s been given. Her acting is not to blame, any fault therefore lies with the script writers. (Although, personally, I like what Discovery has been so far, but wish they’d go back to the original DISC timeline, before Kirk. So many possible origin stores!
I understand exactly where you’re coming from.
It’s clear that as an actor she’s one of the best chefs de compagnie in the history of the franchise.
I have no doubt that the other cast members are sincere when these speak enthusiastically about her graciousness or what a great leader she is on set.
I have had a lot of issues with the way Burnham’s character journey to become a leader has been written though. I would agree that the way Burnham has been written and directed has been a major obstacle for fans.
As much as season four dragged, it did finally accomplish the task of making her as a character a leader that one can believe in. Now, I’d like the ensemble to be more interesting. Saru seems one foot out the door. Somehow Stamets and Culber have become boring, Adira has lost any of the delight of season 3 with the focus of making Grey his own person, and most of the rest of the regular bridge and medical remain ciphers with backstory bullet points. Other recurring characters (and I bundle Reno with those) are more well rounded but not likely to have their own plot lines or arcs.
One thing I am curious about is Kovich’s operation. At this point, both Bryce and Nilsson have gone off to work on Kovich’s projects. While we understand that this is mostly about accommodating the actor’s scheduling, Cronenberg’s Kovich is so interesting that it might be interesting for the show to give us an episode with the three of them. It’s hard to imagine doing that in a 10 episode season, but Cronenberg could carry it certainly, Ronnie Rowe Jr has carried the lead in award winning indie films and is a lead in a BET+ series, and Sara Mitich has definitely showed craft with more challenging work in other projects.
Wait, the captain is the main character? Like, the character who they said “This is the main character and their journey to the captain’s chair” before the show started is, in fact, THE MAIN CHARACTER? I’m shocked, I tells you. Shocked!
Like, I get the complaint to a certain degree, her character has become less compelling since the end of season two, but I find it fairly odd that people keep complaining that the plots involve Burnham, who is the main character. (Nevermind it was Book’s planet that got destroyed, or that the “big bad” (which isn’t actually a thing on this show–it’s a big *mystery* not a *villain*) last season was a Kelpian and Saru was key to the resolution of that plot, and so on and so on.) And of course nevermind that *she’s the main character*. These shows aren’t 24 episodes long anymore and while I prefer shows like SNW that feel more ensemble, Discovery was originally sold as focusing on Burnham so complaining that it has done just that is a bit odd to me. Most other shows, while they sidetracked with other characters over long seasons, were focused on the captain as the main character as well.
I’m not complaining about Burnham’s journey in concept, but rather how incoherently it was written. I’m probably one of the few people on this board who liked Discovery’s Pilot and second episode. Changing show runners was part of the problem, but generally she just had badly written character arcs.
Picard was not the main character in TNG. He was top of the call sheet, but entire episodes happened in which he had few if any lines. And the more Patrick Stewart sought to be an action hero or romantic lead the worse things got.
Deep Space Nine and Voyager were strongly ensemble shows. If you didn’t notice how pretty much all the main cast got a couple of feature episodes each season I can’t help you with that.
Yeah, would be great to see Chris Pine’s Captain James T. Kirk show up and save the day.
I know some fans feel this way, but most of us who campaigned for a show about Pike’s Enterprise actually wanted many seasons of that and not a TOS reboot.
Yes, exactly, TG47. But we’re getting the latter, seems.
I don’t believe so. IIRC the powers that be have been pretty clear that while Jim Kirk will show up he will not be Captain and this is still Pike’s show.
Agreed. And taking it a step further, the books (although not considered Trek cannon) suggest Kirk was an ensign on Pike’s crew.
Um…. I could be mistaken, but doesn’t Pike helm the whole “Strange New Worlds” series?
Paul Westley plays young Kirk in the original timeline, not Chris Pine.
I’d love to see Pine play a young Kirk in line with the movies of a younger Enterprise crew from the movies…..i doubt it’s likely since Pine and the others are still filming the reboot TOS movies. And Paramount just approved a new Trek movie a couple of months ago.
I am so looking forward to season 5 for Discovery and for season 3 for Picard. I’ve read many of the posts until I couldn’t read them anymore. So nauseating negative. Just don’t watch them, even for curiosity. The shows, including SNW are just so well made, story lines, plots, character development. I love them all. One can make a negative comment about anything and everything but why and then still watch the series? Enjoy it for what it is..entertainment with absolutely fantastic actors making all the timelines and universes come to life. It’s a beautiful escape from all the real life, this century negative drama in our midst. Just enjoy the shows and don’t dissect them. Life it too short. Watch shows you like so you won’t have to waste your time on shows you are not thrilled over.
“Just enjoy the shows and don’t dissect them.”
This is a valid choice but I think this fandom may be founded on doing just not that, lol!
But yeah if I hated these shows as much as the people who complain in this fandom, I’d not watch them either. But I’m in that funny middle ground of enjoying them but not as much as before (for Discovery) but being in a family where we watch all the newly airing Star Trek.
Not my favorite series, but watchable up until Georgiou left the show. Then it just seemed to fade with each episode in search of a continuing thread. Such a great concept – hope this coming season can find a compelling character or thread to keep coming back for.
I’m always looking forward to more Disco, although I’m more skeptical than usual after Season 4 which I felt was by far its worst. Most Star Trek shows get better with each season, but when a show gets worse (or just boring), I can’t help but feel disinvested. The show’s cast has just gotten too thin, budget too stretched, and production too empty. Season 4 felt like filler on a noticeably slimmer budget. I can’t help but assume Season 5 is going to be cut further as fewer people watch.
I think that’s what is most disappointing about DIS for me, it’s the first Star Trek show I didn’t love by its fourth season. All the other shows I loved by season 4 and became bigger fans of the ones that continued on even if the quality would still dip here and there; but I was a bonafide fan of all of them by then. Can’t say the same for Discovery yet.
As for your point about the season 4 feeling stretched on both budget and story, I hope that’s a bit more resolved now that season 5 is down to 10 episodes next season but then that didn’t exactly translate well with Picard either.
Maybe I missed it, but I don’t think anyone’s theorized the most logical opportunity for previous actors to appear on Disco: as Starfleet Academy holographic instructors, in a Tilly-centric storyline.
It would be a good opportunity for well-loved second-tier characters like Bashir, Ezri, Kim, or Torres to appear as 32nd-century holographic versions of the early 25th-century versions of themselves.
Throw an Enterprise character in there and you can even have multiple eras interacting with each other. “Torres and Tucker Teach Transwarp,” or “Federation History with Curzon, Ezri, and [Current host] Dax.”
Hell, I’d do a one-off episode where the only characters that appear at all are Tilly and 3-4 historical holograms.
The funny thing about this idea is I originally thought that’s what they had planned to do on Prodigy.
When the show was announced and we were told it was going to teach kids about the Star Trek universe, I literally thought it was going to present different holographic characters like Bashir, Kim, Uhura, Trip etc, to explain what the Federation/Starfleet was and to talk about the history of the Federation through their eyes; especially when it was announced Janeway would be back as a hologram. She basically substituted that idea down to one character but they still could’ve presented others in time and the episode ‘Kobayashi’ kind of did that.
But I think this would be a great idea for the 32nd century as well. It would be an easier for characters to ‘cross over’ in that century without convoluted time travel plots. I’m still surprised 32nd century holos are not just seen as regular people by this period and just a piece of technology like they are still in the 24th and 25th century. But maybe we will see more advanced ones in time.
My fear is that the crossover that makes the most sense is Wesley Crusher. I said it here first. Hes the time traveller so dont be surprised when he shows up….
I won’t be surprised. I will be aggravated, however. Possibly with a hint of despondency, too, if Wheaton doesn’t do a more credible job than he did on “Picard.”
So many possibilities on that premise. No true restrictions like the other Trek shows. Travelers are their own judges, juries, and executioners/jailers.
I am very excited to continue the discoveries if the 32nd century. I backed out of season 1 pretty quickly, but got hooked while hubby continued to watch mid season 2 and have appreciated most of the episodes since.
I’m looking forward to more crew ensemble, building relationships, the emotional tile and pathways to grow, meeting new beings in and out if the known galaxy and some hijinx. I’m curious if the Borg will be the crossover, although I’m rooting for Guinan.
I love the idea of envisioning new tech. When I was in medical school, TOS was influencing what folks were imagining for noninvasive diagnostic techniques. What we can imagine influenced what we bring into being.
Btw, also loving Prodigy and The Man Who Fell To Earth. Was fun to see Kate Mulgrew in that one
Yes all the reasons why I’m happy it’s in the 32nd century. Some of us want crazy advanced magical tech! This is a big reason WHY I watch Star Trek, because the more fantastical, the more interesting. If I want ‘grounded’ technology I would be a bigger Expanse fan (but do like it). It was always weird to me when fans say Star Trek shouldn’t go past a certain century because then the technology would feel too ‘fantasy’ as if it wasn’t already lol.
And both the Kelvin movies and Discovery proves it doesn’t matter what ‘centuries’ these shows or movies are in anymore because writers are going to come up with crazy tech anyway and why spore drives, magic blood, personal transporters that can send you halfway across the galaxy and wormhole generating time travel suits all existed before the TNG era in these later productions. Now you don’t have fans moaning about how out of place this stuff feels in the 32nd century. That’s the one great positive to me and probably a big reason it’s so far into the future now. And basically anything post-Nemesis just makes their jobs easier. It’s why the Protostar can use an actual protostar as part of its propulsion system. Young minds, fresh ideas! ;D
And yes, would love to see what the Borg are up to in this period!
Also loving The Man Who Fell to Earth. Having Mulgrew and Jimmi Simpson in it is a mini-Prodigy reunion. I’m surprised the show isn’t getting more buzz. It’s one of the better Kurtzman projects IMO.
It the new The Man Who Fell to Earth significantly different and better than the David Bowie late 70’s movie? If so, I may give it a watch. But the original film I think is way overrated and is kind of a crapfest.