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Star Trek: Discovery |OT| To Boldly Stream Where No One Has Streamed Before

The hologram telephone is dumb. Like Sarek at one point walks around and leans on a table that's right next to Michael. Did he have a table too at that place in his room? And the skipping and erratic movements to show "disturbance" only makes it look more ridiculous. Just use a screen, it's already advanced enough that you have real time communication over hundreds of light years apart hah

I thought the glitchiness was really cool. When I was watching it I thought the computer had noted Sarek was moving to sit in a chair and so the projector immediately warped him to a location in Michael's room where there was also a chair. Then I suppose at the other end it "warped" Michael to a different location to make their eye-lines match up again. It looks like radio interference but it's actually the software compensating for differing room layouts, burnished by some algorithmic magic to minimize the amount of "warping" necessary.

I really like it when sci-fi takes a thoughtful approach to how technology would actually work without piling on unnatural dialog spelling it out for the audience. Similarly I also enjoyed Michael's ethics argument in the brig. Judging by online reactions I'm pretty alone in this, but to me it seemed really realistic that a culture like Starfleet would build in software safeguards that would have the power to completely bypass ordinary computer security if there's an ironclad moral reason to do so.

It seems very logical that if you have a computer with a high level of artificial intelligence you would want some pretty robust failsafes to prevent any kind of I, Robot scenario. Having plausible background details like this without overexplaining them goes a really long way towards making the world feel very realistic.
 
Btw wasn't it that at the start of Enterprise they had the pew pew plasma guns but then replaced by the usual constant firing phasers we know?

Now thanks to JJ trek the phasers are now like the plasma guns..complete with the pew pew sound.


I mean I get that this is all nitpicking but this is the first Trek show in more than a decade. People have been waiting for it and they want the universe to be familiar rather than be Trek in just name.

"It's in the Prime universe! We swear"

*JJ tech and design everywhere*
 

nOoblet16

Member
I thought the glitchiness was really cool. When I was watching it I thought the computer had noted Sarek was moving to sit in a chair and so the projector immediately warped him to a location in Michael's room where there was also a chair. Then I suppose at the other end it "warped" Michael to a different location to make their eye-lines match up again. It looks like radio interference but it's actually the software compensating for differing room layouts, burnished by some algorithmic magic to minimize the amount of "warping" necessary.

I really like it when sci-fi takes a thoughtful approach to how technology would actually work without piling on unnatural dialog spelling it out for the audience. Similarly I also enjoyed Michael's ethics argument in the brig. Judging by online reactions I'm pretty alone in this, but to me it seemed really realistic that a culture like Starfleet would build in software safeguards that would have the power to completely bypass ordinary computer security if there's an ironclad moral reason to do so.

It seems very logical that if you have a computer with a high level of artificial intelligence you would want some pretty robust failsafes to prevent any kind of I, Robot scenario. Having plausible background details like this without overexplaining them goes a really long way towards making the world feel very realistic.
Is that the case or are you just going fan fic here?
Cause if its the later then the intention behind it might as well just be "interference".

Because just having holo emitters to have people be represented was considered advanced in DS9, much less one that also predicts and morphs movements based on the location using technology that's more than a century old in the universe.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
I thought the glitchiness was really cool. When I was watching it I thought the computer had noted Sarek was moving to sit in a chair and so the projector immediately warped him to a location in Michael's room where there was also a chair. Then I suppose at the other end it "warped" Michael to a different location to make their eye-lines match up again. It looks like radio interference but it's actually the software compensating for differing room layouts, burnished by some algorithmic magic to minimize the amount of "warping" necessary.

I know Star Trek canon is bullshit and all, but when they did this on DS9, they made it seem like groundbreaking holographic technology to put emitters on the bridge and have the other person "in the room".

But it feels like no one cares anymore. lol
 
Now thanks to JJ trek the phasers are now like the plasma guns..complete with the pew pew sound.

pew pew pew

tumblr_oeki83LplV1vg9m1ro1_500.gif


tumblr_lou998cIJv1qj6sk2o1_500.gif
 

Heartfyre

Member
Watched the two episodes.

I was very pleased. Lots of room for the show to develop, but they nailed the tone I wanted -- it truly felt like Trek.
 

Juraash

Member
Don't give two shits about TOS honestly (outside of movies). For me Star Trek is TNG era.

Also DS9 Defiant is different and hat's most likely photon torpedo's it's firing.

Those are definitely not torpedos in that gif. They are phaser cannons, so they wouldn't need to use the same sounds as they aren't exactly the same as standard phasers.
 
Is that the case or are you just going fan fic here?
Cause if its the later then the intention behind it might as well just be "interference".

Because just having holiday emitters to have people be represented was considered advanced in DS9, much less one that also predicts and morphs movements based on the location using technology that's more than a century old in the universe.

I went and rewatched the scenes and the moment that Sarek leans against the table I think is definitely intentional. It feels like the software suddenly realizes that he's about to lean against something and has to quickly compensate to make it look natural. The other audio skips and visual glitches seem to be an attempt to telegraph radio interference, but to me it makes more sense that the hologram is a digital signal and any "interference" is just buggy software or caused by similar attempts to compensate for other transmission issues. I concede that is probably more headcanon than actually intended.
 

SlickVic

Member
Spoilers on the first 2 episodes

Overall I enjoyed these episodes a lot, but as others have probably said, this almost felt like more of a prequel to the actual show. If you didn't follow the pre-release coverage (or even if you had) and just watched the first episode, I don't think anyone would have faulted you for assuming The Shenzou will be the home base for the show (not unlike the Enterprise or Deep Space 9 in prior series), Georgiou is the captain and presumable main character alongside Burnham (though the opening credits marking Michelle Yeoh as a guest star already spoiled this wouldn't be the case), and T'kuvma is going to be the main antagonist for the season.

Skip to the end of Episode 2, the Shenzou is destroyed, T'Kuvma and Georgiou are both dead, and Burnham's fate beyond imprisonment feels up in the air (though we do expect her to make it back on a starship somehow). It does throw a lot of the formula of a typical Star Trek pilot out the window. Time that's typically spent introducing and getting to know the new crew (one of my favorites is probably Riker and Data meeting for the first time) is instead largely spent setting up the Klingons, and focusing more on Burnham's character. Given the fate of the Shenzou, it makes sense why they did it this way. I just feel the quality of the crew has been a big part of what's enjoy a Trek series to me in the past. And not knowing a whole lot about them at this point, I suppose it's hard for me to say just how much I'll end up enjoying Discovery.

Also having watched TNG and DS9 fairly recently, it also felt a bit jarring initially to see how much more 'future looking' (for lack of a better term) everything looks in Discovery, despite being a prequel. I think I got over it fairly quicky, and I think I ended up enjoying the changes even if they raise some questions about continuity with other series. It's just interesting to see the aesthetics of technology crossing over from the actual era those shows were produced. TOS felt very much like a 60's view on what the future would look like, TNG/DS9 the 90's take, and now Discovery with our current imaging of what the 23rd century would look like.

Anyways, looking forward to watching more of the show.
 

Ricker

Member
Just finished watching the 2 episodes and I thought it was pretty good...let's see how it goes from there though...will they have some weird solo stories,during the regular season arc story ...I mean stuff like the Tribbles or the Liberace episode from the original series lol...I would love a few like that...

Anyway,I am in for now.
 

nOoblet16

Member
Well, uhh... we're in the TOS era?
What relevance does that have to what I said though?

I'll eventually get past the lens flare, the overuse of closeup shots and Dutch angles, the lack of continuity etc. But this show being set in TOS era is one thing I truly dislike because I can't stand TOS pandering (and there will be tons of it I bet !). For some reason everyone who is responsible for Trek these days seems to act like TOS is the only Trek that mattered.
 

nOoblet16

Member
Use spoiler tags.



Canonically, Star Trek got really complicated after Voyager.
How? Because there are no enemies? They can always invent new threats just like get invented the Borg. It's a big universe and Federation has only charted like half the galaxy.

Also they could still set it few years before TNG or something like that.
 
I really loved it. Pacing seemed a bit quick but this feels like a prologue to the greater Discovery story. Burnhams fall from grace, after freaking the fuck out about the Klingons returning. I'm really excited to see where this goes.
 
I wonder what a Mirror Universe looks like in this slightly darker, more mature Trek.


I would guess its just gonna be DS9 style where everyone in the Mirror Universe is fuckin'?

How? Because there are no enemies? They can always invent new threats just like get invented the Borg. It's a big universe and Federation has only charted like half the galaxy.

Also they could still set it few years before TNG or something like that.

By the end of Voyager I feel like the only logical steps are going intergalactic or setting it deeper into the future after some kind of massive off screen event that dramatically changes the state galaxy as it was last seen and Nerfs everyone / resets the balance of the universe.

(I think that last one was a failed TV pitch post Enterprise )
 
How? Because there are no enemies? They can always invent new threats just like get invented the Borg. It's a big universe and Federation has only charted like half the galaxy.

Also they could still set it few years before TNG or something like that.

I do genuinely have some curiosity as to what the Enterprise B-C era could look like, but I suspect we'll never get much more insight there.

Edit:
I wonder what a Mirror Universe looks like in this slightly darker, more mature Trek.


I would guess its just gonna be DS9 style where everyone in the Mirror Universe is fuckin'?

It is an interesting question, since we know we're getting some mirror universe episodes later on.
 

kharma45

Member
It was... ok. Too much speaking in Klingon. Not a fan of the redesign. Visuals are pretty good. Uniforms look great although rank and line of service are hard to differentiate.

Enterprise had a better start.

Anyone else get mighty strange color changes in the first 5 minutes on Netflix, like the stream went up and down in brightness at times and colors sometimes went from the bright yellow sand color, to darker brown color, like within the same scene/shot.

And now the intro is way too bright (compared to the intro released earlier). Somethings fishy here.

edit: there it goes again, at around 9 minutes 18 seconds into the episode, distinct lowering of brightness. Going back a few seconds, and it's brighter and exakt same point, it changes. So I'd say definitely to do with the stream.

Yeah same happened to me (UK)

Glad I wasn’t the only one.
 

Joeytj

Banned
Don't give two shits about TOS honestly (outside of movies). For me Star Trek is TNG era.

Also DS9 Defiant is different, it had different sort of guns and there was also photon torpedoes.

Don't pick and choose, wrongly.

That Enterprise gif is from the TOS movies anyway, and TNG era phaser fire is particular to those shows, not the entire Prime Trek timeline.

And, ironically, we got to see "normal" phasers in JJ's ST movie at the beginning, being a long burst of phaser fire instead of short burst, like the ones you complain about.
 

liquidtmd

Banned
I've otherwise stayed dark in this thread and generally. Just finished Episode 1, moving to episode 2 now.

Impressions? Visually gorgeous. Interesting. A few podgy moments and on the nose but I'm liking this and intrigued a lot more than Enterprises' opener got me.

Random and haven't read through the thread for general impressions but I do wish the Klingons weren't the Klingons and I can't quite place why. I would have happily taken a new species in their place, giving the tense face off against an entirely new enemy a fresh, break from the past identity.

Also, equally beyond one or two references this could easily be post Voyager and I would have preferred that. Maybe timeline wise it plays heavier as we go.

Starting episode 2
 
Did not feel like Star Trek to me. Not a bad show.

Hate Michael. Think she's a terrible First Officer. She should have been confined to quarters way earlier. Doesn't matter if she was "right" in the end, her actions weren't befitting of a Starfleet Officer.

However, I do like how the second episode ended and how she got what was coming to her. I liked the preview for the rest of the season. I'm interesting in seeing where this goes, but I don't know if the arc of Jason Isaacs putting together some kind of Suicide Squad is enough to carry an entire season.

I don't think this was worth $8million an episode, that is WAY too much. It looks great but does it need to have high production value? I felt more distracted during a lot of those sweeping shots than anything.

Lots of other things irked me about it but I did really like Doug Jones' character. Could end up alright but again, it doesn't really feel like Star Trek to me, so if this one ends up getting swept under the rug then I don't think we'd be losing out on much.

At least we got more Trek.
 

Windu

never heard about the cat, apparently
Pleasantly surprised. Interested to see where the series goes. This has to have an insane budget if they are going to continue to pump out movie quality visual effects, I assume other episodes won't have as much action and will be much more classic Star Trek going forward unless they really do have a massive budget, I have a feeling they used most of it on these two episodes.

Also, I don't care for the Klingon designs.
 
I've otherwise stayed dark in this thread and generally. Just finished Episode 1, moving to episode 2 now.

Impressions? Visually gorgeous. Interesting. A few podgy moments and on the nose but I'm liking this and intrigued a lot more than Enterprises' opener got me.

Random and haven't read through the thread for general impressions but I do wish the Klingons weren't the Klingons and I can't quite place why. I would have happily taken a new species in their place, giving the tense face off against an entirely new enemy a fresh, break from the past identity.

Also, equally beyond one or two references this could easily be post Voyager and I would have preferred that. Maybe timeline wise it plays heavier as we go.

Starting episode 2

I've seen the same thought expressed about the Klingons, and it's mostly for the reason you actually put out - so they wouldn't be weighted against expectations of what 'Klingons' are meant to be. The basic premise for the impetus against the Federation is largely divorced from any prior continuity, and so could be pinned onto any other race. Indeed, it would explain why that species never got much notice to begin with - too fractured from in-fighting to be much of a threat or get involved in anything outside of its own territory. The only issue then would be why they never subsequently came up again... unless they just fell back into isolationist ways.

I mean, it could be the Breen and it would work just as well.
 

Var

Member
By the end of Voyager I feel like the only logical steps are going intergalactic or setting it deeper into the future after some kind of massive off screen event that dramatically changes the state galaxy as it was last seen and Nerfs everyone / resets the balance of the universe.

(I think that last one was a failed TV pitch post Enterprise )

The destruction of Romulus alone could have led to an interesting shift in galactic balance. I think setting it a bit further out and dealing with the first voyages to another galaxy would have made the most sense though. It would be nice to see Trek getting back to journeying into the unknown.
 

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
No spoilers are needed as the show has aired. Standard Gaf rules.
Yep. If you're afraid of spoilers then you shouldn't come in here once CBSAA puts up the new episode every Sunday night at 8:30pm ET like the rule for every other show that's released weekly.
 
I liked it although I hope they included some of the lightheartedness from other Star Trek Shows,

I agree tho that the Klingons are going to take a bit to get used too...not only are they a departure from later Klingons....the fact that they are supposed to the same Klingons from the TOS show....it's just too much of a change.
 

SlickVic

Member
No spoilers are needed as the show has aired. Standard Gaf rules.

That's what I assumed but if the rules are different for this show (didn't see any mention in the first post) I can spoiler tag it. Felt like it makes sense to reserve spoiler tags for TV shows for things like discussion of unaired episodes.
 

pigeon

Banned
What relevance does that have to what I said though?

I'll eventually get past the lens flare, the overuse of closeup shots and Dutch angles, the lack of continuity etc. But this show being set in TOS era is one thing I truly dislike because I can't stand TOS pandering (and there will be tons of it I bet !). For some reason everyone who is responsible for Trek these days seems to act like TOS is the only Trek that mattered.

Uh...because your original post said that the phasers were dumb because of JJ's movies.

This was a position that demonstrated historical ignorance of other Star Trek shows. So people explained that.
 

nOoblet16

Member
The destruction of Romulus alone could have led to an interesting shift in galactic balance. I think setting it a bit further out and dealing with the first voyages to another galaxy would have made the most sense though. It would be nice to see Trek getting back to journeying into the unknown.
Like there are so many possibilities.
You can just invent a "sleeping" threat from an Uncharted part of the Milky Way. Or set it quite far in the future and say Federation has developed intergalactic travels and have hem encounter something new, if not have that threat come to the Milky Way and Federation. I'd even like to know more about the Q.

It's honestly not hard to do if they wanted to, so the belief that post voyager federation has no story to tell is a load of fud.
 
Don't pick and choose, wrongly.

That Enterprise gif is from the TOS movies anyway, and TNG era phaser fire is particular to those shows, not the entire Prime Trek timeline.

TOS used long beams, TNG, Ent, DS9 and Voyager too. I think WoK, JJ and STD are the only times pew pew phasers have been used. Trek III to VI use torpedoes only I believe.
 

MysteryM

Member
Not sure how the timelines relate, but it would be awesome if at some point they covered curzon dax, and the khitamar accords. Along with the eventual peace treaty with the klingons. I'm not sure if jj timeline wipes that out.
 
Yeah, what is the official spoiler policy?

Once it's aired, it's good? And since it's all dropping weekly, I feel like we should be able to talk about it? That's what we did with Handmaid.
 
TOS used long beams, TNG, Ent, DS9 and Voyager too. I think WoK, JJ and STD are the only times pew pew phasers have been used. Trek III to VI use torpedoes only I believe.

Don't forget the phaser rifles in First Contact.

The point is phasers aren't exclusively beam weapons, and this has been canon way before Abrams.
 
Not sure how the timelines relate, but it would be awesome if at some point they covered curzon dax, and the khitamar accords. Along with the eventual peace treaty with the klingons. I'm not sure if jj timeline wipes that out.

This show is set like ten years before Kirk is in command of the Enterprise - the Khitomer Accords take place at the end of his career. That would involve quite a bit of timeskipping between seasons.
 

The Cowboy

Member
Just watched both episodes and the season trailer, it's decent but I was hoping we wouldn't get the Enterprise setup of a season long arch - I much prefer the original series/next generation setup of mostly individual episodes.

Still, it's better than the movies by a large margin and it's a new Star Trek - so I'll be watching it.
 

CSJ

Member
TOS used long beams, TNG, Ent, DS9 and Voyager too. I think WoK, JJ and STD are the only times pew pew phasers have been used. Trek III to VI use torpedoes only I believe.

Ent had pew pew.
It's been a long time but, did they eventually upgrade? I remember Trip testing them out... actually that was malcom, he was the gun guy?.
I should watch it again :D

Edit: Ayup https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxLe6jIfeWE


I don't care though, though I'd like to see em back, c'mon discovery!
 

pigeon

Banned
TOS used long beams, TNG, Ent, DS9 and Voyager too. I think WoK, JJ and STD are the only times pew pew phasers have been used. Trek III to VI use torpedoes only I believe.

The "pew pew phasers" are cannons. The Defiant in DS9 used cannon fire all the time.

I don't actually think there's any inconsistency here. Beam phasers fire beams, phaser cannons fire blasts. Different ships have different kinds of phasers!
 

nOoblet16

Member
Forget the ship phasers, why are the pistols pew pew ? Enterprise made a note on how they were upgrading from those to constant fire phaser pistols.

Yeah, what is the official spoiler policy?

Once it's aired, it's good? And since it's all dropping weekly, I feel like we should be able to talk about it? That's what we did with Handmaid.
I think 24 hours is good because we get the show up in Netflix about 10-12 hours later (which is like 8-9am Monday morning for us in Europe, and no one will watch it at that time).
 

Morts

Member
It's interesting, with the effects on HD and so much happening on screen, I have a much harder time picturing the Shenzhou in my head than the ships from any other show. I don't know if it actually has a more complicated profile than previous main ships or just the fact that there's never a shot of it jusdt sitting there o n a black background. Just something I thought about.
 
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