Star Trek: Discovery Series 1 Review

I grew up with Star Trek and the crew of the starship enterprise, the late great Leonard Nimoy who played Spock and William Shatner who played Captain James Tiberius “Jim” Kirk. I used to watch as a kid the original series and all the movies right up to the Star Trek The Undiscovered Country. I then watched Star Trek The Next Generation with Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Brent Spiner as Data, Michael Dorn as Worf,  and LeVar Burton Geordi La Forge and I watched all the movies up to Star Trek Nemesis. The movies from the generation cast where not all that great however I did enjoy Nemesis but was not fussed on any of the others. There have been other Star Trek outings like Star Trek: Enterprise starring Scott Bakula who played Jonathan Archer and I had to say that was a total crock of ****.

Now I have watched Star Trek: Discovery Season 1, I watched the intro and waited for the Star Trek theme to show itself, and right at the end it did, but could this be the Star Trek Series we have been waiting for, or is it another pile of rubbish that will be pushed under a stone and ignored?

Star Trek: Discovery arrived on September 2017 and I waited with bated breath to catch an eye of the new crew, and in the end, I left with a ‘mmmm interesting, this is dark‘. As the series progressed through 15 episodes of Discovery, I slowly moved past what I loved about the original series and started enjoying this new series. I found the most noticeable difference to Discovery was the lead character as it was not a captain, every other Star Trek Film or Series, you would always find the lead being the captain, Kirt, Picard and so on. But with discovery, everything runs around Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) a female first officer, well not for long, first officer that is, and was raised by no other than Spocks Parents. Thanks to her mistakes at start of season 1 she starts a war with the Klingons.

Star Trek Discovery you would have thought it would be about exploring, discovering just like the original series, but it is not, it is about WAR.

Well after Michael Burnham’s somewhat mess up, which I am not going to spoil here if you have yet to watch the series, she joins the Star Ship Discovery under Captain Lorca. She discovers that Discovery is trying to discover a new propulsion system to give the federation the edge in combat over the Klingons. While this is going on Klingons ‘Voq’ and ‘L’Rell’ are trying to bring together all the houses under one united rule, simply making them the Klingon Empire.

Throughout the series, I found easter eggs chucked in from time to time, which put a smile on my face and I found myself glued to the screen and waiting for the next episode, even though I had to VPN to watch it in other counties, I wish they just released it worldwide. From the very first episode that dragged me into a much darker universe to testing out the new propulsion system with a somewhat questionable misuse of alien DNA to get it to work. The series was rich, engaging, packed and incredible. There was also the idea behind a multi-verse, the series even brings it to light, which again I shall not spoil it for you.

I do not know much about character development, I just enjoy watching, but I did find myself caring more for Michael Burnham than anyone else. I wanted her to succeed, I wanted her to prove herself to be right the hero, hopefully, a captain, which I personally think she deserves. I did find myself not liking the Klingons and I also questioned their design choices as they seemed to look sort of ODD, not what I remember them looking like. Their armour looked amazing and their language was perfect, there was just something not quite right about them in my eyes.

So what am I looking for in the future of Discovery? WAR, all out Klingon Vs Federation war, with deaths all around, the introduction of Kirk, Spock, the starship enterprise, even just mentions. Discovery has a chance to showcase the Klingon war, like never before, it has a chance to show how it progressed, how each side tested each other, new technologies, lies, deceit, loss, and accomplishments on both sides. But here is a hint to the end of season 1 – USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) Captain Pike.

However, I feel Discovery will stay safe, and only discover new technologies to help the federation and we shall only see a glimpse at war, maybe this is a good idea and gives us a much better story. There is scope and story to be told in Discovery and I am very much looking forward to it, for now, though I shall watch Series 1 on DVD or Blueray from the 19th November 2018 which has a shed load of extra content which includes the following;

• DISCOVERING DISCOVERY: THE CONCEPTS AND CASTING OF STAR TREK: DISCOVERY – Interviews with producers, writers and stars of Star Trek: Discovery about casting of the debut season.­­
• THE STAR TREK THEME – A discussion with Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman and Composer Jeff Russo about creating the Discovery theme and score for the show.
• CREATURE COMFORTS – A behind-the-scenes look at the makeup and prosthetics department on Star Trek: Discovery, as they both modernize
  well-known Star Trek species like the Klingons, Vulcans and the Andorians, and bring to life a new species, the Kelpiens.
• DESIGNING DISCOVERY – Insight into the production design department led by Tamara Deverell as they create the planets, the world within those worlds and the starships to travel amongst them.
• CREATING SPACE – An exploration of how the VFX team, headed by Jason Zimmerman, pushes the envelope to create the reality of space, planets, and starships for Star Trek: Discovery.
• PROP ME UP – Led by Propmaster Mario Moreira, a voyage through the world of Discovery props, providing an inside look at the design process from inception to set.
• FEEDING FRENZY – A fascinating look at the on-set food stylist who creates a galaxy of cuisine.
• A FEMALE TOUCH – With strong female producers and writers off-screen and powerful female characters on-screen, Discovery exemplifies the groundbreaking inclusionary theme first put forth in the original series.
• DRESS FOR SUCCESS – Costume Designer Gersha Phillips and her team create a spectacular array of clothing, uniforms and armor for every kind of species in the galaxy.
• STAR TREK DISCOVERY: THE VOYAGE OF SEASON ONE – A look at the adventures and plot twists encountered in the first season by the crew of the Discovery.

Now I was lucky enough to get an early copy of this and it is a must have for any Star Trek: Discovery Fan. All the extra content included provides more depth and more understanding of the franchise. The question I have not is how do I score it? not scored a movie before and this is a first for me, so on its merits and how engaged I was with the series, taking into consideration its pace I think ill score it a 9/10. I want more a lot more for series 2, I want it to keep there from start to end grabbing the edge of my sofa from the start to the end of each episode and looking forward to what is next in the upcoming episodes.