GOOD ‘DISCOVERY’
New ‘Star Trek’ series off to a strong start
I T looks like “Star Trek:
Discovery,” the newest iteration of the iconic 50-year-old franchise, could live long and prosper.
In the opener, which aired Sunday night on CBS — then moved online to CBS All Access — viewers met the personnel of the USS Shenzhou, a member of Starfleet. With Michelle Yeoh at the helm as Captain Philippa Georgiou, the Shenzou encountered a number of hostile Klingons, and the battles began when first commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) ventured forth into the cosmos. She’s an impetuous badass raised on Vulcan and boy, does she have an axe to grind. Haughty and hot-headed, she breaks many rules and incurs the wrath of her boss. When she bags her first Klingon, the Shenzhou has to swing into action. To say they’re slightly understaffed — as the Klingon ships multiply in the sky — is an understatement.
Subsequent episodes reveal that Burnham, termed by one colleague as “the smartest Starfleet officer,” is destined for bigger and better things. As we meet the crew of the USS Discovery, the holdovers from the Shenzhou regard Burnham as a pariah, but the ship’s captain, Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs), wants to put Burnham’s first-rate mind to work. He’s working on cuttingedge technology that will enable Starfleet members to zip around the galaxy to more effectively deal with the Klingons. Burnham seems impressed, but she’s a hard one to read. One senses she’s not really a team player — and will only be satisfied when she’s running the show.
“Star Trek” evokes waves of nostalgia in its most ardent fans and one wonders if they’ll warm to the new version with an enigmatic female central figure. The special effects are striking, especially scenes where the Klingons gather their dead by lifting them, suspended, through the galaxy with a series of green searchlights. “Game of
Thrones” may have its dragons, but “Discovery” has a nasty beast called a Tardigrade, which is part Rhino and part bear. Try outrunning that thing!
While the behavior of the characters seems somewhat predictable in the first two episodes, it’s surprising to see the series switch gears in the third outing, with an entirely new, state-of-the-art ship and another cast. To offset MartinGreen’s glacial self-satisfaction, we meet Burnham’s roommate, Cadet Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), a red-headed blabbermouth. She’s wonderful, and is the only “Star Trek: Discovery” character who actually smiles. The always wel- come James Frain plays Ambassador Sarek, dispensing wise advice to Burnham, while the well-creased Isaacs punctuates every scene with his familiar smirk. If he lacks Yeoh’s commanding presence, we can assume it’s because he’s not going to turn out to be one of the good guys — giving Burnham an opportunity to break more rules as she stays one step ahead of everyone.
The 15-episode season of “Star Trek: Discovery” will be released in two chapters with the first eight episodes running through Nov. 5 before the season resumes in January.
If HBO’s “Westworld” is too abstract and too self-consciously important for your sci-fi tastes, this series may give you the liftoff you need this fall.