new frontiers
Old pleasures, fresh Blood…
As if the disputes between its klingon houses weren’t enough, what hope does this Trek prequel have of reconciling multiple modern TV audience demands? Whether or not that challenge explains its slow lift-off or showrunner shuffles, Discovery takes a bold shot at pleasing old travellers, new converts and thrill-seekers alike.
Sonequa Martin-Green provides a capable, complex anchor as mutineerturned-hero Michael Burnham, whose conflicts with Michelle Yeoh’s Captain Georgiou establish welcome degrees of bridge-based brinkmanship.
When Burnham is reassigned under USS Discovery’s Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs), a man on a freaky trip involving some funny sci-fi funghi, Discovery gradually starts weaving in reflections on the franchise’s conceptual core into its own forward-thrusting mysteries.
The blood count, ballistics and f-bombs all surprise. Classic Trek foundations, meanwhile, are honoured in the mix of strong ensemble casting, weird science, ethical stand-offs and literary nods.
If the mixed-bag climax struggles to tie up the plot strands, it does leave enough uneasy truces, enigmas and surprise arrivals to propel S2 onwards. An example of meta-clever TV sci-fi piloted with plenty of ambition, this Trek could yet soar where its big-screen counterpart has stumbled. Kevin Harley