FIRST IMPRESSIONS || Star Trek: Discovery 'The Vulcan Hello'

There is new episodic Star Trek on television again! I am ridiculously excited that I no longer have to wait years for new Star Trek to get to me. Thanks to the Gods of Netflix, I have Star Trek: Voyager, The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine at my fingertips (even though I do have Voyager on DVD) and now I have the newest incarnation, Discovery, coming every Monday. 

Once Discovery's opening two-parter was released, I have to admit that it did take me a lot longer than I expected to watch it. It was released on Monday and I didn't watch it until Tuesday night. As the release date approached, I found myself becoming apprehensive and somewhat afraid of the new series. I have only gone through the whole 'New Star Trek Series' hype once with the end of Voyager and the release of the next series, Enterprise. I was excited for Enterprise and lapped up all of the information that I was getting for the series from the Star Trek Magazine that I was subscribed to. This was before the Internet was such a focus on marketing and social media wasn't a thing.

With every article, blog post, tweet, video, and interview about Discovery, I found myself becoming scared of it. I was wondering if it would be the Star Trek that I knew and loved or would it be more on par with the J.J. Abrams universe or be something completely different that I didn't even recognise. While Star Trek veterans were tweeting their praise about Discovery and how it fitted into the Star Trek niche, I still found myself becoming nervous.

So, I pulled on my pyjama bottoms, curled up in my purple fluffy blanket, donned my commbadge and signed into Netflix and tapped on PLAY for Star Trek: Discovery. 

The first thing that I want to talk about is the cast and characters. I was instantly sold on Michelle Yeoh being the captain. A Bond Girl as a Captain? Hell yes! That sounded amazing. I was expecting great things from that. She didn't disappoint and had some amazing moments. Though I will say, that Yeoh is rather diminutive against some of the other cast members. What she lacks in size, she makes up for it in brawn. Georgiou is a soldier-turned-Captain and they explore that dichotomy in the first two episodes. I loved that it gave a nod to the same dichotomy that was shown in Star Trek Beyond. Starfleet is essentially the space army. They may be explorers but they are Earth's frontline as well. They see casualties, casualties of war, prisoners of war and they have to fight that soldier versus diplomat mindset. I loved how Georgiou handled that. 

The character of Commander Michael Burnham is a bit of a mystery to me. Aside from the fact that she has a typically male name, she also reminds me quite a lot of Commander Riker from The Next Generation and the movie franchise, James T. Kirk. She reminds me of Riker in that she's ready to step up and take command yet hasn't which was a major talking point when it came to Commander Riker. Picard had that conversation with Riker a number of times. Then she reminds me of Kirk in that she takes risks and isn't afraid of a little adrenaline rush. With Burnham, I find that the writers have managed to sneak in a few nods to previous incarnations and characters. I look forward to finding out more about her. She definitely has piqued my curiosity. 

With regard to other members of the cast, I had no clue of anyone (beyond Michelle Yeoh) except for Doug Jones who to me is Abe Sapien in the Hellboy movies but he is no stranger to elaborate prosthetic makeup; Abe Sapien and The Angel of Death (Hellboy), Pan's Labyrinth, The Silver Surfer (Fantastic Four: Silver Surfer) and Billy Butcherson from Hocus Pocus! Yes, he was Billy! As I was watching Discovery and Jones as Saru, all I could hear was Abe Sapien. That may take some time to work its way out of my system.

The characters themselves are different to the world of Star Trek. They don't follow the typical start for a Star Trek crew. They all know each other. They all love each other and they've already established their relationships and friendships. In previous Star Trek incarnations, the crews are meeting for the first time and heading out on their first mission together. Discovery's crew is already established which I found interesting and quite refreshing. I particularly loved the relationship and connection between Captain Georgiou and Commander Burnham. You could just see the trust, comradery, admiration, and affection between the two. 

The credits were visually stunning. It incorporated nods to a number of previous things to hold the name Star Trek. The visuals reminded me of Enterprise's credits with the blueprints and the science aspects and the music reminded me of the movie franchise and The Original Series. It also differed by having its own stamp in that it had the names of the series' technical crew in the credits, alongside the cast, writer, and director. Previously, the credits were solely for the cast's names, character names and the series name. Discovery is different because it has the cast first, the production team and then the series name. It also had a distinct vintage vibe to it when the show itself is so technological and bright. It was such a juxtaposition. I'm not sure how I fully feel about it but I like it so far. It's been a while since I've watched a television show with a fully-fledged credit and start-up sequence. Most shows these days simply have a graphic shown and then display the names of the cast and production crew as the action takes place. 

Now, the uniforms. From the hips up, I love the uniform. I adore the design of the jackets. They look comfortable and something that I wouldn't mind wearing when out shopping. I like that the different divisions have their distinguishing colours. Gold for Command, Silver for Science and a Bronze/Copper colour for Operations/Engineering. That may take some getting used to because I'm accustomed to seeing Red, Gold and Green. Even Enterprise had those colours established on their uniforms. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Discovery set after Enterprise but before Kirk?

From the hips down, I don't like the uniform. The strips of metallic fabric on the trouser leg doesn't look very flattering. It makes the characters look like they're wearing fancy trackies from the 90s. They just look wrong and make shorter characters appear even shorter. I do love how they fit the actors but the stripe doesn't do anything for me. Additionally, the boots that they're wearing. I really do not like the way that they look. The white sole seems to cheapen them. Plain black, possibly matte, boots would have done a better job. It may take some getting used to. 

Star Trek never disappoints when it comes to the prosthetic makeup for alien races. The makeup for the Starfleet crew and the Klingons was incredible. The Klingons being even more elaborate than ever known in Star Trek history. I loved that about Discovery. With the Klingons, the writers have opted to have them speaking completely in their native language which they would naturally do amongst themselves and then speak English when addressing the Federation. I enjoyed that for the first couple of scenes but eventually got bored with it because I was reading the screen instead of watching what was happening on the screen. I felt as if I was potentially missing out on the acting nuances of the actors on screen or the intricate makeup and set design. 

I did enjoy the storyline in the beginning two-parter. I loved the Klingon storyline on how they're going to unite the Houses. I loved seeing the burial ritual of the fallen warriors. It appeared to me to be a blend of Greek and Egyptian rituals which I found fascinating. 

The CGI never disappoints when it comes to Star Trek. It does boggle my mind in that the CGI makes Discovery far more advanced than Voyager. They had elements that weren't featured in any other incarnation which seemed a bit anachronistic. It made me wonder if this series is even set in the same universe. I'm not sure anymore. With the CGI, it allows for better and more interesting angles for the camera which seemed to be an homage to J.J. Abrams shots from the movies. The CGI for battle sequences were phenomenal and I loved the writers weren't afraid to completely batter the ships senseless. Without giving spoilers, THAT scene with the reveal of a cloaked Klingon ship was amazing and freaking genius! I do understand that technology has come a long way since Voyager was on the air and so they can do all of these amazing things. It just boggles the mind. For now anyway.

For the next section, I'm going to discuss a few things that will be spoilers so if you want to read it, highlight the section between the markers. 

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I loved the way that Burnham used the Vulcan Neck Pinch against Georgiou so that she could get her way in delivering a 'Vulcan Hello' which the episode is named after. I didn't know that the Vulcans had the Klingons under 'control'. There hasn't been a lot of interaction between Vulcans and Klingons in the early years of the Federation. They're included more in the latter seasons of Deep Space Nine because then they are allies against the Dominion. I enjoyed that in Discovery. I will ask that I thought that the Neck Pinch latest longer than what Discovery showed. Georgiou gets knocked out and Burnham countermands her orders and then Georgiou is awake all in a matter of minutes. Perhaps Burnham didn't administer it correctly or didn't want Georgiou out for too long but I still find that difficult to believe considering she was raised by Vulcans.  

With the credits, I was surprised to see that Michelle Yeoh is a 'Special Guest Star'. I thought that she would have had a more pitvotal role than just a Special Guest Star. She's in the primary photos and all the marketing images. Just by having her classed as a Special Guest Star, was such a 'Yup, she's gonna die' spoiler. The audience will know that she's not going to be around for long and will possibly be killed either at the first episode cliff-hanger or the end of the second episode. It was the latter, by the way. I didn't expect her to be killed off. However, when I saw her facing off against T'Kuvma, it was like Samson versus Goliath. She did hold her own which I was impressed by. But to have her stabbed and killed, I wasn't expecting that. I thought it might have been a Pike situation (see, Star Trek (2009) for that reference), not a dead Captain.  Plus, I'm pissed off about that because Georgiou was becoming my favourite. I hope she stays in and appears in flashbacks... I hope anyway. 

I really am annoyed that they killed Georgiou off so early. Michelle Yeoh is such a badass. She's one of few female actors that Jackie Chan will allow to do her own stunts. Yes! That Jackie Chan! He allows her to do her own stunts. Ergo, she's freaking amazing! She's epic which is why I was pretty damned impressed by her fight with T'Kuvma. No stunt-double required. (I don't know if one was but seriously. Yeoh wouldn't need one). I feel like Yeoh has not used to her full potential. The franchise could have had a legitimately epic, kick-ass captain. And they freaking kill her! WHAT?! I was bitterly disappointed because Michelle Yeoh has been utilised so much in the promotional material for the series. I'm talking interviews, photoshoots and magazine covers and they kill her? I'm beyond confused. If they cast her as Georgiou just to have the name to draw people in, I'm going to be thoroughly disappointed in Star Trek. That's not what Star Trek does.  

The court-martial at the end and Burnham's subsequent incarceration clearly is not the end and I'm very excited to see where it goes from there. 

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There were a lot of things that I absolutely loved about Discovery and it was a solid opening for a new Star Trek series. It answered a lot of questions that I had from the trailers and left me with a lot of new questions which I hope will be answered throughout the upcoming season. With the cliff-hanger part 2 left off at, I'm intrigued to see where it goes from there and the introduction of Jason Isaacs. Am I the only one excited for Lucius Malfoy as a captain?

With all that being said, I think Star Trek: Discovery is a solid 8 out of 10 and one of the strongest opening two-parter for Star Trek that I have seen. 

The next episode will be released next Monday on Netflix. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to make these episode reviews a regular thing throughout the series. Let me know in the comments below what your thoughts on Star Trek: Discovery are and whether or not you'd like me to continue these reviews. 

** All gifs used in this post are from Giphy.com and Tumblr.com respectively.