Star Trek: Discovery

Starring: Sonequa Martin-Green (65 episodes), Anthony Rapp (65 episodes), Doug Jones (60 episodes), Mary Wiseman (57 episodes), Emily Coutts (52 episodes), Wilson Cruz (50 episodes), Patrick Kwok-Choon (50 episodes), Oyin Oladejo (49 episodes), Ronnie Rowe (41 episodes), Sara Mitich (37 episodes), David Ajala (33 episodes), David Benjamin Tomlinson (33 episodes), Julianne Grossman (30 episodes), Blu del Barrio (29 episodes), Avaah Blackwell (28 episodes), Shazad Latif (25 episodes), Michelle Yeoh (24 episodes), Annabelle Wallis (22 episodes), Oded Fehr (21 episodes), Tig Notaro (19 episodes), Raven Dauda (17 episodes), Rachael Ancheril (16 episodes), Tara Rosling (16 episodes), Orville Cummings (16 episodes), Jason Isaacs (15 episodes), Anson Mount (14 episodes), Nicole Dickinson (14 episodes), Mary Chieffo (13 episodes), Hannah Cheesman (13 episodes), Jayne Brook (12 episodes), Chelah Horsdal (12 episodes), Ian Alexander (12 episodes), Callum Keith Rennie (10 episodes), David Cronenberg (10 episodes), Kenneth Mitchell (10 episodes), James Frain (10 episodes), Ethan Peck (10 episodes), Eve Harlow (9 episodes), Fabio Tassone (9 episodes), Elias Toufexis (9 episodes), Robinne Fanfair (9 episodes), Shawn Doyle (8 episodes), Mia Kirshner (8 episodes), Alan Van Sprang (8 episodes), Natalie Liconti (7 episodes), Arista Arhin (7 episodes), Christina Dixon (7 episodes), Victoria Sawal (7 episodes), Phumzile Sitole (6 episodes), Riley Gilchrist (6 episodes), Rekha Sharma (5 episodes), Sonja Sohn (5 episodes), Ali Momen (5 episodes), Vanessa Jackson (5 episodes), Bahia Watson (4 episodes), Romaine Waite (4 episodes), Hannah Spear (4 episodes), Bill Irwin (3 episodes), Rebecca Romijn (3 episodes), Jake Weber (3 episodes), Rainn Wilson (2 episodes), Paul Guilfoyle (2 episodes), Terry Serpico (2 episodes), Stacey Abrams (1 episode), Clint Howard (1 episode)
Directed by: Olatunde Osunsanmi (12 episodes), Jonathan Frakes (8 episodes), Doug Aarniokoski (5 episodes), Lee Rose (5 episodes), Christopher J. Byrne (4 episodes), Akiva Goldsman (2 episodes), Alex Kurtzman (1 episode)
Rating: TV-14
Genre: Action, Science Fiction, Drama
2017-2024

Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

Summary: Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery embark on far-flung adventures for Starfleet.

Review:

Tim: I struggle to adequately explain my thoughts on Star Trek: Discovery. When the series was first released, I loved it- I was so engaged with the characters, the story, bringing the Star Trek franchise into a new era of television. This was one of my favorite shows, an exciting, entertaining series that felt like a great new addition to one of the legendary franchises out there. I loved the first two seasons and I liked the third. They were compelling watches. And then, something happened for season four and five. The series lost its thread. It felt like it was going through the motions. The scripts became awful. The characters caricatures of themselves. I struggled to stay engaged in season 4, which was one of the most unwatchable seasons of any television series I've seen. If I wasn't so committed to finishing every episode of a show I start, I'd have happily given up. Season five was a tad better, but there were still episodes that killed me, that were so terrible I couldn't believe it. So, I'm not sure what to say about Discovery. The early seasons were great, but the last two were some of the worst television I've seen in recent years. That leaves me a bit at a loss as to what to make of this series.

In the early seasons, it felt like the show had an innovative approach to connecting this to previous series and characters. I really enjoyed Ethan Peck as a young Spock, and Anson Mount was terrific as Captain Christopher Pike. Jason Isaacs was so effective as Captain Lorca, and Michelle Yeoh was excellent as Georgiou. These connections were terrific. When you add in the actual main cast, you had something special. Sonequa Martin-Green was fresh off a great run on The Walking Dead and her Michael Burnham felt unique, a compelling character that allowed the actress to shine. Anthony Rapp was a great supporting character, bringing his effective quirkiness to the show. Wilson Cruz was a standout, his perfect smile and twinkling eyes explaining why he'd be such an effective medical officer. And then, you have Doug Jones as Saru, my favorite character in the series. There were many others, but I really did appreciate these characters and their stories.

While I praise their early work, the latter seasons were just awful. As good as Martin-Green was early on, I hated her performance as the series progressed. Michael Burnham lost what made her special, and Martin-Green's cheesy warm smile, the way she always figured things out in her head, it just became intolerable to watch on screen. Her acting suffers because the character was so terribly written. Anthony Rapp was so good early on, but Stamets became a joke, Rapp's overacting facial expressions became miserable to endure. I never liked Mary Wiseman as Tilly, but she just became worse and worse as the seasons progressed. David Ajala crushed me as Booker. He started out as such an effective character and he gave a strong performance. The way the writers wrote his character ruined everything though. He spends the 4th season as honestly, a stupid villain. And the show just asks that we forgive him, and move on. It ruined his character. I hated the stupid relationship he had with Burnham- their dumb inside jokes and reminiscences of things we never saw felt pathetic and overdone. Booker absolutely ruined this series- I blame the writers the most. He ended up being one of the most ridiculous characters in the entire series. I thought Blu del Barrio was almost completely terrible as Adira. Their acting was continually atrocious, so it made no sense why the writers continued to feature that character as much as they did. It was just constant bad acting on display. That hurts the series immensely.

While much of the main cast became terrible, there were exceptions. Doug Jones was always excellent as Saru, and the series was drastically hurt when he was sidelined. Of course, they'll minimize the role of the most interesting character. Wilson Cruz was always good as Culber. We never got as much screen time with him as I'd have liked. Oded Fehr was solid throughout. Tig Notaro was always wonderful- she brings such different energy and intelligence to the series. Her scenes were always humorous and memorable. As the series went on, it either jettisoned the good actors (Anson Mount, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Yeoh), or sidelined the most effective ones (Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Tig Notaro), and it more strongly featured the worst ones (Booker, for the love of god, is an awful character). Even worse, it felt like the cast just dialed it in. How much of this show featured Martin-Green, Wiseman, Rapp, del Barrio just staring at each other and smiling warmly? We get that these characters loved each other, but it felt like a total breakdown of any kind of Starfleet hierarchy. These are just chums, working collaboratively together. I have no idea why these relationships were depicted in this way, but it was so over-the-top that it felt ridiculous. I felt so frustrated at what the series had originally, verses where it ended up.

I'm not going to go into much more detail because I don't want to. I did like the first three seasons- they were uneven, but the connection to other series and movies felt intriguing. Michelle Yeoh and the whole timeline there was a compelling story. However, Season 4's boring story dragged on way too long. Season 5 had a better story- it's an intergalactic treasure hunt- but still too many misses with the story, plus those horrible character moments we got continuously in an attempt to be warm or inclusive or I don't know what. There is a way to do this while staying true to the characters and the broader franchise and Star Trek: Discovery fails in this regard.

I'm shaking my head here, because I hate to be a hater of a series that was once one of my favorites. I'd watch seasons in about a week, just episode after episode, compelled by the story and the characters. For the last two seasons, it was total agony. I couldn't stay focused and when I did, I hated what I saw. This series became an absolute joke the final two seasons. So, what do I think of Star Trek: Discovery? Man, there were things I loved about it. However, it failed in a way that is beyond explanation. Two full seasons of misery leave a terrible, terrible taste in our mouths. I was so thankful this series was cancelled after the fifth season. I truly am not sure I could have continued.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Series, We Recommend: Star Trek, The Walking Dead, Falling Skies