I've been grinding my teeth through this season thus far, but I actually think I may be done. I have been a Star Trek fan since I was a young teen when DS9 was on every Thursday night on BBC. I have since watched every series and movie, and have grown to have a deep love for almost all of them - my favourite being TNG. I have tried and tried and tried and tried to enjoy this show, view it open-mindedly and to not focus on its drawbacks. I disliked S1 on the whole and found S2 a mixed bag, but S3 for me is just getting progressively more difficult to watch without eye-rolling every few scenes, and it's for one main reason: it's ALL about emotions at the expense of interesting scientific or ethical exploration! I can't handle it anymore. Every scene involves crying, heart-to-heart chats, dramatic scores (seriously, does every scene have to have a score?!) and the most un-Starfleet like behaviour that we have ever been privy to in a Stark Trek series.
I am a woman with young kids and can usually cry at pretty much anything because since having them, apparently I have no self-control when it comes to my sentimentality (I can weep buckets at ridiculous movies such as Mama Mia for instance), but even I cannot handle the constant, overly-trite emotional quagmires these people find themselves in every scene. Gone are the days of serious, matter-of-fact discussions in the captain's ready room. Gone are the days of senior crew members gathering round a table to discuss/debate a crisis where the drama is manufactured with the crisis, rather than the wobbly camera angles, the score and the emotional chaos these supposedly-rigorously-trained professionals find themselves in. It is wall to wall emotion and dramatic music. Now, I do understand they have gone through something traumatic; but so too had the crew of voyager when they found themselves suddenly in the Delta Quadrant. And yes, Janeway's crew could focus on getting home, which gave them purpose and duty, which is something these characters do not have, but at the same time, these characters made the choice to strand themselves in the future and have a much greater purpose in trying to save the Federation - so I think they probably tie in terms of motivation to not lose control and focus on the greater good/end goal.
At the end of the day, these crew members do not behave like Starfleet officers. Saru is the least captainly-captain I can imagine. He has great elements and is an interesting character, but lacks the authority needed in a captain, which to my mind gives him no credibility. Can you imagine Picard, Sisko or Janeway putting up with Georgiou's (and even Michael's, last episode) insubordination and breaking of Starfleet rules? She would have been confined to the brig by this point (imagined rank or not). In this episode, when Saru goes to speak to Stamets about finding an alternative to his navigating the spore-drive, he lets Stamets whine and moan (in an incredibly unprofessional manner) and never stamps down his authority on this sort of behaviour. Can you imagine Picard giving Geordi Laforge an order and accepting whining and moaning in return? I can imagine this is going to become part of Saru's arc this series (about learning to lead) but if he hasn't even got the basics of authority, presence and discipline at this point, then he simply isn't a credible captain.
And it's not just Saru, it's ALL of them. Which one of them actually behaves like a Starfleet officer? I cannot name a single one. Culber occasionally comes close, but never quite makes it (such as in this episode, sending Michael with Adira to Trill for...no good reason other than, you guess it: emotions!). That's not to say there are not redeeming qualities in these characters, as there are (I love Tilly, just don't expect me to believe that is how a Starfleet ensign would behave with senior officers), they just feel like they're on the wrong show. I feel like I've blinked and I'm in a much mushier/tamer/less-cerebral version of Farscape (which I loved). I love sci-fi. After fantasy, it is my favourite genre, but I am struggling to find the hook to keep me interested right now because it's basically like watching Eastenders in Space. We've had 4 episodes, but barely any real technological/anthropological/ethical issues to sink our teeth into - all we've got thus far is emotions after emotions after emotions (and ridiculous scores in every scene).
I didn't intend to write such a long rant. I apologise. Some episode specific comments:
- Going back to Trill was interesting, but they forewent what could have been an interesting angle with the Trill governance's refusal to accept Adira because she was human and trying to Star Trek their way out of that with some naval-gazing, high-brow intellectual or ethical discussions etc., to go with the 'emotions' plot line again. Just imagine that Operative Zee (or whatever his name was) flouting the leader of Trill's command like that and everyone just being okay with it 5 seconds later because Michael Burnham flashes her tear-filled eyes at them an a dramatic score plays in the background. Are they in their people's most sacred location or not that they were strictly prohibited from visiting? Is that just forgotten about because of...emotions?
- The Discovery side-plot would have landed much more weight if I could remember most of those characters names or had any idea about who most of them were (in terms of backstory...or even characteristics to be honest). I have quite a good memory, but the fact that I still barely remember any of their names is because at best, the bridge crew of Discovery are walking set-dressing and plot-devices. Also, once again, I couldn't get over the way they simply cannot manage their emotions. Their training prepares them for severely challenging situations (indeed, it prepares them for the ultimate sacrifice of dying while on duty), but none of these characters seem to be aware of that fact.
One last niggle, and I preface this with saying that I am a left-wing, older millennial who has absolutely no problem with the diversity in this show, but at this point I am beginning to feel as though the almost-forced-diversity is becoming distracting from the actual plot of the show. It feels a little like tokenism at this point (as though they are checking boxes rather than being inclusive in a meaningful sense), which is surely not the message they are going for.
I am going to try one more episode and then I'm out.
Again, sorry for the rant.
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