There are spoilers in this post, so if you haven't watched the show yet but intend to do so at some time, you might want to stop right here.
I've given up on this show. After nine episodes, I just don't find it worth the time it takes to watch, the hit it puts on my data usage, or the $5.99 a month that I pay for the CBS All Access service. If it's released on DVD at some point, I might give it a second chance.
Here are some of the things I really dislike about the series.
Michael Burnham is supposed to be the very first Starfleet officer to commit mutiny. Not totally unbelievable, but a bit of a stretch, to be sure. I can accept that losing her commission is part of her punishment when she pleads guilty, but being imprisoned for the rest of her life just feels wrong. Also, in the scene where the proceedings are taking place, the officers who are trying her case are seen to be hidden in darkness. It's not stated, but the implication is clear; Burnham has no idea of who she's dealing with.
This simply does not fit in with anything remotely resembling the way things were shown to be in the original series. When Jim Kirk is being court-martialed, he is offered the chance to request that different officers be assigned to the proceedings if he feels that any of those present are biased against him.
As regards the character of Sarek, this version of him feels so wrong. This Sarek is dishonest. This Sarek has none of the gravitas that the late Mark Lenard brought to the character. This Sarek is one I don't care for.
The war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire is something we're told has cost thousands of lives. Yet, we've seen nothing of the war but a few brief battles. We've not seen any of the pain, or the sacrifice, or the just plain horror of war. If you want to see Star Trek do this the right way, watch the episodes of Deep Space Nine that feature the Dominion War story arc.
The captain has a large room in which he has among other things, the skeleton of a Gorn. Yet, if we accept that this is taking place when it's said to be, first encounter with that species is a good ten to twelve years in the future. It's possible that the captain, whose name I can barely remember, doesn't know what species the skeleton is from.
The only way that any of this makes sense at all is if events are set in the mirror universe. If one accepts the events of "In A Mirror, Darkly" to be canon, then the level of technology seen makes sense. The Terran Empire has had a lot of time in which to advance their technology.
Even then, though, it still doesn't all fit. The Empire is most definitely not the Federation. It might, I repeat, might, all work if we see that this is the Mirror universe with an altered time line. But that would, of course, contradict the oft-repeated statements that we are dealing with the Prime time line.
And don't get me started on the spore drive. Setting aside the questionable science involved, it takes all the tension out of things. A means of interstellar travel that can take you anywhere in the universe in just a few seconds? I'd love to have a talk with the person who came up with that idea.
And could they possibly make the Klingons any less interesting? Past depictions haven't always been the greatest, but this really is scraping the bottom of the barrel, as the saying goes. Of course, I've been spoiled when it comes to this, because the novel "The Final Reflection" by John M. Ford is still the gold standard when it comes to depicting the Klingons, thirty-three years after its release.
The sad part is, there are bits and pieces of the show that do work and work well. But the bad far outweighs the good, so far. For the most part, the whole thing is a rather generic action-adventure show with a bit of Star Trek thrown in.
When you compare this to some of the better fan films, it just isn't very good at all. Of course, fan films are now severely restricted in what they can and can't do. I've covered that before and won't go over it again here.
As always, I thank you for taking the time to read this
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