But they made being harsh difficult at first, because for the most part they stripped away a lot of things I didn't care about in the first season, and they created a new way forward for this show. They had stories of exploration, stories that dealt with classic Trek problems but in a modern way, they created an arc that was about something mysterious...and then it all fell apart and became about apocalypse monster.
In the first season, the biggest failing had been the Klingon War arc. It was a bland generic war arc, one that made this show feel too much like Battlestar Galactica. I loved the remake of Galactica, but they problem is I liked it because it was something entirely different than Trek. I like Trek for different reasons. I like Doctor Who for different reasons. I am not looking for all my sci-fi properties to merge into some generic boring sameness. The Klingon War lacked anything deeper...it was just Klingons are a big bad, phaser their face! I could trudge along with the show, but it wasn't really until they ended up in the Mirror Universe that the show became something fun for me. And then they returned home and had to hastily wrap up the boring Klingon stuff. I hoped that the second season was going to try and turn over a new leaf, attempt at brighter, happier storytelling...and let Trek be Trek again. And they sort of did that.
In fact, it was the First Season plot points that kept popping up that dinged this season for me. The Klingon stuff was too dark and grimy and high fantasy inspired...I just didn't care. And it didn't really serve a purpose with this year's current storyline. It felt like the last vestiges of the first year trying claw their way back into the show. I was perfectly fine with "L'rell is Chancelor now" and didn't need follow-ups. I think Tyler's story was done. I might be in the minority but I really don't care about Evil Georgiou's adventures in espionage (can't wait for that show...). If you really want to explore how these things develop after Discovery's involvement, why not save them as storylines for that Section 31 show. It would make more sense than having Discovery move on with these old storylines hanging on unrelated to anything the show or the ship is doing now.
At first I had been iffy on the Red Angel plot. I was hopeful it wouldn't turn out to be some evil aliens being evil and causing destruction. And it wasn't. That was good. But they did have an evil robot being evil and causing destruction. That was less good. I didn't find Control, Leland, anything to do with Section 31, or the relentless pursuit by the AI to get the Sphere Data to be terribly interesting. The season began with some great stories like "New Eden" and "An Obol for Charon," which felt like classic Star Trek. But then the Sphere Data gained in that latter episode became a MacGuffin for the rest of the season. Somehow gaining that knowledge would make the evil destructive AI even more destructive! It can't possibly be evil and sentient now! It needs that data to really do it! Eh...
It was a shame that the back half of the season was so bogged down in that stuff, because it was the least interesting route in my view. At least in execution. I think if Control had been held back on a bit, and it's evil purposes held back, it might've worked to the show's advantage. They should have kept following the signals, having a Star Trek adventure each time, and ultimately found the nefarious goal of Control and have to jump to the future in order to stop it's evil plans. It could've been the same goal, but instead of going to see Klingons at all, it could've just taken us to new places each time. The Time Crystals didn't need the Klingon involvement at all (for example). And the final battle in the closing episode is so god awful that it began to truly hurt my sense of enjoyment of all the shows that have come afterward.
Still...I didn't totally hate this season. The first half especially was a definite improvement on the first season, and I say that as a guy who liked the first season! But I feel the show had been bogged down in nonsense left over from the first year. In sending Discovery off into the future, it is stripping away a lot of things that hurt the show. If they are in the future, we are no longer dealing with the Past canon issues that frustrate a faction of fandom. We are dropping Tyler and L'Rell, dead weight this show no longer needs.
The show's future can be stripped of a lot of obstacles that were baked into the show's inception. And since they decided to only give an assurance the Discovery made it, but without actually showing where they ended up, it gives the production team a great big clean slate for moving forward on the third season. The ship could've truly ended up anywhere, anytime...and by not showing it directly, it left their options open. As successful as I think it was for this season, I do think having the Enterprise show up painted them into a corner of having to use the icons to prop the show up. This time they aren't tethered to anything the previous team came up with. The first time Discovery is free from the shackles placed upon it by a departing showrunner. Time to take a breath and think every decision through.
Here's to Trek moving forward for the first time since 2002.
NEXT TIME: Short Adventures with the Enterprise Gang
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