I'll be honest, I was indifferent to this season. Whereas Season 2 had started so strong and then slowly unraveled in my view, this season just felt like it never really captured me. It just felt too serious and lacked any fun. I kept wondering why they were so focused on solving some past mystery rather than trying to explore the future. The biggest problem this series has is that it is determined to have a mystery box that needs to be chased. For Kurtzman, this seems like the only way to keep viewers engaged. Create some sort of mystery that needs solving, and tease it for countless episodes and then land on some vague and ultimately uninteresting ending...because an ending is not nearly as important as keeping fans watching each week wondering "what will it all be?"
And that is where I am this year. I think it felt more cohesive than both previous seasons, both of which felt like stories launched by someone who got fired and never left any notes on the ultimate plan...so they just muddled through and slapped together some sort of ending regardless of whether it makes sense. This season felt like someone was trying to keep it all afloat. I just didn't find it that interesting. I barely kept up with it. I'd let two weeks go by without watching the episodes, then quickly try and catch up before a third episode would add to my backlog. And, sure, part of this was the holidays came around and it made watching episodes each week trickier. But really I think it was an increasing lack of interest.
This season had a big chance. The first season was trying to find it's footing in the modern world, and had so much behind the scenes turmoil with the co-creator Bryan Fuller being ousted early on, and the show having to try and climb it's way out of a Klingon War-sized hole that it seems no one really wanted (so much so they just ended it by saying "umm...someone has a bomb"). The second season felt like a direction that would work...there was a season long mystery to be solved, but each investigation of these signals would take them to a new episodic adventure. But then they just scrapped that and dug in deep into the mystery each week, eventually making it a lame ripoff of Terminator and ended on a 45 minute nauseating battle sequence. But they also ended Season 2 shooting or ship into the unknown, further into Trek's future than we have ever been before. Being in this new unknown offered possibilities the show needed. Let's explore where Trek's tech has gone! Let's see where the Federation is! Explore unification of Romulans and Vulcans and how the whole Alpha Quadrant has changed since the Dominion War brought some races that were once enemies (like Romulans and Federation) closer together, and where things went after the destruction of Romulus. It's a brand new place to explore! But instead they barely explore anything. They learn about a long ago disaster and decide they must solve the mystery of that before they can do anything else.
It did, to be positive, actually feel like a thought out plan. The last two seasons felt like stories that were half baked to say the least. Both felt exactly like what they were: season long arcs that were conceived by one or two people, and then those people were fired and took the plans with them. At least this year felt like it actually lead to a natural conclusion. I wish Saru weren't being ousted as Captain in the end, but it is whatever.
And I just didn't find myself enjoying it. I used to have fun watching Star Trek. And it is starting to feel like a chore to watch these new episodes. Discovery has been wearing me down. I want to like it, but I am finding I am just not the fan I am hoping to be. Picard lost me mid season as well. Lower Decks failed to even make me laugh. It's not that I've outgrown Trek, because I have been rewatching DS9 and it feels like a warm blanket. I think this modern Trek just isn't for me. That's not to say it can't be. But I may take a long break from it. I really enjoyed the Pike stuff from Season 2, so I think I will be definitely checking out Strange New Worlds. I may give the Nickelodeon cartoon a whirl.
And who knows, it is possible they can get me to watch another season of Disco. But I may just wait. Maybe do the ol' wait to subscribe and then binge route. I wanted to keep up with it before. That is increasingly feeling not worth it. If I did stop here, the moment Burnham takes over as Captain seems like a natural conclusion to end on. Why not. We shall see!
NEXT TIME: After a Long Gap: Season 4!
Comments
Post a Comment