“We have ten years until the original series comes into play. ![]() Fortunately, they seem to be keenly aware of that, as producer Aaron Harberts indicated in some recent remarks: This makes the very existence of the spore drive yet another hole the writers of ‘Discovery’ have to dig themselves out of. The drive, which allows for near-instantaneous travel to virtually any location would fundamentally undermine the premises of shows like ‘Deep Space Nine’ and ‘Voyager’. While there are any number of examples, arguably the most significant is the ship’s spore drive, given its prominence in the season arc, to say nothing of the implications such tech would have on “later” shows. The larger sticking point among fans has been the show’s portrayal of Starfleet technology generally, which has frequently included tech more advanced that that seen in the original series, or indeed even beyond that seen in the ‘Next Generation’ era. That would be weird, but ultimately forgivable. It would be one thing, though, if ‘Discovery’ simply looked “too advanced”. Unfortunately, they often seem to have chosen the latter option. By choosing to set the series so close to the original series, the producers created a situation in which they would either have to carefully tread the line of designing sets, props, etc that could believably evolve into what we saw on the original series in the space of ten years (something ‘Enterprise’ pulled off fairly well, though that show being set a century prior to the original gave it considerably more leeway) or they could ignore that line entirely. ![]() That being said, this is a problem that the show created for itself. Now, to be fair, I can’t imagine anyone honestly expected the show to slavishly replicate the aesthetic of a fifty-year-old sci-fi program that had to make do with a notoriously tight budget. This, of course, is exacerbated by the fact that the original series takes place a mere decade after ‘Discovery’. Specific criticisms have focused on everything from specific narrative elements (lead character Michael Burnham being as Spock’s heretofore unmentioned adopted sister) to more general choices, such the design of the Discovery having next to nothing in common with the original series’ Enterprise. Much of that has to do with the discomfort some fans feel have felt with the liberties the show has taken with the franchise’s established continuity (to say nothing of how liberally it has done so). While ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ has by and large been well received so far, the show hasn’t been without its share of controversy within fandom.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |