Trailer Three: Lorca Ups the Ante

Don't get too excited about the arrival of a third trailer for Discovery because you've seen a lot of it before.

There's more sand walking, more shots of tension and the same soundbytes that came from the three minute tease a few weeks back - T'Kumva waiting for a someone worthy etc... but now we get some more of Captain Gabriel Lorca.

It's a distinct switch in this respect with Captain Georgiou almost relegated to the background and that indicates to me that Michelle Yeoh isn't going to be there for a long time after the pilot - if she survives the first episode that is. The new trailer is definitely pushing Lorca to the front more and good timing what with his out-of-context comments being twisted in all sorts of directions on Twitter and without just cause.

So let's talk about this new trailer a little more and what it adds to the foundations for Discovery. 

The shooting style is such an echo of the JJ/reboot universe movies. Darker tones, sweeping angles around ships and in every visual sense this can't be mistaken for anything other than Alex Kurtzman's baby. Those years with JJ have certainly been ingrained into his psyche and it's showing here. In his defence(!) it does make the series look more realistic and down to earth but you know fans will be comparing the two instantly. Check out the closeups of the Klingon armour and the hand grasping what I can only think is the handle of a d'k tahg knife. Shiny!

We stride towards this dream of peace...where all species can share a common ground...yet no dream will protect us...from you - Burnham

So says Burnham over a series of previously seen clips. There aren't a ton of them so watch out for the bits we haven't seen especially that shot of a starship exploding. It looks like it's come into contact with Klingon shields/cloak and goes all fiery - money says that this is the USS Europa from the earlier trailer.

There are a lot of hero-stances and epic camera angles going on here with us zooming into the Shenzhou bridge, seeing some more explosions plus a better shot of the Walker Class starship ejecting escapepods as well as a nice long look at the cathedral-like Klingon "sarcophagus" ship once more.

Another watch out moment is Burnham being tackled by a Klingon on their ship - it's a fraction of a second but hints at the finale of the pilot. 

The work we do is hard...and it is not without sacrifice...we are a long way from home...but I know...that it is a sacrifice worth making. - Lorca

But to be fair what everyone is really talking about in this minute of footage is the appearance of Jason Isaacs as Captain Lorca. This guy seems to be very measured but I can see there being quite a cold side to him when the s**t hits the fan. His attitude is very military, very dedicated to the job and I suspect he's going to be quite a marmite character in the series. Perhaps that harshness will wear off over time as it did with Picard.

You know what we need to do? 

We need to win. 

That's the spirit.

This little exchange between Lorca (lines 1 and 3) and Burnham (line two) is brilliant. I think this shows that their relationship is going to be rocky but there is a common goal between them - to defeat the Klingons and defend the Federation. Isaacs abrasiveness might make him an unpopular captain initially but it will bring life to the series and I would believe him to be a very different mentor to that of Georgiou.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but check out Burnham's uniform in this shot - she's in silver rather than the gold piping (compare to the header shot above) and she's missing the Starfleet delta - are we looking at a scene post-incarceration? 

It's a nice placeholder trailer that highlights a few new treats. It sits nicely alongside the character trailers that have appeared and include Voq. Still we don't know who is playing him but the fact that he's got his own little teaser ahead of T'Kumva makes me think he's kind of a big thing. Looks like he's carrying one of the new style bat'leth's as well!

So what's with that TV-MA thing as well? Well with a tiny bit of digging it looks like this is programming suitable only for over 17's. Yes, Star Trek is going all adult on us. It does seem to be a rating associated mainly with streaming and premium networks and indicates that the programme will contain strong and frequent sexual content, extreme violence or both. Wow, big stuff.

Now if that's not a massive turn up for the books then I don't know what is. I'm convinced Discovery is going to be a winner and with this all-out declaration that it is going to be very gritty from the start it just makes waiting for September 25th (UK!) even harder to bear...

What else did you spot in the new trailer for Discovery?

Follow all our Star Trek: Discovery posts right here

Live on YouTube

Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

+1 us on Google+

Add us on Tumblr