Some Kind of Star Trek: Saru

Tuesday, 25 December 2018

Saru Shines: Short Trek's The Brightest Star

After a leap forward of 1000 years for Calypso we turn the clocks back slightly for 15 minutes to highlight the early life of Discovery's science officer.

For the first time here we get a real insight into the Kelpien way of life and while the first season set them up as a "prey" species I have to disagree that this instalment makes them seem more as a race farmed for another.

There is no hunt, no fight for survival more a willingness to accept that they will be called away from their lives at some point by another, controlling force.

It is in some ways a classic story with Saru watching the events unfold on his homeworld but opening his mind to more than the closed existence of a Kelpien caught in a never ending cycle of servitude to an unseen force.

The Brightest Star takes us not just away from Discovery for the first time but also opens up a much larger cast with Kelpien background characters, Saru's immediate family and a rather special guest appearance all crammed into a quarter of an hour tale.

The homeworld appears idyllic during the day with expanses of wilderness but the night time is a different matter with the ominous monolithic element from the overseer race always in the background as if monitoring the Kelpiens. It's quite 1984 with its Big Brother suggestion and Saru using a piece of acquired technology to make contact outside of his closed circle.

It's a key scene-setting tale with a pivotal ending that I won't ruin but it nicely ties this story directly into the Discovery narrative and may well tweak how you view the first season of the show on subsequent rewatches. I'm really thrilled with the way that Doug Jones carries off this younger and more innocent version of his Star Trek character embodying a naivety that leads to, perhaps cliched, a self-discovery and awareness of a bigger picture.

Ultimately Saru makes a grand sacrifice that takes him away from his father and sister which unquestionably extends his life and offers a great adventure. Like Runaway and Calypso I will be a little gutted if some of the themes and story-points are never referenced again or built upon because the shorts have offered something unique and exciting to the Discovery lineup.

These quirky, sharp tales have refined their narratives, removed anything unnecessary and laid their central characters more open than ever before and I can't wait to see how they tackle the Discovery version of Mudd just before the arrival of the second season in January.

How did The Brightest Star compare to Runaway and Calypso? Improvement?

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Friday, 28 September 2018

Short Treks - But Not For the UK?

So how are the fans in the UK going to get their next fix of Discovery?

News from the CBS fold is that the four 15 minute “Short Treks” will not be landing on Netflix leaving followers of the show to miss out on these tasters to keep us engaged until season two drops in 2019.

Focusing on Tilly, Saru, Mudd and Craft, the four bite size instalments will be released once a month giving new insights into each character.

Now whether or not these four pieces will dovetail into the second season I don’t know but if they do and Netflix isn’t going to carry them then that means the UK - and potentially every territory outside the US - won’t be getting the full Discovery experience.

Starting just next week we will have Runaway featuring Tilly encountering a mysterious visitor on the Discovery. The trailer released today seems to show a cloaked alien female character trashing the mess hall while Tilly ducks for cover with some sort of red goop also involved. The brief 26 seconds of footage doesn't give much to go on apart from the mess hall carnage but at least it means this isn't just a big media conspiracy and it's really going to land....!

Then it's Calypso on November 8th centering on Craft played by Aldis Hodge. Now this is a totally new character and the only one of the four Short Treks that does so. We will find Craft awakening in an unfamiliar sickbay, trying to survive with only an AI interface for company.

Certainly the much-advertised Saru short has been widely anticipated since it will give more information on the first officer’s homeworld as well as just who or what the predator species that stalks the Kelpiens is. Entitled The Brightest Star it will take us back to Saru's early life and explain the path that he has taken. This will air December 6th with the final piece, The Escape Artist premiering January 3rd 2019 and centering on Harry Mudd attempting another con in a very dangerous place. I would think that will be a month before season two hits Netflix given the way these have been planted going forward.

I think these little teasers are a great addition to the franchise to build up to the next season of stories but will removing them from UK access prove to be a bad move? I doubt that it will stop fans from finding and downloading them via that wonderful thing called the "internet" because where there's a will there's a way but does holding it back suggest something else?

Might this be a taster to see how Star Trek is accessed by fans when it isn't on Netflix with the potential thought that the now in early production Picard series won't be heading to the online service?

It's just a random thought that popped into my head today but might this be a test of the waters to see if there might be other ways to more successfully market Star Trek's newest shows overseas that will profit CBS more directly?

I'll leave that one right there for now...