Down at the Disco: S4 in Review

Of all the Star Trek series, Discovery not only stands as the longest on air but also the show with the most changes during its four season run. Believe it or not, that mark is hit exactly five years ago this very day (in the US).

To put that into perspective, that's only 55 episodes in total which is equivalent to just over the first two seasons of TNG. Yet we've seen huge changes in the crew, five huge story arcs and a time jump of 1000 years.

All in a day's work for the crew of a Starfleet ship and now here we are, Coming Home and on the break to wait for the inevitable season five. Warning - possible spoilers ahead.

Season four's promo work didn't help it from the beginning. Starting out with another potential anomaly threat to the Federation it looked like a rerun of season three and suggested that the format could already be getting tired. 

It seemed to be correct with the first episode seeing Book's home planet of Kweijan destroyed by the mysterious DMA (Dark Matter Anomaly) and more prevaricating about the Federation rebuilding. If truth be told, that first half of season four was a bit of a mess. The anomaly seemed like a good idea with its ability to appear and disappear at will. Danger could indeed come from everywhere. But the problem was that everything else seemed to be more or less disposable.

For example, Adira was coming up as one of the more interesting characters on the show played by the wonderful Blu Del Barrio. The narrative around Grey's rebirth linked in well with Picard's own season end however by season end they were gone and Adira was relegated to background almost overnight. With Mary Wiseman stepping back and Tilly transferring to Starfleet Academy there seemed a natural gap in the cast but this didn't seem to be fully realised in this season. 

Even the "baddie" for the season in the shape of Shawn Doyle's Tarka wasn't a super villain or a moustache twirling nemesis as Ossyra played for the Emerald Chain. His lost scientist persona fitted more into a role fans would perhaps liken to Soran from Generations, driven by his personal need to get home rather than the bigger picture. Doyle's character didn't need to be evil to be effective in season four and after the host of enemies across the show it's one point that made a refreshing change. Tarka's relationship with Book hinged a great chunk of the season together and was a stronger thread to the overall arc right from the moment they decided to head off on their own.

But let's also remember something fairly significant about this season. It was filmed during the pandemic and just for that it deserves a ton of praise for just existing. Look more closely and you'll see that the season has actually been very cleverly crafted. It might not be everyone's cup of tea and it's unusual that there aren't more fisticuffs, explosions but for the first time, Discovery kind of went really sciencey. Most of the 13 episodes are bottle shows, confined to either standing Discovery sets, Book's ship and Federation headquarters. There's only a trade station, an ice planet, Kweijan and the deserted world of the Ten-C that are new sets. Even then you might suspect they were repurposed. Even the 10-C themselves were CG and barely seen at that.

If you have to give something to season four, it's the clever use of sets, space and storytelling given restrictions at the time to still manage to deliver a coherent arc. Perhaps the most impressive element of the season is that the conclusion didn't rely on the same hand to hand combat or battle situation that we've experienced many times before. Yes, the galaxy and more specifically Ni'Var and Earth were in danger but the answer came in the form of science rather than guns. Is this Discovery's most Star Trek solution ever? To have an alien race communicate mathematically, emotionally and chemically is inspired and truly franchise format breaking.  

The bulk of the second part of the season was dedicated to the Ten-C and the journey to locate them. For only the second time in Star Trek history has the story taken us outside of the Milky Way and into the utter unknown, even beyond the reach of the wonderful spore drive. 

But then that is what Star Trek was supposed to be about. Yes, there is the element of impending danger, the threat that Earth could well be destroyed but where season four of Discovery succeeded was in a peaceful solution that actually worked and made sense. Communication was the key and for the first time in its four season run it felt that we were boldly going. Star Trek was Star Trek and he Federation didn't need to shoot something a lot to win. 

The 32nd Century setting still feels uneasy but for a season troubled by very Earth-based challenges, this has to be seen as a success even if I wasn't blown away by the story as it seemed to be a tale already well-trodden in the franchise. Cudos also for the fact that both Detmer and Owosekun had more to do than sit at the front of the bridge for a season. While the latter was involved with the away team in season two's New Eden and Kayla Detmer has had some key piloting moments, this felt like the first time they were used to their full effect. The other bridge fillers were still around and as horribly under utilised but even this seemed to be a step forward in the audience being able to connect to not just Michael and Saru.

I'm not going to say that this has been a great year for Discovery even taking into account the mitigating circumstances. The show still appears to be finding its feet in the 32nd Century with season four becoming more of a "season two" of a soft reboot. Where Discovery worked was through tying in its classic links such as Pike and Spock. 

Season four ended very cleanly. No loose ends, nothing to resolve at the beginning of the already green-lit season five. The distant future offers the chance to reset and go their own way but we have lost a lot of the familiarity of the franchise through such a prominent time jump and hopefully season five will correct the rot. It will be without the chains of a pandemic and therefore stretch out beyond the confines of the studio walls to embrace the challenges of the 32nd Century.

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Where's the Episode Reviews At?

For those of you who are regular followers/trolls/etc of this blog, you'll be familiar with my weekly episode updates.

But I've come to the realisation that everyone and anyone is doing them and, in all honesty, they're not the most widely read of posts. Even I've noted that I've reduced their length into more bitesize territory of late. With both Discovery and Prodigy now running at the same time it just isn't feasibly possible to write reviews and also do other discussions, opinions and those lovely item reviews plus a full time job.

So I'll be more or less covering a series of episodes and events within a piece on a more regular occasion and get away from being a) a pure episode review site and b) a pure ship review site that I fear I may have started to go down.

Let's move straight on though to a couple of things. One is of course the wonderful news that outside of the US and Canada, Discovery season four will be available on Pluto TV FOR FREE during what Paramount is describing as a "transitional period". Episodes one and two; Kobayashi Maru and Anomaly dropped last week if you happened to be off world at the time. Plus, yes, I was totally wrong that fan power would make a difference. It actually jolly well did.

It's going to be another slow burn (yes, intended pun) of a season. Burnham hasn't convinced everyone that she's amazing and the Federation president Laira Rillak even bypasses her for command of the Voyager-J. Burnham certainly has her issues in wanting to save everyone and saving no-one. For once we have a captain who isn't perfect and doesn't make the best decisions. I believe it's called "On the job learning".

But as we would suspect from an arc-based series, it's not all great news because the Discovery is called out to deal with a research station that is being affected by a gravitational wave. 

As an opening to a fourth season I was expecting something with a bit more weight to it and Kobayashi Maru didn't totally live up to its namesake. The Big Problem of the season is another huge threat to the galaxy that might be something we've seen before or it might not be. First thoughts were that it could be V'Ger and I swore I heard a few bars of it's ominous theme but it's got to be something else entirely.

Adira is still a great addition to the ship and has slipped into the "inexperienced" role which Tilly filled for seasons one and two with her storyline and the ever nearing rebirth of Gray providing one of the seasons standout narratives already. There's even a hat tip to the procedure's previous success with some Starfleet admiral named Picard.

David Ajala though is leaving me slightly cold. His relationship with Michael feels disjointed while it should be more endearing yet the time he spends working with Stamets to gather data on the anomaly turns out to be a great piece of writing.

Discovery has to be the most inconsistent of all Trek series. Whether that's down to the overriding arc structure or the very generic background bridge crew, it never seems to live up to its potential. There are a few too many sideways glances, odd humour moments (Tilly's funny voice one with Saru in Anomaly for instance) which feel jarring and totally out of place in this format and also at this far flung point in the future.

Episode three did ramp it up a bit into more action territory with the return of Burnham's mother, no tears from the captain and a rogue Quwat Milat nun. Of the three so far it's a step forward but once again the Gray/Adira story was far more interesting and even managed to reference a certain Starfleet admiral being reborn in the same synthetic manner.

Choose to Live got it right for once. The character moments weren't forced, Tilly's motivations seemed clearer with her wanting a challenge. Even Book and Stamets' partnership is developed and we seem to have a more defined heading for the season. Yes, the gravitational anomaly was still in the background but this time the main plot line came off a lot stronger. 

A society in stasis is nothing new (Dragon's Teeth) yet this was much more in line with Star Trek's basis of helping a people and not misunderstanding them. J'Vini's cause is true to her beliefs and although it's completed with the death of a Starfleet officer from the USS Credence, it remains close to the Needs of the Many. Wonder where we've heard that before?

But Discovery still misses a beat. In Choose to Live it's come very close to the origins and core nature of original Trek but there's a lacking of depth overall. The arc nature ay well be making it feel exhaustive but once more we are on a path towards a penultimate episode reveal which will, undoubtedly, reveal Burnham to be the saviour of the galaxy even if the Federation President doesn't rate her.

Then there's Prodigy. A series that has really taken me by surprise and is currently on a mid-mid-season break after five episodes. My word how this has come out of nowhere. I'm still not super thrilled with the animation but at present it's the best Trek out there. Exploration, new frontiers, a ship that actually looks stunning and a not over-complex arc that allows the show to breathe and dive into its characters. The Murder Planet does something similar to The Naked Time/Now in that it cuts into the core of these five aliens and gives us a hook into each of them.

Bet you can name all five already. Designed for the younger generation, it has a lot of merits from the Michael Giachinno title score through to the lickable planet vistas and all points in between. The reveal of the protowarp drive leaves a dramatic and jaw-dropping cliffhanger and I cannot wait to see where the show heads now.

I;m aware I've skimmed that in two paragraphs. Let me expand. This show actually has an ensemble that works. All of them have distinct personalities and, you might surmise, different agendas. Everything is new to all of them with the fulcrum of Holo-Janeway as their balancing point. I really think this series is working at a great pace and right out of the dockyard.

More thoughts on the way... but how are the two shows comparing for you?

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The Paramount Problem

Season four of Star Trek: Discovery is less than 24 hours away for anyone subbed to Paramount+ in the US and Canada.

But the story away from those fair shores is a different story and one which has taken a twist only within the last 24.

Even at Destination Star Trek just this weekend, the cast of Discovery were reportedly still talking about the arrival of the show on Netflix from Friday 19th November, just one day after its US launch.

However that is not to be with Paramount+ announcing that Discovery's long awaited and much publicised fourth season will be held back until 2022 outside the US and Canada. Why? Because Discovery is now slated to start with the introduction of Paramount+ worldwide.

In our hearts we knew this day would come. We have to be honest with ourselves as fans that Star Trek, in all its forms, would at some point all congregate on the Paramount streaming service. That part at least is no surprise but the late announcement of Discovery's delayed premiere has really riled fans. 

Missing from the upcoming shows on Netflix, Discovery leaves the platform today, November 17th 2021 and in a sense it feels as though we are slipping a little back into the 1990's. The wait might not be three years as it officially was for TNG to drop into the UK but it will probably feel like that.

Surely this will push Discovery back into being one of the most illegally downloaded shows on
the planet just as it was (I seem to recall) back for season one - and even then it was actually on Netflix. Hardcore fans will not want to wait until the season is over before they see it. Indeed, the explosion of social media will also play into that with it being ever more difficult to avoid spoilers or reviews.

This time round we're midway through the show and many will feel that they are being held hostage by Paramount. There has already been the "reassurance" through fan groups on social media that Picard and Lower Decks are still on Amazon at least - but that's only for now and I would anticipate their departure in the new year to join Discovery.

The bitter taste will take a while to swill out and Friday, for fans of Discovery and possibly the larger franchise, will be a trying day without the anticipated Kobayashi Maru episode. I would say just flick on Netflix and head on back through seasons one to three but that will now be impossible. Netflix also holds TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT back catalogues so how long before those make a departure for Paramount+?

We do know that in 2022 the new service will be available both as part of a Sky subscription (but not what level you will need to get it "for free") and also as a standalone product. For now though we have to come to terms with the notion that Star Trek is not what it was a year ago let alone what it was 25 years ago. Paramount will undoubtedly see it as a money machine. Netflix paid a considerable chunk of money for rights to air the show and in turn paid for the bulk of its production but it's still someone else's property.

Paramount wants to make money from Star Trek and has relaunched the franchise extremely aggressively since 2017 and there's more on the way. No question Strange New Worlds will be Paramount+ exclusive from day one but again, not the point here.

The studio led fans around the world to believe right up to the 11th hour that everything was on track for a Netflix launch only to pull the rug quick sharp. The anger and frustration out there now is genuine. Social channels are filled with disappointment  and you can sense that boycotts and all sorts of petitions will start flying around. Be honest one more time though because none of those will matter and Paramount will not care. Sadly I also believe that this will mean a drop in overall quality and potentially a step even further away from Gene Roddenberry's original vision. 

For the first time since 1999 we were supposed to have two series running and premiering in parallel but that will now only be applicable if you're in the US or Canada. If we also recall that would be just six years before Enterprise was cancelled and the lethargy of a bloated and over worked franchise was put to bed for a few years. Movies would return after four years but it would be 12 years before a series launched again and then it would only carry half the number of episodes, be more arc orientated and cost a hell of a lot more.

They know that people will still sign up to their service in 2022 just to watch multiple Star Trek series and pull back some numbers. At the start, Discovery was CBS All Access' big show and their hoped for big draw however it didn't perform as desired. Now there's an audience built after three seasons, there's a better chance to pull in those viewers to Paramount's own home of streaming. The fans do not own Star Trek. It's Paramount's and they will do with it as they see fit to ultimately fill the bank account and make shareholders happy. 

There, said it and yes, it does make me feel awfully underwhelmed and sad that fans have been treated in this manner but you only have to go back to the beginning of Discovery, the first of the Kurtzman era to launch, to see the split in fandom. But the news is a fact and we're going to have to live with the decision. I would be adding "for the foreseeable" but I think we have to write in "permanently" instead. 

A gloomy week for Star Trek and the sign of things to come. This will not be the last twist in the tale but I certainly hope it will be the worst way it's done.

Where do you lie in the twists and turns of Paramount's handling of Star Trek and in particular Discovery?

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