10 Ways Discovery Made Star Trek Better

Star Trek: Discovery is often criticized for bringing the franchise back in such a drastically different way, but with the first Star Trek shown over more than a decade, it is much easier to see all the positive aspects that the project provided for the future of the iconic science fiction saga. THE Star Trek: Discovery The Season 5 finale brought the show to a satisfying conclusion after seven years on the air, and while the modernized spinoff may not have been perfect, it still found several ways for the franchise to continue to thrive when it came time for the show to end.

Star Trek: Discovery stood out from everyone Star Trek show that it preceded it. Everything from its narrative approach, reworked aesthetic, and aggressive retcons led much of the franchise’s fanbase to believe it wasn’t part of the main canon or was taking place in Star TrekKelvin Timeline that JJ Abrams introduced in 2009 Star Trek restart the movie. However, Star Trek: Discovery is firmly planted in the Primordial Universeand the show’s legacy is far more good than bad.

10

Star Trek: Discovery brought the franchise back to TV screens

There hasn’t been an active Star Trek show since the end of Enterprise in 2005

Although there was a notable gap between Star Trek: The Original Series‘cancellation and debut of Star Trek: The Next GenerationThe TV branch of the franchise was then experiencing its golden age. The next generation overlapped brilliantly with Star Trek: Deep Space Nineand the latter was simultaneously on air for a few years along with Star Trek: Voyager. After that, the Star Trek: EnterpriseThe cast was left to keep the TV universe alive before the show ended after four seasons in 2005. It would then be 12 years until Star Trek: Discovery arrived.

THE Star Trek franchise has not remained completely inert in these 12 years. Writer/director JJ Abrams has been hard at work trying to bring back Gene Roddenberry’s space opera with a new trilogy of films. Abrams Star Trek the films were incredibly respectful of the era in which they were set, leaving the story of William Shatner’s Captain Kirk untouched, and this was true for most members of the Star Trek: The Original Series cast. As fantastic as the films were, it wasn’t the same as watching weekly episodes – and Star Trek: Discovery made this possible again after so long.

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Star Trek: Discovery A-List Cast of Actors

Michelle Yeoh was just one of the greats of Star Trek: Discovery

The older Star Trek programs tended to avoid established actors. In many ways this was a great benefit, as it meant that the characters could be perceived without biases caused by the actor’s previous roles. Many of Star TrekThe best characters were played by actors who made their names in the franchise, so this casting trend is far from being a negative feature of TV shows. That being said, Star Trek: Discoverythe ability to attract big names hasn’t just benefited the programbut it also proved that the franchise still had strength.

THE Star Trek: Discovery The cast still featured newcomers, but actors like Sonequa Martin-Green as Captain Michael Burnham, Jason Isaac as Captain Lorca, and Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou paved the way for other stars to join the franchise. Because of your presence, the next project Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will feature actors such as Holly HunterPaul Giamatti and Tatiana Maslany – all of whom might not have been cast if not for Star Trek: Discoverybold decisions.

8

Discovery Made Star Trek Serialized

Previous Star Trek shows have mostly limited their plots to single episodes

Pre-Discovery show of Star Trek The franchise predates the advent of streaming services. As such, the vast majority of episodes were self-contained adventures, with any stories that unfolded over more than one installment being a landmark occasion. While Serialized dramas weren’t unheard of before Star Trek: Discoverythey were much less common in the context of a high-concept science fiction universe. With Star Trek: Discovery debuting during the streaming era, it didn’t have to wrap up each story in under an hour and could tell a much longer, slower story.

Although Star Trek: Picard followed Star Trek: Discovery in this serialized approachSince then, there have been other programs that have chosen to maintain the original format of one adventure per week. Star Trek shows how Lower decks and Strange New World are not serialized, while Star Trek: Prodigy adopted a hybrid approach. Then, Star Trek: Discovery It didn’t change the format of the franchise’s TV shows forever – it just gave them another avenue to work with.

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Discovery brought Star Trek movie-quality visual effects to TV

Star Trek TV shows finally get the Hollywood glamor treatment thanks to Discovery

While the sets and alien prosthetics were innovative in previous shows, Star Trek: Discoveryits 2017 debut was a feast for the eyes compared to its predecessors. The older shows haven’t aged too poorly, and the parts that no longer look the same only add to the charm. However, Discovery was the first Star Trek show that didn’t look like it was filmed on a TV budget.

Many visual aspects of the franchise received an update in Star Trek: Discovery. Not only did the camerawork look like something out of a blockbuster movie, but the CGI and practical effects were also incredibly impressive. JJ Abrams’ work on his Star Trek movies between Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Discovery clearly left its mark, but Discovery made a point of never fully entering the world of Abrams’ films.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Other Developments Wouldn’t Have Happened Without Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery provided plenty of fuel for the franchise to continue

One of the best things about Star Trek is that every project always has the chance to lead to the next one. The entire franchise is built on spinoffs. Star Trek: The Original Series is undoubtedly the only program to be exempt from this phenomenon, although Star Trek: Discovery it could also be said to fit this description due to the stark divide between the franchise’s eras. Happily, Discovery revived the tradition and is responsible for several successive Star Trek projects.

Due to their very different tones, it can be easy to forget that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a direct spinoff of Star Trek: Discovery – despite the latter having a tone much closer to the Star Trek: The Original Series. Others nearby Star Trek projects like Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and 2025 Star Trek: Section 31 film would also not exist if Star Trek: Discovery had never been done.

5

Star Trek: Discovery gave the franchise a new era to explore

The 32nd century is a compelling time in the Star Trek canon

THE Star Trek timeline It is made up of several eras that have been explored to varying degrees. While the 24th century is easily the most developed in the franchise’s canon, the 23rd century has also seen a lot of worldbuilding. Although Star Trek: Discovery season 1 placed the show after Enterpriseit was in the 22nd century and just before The original series on the 23rd, Star Trek: Discovery Season 2’s epic finale pushed the show into the unprecedented period of the 32nd century.

Star Trek: Discoverythe final three seasons of it all took place in its new far-future settingand much was learned about the state of Starfleet, the Federation, and other aspects of the franchise canon. Although Discovery is over, the era it introduced will continue to be addressed in the coming Star Trek projects – which could, in turn, generate other developments that would then contribute even more to the tradition of Star Trek32nd century.

4

Discovery brought back Star Trek nostalgia in all the right ways

Captain Pike and other established characters were included in the updated Star Trek: Discovery formula

Although Star Trek: Discovery was clearly trying to stand on its own without having to rely too much on the franchise’s rich legacy, it would have been untenable to ignore past events forever. So, although Star Trek: Discovery the first season involved certain franchise tropeslike Mirror Universe, the plot was largely separate from previous shows. That said, the season one finale took a left turn on this philosophy and brought back the USS Enterprise.

However, although familiar characters such as Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Spock (Ethan Peck) and Number One (Rebecca Romijn) appeared, Star Trek: Discovery I didn’t trust nostalgia muchand updated everything and everyone that appeared in The original series to combine with Discoverynew vibration. While this seems like an obvious choice, as showing the Enterprise in its original form would have been a bit shocking, similar cases have happened before in other Star Trek shows – and with mixed results. So, it was a decision that Discovery had to do and from which future efforts can learn.

3

Star Trek: Discovery is the perfect starting point for new fans

Discovery requires no knowledge of previous Star Trek shows

All Star Trek movies and TV shows combine to tell a huge story. For those who want to start watching Star TrekIt can be incredibly tricky to choose a starting point. While most of the shows make sense in isolation, there are often references to other corners of the franchise that can easily go unnoticed by the uninitiated. Even just the three 90s Star Trek shows combined to form an impressive 21 seasonsand Discovery was clearly aware of the intimidation factor. As such, Star Trek: Discovery it rarely delves into pre-established knowledge, which makes it perfect for beginners.

Star Trek: Discovery also has the advantage of only having 5 seasons, and although season 1 consists of 15 episodes, subsequent runs gradually decrease until the final batch of episodes totals just 10. While this could be seen as a downgrade from the classic Star Trek shows, which would typically consist of more than 20 episodes, Discoveryserialized stories would drag on a bit too long if they lasted longer than the episode count. In short, if someone wants to watch a full movie Star Trek show to test the waters, Discovery is one of the best options for this.

2

Huge new aliens and planets were introduced in Star Trek: Discovery

Discovery wasn’t afraid to make big additions to the franchise’s lore

Star Trek: Discovery initially it seemed like it would be restricted to established settings and alien races that had already appeared in the 23rd century or earlier. The show quickly dispelled that doubt with the presence of Saru (Doug Jones), but the franchise’s first Kelpien was just the first of several new races that eventually appeared on the show before and after the massive time jump at the end of Star Trek: Discovery 2nd season.

Saru’s home world wasn’t the only new planet visited by the USS Discovery either. Captain Burnham and her crew continued to be trailblazers as the show progressedand although some of the new configurations debuted in the distant future of Star Trek timeline, there’s no reason they couldn’t be reused in successive prequels and sequels. Of course, there is a delicate balance that needs to be struck here to avoid canonical conflicts, but this is possible with enough care.

1

The discovery gave greater representation to Star Trek

The first modern Star Trek show continued the franchise’s trend

Star Trek as a franchise it has always been incredibly progressivereturning to TV’s first interracial kiss between Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) in Star Trek: The Original Series. Since then, shows have continued to push social boundaries and provide representation for actors from diverse backgrounds. For example, Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) was Star Trekis the first black captain, and Star Trek: Voyager gave command of its titular ship to Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) – the franchise’s first female captain. Star Trek: Discovery certainly hasn’t shied away from this trend.

DiscoveryNo better is Sonequa Martin-Green’s representative ethos embodied than by its protagonist, as Sonequa Martin-Green’s Captain Michael Burnham was the first black female captain to lead a Star Trek series – and at the same time the character had a name traditionally reserved for men. Similarly, Star Trek: Discovery also featured the first married gay couple with Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), but also the franchise’s first non-binary character, Adira (Blu del Barrio). All of the characters were incredibly well written, ensuring Star Trek: DiscoveryThe increase in representation will continue in Star Trekthe future.

Source: IMDB