I am loving it. But there are things I would fix.
Just so everyone knows, I am supremely thankful to live in a time when there is such a wide variety of Star Trek options on my streaming services. Me SO happy! However, I just wonder if anyone else out there finds themselves rolling their eyes at a few things on Star Trek: Discovery?
(I secretly have this fantasy where a writer or editor on the show will see this and be like, “I can easily fix that” and then the show will be fully baked and really capture all audiences. So, bear with me. It took me three seasons of Discovery to formulate my opinion.)
- What’s with Commander Michael Burnham’s mission logs?
Star Trek would not be Star Trek without the patented mission logs, normally launched at the beginning of episodes but sporadically interspersed throughout the show. However, is it me or are Michael’s logs extremely looooooooong? If I was a Starfleet Admiral conducting an investigation and was relying on these logs to garnish mission details, I think I might barf after wading through the knee-deep slush of Michael’s inner musings.
My mind is geared to using the mission log to set the plot for the show or to sum up where we are in the action. Instead, I find myself enduring her emotional diatribes. That wouldn’t be so bad except for the second thing that bugs me. She pours her emotions into her logs and then… - …every scene reeks of the same emotion she put into her logs.
What use is it keeping a personal log if you exhibit every emotion on your sleeve as you interact with your colleagues? How many of you have been mildly uncomfortable watching looooonng, drawn-out, emotionally overcharged scenes where Michael is about to cry—no, wait—she’s laughing—no, wait—she’s upset—no, wait… they’re crying and hugging now.
I thought the point of personal logs is to express what you don’t feel comfortable expressing out in the open? I find myself resting my chin on my hand waiting for the scene to proceed… but only after Michael stands in front of the other character in the scene and gruelingly expresses how she feels about the matter.
Now, I can withstand one of these per episode. But every. single. time. she. has. to. meet. with. another. character. she. must. first. have. a. heart. to. heart. Is this Star Trek or the TGIF lineup on ABC in the 90s. Oh, Uncle Joey, save us!
3. Why is everyone else standing around staring? Contribute!
I am used to the other Star Trek shows wherein there is a group of different officers discussing a problem. Each character gets to showcase their area of expertise as the captain conducts a go ’round the table. Problems are not solved by just two or three characters but through the collective ideas formed from the experienced Starfleet crew.
I miss that.
It seems like all this bridge crew is good for is announcing their status reports and then following orders. I guess they don’t get much time to express their opinion seeing as how Michael Burnham is hogging up the mission log data space.
4. Why is Michael the center of attention every show?
Is it me, or did the other franchises (with the exception of Picard—I mean it is named after him) kind of give us a rotating spotlight of stories? The Original Series basically rotated between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Later shows, like The Next Generation and Voyager, had different episodes highlight different senior staff members. Deep Space Nine gave us more episodes starring Quark and Garek, the bartender and tailor, than Discovery has highlighted other bridge crew members outside of Saru, Tilly, and (ugh) Michael.
I was proud to say that after the first season of any Star Trek show, I could name all of the bridge crew members. Not so with Discovery. Here. I will prove my point. Without using Google, name these three characters.
How did you do?
You probably did as well as I did. Operations officer with an awesome haircut. Female robot person. The guy I can’t give the name I think because people will think I am making racial comparisons because he stands basically in the same spot as Ensign Kim does on Voyager.
I mean, I watch Star Trek for infinite diversity in infinite combinations! Michael every show is NOT diverse. I need more combos of story. I want to get to know these characters with episodes that just highlight their accomplishments, wants, and desires. And don’t even get me started on the two characters I REALLY want to hear more about…
Linus is allergic to mission logs, which is why you rarely see him in a scene with Michael. 
Osnullus covers his ears while Michael records yet another longwinded mission log.
Now, I have to close this rant with one thing. It could be possible that the crew at CBS spends so much money on SFX that they have no choice than to draw out scenes with touchy-feely writer goo. That would make sense as to why scenes are tortuously elongated.
Any other theories out there?
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