Star Trek Discovery
Jun. 18th, 2019 08:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI finished watching Discovery season one.
I can see the story they set out to tell, I can see why they had to go through all them places to tell it, but the only time all season that they did what I'd wanted to watch was
"We are Starfleet".
... okay, I also liked watching Lorca get his arse kicked. Yes, despite also quite liking him as a character. He's creepy and manipulative and why does that ping me every time?
Except the answer to that is, he has a plan. A huge complicated plan with a great many moving parts. One he had to talk people into (by hook or by crook) and keep them on task for. One that very nearly worked.
... why is it only bad guys with bad reasons that make good plans?
Except there is actually an answer to that one too. I was thinking while I watched.
The guy with the plan thinks he understands the universe already. He reckons he knows what everyone will do next, so he lines them all up to manipulate them.
Team good guy don't do that, not just because manipulation is mean, but because they're approaching the universe with an open mind. They're looking at it asking, what can the universe teach me today? And approached like that, you cannot have a plan. If you seek out new life and new civilisations, you're going to find things that totally blow your mind. Things you would never have thought of in a million years.
The guy with a plan rejects that possibility, rejects the possibility of anyone else having better thoughts than him. He'll cut the universe down small to fit his preconceptions, and then feel it's ticking like clockwork.
We are not clockwork.
So team good guy don't have a plan because have you seen all this? There's a lot of this! They can't know what to do with all this, they can't know what is best for all this, because no one person can. So they approach it open minded and just... wing it. And learn.
... but I still do like the man with the plan.
... so that's super awkward.
Also awkward is how evil keeps being hotter. Terran Emperor not-Servalan kicks so much arse. Same problems as Lorca, obviously, fundamentally misconceived idea of the universe, if she thinks she's already the greatest. But... *waves at all her everything*.
*sighs*
I did also like Tilly. I mean she's a great character. Also she gets to be human shaped even in those uniforms. Also I like her hair? And how it does not behave? Michael's hair also had a hair journey of straightening to impress parents and wider society, there's a whole hair meta to be done.
I like Saru and his refusal of the no win scenario. Also remain impressed at how much acting under how much mask.
Stamets and Culber... I only watched season one because I have spoilers for season two, so, I await things I may actually like watching.
... story keeps doing the thing and I don't like it.
The whole Ash situation I hate. Sorry. I can see how there's potential to have interesting stories about identity going on, but, the way they did things? I hate a lot. Mind control plots are the worst and I reject them utterly. And especially when they're a way to handwave off someone's actions. Oh dear he made choices but it wasn't really him. Even with the comparisons to new brain growth Stamets and all having sympathy for the ill guy, I just... that isn't the story. That isn't how to tell a mental illness story. People have choices, that's fundamental, and I reject stories that just say it wasn't his fault and ask us to move on. Also the only thing I could think of when he was asking her to like ignore the attempted murder and keep loving him was 'we are not obligated to set ourselves on fire to keep you warm'. Someone does that shit, you walk away and wish them luck getting well. So. I have opinions and did not want any part of that mess of story. I can see they were doing things with love and forgiveness and cultural 'purity' meeting whole new ideas, but I did not like any part of how.
Which is awkward.
Michael was a fascinating character to follow around, which is what you want in a protagonist. Had a whole change and growth journey.
I don't think I like how Vulcans get treated by story. Compassion has compelling logic too.
I liked the bridge crew but can't remember their names now. Interesting set though.
Starfleet Admirals being sketchy is, like, a strong through line across series, isn't it?
I loved how much came down to older women in charge. Might have hated what they chose, but they didn't get 'corrected' by men, it was all about women. Pretty cool.
At the end of season 1 I'm looking forwards to season 2, but mostly because they might finally start telling stories of the shape I wanted to see.
There were good bits but if I hadn't known the ending I'd have just figured the writers had missed the point of Star Trek. Because that happens. As is, I can see what they were doing, and it had many interesting parts and pieces.
So now I'm trying to think of a story that has the kind of characters I like (has a Plan, gets people to follow it) but also the good guy things (meets other people understanding that they too have a plan and it may well be better).
I think the difference is between bad captain good captain too? Like if the orders are top down then the ship is only as big as the captain, but if the captain is only where the efforts of the ship are coordinated then it is so much bigger.
Stuff to think about, bits that are fun to watch, characters with personalities. That's a good start.
I can see the story they set out to tell, I can see why they had to go through all them places to tell it, but the only time all season that they did what I'd wanted to watch was
"We are Starfleet".
... okay, I also liked watching Lorca get his arse kicked. Yes, despite also quite liking him as a character. He's creepy and manipulative and why does that ping me every time?
Except the answer to that is, he has a plan. A huge complicated plan with a great many moving parts. One he had to talk people into (by hook or by crook) and keep them on task for. One that very nearly worked.
... why is it only bad guys with bad reasons that make good plans?
Except there is actually an answer to that one too. I was thinking while I watched.
The guy with the plan thinks he understands the universe already. He reckons he knows what everyone will do next, so he lines them all up to manipulate them.
Team good guy don't do that, not just because manipulation is mean, but because they're approaching the universe with an open mind. They're looking at it asking, what can the universe teach me today? And approached like that, you cannot have a plan. If you seek out new life and new civilisations, you're going to find things that totally blow your mind. Things you would never have thought of in a million years.
The guy with a plan rejects that possibility, rejects the possibility of anyone else having better thoughts than him. He'll cut the universe down small to fit his preconceptions, and then feel it's ticking like clockwork.
We are not clockwork.
So team good guy don't have a plan because have you seen all this? There's a lot of this! They can't know what to do with all this, they can't know what is best for all this, because no one person can. So they approach it open minded and just... wing it. And learn.
... but I still do like the man with the plan.
... so that's super awkward.
Also awkward is how evil keeps being hotter. Terran Emperor not-Servalan kicks so much arse. Same problems as Lorca, obviously, fundamentally misconceived idea of the universe, if she thinks she's already the greatest. But... *waves at all her everything*.
*sighs*
I did also like Tilly. I mean she's a great character. Also she gets to be human shaped even in those uniforms. Also I like her hair? And how it does not behave? Michael's hair also had a hair journey of straightening to impress parents and wider society, there's a whole hair meta to be done.
I like Saru and his refusal of the no win scenario. Also remain impressed at how much acting under how much mask.
Stamets and Culber... I only watched season one because I have spoilers for season two, so, I await things I may actually like watching.
... story keeps doing the thing and I don't like it.
The whole Ash situation I hate. Sorry. I can see how there's potential to have interesting stories about identity going on, but, the way they did things? I hate a lot. Mind control plots are the worst and I reject them utterly. And especially when they're a way to handwave off someone's actions. Oh dear he made choices but it wasn't really him. Even with the comparisons to new brain growth Stamets and all having sympathy for the ill guy, I just... that isn't the story. That isn't how to tell a mental illness story. People have choices, that's fundamental, and I reject stories that just say it wasn't his fault and ask us to move on. Also the only thing I could think of when he was asking her to like ignore the attempted murder and keep loving him was 'we are not obligated to set ourselves on fire to keep you warm'. Someone does that shit, you walk away and wish them luck getting well. So. I have opinions and did not want any part of that mess of story. I can see they were doing things with love and forgiveness and cultural 'purity' meeting whole new ideas, but I did not like any part of how.
Which is awkward.
Michael was a fascinating character to follow around, which is what you want in a protagonist. Had a whole change and growth journey.
I don't think I like how Vulcans get treated by story. Compassion has compelling logic too.
I liked the bridge crew but can't remember their names now. Interesting set though.
Starfleet Admirals being sketchy is, like, a strong through line across series, isn't it?
I loved how much came down to older women in charge. Might have hated what they chose, but they didn't get 'corrected' by men, it was all about women. Pretty cool.
At the end of season 1 I'm looking forwards to season 2, but mostly because they might finally start telling stories of the shape I wanted to see.
There were good bits but if I hadn't known the ending I'd have just figured the writers had missed the point of Star Trek. Because that happens. As is, I can see what they were doing, and it had many interesting parts and pieces.
So now I'm trying to think of a story that has the kind of characters I like (has a Plan, gets people to follow it) but also the good guy things (meets other people understanding that they too have a plan and it may well be better).
I think the difference is between bad captain good captain too? Like if the orders are top down then the ship is only as big as the captain, but if the captain is only where the efforts of the ship are coordinated then it is so much bigger.
Stuff to think about, bits that are fun to watch, characters with personalities. That's a good start.