Star Trek Discovery Now on Paramount +

[spruecutter96]

1 hour ago, Max Headroom said:

Spoiler free zone guys!

I'm not sure that two words can be considered a true spoiler? 

 

Chris. 

[upnorth]

I'm giving season 3 its chance.

 

What I'm hoping is that the jump into the future will give this series what it needs to really come into its own. Trying to shoehorn it between Enterprise and TOS was a bad idea from the start and really hobbled what could be done with it in the sense of continuity with the rest of the Star Trek universe.

 

Now they've pretty much got a blank canvas to work on and much less in the way of canon to deal with.

 

I'm really looking forward to what they do with Saru, his character was really starting to get interesting.

 

I'd like to see Tilley do some growing up and I think she'll be forced to do some. I think her character was designed to be irritating if you think about it: young, fresh from the academy with no real experience and whole head full of theory and propaganda just primed for reality to blow it all apart on her.

 

Burnham just needs some lessons in humility to bring her off her high horse.

 

 

On other matters Star Trek, I've recently been rewatching Enterprise on Netflix. I haven't watched it since it aired on TV and I have to say it's not quite as bad as I recall. Once they got into the Delphic Expanse in season 2, they had to harden up a bit and face the reality that their policies didn't mean anything to most races they ran across and they had to adjust their game to suit.

 

I think the Discovery crew are going to find themselves in a very similar spot in season 3. The rule book they know is going to have little to no relevance where they are now.

[Mick4350]

On 10/17/2020 at 3:47 AM, spruecutter96 said:

Sorry to hear about your audio issues. Were you having some problems with your internet connection?

I do seem to be having issues as I'm trying to watch Fargo on Netflix and am also having sound issues with the program. I have the sound being put through Bluetooth to my 2.1 Logitech speakers through the LG smart TV. I might try and run Netflix through the PVR instead.

[Mick4350]

On 10/19/2020 at 2:55 AM, Mick4350 said:

I do seem to be having issues as I'm trying to watch Fargo on Netflix and am also having sound issues with the program. 

 

I might try and run Netflix through the PVR instead.

That option seemed to stop the audio from dropping out.

[Truro Model Builder]

The producers took a brave decision to do what they did for the third season. I hope it pays off, as I enjoyed the first two seasons, and though I liked episode 3.1, I keep getting flashbacks of Andromeda. Hopefully it will go in a very different location, though the premise seems to be eerily similar.

[Max Headroom]

Ok just watched the first two episodes of S.3 and I have to say I’m cool with it. Ep1 was ok, but Burnham being serious (for a change). However the tech looked good. Ep2 however was good. I love the Reno/Stamets interaction. Captain Girogiou is still her delightful self and glory be, Kayla Detmer now seems to be getting her own interesting story arc.

 

Roll on Ep.3....

 

Trevor

[Mick4350]

1 hour ago, Max Headroom said:

Ep2 however was good. I love the Reno/Stamets interaction. Captain Girogiou is still her delightful self and glory be, Kayla Detmer now seems to be getting her own interesting story arc.

 

Roll on Ep.3....

And Michael has let down her hair at last. Not srictly regulation, but hey... cool 🖖

[Max Headroom]

I forgot to mention that they’ve dialled back Tilley’s whackiness (a bit), which can only be a good thing.

 

Trevor

[spruecutter96]

Have to say, I'm not too impressed with Series 3 so far. WAY too much talky talky and way too few explosions. No obvious enemy - as yet - and the central premise / story arc is not making me optimistic. Star Trek needs very well-defined villains and for the intrepid crew to have a seemingly-insurmountable problem to solve. Look at the old Star Trek movies which lacked these two elements - they sucked, big time (although Star Trek No.4 was passably entertaining). 

 

Come on, extremely well-paid, American TV executives.... give the fans more of what they've always wanted!

 

At least Burnham seems a lot more human and relatable in the last episode - she even smiled once or twice!

 

Chris.  

[spruecutter96]

18 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

I forgot to mention that they’ve dialled back Tilley’s whackiness (a bit), which can only be a good thing.

 

Trevor

I would say that Tilly was only (maybe) 50% as "zany and gad-fly" as she normally is. I think her character is maturing pretty well. Could have done with less tears in Episode 3, having said all that, however.

 

Chris. 

[upnorth]

I just watched episode 3. I waited for quite some time for something to happen and then the end credits started rolling.

 

What's lacking more then a well defined villain is a clear chain of command on the ship.

 

Saru has shown he can give an order, but way too many of the bridge crew are too willing to question whoever's in command. I'd love to see him blow the alternate universe Georgiou out an airlock and put the crew right about exactly who's in charge and how to follow orders.

 

Seriously, is it starship or a group therapy session?

[Stephen]

I'm enjoying it but I miss Deep Space Nine.

[spruecutter96]

6 hours ago, Beermonster1958 said:

So, the movies "lacked"well defined villains and  , "seemingly insurmountable problems"? I presume you jest because, I seem to recall Khan Noonien Singh, the Borg, a Shakespeare quoting Klingon (beautifully played by Christopher Plummer) with a warship that could fire it's weapons when cloaked and, time travel to save Earth from an invasive alien probe?

Perhaps we were not watching the same films?😉😂

 

John

 

Ps. Star Trek - The Motion Picture, ST 5,S T - Generations definitely sucked!

Pps. If its explosions you want, watch Babylon 5. Lots of explosions!😂

Not actually what I said, John. I was stating that SOME of the movies lacked a proper villain and you always knew that our intrepid heroes would overcome any foe or alien force (usually by doing something very "sciency", which no-one has ever tried before and which inevitably works out for best - what a dusty old cliche that became). I generally like the Star Trek movies, but the quality of the scripts varied enormously. Movies No. 1 and 5 were embarrassingly bad, boring, pretentious and pointless. 

 

Anyway, I am really hoping that Disco Series 3 will have a "point" sometime soon, cos it sure as hell doesn't have one at at the moment. 

 

Chris.  

[Max Headroom]

@spruecutter96 Now that Disco and Burnham have met and the premise of their new reality has been established I hope it’s all systems go for the rest of the season.

 

As for story threads, I see Discovery trying to contact the remnants of the Federation, various nefarious people trying to steal their dilythium and Kayla Detmer resuming her so far mysterious ‘problem’ hinted at in ep.1.

 

Trevor

[spruecutter96]

Yep, I really should be giving the new series of Disco more of a chance than I am currently. I think the show has a lot more potential than it ever really uses, I would definitely watch the Captain Chris Pike spin-off, if they ever get on to actually making the thing. 

 

Chris. 

[spruecutter96]

Hi, John. 

 

Yep, the Section 31 spin-off sounds like it could be great and, as you say, a very welcome antidote to the "big group-hug, let's discuss how we feel" attitude displayed in a lot of the more modern Trek series. 

 

If there's one TV series I am really looking forward to it's "Dredd: Mega City One".  Having said that, it's more than three years ago that they first announced it and it's still not yet gone into production, so I'm really not holding my breath on that one. Maybe they'll start it next year, but it has been a very, very long-time coming.  

 

I haven't seen the Youtube Trek that you mention - I'll check it out. 

 

Let's see how the new Disco develops, as it's still very early days. I've been watching a fair bit of Voyager recently - not perfect, but most episodes are worth a watch.

 

Chris. 

[Max Headroom]

Just wondering how Michelle Yeoh can be in both Disco and Section 31?!

 

@spruecutter96 Voyager is my favourite Trek - unpopular opinion I know! And talking of announced sci fi projects, I really want to see Foundation make it to the screen.

 

Trevor

[spruecutter96]

Discovery S.3 EP. 4..... Where do I start?

 

IT'S GETTING WORSE, PEOPLE!

 

Boring, pointless, pretentious twaddle. If the new series continues in this vein, I think I will just give up and stop watching it. Having said that, I am coming to the conclusion that Netflix is not really worth having any more. There is so little that appeals to me now on the service. It seems to be catering for teenagers, for the most part and it's a long time time since I fitted into that category.  

 

Also, if you're going to write a show with "social meaning", can you make it a bit more subtle than a baseball-bat around the back of the head?

 

Chris.  

[spruecutter96]

Hi, John. 

 

Agreed, Janeway was little Miss Goody Two-Shoes, wasn't she? It would have so much more satisfying to have her mess up every now-and-then and have to deal with the consequences. I guess that's one thing about American mainstream TV - every character has to be utterly infallible and have no real flaws. 

 

Chris.   

[Mick4350]

3 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

Just wondering how Michelle Yeoh can be in both Disco and Section 31?!

 

@spruecutter96 Voyager is my favourite Trek - unpopular opinion I know! And talking of announced sci fi projects, I really want to see Foundation make it to the screen.

 

Trevor

And its on free to air five days a week at present here down under. Tonights episode was Survival Instinct.

[Max Headroom]

8 hours ago, Beermonster1958 said:

Actually Trevor, I HATED Voyager! 

Well, Kes was rather wet I’ll give you that.

 

Trevor

[Max Headroom]

Ok the latest episode was different and tbh a bit rushed on its central premise. Burnham’s extra year on the planet seems to have chilled her out a bit. Which is good.

 

Tilly is still thankfully not a central character. 

Saw it back to back with the latest Mandalorian episode too. Nearest thing to a ‘funny’ episode? Don’t think it advanced the plot.

 

Just thought - both episodes had plunge pools as central to their plots! Is this a trend?!

 

Trevor

[spruecutter96]

The quality of shows on Netflix seems to have dropped significantly in the last year, from where I'm sitting. When I first started using the streaming-service, I thought it was an amazing thing, with a LOT more hits than misses. That was about three years ago. Now, I spend about fifteen minutes browsing something new to watch, give it a chance by viewing one or two episodes and - these days - usually give up on whatever I'm watching. Just the fact that I'm having to "scratch around" for something to watch tells me that Netflix isn't catering for my tastes anymore and I don't think that will change radically in the future. Obviously, as a huge business with 10's of Billions of Dollars of debt and other commitments (I read $28 Billion, last year), Netflix HAS to appeal to as large a number of viewers as possible. I fully understand that.

 

There are some happy exceptions, though. "Tiger King" earlier this year was a real highlight, although I'm pretty sure it used some very selective reporting and clever editing for greater impact. My issue is that Netflix's current content (hate that word!) seems to be appealing more-and-more to the lowest common-denominator and that ain't cool, IMHO. 

 

I have not watched "Narcos" or "Making Of A Murderer" yet and both have been recommended to me. Anyone concur with these two? 

 

I recently subscribed to Amazon Prime Video and, to be frank, I think it makes Netflix looks pretty second-rate. Yep, there is low-brow stuff on Amazon, too, but it just seems better. I have only been using Prime for around three weeks, but I'm very glad I subscribed. 

 

This might be fueled by my disillusionment with Discovery S.3 so far, admittedly. I really liked the first two series, even if they had their fair share of dud episodes. So far, this new series has had two out of three poor installments - that really isn't a good average.    

 

Knowing me, I will continue to pay for Netflix for some time, in the (vain?) hope that they will produce / invest in some better programming. I can dream , can't I?

 

Chris.  

 

PS: I'm getting a vague feeling you're not a big fan of the Mandalorian, John. Is it really THAT bad? I was quite looking forward to watching it, even though I will be putting money in to Mickey Mouses' grubby, greedy paws.   

Edited November 7, 2020 by spruecutter96
Amending some information.

[Max Headroom]

@spruecutter96 if you’re looking for Amazon recommendations there’s always Picard (outside the USA), although I found it a bit underwhelming tbh. American Gods is.....weird. Season 1 was ok but season 2 was weirder! My favourite thing on Amazon was nothing to do with sci fi and is called Turn. All about the American War of Independence. Four seasons of solidly good tv. All I’ll say is look out for Captain Simco- seriously unhinged!

 

Trevor

[Mick4350]

37 minutes ago, Max Headroom said:

@spruecutter96 if you’re looking for Amazon recommendations there’s always Picard (outside the USA), although I found it a bit underwhelming tbh. American Gods is.....weird. Season 1 was ok but season 2 was weirder! My favourite thing on Amazon was nothing to do with sci fi and is called Turn. All about the American War of Independence. Four seasons of solidly good tv. All I’ll say is look out for Captain Simco- seriously unhinged!

 

Trevor

Additionally there is a sci-fi program on Amazon, called Tales from the Loop.