Comment Stream

Re: DSC S1: The Wolf Inside

Well, I have no comments about this particular episode, but I do have much to say about Star Trek Discovery as a whole. As a matter of fact, I've held back since it started in September, so this is the very first time I'm sharing my thoughts about the new series.

Let's just say I'm no stranger to Trek, I've watched EVERY single episode of EVERY series (TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT, all 13 films) and viewed most during their original run, save for TOS which dates back before I was born. I've also been a regular of Jammer's site since it opened in 1995. Okay, sure, I was incredibly disappointed (to put it lightly) with VOY, ENT, Nemesis, and almost completely turned off to the series with the reboot films, but never could I imagine it sinking any lower. Oh my, then along came STD (perhaps it should be short for "Star Trek Dreck"?).

I made every effort to be opened minded and really, really wanted to enjoy this, but I simply cannot. Plain and simply, this is not Star Trek. Worse, it is not even entertaining or well written television. This is a dark, depressing, violent and aimless show. Horrible writing, grotesque visuals (horror film gore in Star Trek?) and just mediocre plotting and pacing. By contrast watching TNG was fun, exciting, wondrous and left me feeling a sense of optimism and hope for the future. As others have said, it was a world I've always fantasized about living in. DS9 had dark moments for sure, but it was still firmly planted in the established Trek universe, and dealt directly with how certain events or people conflicted in that universe. It showed a darker side of the Trek universe, yet while still plausibly existing in that
universe. The characters were complex and relatable, and most of all, likeable. I was
completely absorbed by the stories, characters and settings. Stories I still distinctly
remember decades later, and lessons and morals (be it TNG, DS9 or TOS) I still refer back to this very day. I was touched, moved and inspired watching Trek, how many other television shows do that? By contrast, watching Discovery leaves me feeling sick and depressed afterwards, and certainly uninspired. I don't care about these characters, about where the show is going, sitting through and watching it is just a chore. Forcing myself to endure it in hopes, maybe, somehow, I'll acquire a taste for it and it'll somehow improve. I think it's clear at this point, I'm fooling myself that such a moment will ever come.

Let me also point out that STD is *not* science-fiction, it is science-fantasy. When I think back to the Star Trek films of the 80's, the Enterprise on impulse engines moved in a very slow, plodding and steady manner. It FELT like an actual spaceship moving through space, something I could imagine as existing in our far future. Compare that to scene of the USS Discovery in "Into the Forest I Go", where the ship is rapidly blinking in and out of space every half second, while the saucer section is spinning like a fringing Figet spinner toy after each jump. What is this, a cartoon? Even Star Wars isn't that hyper about how ships move. A spore drive, using what seems more like magic and fantasy to navigate space?

Then there is the way these characters talk and act. Tilly sounds like one of the cast from Two Broke Girls or Modern Family (or any current day sitcom/drama), and the crew dropping F-bombs on top of that? This is supposed to be the future, where humans have highly evolved and entered a period of enlightenment, these are merely contemporary copies of any Joe Blow off the street from 2018. Not just in the way they speak, but the way they act as well. And don't get me started on the Klingons, which have been transformed into some kind of violent space-monsters (and look like the California Raisins!) with the most grating and ear piercing of vocals.

Well I could go on for pages, but this is just to say I do not like what I see. I find myself already fatigued with this series and it's not even done with its first season yet. Voyager was campy and ridiculous, and Enterprise was dull, but at least I could still recognize them as Star Trek series. I even managed to enjoy a few episodes from those series. So far, there is nothing I am walking away with from Discovery except a sense of depression and feeling of dread. After watching "The Wolf Inside", I felt the need to rinse my mind of it by turning on a light comedy show afterwards.

Will I still continue to watch Discovery? Probably for now, just out of curiosity to see where its headed. I definitely do not like its direction, and feel at this point, I'm just watching like someone fixated by the sight of a train wreck or other disaster. I think the fact it has "Star Trek" in its name is the reason I haven't completely stopped watching it. I have to chuckle about something though. Years ago, I distinctly remember one of you on Jammer's site commenting, if a new Star Trek series were released that is nothing but a TV test pattern, we'd still watch it. Well hats off to whomever said that, looks like you were right!

Re: New iPad announced and still iDon'tCare

The last Apple product I purchased was way back in 1987: the Apple IIGS (no, it was *not* a Mac, it was the final evolutionary step of the Apple II computer, the machine that started the company. Or at least as far as Apple would allow it to evolve before stomping it out). IMHO, it was last cool device that came out of Apple that had adventure, fun and soul.

At any rate, I agree with Jammer. The iPad has no real purpose, it's just an expensive gimmicky toy. I had one on loan for an entire summer and didn't think all that much of it, nor was I sad to return it. I'll admit I enjoy using a smartphone in bed to read websites, e-mail or watch videos, but the iPad is too large and heavy for that. And once the novelty factor wore off, there was little reason to even turn it on and use over my laptop or desktop PC.

Honestly, I only found two useful purposes for the iPad. 1) Reading a scanned copy of a magazine in PDF format that I found online. 2) Using as a toy for my cat (she likes fish pond app!).

Of course I quickly discovered I can save $500 by reading a actual physical paper magazine and a piece of string for the cat. :)