Trek fans got the news they’d been waiting for this week, as CBS All Access made it official, renewing Star Trek: Discovery for a second season. Although the show has endeared itself to Trekkers both new and old, there are still some wrinkles the series needs to smooth out by the time season two makes it to air (likely in 2019). Here’s our choices for seven things Discovery needs to do in the forthcoming season to iron out the kinks.
More Familial Feeling Among The Crew
Although all of the characters introduced in Discovery so far are compelling and interesting, the one things they lack is any sense of camaraderie with each other. Now, that may come by the end of season one, but it definitely has to come into play by the time season two rolls around. You can have conflict within the crew and still have a sense of family (see: Deep Space Nine, and much of the original series). Right now there is no familial feeling at all between this crew, and that needs to happen.
Explain The Crazy Continuity
Although the producers of Discovery keep stressing that the show is set within the “Prime” timeline, ten years before the time of Kirk and Spock on the Enterprise, so far the continuity has been all over the place. Lets list all the ways: Starfleet has technology they are not supposed to have for a hundred years (holodecks), the uniforms are totally different than what they’re supposed to be (per the classic episode “The Cage”), and the Klingons look like an entirely different species from any version we’ve seen. Either just explain this is an alternate or “mirror” universe, or just finally admit it’s a reboot. We can handle it.
Show Us More Planets
Although the production values on Discovery are amazing—better than almost any Trek series to date—it’s become something of a beautiful bottle show. We rarely leave the Discovery or the Klingon ships, and so far haven’t visited any new planets. I realize the series is set in the midst of a giant war, but in season two, the Discovery needs to make some time to actually discover things. Let’s see some boldly going to strange new worlds.
Flesh Out The Rest Of The Bridge Crew
So far, we have a cast of about 7 main characters on the show, which is pretty standard for a Star Trek series. But there are all these cool looking alien characters as the bridge crew who show up every week that we know nothing about. Who is cyborg looking woman? What’s the guy with the insect face? We need to learn about these guys more. While 7 main cast members is standard, Deep Space Nine showed introduced a ton of supporting cast members who came in an out of the show as well. Discovery should take a cue from DS9 in this regard.
Balance Serialized Storytelling With Standalone Episodes
One of the great things about Discovery is that it feels like a truly modern show, thanks to the fact that there is serialization and an over arching plot. Having said that, there is something to be said for classic “one and done” episodes of Star Trek. It’s kind of their bread and butter. Shows like Firefly and Buffy and tons of others have proven that you can have standalone episodes within a larger story, and it all still works.
Do A Spock Episode
So far, the show has named dropped the character of Spock just once, but we know he’s out there, as a science officer under Captain Christopher Pike on the original Federation Enterprise. I know every fan would love to see what his relationship with his foster sister Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is actually like. While it would be cool to see Zachary Quinto play Spock again (albeit an alternate version of the character), it isn’t needed. Someone else could play the role just as well.
Tone Down The Bleakness
We get it: Discovery is the first Star Trek series in this so-called “golden age of television” or “peak TV,” and it wants to compete with darker, edgier shows like Game of Thrones, Mr. Robot, and Westworld. And we like our Star Trek to be a little bit edgier than it has been. Still, this is Star Trek and it needs to understand that the franchise isn’t this dark, super gritty thing. By the time season two begins, we hope they start to dial down some of the bleakness a bit. The producers need to remember this is a future we are supposed to want to live in.
What improvements do you want to see on Discovery, year two? Be sue to let us know down below in the comments.
Need More Star Trek In Your Life?
- These caterpillars look just like Tribbles.
- We talked to Doug Jones about his role on the show!
- The second season of the show probably won’t arrive until 2019.
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Images: CBS
