To Boldly Go...
Sep. 26th, 2017 01:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
netgirl_y2kOne of the reasons to be glad my sister is visiting is that she gave me her Netflix password so that I could watch the first two episodes of the shiny new Star Trek.
I liked it, I really did. When Captain Georgiou led Commander Burnham through the desert and the camera pulled back to reveal that she'd paced out the Starfleet logo my heart, honest to god, skipped a beat. And, like, that's what I don't quite get, because those two episodes, good as they were, felt like a pilot for the Michelle Yeoh led show that we're obviously not getting. I mean, it's not like I thought that Michelle Yeoh was going to do Star Trek on CBS Access full time, and if I had then the giant SPECIAL GUEST STAR next to her name would have disabused me of that notion, but I had hoped she would be recurring. Though, I am totally unspoiled, and they did seem to lean pretty hard into Burnham being unable to bring her body back from the Klingon ship, so...
I'm not totally sold on Burnham as the lead. I loved her logicking her way out of the brig, but I'm not sold on her Vulcan upbringing or her mental hotline to Sarek, and I say this as someone who has seen five episodes, maybe, of The Original Series and doesn't care at all about that part of the mythos (90s Star Trek all the way, baby!) Plus, most of her plans totally sucked; the Vulcan hello was never going to work because T'Kuvma was spoiling for a fight, and in killing T'Kuvma she created the martyr she was trying to avoid. It's one of the reasons I'm so sorry to lose Georgiou; the bit where Michael committed mutiny specifically to save Phillipa's life. A highly logical character driven to unreason by how much they love their captain; why does that sound familiar, and like the sort of dynamic fandom could have gotten behind?
That said, a lead who's been imprisoned for mutiny against the backdrop of the Federation - Klingon war could be super duper interesting. I cut my teeth on Deep Space Nine, so I actually really like war in my Star Trek.
I really liked the aesthetics of it. It was like the AOS movies without the borderline offensive uniforms for the female crew members. Did you see that they were wearing flat shoes? I bet those uniforms have pockets too! And it was a tiny thing, but I really enjoyed the way the Shenzhou and the Klingon ship were hanging in space sort of askew from one another.
I think it's hard to tell from these two episodes what the rest of the season's going to be like, because so much of Star Trek is about the ensemble, and aside from Burnham and Saru we haven't met any of them yet. Looking at imdb I am a little concerned that they're going to do that thing where they surround their female lead with dudes, because let's not go too crazy, chaps. Sigh. But I'm reserving judgement.
Maybe I'll love what the show chooses to be, and maybe I will forever pine for the Michelle Yeoh version.
I liked it, I really did. When Captain Georgiou led Commander Burnham through the desert and the camera pulled back to reveal that she'd paced out the Starfleet logo my heart, honest to god, skipped a beat. And, like, that's what I don't quite get, because those two episodes, good as they were, felt like a pilot for the Michelle Yeoh led show that we're obviously not getting. I mean, it's not like I thought that Michelle Yeoh was going to do Star Trek on CBS Access full time, and if I had then the giant SPECIAL GUEST STAR next to her name would have disabused me of that notion, but I had hoped she would be recurring. Though, I am totally unspoiled, and they did seem to lean pretty hard into Burnham being unable to bring her body back from the Klingon ship, so...
I'm not totally sold on Burnham as the lead. I loved her logicking her way out of the brig, but I'm not sold on her Vulcan upbringing or her mental hotline to Sarek, and I say this as someone who has seen five episodes, maybe, of The Original Series and doesn't care at all about that part of the mythos (90s Star Trek all the way, baby!) Plus, most of her plans totally sucked; the Vulcan hello was never going to work because T'Kuvma was spoiling for a fight, and in killing T'Kuvma she created the martyr she was trying to avoid. It's one of the reasons I'm so sorry to lose Georgiou; the bit where Michael committed mutiny specifically to save Phillipa's life. A highly logical character driven to unreason by how much they love their captain; why does that sound familiar, and like the sort of dynamic fandom could have gotten behind?
That said, a lead who's been imprisoned for mutiny against the backdrop of the Federation - Klingon war could be super duper interesting. I cut my teeth on Deep Space Nine, so I actually really like war in my Star Trek.
I really liked the aesthetics of it. It was like the AOS movies without the borderline offensive uniforms for the female crew members. Did you see that they were wearing flat shoes? I bet those uniforms have pockets too! And it was a tiny thing, but I really enjoyed the way the Shenzhou and the Klingon ship were hanging in space sort of askew from one another.
I think it's hard to tell from these two episodes what the rest of the season's going to be like, because so much of Star Trek is about the ensemble, and aside from Burnham and Saru we haven't met any of them yet. Looking at imdb I am a little concerned that they're going to do that thing where they surround their female lead with dudes, because let's not go too crazy, chaps. Sigh. But I'm reserving judgement.
Maybe I'll love what the show chooses to be, and maybe I will forever pine for the Michelle Yeoh version.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-26 11:54 am (UTC)I liked the aesthetics, too! And the flat-heeled boots and fab uniforms, oh my gosh (though I missed the seatbelts they finally, sensibly introduced in the new films). And I was happy with the special effects and comparative lack of glitz; it felt more appropriate to TV, somehow, and felt like Star Trek to me where I hadn't necessarily expected it to manage. I'm also glad you confess to being moved by the commbadge-in-the-sand thing because I legit teared up when that happened and was like, 'Oh yes, here it is, the Star Trek heart-soar.' Aaaaah.
I too am unspoiled, but I suspect there will be a lot of flashbacks in our future, which will hopefully iron out the somewhat questionable Vulcan-Sarek-logic backstory that left me scratching my head a bit. It's got potential, I think, but it felt a bit forced in those episodes, like they were trying too hard to cram too much story in. I shall certainly keep watching, though, with interest!
no subject
Date: 2017-09-26 05:02 pm (UTC)I guess we know now why there weren't any screeners given to critics, they didn't want Yeoh's character's death to leak. I mean, it's good that they weren't keeping it under wraps because they thought it was rubbish. But still.
Yeah, I totally agree that it felt more Star Trek-y to me than I was necessarily expecting it to. I think that's one of the reasons I was so sorry to lose Yeoh; Georgiou felt like the most Star Trek part of the show.
I am only sorry these episodes aired after the start of femslashex, because I would so have requested and offered Georgiou/Burnham. I do hope there will still be fic though, after all we've got seven whole years to play in. Though I am trying pretty hard not to think about how much fic there would have been if they'd been two white guys versus what we'll probably get.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-29 10:28 pm (UTC)I was slashing them so hard, and I mean the LOVE was palpable. And then Michelle Yeoh dies and Sonequa Martin-Green gets stripped of her post and sent to jail. Oh, look, we've put a black person in jail.
Also, I kinda had this feeling like, yes, this is amazing, two women running the show, we've never had this dynamic before with a female captain and a female Nr. 1, and then, oh, shit, the women go and fuck it up royally. (Why? because women can't run shit?) And guess what, this is a setup for another show not about two women running a ship!
I am with you in wanting the Michelle Yeoh version. Maybe someone whose initials are Netgirl-y2k should write it.
Also hello there, darling, been a long time! ♥
no subject
Date: 2017-09-29 10:44 pm (UTC)Hey! Hey, my friend is back! How are you?
no subject
Date: 2017-09-30 10:23 pm (UTC)I am good! Still keeping on keeping on in Berlin. Waiting for you to come visit us again! :-)
no subject
Date: 2017-10-02 11:26 am (UTC)(I plan to be grouchy about brexit forever and ever.)