Hello and welcome to Truth OR Myth, a Star Trek Web Series that looks at the Truth, or canon, information to dispel any myths that have surfaced on any given topic. In today’s episode, we’re taking a look at Season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery and whether or not I feel it was good or bad, and why.
With Season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery holding fandom’s hopes for the future of the Star Trek Franchise, many of us didn’t know what to expect. And now that the finale of the season has aired, we all have a chance to look back and reflect on the Season and the Series as a whole, but the question for many of now is, was it any good? Well today, I give MY verdict on that inflammatory question…
Because this video is about Season 3 of Discovery, I’m warning all now, that there will be spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the season or finale episode yet, then now is the time to plug your ears and hum that lullaby you learned after the burn…
Also please note, Discovery Season 3 has not yet been released on BluRay, so all scenes in this video from that season are screen recorded, and as a result, this video may not have the usual production values you all expect from this channel…
This is a video about MY opinions on the Season, and mine alone. And so just a warning, if you come on to this channel guns blazing and/ or toxic, you will automatically be put into an escape bubble and exploded out the nearest airlock. Be respectful of this channel and more importantly of each other, and let us have an adult conversation about the show whether you like the series or you don’t… Anyhow, now, with all that out of the way, let’s begin…
It’s January 7th, 2021 at 11 am when I write this. I have just watched the Season Finale of Star Trek: Discovery and I’ve decided to write this now, as opposed to usual few months I take to really get my thoughts in order, in fact, this actually isn’t supposed to be the first Episode of this Channels Season, but I’m quickly writing and editing it together to make it so… So to Speak…
Like most of fandom, on October 15th, 2020, I held my breath to see what exactly would happen with this new season, and I wasn’t disappointed. Star Trek: Discovery started off with a bang, and I immediately found myself invested in the season and the 32nd Century as a whole. I wanted to know more about the state of the Galaxy and about Discovery itself.
Introducing the idea of the Burn, an event that devastated the Galaxy was a lot of fun, getting my imagination juices flowing. I found myself dreaming up scenarios, reviewing each episode looking for little Easter Eggs that could expand my knowledge of this far distant time frame Star Trek was now in. As the season progressed, I found myself falling in love with the characters of the show. If nothing else, Season 3 allowed us to get to know them much better then either of the previous 2 seasons had, and this was certainly a plus in the was it a good column for the show.
Watching Saru assume command, was certainly a highlight, but not just because Doug Jones is an amazing actor, but because the character of Saru was forced to change and grow to adapt to the new circumstances of the show. We saw hints in Season 2 that Saru would be a good Captain, but given that this would be an unknown situation in the far-flung future, the idea of whether or not he could cope and be the Captain the show needed was still a burning question in my, and many others minds. This season did not disappoint in those regards.
By episode 3, “People of Earth“, some of my question about the galaxy’s State began to be answered. Like so many other people, I was saddened to find out that Earth had Left the Federation, but the episode was done so well, that I didn’t mind it or disbelieve it and, of course, I was left with a sense of hope, that one day, Earth would rejoin and take it’s rightful place back in the Federation.
Episode 7, “Unification Part 3“, also left me with such hope. To finally know that the Romulans re-unified with their Vulcan Cousins was great. It added to the sense that the Galaxy was a big, realistic, place that was ever-growing and changing, while simultaneously giving the audience a sense of “this isn’t the 23rd or 24th Century anymore, and the thing about that episode that impressed me the most, was basically a throwaway line where we were told that it was Vulcan’s that wanted to secede from the Federation, while the Romulans wanted to remain, showing us that finally, at some point in the past, the Romulans and the federation were truly friends.
Most of the 1st half of the season was filled with these little nuggets of hope that made me stop and think like so many other Trek episodes of previous series had.
One thing that Discovery has been really good at, at least in the 1st half of the season, was being unexpected, Discovery threw things at the audience that left us saying, what? Did that just happen? And I hope they continue to do so in the future. That being said however, it’s always a bit infuriating when a show is so unpredictable, that of course though is part of the fun… Ill give you and example.
At the end of episode 4, “Forget Me Not“, There’s a scene between Burnham and Adira where Adira gives Michael the coordinates to Starfleet HQ… Michael then reacts surprised and starts to say, “These Coordinates,” as though the coordinates were a great surprise, immediately my mind went into Imagination Overdrive, thinking about the implications of that line.
Thinking about all the references to Bajor over the season to that point, I thought, OK, they’re heading to Bajor. In my mind, I had set up a scenario where Prophet Captain Sisko had saved the Bajoran People from the Burn. Sending prophecies that would see Bajor escape it unscathed and to wait for the time when the Federation needed a safe harbour, offering them sanctuary, til the one (Burnham or the Discovery) came to set the Galaxy Right.
Avery Brooks has, of course, retired from acting, and most likely will never return to Star Trek, but this idea could have been set up without having to include him at all, rather having the Kai of Bajor, at that time, simply explain the prophecies and how it allowed Bajor to survive in wait, of course, this was brilliant in my mind, the foreshadowing, the tie backs, I was sure, THIS was the course that Discovery was on, but of course, it simply wasn’t and although I liked my idea, I also liked the fact I couldn’t predict what was happening, hence my comment about how infuriating it can sometimes be but in a good way.
Episodes 9 and 10, “Terra Firma Part 1 and 2” respectively, would see the return of the Guardian of Forever, a great call back to Star Trek: The Original Series. But of course, this was an event that most people saw coming from a mile away when the episode showed Carl and the Newspaper. But Never the Less, it was a great 2 parter, with a great story and more importantly set up a future Star Trek series with ease.
One of the biggest, and obviously constant threads through out the season, was in regards to the Burn. A Galactic changing event that had happened over a century before, basically the undoing of most of the Federation. From the beginning, I was captured by the mystery and had no clue where they were going with it. I thought for sure it was the focus of the season, of course, though I was wrong.
By the second half of the Season, the Burn was feeling more like an afterthought, rather than a focus, the true focus of the season being the Discovery family, a focus that truly crept up on me again, unexpectedly. I never really entirely bought the Burns cause, to be honest. But really, in the end, it didn’t matter.
By the finale, I found myself truly invested in the secondary characters of Discovery, the crew. I wanted them to survive the take over by Osyraa unscathed, and wanted them to live.
Watching the finale I was worried, would some or all die, would Discovery be destroyed? And I think that’s a triumph of the season, by the end of it, I didn’t know what would happen and I was scared. It was a nail-biting finale, and although not as Great as The Next Generation Season 3 finale “Best Of Both Worlds”, it did bring back those unsure of what’s to happen feelings, it also played the emotional cards really well, finding myself on the verge of tears multiple times in the episode.
It also left several questions to be answered in season 4, is Doug Jones leaving Star Trek: Discovery permanently? What’s up with Captain Burnham? What kind of Captain will she end up being? Should she even BE the Captain, but more importantly, what will Season 4 be about?
To me, it seems, and again, I’m just guessing, and will probably be wrong about it, that Season 4 will be the rebuilding of the Federation, and we’ll probably get a year or so further time jump in the Discovery storyline to put us smack bad in the centre of that happening.
There will also probably be a central villain, someone from a Past Trek, that doesn’t want a new Federation to exist.
All of this will also afford Discovery to answer many of the world-building questions that have stuck in fandoms minds. Questions such as, What about Bajor, Cardassia and the Wormhole. What’s the status of the Dominion. What about the Borg? What ended up happening to them in the past? Will that type of story thread be tied into Star Trek: Picard through Discovery.
What about the Kazon and in fact all the races we saw in Voyager. After all the Voyager J, still of a future intrepid Class, was a big part of the seasons Easter eggs along with Kazon references.
What happened to the Klingon Empire, or the Breen, or the Tholians? What about that Omega particle reference about the Gorn, there are many fascinating questions to be answered by the series.
Id be remise if i didn’t discuss what I didn’t like about Season 3.
First, like my complaint about Star Trek: Picard Season 1, I had an issue with starship beauty shots.
A huge part of Star Trek has always been the starships. We YouTubers go on ad nauseam about them because we hungry for them. They are just as important as any character in Star Trek itself. But unfortunately, I feel Discovery has also failed in these regards, though they have gotten better at it.
Sure we see and know all of the U.S.S. Discovery itself, but basically, that’s all.
Remember in Episode 5, “Die Trying”? When they made a big Easter Egg and call back to Star Trek: Voyager with the Voyager J? Well I was disappointed…
Why? because I wanted to see it, but all we got was basically a registry number for a few seconds. It just wasn’t good enough for me.
Of course, through out the season, we got more starship views, but always quickly and at a distance. I’m hoping, probably beyond hope, that if anyone from the production team of Discovery watches this video that they consider what I’m saying here, that Star Trek: Discovery, in fact, all Trek Series going forward should have far better beauty shots of other ships then what we’ve gotten so far.
Let fandom see and fall in love with the new designs, for us all to continue to debate and discuss them long after the series has ended. give them the loving they deserve AS a Star Trek Starship.
The other thing that I wasn’t a fan of, that I’ve never been a fan of, is the turbolift system, I mean whats going on there? Star Trek Canon has shown us many a turbo life which basically is just an elevator. We’ve seen people in and climbing the turbolift shaft, so why suddenly change it to this massive and expansive system… it truly makes no sense what so ever to me.
Now everyone knows I’m big on canon, but I’ve always believed that canon is more about the events rather than the aesthetics. So updating the Enterprises Look and Interiors for example I’m ok with, but for some reason, the turbolift complex really bothers me. It reminds me of Star Trek: Nemesis when at the bottom of the Enterprise itself, Riker kicks Shinzon’s Viceroy into a seemingly bottomless pit, I didn’t accept that then, and I certainly don’t like that now. Of course, though, this is just a minor complaint, something more personal to me, rather then something I believe the showrunners need to change. To me, it just seemed a really weird idea, and still does.
So now we come to the part of this episode where I decide if the Season was good or not, and I’m sure it will come as no surprise, that i do think it was good.
Propelling Discovery into the far future was a great idea, it allowed universe expanding concepts to be realized, without having canon in the way preventing a story from being told, it also allows fandom to witness the re-forming of the Federation, something that Star Trek: Enterprise has often been criticized for not really doing to the fans satisfaction, after being cancelled, while at the same time not making another series that’s a prequel limiting what they can do.
The sense of hope and family brought forward in Season 3 was also great, allowing us to fall in love with characters we only had an “Aye Aye,” from in Prior Seasons. And this is something I hope continues on in the series.
I think Discovery has finally gotten its wings, I think they’re heading in a new uncharted territory that will allow Star Trek to continue on for the foreseeable future, boldly going where dreamers, such as you and I good “Tri-Naries,” have never gone before…
Thank you for watching today’s episode of Truth or Myth, what did you think of Season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery? What would you have changed or done differently? Well leave your comments in the section below and don’t forget to like the video and subscribe to the channel, hitting that little bell icon so you wont miss a single video we release.
What to help the channel Rebuild the Federation? Then just click HERE to become a channel Patron…
Watch The Latest Truth Or Myth Below
Thanks again for watching, Live long and prosper…
