[+] Star Trek Discovery (Fan) Thread

[Umbran]

I really hope they don't play yo-yo with Burnham anymore. She's been given the chair, she needs to keep the chair.

I don't see much to suggest she's ready for it. Yes, she's effective... on her own. But she's not shown the self-discipline to allow others to do what must be done, rather than doing it herself.

However, your idea of Burnham heading up some sort of special forces team . . . .
But then again, that's basically Section 31's role, in dark way

I actually phrased it as "Special Solutions" for a reason. There's nothing saying that their action has to be unethical - merely that it is unorthodox and often high risk.

Of course, Star Trek has a history of its captains defying the authority of the admirals, so

Yeah. And... that's a bit of a problem.

The show constantly paints the Federation on the whole as ineffective and incompetent, and often bordering upon being unethical and easy to manipulate to evil ends.

As if that could somehow last nearly a millennium, even surviving galaxy-wide natural disaster?

Just once, I'd have like to see Kirk set out following his gut, and being completely and utterly wrong, and have Spock walk in at the end of the episode, saving the day by following well-considered regulation and well-considered logic, telling him, "Captain, surely you understand that your 'gut' as you call it, is a vestige of a primitive age in which your people needed to make very simple but important decisions quickly. Your predicament here arose because today, problems are rarely simple, and require far more understanding of context and details to work through. The regulations you decided to ignore are a framework of the learning of past Starfleet Captains to give you support to do that. In ignoring that past, you doomed yourself to repeat it." Or something similar.

Having typed all that, I can actually see that as the meat of next season - Burnham learning that being a maverick all the time is a problem, not a solution.

 

[Hussar]

I doubt American audiences would buy the notion that authority is actually effective and capable anymore. The "go with your gut" approach to SF is a long historied trope where guts and moxie beat knowledge and intelligence nearly every time.

I seriously doubt that that is going to change anytime soon.

 

[Truth Seeker]

I doubt American audiences would buy the notion that authority is actually effective and capable anymore. The "go with your gut" approach to SF is a long historied trope where guts and moxie beat knowledge and intelligence nearly every time.

I seriously doubt that that is going to change anytime soon.

As long it is in Secret Hideout hands.... it will not.

 

[Umbran]

The "go with your gut" approach to SF is a long historied trope where guts and moxie beat knowledge and intelligence nearly every time.

I am well aware. Persistence of this narrative is, however, a bit of a problem at this point. "My gut tells me so, and I trust it more than experts," is in large part behind our current pandemic issues, for example.

Not that I am a proponent of following leaders blindly either. But the balance is rather out of whack, here, and I find it irks me.

Having Vance stick on principle when negotiating with Osyraa is honestly a good thing in that regard. It is possible for a leader to have solid principles they stick to.

 

[Hussar]

As long it is in Secret Hideout hands.... it will not.

Come on now. This goes way beyond just one company. This is how we see virtually every SF show go.

@Umbran- Yeah, that was a fantastic scene. Very strong.

 

[Erekose]

To be fair, Kirk disobeyed orders a LOT and still managed to keep the seat. So did Archer. And, well, frankly, every bloody captain. It's a wonder Star Fleet admirals don't all die of cerebral hemorrhages from all the stress.

I would add though, that the Trek tradition seems to be holding strong - weak(ish) first season, second season is better and hit their stride by third season. If it holds up, I have very high hopes for the next two or three seasons before the show kerlunks to it's inevitable ending.

I think this a common misconception that to be honest I was also guilty of. In TOS films Kirk is portrayed as defying orders (for a good reason of course) but when I rewatched TOS tv series it’s much more often that Kirk is following Star Fleet orders and the Prime Directive - even if sometimes he follows the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law (but again that flexibility is all part of the responsibilities of a Star Fleet captain).

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I think this a common misconception that to be honest I was also guilty of. In TOS films Kirk is portrayed as defying orders (for a good reason of course) but when I rewatched TOS tv series it’s much more often that Kirk is following Star Fleet orders and the Prime Directive - even if sometimes he follows the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law (but again that flexibility is all part of the responsibilities of a Star Fleet captain).

Not just his responsibilities, but also because contact with Starfleet isn't instantenous. IIRC, In Balance of Terror, it took days or weeks for Starfleet to send a reply back, and he had to make decisions now and then. He had the authority to make such decisions because he was so far way.
His "defying-order" attitude also plays a lot more into the "age" component of the TOS movies. A significant part of his career he was the only one that could make the decisions in the first place, and he doesn't so easily adapt to other people making the decisions for him. But there is also an experience thing on his positive side - he isn't just some hotshot that thinks he knows what's best - he is an experienced Captain that had to rely on his own judgement and that of his officers to make hard decisions.