‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Is the Show Fans Have Been Waiting For [Review]

Less than five minutes into “Star Trek: Discovery,” we’re pips-deep in technobabble, Klingon dialogue, and a callout to Kahless. This show isn’t afraid of going geeky and pleasing fans at the exclusion of outsiders, but it also looks as good as the big-screen blockbusters that draw opening weekend crowds in the millions. Most of those millions didn’t know Drax the Destroyer from Ronan the Accuser before flocking to “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and they may give “Star Trek: Discovery” the same benefit of the doubt if their knowledge of Gene Roddenberry‘s universe doesn’t extend past J.J. Abrams‘ big screen reboots, aka the Kelvin Timeline. But will the more casual fan care enough to pay for a subscription to CBS All Access, where the show will live exclusively after its premiere?

The CBS show is set about 10 years before the original series (in the Prime timeline), and Spock’s father Sarek (James Frain) shows up in the premiere as the adoptive father of our human protagonist, Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). She is first officer on the U.S.S. Shenzhou, serving under Captain Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh). Though the episode “The Vulcan Hello” begins with the Shenzou on a standard mission, they’re quickly pitted against the Klingons. “Battle is not a simulation,” Captain Georgiou says, as her crew faces the possibility of war. “It’s blood and screams and funerals.”

The premiere and its follow-up, “Battle at the Binary Stars,” are focused more on war than on exploration, but ‘Discovery’ still exhibits the franchise’s trademark sense of wonder at space and solid special effects that leave the audience in as much awe as the characters on screen. These two episodes also stay true to progressive politics and diverse crews of “Star Trek.” ‘Discovery’ continues the previous series’ commentary on our contemporary Earth, with the Klingons’ desire for unity and cultural purity sounding far too familiar to anyone who has watched the news lately. We still haven’t met most of the show’s cast, but even the glimpse we get here puts the show in line with its predecessors, with even more to come.

Though it’s exciting in itself to see an expensive sci-fi show led by a black woman, show creators Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman and showrunners Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts haven’t given Burnham that characterization of her identity and stopped there. Raised by Vulcans, she’s a fascinating blend of logic, precision and risk-taking. There’s plenty of action in these early episodes, but Martin-Green is just as adept with fight scenes as she is with the moments of big – and little – emotions. *minor spoiler ahead* She also has a moment of serious conflict with another Starfleet officer (historically a no-no in Roddenberry’s creation), which shouldn’t work this early on in the show, given these characters’ newness to the audience. But thanks to the work that the actors and writers’ room does, we buy not only the seriousness of this rift, but also the close relationship that it arises within. *end spoiler*

While “The Vulcan Hello” is a solid episode that balances nuanced character development, gorgeous special effects and some laugh-out-loud dialogue from Fuller and (gulp) Akiva Goldsman, “Battle at the Binary Stars” seems unsure of how to fill its time outside of the titular fight. There’s a filler scene or two, and it ends so abruptly at 40 minutes that I wondered if there was an issue with the app (nope). The cliffhanger is likely engineered to hook audiences who used CBS All Access’s free trial to watch the first two episodes and keep them coming back for more. The show couples pure “Star Trek” spirit and references that will make fans grin, but it has enough action and compelling characters to draw in people who don’t know the difference between the Kelvin and Prime timelines. However, the question remains if there are enough of them to sustain such a costly show on a standalone platform. [B]