Star Trek: Discovery’s debut in 2017 was the iconic sci-fi franchise’s return to TV screens for the first time sinceStar Trek: Enterprise’s divisive finalein 2005, and while the first show of the modern era was very different for various reasons, one factor separatedDiscoveryfrom its predecessors in a way that was especially notable.
Discoverywasn’t the firstStar Trekproject since 2005, as JJ Abrams' Kelvin Timeline movies had kept the saga alive during that period. However, whileall theStar TrekTV showsare set within the same continuity, Abrams' trilogy was unfolding in a different corner of the multiverse. So,Discoverywas, in many ways, a return to business as usual.
Set at a point in theStar TrektimelinebeforeThe Original Series,Discoveryintroduced an entirely new set of charactersas the TV branch of the franchise entered the modern era. It was also the firstStar Trekshow to be shot in HD, and the first to be entirely serialized afterStar Trek: Deep Space Nine's hybrid approach.
Still, there was another way thatStar Trek: Discoveryset itself apart from the classic shows and made the adventures of Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and company incredibly different. While it was an interesting approach, it led to many established Trekkies criticizingStar Trek: Discovery.
Giving Star Trek: Discovery A Main Character Made The Show Very Different From Its Predecessors
While all the classicStar Trekshows revolved around the concept of an ensemble cast,Star Trek: Discoverywas unquestionably led by Sonequa Martin-Green.Every season ofStar Trek: Discoveryessentially combined to tell the downfall and redemption story of Michael Burnham, with other characters and storylines not receiving nearly as much attention.
For example,Star Trek: The Next Generation’s castdidn’t have a traditional main character. This was by design, so that every member of the senior crew received roughly the same amount of narrative focus. While Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) certainly had his fair share of episodes dedicated to him, so didTNG’s other main characters.
All the other classicStar Trekshows that came beforeDiscoveryalso followed this ensemble cast formula, and followed an episodic format that allowed for a different story each week that also had an embedded, overarching storyline.Discoveryshelved this approach and told a heavily serialized tale about Martin-Green’s character instead.
In addition,Star Trek: Discoveryhad a much grittier atmosphere than the classic shows. While its predecessors often doubled down on the borderline-utopian setting of humanity’s future,Discoveryfocused on darker themes and wasn’t imbued with anywhere near the same level of hope and optimism. This caused many established Trekkies to judge the show more harshly.
Star Trek: Discovery Failed At Sporadic Attempts To Create A Coherent Ensemble Cast
ClassicStar Trekshows each had several main characters who could step into the spotlight at any moment.Star Trek: Discoverydid have other prominent characters other than Burnham, but none of them reached anywhere near her level of importance in the story. Plus, the attempts at bringing other characters into the limelight inDiscoverywere rarely successful.
Crew members like Saru (Doug Jones) and Stamets (Anthony Rapp) felt very much like important characters, and did receive some great storylines that were almost independent of Michael’s. Unfortunately,Star Trek: Discoverytried and failed to make other members of the ship’s crew central to the plot, and they rarely ever felt like anything but outsiders.
Examples include Lt. Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon), Lt. Detmer (Emily Coutts), and Commander Nahn (Rachael Ancheril), who often felt shoehorned into more important storylines but were otherwise not present on a consistent enough basis to care all that much about.
Star Trek: Discoveryhad set itself up so one-dimensionally to be about Michael Burnhamthat it struggled to separate itself from that initial approach. There were limited bursts of success in doing so, but I don’t think it was ever the intention for the show to revert to a more traditional ensemble cast.
Another “Main Character” Star Trek Show Did Far Better Than Discovery In 2020
SinceStar Trek:Discovery, the franchise has largely avoided repeating the same format of basing a show around a single character. However, it hasn’t avoided it completely. Patrick Stewart’s return to playStar Trek: Picard’s title role saw the beloved character sit right at the center of the story for all three seasons, starting in 2020.
The difference betweenStar Trek: DiscoveryandStar Trek: Picardis that the former focused on a new character who viewers weren’t immediately familiar with, whereas the latter brought back an iconic figure who Trekkies were very eager to see again. That said,Star Trek: Picardseason 3 essentially abandoned the show’s “main character” premise.
While Stewart was originally reluctant for his show to becomeStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 8, that’s pretty much what ended up happening. Although the first two seasons ofPicardwere the Patrick Stewart show, the final run saw the complete return ofTNG’s cast, which gave it another huge advantage overStar Trek: Discovery.
