Hier sind meine ersten Eindrücke. Nicht völlig hoffnungslos, aber bedauerlicherweise doch ziemlich ernüchternd :-/ Ohne nennenswerte Spoiler, doch leider erstmal nur auf Englisch. Falls das ein Problem ist und es wider Erwarten jemanden interessiert, kann ich die Tage was davon übersetzen und vielleicht noch ein paar Gedanken hinzufügen. Jetzt bin ich aber zu müde. Sorry wegen der Unannehmlichkeit.



Well, as a lifelong fan of the franchise, I for one was rather disappointed by the first two episodes. Much of what I had feared came true. It isn't horrible, and there are some interesting things they can and probably will do with the story. But the whole stylistic vision is so brutally annoying, at times the show was hard to watch for me. The cinematography and some of the effects were awful. Don't get me wrong, Discovery looks expensive. But visually and artistically, it mainly comes down to three factors I can't stand at all:

1. Lensflares. It is basically Lensflare Trek. They overused them so much, it approached JJ levels. Extremely irritating. Always hated that cheap gimmickry of bad filmmakers and always will. It is a constant reminder of deceit, because those columns of light don't exist in nature. It is an optical error in camera technology. I wouldn't complain if they only appeared on the show occasionally, reasonably seldom. This is hardcore and it sucks. Disrupts the immersion.

2. Lighting and color. Why is _everything_ so damn dark? Did they think it will come across more serious and gritty that way? And who would want to work on a ship /bridge that moody, only lit up by the computer controls? I guess it won't be much different on the Discovery herself. However, it's not only the ships I'm talking about. On the planet in the beginning, everything seen through a heavy filter. The preview at the end, including other planets, all the same. There wasn't a single scene in the entire pilot that didn't feel overstylized and unnatural imho. Even some parts of the Kelvin timeline movies weren't this severe, and definitely brighter.

3. Camera angles. Every second shot was skewed. Maybe they thought it would simulate being in space without up and down, but there is artificial gravity on ships, so it is bullsh*t even to just imply something like that. Dutch angles are used to convey something is wrong... mostly in horror films, thrillers, and the like. Do that too often without a real reason and it just feels stifling.

For these reasons alone I doubt I will be able to really enjoy Star Trek Discovery in the long run. However plot-wise, starting with a big battle without earning it, without really knowing any of the characters, wasn't the best idea and an approach typical for idiot Kurtzman. The first two episodes weren't much more than the battle, with some foreplay and aftermath, and a few flashbacks thrown in for good measure and for desperate character exposition. I missed what I understand as Star Trek in that, and funny enough, every pilot episode(s) of the previous shows did accomplish that much better (especially Voyager). More exploration and adventure instead of bang boom bang explosions.

The good thing is, it's a TV show and this was only the start, so theoretically there is enough time for it to improve and offer some more variety. Yet I'm concerned about the heavily serialized way of storytelling they want to go for. I'm not against that in general, but something like DS9 or the later seasons of Enterprise are a much better compromise in my opinion, because it allows for some stand-alone stuff whenever they need it, as long as it fits into the overall arc. If every episode directly follows the last one like the transition from episode 1 to 2 on Discovery, it will be much harder to sneak some single thought-provoking concept in there and make a story out of it, because everything _has_ to serve the main plot and steer it in a distinct direction. Will be interesting to see how they handle this, and if there is still enough room for a mystery episode, a more humorous episode, a horror episode, a more brainy episode etc.

One thing that didn't annoy me as much as I had thought were the Klingons. I still don't like the completely unnecessary redesign, but with them speaking Klingon and at least now and then behaving like Klingons, and the fans getting to hear some well established aspects of their culture and lore being mentioned, I guess I can live with that. A shame they even had to change the design of their ships, though.

Charakter-wise, phew. I'm grateful they haven't introduced many of the important ones yet, because Saru was the only one I really liked so far. Michael Burnham is halfway workable, but seems so overly impulsive and stupid in some ways (and the acting of Sonequa Martin-Green had some very rough spots). It's too easy to blame all that on her upbringing. There is some potential, especially with the story set-up with repercussions for what she has done. But man, they have to fix her up big time.

Overall, they deliberately did so much to make me as a fan NOT feel right at home. There are some faint Trek elements in there, but so far I just don't feel it. Seems like they took some of the worst aspects of JJ Trek, dimmed the light, did away with various iconic designs, and voilà! Sad to say that even The Orville has more in common with the franchise I love than this. For now, I will keep watching in the hope it finds a better balance. It deserves that chance already because many Trek shows started rather weak and got better over time. Anyway, I can't help but feel disillusioned. In the past few weeks and especially with recent word of good reviews, I was in fact looking forward to it, thinking maybe all the naysayers are wrong after all. Such a waste of potential. Now I hate Kurtzman even more than I did before.

I mean, remember that "Oasis" pilot from Amazon? They seemingly didn't pick that one up, which is a bad thing. But the concept and atmosphere alone, without any big pre-existing lore, just as a new sci-fi show, fascinated and convinced me immediately. Something I would want to watch. With an established franchise I already like, it is usually much easier to get me on board. In theory. Just don't change it too much, keep the basics intact, and built on the foundation that is there. They decided to do something else instead.

And don't tell me this is a "modernized" version. Sure, there were certainly some elements of previous shows that could have used an update, but Discovery is more different than it needed to be. As far as I'm concerned, lensflares, dutch angles and a lack of plain, normal lighting for example are already a clear worsening and debasement instead of an improvement of any kind. Without that disgrace, I'd probably like much of the show or would get used to the rest in no time, as long as the writing can maintain a good quality level.

But in contrast to Oasis mentioned above, just judging from these two pilot episodes: If it weren't for the chance to get a reunion with some franchise traditions and concepts I love (they mentioned the Andorians, my favorite alien species - I hope they show up at some point in an unaltered form!), if the show would not have "Star Trek" in the title, and if I wasn't so hopelessly sentimental... I doubt I would tune in ever again.