Menu
OH BOY
I've since done a comprehensive look at the first season of Discovery as a whole. You can find it here.
First, a word on the show itself.
Star Trek Discovery has me in 2 minds about it. There are things I really love about it and there are things I absolutely hate. The updated Starfleet aesthetic is nice. Similarly I like a lot of the Starfleet characters so far. But the story needed a lot of leaps in logic to function, which is a fairly bad sign for the story, moving forward. And then of course there are... the Klingons... but more on that in a while.
Let me just say this. I think the show is, so far, alright. I'm in the position of having it available through Netflix at not extra expense, so I'm quite happy to watch episodes as they're made available. Were I in the situation that American fans are in, I would wait until more episodes have been released before considering committing to a new subscription service.
At any rate, the show is okay and I'm going to watch it to see where it goes. But that's just me. You know, I probably wouldn't be so critical of it if the show weren't Star Trek. A new IP starting out this way would probably do quite well.
Let me just say this. I think the show is, so far, alright. I'm in the position of having it available through Netflix at not extra expense, so I'm quite happy to watch episodes as they're made available. Were I in the situation that American fans are in, I would wait until more episodes have been released before considering committing to a new subscription service.
At any rate, the show is okay and I'm going to watch it to see where it goes. But that's just me. You know, I probably wouldn't be so critical of it if the show weren't Star Trek. A new IP starting out this way would probably do quite well.
On to the Klingons
On the main Klingon culture page, I express approval for the idea of the Klingons having more than one culture. However that came with the caveat of it being done well. I don't think it has been done well here. I'll get into my reasons further on. First, lets split the problems into 3 major subgroups:
1: Canon-breakers
Canon is, from the production teams viewpoint (and actions) the least important element in telling a story. It's also the sort of thing that really only fans get pissed off over. I get why canon takes second place to story-telling, but a lot of stuff here seems eminently correctable with some forethought. Lets go through the key examples.
-Klingon shouldn't have cloaking devices for another couple decades.
Klingon ships of the TOS era are never shown to use cloaking technology of any sort. The only people we see using cloaking technology are the Romulans. Supposedly the Romulans traded the cloaking device for a fleet of Klingon D7s. The first seen use of a Klingon cloaking device was in "The Search for Spock." Interestingly, an early version of the script had the Klingon bid of prey, now synonymous with TNG era Klingons, was intended to be a stolen Romulan ship. However that detail never made it in so, canonically the B'rel is Klingon.
-Solution
I think the solution here is fairly simple. Just don't use a cloaking device. The first 2 episodes are set right at the edge of a dense ring of stellar debris around a coalescing binary system. If you want to have the Klingons hide and get a dramatic reveal, all you have to do is have the Klingon ship hide in the asteroid field and burst out when the script demands it.
-Klingons have never been shown to be religious(SIC)
The Klingons absolutely have a faith. One that revolves around dying honourably in battle so you can get into Sto-Vo-Kor. It's basically Valhalla. However there is no structured religion around this faith. The Klingons don't bury or care about the body once the warrior is dead. "It is just a shell now" is a term used in the show to describe a Klingon corpse by a Klingon. They also talk about killing their gods, likely a metaphor for some event earlier in their existence. T'Kuvma's cult displays a number of behaviours simply not seen in Klingons normally.
-Solution
Again, I think the fix here is pretty obvious. As stated earlier, I'm all for multiple Klingon cultures. So having the High council all just accept this random prophecy is a misstep. Having them ridicule T'Kuvma's beliefs and at odds with his faith would be much more in line with the Klingons we know. Maybe T'Kuvma's death ends up really being the only thing uniting the Klingons against Starfleet. That would give a great deal of depth to Burhnam's actions.
-I guess they all look like Orks now.
No more ridge-less Klingons, no more TNG/film Klingons. Now they look like over sculpted monsters of the week.
-solution
don't make them look like shit.
-But really
They could have avoided pissing off a lot of people by making most of the High council a mix of older designs with 2 or 3 of this new design. I'm guessing the majority of these Klingons won't be seen again, seeing as they didn't speak, so having them in the background would have been a simple task.
-Klingon shouldn't have cloaking devices for another couple decades.
Klingon ships of the TOS era are never shown to use cloaking technology of any sort. The only people we see using cloaking technology are the Romulans. Supposedly the Romulans traded the cloaking device for a fleet of Klingon D7s. The first seen use of a Klingon cloaking device was in "The Search for Spock." Interestingly, an early version of the script had the Klingon bid of prey, now synonymous with TNG era Klingons, was intended to be a stolen Romulan ship. However that detail never made it in so, canonically the B'rel is Klingon.
-Solution
I think the solution here is fairly simple. Just don't use a cloaking device. The first 2 episodes are set right at the edge of a dense ring of stellar debris around a coalescing binary system. If you want to have the Klingons hide and get a dramatic reveal, all you have to do is have the Klingon ship hide in the asteroid field and burst out when the script demands it.
-Klingons have never been shown to be religious(SIC)
The Klingons absolutely have a faith. One that revolves around dying honourably in battle so you can get into Sto-Vo-Kor. It's basically Valhalla. However there is no structured religion around this faith. The Klingons don't bury or care about the body once the warrior is dead. "It is just a shell now" is a term used in the show to describe a Klingon corpse by a Klingon. They also talk about killing their gods, likely a metaphor for some event earlier in their existence. T'Kuvma's cult displays a number of behaviours simply not seen in Klingons normally.
-Solution
Again, I think the fix here is pretty obvious. As stated earlier, I'm all for multiple Klingon cultures. So having the High council all just accept this random prophecy is a misstep. Having them ridicule T'Kuvma's beliefs and at odds with his faith would be much more in line with the Klingons we know. Maybe T'Kuvma's death ends up really being the only thing uniting the Klingons against Starfleet. That would give a great deal of depth to Burhnam's actions.
-I guess they all look like Orks now.
No more ridge-less Klingons, no more TNG/film Klingons. Now they look like over sculpted monsters of the week.
-solution
don't make them look like shit.
-But really
They could have avoided pissing off a lot of people by making most of the High council a mix of older designs with 2 or 3 of this new design. I'm guessing the majority of these Klingons won't be seen again, seeing as they didn't speak, so having them in the background would have been a simple task.
2: Poor Writing
A much bigger issue for the success of the show. The Klingons are 1 dimensional. Worse so even than the most generic depictions of them in the past. They've been transformed into vindictive monsters in big scary ships. The Klingons have been many things over the years. In TOS they were smug and superior, fighting Sarfleet because they thought they could win, In TNG/DS9 they were a culture fixated (hypocritically) with honour and personal glory. They were always violent and vicious, but never wantonly cruel.
Hell, in TNG the high council would have turned on T'kuvma for destroying the Europa after agreeing to a ceasefire. They might even have turned on him for agreeing to a ceasefire in the first place. The Klingon code of honour is all about appearances. So long as everyone thinks you're honourable, you are honourable. But when the entire leadership of the Empire have just seen you break your word, you can be sure that they're about to dishonour you.
I don't see a reason for the antagonists to even be Klingon. if they wanted a monstrous enemy, they could have just created one. One with absolutely no expectations going into it. Instead they restyled one of the most identifiable races and cultures in Star Trek into space terrorists with no trace of their strong central code of ethics.
Hell, in TNG the high council would have turned on T'kuvma for destroying the Europa after agreeing to a ceasefire. They might even have turned on him for agreeing to a ceasefire in the first place. The Klingon code of honour is all about appearances. So long as everyone thinks you're honourable, you are honourable. But when the entire leadership of the Empire have just seen you break your word, you can be sure that they're about to dishonour you.
I don't see a reason for the antagonists to even be Klingon. if they wanted a monstrous enemy, they could have just created one. One with absolutely no expectations going into it. Instead they restyled one of the most identifiable races and cultures in Star Trek into space terrorists with no trace of their strong central code of ethics.
3 Their whole aesthetic
I find nothing appealing in the new Klingon aesthetic. It suffers from what I call the Square-Enix effect. They've taken a simple identifiable design and cluttered it up. The idea being to make it look intricate and complex. However instead it makes everything look messy and lazy. The Klingon ships look mottled and indistinct. Their weapons look over elaborate and their armour looks like Ork armour.
Another way of putting it is that they're unsubtle. In the past, Klingon ships have been menacing because of their actions. Much like the Romulans, a Klingon ship didn't have to look scary to elicit fear. The audience knew to fear them because of the way the cast responded to their presence. Spikes and big dark evil looking ships just aren't very Trek, despite what some of the films would have you believe.
And a final note on the actual Klingons themselves. I'm not as adverse to change as I may seem s first, but the current set up has number of problems.
1: the actors can't emote. There is so much shit on their faces that you really can't tell if the Klingons are supposed to be constantly scowling or if the actors literally can't move their face muscles.
2:They also can't move their necks. Go ahead and look at the episodes. T'kuvma moves his body with his neck held nearly completely straight. This makes the Klingons look slow and encumbered. Ironically making the Klingons seem more like guys in plastic alien costumes than before.
3:the sound like they're talking through cotton balls.
so basically, this.
Another way of putting it is that they're unsubtle. In the past, Klingon ships have been menacing because of their actions. Much like the Romulans, a Klingon ship didn't have to look scary to elicit fear. The audience knew to fear them because of the way the cast responded to their presence. Spikes and big dark evil looking ships just aren't very Trek, despite what some of the films would have you believe.
And a final note on the actual Klingons themselves. I'm not as adverse to change as I may seem s first, but the current set up has number of problems.
1: the actors can't emote. There is so much shit on their faces that you really can't tell if the Klingons are supposed to be constantly scowling or if the actors literally can't move their face muscles.
2:They also can't move their necks. Go ahead and look at the episodes. T'kuvma moves his body with his neck held nearly completely straight. This makes the Klingons look slow and encumbered. Ironically making the Klingons seem more like guys in plastic alien costumes than before.
3:the sound like they're talking through cotton balls.
so basically, this.
That being said...
I am, of course, holding the writers to a somewhat unreasonable standard. I suspect that the vast majority of people won't care about anything I've said here. So why should the writers. These Klingons might be radically at odds with previous iterations, but if people end up liking them then odds are pretty good that this is what the Klingons will be from here on out.
Furthermore, they seem to have refined the Klingon makeup as of episode 4. It's still... well... in-ideal, shall we say. However the characters have better movement capability and can actually emote, somewhat. So it's certainly an improvement over the pilot episodes.
Furthermore, they seem to have refined the Klingon makeup as of episode 4. It's still... well... in-ideal, shall we say. However the characters have better movement capability and can actually emote, somewhat. So it's certainly an improvement over the pilot episodes.