As I said somewhere else in this comment tree, Strange New Worlds was my first series.

I’ve now finished Discovery season 2, and holy moly they ruined that in a hurry. The writing quality difference between seasons 1 and 2 gave me whiplash, the middle of the season it got a bit better and then the ending did a game of thrones and retroactively made the rest of the season even worse.

So yeah, loved season 1 mainly because it was like a whole new series every 3 episodes, hated season 2 because it was 3 bad movies stretched across 14 episodes

I just finished season 1 of Discovery and thought it was essentially flawless, though there was very little social commentary outside of Taran space nazis

Though it did deal with sexual assault and PTSD well, and other personal issues.

Season 1 of discovery was insane from start to finish, it was like when Game of Thrones was still good

It has to be blatant because people miss the point regularly.

I hadn’t thought about that, it makes me think then about whether the stories could remain as blatant but have more depth. For example the court episode didn’t have any story beyond ‘Society (and Admiral April) is hypocritical and and racist’ by demonstrating it through one person’s story, and at the end of the story nothing has changed. I’m watching Discovery now and it’s going for a similarly blatant racial and cultural purity is evil antagonist so far, but it feels like it’s setting it up to be the antagonists’ folly, which would be more of an interesting story.

You don’t have criticisms for things you like? I like the show, this and the writing are really the only weaknesses it has in my view. Everything else in the list I gave about it is absolutely 10/10

Correct. How do you propose I live in the modern world without a phone that uses cobalt?

There is a phrase that describes this situation: “There is no ethical consumption under capitalism”

There is nothing I can do while living in the modern world without benefitting from exploitation or encouraging evil, that’s the point of the The Good Place quote I included.

I’m already depressed about it, I don’t really want to be berated for it when there’s nothing I can do about it. I already buy all my clothes second hand, fight my phone and laptop for basic privacy rights, vote for the least evil politician I can, I don’t own a car.

Yes I get that, I simply find it doesn’t achieve that goal and that its attempts to do so are without subtlety and overly contemporary, I’m now watching Discovery and in S01E03 or so, Captain Lorca cites Elon Musk as a great innovator.

The show is already dated and it’s only 5 years old, that’s a major downside.

I think it’s primarily the shallow depth of the prejudice confrontation that causes the problem, I don’t remember any episodes so far which didn’t feel like primary school level metaphors for racism etc. A more tactful and/or deeper writer would perhaps cause me no issues

The visuals are crazy good, though the first few episodes of season 1 had some questionable makeup

The flashbacks were very precise, highlighting the exact words that were the keys to the logic. I don’t think it was too much, personally.

This was my first Star Trek Series, I’ve now realised it’s a theme. It’s certainly my least favourite aspect of the show.

The episode about child sweatshops in particular felt very accusational to me, the message seemed to be that by existing I’m causing child suffering akin to child murder, through cobalt mines and clothing sweatshops etc.

I’m reminded of that bit in The Good Place where the judge says “There’s a chicken burger that, if you eat it, means you hate gay people. And it’s so gooood! It’s not fair!” (Referring to chik-fil-a)

It is a bit tiring watching my space escapism but it’s actually just highly contemporary societal issues, I know I shouldn’t expect it not to be, because this series has been highly contemporary from the very first episode, but it’s frustrating.

Almost everything about the show, from casting, effects, costumes, practical effects, vibe, directing, camerawork is all excellent.

The writing however is a straight 4/10. Not for the contemporary issues, though they contribute, but half the conversations in this series simply don’t make sense. Has anyone else noticed this?