Episode Review - The Adversary (Deep Space Nine, Season 3)

For those who are new to my episode reviews, you can find the post where I establish my point criteria here

Overview – Newly promoted Captain Sisko takes his crew on a mission to determine if the Tzenkethi, a race that Sisko had fought against in a brutal war, are causing trouble again. As they take the Defiant towards Tzenkethi territory, Chief O’Brien discovers signs of sabotage, and it soon becomes apparent that it is one of the crew. When the saboteur is discovered to be a Changeling, the stakes are raised, and Sisko’s first mission as captain might be his last.

Score: 8/10 – The second season ended with the Dominion making a big entrance. The opener for Season 3 gave us the Defiant and entrenched the Dominion as being the enemy. Throughout the season the Dominion would rear their heads now and then. In an almost perfect season-ender, we see them take their actions to the next level and really give Sisko a run for his money. The pace in this episode is quite good, never giving us much down time, but not rushing things either. We might have been able to build the suspense a little better at the beginning with O’Brien hearing something in engineering, but there was enough guessing that kept us on our toes. I liked how the changeling was discovered about midway through the episode, and then it became about how paranoid the crew became. It showed just how devious they could be. The writers brought in enough characters (Ambassador Krajensky, Eddington, the Bolian security officer) to give us some false leads to follow, and at times the changeling could have been any of them. It made the episode exciting to watch. Most importantly, this episode drives home the idea that the Dominion mean business. They are not here to mess around. A very successful and effective outing to round out a really good season.

Relevance – 3 points. Sisko finally gets the long overdue promotion and becomes a captain. That is worth a point here. This episode also serves as a turning point for the Dominion storyline. While the Dominion have been a problem since the end of season 2, they were mostly just doing some basic meddling, mostly focused on gathering intelligence and trying to get Odo back. There is also the fact that when Odo accidentally kills the other changeling, he sets in motion a series of events that will culminate in the final episode of Season 4. There is also the use of blood tests to determine if someone is a changeling, and naturally the changeling finds a way around it. This is a very important episode for DS9’s overall story.

Continuity – 3 points. Character continuity is very well done here. In addition to how the crew react to a changeling being any one of them, there are a couple finer detail moments in the promotion party at the start of the episode that I would like to point out. First, I thought it was excellent that they had Jake put Sisko’s fourth rank pip on his uniform. I always appreciated how they used Jake sparingly in the show and had him appear in realistic ways and not just be shoe-horned in. This is a good example of that. Second, when they are singing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”, watch Odo. He is taken a bit off guard and is looking to others to see what he should do. A perfect response. Story line, everything works well. It is a great mystery story that is told well. Universe continuity is also kept intact here. Once again we are given the “No changeling has ever harmed another” line, and when Odo accidentally kills his kinsman, he is devastated.

Character Development – 3 points. This episode starts as a Sisko tale. We see his promotion (and the last of his full head of hair), learn about his experiences in the Tzenkethi war, and see him being willing to destroy the Defiant to prevent another war. However, halfway through the story, the Changeling is revealed, and in the last several minutes of the episode we see Odo become a key player. As mentioned, the consequences of his actions will severely affect his character, and we see the beginning of it here.

Social Commentary – 2 points. In this episode the crew must think on the fly to find the changeling. This de-evolves into paranoia as suspicion runs rampant with the notion that anyone could be the saboteur. This can be a parallel for ourselves as well. As bad things happen and stress builds, we must work together to be victorious. When we start suspecting each other and distrust is common, success starts to slip away.

Cool Stuff – 2 points. One point for featuring the death of a changeling. Unlike what happened to Odo’s mirror-universe counterpart, here we see the changeling collapse into black powder. I am giving a second point for the effects of the changeling during the chase sequences. They really go a long way to build the story as well as the capabilities of a changeling.

Rank- Admiral (21 points). Since the Dominion is an integral part of DS9’s story, this episode needed to be strong, and strong it is. While it does not reach the level of energy and excitement of future episodes, it takes the right step from what has come before. A well done episode and a worthy end to a worthy season.

If you would like to read other reviews from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, please click the following link.

If you would like to read an episode review from any of the Trek series, click the following link to get to the series catalog. If the episode you want reviewed has not been done yet, then feel free to request it in the comments and I will see what I can do.

Episode Review - Angel One (Next Generation, Season 1)

For those who are new to my episode reviews, you can find the post where I establish my point criteria here

Overview – The Enterprise finds the wreckage of freighter that has been missing for seven years. They trace the path of three of the freighter’s escape pods to Angel I, a planet whose society is a strict matriarchy. As Riker and his away team search for the survivors, Picard and the crew aboard the Enterprise start succumbing to a nasty viral infection. Doctor Crusher searches for a cure, and Riker finds himself caught between his interest in Angel I’s leader and freeing the surviving freighter crew who are wanted criminals on the planet.

Score: 4/10 – This is a typical Season 1 TNG episode. Away team beams to a planet, trouble ensues, one of the team has to make a choice. When you look at this episode, it really isn’t anything special. It seems that they could have made some better choices, but it seems like the story writing was rushed. There are some, shall we say, interesting artistic choices made. Riker’s outfit he wears is certainly interesting. While the choice to have a matriarchal society show the same sort of sexist attitude towards men as patriarchal societies have been known to be towards women is a nice twist, it seems a bit forced. The message on gender equality is fairly ham-fisted. Sometimes, that method of delivery works. In this episode, not so much. Added to that the nasty cold bug that takes down the entire ship is eventually cured, it made for a very weak B-story. It just seemed that the whole illness was resolved without any real threat. Even when the Enterprise was being called to the neutral zone to deal with a potential Romulan incursion, there did not seem to be a real danger.  

Relevance – 1 point. This is the first time in TNG that the Romulans are mentioned, and they are causing some concerns in the neutral zone. While nothing much develops from this, they will finally show themselves in the season finale “The Neutral Zone”.

Continuity – 2 points. Universe continuity is going to take a hit here. Wesley and his friend are on the holodeck, and they are throwing snowballs at each other. One of them throws a snowball that triggers the holodeck doors to open, and it hits Worf and Picard as they are walking by. According to laws of the holodeck, the snowball should have dematerialized upon leaving the holodeck. Character continuity, on the other hand, is fully intact. Riker especially was in full Riker form. Never met a lady he didn’t want to see if he could get something going with. Story wise there is nothing disruptive in the story continuity, so that will also score a point.

Character Development – 1 point. This is mostly a Riker episode, but other than giving him a beautiful lady to make out with, it really does not do much for him as far as development. Geordi is left in command of the Enterprise after Picard succumbs to the illness, but if you want to see more of his command abilities then I would recommend “The Arsenal of Freedom” instead.

Social Commentary – 1 point. This was interesting from the point of view that it turned the traditional patriarchy system upside down and reversed the roles of the two genders. On Angel I the women are in charge and the men are subservient to them. An interesting twist, though it really did not say much on the subject. What did seem to be the message was that such systems are prone to being challenged and eventually changed. Riker refers to it as not revolution, but evolution. The women of Angel I choose to exile the freighter survivors and those who follow them instead of executing them, delaying the eventual evolution of their culture. While over all it is a happy resolution, ultimately there is little else that we can take away from this episode.

Cool Stuff – 1 point. I will give a point for Worf’s cold in this episode. He did have the best line in the episode when he claimed he was going to sneeze. La Forge asks him if it’s a Klingon sneeze, to which Worf responds “It’s the only kind I know”. His sneeze was indeed very worthy of a Klingon, and it was one of the few memorable parts of the episode.

Rank- Ensign (10 points). A good example of how shaky the first season of TNG was. The writers are trying to find their footing with the characters while trying out new stories, and quite often it just did not work well. I acknowledge the hard work everyone did on this episode, but I do think that this episode could have been a lot better if the crew were a bit more experienced. Of course, I have to say that the outfit that they had Riker wear was one of the most…interesting costume designs I have ever seen.

If you would like to read other reviews from the Next Generation, click this link.

If you would like to read an episode review from any of the Trek series, click the following link to get to the series catalog. If the episode you want reviewed has not been done yet, then feel free to request it in the comments and I will see what I can do. 

Episode Review - Trials and Tribble-ations (Deep Space Nine, Season 5)

For those who are new to my episode reviews, you can find the post where I establish my point criteria here

Overview – Temporal Investigations arrives on DS9 to interview Captain Sisko on the recent voyage his crew made back in time to the 23^rd century, where they encountered Captain James T. Kirk and the USS Enterprise on their mission to K-7. Sisko retells their adventure, how they were returning from Cardassia with a Bajoran orb and a human who was stranded on Cardassia when the Klingons invaded. Little does Sisko know that this human is actually a Klingon who was known as Arne Darvin, who nearly a century ago failed in his undercover mission to poison a shipment of grain and destabilize the Federation’s presence in this sector. As Darvin tries to assassinate Kirk, Sisko and his crew must covertly interact with Kirk’s crew and discreetly thwart Darvin’s schemes.

Score: 10/10 – The year was 1996. There were two Star Trek series on the air: DS9 and Voyager. Each one had a special episode linking their series to the Original to celebrate. This was DS9’s showing, and it is a classic. Using the ideas that was shown in the Oscar-winning movie “Forrest Gump”, the producers were able to splice the DS9 characters into one of the most beloved episodes in all of Star Trek, “The Trouble with Tribbles”. It was brilliantly executed and was so much fun to watch. To see classic scenes with our Sisko and his crew woven in was and still is a masterpiece of Star Trek. There is so much to comment on here. This was definitely a labor of love, and you could tell that by the amount of detail involved in it. From the uniforms to the sets to the props, everything is done so exceptionally well. I would recommend watching both this episode and “The Trouble with Tribbles” to gain a further appreciation for the detail. As an example, pay attention to the waitress in the bar who gets annoyed by everyone ordering raktajinos. She was played by an unknown actress in the Original series episode, and they recreated her to perfection in the DS9 version. There are so many inside jokes as well, especially relating to things that fans had been debating and commenting on for, well, three decades. I could continue, but I will save further commentary for the other sections here. Suffice it to say, this is one of the greatest episodes in Star Trek history.

Relevance –  3 points. An obvious point for the retelling of the classic original episode. I am also scoring a point for Sisko mentioning how he wanted to speak to Kirk about fighting the Gorn. I can also score a point for the Dax-Koloth connection as well, but I think the third point should go to Worf’s explanation over the difference in the look of the Klingons. Enterprise had a two part story arc that provided a proper canon explanation for the difference, but Worf simply said it was a private matter that was not discussed with outsiders. O’Brien and Bashir asked if it was due to genetic engineering or a viral mutation, and the episodes in Enterprise decided to combine both theories into one.

Continuity – 3 points. Considering the amount of detail that went into this episode, there is no doubt that all continuity is in tact here. All the characters act the way that they are expected to. Of particular note, Jadzia’s nostalgia for the 23^rd century is quite appropriate as she lived in that time. Universe continuity is intact as well here. I quite liked how Worf, as a Klingon, showed utter distaste for the little furballs. It was a nice touch adding some back story to the fate of the tribbles, and how the Klingon Empire eradicated them and their homeworld. Story wise not only is maintained, but the DS9 telling actually fills in a couple plot questions from the original episode. The best example of this is in the scene where Kirk opens the storage compartment and is buried in a pile of tribbles. When I saw that episode as a child, I always wondered why tribbles would randomly fall out of the bin. It was a delight for me to see Dax and Sisko tossing the odd tribble out of the compartment and have it be them pelting Kirk (inadvertently, of course). To whoever came up with that idea, I salute you.

Character Development – 2 points. Here I can only give two points. For everyone involved in this, nobody really gets their character developed much here. I will acknowledge that perhaps Odo gets the most growth and development to his character as he not only becomes enamoured with the tribbles, but he takes one back to the present and (accidentally) repopulates the species. It shows a softer side of the constable (who, if you recall, is still in solid form, so perhaps the tribbles brought him some comfort). It is also nice to see that Sisko was able to meet two legendary captains of past series, so I suspect that this could give him a bit of a rub as well. Also, we really see Dax get swept up into a nostalgic wave here, which adds a nice little subtext to her character. Not quite enough to get three full points, though.

Social Commentary – 2 points. While there was no real obvious social commentary made with this episode I really think that this episode was about celebrating the past. Similar to recreating the Enterprise bridge in “Relics”, I loved how they painstakingly replicated the sets, props, and costumes here. They gave so many hat tips to the fans. Dax seems to represent us, the fans, with her excitement about being on the Enterprise. They have the inside joke about Sisko and O’Brien wearing the wrong colored uniforms, acknowledging how TNG switched the command and support divisions colors from the original series. Everything about this episode was meant to celebrate thirty years of a classic television show, and it works.

Cool Stuff – 3 points. If I didn’t limit this section to three points this could become the highest ranked episode among my reviews. Let me pick my Top 3 here. First, and foremost, I love that they re-cast Charlie Brill to reprise his role as Arne Darvin. It was fortunate that he was available for it. He became the fourth and final actor to reprise their Original series character on DS9 (the other three also being Klingons). Second, to see the DS9 characters so expertly woven into the original series footage was delightful. I have two favorite moments of this, and I can’t decide which I like more. The first is when Dax is on the bridge, Kirk sits on the tribble that is on his seat, and he looks over at Dax, who gives him an innocent little shrug. The second is when Kirk is interrogating the line of crewmen who were apprehended brawling in the bar. O’Brien and Bashir are in the line, and O’Brien is even the one who Kirk asks if he threw the first punch. Finally, I need to score a point for the two investigators from Temporal Investigations. Their names, Dulmer and Lucsly, are anagrams of Mulder and Scully, the FBI agents from the X-Files.

Rank - Admiral (23 points). Seriously, this is a golden episode. I have yet to meet a person who did not appreciate the love and care that went into making this episode. An easy Top 10 of any DS9 list (and a strong contender of any favourite Trek episodes list), it allows the fans to celebrate the thirty (and now fifty) years of our beloved franchise with plenty of laughs and fun.

If you would like to read other reviews from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, please click the following link.

If you would like to read an episode review from any of the Trek series, click the following link to get to the series catalog. If the episode you want reviewed has not been done yet, then feel free to request it in the comments and I will see what I can do.

Episode Review - Good Shepherd (Voyager, Season 6)

For those who are new to my episode reviews, you can find the post where I establish my point criteria here

Overview – Janeway and the senior officers receive an efficiency report from Seven of Nine, and three Starfleet crewmen are brought to the Captain’s attention. Crewmen Billy Teffler, Mortimer Harren, and Tal Celes are all, for various reasons, under-achievers. Janeway realizes that none of them have ever been on an away mission. Recognizing that life aboard Voyager makes it difficult to simply reassign them to a more suitable ship or star base, Janeway decides to take them on a routine survey mission in the Delta Flyer. Partway into the mission, however, they encounter a strange life form that soon puts all four of them in danger. As Janeway tries to motivate and inspire this group of misfits, the crewmen find that they are capable of more than anyone, themselves included, could have expected.

Score: 7/10 – There have been many comparisons made between this episode and TNG’s “Lower Decks”. While there are some similarities, I find “Good Shepherd” to be a different take on the story of some junior officers. In this case, these are those who just don’t fit in. Teffler, Celes, and Harren seem to have more in common with Barclay than with Sito Jaxa and Nurse Ogawa. So while in “Lower Decks” we still get to see Starfleet’s finest, “Good Shepherd” gives us a glimpse at the life of the misfits. They are even more screwed up then the former Maquis that are the main focus in “Learning Curve”. The dilemma that Janeway and this trio of misfits encounters is only a backdrop for the Captain in dealing with these difficult crewmen. The efficiency review that sets up this story does give us a new glimpse into the workings of the senior officers, and the opening sequence that takes us from an external shot to the interior of the ship, working our way down into the bowels of the ship and ending with an external view again is quite the scene. Where I find this episode lacking is the knowledge that these characters had some potential to be further developed, but weren’t. This is a reflection of one of Voyager’s weaknesses and based on Voyager’s past history I had little confidence that we would ever see these three crewmen again. There were plenty of opportunities to develop some great secondary characters throughout the series, much like Deep Space Nine did. The misfits in this episode join the ranks of former Maquis, Equinox survivors, and token Starfleet officers that just do not get development enough to make us invest much in them.

Relevance – 1 point. A point is scored for the first episode of Crewman Tal Celes, who we will see again in “The Haunting of Deck 12” and have mentioned again in “Workforce”. Beyond that, there is nothing much more to this episode that makes it importa

Continuity – 3 points. Story continuity is a go here. Nothing contradictory. Universe continuity could have been an issue. Crewman Celes in Bajoran, and it seems that her first name is Tal and listed first, where in traditional Bajoran customs the family name is given first (such as Kira Nerys and Ro Laren). However, in the episode “Ensign Ro”, Ro mentions that some Bajorans switch their name order to better fit in to Starfleet. This is a plausible explanation for Tal’s name, so I can give it a bye here. Character continuity also works well. Janeway definitely combines a mothering instinct with command responsibilities as she takes these three under her wing. I also found the reactions of the senior officers to be in line with their efficient review results. Even Seven grudgingly gives herself a poor score based on Crewman Celes and her inadequate performance, and her annoyance is fitting.

Character Development – 1 point. With the focus being on the Misfit Trio, it is understandable that the main characters are given a passing treatment. Really, while this episode highlights the Trio, this is really a story about Janeway, who is dismayed at the fact that these crewmen fell through the cracks on her watch. She takes it upon herself to assure these three that there is a place on Voyager for them. This category would have scored higher if it seemed that the Trio would have been featured in the future.

Social Commentary – 3 points. Each of the misfits had a different issue when it comes to not fitting in. Celes was incompetent, Teffler was insecure, and Harren was full of himself. We will always find people like them, and sometimes we may be that person. In this episode, we see Janeway make a personal effort to reach out to each of them, and this is a choice we often have to face in our lives. How do we reach out to those on the outside of the team? How do we, if we are the one on the outside, dig deep within ourselves to overcome our perceived inadequacies?

Cool Stuff – 2 points. I scored a point for the creature/alien that possessed Teffler on the away mission. Of course it was the hypochondriac that had the alien crawling around under his skin. I also scored a point for the introductory sequence that followed the various crewmembers from one part of the ship to another.

Rank – Captain (17 points). While I enjoyed “Lower Decks” more as a story that helps us get a glimpse into the lives of lower ranked officers on a starship, I do acknowledge that there is a certain charm to this episode. My only real complaint is that without anything else for these three misfit crewmen to do after this episode, we really have little reason to invest ourselves in them. Contrast to Sito Jaxa in “Lower Decks”, we had every reason to buy into her character because of her back story. Not that “Lower Decks” built their junior officers much more either, but I think this was an opportunity wasted here. Still, overall a good episode.

If you would like to read other reviews from Star Trek: Voyager, click on the link here.

If you would like to read an episode review from any of the Trek series, click the following link to get to the series catalog. If the episode you want reviewed has not been done yet, then feel free to request it in the comments and I will see what I can do.

Discovery Episode Reviews, or Why I Have Been Largely Silent on Discussing Discovery

Hello friends. I thought I would take a moment and address the episode reviews, or should I say lack of, for the newest incarnation of our beloved franchise, Discovery. This article is going to be part explanation, and part getting something off of my chest that has been building over the last few weeks, so bear with me.

In the last few months we fans have finally received what we have been asking for, and that is new Trek on TV. As I have written a lot of episode reviews of all the different series (I am quickly zeroing in on my 100th episode review), there are some who are wondering why I have yet to do an official review for anything from Discovery's first season. Incidentally, I will refer to Discovery from here on as DIS as it follows the short-hand I have used for the other series. I am fine with DSC and DISC, but find STD to normally be used as a derogatory abbreviation that often implies a distaste and even hatred for the new show.

Discovery episode reviews are coming, just not soon.

I have a few reasons for holding off on my reviews for DIS. One is logistics. One of my scoring criteria is for the reviews is how relevant the episode is with respect to other episodes. For example, there are several stand-alone episodes that if you miss will not leave the viewer feeling confused about things later on. This includes relevance between the different series. Seeing Mirror Tuvok in a DS9 episode, for example, connects the two different series. With DIS it is far too early for me to include its relevance with other series. Some things may not be so obvious now, but will become very relevant later on. I already have to go back and update preexisting reviews to accommodate DIS plot lines, so I figured to save myself some time and wait until either the season or a few seasons are done. With all of the other series I have the benefit of hindsight in looking at the whole big picture, and I just don't have that with DIS at this time. I truly want to do my reviews justice by not rushing through them until I can also look at DIS with the big picture in mind. There are a lot of fan theories out there (the Ash Tyler-Voq connection being one of my favourites) and I don't want to get caught up in those in my reviews. I also respect that the producers have stated that there will be explanations as to why certain elements of canon have appeared to have been ignored. Continuity is another category that I have in my reviews, and if they can produce a good explanation later on as to why the Klingons look so different, why there are holodecks in TOS era that were only first seen in TNG, and why nobody else has ever heard of a spore drive, then I want to give them that chance without having to rewrite that section of my reviews.

Second reason is that there is already a plethora of episode reviews out there, and many of them I have enjoyed. Writing the reviews for me is a labour of love, but it is not my career choice. In addition to this blog I have a full-time job (teacher) and a full-time family. While there are others who may have a similar situation as myself, I frankly don't have the time or energy to be the "first on the scene" with my reviews. Since there are so many reviews out there already, I am content to let those voices be heard. 

Finally, I would like to address incorrect reasons as to why I have not written reviews on DIS. It has nothing to do with my opinion of the show. I am not intentionally ignoring Discovery because I do not like it, nor do I consider it to be "not true Trek". I will be honest, Discovery is something I am struggling with. This show is nothing like what has come before (much like DS9 was, which is my favourite of the series). There have been elements of it which I have been disappointed with. Let me reveal my cards here and now. I am not a fan of the look of the new Klingons, their ships, and their weapons. I wish they had kept more of it the same. I also am disappointed that this show has used profanity and nudity at levels that I do not like. For me (and I emphasize, this is for me only), those elements were things that I was happy were usually not included in Star Trek and felt that they are out of place. I think the level of violence has been ramped up a bit outside my preferences as well. For me, I wish that the tone was lighter.

Well, maybe not quite this "light".

Having said that, let me make something perfectly clear (and this is the "getting things off of my chest" portion truly begins). These are my thoughts and opinions. These are my disappointments. I am glad that there are many fans that are OK and even happy with those changes. I do not think we need the cardboard sets from TOS or that everything has to be exactly the way it was from an aesthetics point of view. I am even OK if the Klingons looked like TNG era and not TOS. I love many other things about the new show. I love the character of Saru. He is unique and refreshing. I enjoy the fact that Lorca breaks the mold of traditional starship captains. I love the darker, edgier Harry Mudd. Michael Burnham's character intrigues me as well. Sure, there are things I would have changed, but that is true of every series within the franchise. I find many episodes in TNG and TOS to be slow and cumbersome. I hated Bashir in the first two seasons of DS9, and found Avery Brooks to be a poor actor at times early on in the series. With Voyager I thought that the Doctor was going to be a horrible character, and I grimaced at the "gel scene" with T'Pol and Tucker in the pilot episode of Enterprise. With each of those disappointments in the other series, I stuck with it and grew to love the series. TOS and TNG ended up having great episodes. Bashir grew on me and Avery's acting improved as he became more familiar with his character. The Doctor became my favourite Voyager crew member, and the envelope that Enterprise pushed with the gel scene was not pushed much beyond that throughout the series.

Not all Trek was good

My point is, with the disappointments I have had with Discovery, I know that many people do not share them. Some think it's about time for the F-word to be used in Star Trek, and the darker tone is just an indication of the darker society we now live in. That's perfectly acceptable. What I love about Discovery is that it is attracting a new group of fans to all the shows I grew up watching. I get that shows evolve, and that it is OK for me to not be blissfully enamored with every generation's Star Trek series. As much as fans have been responsible for the success of Star Trek, we often make the mistake of feeling entitled to define what is Star Trek for everyone. On the social media circuits I hear over and over "This is not Star Trek" in variations too numerous to track. As always, those who have disliked something make their voices loud and clear. I feel that we collectively need to be reminded that Star Trek does not belong to us fans and us fans alone. As much as we would love to have a say in every step of development, we have to understand that right now the people that are allowed the privilege of deciding what is and isn't Star Trek are either the Powers That Be that work for Paramount (the current movie series) and that work for CBS (Discovery and any future television series). As the franchise grows more fans will find themselves not liking more aspects of the growth. This does not mean that Star Trek is dying, but that it is evolving. Some of the changes will be for the better, some will not, but there will be change.

Some changes are good, some not. You decide for yourself.

A concept tossed around a lot these days, and I am just as guilty of it as any, is the concept of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination, or IDIC. It is not a perfect concept, but it does bear some weight in these discussions. A significant portion of the fan base need to take a good look at what IDIC is about and decide where they will stand on it. For those, like myself, who find disappointments and faults with DIS, we need to respect that many of our fellow fans are enjoying the changes. Just because we think Klingons should look like some sort of space Mongol for continuity or canon sake does not make those who embrace the new look as anything less than a true fan. Perhaps we need to check our egos at the door more. Perhaps when in our Facebook groups we find a thread on how great Discovery is, we need to stop spamming the comment sections as if we are members of the Order of the Bat'leth whose honor has just been challenged. On the flip side, if a person, like me, who enjoys Discovery is tired of the negativity being shown towards the show, perhaps we too should just keep scrolling past the negative posts. We, too, need to more fully embrace IDIC by accepting that not everyone is going to love the show. If someone says that they are disappointed with the use of stronger profanity than Trek has ever seen, can't we just let them have their voice without flooding them with even more vulgar comments? Some of our fellow fans are heart-broken that their own individual interpretation of what Trek is to them is not being followed with the new show. Maybe they are like me and are waiting to see the whole story unfold, but have some reservations. I have talked to fans who, with every incarnation of this franchise, just could not buy into what was being sold. Do we have to berate them for having an opinion that is not shared by the rest of us? Why are we so offended about people being offended? Why are we disappointed when others are disappointed?

Why, WHY, this again?!?

So for the time being I am holding off on Discovery. I can't wait to see the big picture unfold, and when I do start the episode reviews of this polarizing show, I will do my best to keep my own disappointments in check and be fair. I am still hopeful that DIS will worm its way more fully into my heart, but if it doesn't, then that's OK. There is no rule that states one must rank the current product at the top of their list in order to be a fan.