Entertainment & Arts
10 Things Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 Must Do to Avoid Epic Failure
In the all important Star Trek: Discovery season 2 sophomore debut, these are 10 things the series must do to avoid screwing the pooch.
3. Establish Bold New Canon Rather than Justify Series through Existing Canon
CBS We’re not even touching, rather retouching, this legally mandated redesign
One of the stickiest parts of writing a prequel in a fictional universe as complex and established as Star Trek is making the new story fit properly. To a great degree all prequels are like color on a writer’s Rubix Cube that are very difficult to mart together on all sides, but it is possible.
Discovery is a particularly awkward scenario given the time frame in which it takes place. So far, the writers seem to have done their best to at least try and arrange the story to connect with the rest of the franchise.
If indeed Discovery is to make a lasting beloved impression, however, it will also have to boldly cement its own legacy upon Star Trek from its own merits alone. If it does not, Discovery will surely fall short.
As once so eloquently posed by Trekspertiece of YouTube, Discovery as a show must not justify its story through existing canon, but instead leave its own distinct foot print. As difficult and nuanced as that advice may sound, it is possible.
Discovery Season 2 Using Established Canon as a Launching Point
Yet given where the audience is left at the conclusion of season one, it is clear – at least at first – that the writers are using TOS simultaneously as a proverbial crutch and as a launching point to uncharted territory. With the so-called “Red Bursts” drawing Starfleet’s immediate attention, the audience is finally seeing something unique to Discovery.
Going forward might entail Discovery breaking a few eggs in Star Trek canon to forge their latest story line. I can live with that. Given how many excellent characters were cultivated in the show’s inaugural season, the writers have the ammunition to proceed in a more assertive direction and choosing to go boldly has never been so critical as it is now for the franchise.
Hopefully it will be without having to dip into the realm of The Original Series (TOS) any further than is already necessary. This is Star Trek, and while there are definite boundaries, there are a great many opportunities to pursue outside established canon.
So long as show runners avoid the debacle fans had to endure in Season 3 of Star Trek: Enterprise, the so-called Xindi arc, it’s prospects are fresh. Lord help us, no more Xindi arcs.
Possible directions the series can take are legion. First, they must delve further into the state of the post-war Klingon Empire. With the creative impotence that dictated the conclusion of the Federation-Klingon war, Discovery’s writers have much to answer for in Star Trek: Discovery season 2.
