Have you watched it? Do you intend to?

Star Trek: Discovery follows the crew of the USS Discovery 10 years prior to the events of the original Star Trek series. The two-parter pilot however, focuses on the USS Shenzhou, under the command of Captain Philippa Georgiou (played by Michelle Yeoh), and the role it played in the Federation-Klingon war. Her first officer, and apparent series lead, Vulcan-raised Michael Burnham, is played by Sonequa Martin-Green (The Walking Dead). Jason Isaacs is also set to appear in the series later on as Gabriel Lorca, captain of the USS Discovery.

The show will only be available on CBS' own streaming service in the U.S. but it's apparently been licensed to Netflix overseas, as is my case. Personally, I think they're making the wrong call here but whatever.

I'm not an avid Star Trek fan so whatever I say next take it with a grain of salt (or several). I was well-informed in advance of people's heated reaction to this series. Some have stated it betrays the spirit of series like TNG, arguing it draws too much (and not all of it good) from JJ Abrams' vision instead. I'm not in any position to judge, having watched TNG ages ago, but I agree it draws heavily from JJ's take on the universe. Personally, I liked the pilot well enough. I agree the writing suffers at several points, like when Burnham randomly monologues about the wonders of space or the crew's laid-back, and sometimes rather unprofessional, attitude. I'm also not sure why Sonequa's character had to be raised on Vulcan, is that a requirement now for every Star Trek series? To have a Vulcan-related character? While some have criticized her performance as terrible I think it was acceptable for a pilot. I certainly didn't find it in me to hate her character, not yet anyway. Her actions, while at times misguided and certainly reprehensible, are understandable given the character's background but, at the same time, they can be difficult to believe for an officer who has served under the same captain for seven years. It's a take-it or leave-it proposition I think, which is probably why many people are taking issue with her character. I also don't buy that the Federation never anticipated war with the Klingons and how they should react under said circumstances. I mean, was Burnham the only person ever who thought about asking the Vulcans how they got the Klingons off their backs? Seems rather forced. Further related to the Klingons, I wasn't thrilled with the show's depiction of them, they just seem so very different from the ones I remember. Also, is it me or do they speak a lot slower than they used to?

Kudos to Michelle Yeoh's Captain Georgiou and that cowardly science officer whose name I can't remember.

Oh, another bit I liked was the opening, as it reminded me of just about every episode of Star Trek, with Starfleet officers helping other cultures without violating the Prime Directive (referenced as General Order 1 in the show). The action and the effects were pretty good too.

I'll probably watch it again to see if I missed anything but I leave you with a few other nitpicks:

- Technology seems way too advanced for the time. Holograms? AIs you can have a conversation with? This seems more like Kirk's or Picard's time.
- Why don't they use the shuttles? I counted at least two times where they could've used a shuttle rather than the flashy route they went for. Also, can a ship the size of the Shenzhou actually land on a planet?
- Way too easy to walk out on medical treatment on this ship.
- I almost forgot about the quantum-entanglement mind-meld thingy that can be done wirelessly from light years away!