Review: Star Trek Discovery- Rediscovering the good in Star Trek

Bryan Fuller cannot fail. This is television fact, and his incandescent mind has managed to capture what always made the original Star Trek series, Enterprise, Voyager and DS9 so captivating. The federation should always be the focal point of storylines, the characters the flavouring and human element. Sure JJ Abrahams glossy reboot movies were good, they made steps towards the glory days of Trek but fell a little short for me, they just felt a little too Hollywood, a little too action. Star Trek is meant to be slightly cerebral, the characters should be cool but not action heroes or clowns. For some this is why the most critically lauded series are boring and precisely why Abrahams offerings were a pleasant suprise, they made Trek accessible. Yet those who had followed Trek for a while may have been left feeling it was a little hollow, there was no real engagement with the philosophy of Trek that was such a driving force in Gene Roodenberry's creation.

The future of humanity, how we relate to different cultures and values, how we wish to be, the perfection and utopia we seek but can never truly achieve. These are all core elements of Trek, the meat of the dish. These themes are cast brilliantly in a universe where the Federation hasn't made contact with the Klingons for over a hundred years, yet they are now unifying and contact is unavoidable. One of the greatest parts so far in the series is the time spent with the Klingons, they aren't superficial characters but have a complex hierachy and culture, we see them make alliances, their through processes and get to see why they follow their unifier: T'kumva- a deeply intelligent and scary threat for the federation to face.

With a glorious soundtrack- the strings as they blast into space are genuinely as beautiful as the briliant starscapes- capturing the beauty and danger of the final frontier- and suprisingly beautiful cinematography even in simple conversational scenes- the quality of this show is undeniable.Couple this with incredible acting talent and a promising storyline and I am sold on the idea of a Star Trek regeneration.