2020 science fiction comedy, 10 episodes. On the USS Cerritos, the
bridge crew think they're the stars of the show, but we follow the
ensigns as they go about their daily grind (plus adventure).
There's a lot here that reminds me of the first season of Star
Trek Discovery: the premise seems to be "what if Star Trek
happened, but everyone in it were a horrible person?". I found the
first few episodes very hard work to watch, with flaccid comedy aimed
at all the usual easy targets (especially anyone smart or who ever
tries to do their job properly). It was only later in the season as
things opened up a little that it rose above that execrable start and
managed to start saying something mildly interesting about the tension
between rule-following and improvisation, and the need for both of
them in unexpected situations.
Yes, all right, we do still get rather too much of Boimler, who always
tries to do the right thing and always fails and is punished for it
(except when it would "funny" for him to try to cheat, and fail and be
punished for that). But we also get Mariner the self-proclaimed
rebel whose greatest enemy really is herself, Tendi the wide-eyed
enthusiast for all things Starfleet (i.e. Boimler without always being
the butt of the joke), and Rutherford the engineer who just wants to
be left alone to get on with engineering.
There are also lots and lots of continuity references for the
dedicated fan; if I knew Star Trek better these would probably annoy
me just as they did in The Mandalorian, but since my reaction is
mostly not "I recognise that" but rather "that's an
interesting-looking thing" they serve to break up the backgrounds. At
the same time the writers don't go for the really cheap shots like
expendable security personnel.
The stories are brutally episodic: if something vaguely positive
happens it will be reset by the end of the 22-minute show, and
knowing this meant that I at least met every positive development with
a groan. Still, even this lightens a little by the end, with some
suggestion that at least some of the drearily repetitious sources of
tension may have shifted a bit for the next season. (I think this may
also be best watched in a block, rather than a week at a time; even
when it gets good, it's not smart comedy.)
It's an odd blend of dreary punching-down humour and genuine
interest.
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