‘Star Trek: Discovery’: These fearless female leaders run a tight ship

Critic’s log, stardate 10022017.

Watched “Star Trek: Discovery,” a prequel to the 1966 series that got the phasers firing. CBS aired the first episode on network TV, but now fans must sign up for CBS All Access to catch the rest (episodes stream at 8:30 p.m. Sundays). That’s $5.99 a month with commercials, although you can get a week for free.

The opening featured the warrior race Klingons speaking Klingon, or, as it sounded to me, “Hoo mah whip choo!” Even with subtitles, I am bored by Klingon dialogue.

Aside from that, the first episode was a brilliant reinvention of the “Star Trek” legend. Two awesome women run the ship: Captain Philippa Georgiou (the formidable Michelle Yeoh) and her Number 1, half human/half Vulcan Michael Burnham (super-chill Sonequa Martin-Green). The crewmen exist merely to do their bidding.

The series looks gorgeous. When Georgiou and Burnham trek across the desert as storm clouds loom, the scene looks like an apocalyptic Renaissance painting, if they had CGI back in the 1600s. And the reflection of the galaxy in an eyeball — to crib a line from Burnham, “The only word to effectively describe it is: ‘Wow!’ ”

But much of the dialogue is pretentious in the worst Star Trek tradition: “This is Federation space. Retreat is not an option.” And as “Star Trek” captain James T. Kirk might put it in his dramatically paced speaking style: The plot pace is sometimes. A. Little. Slow.

Martin-Green is clearly the star. Her logical Vulcan brain and emotional human heart battle it out. And she’s fearless, venturing into space to investigate a threat even though if she stays out more than 20 minutes, radiation will cause her DNA to “unravel like noodles.”

The big question: Will the new series evolve into a predictable Federation vs. Klingon dust-up or will the USS Discovery discover really cool stuff?

Meanwhile, significant changes occur in Episode 2. They definitely make you want to boldly go to CBS All Access and start paying after that first free week.

Source: washingtonpost.com