Star Trek: Discovery - Season 4 Official Trailer (Paramount+)

[Quinton]

As usual with Discovery trailers, there's a lot more to unpack here than may first meet the eye. For one thing, Book in particular looks like he's primed for some really tough times. There are all sorts of shots of him being happy, and all sorts more of him looking broken.

I can't get a read yet on whether all those robed, stick/sword-wielding folks fit the bill, but there's at least one here that's possibly Qowat Milat?

 

[Quinton]

Here's another. I get the vibe the Qowat Milat hop aboard Discovery in belief this is an impossible mission (or what-have-you) and prove invaluable in combating humanoid foes at least once during the season. Kind of like MACOs on the NX-01 during the Xindi War in Enterprise, except... cooler?

 

[Stormy_One_Kenobi]

Looks great! It's so close. Best Trek coming back!

 

[The Hobo]

At least Burnham being Captain will mean some real growth for character.

Not interested in yet another "the whole universe is in danger" thing though.

 

[JDSN]

I am getting whiplash reading it haha

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The most prolific poster of the Disco threads got permabanned for racism, and the OT is dudes looking for creatives ways to call Michael a Mary Sue without saying Mary Sue. Good show, sus fanbase.

 

[Pheonix Will]

Looking forward to the new season, especially with how good lower decks has been.

 

[antonz]

The Burnham is the only one who can save the universe stuff gets old. Its ok to have small scale conflict. I mean the end of Season 2 was setting up the idea of its time to rebuild the Federation and regain the trust of former allies.

Instead its fast forward the federation is already much bigger and SURPRISE. Galaxy Ending event only Burnham can stop

 

[QuigleyMcShine]

To be fair I don't think the galaxy was at stake in season 3. They were just trying to solve the mystery of what fucked up the galaxy a century earlier, and keep the ship out of the Orion's hands.

 

[touchfuzzy]

I see we're back for another season of explosions and nonsense with Burnham and the bridge crew we don't care about saving all life as we know it. Again.

 

[lunarworks]

Oh hey they got Cronenberg to come back

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He personally asked to be in S3. He was probably lined up and ready to go for S4.

 

[Quinton]

the bridge crew we don't care about

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Excuse you, I would take a bullet for Detmer

 

[19thCenturyFox]

This threat doesn't look any more galaxy ending than the Borg, the Dominion or the Pah Wraiths to be honest.

From what we've seen it's somewhere between V'ger/the Whale Probe which only threatened Earth and the aforementioned threats which were going to fuck up the entire Alpha and Beta Quadrant.

 

[EzekelRAGE]

Idk I really like this series. Wasn't really into Star Trek growing up so I think that allows me to give this series a more fair shake 🤷🏾‍♂️.

 

[The Masked Mufti]

Book was the best part of Season 3 so I'm really hoping he's got a decent role in this season too. In fact, I'd say Burnham found her stride in that season too, so I hope they continue that path.

Idk I really like this series. Wasn't really into Star Trek growing up so I think that allows me to give this series a more fair shake 🤷🏾‍♂️.

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Same boat for me.

 

[DBT85]

Some of us really like it! Imagine that!

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Say it ain't so!

 

[Pheonix Will]

He personally asked to be in S3. He was probably lined up and ready to go for S4.

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As I recall, Discovery is basically filmed in his neighbourhood so no arguments from anyone either.

 

[StopMakingSense]

He personally asked to be in S3. He was probably lined up and ready to go for S4.

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oh I didn't mean to imply it would have been an effort to get him back. The man was in Jason X lol. He will do anything for fellow Canadians.

 

[lunarworks]

As I recall, Discovery is basically filmed in his neighbourhood so no arguments from anyone either.

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Yeah, it's filmed in and around Toronto (I live a few minutes from the studio, and I've seen a location shot myself), and David Cronenberg is like royalty in this city. He was out socializing with the production team one night, and brought up the possibility of them writing him into the show. Who could refuse that?

Half of the bridge crew are from around here, too.

 

[Lakeside]

I can't wait. Fuck the shit posters.

We enjoy the heck out of Disco in this house.

 

[tidewatersouthern]

This threat doesn't look any more galaxy ending than the Borg, the Dominion or the Pah Wraiths to be honest.

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The big difference is that none of those took up an entire season's worth of storytelling to tease out a mystery. Discovery's storytelling approach is all plot, all the time, with little room for anything else. It's not just Discovery…I'm tired of the bog standard "big bad" approach in genre shows that's been around since Buffy. Doesn't matter if it's a CW show or a "prestige" streaming drama, the "introduce mystery, spend season slowly revealing said mystery, end season with epic showdown" screenwriting is boring, bland and predictable to me at this point. Is there really any mystery if I can correctly predict that the mystery behind the anomaly will be revealed in the penultimate episode and there will be a big battle in the last episode, followed by a tease for next season…before the first episode of the season airs?

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Whoa, it looks like in this season Burnhan might ignore orders from her own leadership in an attempt to save all of existence. At least that's what I gathered from the trailer.

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Finally something new and exciting...

 

[19thCenturyFox]

Idk I really like this series. Wasn't really into Star Trek growing up so I think that allows me to give this series a more fair shake 🤷🏾‍♂️.

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Star Trek series are very formulaic and Discovery busts that formula wide open so not being familiar with the old shows probably helps.

20+ episode seasons of meeting godlike aliens, shuttle crashes, holodeck malfunctions and being introduced to one off alien races that look and act like humans except their society has a weird quirk and they got shit glued to their foreheads. Either no or very limited serialization depending on whether you're dealing with TNG, TNG Retread or TNG Retread that got cancelled after four seasons. Barely any lasting character development, hardly any promotions and no impact from what would be drastically life altering events with one big exception.

Fuck, they discovered a giant dyson sphere in TNG and it just serves as a backdrop for a fanservice laden, corny and bloated cameo and as part of an action setpiece. The biggest discovery in all of Star Trek, worthy of an entire season or even series dedicated to it and they never fucking mention it again.

I love Star Trek and I have watched every single Star Trek related movie or show multiple times, even the really bad stuff. I derive enjoyment from its successes and its failures but the core thing that annoyed me was that the franchise was held back for so long by people like Rick Berman who was the real life version of the boogeyman that people make Kurtzman out to be.

It's not even like Discovery is doing incredibly bold or experimental things in terms of genre television, it just got with the times. I can't imagine how mind boggling it must be for someone to look in from the outside and see the Trek community tear itself apart over something as inoffensive as Discovery.

 

[bremen]

i just wanna see some people going to the old west

or maybe trying on some goofy glasses

whys it always the end of the universe

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You want Star Trek Lower Decks.

 

[BobLoblaw]

I'm sure Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will calm some of you down. Lol

 

[19thCenturyFox]

The big difference is that none of those took up an entire season's worth of storytelling to tease out a mystery. Discovery's storytelling approach is all plot, all the time, with little room for anything else. It's not just Discovery…I'm tired of the bog standard "big bad" approach in genre shows that's been around since Buffy. Doesn't matter if it's a CW show or a "prestige" streaming drama, the "introduce mystery, spend season slowly revealing said mystery, end season with epic showdown" screenwriting is boring, bland and predictable to me at this point. Is there really any mystery if I can correctly predict that the mystery behind the anomaly will be revealed in the penultimate episode and there will be a big battle in the last episode, followed by a tease for next season…before the first episode of the season airs?

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That's fair and I get where you are coming from. I have my problems with this kind of storytelling as well both in Discovery and Picard. They create these huge season spanning arcs with huge stakes just to wrap them up super quick and move on immediately with tons of interesting fallout happening off screen.

As I've written before elsewhere on this site, these are problems that keep happening across shows but they are new problems, not the same problems I had with the franchise in the mid nineties. They will need to address them but I'm at a point where I even get excited about Trek having problems it never had before because they are finally trying something new.

 

[DarthMasta]

Can't say I'm terribly excited for another "Discovery saves the Galaxy / Federation / Universe" storyline.

 

[EzekelRAGE]

Book was the best part of Season 3 so I'm really hoping he's got a decent role in this season too. In fact, I'd say Burnham found her stride in that season too, so I hope they continue that path.
Same boat for me.

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Nice, I also agree with you about Book.

Star Trek series are very formulaic and Discovery busts that formula wide open so not being familiar with the old shows probably helps.

20+ episode seasons of meeting godlike aliens, shuttle crashes, holodeck malfunctions and being introduced to one off alien races that look and act like humans except their society has a weird quirk and they got shit glued to their foreheads. Either no or very limited serialization depending on whether you're dealing with TNG, TNG Retread or TNG Retread that got cancelled after four seasons. Barely any lasting character development, hardly any promotions and no impact from what would be drastically life altering events with one big exception.

Fuck, they discovered a giant dyson sphere in TNG and it just serves as a backdrop for a fanservice laden, corny and bloated cameo and as part of an action setpiece. The biggest discovery in all of Star Trek, worthy of an entire season or even series dedicated to it and they never fucking mention it again.

I love Star Trek and I have watched every single Star Trek related movie or show multiple times, even the really bad stuff. I derive enjoyment from its successes and its failures but the core thing that annoyed me was that the franchise was held back for so long by people like Rick Berman who was the real life version of the boogeyman that people make Kurtzman out to be.

It's not even like Discovery is doing incredibly bold or experimental things in terms of genre television, it just got with the times. I can't imagine how mind boggling it must be for someone to look in from the outside and see the Trek community tear itself apart over something as inoffensive as Discovery.

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Yea this thread is weird, you would think ppl are watching two different shows. Disco is the only reason I have a paramount+ sub, had it since it was cbs all access. Watched DSN, but never finished it, I did enjoy it. May have seen a season or two of the OG Picard show. Never watched any of the old trek movies. Saw the first two modern ones, and enjoyed them which led to me watching this series when it was announced. Haven't regretted anything and it's very good imo. Looking forward to S4, the section 31 show, and the show with Pike.

 

[lunarworks]

You want Star Trek Lower Decks.

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The guy behind Lower Decks had quite the Twitter account:

https://twitter.com/tng_s8

 

[ravn0s]

Will this still be on Netflix in Australia or will it be moving to Paramount+?

 

[LewieP]

You want Star Trek Lower Decks.

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I really struggled to get through the pilot because for some reason every single character screams every single line of dialogue.

 

[QuigleyMcShine]

I really struggled to get through the pilot because for some reason every single character screams every single line of dialogue.

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The first two, maybe three episodes are really bad about that but then it finds its pacing and volume.

 

[Juraash]

I really struggled to get through the pilot because for some reason every single character screams every single line of dialogue.

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It starts off a little rocky, but it really finds its stride and fires on all cylinders more often than not. It's probably my favorite of the current crop of Trek shows even though it's 30ish minute episodes and more humor focused. It has a lot of heart, especially in season 2.

 

[Deleted member 43]

I just wish it was good enough for me to pay attention to a whole episode. I'm STILL working my way through season 3, and I watched the first episode when it premiered.

It really shouldn't be the case that Lower Decks is the best Star Trek we've had on TV since DS9.

 

[SteveWinwood]

You want Star Trek Lower Decks.

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i watch it every week and enjoy it!

 

[Juraash]

My biggest hope for season 4 is we give the crew more time, especially with Michael in the big chair. I want her to say, "options" and have her bridge crew come up with ideas that solve the problem of the week or lead to the next step in the big mystery. I want more Reno and Culber and Detmer and all of them. Present the ship and the crew with more problems other people can solve.

 

[tidewatersouthern]

That's fair and I get where you are coming from. I have my problems with this kind of storytelling as well both in Discovery and Picard. They create these huge season spanning arcs with huge stakes just to wrap them up super quick and move on immediately with tons of interesting fallout happening off screen.

As I've written before elsewhere on this site, these are problems that keep happening across shows but they are new problems, not the same problems I had with the franchise in the mid nineties. They will need to address them but I'm at a point where I even get excited about Trek having problems it never had before because they are finally trying something new.

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After three seasons of Discovery and a season of Picard, I've come to realize that I prefer a more episodic format for Trek. Even if a season that was structured like this actually had a great story, these shows will never give us a "City of the Edge of Forever" or "Inner Light" or "Duet" or "Far Beyond the Stars". The format simply doesn't allow for it, and that's a shame. I want those brilliantly written, well acted 45 minute short form stories.

I think DS9 was close to the right balance. If they went for longer, multi-season arcs on Discovery, it would give the stories more room to breathe, and allow for some more one-off stories. "People of Earth" was my favorite episode last season, simply because it was a decent, mostly self-contained episode. I'd love to see more of that.

I'm hoping that Strange New Worlds will ultimately deliver what I'm looking for from Trek.

 

[lunarworks]

I'm hoping that Strange New Worlds will ultimately deliver what I'm looking for from Trek.

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There's a very vocal demand for episodic content, so they may dive-in head first and see if there's actual demand with that one.

 

[tidewatersouthern]

There's a very vocal demand for episodic content, so they may dive-in head first and see if there's actual demand with that one.

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Lower Decks is mostly episodic, with character threads running through the show, and that's been well received. If SNW can be that, but a bit more serious, I think it will do very well.

I really do believe that there is room for more "procedural" type shows in genre TV, and done well you can have outstanding character development on top of it. One of my complaints about Discovery is that the character development for the crew outside of Burnham, Saru and Tilly has been really lacking. That was improved quite a bit in season 3, especially with Stamets and Culber, but some stand alones focusing on Detmer and Owosekun would go a long way towards fleshing out those characters.

 

[Cation]

I loved the series so far. I don't get why people gotta hate it like it stole their SOs lol.

 

[Anoregon]

Idk I really like this series. Wasn't really into Star Trek growing up so I think that allows me to give this series a more fair shake 🤷🏾‍♂️.

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Yup. Being a "classic trek" fan seems like absolute fucking masochism. Glad I'm able to just enjoy this and Picard.

 

[touchfuzzy]

Idk I really like this series. Wasn't really into Star Trek growing up so I think that allows me to give this series a more fair shake 🤷🏾‍♂️.

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I mean this is generally how it is with these new Treks. If you actually like Star Trek, you probably don't like them cause they're nothing like them.

Discovery is at least the better of the two live action shows, there has been some inspired episodes and some of the action and scenery is fantastic. The show's big failing is always focusing absolutely everything around it's worst character, Burnham.

Picard though was almost insultingly stupid.

 

[bremen]

I really struggled to get through the pilot because for some reason every single character screams every single line of dialogue.

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Get to episode 4. If you still don't like it fair enough.

 

[Deleted member 8166]

I really can't stand all those "galaxy level threats".
and burnham urgh. It's not the actress, but how she's written. How did she ever pass psychological evaluation at an academy.

 

[BloodHound]

Looks great. This and the Expanse scratching that Sci-Fi itch. Soon to start The Foundation too.

 

[Aiii]

Yup. Being a "classic trek" fan seems like absolute fucking masochism. Glad I'm able to just enjoy this and Picard.

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You know, I wasn't going to respond to comments like this, but if we're gonna keep going, might as well address it. I'm glad you're "able" to enjoy this because you didn't like Star Trek before, that's great. Good for y'all.

This doesn't mean the criticism towards new Trek isn't justified or correct. So drop the nonsense. Star Trek was a specific type of science-fiction, so people that enjoyed it, enjoyed that type of science-fiction. New Trek is an entirely different kind of science-fiction, and to boot, there's a lot of perfectly reasonable objections to make about the writing of the show. So yes, people are allowed to be down about waiting 15 year for new Star Trek, only to get something completely different that bears it name. It's weird and dumb to paint people feeling that way as if they're the problem here.

If your favourite band of 20 years suddenly starts playing a completely different type of music, one that you don't happen to like and one they're not remotely as good at to boot, you're allowed to be down about it.

 

[DBT85]

If you actually like Star Trek, you probably don't like them cause they're nothing like them.

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I like all of them. There are flaws with all of them too to varying degrees.

Discovery is doing so well that they keep making it and I refuse to beleive it's mostly people that don't like Star Trek that are paying for it.

It absolutely is different to other Treks, and there are absolutely valid criticisms to be made. What baffles me is is that people that clearly don't like this band keep buying the latest album.

 

[EarlGreyHot]

Looking forward to it :-) I really enjoy Discovery

 

[Aiii]

It absolutely is different to other Treks, and there are absolutely valid criticisms to be made. What baffles me is is that people that clearly don't like this band keep buying the latest album.

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I agree that there's the option to stop watching, and I certainly recommend that to everyone. But ultimately, there's not really an alternative for people that want more Star Trek to get more actual Star Trek they enjoyed. Like there's Lower Decks and The Orville, which scratch that itch to a degree even if they're more comedic parody in nature. But if you want more Star Trek you enjoyed with characters you enjoyed, you're gonna keep watching Picard because you have an emotional attachment to it, hoping against hope you're getting your itch scratched.

If Paramount+ actually made a Star Trek that was like proper Star Trek, then this would be an entirely different story. But right now, Kurtzman Trek is the only Trek in town.

 

[Shahadan]

Seems like the same template once again, what a surprise

 

[DBT85]

I agree that there's the option to stop watching, and I certainly recommend that to everyone. But ultimately, there's not really an alternative for people that want more Star Trek to get more actual Star Trek they enjoyed. Like there's Lower Decks and The Orville, which scratch that itch to a degree even if they're more comedic parody in nature. But if you want more Star Trek you enjoyed with characters you enjoyed, you're gonna keep watching Picard because you have an emotional attachment to it, hoping against hope you're getting your itch scratched.

If Paramount+ actually made a Star Trek that was like proper Star Trek, then this would be an entirely different story. But right now, Kurtzman Trek is the only Trek in town.

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I think, and hope, that Strange New Worlds is that kind of Trek, both for my own enjoyment and everyone else who feels let down by what they've been served now for maybe 20 years, though some would likely say it's been longer.

But I still can't get behind continuing to watch a show that you don't like. There are so many other things you could be watching or rewatching and actually getting to the end of and going "that was great" rather than just feeling more pissed off that the thing you watched that you knew wasn't going to be fulfilling hasn't left you fulfilled.