10 Things We Want to See in ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 2

The first season of Star Trek: Discovery has come and gone. So now it’s time to assess the pros and cons of season 1 and figure out how to make the second season even better.

On the whole, I did like this first season; it was a bold, inventive way of approaching the Star Trek franchise and I feel like it completed its mission overall. But there were some weak spots that I hope get addressed as the show evolves. Here are 10 things that I’d like to see in Star Trek: Discovery season 2.

More (and better) alien diversity

Aside from the giant tardigrade, we only started seeing different aliens other than the standard Klingons and Vulcans more than halfway into the first season. For a Star Trek show, that’s a shame.

What I’d love to see next season is a focus on more of the beings that make up the vast and populous universe. Like, what are the Borg doing? Or what about more on the Andorians and Cardassians? Can we get episodes about less common aliens like the Trill? Or maybe the Changelings, shapeshifters whose natural state is a liquid form? It’s easy to conceptualize humanoid aliens – it’s much more of a challenge to make viewers sympathetic to alien societies we have no earthly reference for.

As I discussed in my recap of the finale, the Orions presented Star Trek: Discovery with a unique chance to flesh out an alien race built on stereotypes. Unfortunately, the show didn’t see the opportunity and surprisingly regressed, giving us Orions that were just as stereotypical as they’ve ever been, if not more so. The second season could fix that by actually giving some serious thought to aliens like the Orions. Not only would it make the Orions fresher characters, but it would also give the writers new opportunities to tell different, more impactful stories through the eyes of a maligned race.

Georgiou flashbacks

I’m a huge fan of Michelle Yeoh, so having her back on Star Trek: Discovery in any capacity is cool. With that said, I still miss Prime Georgiou; Mirror Georgiou is great, but her presence is only salt in the wound. She’s never going to be Prime Georgiou.

Even though Star Trek: Discovery played a long con game with Georgiou, I still wonder about what her life could have been like if we were watching the show we were initially sold in the advertisements. I’m sure a lot of people reacted like me when they saw the first ads for the show – finally, a Star Trek in which women ran things! I was set to plop down and watch Georgiou and Michael’s adventures every week. I still feel cheated.

I hope we see at least some flashbacks of Georgiou before the fateful Battle at the Binary Stars. I’d love to know how she mentored Michael, what she thought about her crew and her position as Captain, what drew her to enlist for Starfleet, and what she hoped to accomplish during her time of service. It would be a small salve for the pain of having to remember that, despite all of her accomplishments, honorable character, and skill, Georgiou’s fate would be to end up as a Klingon dinner. Georgiou deserves better!

(Sidebar: I’d even accept if the show made the crew go back in time so that the Binary Stars fight never even happened. I miss Georgiou that much.)

Prime Lorca

Jason Isaacs tweeted a picture of what was presumably his last day on set, with members of the cast holding up a sign reading “Find Prime Lorca.” I’m glad to know that we’re on the same page, because I also want Prime Lorca found.

Even though I didn’t like Lorca in the beginning (and it turns out my instinct about him being evil was right after all!), I grew to care about him to the point where I now miss him, much to my surprise. Much like how I’m glad Yeoh is back in any capacity, I’d love to see Isaacs back in some way, because he’s just that fantastic of an actor.

Perhaps, like with Georgiou, we can get some flashbacks of Prime Lorca’s life. I’d love to know who that guy was and how he compares to his Mirror counterpart. I’d also love to know if he’s alive. From what we’ve seen with each counterpart, someone has to live and someone has to die. Prime Georgiou, Mirror Stamets, and Mirror Tilly’s counterparts, for instance, have all died, leaving only one of each person left in the universe. Since Mirror Lorca died, does that mean Prime Lorca is out there somewhere? Could he be stuck in the Mirror Universe? Writers! You’ve got to tell us!

Episodes with the Bridge Crew

While I do love the new direction Star Trek: Discovery is taking the franchise, I can’t deny that the Star Trek purist in me is still a little upset we haven’t yet had a standard Trek episode. What I love about Star Trek isn’t the fights or intergalactic battles; what drew me to Star Trek were the stories of intelligence winning the day and how cooperative teamwork can solve even the toughest problems. Much of that teamwork came into play when the writers on various Star Trek series would shift the focus from the captain to the rest of the crew. We wouldn’t have had some of the more clever episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, such as the classic Sherlock Holmes holodeck episode featuring Data and Geordi LaForge, if the focus wasn’t shifted to the margins.

Here’s hoping next season gives the rest of Discovery’s bridge crew a chance to shine. Despite having limited dialogue and development in season 1, they acted as a constant throughout every wild twist and turn. In a way, they became our comfort blanket. We deserve to know more about them and what they want to get out of their time with Starfleet.

Captain Saru

With the amount of growth Saru has undergone, it’s a little insulting he still hasn’t been made Captain yet. I mean, he’s at Georgiou levels of leadership now! So why is the Discovery crew going to Vulcan to pick up a new captain?

I feel like Saru has been robbed by Starfleet of his rightful promotion in the captain’s chair. He steered the crew through a mirror universe and helmed the mission that ended the Klingon War, for crying out loud! What more does the first Kelpien in Starfleet have to do to get some respect? Saru had better end next season calling all of the shots on a permanent basis.

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