Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 at the SFRA Review

Last year, I was able to snag Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 for the "Media Reviews" section of the SFRA Review, the quarterly publication of the Science Fiction Research Association. I enjoyed the experience-- reviews for it are supposed to be less "good/bad" and more "why would this be interesting to scholars"-- so as soon as season 2 finished airing, I e-mailed the Media Reviews editor to stake my claim on it.

The issue is out as of a couple weeks ago. Here's how my review begins (with an embarrassing typo you can read in the published version silently corrected):

ALMOST every television program’s second season embodies a course correction: a discarding or alteration of what did not work the first time, a greater emphasis on what did. Star Trek: Discovery’s second season, broadcast in fourteen episodes from January to April 2019, is perhaps a sharper course correction than many. Discovery has had a tumultuous behind-the-scenes journey: the original showrunner quit partway through season 1, and his replacements were, in turn, fired partway through season 2, replaced by series co-creator Alex Kurtzman. Even without this behind-the-scenes knowledge, the transformation is visible on screen. A greater emphasis on traditional Star Trek optimism has replaced the first season’s grimness, even if a strong focus on action remains. Constant affirmations of camaraderie have replaced the antagonism within the main cast. Fans often criticized the first season for its lack of adherence to earlier continuity, especially visually; the second season is replete with references, especially to the original Star Trek (1966–69) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–99), and it massages or eliminates many of season 1’s discontinuities.
     Like season 1, season 2 is noteworthy for its attempts to balance the “new” and the “old” of a long-running franchise. Significantly, season 2 makes heavy use of continuity elements from the original Star Trek series. Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), the USS Enterprise’s captain from the original unaired pilot (“The Cage”), assumes command of the Discovery. Spock (Ethan Peck) also joins the main cast; other characters from the original pilot also appear. The Enterprise characters wear the bright, primary-color uniforms associated with the original Star Trek, rather than the drab blue ones introduced in Discovery.

You can read the rest here (the link should take you right to it, but if not, it begins on page 70).

Issue #329 is a soft relaunch for the Review, featuring a new visual design, a new logo, color, and more. It also includes news of who won the SFRA's 2019 awards, and reviews of recent sf films and sf criticism, including critical studies of Madeleine L'Engle and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Check it out!