I was bored this afternoon and began running through what Discovery would be if I were the one in charge of the project, given what's been confirmed by the executives. (Some of this stuff I wouldn't do, but since they've already said they are doing it, I had to work with it)
Mission: Tarsus IV.
It's been stated that the mission that the 1st Season of Discovery is going to revolve around was mentioned in TOS. But they did not go any further except to say that it is NOT Axanar. Given the timeframe for Discovery, I believe that the event is the starvation and execution of the colonists on Tarsus IV. Discovery is said to be about 20 years prior to TOS, and that puts Kevin Riley at around 5 or 6 years old during Discovery, which is old enough to be able to recognize Kodos.
Episode 1: The catastrophe.
The Discovery is on some routine mission, a planetary survey. During this time, we're starting to get introduced to the characters. We'd get maybe 20 or 30 minutes of information on the characters, the ship, the mission. After that it cuts to Tarsus IV, and whatever happens to knock out the food supply. Discovery gets an emergency return to Starbase order, and the crew gets filled in on their new mission while they are en route, we get their reactions, especially to the fact that they are 8 weeks away, and they are the closest ship. At the end of the episode, it cuts back to Tarsus IV, and a small Starfleet outpost there, where Cadet James Kirk, and about a dozen other officers are on site, doing what they can to clean up, and realizing, that they are in just as much trouble as the colonists. (For this role, I would love to see Chris Pine play it, but it might be too small of a role for him to consider, as bad of a Captain Kirk Pine made, he did make a fine Cadet Kirk)
Episode 2-5: Taking on Supplies and pushing the ship to her limits.
Because of what the executives want to do, this is unfortunately what I see this entire series being. Less on the science and exploration and more on the interpersonal relations of the crew, reacting to the crisis, and the stress that it's putting on the ship. (I personally do not think that this will work, but we can give them a shot at it) The crew will be pushing the ship to her theoretical limits, and beyond, knowing that each day they can cut off their transit to the planet could save hundreds of lives. But it's a strain on the crew, and the ship, and the crew is trying its best to hold the ship together. Meanwhile, the situation on Tarsus IV continues to degrade, the Starfleet outpost has given the colonists their food supplies, but its becoming clear to everyone, that if help doesn't come soon, people are going to start dying.
Episode 6: The Enterprise.
After 4 straight weeks of rather boring episodes of the crew holding the ship together. The Discovery takes a brief break to rest its strained Warp Coils, and take on supplies gathered by Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) and the Enterprise. Not only is this a break in the monotony, but its a chance to see the majestic lady herself on the screen again. Cameos by Bruce Greenwood and Zachary Quinto fill the episode while the Enterprise unloads its cargo onto the Discovery. Afterwards the Enterprise goes on her way, taking on a mission that only a Constitution Class Starship can handle. And the Discovery continues her mission to Tarsus IV. On Tarsus IV, Kodos unveils his plan for saving the colony. "What would a Vulcan do here? Kill some so that the others may live."
Episode 7: Rounding up.
On Tarsus IV, Kodos begins rounding up the half of the colonists that have been determined by his cabinet to having the least productive abilities and the lowest survivable traits. The elderly, the sick and weak are chosen. The strongest, and the children are allowed to live. The Starfleet outpost catches wind of the plan, they try to intervene, but are killed in a firefight, leaving Kirk and only a couple of survivors to try to hide some of the condemned. Meanwhile, upgrades from the Enterprise have gotten the Discovery pushing her limits even further. They've cut the time to get to Tarsus IV by over a week.
Episode 8: Kodos the Executioner
On Tarsus IV, Kodos announces to the Colony what he's about to do, giving the speech that is repeated in "The Conscious of the King", at which point his loyalists commit the slaughter. Kirk and the remaining Starfleet officers, watch in horror as the deed is mercifully done. No further communications from Tarsus IV are allowed out, unless it comes directly from the office of the Governor. The crew of the Discovery is upbeat about the progress they are making, knowing that the 10 days they've been able to shave off their travel time, could have saved a thousand lives, not realizing what has just transpired on the planet.
Episode 9: Coming to Terms.
As much as Kodos tried to rationalize his decision, it was the logical decision. He wasn't Vulcan enough to be immune from the consequences of it. He knows that the people died so that the others could live, but he's becoming increasingly distressed, and some of his loyalists have already committed suicide over what had to be done. Discovery, begins to grow puzzled over the lack of communications from the planet, especially from the lack of Starfleet communiques. They are still getting the official messages from the Governor's office, but the general chatter from the civilian lines are gone, and the Starfleet outpost is completely silent. They know though, that they are only a couple days away, and these new questions will be answered soon.
Episode 10-11: Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?
Discovery drops out of Warp at the edge of the system and begins its approach to the surface. Fully expecting to be bombarded by pleas for help and thank yous for arriving, they arrive to an automated message: approach course approved, Welcome to Tarsus IV. Were they too late? On the surface, Kodos notices the approaching starship, and fully comes to terms with what he's done, and now how unnecessary it really was. Riots break out in the streets upon the arrival of the Discovery, Kirk takes charge of the few remaining Starfleet personnel and assists the colonists in overrunning the remaining loyalists. During the assault of the Capitol complex, Kodos slips out and assumes the identity of one of the colonists that was killed, the capitol building catches fire during the assault.
Episode 12-13: Picking up the pieces.
The arrival of the Discovery and the distribution of supplies has quelled the riots. As the Discovery personnel comb through the wreckage of the capitol building, they believe that they find the body of Kodos. They have arrested the few surviving loyalists, and begin piecing together what happened on the planet. Cadet Kirk is one of two survivors of the Starfleet contingent. He is given a special commendation for his actions on Tarsus IV and returns to the Academy. The special commendation will ultimately allow him to graduate from the Academy as a full Lieutenant, and fast-track him through his career. Meanwhile, the Discovery has to deal with the fallout, including relocating survivors who no longer wish to remain on Tarsus IV, including an orphaned Kevin Riley.
So that's it in a nutshell. While I know that some people might cringe at the thought of using JJ-actors to portray their prime universe counterparts. I do believe that the three of them, plus Karl Urban and Zoe Saldana were the good castings. My reservations on Chris Pine as James T. Kirk only really applies to him as Captain Kirk. I think he made an excellent Cadet Kirk. I also think that Quinto played a very good Spock, and only being on the screen for part of an episode, I'd rather not find yet another actor to play him. Bruce Greenwood as Captain Pike was honestly the ONLY reason I watched the 2009 movie in the first place.
Again, it's all speculation. It's what I would do if I were in charge of the story arc. I don't know how well the format they chose to go with will play out, if it can survive the first 5 episodes, I think this could be a good season, if it played out the way I wrote it above. I just question whether or not it can survive it. One of the things that I would really like them to explore in this series, if they do nothing else, is give the universe a sense of scale! Far too often the scripts call for Warp 2, or Warp 7. And far too often it seems like the numbers are just chosen at random. The travel time to Kronos in Enterprise. Janeway calling to go investigate a dozen dead Borg Cubes 10 Light Years away at "Warp 2"! Ok... if you want to take a year to get there... The Federation is vast, in the 24th Century its over 10,000 light years, well, lets see it start taking a bit of time to get from point A to point B!
Topic: Discovery (Read 11822 times)