While the show’s reception has been largely positive, ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ has been greeted with its share of controversy within the fan community. Some have been unhappy with the portrayal of the Klingons, others with the show’s sometimes loose relationship to the franchise’s established continuity. Still, others have taken issue with specific narrative choices, such as the decision to jump directly into a war story or the establishment of Michael Burnham as Spock’s heretofore unmentioned adoptive sister.
None of this is exactly out of the ordinary. In fact, this isn’t even the first time we’ve written about fan reaction to the show. Hell, it’s not even the first time this week. Fans, after all, are nothing if not opinionated and this is especially the case for a group as notoriously passionate as ‘Star Trek’ fans. It’s the sort of thing that can be both a blessing and a curse for the creative powers that be.
But what does the show’s cast make of this fan criticism? It is, after all, their work that fans are picking over with a fine-toothed comb. Well, two of the show’s stars have addressed exactly that issue. First up is Shazad Latif, who plays security officer Ash Tyler. Latif takes what you might call a zen approach:
“When we make it I’m enjoying what we’re doing and the rest we don’t have any power over. It’s like a painting, if people don’t like it then they don’t like it. We can’t really do much about that.”
And then there’s the captain himself. Jason Isaacs, who plays Gabriel Lorca, takes a longer view, noting that every ‘Star Trek’ series has had some measure of backlash. And he’s not wrong. Whether it’s the… uninspired first season of ‘The Next Generation’ or the outright dismissal that ‘Enterprise’ so often faced, it sometimes takes a while for a new show to not only hit its stride but to find its audience. Isaacs couples this knowledge with an attitude that seems to treat fan critique as a challenge unto in its own right. In point of fact, it’s a challenge he seems to relish:
“I thought it was just a sign of how unbelievably passionate and protective they were of this legacy, and before we were on the air they were reacting to a trailer or something, micro-analyzing every frame of it. Now that we’re on, I’m a bit disappointed that the dissent has died down. I liked when people were outraged by things, and mostly everyone’s loving it all over the world now. I seek out those people who are upset because they’re always more passionate, first in line to watch it and first to hit the internet afterward. They’re probably more die-hard fans than anybody else. Every new series that came alond was hated instinctually by everybody and slowly they were won over. I think we’ve won them over. Quickly, which is a bit of a shame.”
Where do you stand on the differences of opinion surrounding ‘Star Trek: Discovery’? What do you make of the cast’s attitudes on the subject? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for more ‘Star Trek’ news as it becomes available!
‘Star Trek: Discovery’, which stars Sonqua Martin-Green, Jason Isaacs, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Shazad Latif, and Mary Wiseman, airs exclusively via the CBS All Access streaming service. The series is currently on a midseason break, and will return on January 7, 2018.
