#they really did very little to show us what’s become of worf as an individual

[milfleeta]

worf pulling strings behind the scenes to help raffi reconnect with her estranged son could’ve been so much better if the writers had just… remembered alexander and drawn parallels between both worf and raffi having children who essentially went no contact for a period of time, as well as given us some insight how worf’s personal life has changed over the years and yet. here we are.

[ploppythespaceship]

My Hopes for Picard Season 2

Have some rambly writing while I practice social distancing! Under the cut are my ideas of things I would like to see in the second season of Star Trek: Picard.

More of Laris and Zhaban.

These were two excellent characters that felt somewhat underused -- Zhaban in particular, as Laris got most of the important scenes and dialogue. Their backstory is only really given in the comics, and I’d love to see it explored properly in an actual episode. Either let them join the crew, or give an episode actually devoted to them. Perhaps some former Tal Shiar connections hunt them down, and the La Sirena crew must protect them? I don’t know, but there’s a lot of potential there.

Consequences for Picard’s android body.

Putting Picard’s consciousness into the android body was rather predictable, and seemed a deus ex machina ending for him to simply escape his terminal condition scot-free. He’s essentially the same as he was, and nothing has changed. I would love to see season 2 actually give us drawbacks for this decision. Maybe his android body has some quirks he wasn’t expect. Maybe he breaks down, or someone can hack his programming. Just allow for this major decision to be a defining point of his character going forward, not a snap fix where everything is magically the same.

More xBs.

The xBs were built up as such a good plot point, a group of people to support and rally behind, but then hardly got to do anything. I’d love to see more xBs in season 2, get to know more of them personally, experience their struggles re-integrating into society, and watch characters like Picard and Seven step in to directly help them adjust.

Justice for Hugh.

Hugh’s death was by far the most hated plot point of the season (at least with everyone I’ve spoken to). To bring back this character, make him into someone so warm and wise and instantly lovable, only to kill him off in such a shocking yet underwhelming way -- it’s deeply unfair and honestly harmed the story more than it helped. I’m not saying they should just snap their fingers and bring him back -- they did it with Culber in Discovery season 2, and imho it didn’t work at all -- but if there is a way to organically bring him back and weave him into the story once more, I welcome it. If that’s not possible, then let his presence and death hold greater weight so that he can be given greater meaning at least retroactively.

Consequences for Agnes.

Agnes’s murder of Bruce Maddox was rather brushed aside in the finale, and I don’t think that’s something to be forgotten so easily. I feel the characters should be much less reluctant to trust her, and she should be reluctant to trust herself. I hope to see her explored further in season 2, rather than simply brushing the whole thing aside.

Less Data.

Don’t get me wrong -- I love Data. He’s one of my all time favorite Star Trek characters. But he took over this season, and not always in a good way. The focus was often on him and his legacy, at the expense of other characters both past and present. He was shoehorned into the finale in the strangest way, and personally, his second death scene had absolutely no weight because of that. Brent Spiner says he’s done with the part, and I hope it sticks this time, because as much as I will miss him, Data’s time is done. Let him rest. (I also never want to hear Blue Skies ever again. We’ve done it to death now. Literally.)

More returning characters (and storylines).

While I don’t want past characters taking up all the screentime, I would like to see more coming back. Season 1 felt odd at times when Picard really should have called on old friends like Geordi, Worf, or Beverly for help, and instead he called on new characters the audience had never seen before. There’s a wealth of past characters to bring here -- the most obvious choices being the rest of TNG’s cast. But there’s also Voyager’s cast, which would work well with Seven of Nine. And we can’t forget Deep Space Nine’s cast! There’s much potential to bring back old characters in new ways, and while the thought does make me nervous, for the most part I respect the decisions made for returning characters and generally trust them with the rest.

More development for Narek.

Boy band Romulan here was tragically underdeveloped, only really becoming interesting in the finale when he began playing more of a wild card role. It’s clear there’s much more potential with his character than what they’ve seen, and I’d love to see him continue that unpredictable role with unsure allegiances. Perhaps even a redemption arc? I’m not sure exactly what I want from him, really. Just more than what we’ve been given so far.

More development for Soji.

I don’t think Soji is a bad character. I just think she was sadly underwritten. I can tell you all about what she is, but not who she is. What are her interests? Her motivations? What drives her as a person? I frankly have no idea. The writers have made the mistake of thinking that giving her a mystery is the same as giving her a personality. That needs to be fixed. While it’s easy to pin some of the blame on Isa Briones, I don’t think she’s really a bad actress. She just has so little to work with.

More Elnor.

No character in the series is as tragically sidelined as Elnor. After his introduction episode, he essentially tags along for the rest of the plot, watching as the other characters do everything. You could write him out of the series entirely with very little effort. And it makes me sad because he’s a great character! I want to see him take part in driving the plot next season, and focus further on him as a character.

More Seven of Nine.

Seven was absolutely fantastic in season 1. It was implied that she’s joining La Sirena’s crew, and I’d love her to be a main character next season. There’s clearly much more to her story to explore, including her guilt at now being a killer. And as I said above, I’d like to see Voyager characters return. Imagine seeing Seven opposite Janeway! Or Tuvok! Or the Doctor! It’d be so good.

More holograms, and hologram rights issues.

Rios’s holo-squad grew on me a lot as the series progressed, and I’d like to see even more holograms aside from them. This season focused so heavily on android rights, while largely ignoring the same issues in holograms despite the obvious parallels. Voyager started a trajectory of discussing whether holograms were sentient, primarily with the Doctor, and this series is poised to continue that same issue. You could even bring back those very characters, and let the Doctor, Zimmerman, and Barclay chime in on the issue. It’s a plot point ripe for the picking.

Less serialization.

Full serialization is not a bad thing. There are many shows that pull it off near flawlessly. But I don’t think it’s necessarily the right choice for Star Trek. Letting episodes stand on their own to focus on more individualized plots allows for a greater wealth of storytelling and puts the focus primarily on the characters. This season felt a bit unbalanced at times as it tried to tie all the characters and sideplots together into one, but a more episodic approach would largely negate these issues. There should absolutely be a flow between episodes, and perhaps even a build to a grander finale, but overall I think a slightly more segmented style of storytelling would ultimately be the better one.

More Federation nuance.

One of my biggest gripes with season 1 was its portrayal of the Federation. While I do like taking a harder look at the Federation’s mistakes, especially from such a beloved StarFleet officer like Picard, the show did take a pretty sharp turn from showing the Federation as a perfect utopia to showing them as selfish cowards who put fear before compassion. But it’s a complex organization with complex issues. Picard’s conversation with Clancy implied that there were valid political reasons to withdraw from Romulus, even if it wasn’t necessarily the humanitarian thing to do. I would love to see it explored further, without falling so heavily on one side or the other. The Federation is ultimately trying to be a force for good, but it’s certainly a flawed organization that can cause harm if it isn’t careful. Different characters may have very different views of it, and different levels of what nonsense they are willing to tolerate from it. It’s certainly a hard line to balance in storytelling, but it can be done -- Deep Space Nine did it damn near flawlessly. Be more like Deep Space Nine, Picard.

And that’s all I’ve got for now!

If you actually made it all the way down here, thanks for reading <3

[calliecat93]

ST: TNG S5 Watchthrough Episodes 22-25

Imaginary Friend: An officer is concerned about his daughter, Clara, having an imaginary friend as he worries that she’s not making real friends. Troi assures him that it’s not an issue and perfectly innocent and will fade as she settles and makes real friends… except her friend Isabella isn’t quite as imaginary as everyone believes. Or at least she was imaginary… until a ball of light alien got on board and took up becoming Isabella. What is it with this show and alien balls of light that causes problems?! So when I read the description, I was expecting to dislike it going off the summary alone. Like I said with Hero Worship, this feels more like an episode you’d see in a children's show. Which things go exactly as I’d expect in this kind of episode, the not-to-imaginary-friend causes problems that get the other kid into trouble and wreaks havoc. Kinda like that one Powerpuff Girls episode Imaginary Fiend, only we get to see the imaginary friend she she is far creepier than Patches was. I just feel bad for Clara. She’s a sweet little girl who's both lonely and due to Isabella getting them into trouble or made to do things she otherwise wouldn’t do. Isabella comes off as one of those toxic friends who bullies and pressures the others into doing things they know they shouldn’t do and oh golly is that relatable no matter the age. This episode is just cute. Not overly-so, we still have the Problem of the Week courtsey of Isabella, but still they managed to make what would otherwise be a childish or horrifying episode depending on how they played it into something cute without overdoing it. I can imagine this being a good one for adult ST fans to watch with their young kids. It made me think back to when I was that age for sure. I was very much the kind of kid who tried to listen to my parents/grown-ups, but it didn’t alway work out and I did get shifted around to different schools for a bit (finally settled on one by First Grade) so I could relate to Clara on that level. Like I said, just a nice, easy to watch episode and one that I think kid viewers can relate to. 3/5.

I Borg: Yep folks, we’re finally checking in on the Borg again. So here’s a scenario: as we know, the Borg are all part of one collective hive mind, tight? Well… what happens when one becomes seperate from that collective? Well in this episode, the crew find one of the Borg on an Away Mission who had crashed onto a planet. While pretty much everyone else wants to leave him as dead, Crusher refuses and has him brought onto the ship for treatment with Geordi assigned to observe him. Needless to say, as this is the first showing on the Borg since The Best of Both Worlds, the effects of that episode still run deep. Picard is still traumatized and haunted by what the Borg did to him and while he tries to keep it internalized, he’s… not handeling having a Borg on board well. Thia includes making a plan to essentially infect the Bog an send him to poison the entire collecive. Yep, Picard is planning genocide with Crusher being the only one against this plan, though Geordi later sides with her. Even Guinan is all for it. It’s understandable due to what happened to Picard and the viewpoint that the Borg are essetially mindless drones… but Dear Lord that’s messed up. This does allow some more exploration for the Borg. As it turns out the one they rescued is named Hugh, and he’s actually not a bad guy at all. He’s a very curious, almost child-like being and as Crusher and Geordi interact with him, it’s clear that he’s formed a sense of individuality to the point of not wanting to rejoin the collective. He’s not even being malicious with the asimilation threats, he legit doesn’t realize that it’s a bad thing, and is open to explaining how things work and let them examine his parts.

This was an excellent episode. I’ve been wondering if they’d show the Borg again, and not only did they but they took a fantastic approach. The themes of individuality, assimilation, and humanity are very well done. While I morally disagree with Picard’s plan, I fully understand why he feels that way and not even just due to trauma. The Borg will keep assimilating and assimilating until nothin is left… but is it right for us to eradicate them? Hugh shows that they can develop the concept of individuality and as the others interact with him, they find that they can’t go through with it. Even Picard, when acting as Locoutus to test Hugh, finds that indeed he can’t go through with it. Which makes the ending even sadder when Hugh chooses to go back to not endanger the Enterprise. There’s a brief hint that he retained his individuality as he’s taken away while Geordi watches… but it’s still just so sad. Hugh is great and he hdeserved better dang it! But yeah, I really enjoyed this one. In fact, it may be late in the seaosn, but I think that we finally got one deserving of a perfect score~! Yay~!!! 5/5.

The Next Phase: When assisting a damaged Romulan vessel, Geordi and Ro get lost during transport. Well… now you see why McCoy and Pulaski hated the things. They are assumed dead… but of course one of the mains and a regular reccuring character aren’t going to be offed like that unless their name is Tasha Yar. They’re alive, but to put it simply, they’re ghosts. They can see everyone else, but no one can see them nor can they physically interact with anything except each other. I guess this is what Kirk was going through from his POV in The Tholian Web XD Ro is convinced that they’re legit dead while Geordi thinks that something else is going on. There’s some really nice, somber moments here. Data askin to conduct the memorial service, Ro thanking Picard even if he can’t see/hear her, Data and Worf discussing how best to present the service and Data talking about how Geordi accepted him… it’s some really nice stuff here. Ro’s reactiont o Riker wanting to do a eulogy for her was also amusing XD Anyways, I don’t understand the science behind what happened, but it was fun to see Geordi and Ro work together and piece it all together. The fight between Ro and te bad guy was also cool and also hilarious. You’d have to see it to get why XD But yeah, another solid episode with a fun plot, nice character moments, and a cool dynamic with Ro and Geordi. Also Data’s way of conducitng a memorial service and Ro and Geordi’s respective reactions? Perfect. 4/5.

The Inner Light: Picard passes out… and wakes up with his wife concerning leaning over him. Picard is now Kamin and he is in a village where everyone seems to know who he is. He’s understandably confused but goes along with it, and it soon becomes normal life for him. We all know Picard by now. He’s serious, focused, diplomatic, and married to his job. He gave up any chance at a normal, domestic life when he signed up for Starfleet and he never looked back. In this episode, he is given the chance to have that life. He clings to his Starfleet ambitions at first… but he ends up investing in this new life. He has a wife. He had children. He’s part of a pretty tight-knit community. Picard gets the life that he claimed that he never wanted, and finds that maybe that’s not quite true. To the Enterprise, whose left with Picard’s unconscious body, it’s mere moments. For Picard? It’s for 30 years. He even goes through having grandchildren for goodness sake! It’s an interesting episode with some strong emotional moments, such as Picard’s wife dying and the ending of the episode. It’s one of Patrick Stewart’s best performances for sure, and that’s saying a lot! Mind you… considering that it isn’t real it kinda muddies the impact up a bit and the probe putting Picard through that while I understand the reason… is pretty shitty. Did Picard REALLY need a second mass trauma?! Though I supposed it was very much real to Picard. How do you go back to life as it was after that? He’ll certainly carry the memory of those people forever, as the ending signifies. God that ending… I was doing alright until then, and that’s when I finally started tearing up. One heck of an episode for sure. 4/5.

Alright folks one more episode to go along with the S6 premiere and S5 will be done~! We’re so close to finally finishing the series~! Yay for accomplishment~!!!

[theprocrastinatingalien]

Star Trek: Discovery - Which characters will survive to see Season 2?  (Plus a compelling fan theory)

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the first five episodes of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY.

We are just five episodes in, with ten to go.  Only four more before the Christmas break.  It’s probably a little early to be predicting the show’s second season - we don’t even know if there’ll definitely be a second season!  But it’s always fun to speculate.

So, this is my question - which of the main cast will still be main for the second season?

Historically, there aren’t many changes in the main casts of the Trek series.  In the Original Series, Deforest Kelley (McCoy) was promoted to the opening credits for the second season.  The Next Generation had the most changes, along the way losing Denise Crosby (Yar) and Wil Wheaton (Wesley) and firing Gates McFadden (Crusher) after the first season, only to reinstate her in the third.  For Deep Space Nine, Michael Dorn (Worf) was added in the fourth season, and after Terry Farrell (Jadzia) left in season six, she was replaced by Nicole deBoer (Ezri Dax) for the final season.   Voyager suffered just a straight exchange, replacing Jennifer Lien’s Kes for Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine.  Enterprise, however, stands as the only Trek series to leave it’s principal cast unchanged over it’s run.  Rumours that Jeffrey Combs’ Andorian Shran was to be promoted in the fifth season were sadly never realised.

But here, STAR TREK: DISCOVERY is a different kind of Trek.  We’re now in 2017, and the writers are very aware of popular series, where the trend is not to save your main cast, but to constantly put them in jeopardy.  Adventure is all the more exciting when you don’t know for certain if your favourite characters will make it out alive.  Series such as 24, THE WALKING DEAD and GAME OF THRONES, relish in killing off several main players each series… and the fans lap it up.

Apparently, we can expect the same from DISCOVERY, but only time will tell just how brave the writers are going to be.  I mean, we have had a number of deaths already, but they were- mostly - signposted…

Captain Philippa Georgiou.

Let’s be honest, did we think Michelle Yeoh’s character was ever going to survive?  Billed as the commanding officer of the USS Shenzhou, the fact she wasn’t the captain of the USS Discovery itself didn’t point to a happy end.  As predicted by many, Georgiou was killed in the second episode.  Now, her name was on the opening titles, but with the billing of ‘special guest star’, longevity wasn’t really wasn’t on the cards.  She has made an appearance since, via a holographic message, and we can expect future appearances - presumably in flashbacks, but possible also as part of the mirror universe(?).  The fact Georgiou was eaten by the Klingons (EATEN!!!!) Yeoh is never going to be a regular on the show.

Ensign Danby Connor

Actor Sam Vartoholomeos was announced early on, and it wasn’t clear whether his Ensign Connor would be a regular character or not. Sadly, one of the trailers actively showed him being killed, which took away the surprise when it happened in the show.  At least Ensign Connor can claim to be the first 'speaking role’ to be definitively killed off in DISCOVERY.

T'Kuvma

The cult leader, aiming to bring together the twenty-four houses of the Klingons.  Chris Obi was deemed to have a very important role… but T'Kuvma was killed by lead Michael Burnham just after killing Captain Georgiou. I’d say this was probably the first actual surprise death of the series.   But still, he wasn’t on the opening titles, so the chances of his longevity was already in doubt.

Commander Ellen Landry

This is an interesting one.  Not a particularly surprising one… other than how quickly Landry was dealt with.  Like the majority of the Discovery crew, she wasn’t introduced until the third episode.  The Chief of security (and I’d guess at second officer judging by her closeness to Captain Lorca), she wasn’t the nicest of people.  There’s was something shady about her.   Again, considering she’s the first crew member of Discovery we’re introduced to, and seemingly pretty important, with a bridge crew role, the fact she wasn’t included on the opening credits implied she wasn’t going to be around for too long.  Add to that we knew Shazad Latif’s Ash Tyler was coming in to be a security officer, and his name IS on the credits… the ONLY surprise, I guess… is that she died in only her second episode?!  Possibly a waste of Rekha Sharma, but a crowd pleasing moment - I don’t think Landry had many fans.

As noted, the above four characters are all missing from the opening titles.  Realistically, in all series, recurring and guest stars can be seen as cannon fodder.  A brave series will not shy away from killing off those named as main cast.   Which is why I’m going to predict which of the six DISCOVERY main players will survive until the show’s potential second year.

Michael Burnham

The producers have admitted they found it very difficult to cast Burnham, and were lucky to get THE WALKING DEAD star Sonequa Martin-Green.  Originally Bryan Fuller’s plan was to make an anthology series, with each season taking place in a different time period.  That would have been exciting, and I wouldn’t have minded that at all, but at the same time, it’s nice to build up a familiarity with the cast, watching them grow, both as individuals and as a team.  Anthology series miss that. Show bosses decided to veto that idea and a second season of DISCOVERY will see characters follow on… I have no real doubt that Burnham will still be the lead.  Too much as been made of the fact she’s a black female lead, to have her side lined.  Even if the series becomes more ensemble focussed, I’m sure Burnham will be a strong part of it.   I presume she’ll be entirely redeemed from her 'Mutineer’ status, and expect her to be reinstated, with a new rank and position. Whilst I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up as a Captain in time, I think the second season will be a little soon.  Maybe Executive Officer?  Maybe the Science officer?  Depends on who the commanding officer is (see below).   The only thing, and really the only thing, that could get in the way of Burnham’s presence in future seasons is that pesky word 'canon’.  She has never been mentioned anywhere else in Treklore… and whilst that’s understandable (Discovery hadn’t been created yet!) the writers might feel the need to keep her a secret from the record books… I don’t think so, though.  I predict Burnham will be our lead for as long as the series runs… be that one, two or seven seasons.

Captain Gabriel Lorca

In every other Trek series, the commanding officer has been our lead, the audience entry point into the story.  Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway and Archer, all heroes.  DISCOVERY is unique in that the main character is a lower level Starfleet officer. This mean’s the commanding officer can be… something different.  Captain Lorca is definitely something different.  Shrouded in mystery, already his attitude and actions are questionable and unlike those commanding officers names above. I like it. Lorca is interesting.  We don’t know what his motives are, not really.  He can keep secrets from us in a way the others couldn’t.   Jason Isaac’s doesn’t have a habit of playing heroes, more likely a villain.  Is Lorca a villain?  Or is Discovery playing with shades of grey?  Probably the latter, but that doesn’t discount the former.   Isaac’s has stated that he didn’t sign on until he was told Lorca’s entire arc.  I’ll say that again - entire arc.  To me that suggests Lorca won’t be a regular character come the show’s second season.  I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the last episode of season one, see’s Lorca, fully revealed as a villain and ultimately his demise.   However, I’d like to suggest something else.   I don’t know if we’ll ever fully know, or be able to call Lorca a 'hero’ or 'villain’.  He might be justified in his actions.  Or at least, justified in himself, even if not to others.  I do not see him continuing as a regular, certainly not as the commanding officer of the USS Discovery.  What I’d like to see, is Lorca to 'do a Krycek’.  In THE X FILES, the second season introduced a new partner for Mulder in the form of wet-behind-the-ears agent Alex Krycek.  He turned out to be a villain, but rather than kill him off, they had him run off and become one of those interesting rogue players, out for himself, shifting loyalties as he saw fit.  He’d pop up over future series, and you’d be guaranteed  that if the credits featured actor Nicholas Lea, the episode was going to be a big important one.  That’s the kind of role I’d love for Lorca.

Commander Saru

Actor Doug Jones has stated he’d love to see Saru’s homeplanet, or more people from his species in the second season.  That sounds like Saru might be around for it!  In some respects, I think Saru is the safest character for a return.  He’s the show’s only regular alien.  They created him from the ground up, and they’ll likely want to keep him.  If not for those reasons alone, then because Saru is already becoming a fan favourite, despite limited screen time.   We’ve already seen him promoted from a Lt. Commander science officer, to a first officer, and his relationship with Burnham is… complicated.  Complicated is good.  Whilst I have no doubt Saru will still be alive, what his function will be is less clear.  If I’m right about Lorca moving on/dying, Saru is the next in line to be the commanding officer.  We’ve already seen him in that position after Lorca was captured by the Klingon’s. In theory, Saru could become our first regular alien captain.  (Spock didn’t become a captain until the movies). That, in turn, would allow for Burnham to be installed as his first officer. An interesting way to continue their relationship. However, I predict something else. I reckon the showrunners will bring in a new captain.  Maybe with another 'name’ in the role, to get in new interest?  I predict a new captain, with Saru continuing as the first officer.  This would also keep Burnham further away from the captain’s chair, which is possibly the best thing for the series at this point.  

Lieutenant Paul Stamets

Stamets’ is a tricky one.  He’s a science officer, not an engineer, but is essentially the chief engineer on the USS Discovery. That’s because the ship was built entirely around Stamets’ work on the spore drive.  Now, we know that the spore drive is doomed to failure.  We know that because if it was a success every ship made after it would use it.  Enterprise’s D & E, the USS Defiant, the USS Voyager… but none of them do.  That says it all.  Discovery will likely be the only ship (RIP the USS Glenn) to use the spore drive… and we’re not entirely certain how long it will be able to continue to use it.  Either way, Stamets’ role is very linked to it.  No Spore drive, and probably no use for Stamets.    Episode 5 saw Stamets link himself to the drive and something odd has happened to him.  He saw the universe, and our last image of him was his 'delayed’ mirror image.  This might well tie in somehow to the mirror universe, but might be more personal to Stamets. I have no idea what Stamets’ storyline will be from here on in, and that makes it hard to predict whether he’ll stick around for season two.  I’m going out on a limb and say, yes.  I think the Discovery will continue to use the spore drive in future seasons, or a version of him.  Maybe with Stamets 'plugged in’… but I believe Stamets will continue in his Engineer/Science role.  They could shift him to a more straight forward science position of course, but I’ll edge away from that.

Question/Theory.  Whilst everyone is suggesting Stamets may now be something to do with the Mirror universe, I’ll just pose the question… do we know how the Q Continuum was created?  Could Stamets be the start? He has access to the entire universe, after all… (If he is, then no, I doubt he’d be a regular in season two… but it’s a fun question to ask).

Cadet Sylvia Tilly

Ah, Tilly.  The first character in Trek to drop the F-bomb.  Her place in History is now secure.  She young, and unsure… but she has ambition.  She might be annoying to a few, but to many she’s a comedic character, adding light to the shade.  She is supposedly a talented engineer and this is something to watch out for.  I believe she might end up the chief engineer should Stamets move on… or, and this is what I predict, she’ll work with Stamets to sort the spore drive - for the time being, anyway.   I did consider she might have been put in to win the audience over, be the ultimate likable one, before getting killed off by Lorca or something to cement an 'aww’ factor.  But the more I watch, the more I think, we’ll see Tilly change, and grow.  We’ll see her progress through the ranks.  I’m expecting Ensign Tilly to head up the Engine room with Lieutenant Stamets in season two.

Lieutenant Ash Tyler

Our last regular character… but one which is surrounded by a very interesting fan theory.  One I’m totally behind.   I, like many, believe that Tyler is in fact the Klingon Voq, surgically altered to look human.  There’s so much evidence to support this… both in the story, and in real life/behind the scenes.  If this is true, then expect Lorca’s pet tribble to out his cunning plan in the last third of the season… and that mean’s Tyler’s role will be done.  I don’t see Voq/Tyler continuing into season two. Probably killed by Burnham in the season one finale.

Haven’t heard the Tyler/Voq theory?  Behold the evidence:

In episode 4, L'Rell (Mary Chieffo) offers Voq a visit to her matriarch or spies but it’ll cost him… 'everything’.  Episode 5, Tyler has been in a Klingon prison cell, on L'Rell’s ship, and look’s surprisingly spritely. She also has a thing for him.  He’s been on the ship for seven months.  But we know (from the previous episode) she’s been with Voq stranded on T'Kuvma’s ship for the first six months of the war.  The story doesn’t check out.  In real life, actor Shazad Latif (who has been credited on the titles since episode one, but has only just appeared in episode 5) was originally announced as a Klingon back in December.  Months later he was reannounced as Ash Tyler.  We know he was about for filming back in the early episodes (he was out on the town with co-stars… check their social media).  The description of his character was a protégé to T'Kuvma - a description that certainly fits the Voq character.  His character may have been named Kol, and we now know Kenneth Mitchell plays Kol, and opposing Klingon presence… and finally, you try googling the 'actor’ credited for Voq. You will only see one credit, and it’ll be Voq.  Basically, Shazad Latif plays Voq, has been there since the beginning, and this explains a lot. 

It’s actually quite clever, and I think many fans will welcome this plot twist if we’re correct. It works on many levels.  We know, in the TOS era, Klingon’s should look human, but there was no real way for a 2017 series to 'do’ one of those Klingon’s.  But look at Latif.  The colour of his skin, the black goatee… he’s a pretty good fit for a modern take on the Human looking Klingons.  It also gives a practical explanation for the new look Klingons.  The new mask-type makeup on the Klingons allow a complete change of identity.  You can’t tell what the actor looks like under the Voq makeup.  Imagine the character with Worf-style makeup.  You can clearly make out actors… such as when Avery Brooks and Tim Russ have 'played Klingons’.  For this plot twist to be pulled off, Klingon’s needed a bit of a redesign.  If the theory is right, maybe as fans we can cut the show some slack.

So there we are.  To answer my question - which of the regulars will still be regulars come season two?  Burnham, Saru, Tilly and possibly Stamets.  I don’t believe for a second that either Lorca or Tyler will continue on. 

Furthermore, I think we’ll get a new Captain in… maybe a female one?  I wouldn’t be surprised if Wilson Cruz’ Dr. Culber gets upgraded to regular.  Right now he’s only a supporting player.  This could mean he’s got a bullet with his name on it.  But he does play one half of Trek’s first ever gay couple.  That might be enough to keep him alive, unless Uber-Stamets somehow kills him off in season one? I predict an upgrade though.

What do you think?  Do you believe the Tyler/Voq theory? Will Lorca survive the season?  What’s going on with Stamets?  Will Saru receive another promotion?

Let me know!