History YMMV / StarTrekDiscovery

** The final season's tone and storyline directly addresses the criticisms of past seasons, being more optimistic and light-hearted in tone as the crew of the ''Discovery'' is searching for the lost technology of [[spoiler:The Progenitors from the ''TNG'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E18TheChase The Chase]]"]] while offering stakes that are dangerous (with a pair of thieves out to obtain it for themselves), but not galaxy-ending like with the Klingon War, Control, The Burn, or the DMA.

* UnexpectedCharacter: More like Unexpected Actor, but it's safe to say that few expected the biggest cameo in Season 4 to be [[spoiler:Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Gubernatorial candidate and major voting rights activist]] as the President of Earth.

** The ending to season 2, in which Starfleet and Section 31 [[spoiler:make ''Discovery'' and her crew {{Unperson}}s]], ostensibly for the greater good of the galaxy, seems to argue in favor of [[{{Masquerade}} censorship]]. So much for [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E19TheFirstDuty the first duty]]...

** Commander Landry gets introduced as a tough-as-nails ActionGirl security chief serving Captain Lorca aboard the ''Discovery'', seemingly a SpiritualSuccessor to TNG's [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Tasha Yar]]. ''The very next episode'', Landry suffers a serious case of being handed the IdiotBall and tries to harvest parts from [[MeaningfulName Ripper]], the captive giant tardigrade, without bothering to confirm that the beast is actually sedated or not (and having witnessed what it did to an entire squad of Klingons the previous episode). Cue a swift CruelAndUnusualDeath. And when her Mirror universe counterpart shows up as Lorca's right-hand woman during a coup attempt, ''she too'' in turn doesn't last long before [[spoiler:being blown up aboard the I.S.S. ''Charon'']].

* ContestedSequel: Taken up to eleven, even as the usual reactions to new ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series go. A few of the fans, as well as critics, like ''Discovery'' and hold it as a worthy addition to the franchise, even if it certainly has plenty of room for GrowingTheBeard. Other viewers absolutely loathe the series and rip it relentlessly for failing to live up to the idea of what ''Trek'' should be, to the point of declaring it to be [[FanonDiscontinuity not part of the franchise at all]].

** Mirror-Georgiou. Some fans love her for being ''Discovery'''s [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] TokenEvilTeammate, and of course because EvilIsSexy. Other fans point out that she never really pulled a HeelFaceTurn and hasn't atoned for any of the atrocities she committed as the Terran Emperor, which include [[EarthShatteringKaboom blowing up Qo'noS]] and [[SinkTheLifeboats shooting down Klingon refugees as they tried to escape]], eating Kelpiens as a delicacy, and casually murdering her aides and advisors because HeKnowsTooMuch. The base was further broken with the news that she's due to get her own show, a not-yet-titled series about her adventures in Section 31.

* InformedWrongness: Everybody InUniverse blames Michael Burnham for starting the war with the Klingons. While her actions in the pilot were hardly admirable, in reality, T'Kuvma was using the Federation as a common enemy in a GenghisGambit to reunite the Empire under his rule, so it was virtually inevitable that he would still find ''some'' kind of pretense to start a war regardless. Burnham's incarceration in the brig meant that she never got to deliver a "[[AttackHello Vulcan hello]]" -- and meanwhile, it was ''T'Kuvma'' whose ship fired the first shots in the battle, and who later pulled an ISurrenderSuckers on Admiral Anderson when he arrived to try and defuse the situation. The fact that Burnham was never able to use her "Vulcan Hello" and that Georgiou refused to even give her a chance on the grounds that [[HonorBeforeReason Starfleet does not fire first]] (when it was explicitly pointed out the ''Vulcans'', who are Federation founders, did so) only makes it unclear how T'Kuvma would have reacted had she succeeded. The mere fact that Burnham committed mutiny which coincidentally led towards a war only made her a convenient scapegoat. Even Pike and Spock (the latter of whom was on very bad terms with Michael at the start of the series) don't hold her responsible.

%%** The [[TheEmpire Terran Empire]] and [[EvilIsCool its]] [[EvilIsSexy denizens]] have also been getting this sentiment from their sizable MisaimedFandom.

** No, internet, the brutal [[MirrorUniverse Terran Empire]] is ''not'' the side you should be rooting for, no matter how much EvilIsCool or EvilIsSexy.

** Similarly, for those who felt the [[CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel Kelvin Timeline]] bridge of the ''Enterprise'' was [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks too much of a departure]] from the ''TOS'' design, Pike's version of the ''Enterprise'' achieves the nearly-impossible feat of striking a balance between modern aesthetics of technology and the iconic bridge design by largely keeping the same layout, geometry and even color scheme [[PragmaticAdaptation wherever possible.]] So far, the design seems to have pulled off the nearly-impossible feat of satisfying both ''TOS'' purists and newer fans.

** Season 3 is essentially a do-over for ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', with a single Starfleet crew stuck in hostile territory without any of the Federation's infrastructure or support, and a much more serious depiction of how dire their circumstances are without any ResetButton. Mirror Georgiou's continued presence also acts as a constant challenge to Starfleet's idealism, rather than how the Maquis were instantly absorbed into the crew.

*** Which further begs the question regarding his actions following TheReveal. [[spoiler:Why was he so helpful to ''Discovery'' and her crew despite being a far worse being than the very emperor he was trying to overthrow? Did his time in the Prime Reality break through some of that xenophobic exterior and make him rethink his views until he got home? Was he just really good at hiding who he really was? Did BecomingTheMask play a role and Lorca came to care for ''Discovery'' and her crew as something of a family, and he hoped he could persuade them to help in his cause? Or were they only a means to an end the whole time, and he acted otherwise to keep them from finding out? After all, he had no reason to help them in their war, yet he put ever fiber of his being into making sure they won.]]

* EvilIsSexy: [[MisaimedFandom Plenty of people]] think that Emperor Georgiou is [[SilverFox quite hot]].
* {{Fanon}}: A common dynamic for the “Kirk meets Spock’s sister/Michael meets Spock’s boyfriend” is for those two to become best friends thanks to the similarities between the characters, and to drive Spock nuts.

** A fair number of people were annoyed with the ShoutOut given to Elon Musk in "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry." As Musk increasingly went off the rails in 2022 around his acquisition of Twitter, at least some viewers gleefully pointed out that [[spoiler:this line is spoken by Lorca, who is later revealed to be from the evil mirror universe.]]

* InformedWrongness: Everybody InUniverse blames Michael Burnham for starting the war with the Klingons. While her actions in the pilot were hardly admirable, in reality, T'Kuvma was using the Federation as a common enemy in a GenghisGambit to reunite the Empire under his rule, so it was virtually inevitable that he would still find ''some'' kind of pretense to start a war regardless. Burnham's incarceration in the brig meant that she never got to deliver a "[[AttackHello Vulcan hello]]" -- and meanwhile, it was ''T'Kuvma'' whose ship fired the first shots in the battle, and who later pulled an ISurrenderSuckers on Admiral Anderson when he arrived to try and defuse the situation.

** After Riker pulled a GunshipRescue in the season 1 finales of both ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' and ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'', fans began joking that he'd show up to save ''Discovery'' at the end of season 3, despite that season being set 800 years in the future. [[Film/StarTrekGenerations Hey, he did say he planned to live forever...]]

** After weeks of building up the cause of the decades-long bad blood between Burnham and Spock, it's tremendously underwhelming to find out [[spoiler:it was just a petty childhood argument that anyone with a maturity beyond a five-year-old's would have gotten over long since]].

** Par for the course of ''Star Trek'', but WordOfGod has that the Klingons represent a "fractured contemporary America". Media outlets reported on writer Aaron Harberts allegedly saying the identitarian Klingons who want to preserve their heritage and culture from the danger of the multi-cultural quasi-communist Federation (who they fear will ethnically cleanse them) a were a mirror for modern America are a stand-in for White Nationalists and their slogan "Remain Klingon" is based on [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump "Make America Great Again!"]], however CBS has come out to [[https://www.thewrap.com/star-trek-discovery-klingons/ denied such allegories]].

** The show also inherited the subset of Klingon lovers who conveniently ignore that [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy the Klingon sense of honor]] has rarely if ever corresponded remotely with the Western world's modern definition, such as decrying T'Kuvma for dishonoring a ceasefire, when Worf pointed out in ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine DS9]]'' that, to Klingons, "There is nothing more honorable than victory." (This in response to the Klingons' idea of waiting cloaked near defeated enemy vessels so they can ambush any rescuers. Worf's line was the response when someone asked if that wasn't too underhanded for the supposedly honorable Klingons.) Basically, ''watch'' them and they're ''never'' as huggable as they'd be if they lived up to the KnightInShiningArmor brand of honor. With them, you've gotta remember that there's a less-friendly side to honor, where it's all about social standing. Reputation and not letting insults go unpunished is SeriousBusiness - fail to save face and you're nothing, look good and you're everything. This results in your average Klingon being more concerned with being ''honored'' for winning, and that'll always outrank a sense of fair play. And it's never not been true, to Worf's disillusionment more than once during TNG and [=DS9=]. It seems to be a bit analogous to real-world knights and samurai - the fiction-derived ideal is all fealty and chivalry and respect for a WorthyOpponent and such but the real deal could be {{Jerkass}}es (if well-mannered when it's called for because they don't want to insult someone who can't let that go unpunished less their own honor - that meaning their appearance, their worthiness of their social standing in others' eyes - be sullied) and similarly, there are Klingons as ''Worf'' would like to think of them and then there are Klingons in practice. Fans tend to expect the former and think the writers screwed up when getting the latter.

** "Ripper" is a scaled-up tardigrade [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs on blue acid]], so it lands here by definition. With a large side of NightmareFuel -- because ''scaled-up''.

** The Klingon designs have been criticized by a number of fans due to not resembling their original timeline counterparts: the season 1 makeup makes them hairless and with elongated heads, to say nothing of costuming, compared to either the basically human-looking Klingons of '''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' or the {{rubber forehead|Aliens}}ed HellBentForLeather look they sported in every series from ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration TNG]]'' to ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]''. [[http://www.cinemablend.com/television/1681841/why-star-trek-discoverys-klingons-will-look-different Aaron Harberts initially defended this]] with the argument that they never really had a consistent design in the first place and they belong to different Houses not yet seen in the original series. Their armor in particular drew comparisons to Dark Eldar from ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' and featured questionable designs such as [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/b5/19/93/b51993fb38bd8617d1834cae82da0399.jpg female busts sculpted in their boots]]. For Season 2, this was significantly overhauled to be closer to the "traditional" look of Klingons in a response to the early negative sentiment. And even this version was finally backwheeled to a simple quality improvement on the TNG look in ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' and ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds''.

** The Klingon designs have been criticized by a number of fans due to not resembling their original timeline counterparts: the season 1 makeup makes them hairless and with elongated heads, to say nothing of costuming, compared to either the basically human-looking Klingons of '''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' or the {{rubber forehead|Aliens}}ed HellBentForLeather look they sported in every series from ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration TNG]]'' to ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]''. [[http://www.cinemablend.com/television/1681841/why-star-trek-discoverys-klingons-will-look-different reasoning that Aaron Harberts initially argued]] they never really had a consistent design in the first place and they belong to different Houses not yet seen in the original series. Their armor in particular drew comparisons to Dark Eldar from ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' and featured questionable designs such as [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/b5/19/93/b51993fb38bd8617d1834cae82da0399.jpg female busts sculpted in their boots]]. For Season 2, this was significantly overhauled to be closer to the "traditional" look of Klingons in a response to the early negative sentiment. And even this version was finally backwheeled to a simple quality improvement on the TNG look in ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' and ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds''.

** The Klingon designs have been criticized by a number of fans due to not resembling their original timeline counterparts, though the [[http://www.cinemablend.com/television/1681841/why-star-trek-discoverys-klingons-will-look-different reasoning that Aaron Harberts gave was that]] they never really had a consistent design in the first place and they belong to different Houses not yet seen in the original series. Their armor in particular drew comparisons to Dark Eldar from ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' and featured questionable designs such as [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/b5/19/93/b51993fb38bd8617d1834cae82da0399.jpg female busts sculpted in their boots]]. For Season 2, this was significantly overhauled to be closer to the "traditional" look of Klingons in a response to the early negative sentiment.

** Dr. Culber is the OnlySaneMan amidst the DysfunctionJunction that is ''Discovery'''s senior crew, being forced into dubious actions by Captain Lorca's orders and having to watch his partner, Lt. Stamets, degrade before his eyes as a result of [[spoiler:illegal genetic modifications that allow the ship to keep using the spore drive]]. He can only watch as [[spoiler:the jumps finally leave Stamets catatonic]], and then while trying to treat Stamets' condition, Culber [[spoiler:gets abruptly murdered by Voq, who has been modified to impersonate Ash Tyler and who [[KarmaHoudini gets away]] after doing so]]. [[spoiler:It turns out that, even though he died, his consciousness got kicked into the mycelial network, where he was perceived as a "monster" and was subject to constant attack from the network's native life. He naturally takes steps to defend himself, which causes harm to the native life, which only furthers the attacks, even though neither he nor the network's native life actually understands what is occurring.]] As a result, he is in terrible (and traumatized) shape when the ''Discovery'' crew finds him, even though he is returned to the prime universe with an intact body. Stamets is too overjoyed to pay attention to Culber’s obvious distress and trouble reintegrating, and his ham-handed attempts to help consist mostly of expiating his own grief and guilt (and you just KNOW Stamets did not get any kind of grief support) rather than asking Hugh what he actually needs. Culber, faced with memories that lack any emotional context, a body that does not reflect his own lived history—-his scars are missing—-and a husband who is determined to relive the past because he is in no kind of shape to either move forward himself or help Culber do so, declares [[ThatManIsDead he's not the same person he was anymore]], and almost transfers to the ''Enterprise'' before he changes his mind and ends up in the future with the rest of the ''Discovery'' crew. He's able to hold it together throughout Season 3, but when he's made the ship's counselor in Season 4, the poor man gets overwhelmed with trying to help everyone else and can barely hold things together as it is. Happily, Paul has gotten his own shit together by then, and is able to help Hugh disconnect and recharge—-and the end of season sees them off on a much-needed vacation.

** Dr. Culber is the OnlySaneMan amidst the DysfunctionJunction that is ''Discovery'''s senior crew, being forced into dubious actions by Captain Lorca's orders and having to watch his partner, Lt. Stamets, degrade before his eyes as a result of [[spoiler:illegal genetic modifications that allow the ship to keep using the spore drive]]. He can only watch as [[spoiler:the jumps finally leave Stamets catatonic]], and then while trying to treat Stamets' condition, Culber [[spoiler:gets abruptly murdered by Voq, who has been modified to impersonate Ash Tyler and who [[KarmaHoudini gets away]] after doing so]]. [[spoiler:It turns out that, even though he died, his consciousness got kicked into the mycelial network, where he was perceived as a "monster" and was subject to constant attack from the network's native life. He naturally takes steps to defend himself, which causes harm to the native life, which only furthers the attacks, even though neither he nor the network's native life actually understands what is occurring. As a result, he is in terrible (and traumatized) shape when the ''Discovery'' crew finds him, even though he is returned to the prime universe with an intact body. Stamets is too overjoyed to pay attention to Culber’s obvious distress and trouble reintegrating, and his ham-handed attempts to help consist mostly of venting his own grief and guilt about Culber’s death and Stamets’ self-blame (and you just KNOW Stamets did not get any kind of grief support). Culber, faced with memories that lack any kind of emotional context, a body that does not reflect his own lived history—-his scars are missing—-and a husband who is determined to relive the past because he is in no kind of shape to either move forward himself or help Culber do so, declares [[ThatManIsDead he's not the same person he was anymore]], and almost transfers to the ''Enterprise'' before he changes his mind and ends up in the future with the rest of the ''Discovery'' crew. He's able to hold it together throughout Season 3, but when he's made the ship's counselor in Season 4, the poor man gets overwhelmed with trying to help everyone else and can barely hold things together as it is. Happily, Paul has gotten his own shit together by then, and is able to help Hugh disconnect and recharge—-and the end of season sees them off on a much-needed vacation.

** Dr. Culber is the OnlySaneMan amidst the DysfunctionJunction that is ''Discovery'''s senior crew, being forced into dubious actions by Captain Lorca's orders and having to watch his partner, Lt. Stamets, degrade before his eyes as a result of [[spoiler:illegal genetic modifications that allow the ship to keep using the spore drive]]. He can only watch as [[spoiler:the jumps finally leave Stamets catatonic]], and then while trying to treat Stamets' condition, Culber [[spoiler:gets abruptly murdered by Voq, who has been modified to impersonate Ash Tyler and who [[KarmaHoudini gets away]] after doing so]]. [[spoiler:It turns out that, even though he died, his consciousness got kicked into the mycelial network, where he was perceived as a "monster" and was subject to constant attack from the network's native life. He naturally takes steps to defend himself, which causes harm to the native life, which only furthers the attacks, even though neither he nor the network's native life actually understands what is occurring. As a result, he is in terrible (and traumatized) shape when the ''Discovery'' crew finds him, even though he is returned to the prime universe with an intact body. In spite of his husband's attempts to help, he rejects it and declares [[ThatManIsDead he's not the same person he was anymore]], and almost transfers to the ''Enterprise'' before he changes his mind and ends up in the future with the rest of the ''Discovery'' crew. He's able to hold it together throughout Season 3, but when he's made the ship's councilor in Season 4, the poor man gets overwhelmed with trying to help everyone else and can barely hold things together as it is. Luckily, Paul gives him a much-needed vacation at the end of the season.]]

** Was Stamets an asshole prior to season 1, or do we only think that because we met him at his worst? Season 1 Stamets might be spiky and brittle because he's just an InsufferableGenius, but it could also be a reaction to Starfleet weaponizing his life's work (a situation he repeatedly states he loathes) and Lorca pushing him to more and longer jumps at the expense of safety (and, as we'll see in Season 4 when we can compare him to Ruon Tarka, Stamets does have a higher risk tolerance than most but isn't actually reckless, particularly with other people's lives). The much warmer, kinder Stamets that emerges after he gives himself the tardigrade DNA might be a ''new'' personality (which is what Burnham seems to think) but it seems at least equally likely to be Stamets's ''old'' personality re-emerging after a period of intense stress and frustration--especially since the DNA incident permanently solves the spore drive navigation issue, removing a major stressor for Stamets. The Stamets/Culber relationship also makes a lot more sense if Stamets wasn't born a jerk but had jerkitude thrust upon him: early in season 1, Culber comes across as more annoyed by Stamets than anything else; by season 3, when their partnership is repaired, there's very clearly a long-standing pattern of ''mutual'' support and respect and they just seem far more compatible.

** Was Stamets an asshole prior to season 1, or do we only think that because we met him at his worst? Season 1 Stamets could be spiky and brittle because he's just a jerk, but it could also be a reaction to Starfleet weaponizing his life's work (a situation he repeatedly states he loathes) and Lorca pushing him to more and longer jumps at the expense of safety (and, as we'll see in Season 4 when we can compare him to Ruon Tarka, Stamets is willing to push things but isn't actually reckless, particularly with other people's lives). The much warmer, kinder Stamets that emerges after he gives himself the tardigrade DNA might be a ''new'' personality (which is what Burnham seems to think) but it seems at least equally likely to be Stamets' ''old'' personality re-emerging after a period of intense stress and frustration--especially since the DNA incident permanently solves the spore drive navigation issue, removing a major stressor for Stamets. The Stamets/Culber partnership also makes a lot more sense if Stamets ''isn't'' the king of jerks: early in season 1, Culber comes across as more annoyed by Stamets than anything else; by season 3, when their partnership is repaired, there's far more of a mutually supportive, mutually respectful connection.