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Community Opinion of Discovery Season 2

Three of Seven looks at all of the votes cast by community members for Discovery Season 2.

By Three of Seven Sat 20 Apr, 2019 8:24 PM
Since the launch of Star Trek: Discovery, we have been making discussion threads for the episodes, these always feature a poll for members to add a quick thought. You can see all the episode discussions here to see what people have been saying. I did not compile the numbers for Season 1 at the time, however, I have done so now in order to draw some comparisons, you can view my full data here should you wish.

Name:  Community Opinion of Discovery Season 2.png
Views: 3160
Size:  27.8 KBThe chart on the left shows a breakdown of the community votes for all the Season 2 episodes, with the last episode, Such Sweet Sorrow - Part 2 not getting any votes in the middle, people seemed to either like it, or dislike it. The majority did like the episode, which has been a trend as a whole for the community to Season 2.

The average episode would attract 19 votes, have 13 like, 3 neither and 3 dislike, no episode actually fell in that average, although came close. In comparison to the average episode for Season 1, which would get 21 votes, 14 likes, 4 neither and 3 dislikes. We see a decline in the number of votes cast, but the one consistent trend is the average of 3 dislikes, and the first five episodes of the first season attracted a lot of attention on the community, which alters the average.

Back to the recent season, the most liked episode, defined by fewest dislikes, and highest like percentage, was EP 8 - If Memory Serves, which saw the cast of Discovery meet the Talosians, with much of a nod towards the events of TOS. This was the only episode to get no dislikes at the time of writing.

In contrast, the most disliked episode, by the same definition, was EP 10 - The Red Angel, where we learnt more about the red angel, however it saw likes and dislikes both sitting at 9, with 3 members remaining neutral. No episode in Season 1 saw this split in opinion from the community.

To wrap this all up, it appears the community as a whole, who have watched and taken part in the polls, have enjoyed Discovery this previous season, as with the first. Although there has been a slight increase in the amount of people who disliked episodes compared to the first season, this change has not affected the average like percentage between the two, just the neither and dislike.

What did you think of Season 2? And do you take part in our episode polling?

WRITTEN & EDITED BY Three of Seven - rena.hobden@ufplanets.com
5 Comments
Sat 20 Apr, 2019 8:46 PM
Great article Three! Personally my experience with season 2 has been up and down. A few episodes I liked here and there. However it seemed to get better towards the end, I particularly enjoyed Such sweet sorrow. We got some really cool battle scenes.. MOAR enterprise screentime (I love the discoprise). I found myself actually rooting for Discovery to complete their objective and go to the future.

As for season 3.. I'm dubious about it after some more reflection. As Alex Kurtzman said, they are now free of canon which gives them more creative liberty.
Sun 21 Apr, 2019 2:48 AM
There was plenty to like AND dislike about Season 2. I myself chose "Like" more than I did the other two, based primarily on The TOS-linked factors (Pike, Number One, the Enterprise, The Cage references). Now that those are gone, I suspect I will hit the "Dislike" button much more provided I continue to watch the series, which will most likely be determined within an episode or two of Season 3.
Sun 21 Apr, 2019 12:27 PM
Honestly I haven't watched Season 2 yet, but I will now that the whole season is available. As for Season 3 and Kurtzman's comments, while I can see his point about creative liberty he's also wrong in terms of being free from canon, at best he's partially free from it. While yes they have 10 years between Disco and TOS it still doesn't change the fact that being set in the Prime universe means at some point Disco has to leave the universe how it's set up in TOS and in that regard 10 years isn't a long time. Enterprise could get away with it because they had the sense to set their show several hundred years before TOS so whatever they did would still leave a hundred plus years for things to change and steal lead into how the universe is setup in TOS. You can't really do that with a 10 year window so they will also be bound to an extent by canon since they're show has to at least partially have the universe configured at it's end to lead into TOS and how the state of the galaxy is otherwise it's not going to make sense.
Sun 21 Apr, 2019 12:37 PM
Since you have not seen the season yet, I will not spoil it for you but they are now free of canon.
Mon 22 Apr, 2019 4:42 AM
Good information Three! Thank you for pulling it together for us.

I have been one of the more critical voters/ commenters each week. For that, you're welcome everyone! Wink

Kurtzman saying that they are free from canon going into season 3, so they have more creative liberty, is a terrifying statement to me! In the hands of a good writing team, Kurtzman's statement might be a good thing, but in the hands of the current writing team...spore drive, Borg ripoff Control AI, a S31 developed timesuit with essentially infinite memory capacity, everlasting (ok, 7 trip...at least) one-way trip time crystals, 200 shuttles from a Constitution Class, impervious blast doors that create a pocket dimension space directly behind when the rest of the area is completely blown away...disappearing after any survivors held in the pocket dimension return to a safe area of normal space (this is the only explanation for Pike surviving the torpedo blast, given the amount of the saucer section that was blown away)......I could go on, but I think that you understand what I'm saying. I don't trust the writers!

Like I said frequently during season 1, I might enjoy Discovery...if I turn my brain off. It's ok sci-fi, if I don't think about it that much. That's the problem for me though...I watch Star Trek, and sci-fi in general, because I want to think about it! I want to enjoy a sense of wonder, a sense of hope for the future, a sense for what's possible if we try! Discovery doesn't allow me to do that. Just quoting some choice laws of physics, or having Spock say, 'I like science,' doesn't even begin to explain, or legitimize the bad science dumped on us by the writers of Discovery. It's melodramatic future-fiction, not science-fiction, and I am sad that it is called Star Trek.

I would like to say that I'm optimistic for season 3, but I can't. Looking at the results of the polling, compiled by Three, it seems that this is what most people accept as good Star Trek these days...GEEZ, I'm sounding old! If this level of acceptance translates throughout Discovery's viewership, there is no reason for significant change to occur.

Don't mind me though. These are just the ramblings of an old man.

Now, GET OFF MY LAWN!!! DAMN KIDS!!!