I’m four episodes in to the first season of the newest Star Trek show … and I’m really, really enjoying it. I’m going to keep this spoiler-free, so it will probably be somewhat short!

The production value is on par with the recent movies; the special effects, the costumes, the work they put in to making the show look good is incredible. The look and feel of the show is the best any Trek show has ever achieved and definitely equal or better than anything else I’ve seen on TV.

As far as the characters go, they’re growing on me fast. Initially it was a little strange seeing a crew I knew nothing about and had no emotional connection to, but that by the end of the two part premiere, I was hooked and curious to see where they would go with them. Over the course of the first four episodes they have done a great job of planting a lot of seeds and mysteries that I am curious to see play out in the seasons to come.

I will say that I am still getting used to the idea that the lead character is not the captain … but I think it’s a strong idea. The franchise has been around for more than fifty years; they have to play with the format to find new ways to approach Star Trek story telling.

Regarding the Discovery itself, I love the look of the ship more than I expected to. It’s actually a throwback to discarded design ideas developed in the 70’s when they were first thinking of bringing back Star Trek (see the image below for an example). At first I thought that was a weird decision, but the end result does a great job of blending that design style with current ideas.

My one complaint, and perhaps my nerdiest comment … I wish the show was set in the Kelvin Universe, not the Prime Universe. That would easily explain the design similarities to the new movies, the technological advances (in response to Nero’s arrival two decades before). It would also open the door for them to go anywhere with the story telling with no concern about contradicting the more than 700 episodes of Star Trek already out there – their only concern would be staying in line with (currently) three movies. However, I get it; the movie arm and the television arm of Star Trek are separate entities, and those separate companies (Paramount and CBS, respectively) most likely have some sort of legal concerns about overlapping with one another. But it would make continuity a far simpler affair.

That aside, I’m really enjoying the show and am excited to see where it goes!