‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Is Bigger, Bolder and Funnier in Season 2

Full disclosure, Star Trek: Discovery‘s first season is one of my favorite single seasons of television, ever. I’ve been a huge Star Trek fan for years now, but the intricate plotting, deep emotional layers and incredibly engaging cast kept me thrilled for the fifteen episode Freshman year. Yet due to some behind the scenes turmoil, I entered Season 2 with a little trepidation.

I’m happy to say, based on the first episode at least, I shouldn’t have been worried. Discovery is back in a big way with new cast members, a new mission, and one of the most action-filled adventures ever filmed in the Star Trek universe. This is big screen storytelling on a small screen, and it is awesome.

The episode, titled “Brother,” doesn’t premiere until January 17 on CBS All Access, so I’ll keep this mostly spoiler free. But here’s the gist… After the monumental events of Discovery Season 1, the crew is headed to pick up their new Captain, when they veer off course due to a distress signal from the USS Enterprise. Yep, that Enterprise, though it’s pre-Captain Kirk. This is the ship run by Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), who quickly assumes control of the Discovery and commandeers it for a mission to explore seven strange red lights that have blinked in and out throughout the galaxy, and seem to bring strange anomalies with them.

Mount, happily, is a great addition to the cast. He’s the anti-Lorca (Jason Isaacs), a kind captain who listens to his crew and values human life above all other things. Most of the Season 2 premiere is focused on the crew of Discovery learning to trust Pike, since their last Captain turned out to be an evil revolutionary from a mirror dimension, manipulating them in a plot to take over two universes. You know, normal stuff.

But it’s also about Pike learning to trust the Discovery crew. One of the best aspects of Discovery was that, unlike every other Star Trek series, this was a crew that didn’t know each other, and often didn’t like each other. Lorca kept the crew compartmentalized, but ultimately they found common ground and formed the sort of family we know and love from Next Generation, the original series and the rest. So in a way, this Season 2 premiere is truly the first time we’re seeing the Discovery as a starship crew recognizable to fans of the franchise. To drive the point home, there’s a scene shocking in its simplicity where Pike asks everyone on the deck what their names are, and as viewers we realize this is the first time we’ve heard many of the crew-members’ names said out loud. They look as stunned and pleasantly surprised as we do, out in the viewing audience.

But even during the Pike of it all, we don’t lose track of the core crew. Sonequa Martin-Green’s Michael Burnham is once again the emotional heart of the episode, and proves she’s a huge star with every moment she’s on screen. Doug Jones’ Saru also gets a great emotional arc as his newfound acting captainship clashes with Pike’s ascendance. Anthony Rapp’s Paul Stamets finally has a moment to contemplate the tremendous losses he suffered last season, and Rapp delivers on these beats with heartbreaking aplomb. Mary Wiseman’s Sylvia Tilly continues to be a gift from the TV gods as she delivers the most laugh-out-loud funny lines per episode in the history of Star Trek.

And the action is enormous. TV has a… Complicated relationship with fire. The overuse of digital fire often takes a viewer out of a scene, and the small sets that have characterized Star Trek‘s TV efforts for decades demand a huge leap on the part of the viewer. You need to accept the crew is on an alien planet, even though they’re clearly on a soundstage.

Discovery‘s first season jumped away from this, but the Season 2 premiere is a quantum leap forward. Nothing against my beloved television, but these are big budget movie level effects, with enormous set pieces that wouldn’t be out of place in your regular summer blockbuster. From a classic Nü-Trek descent to an asteroid, to an escape from a crumbling spaceship, to a simple trip on an elevator, Alex Kurtzman’s direction captures the scale of Star Trek in a way we haven’t seen since the 2009 movie reboot. It’s glorious to behold, and thrilling to see the franchise finally move away from walking down the same hallway nine times and pretending it’s one long set.

There’s one major aspect of the episode, and the season I haven’t discussed, and that’s the introduction of Burnham’s brother, Spock (Ethan Peck). Other than the introduction of Pike, most of the episode is focused on Burnham’s relationship with her adopted Vulcan brother. It’s deeply emotional in a way you wouldn’t necessarily expect… Yes, through flashbacks we get a sense of their sibling rivalry; but there’s something deeper and more complicated going on that we’re not fully let into yet. The pain apparent on Martin-Green’s face gets this across, and it sets up Season 2 as more of an emotional mystery than the twist-a-minute ride we went on in Season 1.

Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of mystery, and even more introductions (Tig Notaro’s new crew-member is a weird delight I won’t spoil here). But the episode never feels overstuffed, even with all the business it has to juggle and huge action it attempts. Star Trek: Discovery is Star Trek at its absolute best, and I can’t wait to find out what other surprises Season 2 has in store.

Star Trek: Discovery premieres on January 17 on CBS All Access, and airs episodes weekly after that.

Stream Star Trek: Discovery on CBS All Access