Trek: Discovery trailer. Your reaction might have been different but I loved it, and am

super-hyped about the series with one caveat that I will go into at the end of this video.

But what you're here for is a breakdown of the trailer and I'm going to give you

just that, and focusing on the longer, and I believe superior, US CBS trailer.

Welcome to The Final Frontier; let's do a deep dive into the Star Trek: Discovery

first look trailer.

The trailer opens with Captain Phillipa Georgiou (played by Michelle Yeoh) and her First Officer

Commander Michael Burnham (played by Sonequa Martin-Green – fresh from her role as Sasha

in The Walking Dead) walking across a desert in what looks like Vulcan, wearing robes that

are not unfamiliar in Star Trek history.

Yup; this series is set in the Prime Universe – that's the same as the original Kirk,

Picard, Sisko, Janeway, etc – and it takes place 10 years before Kirk's 5-year mission

on the Enterprise. However, although the storyline is within established canon, you'll notice

that the series has a much more modern aesthetic.

And this is a little bit of wordplay; we know the series stars the USS Discovery but it

looks like there is a major discovery in deep space in this trailer.

We learn that Burnham and the captain have known each other for at least seven years

and they are therefore likely to have a close relationship. Georgiou then surprises Burnham

by talking about her getting her own command.

We then see the first DSC merchandise that I will want: a classic flip-style communicator

which is reminiscent of that used in The Original Series.

And then we see it; a beautiful Federation starship slips through the clouds with nacelles

slung under the saucer section, rather like the Centaur class ship from the TNG era. The

ship is very similar to this design by the concept artist John Eaves, who I believe is

part of the DSC team.

Now, let's get this straight right from the beginning: this is NOT the USS Discovery;

it is instead the USS Shenzhou, which we previously saw as a wireframe model. This is Captain

Georgiou's ship, which is probably a flagship for Starfleet, and we do not see the Discovery

nor its captain, Lorca played by Jason Isaacs, at all during the trailer.

Still don't believe me? Then check out this image from the DSC poster. Computer. Magnify

section 5F. You can clearly see these aren't the same ships. And the Discovery here does

look tweaked compared to that which we saw in the Comic-Con trailer last year. So where

is the Discovery? I'll get to that in a bit.

Loving the transporter effect here, which is slightly reminiscent of the TOS transporter

effect with its gold sparkly effect, but I love the delicate mesh-like contour effect

we see.

And we see a new warp effect; it shows how the warp field is dilating space in front

of the ship rather than the what we've seen previously with stars streaking by to show

that the starship is moving very fast.

And we get a good look at the new uniform, which is very much an evolution of that seen

in Archer's generation on the Enterprise NX-01.

Notice during the trailer that the delta symbol and stripe change colour from gold (for Command),

silver (for Science) and bronze (for Operations) and we have the traditional symbols for Command,

Engineering and Science on the badges. Now take a look at the badge on Georgiou's uniform;

you'll notice four small pips on there to denote her rank as captain. This is how you

can tell the rank of officers on board.

Say hi to Lieutenant Saru (played by Doug Jones), Ensign Connor (played by Sam Vartholomeos),

and I believe this is Emily Coutts as the helmsman – who has yet to be officially

announced.

Now; this is really interesting – we know that Burnham and Saru are officially part

of the crew of the USS Discovery – so, what are they doing on the Shenzhou? It could be

they end up transferring to the Discovery or perhaps the rumour that the Shenzhou is

destroyed before becoming the USS Discovery is correct. You may wish to check out my previous

video on plot theories for Discovery by clicking above. But with the Discovery having Lorca

as its captain, things do not bode well for Captain Georgiou… but why would Burnham

not get the command if Georgiou thought her ready? Could it be that she disobeyed orders

and found herself leaving the Shenzhou, or was she partially responsible for its destruction?

I suspect we'll find out in the first two episodes.

We hear Sarek – Spock's father – talking to Burnham about leaders needing a cause for

followers to rally around. Perhaps a portent for things to come? And the reason for Sarek

specifically talking to Burnham is strongly hinted at later on in the trailer. Note that

the use of a hologram is something new for Star Trek communications, especially for the

Federation.

A great look at the bridge, and if you were in any doubt before then this is confirmation

that DSC is a soft reboot for Star Trek: keeping canon in terms of story but aesthetically

updating technology so that the series is now thoroughly modern rather than retro-modern.

In fact, this bridge has a similar layout to that of the Enterprise E.

We also get a look at Lobot's great great grandson and a reject from the Blue Man Group

who accidentally slept on a tennis racquet. But joking aside, I do love the thoroughly

mixed alien nature of the crew – truly diverse and representative of how many worlds are

part of the Federation.

Just a reminder, that it's expected that the first two episodes will be a Klingon-heavy

two-parter so we get our first clue on what the plot of the first couple of episodes will

be as Saru explains they have found something interesting. And take a look at that viewscreen

– absolutely stunning, with graphical overlays over the main image.

So, Burnham seems to convince the captain to go investigate the unknown item for which

they seem to have boldy gone where no one has gone before as they are at the edge of

Federation space – perhaps close to Klingon territory – and Burnham dons a pretty snazzy

EVA suit to go investigate. Again, the suit is a much more modern than what we've previously

seen in this era of Star Trek. Note the Starfleet logo on her suit, which we also see elsewehere.

So we see Burnham outside the ship looking at what looks like a binary star system. It

looks pretty chaotic, which is probably why she needs to undertake this mission wearing

a spacesuit rather than taking a shuttle. And here we see the Shenzhou's registration:

NCC-1227, which is another indicator that it comes before the Discovery, which has the

registration NCC-1301.

[Enable igniter]

Confirmation of an Autumn (aka Fall) release – expect no more delays on this one.

We presumably have some sort of space vessel here – is this what Burnham went to investigate?

Looking back at some of the leaked Klingon starship concept drawings from last year,

it could perhaps be this ship?

But here we have what is clearly the inside of what has been labelled the Klingon Sarcophagus

ship. And we actually see what looks like a real sarcophagus rising up high. Have a

look at the design of the ship, which has similarities to the concept art and was clearly

what we saw being built in the previous DSC teaser video.

The casket itself has a Klingon-like face on the top but notice what looks like hair

flowing from the face and contrast that with the new-look hairless Klingons we see.

So who is inside? Perhaps the Klingons have lost their leader, plunging the Empire into

chaos due to the creation of a power vacuum. But the Klingons think of a dead body as an

empty shell, so either this fact has been ignored or the person inside is of such high

importance that their body was deemed worthy of preservation or perhaps this is the 'unknown

object' found floating in space?

We get our first look at the reimagined Klingons, which has caused a lot of controversy amongst

fans. But when Bryan Fuller was attached, he did say the show would have new aliens

and would reimagine existing aliens, and that's precisely what we see here. I think this race

looks much more alien but recognisably Klingon and, as mentioned in an earlier video, the

look is similar to early Klingon concept drawings by Robert Fletcher – a costume designer

for Star Trek.

But I know I'm much for forgiving that many other fans. Note the different colours, which

I assume will denote function or rank. I did think that the new look was perhaps because

we were looking at possibly an ancient Klingon race, possibly held in cryostasis who have

awoken centuries later, but with T'Kuvma described as a Klingon leader looking to reunite

the houses looking similar and therefore presumed to be of the modern era, I think that is now

unlikely. Although it does still leave the question about why we see hair on the casket

face but not on the Klingons themselves – perhaps a part of the ritual taking place? Also note

that the Vulcans remain faithful to the original look… lots to ponder there!

Here we see the constellation Ursa Major, aka The Great Bear, and it is beautiful to

see those Klingon symbols appear. Very happy they didn't change those at least!

["Warp signatures detected" "Contact Starflett... we have engaged the Klingons”]

"We have engaged the Klingons"… and this confirms the plot for at least the first 2

episodes of DSC: a conflict with the Klingons; perhaps this is the incident that ignited

The Four Years with the Klingons?

In this quick shot you can see the Klingon's don some kind of helmet with which they seem

to control the ship, which again harkens back to the original concept drawing for the Klingon

Sarcophagus ship.

And here is our first good look at T'Kuvma, played by Chris Obi, who also features in

Fuller's American Gods, looking rather resplendent in his funky gold attire.

This is actually the underside of the Shenzhou; I'll flip it over for you. Soo the bridge

is actually on the underside of the saucer section. And we now have our biggest revelation

of the trailer…

"You will never learn Vulcan; you're tongue is too human."

So is Burnham half-Vulcan like Spock? The young girl doesn't have Vulcan ears but

Sarek is telling her that her tongue is too human to speak Vulcan, implying that at least

some part of her is not human.

Looking back at the trailer, Burnham seems to exhibit some Vulcan mannerisms. Perhaps

she just grew up on Vulcan, for example as the daughter of Earth's Ambassador to Vulcan.

As Sarek seems to be acting as a mentor this means she could very well know Spock. She

clearly is more emotive compared with Spock and we'll see a lot more of this emotion

in the rest of the trailer.

Here we see Burnham in perhaps a decontamination chamber like we used to see on Enterprise

or it could be a medical scanner following her confrontation with the Klingon that we

see right at the end of this trailer.

The corridor continue that angular industrial look of the bridge.

This looks like some kind of sonic attack but its not a type of weaponry we've seen

from the Klingons before so perhaps there is a third alien race involved here.

This looks like the Klingon death ritual; the screams are intended to warn those in

Sto-vo-kor that a Klingon warrior is about to arrive. Notice the Klingons here look different

to each other; simple diversity or are these different Klingon sects representing the various

Klingon houses?

So Burnham now seems very un-Vulcan like talking about cutting heads before we get a glimpse

of how king prawns will evolve to in the future.

At first, I thought this was a robot but on closer inspection it does seem like there

is a person underneath who is wearing it… it could be still be a humanoid Android or

perhaps some kind of massive pre-holodeck VR helmet? Note the USS Shenzhou label on

the side.

Here; we get a good look at the console technology with transparent touchscreen displays.

"Starfleet doesn't fire first." "We have to!"

“Starfleet doesn't fire first”... is this a token nod to the existing universe

or is this something that the series will really abide by? The trailer does seem very

action orientated but trailers are there for enticing potential viewers to watch so don't

always reflect the final product. And we have some clever editing splicing together what

look like different scenes and conversations to create its own narrative; I don't think

Burnham is advocating firing first here.

Here, we see that technology has evolved from the use of photonic torpedoes – an earlier

design used on the Enterprise NX-01 – to full-on photon torpedoes that we first saw

on the original Enterprise.

And then we have perhaps the most curious line of the trailer, uttered by Lt Saru:

["My people were biologically determined for one purpose alone: to sense the coming of

death... I sense it coming now."]

“Biologically determined to sense the coming of death” – how on earth is that possible?

This seems more like fantasy that science fiction, although Saru's race may be able

to somehow sense or move into the future it does seem a bit unusual to be able to sense

death itself… and does that mean they were purposely bred? Why and by whom? Note that

there is some editing going on here so there could be some splicing going on to subtly

change the actual conversation that took place.

Finally; we're back in the asteroid field we saw earlier with the structure in the background

and Burnham is not alone. I think that is a Klingon warrior it's own own version of

an environmental suit and – it's difficult to see - but I think that's a Bat'leth

they are carrying.

This trailer is our first good look at Star Trek: Discovery; it does have an action-heavy

vibe to it but so did trailer for TNG, DS9, etc – trailers don't always reflect the

final product and this seems to have been created using footage from only the first