10 Reasons To Stop Hating Star Trek: Discovery

Who doesn't love a good Dadmiral? Well, maybe Tom Paris, but he and his father both found a path to healing eventually ("Tell him I miss him and I'm proud of him"). Bucking the Badmiral trend — or at least our perception of it, as our own Seán Ferrick pointed out on the TikTok — season three of Star Trek: Discovery gave us Fleet Admiral Charles Vance, Starfleet C-in-C, and loveliest, most delightfully bearded Dad of them all.

This writer must admit that he fell into the 'assume-all-admirals-are-pure-evil-until proven-otherwise' trap at first with Vance. Beards can work both ways, after all! Vance was a little… stand-offish at the start, but then wouldn't you be a bit suspicious if a 930-year-old, supposedly destroyed starship that was technically breaking the law against time travel and using an unknown piece of propulsion technology suddenly rocked up at your door?

The Admiral was a good and decent man, however, in the bad situation of having to head Starfleet through one of the Federation's worst periods post-Burn. The dangers he faced had also separated him from the wife and daughter he loved dearly. Thanks in the largest of parts to the USS Discovery, Vance was back with his family by the season four opener Kobayashi Maru, and all our hearts were better off for it. That's not to forget that touching toast with Tilly as the world was ending in Coming Home.

Vance is not the only Dad the show has to offer. For more on Culber and Stamets, see here.