10 Star Trek Episodes That Completely Ignored Convention

7. The Vulcan Hello/Battle Of The Binary Stars

Star Trek Discovery Sonequa Martin-Green
CBS

The first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery served as a prequel to the main events of the series. They could easily have served as their own feature film, depicting Burnham's journey and fall before she ends up serving under Captain Gabriel Lorca.

These episodes had a huge task - how to reawaken the franchise for television, display the new visual style, make the characters likable, and close out this story in less than two hours. Arguably, the episodes succeed with excellence. The new aesthetic, love it or hate it, is stunningly realized, adding a depth to space that Star Trek has, at times, floundered with before.

Never before had Star Trek introduced the captain, only to kill them off in the second episode. Likewise, never before had Star Trek made it clear that it was going to follow another member of the crew, the first officer in this case. Discovery's first season was a mixed bag when it came to the overall quality, though in terms of shaking the fanbase up, The Vulcan Hello and Battle Of The Binary Stars were an excellent example of Trek's new direction.

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Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"