Star Trek: Discovery - 8 Reasons Why It's The Best Series Since TNG
4. More Aliens
CBS
Undoubtedly one of the best things about TNG was that it introduced a wide array of different aliens for the crew of the Enterprise to interact with. During the show's seven season run, we got to see the Ferengi and the Borg - two really clever creations that afforded a whole other dynamic to the series itself.
With Discovery we have Lieutenant Saru, a Kelpien whose species have evolved to sense the coming of death, having been hunted on their home planet for centuries. That's a fascinating premise in and of itself, but Discovery looks set to introduce more alien characters throughout the season - a prospect Star Trek fans are sure to gobble up with equal enthusiasm.
Doug Jones is always brilliant in whatever he's in, but there's something about Saru that differentiates him from the science officers we've become familiar with since Spock first entered the scene in '66. Here's hoping faces old and new will appear in the weeks ahead, as Saru is a great indication of what the series can do when it comes to introducing new aliens into the fold.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
