Enlarge / "The Federation isn't just about ships. The Federation is its people." (credit: CBS | YouTube )

The most frequent complaint levied against Star Trek: Discovery during its first two seasons was: "This doesn't feel like the Star Trek I remember." The critics did indeed have a point—from the outset, Discovery tried to lean into the modern streaming prestige-drama mold, while also retaining its Starfleet soul. Those two goals don't necessarily align, and as a result Discovery sometimes seemed like a show that simply couldn't make up its mind.

In its third season, however, Discovery has finally picked a side. The show is now all-in on venerating the optimistic, wide-eyed Federation fans want to remember from the '80s and '90s, and it's bringing back the old planet-of-the-week format to do so. Now, the show's inner conflict has taken a whole new direction: for a story all about leaping a millennium into the future to explore the strangest possible new world, Discovery for the most part plays it startlingly safe.

(Spoilers below for the first two seasons of Discovery .)