Now that we've settled into the Discovery holiday hiatus it's high time to consider the overall trajectory of its initial run, and debate how well it is stacking up against that which came before. This week hosts Cam Smith and Tyler Orton pull out their marking pencils and hand in their mid-season report cards for Burnham and crew's early adventures, with special attention paid to character evolution, world-building and storytelling. In an effort to contextualize DSC's progress, the duo also take a lengthy look at the first nine hours of each previous Trek incarnation and determine how confidently those now-beloved shows got off the ground. Did any of them boast an episode as great as Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad, for example? Plus, as usual, the Ortonville soars in to offer up his thoughts on The Orville's season finale, Mad Idolatry. Right-click to download. Read more »