Perhaps the most frustrating part of Discovery and Picard is how regressive they are when it comes to treating women andor people of color. This is troubling from a show that trumpets its progressivism as people tuning in for liberal values might walk away with conservative ones

Let's start with Discovery's lead character Michael Burnham. Discovery give us Treks first woman of color lead was a great move and in keeping with the progressive ideals of Trek. Imagine my disappointment when the character was written to be consistently overly emotional.

When she wasn't crying, we got to see her as violent as notably in season 2, she punches a superior in the face. As a result, what should have been an inspiring character for young girls is anything but.

There are of course the minor female characters. We have Commander Landry, a character who is only characterized by being nasty, and the show seems to enjoy killings. We also have Admiral Cornwall, a woman who plots genocide and pointlessly kills herself.

Then we have Tilly. Tilly is every tired writer's idea of a smart woman. She's socially awkward, her jokes are met with confusion rather than laughter, and oh of course she has problems with her mother. The insidious idea here is that female intellectuals are bizarre creatures.

Finally, we have mirror georgiou who is seemingly composed entirely of negative stereotypes as she often seems to be written as an "evil asian/depraved bisexual" character with no depth. Positive representation matters and Discovery has to do a better job of it! Tomorrow, Picard.