The last several years have been rough for fans of Star Trek. After the lukewarm receptions of both Enterprise and Nemesis, the long-running streak of success that started with The Next Generation and led to a movie franchise, the criminally underrated Deep Space Nine, and the much loved for its faults and all Voyager had finally come to an end.

The franchise was largely stagnant for years after. Talks of new spin-offs would come and go on a regular basis but none actually made it to the screen. Fans got a bit of hope when J.J. Abrams rebooted the series with Star Trek, Into Darkness, and the Justin Lin helmed Beyond. None of these movies ended up landing with fans and general audiences alike in the way everyone had hoped. though.

Luckily for us, Star Trek: Discovery just came back with an exciting new season. After a first season with lots of highs and lows, it looks like the show has finally found its rhythm. Even the show's naysayers are starting to come around on the series. One of the aspects of the show that is really starting to take off is how great the ensemble cast in the series is.

There is one character that does get more mentions than the rest, though. Saru is often thought of as the breakout character of the show. He is one of the best designed aliens in the series, has a distinctly original backstory, and is played by one of the greatest character actors of his generations, the infallible Doug Jones.

Still, his character isn't quite perfect. There are several flaws that enhance his character's depth while others just make him less likable overall. Here are 20 things wrong with Saru:

How Did He Get So Smart?

Saru has one of the most unique origins of any Trek crew member. He came from the humblest possible beginnings. His culture was not just pre-warp, but barely evolved at all. They were a species that lived in huts and were consenting prey to an advanced predator race. Humans may have made quite the technological leap when they invented warp drive earlier than expected, but they have nothing on Saru.

In what seemed like only a few years, Saru was able to take a piece of advanced tech and formulate a message that Captain Georgiou was able to find. From there, it didn't take long for him to become science officer aboard the Shenzou and then 1st officer on the Discovery. That's quite the leap from living in a hut. Arguably too big a leap.

Maybe Saru is just a prodigy among prodigies.

He Lied To His Father

Tensions between fathers and sons are constant throughout the Star Trek universe. Fatherhood seems to be the one philosophical element that the Federation doesn't seem to have mastered anymore than us.

The same can be said of Kelpiens. Saru and his father are shown to have an incredibly tense relationship. His father actively s the Kelpiens' plight, even assisting with their ritualistic sacrifice. The belief goes so deep within him that when Saru asks how he would react if his own son was chosen for sacrifice, he basically said he'd be honored.

While that is certainly horrible, Saru not sharing with him that there was another species that he was communicating to was possibly the worse crime. Exposing his father to a species that didn't view them as food may have changed his perspective forever. Instead, Saru held on to his resentment of his father and left without a word.

He Didn't Respect His Sister

Saru's relationship with his father was far from ideal, but his relationship with his sister seemed much more healthy. The two showed real love and comion for one another. This truly stood out in a society where everyone seems to be distant from one another. It's likely hard to be attached to someone when they could end up being sacrificed as food at any time.

What is sad about Saru and his sister, though, is that despite his love for her, he didn't truly respect her. He planned on undertaking this huge journey and didn't share the experience with her. She could've helped him construct the message to the Federation and may have even found a new life there as well. This will almost certainly prove to be a source of tension between the two when they inevitably meet again.

He Abandoned His People

Though we have barely gotten a glimpse of Kelpien culture, it's safe to assume that they aren't the most intelligent of cultures. They willingly submit to being used as sacrifices despite having incredible physical attributes.

There's little doubt that Saru is the greatest prodigy of his people. Instead of using his talents for the betterment of his kind, though, he abandons them. His quest to become a part of the Federation may have made him happier, but it does little to help the plight of his people. Had every human of special abilities been beamed away right when humanity needed them most, we'd likely still be in the dark ages.

He Rarely Uses His Enhanced Abilities

Throughout the series, Saru proves time and time again that he has a cunning analytical mind. He started from nothing and worked his way all the way up to the chief science officer on the Shenzou before then getting promoted to first officer on Discovery. Few Starfleet officers have ever had such an impressive trajectory.

What is surprising, though, is the fact that he has enhanced strength and speed. Despite the fact that he is functionally superhuman, he almost never demonstrates any of these abilities. They were at war in the first season and he never once fought off any Klingons. He would've made easy work of the Klingons in ep.2 of the series. Georgiou might still be alive had he been more forthcoming.

He Didn't Stop Michael's Mutiny

There are three traits that are widely shown to be the main aspects of Saru's personality. He has a very analytical mind, enhanced strength and speed, and a literal organ that tells him when danger is approaching. Despite all of this, the first officer aboard the Shenzou was able to stun his captain and take over her ship.

One would think that if anyone could've seen Burnham's choice coming, it would've been Saru. Then, he would've been able to incapacitate Michael with little effort at all. The entire course of the series might've been altered had Saru done any of the things he's known for. Big fail there, Saru.

He ed The Tardigrade Incident

One of the first ethical dilemmas in the series was what to do with the Tardigrade the ship had captured. They needed it in order to use the ship's infamous spore drive. This technology was a huge boost for the Federation which desperately needed a win.

The only problem was that it caused the Tardigrade agony. The practice was essentially animal cruelty. Michael Burnham may have had a huge problem with this practice, but Saru was hesitant about helping the creature. One would think that Saru coming from an abused species would've given him a much greater capacity for empathy for the poor creature. Logically, it should've been him leading the charge for the creature's health and not Burnham.

His Rivalry With Michael

The first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery are very different from the beginnings of any other in the franchise. Essentially, it began with the dramatic series finale of a Trek series we'll never get to see called Shenzou. While it would've made an extremely controversial finale for that series, (though still better than the Enterprise finale) it made for a great jumping off point for the show.

We didn't get to see much about how the Shenzou operated, but we did see enough to understand what the primary source of conflict aboard the ship was. Michael and Saru's rivalry seemed to be an ever present source of tension on the bridge. They fought over Georgiou's attention like two children trying to be the favorite child. Not only was it unprofessional, it undoubtedly contributed to Michael's mutiny and incarceration. Had she been able to confide in Saru like a friend, maybe the opening battle of the series would've gone differently. We'll never know.

His Threat Ganglia Are A Tell

It's no secret that Saru aspires to be a captain. He seems most at home on the ship when he's sitting in that captain's chair. While he has many attributes that would make him a fine commanding officer of a star ship, there is one thing outside of his control that would be a real detriment.

Starfleet captains frequently have to square off with commanders of other star ships. These tense mental battles can often lead to the difference between a battle and peace. It's a huge problem then if the captain has literal ganglia popping out of his neck every time he feels like he's in danger.

Playing poker against Saru would be the easiest thing in the world. If the ganglia are showing, bet hard.

He ed Lorca

All of the characters in the first season of Star Trek: Discovery made a huge mistake when judging the character of their first captain. Throughout the first half of the season, Lorca demonstrated time and time again that he was far from the normal Starfleet commanding officer. Yet, somehow no one once considered that something may be up.

For Saru, this is especially embarrassing. Despite all of his boasting about his abilities to detect danger, his ganglia seemed very relaxed in the presence of Lorca. This makes them pretty worthless if they can't detect a mortal threat that literally sits right next to him every single day.

An unidentified space object makes your ganglia go nuts, but a man who was too intense for the mirror universe didn't make them twitch at all? What's the point of even having them?