Sure, but when the spore drive becomes a major plot point of 4 episodes. When every engineering conversation is obsessing about the spore drive. When the main character spends the whole episode dealing with the spore drive alien creature, and makes the spore drive work.
You know the spore drive alien is going to be around for quite a bit longer.
The M-5 was there for 1 episode, and that was it, and they didn't keep marveling about it episodes later. To be fair that wasn't the nature of TOS.
As I said in another thread
If this was old school Trek we'd barely be past the first commercial break. So it's a bit early for full explanations.
They're not doing episodic done in one TV. If made today, the Ultimate Computer would probably be an arc/thread that would be spread out over several episodes, if not an entire season. Daystrom would be a regular or semi-regular character/ We'd delve more into his background and character. We'd see more about how M-5 was developed.
Conversely if the "Ultimate Drive" was made in the 60's-90's: it would probably go like this
Teaser:
Captain's Log Stardate 12345.6 The Enterprise has been diverted to Starbase 12 to pickup noted Federation scientist Paul Stamets, who claims to have a discovery that will revolutionize space travel. Starfleet has instructed us to give Stamets full access to our engineering systems and our complete cooperation.
In the transporter room KIrk, Spock and Scotty discuss Stamets. Scotty poo poos the idea and doesn't want Stamets anywhere near his engine room. Spock gives Stamets ideas support saying how everything is connected at the quantum level.
Stamets beams in with his assistant, Michaela Burnham. Kirk eyes go wide and he whispers "Michaela..." as the camera zooms in on her face in all of it's soft focused glory.
ACT ONE
Scotty is pissed, Stamets has taken over his engineering room and is keeping things secret. Michaela turns out to be an old classmate/lover of Kirk's, who left the Academy under a cloud. Kirk and Burnham reconnect and as his his wont, Kirk falls back in love with Burnham. So we see them walk the corridors of the ship, Kirk saying some lovey dovey Kirkian dialog. He broaches the subject of why she left the Academy, but she refuse to answer.
ACT TWO
They begin testing the drive with several short jumps. Scotty doesn't like it. Something feels wrong to him. Spock to begins to feel uneasy about it, too. He's getting psychic flashes of pain. Kirk is of course focused on Burnham. McCoy takes him aside and reminds him of his duty to the ship. Spock staggers into sickbay, screams and collapses.
ACT THREE:
Spock wakes up. McCoy does his crazy Vulcan physiology schitck. Spock responds with some Vulcan mumbo jumbo. Something is reaching out to him. Something on the ship. Down in engineering Stamets and Scotty are fighting. Scotty wants to know what Stamets is hiding. Burnham tries to intervene. Spock McCoy and Kirk arrive. Spock's psychic trail has lead them to engineering. Spock leds them to a closed room in engineering. Kirk tries to open the door but Stamets has a special security code on it. Kirk appeals to Burnham, and she open the door to reveal the tardigrade. Burnham explains the tardigrades connection to the jump drive. Everyone is shocked. Stamets goes mad activates the drive. The tardigrade screams in pain. From the bridge Sulu informs them they've jumped to middle of Klingon space!!!
ACT FOUR
Klingon ships surround the Enterprise. The tardiarade is upset. They need it calm so they can jump. The Klingons fire, the Enterprise is hit, Shields weakening, The Enterprise fire back. Scotty tries to figure out how to work the drive. Spcok communicate with the tardigrade. The creature has bonded with Burnham and with Spock help they calm it down. Just in time the jump drive works as a fleet of Klingon ships are about to destroy the Enterprise.
The drive only works with the tardigrade so it it scrapped on ethical grounds. Stamets faces charges. Burnham goes to help the tardigrades on their homeworld.
We never hear of Burnham, the jumpdrive or the Tardigrade again.
It's hard to think of it as a mechanism to "move the plot along" especially when spore drive is so damn moronic to begin with :\.
It's no more moronic than 90 % of what we've seen in Star Trek over the last five decades.
