Well, that was...mixed. I dunno how I felt.
The good: The sense of worldbuilding that went into Saru's homeworld was great. Significant care went into little things like the props which made it feel more like an actual pre-warp culture when compared to the often "generic feeling" props of earlier Treks. Having Georgiou show up was a nice surprise as well.
The bad: The expository dialogue that Saru had with his father was at times cringe inducing. Worse, the show didn't really establish any reason Saru was different from other Kelpiens - he just was - which made it kinda a crap "origin story." Also, I realize Kelpien mental abilities may be different than our own, but the idea that someone from a pre-warp civilization could somehow figure out a way to build a subspace beacon was kinda laughable.
I'm not sure: Maybe it wasn't a good idea to have Doug Jones in this role. He could have served as the narrator, but I feel like a younger actor - say teens or early 20s - would have been more appropriate. At times it feels a bit odd that he looks/sounds exactly the same as his older self but he is being so (publicly) deferential to his father's wishes. Maybe it's a species-wide difference though - Kelpiens might physically develop before they are fully "adult." But it seemed odd as a viewer.
