Watched it tonight and gave it a solid 8, not because I thought it was magnificent, but because it paid homage to the Enterprise in a tasteful way, which I really appreciated.
Great to see the (almost) familiar uniforms and the Bridge which looked revamped yet mostly faithful to the original.
I also appreciated that this episode has set us up for a nail biting finale, of which we all have our own theories as to how it will pan out.
My favourite scenes were the glimpses of the future from Burnham and Reno.
But it has to be said, Pike and Georgiou were fucking great
But
They let technobabble take over again re the crystal, the dialogue between the very conveniently available Po, Tilly, Reno and Stamets, while intriguing, was batshit mental.
The show as a whole ended up dialogue heavy, mostly consisting of goodbyes, and it tended to drag in mid show.
Two predictions from me, and most likely others, 1, Reno is heading for the great Alpha Quadrant in the Sky, she's toast, and 2. I think Georgiou will betray our heroes to establish herself as head of Section 31, minus Control, amid the confusion to come.
Culber and Stamets is getting boring now, and Sarek and Amanda must have Spore Drive in their shuttle as well to just turn up like that.
And then there's Spock. . . . . . . meh
Next week will be cool, I think we've been set up for a great finale.
Can't wait to watch it again.