I loved it - more than Calypso, I think. The dynamic between Peck and Romijn is charming to the point of turning all my gooey parts extra gooey. What they did with the Major General's Song is one of the best moments in the entire franchise. I've watched like four times already. And the potential oozing out of the last scene is bewildering. It's just shouting to the world "Let's do this, already!"
According to the end credits, Michael Giacchino was the supervising composer on this one. That explains some of the ST09 sounding music.
Ahh okay I was really wondering about that. Personally I found the music really jarring because it sounded so much like Kelvinverse. I mean, come on, they can’t write different music for a 14 minute short??
That's actually kind of disappointing in the sense that I immediately noticed the music was markedly better than it had thus far. But I don't expect MG to come in and score some full eps.
It was basically a meet cute for Spock and Una, only not romantic. It didn't have much impact on me until the last five minutes or so, when it became clear the short was really about Una exposing her vulnerabilities underneath her cold exterior, and giving some advice to a very green Spock. Those last few minutes were incredible though.
I feel a little weird about the "hide your uniqueness" theme, but I suppose it makes sense for a command officer. That said, it's clear to me that Chabon is really talented at writing character moments that sing and feel sincere. From the song through to the end, there was such a feeling of warmth, connection, and wonder. I hope he brings this same artfulness to his work on Picard as he shows in Q&A and Calypso.
That came out good. No, I don't think it's better than "Calypso" -- that's a high bar to reach -- but "Q&A" is my favorite of the Short Treks besides "Calypso". Nice story between Spock and Number One. Number One would've been more the Spock of Star Trek if "The Cage" had continued as a series in that form, so I liked seeing the two "Spocks" interact, how they're different from each other, and how they're similar. I won't go into any more detail out of respect for people who haven't seen it yet, but it's a nice quiet, low-stakes character story. Even if you don't like Discovery, I'd recommend it. If this is any indication of what a Pike Series would be like, I'd welcome it.