The "evolved" thing wasn't around in TOS; that was invented for TNG.
"Instant FTL jump" isn't a reversal of "time spent at warp"; it's just a different way of doing it. Same with "firearms with bullets"; that's not a reversal of having phasers. These things would only be true if they were the only alternatives.
And "none of the above" isn't a reversal of anything.
Thematically, you're probably correct. But the artistic decisions, props, and designs
are just the result of a very different approach, not a conscious reversal.
We see it differently, then. BG taking "a very different approach" all the way down a checklist was the point I was trying to make, and I think they did literally that, checklist and all.
