Sarek sure has a soft spot for humans and trying to give his kids a chance to get into that Vulcan expedition program. Sarek shows more love for his adopted human daughter while he and spock always had those awkward moments in the old Star Trek movies. Saru being a stubborn person when Micheal Burnham is trying to have a conversation with Saru. Every time Micheal shows up, Saru's stupid threat tendril thingies warn him. Crap like that is really annoying even though I'm up to episode 7. I felt bad for that macro sized water bug that they were wearing it out to use to instant jump to places in space
well the Vulcans pretty much pushed Sarek into a corner to choose. a half breed or a full Earth woman. She was pretty good at learning the stuff but the Vulcans were still dragging their feet about letting a human join the Vulcan Expedition thing program. Sarek was rooting for her
I always took it that Sarek was more open (by Vulcan standards) with Micheal because she was human. Not expecting her to match the Vulcan ideal. In much the same way I have taking his interactions (what little we have seen) with Amanda a human, then how he treated his "Vulcan" son during those same periods. While showing a softer side to Spock might encourage more human like behavior so he is showing outward an example of what a Vulcan should be in his interactions with his son. But away from both, he shows his preference to Spock. Though it would take decades for him to show that in person to person interaction.
well, from what I have seen since the old Star Trek movies, Sarek has always had a rough relationship with Spock. With Micheal, I think Sarek was fine with having a human daughter but the thing is he expected too much from hoping the other Vulcans would accept Micheal for being trained and both Micheal and Sarek thought Michel did a great job with training for the Vulcan Expeditionary program yada yada but Sarek ran into a roadblock which the Vulcans didn't give him a chance. Amanda didn't help much. all she did was assume too much about why it happened and started chewing out Sarek. Amanda should have just shut her mouth since she was an Earth woman on a strange planet surrounded by pointy eared aliens where they were acting high and mighty and being wannabe peaceful monks. but whatever, I'm just a big fan but casual fan of Star Trek where I don't get into Vulcan life politics yada yada.
Your observations of the first season of Star Trek: Discovery sound interesting and quite accurately reflect various aspects of the characters and plot. Sarek does have a soft spot for humans, especially his human daughter Michael, which is an interesting aspect of his character. His interactions with Spock and Michael resonate with the viewer and add depth to his character. Regarding Sarah, your observation about his stubbornness towards Michael Burnham also makes sense. This may be due to his attachment to protocols and security requirements, as well as his desire to protect his team.
Mainly because of its connection to the mycelia, your mention of the tardigrade made me wonder if the idea of a cosmic size ethereal replica of Earth ecosystems and its theme of interconnectedness might tie into the mystery of the current season, as in the mycelium propagated progenitoid life.
You're supposed to feel bad. It's a war and with the sanction of a commanding officer some ethical violations were committed. They were questioned by Burnham and her research and to me, this falls under the rediscovery (and yes I always felt the title had a double-meaning) at the end of the season that they need to maintain proper ethics in Starfleet even under major duress.