It's interesting to see all the varying opinions on this episode, because it was an easy 10 for me, very easy! I usually grade purely on an entertainment scale and I usually only knock things down for pacing and/or 'wtf that doesn't make sense' moments when they distract from the entertainment, and this was strong for me.
Pike vs. Cornwell: This was such a moving scene, especially since I've been feeling a little off-put by Cornwell this season given her ease in doing what's not the 'obvious' right thing to do. But her speech against Pike putting him up there as Starfleet's best, that was an excellent and well earned speech, especially given all the heroics and 'do the right thing' moments we've gotten from him this season. Well earned.
Michael vs. Spock: I've been dying for this scene all season and I was not disappointed in the slightest. These two act off each other so well, when their superficial personalities seem so different and so alien to each other, but you can tell they're both driven by this kind of self-loathing from equally troubled childhoods and trauma. Sibling interactions are fascinating to me, as an only child, but as a child of trauma these two characters are wonderfully written and acted. I was really surprised that they reveal Spock's anger towards Michael as anger towards himself, but it makes sense. I got chills when she finally shouted at him, that felt like such a real moment. Straight up home run.
Spock vs. Stamets: Now, this is an interaction I had not expected in the slightest, but it was delightful and a half. We need more of this. At first, I was curious to how Spock knew so much about what was going on, but it occurred to me that maybe Spock just knew Dr. Culber's name (he could have asked after seeing them in the hallway) and just put together 'guy moving out of other guy's quarters and other guy looks sad now' and came to the logical conclusion. His advice was ambiguous but it was exactly what needed to be said, even without the actual details of what may have happened. I think that's a little bit more touching than Spock having known exactly what happened. I like this theme that many of our major players are having trouble with blaming themselves for things out of their control.
Airiam and bridge crew vs. The Death Flag: Learning about Airiam's past all of a sudden? Some beautiful moments with the crew and finally showing some emotion? This had a Gundam death all over it, and while the trope is predictable and oft used in these types of shows, DSC pulled it off beautifully in my opinion. I would have liked to see all these little memory snippets spread out throughout the series as it would have not only made Airiam's death harder emotionally, but it would have also made Detmer, Owo, and Tilly's reactions all the more heartbreaking. But, if we can only get all of that in one single episode, I'm fine...because it happened. Detmer got the cutest damn line of the whole series when she tells Airiam not to forget the little people. I doubt we're ever going to get a TNG's Lower Decks on this show, but that single line was satisfying for me. It acknowledges that these other crew members are lower tier staff and that they know it too, but that doesn't mean that they don't have their own feelings about what's happening. It's just not what the show is about. To take a third-tier character, build her up in a single episode, and then give her a dramatic death that was better served than the deaths of previous main characters is quite an accomplishment in writing, acting, and directing. And Kadis-kot!
The pacing here felt perfect. So much was jammed into this episode and is easily Frakes' best of DSC to date. Between the intimate moments, highly charged emotions, action sequences, and reaction shots, this episode had it all and was still cohesive from scene to scene. I didn't notice any sloppy spinning-around-the-characters this time (or at least, not to the point where I notice it) that he's had a bit of trouble with in his past two episodes, which was nice.
Nothing that bothered me about this episode (the sloppy intro of Control, the 'uhhh, there's probably a better way to go about this' of the mine fields, no one noticing the MANY times Airiam's eyes freaking turn clearly red and EEEVIIIL, Control being the big bad) bothered me enough to take any points off. This was a great episode. On the grand scheme of DSC, though, I think it's kind of boring that SUPER EVIL AI is now the big bad rather than the moral ambiguity represented in Section 31 being the bad guy. I mean, at this point, Pike and Leland are probably going to have to team up to save the day. I'm pretty meh on that (although it will be nice to see these two old friends actually act like friends, even though one of them is a major asshole.) I am a sucker for repaired friendships and redemption arcs, after all.
