No way can I get through 40 pages of comments so apologies if I repeat others, but here are my thoughts.
Great, solid drama with lots of intrigue and character development. For me an 8 or 9, I think.
I wonder if this is DSC’s first bottle show? They’re clearing saving some money after the huge amount that’s been lavished so far this season. Just as well I find the sets and cinematography so beautiful. This is also DSC’s first iteration of a proud Trek staple: the courtroom drama. I found the first half a little slow and wordy, although I was excited to see what’s become of the Vulcans and Romulans. Some very nice worldbuilding here. It only makes sense following the destruction of Romulus that the Vulcans would finally welcome them back. Clearly, there are however still tensions between the two races even after all this time. It was a bold move renaming Vulcan itself, but it only made sense. It was rather unimaginative of the TOS writers to simply call it ‘Vulcan’ in the first place anyway—wouldn’t that be akin to Earth being called ‘Human’?
I wasn’t sure about the reintroduction of Gabrielle Burnham at first. it felt a little random and overly coincidental. You’d think that after her desperate, rather traumatic time travel shenanigans to save all sentient life Gabrielle might be a little burned out and would instead make her way to Risa to take it easy and read a good book. But no, you can see where Michael gets her ‘overachiever’ streak. The scenes between Michael and Gabrielle packed a punch and I found it fascinating watching mother tearing her daughter’s psyche apart, ultimately helping her to ‘find’ herself again. Good writing and acting. Anti-crying brigade be damned, because the tears at the end felt earned.
Speaking of tears, seeing Leonard Nimoy on the screen again hit me hard in the feels. I was sobbing like a...like a Burnham. I remember ‘Unification’ coming out as though it was yesterday but nearly thirty years have passed and the great man is no longer with us. The passage of time is a bittersweet thing.
Tilly as acting XO? I’ve defended DSC so much in the past, but I’m flummoxed here. No in-universe explanation cuts it, but we’ll see how it plays out. I suspect in a couple of episodes we’ll be back to Burnham as first officer. The real world explanation is simply that Mary Wiseman is a main cast member and Nilsson and the bridge crew are not. I love Tilly as a character, but I find this twist indefensible because she’s clearly not qualified for the job. Surely DSC has an established command structure and thus the decision would be made for Saru. I think the fault goes back to Bryan Fuller’s decision to focus largely on lower ranking characters and leave us scratching our heads with regard to senior officers. But, this is Trek, I’ve been happily suspending disbelief for the 30 years that I’ve watched it. I suspect many twists and turns lie ahead. And besides, Mary Wiseman is a simply joyous presence and I’m loving the development of her relationship with Saru.
