This kinda felt like filler for me. Overall, I liked that Discovery was able to help a planet again, continuing the theme of rebuilding trust in the Federation, planet by planet, but still. After the (for me, at least) emotional catharsis of last week and the upcoming two-parter, it seemed once again like those Game of Thrones episodes that are more about placing the pieces on the board where they need to be. Of course, the character interactions were great as usual, but it somehow feels more like an uneven conglomerate of lots of different parts than a solid whole. Burnham and Book's plot on the planet failed to engage me and it sometimes felt like we were just given disjointed glimpses of what actually happened there with the frequent cuts back to Discovery.
I haven't read through the thread yet, but I can already imagine some people will blame Tilly for Osyraa seeing right through Discovery's ploy that she suggested and will hold it up as evidence for her incompetence and lack of experience which has now probably thrust the Federation into an an outright war with the Emerald Chain. But here's the thing: Saru didn't have a problem with it. Even Nilsson, who very correctly pointed out that Osyraa would interpret any sign of hostility on their part as an act of war, didn't object. If the captain and the second officer thought it was a good idea, they have the lion's share of the blame, not the officer who suggested it. And it's not like Saru can't shoot down another officer's suggestion... Picard did it to Worf all the time. Let's not mince words, it was a stupid plan, and I'm saying this as huge a fan of Tilly
and of Discovery. Did they seriously think Osyraa wouldn't notice Book's ship leaving their shuttlebay?
The B-plot with Hugh trying to figure out what's going on with Georgiou was, on the other hand, quite intriguing, even if it was only a set-up for next week's two-parter. I thoroughly enjoyed her verbal spats with Hugh, especially how he didn't take any of her bullshit because it was obvious she was antagonizing him so that she wouldn't have to admit how terrified she is. She also kept up her good habit of hilariously rude quips, with "I could deconstruct the both of you with a snappy insult and a withering glance." and "Her heart rate is elevated." "IT'S RAGE!" standing out. And of course, I LOLed at how Burnham already knew she would say "I killed her" when told that her mother must be very proud. Granted, she IS predictable in some ways.
Paul and Adira continue to have a cute mentorship dynamic, and the scene where they opened up about the avalanche of feelings thrust upon them because of joining was quite beautiful. Their experiences reminded me of what Ezri went through, so we are once again reminded why a candidate needs to be fully prepared before joining. I've found their coming-out quite realistic in that they immediately clarified the matter after Paul misgendered them, however, I found it a bit weird that they were so taken aback by Paul readily accepting them. It's almost as if they didn't expect him to be so understanding, which I think should be much more a 21st century sentiment than a 32nd century one. But then again, I'm not a member of the LGBTQ community, so my feelings are not exactly authoritative on this.
Observations:
- The knowledge that Ryn is played by Mary Wiseman's IRL husband actually hurt their scenes a bit for me because I kept seeing what I thought were morsels of their IRL chemistry in their interactions to the point that I thought he's being set up as a possible love interest. When she said "Uh-huh, try again" to Ryn after he rudely asked for the captain, I felt like her voice had a playful angle to it that made it impossible for me to see it as anything else than Mary talking to Noah. Even though it was, rationally speaking, just Tilly being Tilly. Oh well.
- Osyraa was nonchalantly fiddling with a Picard-era combadge while she was talking to her nephew.
- Hecapate is a Bajoran unit of measurement. Are they more prominent in the Emerald Chain than we've seen so far?
- Saru trying to find his own way of saying "engage" and all of his attempts falling flat was a great running gag for me. It was just so obvious Tilly goaded him into doing it. I found it cute that he humored her and tried out her suggestion of "hit it", even though she herself looked like afterwards that she thought it was a silly one.
- "Deal with me, universe!" "Oh yeah, deal with me, universe, while I deal with her!" Keyla/Owo confirmed, and you can't tell me otherwise! I'm not listening! Ahem. Keyla getting her moxy back was nice to watch, but I would've loved if the episode devoted more time to it.