This episode really surprised me in a good way. I went into this with a sense of fatigue, to be honest, just wanting to get this over with, but it turned out to be a really exciting final hour after the last several episodes seemed to lose their way a bit. Someone said before that these last three episodes have to be read as three acts of the same story, and after this one clarified a lot of things, some parts I've found questionable during the last few weeks seem more understandable in context now.
I'll elaborate on that later, but now I'll obviously have to start with the part that's probably going to cause the most controversy all over the internet. She's the captain now. I'm sure there are a lot of people who'd wanted to have a captain from Future Starfleet or even Nilsson being promoted, but I think it's mostly because they want anyone but Burnham in that chair. To be fair, I'm not sure I would've wanted her to be promoted so soon either, but Vance's choice makes sense if you think of what he's said about not doing it the right way. In his context, the "right way" really meant "the way things have always been done", and I took it as him saying that rebuilding the Federation requires people without the ingrained rigidity and cautious nature of 32nd century Starfleet. If Discovery is to be sent out on a quasi-five-year mission to help various diverse planets and bring them back into the fold, her stubborn determination to do what she thinks is right might serve them better than the by-the-book caution of a desk jockey would. It's the same disconnect as Sisko on the frontier vs. Nechayev on Paradise Earth, come to think of it. Michael is the second best choice after Saru, and I don't think we've seen the last of him.
As for the "seems different in context" part, I'm referring to how angry I was at her for jettisoning Paul. But after seeing how close Osyraa got to actually winning, it was the right choice in the end, and her unorthodox approach of letting Osyraa go did work out in the end, even if it was a bumpy road. She made one major mistake though, which was once again perfectly characteristic of who she is. She's the textbook definition of "too clever by half", last demonstrated in Unification III. She thought she can play Osyraa and get her to release the crew in return for convincing Vance to let them go, but Osyraa then showed what a smart villain she is by promptly denying her request and trying to break her by torturing Book. Michael was too stubborn to realize there was no way Osyraa would agree to anything after she was notified that the crew was fighting their way through the ship, and Michael proceeded to smugly grin at her, saying "what can I say, we're Starfleet." But once together with Book, she at least proved herself to be quite capable of thinking at her feet and escaping. Speaking of Osyraa, I've come to really like her over these last three episodes, she was a complex, and not to mention dangerously smart villain. I was actually sad to see her go, and I don't think I like the Chain falling apart after her death like Mordor collapsing into a crater, but Discovery tends to make monumental declarations that turn out to be only half-true on a smaller scale the next time we hear about them (like how Discovery's damnatio memoriae turned out to be only their mission and disappearance being classified).
The crew's plan of disconnecting the nacelle was once again a good show of their teamwork, and I was glad (and, I admit, a bit smug) that Tilly was able to immediately do what took Troi several tries in
Thine Own Self, even if that one was just a test back then. She didn't need her personal Kobayashi Maru; she understands perfectly that a huge part of being a captain is to know you have the moral authority to send your crew on missions they might not come back from for the greater good. I was a bit disappointed that she apparently remained an Ensign at the end, because she really would've deserved a promotion to LtJG for her troubles. It was interesting to see though that she decided to transfer to Science instead of returning to Engineering. If it wasn't a costuming error, of course.
As for the part with Su'Kal, it was the usual fare as far as mystery plots go for me, and I've practically felt the pieces of the puzzle falling in place. Discovery usually fails to stick the landing with foreshadowing monumental revelations that turn out to be modest and low-key, often personal stories in the end, like the reveal of Hugh being the source of the mycelial blight. Today, it was a personal story once again, but I think they managed to do it well this time, with strong performances from everyone involved, especially Doug Jones and Bill Irwin.
Observations:
- If Su'Kal is genetically connected to subspace because of dilithium, does that mean he can use the spore drive too, like Book?
- I don't remember it being told explicitly, but the song was apparently Su'Kal's lullaby reverberating through subspace through his voice.
- I absolutely loved them making the turbolift funhouse a plot point. It was a really fun action sequence and there was no way it wasn't intentional.
- "If it helps, that's an order." "I was really hoping you would say that." - Sassy Tilly is Best Tilly

- Future Kaminar really reminded me of the Weird Planet from Blink of an Eye; Saru and Su'Kal looking at the night sky had vibes of an elderly Gotana-Retz watching the Sky Ship leave.