On the positive side, the emotional beats - especially losing Hemmer - worked and felt earned, despite our only being 9 episodes in. This is in contrast to Discovery, which, even multiple seasons in, mostly told us how we should be feeling rather than actually ever making us feel it.
But losing Hemmer just as we're getting to know him felt like a waste.
And the similarities to Alien and Predator, though I'm sure intentional, were just too much.
The tone felt a bit uneven, swinging from comedy to horror from one shot to the next.
I don't understand why Pike felt this was an appropriate mission to take cadets on? A crashed ship seems like it would be a pretty significant and serious mission. I may need a re-watch to understand the justification for that.
Still, I really liked yet more building of Spock and Chapell's relationship. Uhura and Hemmer's interactions were great again - it's too bad we've seen the last of those.