That's a good point of comparison between the two seasons - both are cases of a running plot resolving abruptly (and fairly badly), but the S1 episode at least hinges on some kind of story structure. They go into the nebula (or w/e it is), her thoughts become reality, she and M'Benga both realise she could live more happily with the nebula entity. There's a simple plot there and, though she occurs throughout the season, her story is mostly handled and resolved within that episode.
I'm not sure the same can be said of the Batel arc, which is seeded very awkwardly and bizarrely throughout the season, and comes at the expense of other stories (the Batel-is-Gorn stuff needs to wait til the finale for the payoff - such as it is - and the first episode of the temple expedition with Gamble being possessed similarly doesn't really have a concrete ending because it's all setup for the finale).
Both are disappointing but "The Elysian Kingdom" at least feels like someone trying to write a Star Trek story; the Batel arc just feels like the kind of bombastic, muddled style that defines so much of Discovery and Picard. Again I think the most competent episodes the show has ever done are "Children of the Comet" and "Memento Mori", and I don't think S3 has been able to put out anything resembling either, in tone or in structure.
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