Spoilers When in S2 did we start to feel the effects of new showrunner/writers?

In the opening credits the change happened in episode 7 this season, with Harberts and Berg getting replaced with James Duff. Duff is the guy that Kurtzman hired to help him with the showrunning for season 2. He has now moved to the Picard show.

According to the following article the Red Angel was Kurtzman's idea (or at least the look of it):
https://trekmovie.com/2019/04/01/wo...are-changing-how-star-trek-discovery-is-made/

 

We've had lots of people in that boat over the years. Nick Meyer, Harve Bennett, Rick Berman, Michael Piller.

It isn't about the writer's Trek knowledge, it is about whether they are good writers.

 

Thanks.

 

Agreed. And Piller's big insight wasn't a knowledge of Star Trek, but an examination of the characters. His first episode as showrunner asks the question, what will Wesley look like in 40 years if he continues on the path he's on. Heck, Piller's own "Best of Both Worlds" leans heavily into who Riker is as a person, where he started back in the pilot and where he is four years later. Yes, it respects Star Trek, but first and foremost it's a character study. Anyone could come into Discovery and turn that ship any direction without knowing Star Trek, so long as they are faithful to who those characters are and build on them.

Nick Meyer was the same on Wrath of Khan, of course. He stayed faithful to these characters and their relationships to each other, but explored new facets of them which not only expanded them literally, but also retroactively. And he had no experience of Star Trek whatsoever as either a creator or as a viewer.