[Discuss Thrower]

Spoiler!

In spite of the general thread of criticism I keep returning to and I won't get back into here... this is some great Sci-Fi TV and, in my douchelord opinion, the best serialized Trek since DS9.

The plot worked in a philosophical question (summed up in the convo about Clarke's Third Law) and did so in a way that stayed true to the Trek mythos in both adhering to and skirting the Prime Directive (and DID IT WITHOUT SAYING THEPHRASE!!!) in ways that stays true to characterization as well as dramatic logic. We learned some things about the main characters (Pike is the captain J. Michael Staczynski would come up with in terms of the balance between science and religion; Burnham isn't a humorless robot) and the dramatic arc of the episode itself feeds into the wider arc of the season (WTF is going on with these red glowing assholes?) as well as staying true to the even wider arc of what a show like Trek is all about.

The plot is resolved true to a soft sci-fi form where the contrivances of the universe (warp/spore drive, tractor beams et cetera) is used consistently within the rules of said universe to save the day without reverting to the same lazy methods that were harped on in the last three or four Trek serials. Sure there was "TreknoBabble" but at least it stayed within the realm of soft sci-fi touched on what's presumed to be current understanding of real science and involved a previous arc-item (the asteroid) to resolve.

Really, the only non-meta criticisms I have is that the bit players beyond the core pentagonists (Burnham, Tilly, Stammets, Saru and whomever is the "captain" role for the purposes of the arc) come off like uber-capable Mary-Sues (for lack of a better term) and Tilly herself was showcased as a wunderkind and that the comedic bits of the episode (which, unfortunately for me is going to seem like I'm unfairly targeting the character) centered around Tilly largely felt like they were mistimed in the episode. However I'm going to forgive the ones centered around Tilly's interactions with the previously-unheard of Ms. Ahern character since that's either playing in to the "WTF are these red beings?" arc or setting up a more subtle "what's real / what isn't?" philosophical question that might be mirroring Stammets' experience seeing his deceased partner in FungiSpace.

My meta-criticism? CBS All Access ****ing BLOWS. At least once I caught myself turning up the volume to hear some dialogue in a situation that didn't call for it by virtue of being in a scene where the characters are speaking in quiet tones only to hurriedly bash the down button before I have neighbors start pounding on my door telling me to turn the ****ing TV down. This is ****ing dumb and it's too late to try and pay Amazon for access to use Prime versus the CBS app.

All in all, a hard 8 out of 10.

Spoiler!

An additional thought that I don't want to spoil for people seeing as I'm thinking I've been spoiled myself. Regarding who the Red Beings are. If you have thoughts specifically on them I'd like to hear but I don't recommend clicking beyond if you haven't thought seriously on them.

Spoiler!

Seriously: beyond here there be dragons.

Spoiler!

Apparently, the genius basement dwellers on reddit seem to think the Red Beings are Iconians. You remember them? The lazy ****s who made galaxy-spanning gateways that could conceivably fit within your living room? Yeah. Those guys.