Finally watched the first episode. It was mostly good. It felt a lot more Star-Trek-y than Discovery or Picard did. It was hopeful, idealistic, had a sense of wonder and exploration, and in spite of the mildly heavy-handed bit of moralizing (wherein it used the last US election fallout as the stepping stone to the Eugenics Wars and WWIII) I never felt like it was browbeating me with the core of its morality play aspects the way that I feel like a lot of shows do now (as if they're so afraid that the audience can't put 2 and 2 together and figure out what the metaphor is that the end up making it obvious and screaming "GET IT? DO YOU GET IT?! WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS THING THAT'S REAL AND RIGHT NOW!")
I could do with a little bit less of the goofy casual nature of the characters. I don't mind them being a bit familial/familiar with each other, but that should feel earned from our perspective and not just thrown at us. But mostly I could do without the endless parade of "REFERENCES!" fanservice. It's episode 1 of this series and we've had:
-Admiral April
-T'Pring (because f*** continuity, I guess)
-Dr. M'Benga
-Nurse Chapel
-Uhura
-Sam Kirk
-Transporter Chief Kyle
-A main character with the "Noonian-Singh" surname FOR NO GODDAMNED REASON! (this was the worst. Her character had absolutely zero need to have that name given the backstory we get. I know it's probably meant to pay off down the line, but you could make her the secret descendent of a Eugenics War superhuman without it having to be the one everyone remembers but this era of Trek should have no knowledge of)
-the wink-and-a-nod smirky Prime Directive line at the end
-The USS Archer (less of an issue because it's exactly the kind of reference that should be the chief vehicle for fanservice)
and more I can't remember.
2 or 3 of these are fine to appear at once. But it was just nod after nod after nod after nod after "LOOK AT THIS THING YOU REMEMBER FROM OTHER SHOWS!" that it became overkill.
Constant, excessive referencing and familiar characters make the universe feel small. It shouldn't It should feel vast an expansive and maybe from time to time you run into a familiar face.
This is like going on an unannounced vacation to the bahamas, getting on the plane and finding yourself sitting next to your doctor. Then you check in at the hotel and your room is next to your boss. And then down at the bar you're 3 seats over from your neighbor. And the next day when you head 2 towns over from your hotel to check out an art exhibit you run into your 10th grade teacher. And then on the way back you find out that the taxi company you're using was started by the girl you had a crush on when you were 9.
I also thought the magic hypospray plastic surgery was a bit much. For the entirety of TOS and TNG they did it the old fashioned way (with fancy 23rd/24th century tools that might include magic laser fields for cutting/sculpting, but that's it).
Still, I was intrigued enough to carry on with the show and I generally like the cast (though something about Spock's haircut bugs me. It just sits weird on his head and doesn't feel.... right.)
