I enjoyed the run of episodes towards the end of the season, but found the final episode to be a bit of a mess, and wasn't totally satisfied with the conclusion of some of the story arcs from the series so far.
I think the central plot of the whole season (Klingon War, Spore Drive, questionable allegiances etc) should have been spread out a bit more, so the mid season break was the finale. They could have given some story beats a bit more time, and mixed in a few more standalone episodes, where we get to see how the characters are in a different kind of setting. I'd have loved a few episodes that were classic trek probably with a new (to the Federation) alien race/planet, and some kind of philosophical/ideological challenge, where the crew just have to think through a problem. The Mudd episode stands out as one of the more entertaining episodes, a couple more like that would have been nice.
I appreciate they are doing something different, but I think in their eagerness to establish it as a new kind of Trek, they've perhaps gone too far in the direction of wanting to avoid just being the next next generation.
The final episode, and conclusions to the arc of the season as a whole, had interesting ideas, I just think it felt rushed. It would have benefited from being a two parter.
The very final moment, which was a set up for the next season, I really really didn't like either, but we'll see what they do with it.
The first season was a bit rocky in places, and there's quite a few areas I'd like to see them improve for the next season, but it's also done a lot of interesting things, and I'm definitely anticipating it's continuation (it is already confirmed for a second season). We'll see how it goes, but a lot of the heavy lifting is already done or partially done, and it's clearly found an audience, so fingers crossed it fully delivers on it's potential going forward.
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