Don't get me wrong, I'm all for sentimentality, but only when it is justified and carefully dosed.
And the saddest thing about all of this is that despite this episode being almost entirely dedicated to the Burnham/crew saying goodbye to each other repeatedly and making teary promises, it still doesnt go beyond the general level. There is a scene between Ash and Michael, but we've seen the exact same scene between these characters for the past several episodes. Same goes for Stamets and Hugh. Nothing changes, nothing evolves in this episode.
Discovery has a serious problem with pacing. This weeks episode sadly joins the list of those episodes that you watch and just can't wait for all the talk and tears to stop and action to begin.
There were a lot of conversations and teary speeches and not nearly enough to move the plot along. I expected a battle between Discovery and Enterprise and Control's Section 31 ships becase thats what the last week trailer teased.
Another thing that keeps bothering me is that it seems that every important decision that it taken on Discovery is taken by Burnham with Pike serving only to give the final orders to the crew. It leaves one baffled as to who is the comanding officer here and if Pike is even needed considering that Burnham is enough to solve any problem and make every choice and decision.
The show is beautiful, the actors are amazing -- esp SMG, Ethan Peck, Anson Mount and Michelle Yeoh (I was also happy to see Rebecca Romijn return in this episode) -- but when the episode leaves you annoyed and baffled, instead of amazed and excited, the show has problem. And sadly there are too many episodes in this show that fall under the former category.
The last weeks episode was amaing, this one is a pass.