Discovery is dispatched to rescue the crew of a repair station after a powerful distortion in space... under the supervision of the Federation president herself. Meanwhile, Book attends a coming-of-age ceremony for his nephew on Kwejian, while Saru -- settled into a new life on Kaminar -- gets wistful for his time on Discovery.
When new, live action Star Trek returns after a break between seasons, I'm always blown away by the look and feel of it. I continue to watch old episodes of the 90s-era Trek series, and the difference in production values is almost incomprehensibly vast. It's not just about what you can do with CG and AR walls (although that's certainly a big part of it). The makeup, the costumes, the lighting, the sound design, the sophistication of the camera moves. Quality television often feels indistinguishable from major movies these days, and Star Trek hasn't slept on that.
The visuals on Discovery look so good now that a station careening off its axis through space can actually give the viewer vertigo. Debris impacting a shield is something you feel viscerally. The destruction of an entire planet hits you with emotional weight. It's been said that this is the new "Golden Age" for Star Trek fans, in that there are now four current series airing new episodes in turn (with at least two more on the way). But you could also say it's a Golden Age in that any of the cheapness or cheesiness that fans once had to overlook or apologize for are just gone.
Star Trek, at long last, looks just as good as Star Wars. It can be just as effectively "action-adventurey" too, as the opening sequence with the strange moth aliens showed. But Discovery hasn't ditched what Star Trek is really about (despite what a few trolls might say). This was a squarely character-driven episode, centered on Michael Burnham and who she is (now that she's finally a captain!). And serious discussion of morality was woven throughout, as the titular Kobayashi Maru was brought back from Star Trek II in service of the question: "Duty: but to whom?" Different command styles are right for different situations and crews, as any fan who has debated Kirk vs. Picard vs. Sisko. vs. Janeway is silently agreeing. (Would anyone say "Archer?" I'd guess not. But it was fun that he got name-checked. We even got a phrase from his character theme when the Archer Spacedock was unveiled.)
Of course, Star Trek: Discovery is all about season-long story arcs, and this premiere certainly tees up a big one. Giving Book such high personal stakes here will be good; I'm glad to see him continue on the show after season three, and glad to see that the writers know he'll need a role for himself that isn't tied solely to Burnham. Is this planetary-level threat a natural phenomenon? One directed and controlled by someone? Lots to get into.
Without a sense yet of where Saru will fit into the season as a whole, I can only feel that his scenes were a bit of a drag on an otherwise excellent episode. Still, I'm excited Discovery is back. I give "Kobayahi Maru" a B+.
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