Far from Home

The production values are obviously high with some great scenery and effects which would not look out of place in a big budget movie.

Having seen Michael's arrival in the future last episode, we now get to see the rest of the crew's arrival. The story seems somewhat truncated and simplified for brevity, with what feels like chunks missing, but all the relevant and important stuff is there. It would probably have negatively impacted the pace to spin it out more.

The naysayers who are determined to rubbish Discovery no matter what will be out in force again, but at least now they can't call it the Michael Burnham show as she barely makes any appearance in this episode until the final scene. In fact we've skipped over a whole year of Michael Burnham's story, so unless any of that is shown in some flashbacks, that argument really holds no water anymore.

Great to see Michelle Yeoh back and on form as evil Georgiou; she's the real star of this episode!

Nine out of ten because I understand how some fans will not appreciate the longer story arc and judge the episode as boring on that basis. But really, for me it was great.

For me, this episode came down to the genuine heart displayed by the characters. Discovery has a terrific cast, and when they're given good dialogue and their relationships aren't being squeezed with a heavy hand to wring out maximum drama, the whole crew really shines.

What struck me in this episode, though, was how perfectly Saru embodied the values of both the Federation in-universe and the franchise on a meta-level. He was, as each circumstance called for it, decisive, commanding, sensitive, pragmatic, smart, nurturing, and unwavering in his principles. Doug Jones knocked it out of the park with a performance that celebrated both Saru's restraint and his honesty. He's a complex character who has undergone plenty of growth throughout the series, and even though he's only "acting" captain at this point, he's established himself as a match for the upper echelons of Trek captains.

Plus, I could watch Reno and Stamets arguing all day long.

Not a big discovery fan, but this episode is the best I've seen since the series start! I hope they keep this good momentum the entire season. Maybe 3rd time is the charm??

I love that the side roles stand out. that's why I'm a 'Star Trek' fan. Anyone can be the lead at any time. Just like real life. Also, "Jake Weber" was a very pleasant surprise. These surprises from time to time increase the expectation. We already missed him so much.

Damn, there goes my hope after 3x01, that the writers learned how develop interesting characters.

I don't know how they manage it, but somehow the complete crew of the Discovery is blessed with diverse character flaws, making it a challenge to like them and almost impossible to identify myself with them. This crew literally feels alien to me. And Georgiou as the antipode for the Federation in general, won't be enough to save the show.

That the plot is so very very generic certainly didn't help either.