This episode does everything right!
If they could just stop using the f-word 20 times per episode...
- 90s TNG-era Star Trek nostalgia, but only as a backdrop, not as integral part of the plot. Trekkies will recognize many details, but it's never a nostalgia bait.
- Characters get some development and one of them even finds out things about his past. And these things make even sense and offer room for further developments! In this episode character drives plot and plot drives character - with the prospect of even getting more down the line.
- Boimler ultimately got his guts together and Mariner has finally been put in her place.
- The show scaled back on the humor, especially on the absurd kind of humor. Do not get me wrong: They did not drop it entirely, but it has been set to 50%.
- When we see the Cerritos go to warp, we can see that the creators actually watch The Orville, as they copied the "go to warp speed but make anaft view shot out of it" from The Orville's season 2 finale.
If they could just stop using the f-word 20 times per episode...
