I greatly enjoyed the first two episodes of #DiscoveryS5. The tone felt good, everyone did a great job, and the addition of Ryyner. He and Burnham play off each other well.
I like that they are returning to a major plot thread #TNG introduced and was seemingly forgotten about. The current era of Trek in general, and especially Disco, has been doing a good job of this.
In Episode 1: I liked Fred's appearance, and Stamets' still having old tech they could use to access his visual memory. I feel like there's some more interesting stuff we're going to get with Stamets and his search for a legacy.
Rayner is an interesting and good addition to the show. I like that while he's gruff and wants to get the mission done, he still has the soul every good officer should.
E2: Again everyone was great. Book and Culber's interrations were great, as were Tilly & Adira, and Burnham & Saru.
My only super minor criticism, is that Rayner replacing Saru as Burnham's Number 1 was a little too telegraphed in the episode. But that is super minor and I think he'll be excellent Number 1 to Burnham. I foresee them butting heads in the best possible ways.
These first two episodes left my wife and I hungry for more, and made Disco's cancellation sting even more.
I hope we get plenty of cameos from Disco on #StarTrekAcademy
Speaking of, the interaction between Rayner and Tilly & Adira got me thinking. Obviously, #StarTrekAcademy must have Tilly, but Rayner feels like he'd be a good teacher at the academy. How he pushed Tilly and Adira to find the solution was very good. He certainly was tough but he clearly had confidence that they could do it and knew how to push them in the right direction to find a solution.
TreeVor