Season 1, IMO, has the same flaws as discovery with more coherent writing. The plot jumps from point to point, the characters are underdeveloped, etc. It doesn’t have any “this is not only extremely stupid but feels like the writers didn’t actually bother watching star trek” moments, but it still isn’t good.
Season 2 feels like a true modern tale on Trek. They manage to truly respect the old lore while bringing in new moral dilemmas. The characters are more developed and taken in interesting directions. They managed to sneak in a line that gives a decent explanation as to why things don’t 100 percent match up in canon. There’s also one episode that I would put up there as an all time great across every series.
So I would say slog through Season 1 for the joy of watching Season 2