I asked the same question out loud to myself when I saw Boims in the captain seat. Best guess: since the plan was just to tow the destroyer and throw it, they knew he wouldn’t have to do much, and it’d give him a shot. Plus they might have taken his relationship with Mariner (and his rapport with the rest of the Lower Decks gang) into account. Lastly, it might have been a tactic for if the admiralty went through with court-martials. Whomever answered that hail in the captain’s seat would be in more hot water than the rest of the crew.
You’re right that I couldn’t think of any explicit retcons. The closest I could think of, other than technology, were Burnham being related to Spock (which you touched on), and how absolutely decimated the Federation was by the Klingons while Discovery was in the mirror universe (again, not necessarily a retcon, but it seems like it would have been mentioned more).
Regarding tech, I had legitimately forgotten that Burnham’s parents and the time suit were Section 31. That said, what other amazing tech do we ever see out of Section 31? Granted, we don’t even see much of Section 31 in other shows, outside of DS9 and ENT, but in those cases, I seem to recall them being more intelligence operatives. They accomplish their job by knowing more than others, and operating outside usual Federation conventions. It’s spy stuff, not super weapons (outside the Changeling virus). But maybe I’m forgetting things.
Overall, I thought it was fine. I think it got hit a little harshly by critics. It’s not terrible (read: unwatchable), but it’s pretty firmly my least favorite Star Trek series.
Without actually looking through the full episode lists, and just going off what I remember of each season, here are my gut ratings:
S1: 3/10
S2: 5/10
S3: 4/10
S4: 8/10
Overall: 5/10
Going a bit more into my thoughts in each…
Season 1 - 3/10
Pros:
First new Trek in a while.
Neat graphics.
Great cast. (Especially Doug Jones as Saru).
Cons:
Prequel-itis…
New graphics don’t match the TOS era.
We already know, roughly, how things will pan out.
Interesting season-long mystery, with payoff for multiple story beats.
Introduces Anson Mount as Captain Pike, leading to the spinoff of Strange New Worlds.
Cons:
More prequel-itis…
Puts legacy characters in peril, when the audience knows they canonically must survive. Saps any tension.
Galaxy-level threat must obviously be defeated, since we know there’s life in the future canon.
Burnham time suit well beyond reasonable tech level for the era.
Control drone fleet tech unreasonable for the era.
Predestination/Bootstrap paradox.
Discount Borg.
Season 3 - 4/10
Pros:
Finally out of prequel territory.
Cool future tech.
Interesting mystery of The Burn.
Great character development.
Cons:
Unsatisfying conclusion to The Burn mystery.
Tired of seeing The Federation in shambles.
Seriously, the source of The Burn was stupid.
Discovery would be able to solve so, sooo many problems in this era.
Did I mention the sad kid causing The Burn?
Season 4 - 8/10
Pros:
More character development.
Federation starting to get back on its feet.
Interesting mystery around the “Dark Matter Anomaly” (DMA)
We get to see The Federation deal with a truly alien first contact. Species 10-C was amazing.
Cons:
Once again, an existential threat. Very exhausting.
Conclusion
I think Discovery suffered from one main issue, in multiple way: season-based plots. Since every season had a single main plot, any issues with the plot ruin the whole season. We don’t get standalone great episodes like in the old series, which you could watch at random. You kinda need to watch the whole season. Furthermore, since each season had to have a big plot, every season is dealing with a huge issue. It’s exhausting being in an existential crisis the entire time. That’s the feeling we have in our real world right now. That’s the reason I watch Star Trek; it’s a glimpse at how the future might be brighter. Discovery never felt like a promising future. It felt like we are going to be struggling for our lives for the next millennium and more.
So, I still enjoyed it as a piece of media, and a part of the Star Trek canon, but it’s not a show I see myself watching again and again like the rest of the franchise.
With the revelation that they are being taken, I immediately thought of Pria, from The Orville. Essentially, she was an agent from the future sent to steal The Orville for future collectors. The unidentified ship is clearly extremely powerful despite its small size, which screams time traveller to me. And they seem to be taking examples of ships from all different empires, as if for a collection.
My other thought is that it’s some party trying to turn all these empires against The Federation, as, to date, no Starfleet ships have been attacked. It’s not unreasonable that their neighbors could see that as suspicious, and conclude it’s an advanced Starfleet attack vessel.
I did not recall that. Having Googled it, it seems they implied it was Spock, but never explicitly stated it, and never followed up in that later. The only details about it seem to be from a novel, Vulcan’s Heart, where Spock had married Saavik.
Spock breaking up with T’pring for Chapel makes me sad. They could have been so good for each other. And I just now realized: Spock never ends up getting married (that we know of).
Maybe I’m just projecting human emotion, but I feel like that explains some of the more morose/melancholy demeanor seen in his later years. Always put the needs of the many first, even to the very exclusion of his own needs.