I agree on the predictability on Boimler’s story in this episode, but I think it’s rushing through his progression from hyper competent junior officer to competent commander (or manager or delegator even). Also it’s an opportunity to explore T’Lyn’s dynamic with other characters like you say. Mariner would’ve probably just taken charge (she believes in him but probably would’ve run out of patience), I imagine Tendi might’ve tried to be supportive as is her nature in addition to using her officer training and Rutherford would’ve cooked up some techy shortcut.
I enjoyed seeing him speaking confidently with the captain, especially in the midst of all the chaos. That shows how much he’s progressed over the course of the show imo
Honestly I was only skimming these not wanting to accidentally spoil anything for myself, so I’m not sure what else they add! Just searching for them is building real hype for season 4, LD is easily my favourite NuTrek show though I’m a fan of SNW and Prodigy too