TL;DR – Not the show’s strongest opener but still an interesting start to the season

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this episode.

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

Well … this was probably not the welcome back that anyone wanted, with a completely botched move for the show from Netflix to Paramount+ in international markets. However, after much annoyance, those outside North America are finally getting our look in at the new season.

So to set the scene, at the end of That Hope Is You Part 2, the source of The Burn was located in the form of Su’Kal (Bill Irwin), a scared child left alone on a dilithium planet. Now that there is no chance of a new Burn, the Federation is starting the extended effort of reconnecting with the galaxy. One such trip was to Alshain IV when discussions with Emperor Lee’U (Alex McCooeye) fell apart immediately after discovering that Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Booker (David Ajala) hold a monarch hostage in their ship. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.