Right sorry for the delay but -
Episode two was interesting, and it was a nice reintroduction to Uhura she felt believable as a young Caddet with a talent Gift for language, it managed to sell that she was young and inexperienced and not automatically a expert at everything she turned her hand to and it takes her time to work things out and she enjoyed music and hummed when she was nervous or occupied.
It was nice to see a Enterprise that while being a Top of the line ship for the Federation was outmatched by a alien species and that they had to use diplomacy to try and resolve the issue rather than going right to fighting.
I also liked the primative alien culture, they managed to sell that they where primitive and scared of a unusual light in the sky.
What I am not liking is Lt Sassy pants at the helm, she comes off as cocky and self aggrandising rather than as a skilled star ship pilot and the continued reliance on Time Travel / precognition as a way to fix plot holes.
I was genuinely shocked at how much the primitive alien culture was done via simple enviornmental storytelling in this episode. It didn't need grandiose talking or them all wailing and going "OH WOE THE ENVIRONMENT HOW WE SUFFER" there wasn't a single fucking line of dialogue from them and it was all done via expressions and eye movements. The Shepards being a CGI monster with very wobbly eyebrow acting faces was kind of neat too.
Ortega I'm a little neutral on for now, it seems they're going back down the route of character-episodes, so her fucking up and getting some people killed or
something to humble her cockyness I think would be welcome perhaps in a later episode or season 2. That being said, she's yet to do any gross "THIS IS FUCKING SCIENCE PEOPLE WOOO!" gross one-liners yet. Plus her hazing Uhura with what is clearly a classic for nervous cadets and newbies schtick causing Pike to snicker was pretty good.
Sam Kirk being a fucking idiot despite being studying xenos in
Starfleet which is easily the most dangerous job short of being a random red shirt security officer was interesting also.
I like Hemmer. Right amount of competent grouch.
I do like that they've pushed the episode length out to just shy of an hour, it does allow the episodes to breathe a bit and not feel as jarring with cramped 20-minute A/B plots.
He was at least at first and Mubenga came later, and there was a cross over period I think. Boyce was the Medical officer and Pike was close to him for a long time. That's whay I was talking about with it being a retcon Mubenga came after him not that he was a character to begin with or that he was present on the Enterprise he's just been put in too early, but I am willing to accept that.
Well we know The Cage is split between 2254 and 2266 when it was tranformed into The Menagerie, which is when Dr Boyce was officially on screen. We know at some point between then and 2266 when Pike is melted he is replaced with Dr M'Benga who serves aboard for a few years before being replaced in turn by Bones McCoy. Both Spock and Peck mention Crew Rotations in the pilot episode suggesting perhaps Boyce and a few others are swapped around. They've got a lot of new chiefs of staff, including engineering.
The way Pike and M'Benga warmly greet eachother suggests he hasn't been on the ship all that long, giving Boyce at least a 5 year run aboard the ship possibly even 2250-2259. Meaning he likely did the last deep space tour before requesting reassignment or a post at Starfleet Medical back on Earth. Like Number One, he probably didn't want to be sat around staring at Pancakes in a log cabin because his Captain was off growing a hobo beard while he still can.
There's a bit more of an open thing that could be done with this show for the time being, as much as Coombs has said that he did later cameo his voice into Lower Decks so I wouldn't slam the possibility off completely.