If it manages that level I would consider it a minor miracle.
billmason
Exactly! And this season to date has me tilted heavily toward "faceplant".
I hate to be pessimistic but I'm dreading the hell out of this episode.
Right now it's hard to imagine they're going to bring Kurtzman and Secret Hideout back for anything Trek-related. It's pretty clear Kurtzman's era as Trek overseer is done.
I had that thought too at times during the episode. Doing the whole thing in black or white pulled me out of any noir mood every time we were back on the Enterprise.
Better episode this week, mostly because they gave Una something to sink her teeth into. Ironically, I thought the past episodes went too far into their genre, but this one didn't lean in hard enough. The black and white just got distracting, especially every time the plot moved back to the Enterprise and the story there noticeably was weaker.
Q brings Neelix to the Alpha Quadrant and the story is off and running.
I guess I should have said "Who besides Terry Matalas was asking for more Alexander stories?" 😂
Not oligarchy, state disinformation and war mongering?
My main reaction overall to the reveal was this iteration of Paramount ownership would have cancelled something that delved into these things as fast as it did the rest of the Trek slate.
Also, it's slightly boggling that the fans who wanted this were hyped for Captain Seven (I think it's fair to say), and the premise was going to be....nah, let's do a Worf/Alexander/Klingon politics story? Who was asking for more Alexander stories?
Counterpoint though, there is reporting that suggests Paramount+ has plans along the lines of Sheridan-type programming/audience chasing while focusing on some other broad genre types/audiences....but there's no mention that they have any particular interest in animation here.
P+ has never struck me as a great place for animated fare anyhow.

Yes, you clearly are then. If this episode is a dud I'll have slid overall into Discovery levels (sorry DIS fans) of "I watch to be in my favorite universe for a hour and to keep up on the lore, but I have no expectation of being wowed by what I see" mode for the rest of the run, quite likely.