I finally watched it. I did it because I thoroughly enjoy Lower Decks and I know they make references to the other shows and I wanted to get those references.
The good:
Jet Reno is a phenomenal character and Tig Notaro plays the role perfectly. Jet is by far my favorite character in anything Trek created after DS9 with Phlox a close second.
Mirror Universe Georgiou was phenomenal. I do really hope that we get to see her one more time in some future exploration of the Mirror Universe... which for me is saying a lot because I loathe the Mirror Universe.
Saru is a wonderful addition to the Trek universe and is one of the best written Trek characters in a long time.
The CGI in the show is outstanding. I was thrilled to finally see some sort of fighter on fighter action in Trek instead of just the heavyweights duking it out.
I actually enjoyed Stammets. I loved how in the beginning of the series he is an abrupt condescending asshole... then upon getting high on shrooms he mellows out. He is still an abrupt condescending asshole... but a loveable one.
The Burn was a great plot device.
The bad:
I absolutely hate how Burnham started the series as someone who was shoehorned in as Spock's adopted sister raised as a Vulcan and held on to those mannerisms until well after she became a Commander which implies several years. By the end of season 1 she has dropped any pretense of her Vulcan upbringing outside of a very framed and emphasized eyebrow raise when talking about Spock and the occasional use of the word "Logic". The cadence of her voice changes completely halfway through the first season and only returns when she is dealing with Sarek or Spock.
Burnham is, to me, just unlikeable and as she is the focus of the show... has made this a less than thrilling series to get through. This bit in particular really stings because ST
iscovery could have actually been titled ST:Michael Burnham for about 2 seasons worth of episodes.
Klingon "Time Crystals". Seriously... WTF.
Season 4 was nothing more than a re-hash of the Xindi plotline in Enterprise with a super quick and neat bow tied on at the end of it.
Lastly... one would think that by the 32nd century that humanity would have gotten past the societal issues around gender and pronouns. For example, Adira expressing frustration/anxiety/sadness? over Stammets referring to them as "her". I just didn't even remotely expect that the writers of the show would see that as still being an on-going issue damn near 1,100 years into the future. Especially when Kirk and Riker had already plowed through half the universe including the a-gendered. To me, it felt a lot like how the writers felt the need to highlight that there were women on the bridge but did so in a negative light with Pike dressing down a Yeoman then stating he will never get used to women on the bridge on "The Cage".
/That last point is in no way shape or form to be taken as being phobic in any way. I'm 100% for representation and inclusion... I just question the negative spin they put on the issue and how people still viewed gender 1,100 years into humanity's future.