When I first started this show I found it to be a really awkward mix of comedy and seriousness. It had some jokes thrown it at the most inopportune times as some kind of comic relief from a really serious situation. Perhaps the first half of the first season was actually a bit rough or maybe the show just grew on me, but by season 2 I found myself loving this show.
To me it seems as every bit as comfy, intellectually interesting and even funny as some classic Star Treks while still clearly being its own thing. I wish more comfy space shows like this would get made.
What are your thoughts on The Orville? Also I miss Alara.
Picard season 3 was pretty great too. I skipped season 2 as I hated season 1. Apparently season 3 just ignores the events of 2 completely because it was that bad.
I haven't seen any of season 2 yet, and while I agree that a few of the episodes in the first season are a bit off-target on the science fiction aspects, I think they are overall quite a bit better than the first season of TNG. I'm more than willing to give it, say, 40-60 episodes to really find itself and get into the meat of the story they want to tell with it.
I still haven't watched it. I think I might be done with Trek. There's just been too much damage in the last decade with those godawful jj abrams movies, discovery, picard, blech. It's clear to me the franchise has moved in a different direction and we'll always have tng and ds9, but I just can't follow it anymore.