Thanks to my podcasting co-host's connections, we got screeners for the first six episodes, and here is my low-spoiler review as per the rules of the embargo.
TL;DR it has a huge heart, and a series about rebuilding democracy and the infrastructure of a functional society in the wake of imperial decay and environmental devastation is exactly what the world needs right now. It overtly follows in the footsteps of Prodigy, as a jumping in point for a young new fan, and the relationship between Holly Hunter as the Academy chancellor and Sandro Rosta as a new cadet who is skeptical of Starfleet and the Federation (and with good reason!) is a real gift.
I'm reluctant to commit to this, because recency bias is a thing, but it's absolutely my favourite live-action series of the streaming era (and you guys will recall that I loved Discovery and wrote a lot of fic for it!), and I think it's very possible I love it more than Voyager. Certainly it has the best opening six episodes of any Trek bar TOS.
TL;DR it has a huge heart, and a series about rebuilding democracy and the infrastructure of a functional society in the wake of imperial decay and environmental devastation is exactly what the world needs right now. It overtly follows in the footsteps of Prodigy, as a jumping in point for a young new fan, and the relationship between Holly Hunter as the Academy chancellor and Sandro Rosta as a new cadet who is skeptical of Starfleet and the Federation (and with good reason!) is a real gift.
I'm reluctant to commit to this, because recency bias is a thing, but it's absolutely my favourite live-action series of the streaming era (and you guys will recall that I loved Discovery and wrote a lot of fic for it!), and I think it's very possible I love it more than Voyager. Certainly it has the best opening six episodes of any Trek bar TOS.