That was not a homage. Holy shit.
Slow-mo monologue openings are seemingly reserved for the fairer ebony persuasion.
Sam "don't you FEEL ANYTHING?!" Kirk ripping off his Kelvinverse bro. Difference is, the movie provided dramatic build up to that showdown and didn't feel forced, as was the case here. It wasn't a cute ripoff in the spirit of Quark's rendition of Picard's "line drawn here!" speech; that was funny because it was so obvious and self-aware.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" :ANGRY FACE:
I like Chapel and Spock; imagine if they had capable writers?
One more episode, then I'm done with NuTrek - at least on a regular basis. This was last chance saloon after the abysmal Disco S4 & Picard S2. What I watch needs to grab my attention and keep it. NuTrek has consistently failed this basic requisite for years.
The stories themselves are mostly meh-worthy; I needed non-schlocky, non-superficial writing to keep me around. You might be glad not to have the convoluted serialised twaddle of Disco or Picard, but the quality at the coalface (e.g. the dialog) is little changed. This is no game changer, I'm afraid.