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Episode 2x02: "New Eden"  Thoughts: The second episode of Discovery's second season continues to show a new direction for the series as a whole, in this case towards a more familiar style of Star Trek storytelling. If last week's opener was still a bit too action-heavy of a blockbuster, then "New Eden" marks a return to the classic Trek "planet of the week," in this case a settlement of humans on a distant planet that wouldn't feel out of place as the starting point for one of Kirk's adventures in TOS. From mentions of Starfleet General Order 1 (aka the Prime Directive) and an away team sent incognito to learn what's going on among the locals, it's both comforting to see these familiar tropes yet also still feel we're watching something new by learning more about Captain Pike's style of command and how the rest of the crew handle the challenges thrown at them. For those left on Discovery, we get a return to the A/B story type format, or in this case, perhaps the surface vs space sides of the same overall plot dealing with the human settlement. On the surface, operations officer Joann Owosekun is recommended to join the away team by Michael. We're told she was raised in a Luddite collective so she'd be good for this mission, and while she does get a small moment to shine in helping the away team out of a locked cellar, it's a shame she's still basically treated the same as an extra. While Discovery was envisioned with Michael taking on the central role, if the show is trying to change into a more ensemble-driven series, then an easy way to have developed Owosekun further would have been to let her become a voice for the humans on New Eden rather than keeping it mainly still focused on Pike and Burnham's different views on how to handle the settlement (namely, whether the prime directive still applies). On the ship, Ensign Tilly gets to be the hero seemingly once again, and while I personally find her an endearing enough character, again, the writers should be willing to let the other bridge crew step up and contribute to the overall plan. Rather than have Tilly explain for instance what Detmer the helmswoman would need to do, it would have been just as easy to have Detmer understand what she needed to do on her own and likewise have the rest of the bridge crew figuring out what else they needed to do rather than being one step behind Tilly. Still, these are just a few criticisms in what is overall an enjoyable episode and an encouraging sign that Discovery is getting its footing. That said, I suspect next week's episode revisiting the Klingons will really be the test of whether Discovery can avoid some of its less successful tendencies from last season. Observations: -We get our first glimpse of World War III with a soldier's helmet cam from 2053. Apparently, an entire church was transported away to the planet in the Beta Quadrant. -Besides Christianity, the church also had a mix of beliefs from Judaism, Islam, Wicca, Shinto, among others. It's a bit odd that there'd be such a mix from just one church, but perhaps the Red Angels rescued a larger slice of a town (or from multiple sites). Why though remains a mystery, presumably to be revealed later in the season. -Pike wasn't kidding about needing a new ready room, which apparently isn't even the same room off of the bridge that Lorca was using. The set is gorgeous, and the lighting really highlighted the high production values of Discovery. -With Tilly now having seen a dead classmate and Stamets' previous experience with seeing Culber, one wonders if why we might not hear about the spore drive in the future is the strange connection it seems to have with the dearly departed.