Yeah, I’m in Canada, too. I thought that last commercial break was awfully long...

Culber was not the CMO. He actually mentioned having to assist the CMO with something in another episode.

I believe the showrunners have said he’s not the chief engineer (which makes sense, because...he’s not an engineer), even though a display screen identified him as such in one of the early episodes.

Yeah, I think they did a pretty good job of giving all of Lorca’s questionable actions an alternative explanation. He’s driven to win the war, he’s suffering from PTSD, etc.

There’s a certain degree of handwaving involved, but they did acknowledge that there were irregularities in the scans - mainly scar tissue - that were attributed to the torture.

I thought Saru did quite well for himself tonight.

Hell, she technically “met” the emperor via hologram in the last episode.

If you mean the senior staff, I, too, would like to at least find out who they are - even if the show isn’t about them on a regular basis.

I believe she went to the starbase, but I don’t remember the exact circumstances - she was probably on her own ship, which we never did see.

I prefer the idea that there is no “point of divergence” (or if there is, it’s the Big Bang). They’re just completely independent universes.

Arne Darvin wasn’t an augment, so far as we’re aware. He certainly doesn’t look like a typical TOS Klingon.

Yeah, I feel like it was earned, and pretty well set up. I’m not convinced I like it, or feel like it’s worthwhile. I’m certainly not excited about this particular turn.

There’s also the fact that he said, “Let’s go home,” and then punched in some kind of spore drive override immediately before they jumped to the MU.

The Defiant presumably had medical files on Prime Universe humans.

So, the writers competently seeded their storylines, rather than having shit happen at random?

the Charon seemed like it was like a Dyson Sphere-esque starship

If that’s the case, they weren’t terribly successful. The “Lorca is from the Mirror Universe” fan theory has been equally prominent all year.

True, but he did the scan after noting a tribble’s reaction to him, so maybe he knew what to look for, a la Culber?

Nope, your screener wasn’t edited. It really was that short.

Sure is - CMDR Marcus Wynter, bus driver to the (literal) stars.