I’m with you on this. La’an is my fave character in this show so I was really looking forward to this episode. But after watching it, I felt it just wasn’t very good. I think, for me, it was mostly the writing, followed by the pacing, and the fact that while Kirk is my all-time fave Trek Captain… I just do not like the Kirk in this show. I just don’t find the actor they chose to be a suitable fit at all, unfortunately.
Still, the episode did have a few good moments, and it’s only 1 of only 2 episodes, so far, that I haven’t enjoyed with this series. So that’s still a good batting average.