They really knocked I out of the park with park with this one. I’m not a huge fan of season-ending cliffhangers, especially two-parters with he whole “To Be Continued…”, but this was pretty great!

I also like how they scaled-back the Gorn in this episode to make them more of an existential threat and seem more like the intelligence species they’re supposed the be rather than a pack of wild animals a la Aliens where it makes no sense that they’re also and advanced, space-faring civilization.

I’m a little surprised that we didn’t get more ground action (or even dialogue) from the colonists who were, literally, wall dressing the whole time. 99% they even had their faces buried. And the whole “they picked the format of an old-timey midwestern American town” thing just screamed, “we drove to NoCal to shoot in a small town to save on budget.” Or, possibly, Paramount’s backlot. I miss the creative sets they had for Federation colonies in TNG and DS9, even if they were mostly one small courtyard with a fountain and lively market surrounded by a huge, gorgeous matte painting. Fake or not, they were always much more imaginative than trying to pass of some rural 21st-century town as a 23rd-century colony on an alien planet. like, why are there huge roads and parking lots everywhere?

Also, while I’m glad they saved Nurse Chapel, it would have been nice if they had tried to save some other possible survivor from the Cayuga’s saucers section before flinging it at the planet, but whatever. They probably weren’t important!

Overall, I think this was a petty good episode, although I think getting Captain Batel all egged-up was a bit obvious, but, of course, Pike has to have something to be extra conflicted about, ya know, more than just saving the Cayuga crew, his own crew, and possibly battling 4 Gorn ships against the orders of Starfleet. Because that’s just not enough tension…

I was flabbergasted that they find Christine, but to hell with anyone else on the saucer section who might have survived — fly it into the tower! Chapel’s all, “I got more oxygen for everyone” but I guess Spock is still “needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” and all that.