Notes:

*The timing of the impending 'disaster' on New Eden can't be coincidental.   It seemed more like the set up for a test for what I term 'sufficently advanced tech + society':

*Further to the first point, the 'Red Angel' may actually be an advanced form of Von Neumann probe in reverse.   If you are able to pass the test (and in particular how you answer the sociological conundrum) then you would be considered sufficiently advanced to challenge whoever designed the test in the first place and thus are an enemy to be destroyed.  

*I am utterly amazed that Super Michael wasn't the one who had previously-unknown experience in a Luddite colony.   I hope they've decided to stop giving her new super powers and arcane knowledge/skills every episode because that started to get really tedious in Season 1.  

*We see yet more unprofessional behavior from Tilly.   I kind of found these parts to be the least enjoyable aspects of the episode.  Seriously, if someone keeps disobeying orders and doing things like dangerous experiments that could endanger the ship then they should be in the brig or confined to the sick bay with a security detail watching them.   I don't care if their crazy-ass behavior saved the day -- just because an unstable person is right one time doesn't set a precedent for them being correct or on the level in the future.   Yes, there are times where the rules need to be broken but if everything you do is a broken rule then you've eliminated the point of having rules and laws in the first place.

*Anson Mount again pulls off a great performance as Pike.  We get some more background detail on him too.

*It sounded to me like Ethan Peck was trying to imitate the vocal cadence of Leonary Nimoy but his voice doesn't have the same resonant bass frequencies.   It sounded odd.   I would rather if they were going to do this new portrayal of Spock they would let the actor bring their own inflection to the part rather than ape the performance of someone who previously played the part.

I don't take it as being that nefarious.  DISCOVERY had to establish itself as its own thing: universe, characters and all.  To have introduced the Enterprise in the midst of that, say six or seven episodes into the first season, would have come with huge expectations that couldn't have possibly been met.  One thing I appreciated about Season 1 was the time it took to get to know the cast and the world they inhabited, nit picks and all, while setting up Pike as the cliffhanger at the end.  

Also, given the tech at the time in terms of Warp Drive, I totally bought into the Enterprise being far enough away that it was deemed "a last resort" to bring her into the fray.  Worked for me without thinking it was done as a slight to prop up the new series.

Said the exact same thing to my wife last night after we watched the first two eps.  I'm a bigger fan of Michael than most here, but I don't want to revisit what I thought was by far the worst retcon in the Abrams reboot: the relationship between Spock and Uhura.  That's not Spock, certainly not any Spock I know.  As we see more of what's coming next, however, I have a sneaking suspicion that DISCOVERY is going to go down that path and it's one I'm decidedly not excited about.  

If CBS listens to the fans re: Pike I wouldn't be surprised to see he and his crew get a spinoff.  It's not like he can serve aboard the Discovery as Captain forever.  

Yeah, Bruce Greenwood is a fine actor, but he never seemed like the actual Pike character to me in the Kelvin movies.  He seemed like a new character who they gave the name 'Christopher Pike' as an Easter egg.  Anson Mount, on the other hand, is very clearly portraying the same character that Jeffrey Hunter played.

I'm with Matt re: a Pike's Enterprise spinoff.