These mergers can take a long time to complete, so we're probably safe for a while.
I wouldn't count on any serious going longer than five seasons under the old ownership, anyway...
If your concerns are on the creative side of things, I don't think that's really what they do - their expertise seems to be getting things made.
They produced Into Darkness and Beyond, so they at least have some history with the franchise.
And then they'll tell you again.
And again...
And again...
And again...
Underrated: Oh boy, time for some takes...
TOS: This might be the hardest to pick - maybe "The Corbomite Maneuver"? It's fairly well-known, but is crowded out in a season full of classics.
TAS: Pretty much everything besides "Yesteryear" is underrated, but if I have to pick one, I'd pick "The Magicks Of Megas-Tu" for sheer weirdness.
TNG: "Remember Me" - really good episode. I think it's pretty well-regarded, but it should be better regarded.
DS9: I've always been very fond of "The Sound of Her Voice," for some reason. I don't think I'd ever seen anything quite like it when it originally aired.
VOY: I think "Counterpoint" is the finest episode they ever did, but people rarely talk about it.
ENT: Uh...I guess I'll say "Daedalus" - it does a lot of worldbuilding surrounding the transporter, but isn't one of the big "lore" episodes that people tend to talk about.
DSC: "Su'Kal". The cause of the Burn is something that speaks to the humanist core of Star Trek in a way that many people seem to overlook.
PIC: "Remembrance." The first episode of the series is nearly perfect.
LD: I don't know if the nature of the show lends itself to this exercise, but I'll say "An Embarrassment of Dooplers".
PRO: "Crossroads" - the kids arriving at a turning point, and making the kinds of dumb decisions that kids make.
SNW: "Ghosts of Illyria," I guess - this series is still pretty fresh, but this is one of the better episodes that isn't a "gimmick" episode.
Hypothetically, I think I'd structure it somewhat similarly to season 5: a couple of episodes to establish the stakes, two or three more to gather information or materials, then a couple to put the plan together and enact it, and then ideally at least one to catch up with Zora after the events of "Calpyso."
As it is, there are so many unanswered questions surrounding this mission that I hope we at least get a novel or something out of it.
Yes, it disappeared and reappeared at different locations - it did not hoover up entire sectors.
The DMA destroyed one station, one populated planet, and one colony that was evacuated before it struck. A sector is 20 LY across.
If they were to use the power, they could rebuild kweijan and all of the damage to planets and creatures in season four.
The finale established that the technology could reanimate a dead body, but couldn't restore minds or personalities. There's also no indication that it could build a planet or reanimate bodies that were crushed in an artificial singularity.
I think it was a worthy experiment - take the nameless, silent extras that populate the bridge on the older shows and give them a little more to do.
But I think it created some unintended and unfortunate audience expectations. Maybe a failed experiment.
I would imagine none of those actors were under contract.
It looks like they're doing a better job of retaining props from shows once they've wrapped, so maybe there's a chance they'll put the sets in storage in case they decide to use them again - either in a movie (the rumour is/was that they want to do a streaming movie every two years), or for the occasional guest appearance on the Academy show.
But what was up with Detmer and Owo being side lined for the second half of the season.
Michelle Paradise said yesterday that both actors were unavailable during filming, having booked other projects.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I didn't realize there were conspiracy theories floating around about them being fired or some nonsense. I figured the actual reason was probably pretty benign.
I take IMDB listings with a grain of salt, but she is listed as a costume designer for S31, as well as Captain America: Brave New World(!).