Usually contracts have to be negotiated after five seasons. Especially after the strikes last year, studios are committed to never budging an inch on contracts or residuals, even if it means losing money in the short term. To them, it's worth it to cancel even a successful or popular show if it means keeping their workers in a perpetual state of gig work and at a disadvantage for contracts on new shows.

Man, they could not have picked a collection of less interesting ships if they tried

evolved to be more sensitive to light, resulting in everyone tending more towards malevolence, and barbarism, and queer coded villainy.

You know, I spent the whole episode sort of wondering if they were going to try and speculate that all the species of the Mirror Universe are campy jerks because in that universe the Progenitors were campy jerks. But I suppose I'm glad they didn't try and explain it, and it's still just a little pastureland for the actors to go chew scenery.

I still don’t get it. It doesn’t really make sense to me. If it takes a lot of focus and concentration to maintain the solid form, why is one considered weak for doing so?

They seem to be saying that the solid form is a sort of defense mechanism, like a snail shell or an opossum playing dead (or maybe an environmental one, like that it prevents the jelly form from losing too much moisture in a warm environment). It's difficult to maintain, and implies you're in a position of retreat or weakness. Now that the Breen presumably have no predators and no environmental necessity for the solid form, it's seen as a cultural taboo.

While I'm a little bummed the Breen aren't the space-arctic-wolves I imagined them as during DS9, I think it's an interesting idea. I do always like when they describe how cultural practices in a particular species comes from how they exist in the ecosystem of their home planet, like the Kelpiens (Saru and the Kelpiens being for me, Disco's most successful addition to Trek canon).

Oh. Wow. Yikes.

Totally, thank you. Star Trek is goofy as hell sometimes. I think if the Kelpian kid had been a plot device isolated to a single episode, no one would have batted an eye if it were on TNG or VOY. But as the reveal of a season long mystery, it was a big woof for a season and a concept that I was really into.

That said, season 4 really picked up that briefly dropped ball. I think the last two episodes of S4, plus the one with the debate at Federation HQ, will go down as Trek classics once Disco ages a bit.

Frankly, the scene that introduced Stamets and Culber together I think was intended to surprise the audience in a different way –– Stamets is a huge jerk the previous few episodes and set up as a semi-antagonist, and that bit shows him in a very different light, as the audience/Burnham starts to thaw on the Discovery crew.

The Orion ship that arrives to collect Tendi is inspired by the one introduced in “The Pirates of Orion”, but appears to be a more modern iteration of that craft, as well as being significantly larger.

There have been a number of references to that episode this season, but STILL no one has said "Oreeeeon" or worn a silly green jumpsuit/helmet combo. Like what are they even doing?

The information broker has had cosmetic surgery to resemble the puppet Balok used to appear intimidating in “The Corbomite Maneuver”

I don't think it specifies in the episode that the information broker had cosmetic surgery, does it? I wondered if this episode was trying to semi-canonize the Dassik. I don't really care either way because that bit was hilarious.

I loved this one. I'd read a Ryan North comic about Shaxs doing pretty much anything, but nice to see him in action fighting fascists.

With all the "Pirates of Orion" references in this one, they really missed the boat not having at least someone pronounce Orion the insane way they do in that episode.

Barclay's actor has become a truly odious person in real life –– I don't think the TNG cast (Stewart in particular) would have agreed to have him on the show.