Don’t get me wrong - I’m glad SNW is back, but the opener was a little meh - not least because it was predictable in the extreme.

The moment Spock reveals that they’ve travelled back to the Sol system 65 million years ago it becomes all very convenient and the predestination paradox possibility immediately rears its head.

Because, why would a solar storm light years away throw them back to Sol? And 65 million years ago is immediately obvious to any kid with a passing fancy for dinosaurs as the Cretaceous, which probably means there’s going to be a link to the extinction event. The need for and presence of iridium in the plot reinforces that, because one of the things we know about the KT boundary is the unusual presence of iridium.

(I won’t go into nitpicking the science in this one because Trek’s hold on science has been tenuous at best and this episode was more tenuous than most)

But even if you don’t pick up on that bit, what clinches it in the end is when Spock reveals there is a fifth planet between Mars and Jupiter. Although this detail really should have been made known earlier when he initially scanned the system since it’s a pretty unusual feature for Sol and the only reason it wasn’t is because it would give away the game too soon.

Because the moment you have that bit of info, you know how the rest of the episode has to play out - and it should be obvious to every officer on the bridge, not just Pike. Hell, every Earth officer at least should know what’s going on since they should have more than a passing familiarity with their home system. So Pike’s pronouncement that there is no fifth planet in their time lands as less of a dun-dun-dun reveal than it is a “No shit, Sherlock.”

Also, the pile-on consequences were a bit much, I think. Being involved in the creation of the Asteroid Belt is one thing, and sure, I can even buy the distress buoy paradox, but to put the creation of the solar storm and the extinction of the dinosaurs on top of that is over egging it.

There are cute character bits I enjoyed. Seeing dinosaurs is always a joy. The three-woman landing party was fun, and Saffron Burrows’ performance as a complex antagonist was superb.

Cade S’sha’s presence was a bit superfluous, since she had absolutely nothing to do except be an asshole to Uhura, and one wonders if her introduction would have been better served in an episode where she was more of a focus, or she should at least have been given some role in the plot.

It wasn’t a bad episode, but it wasn’t a great one to roll out the new season.