Soldato
Ok, my take on this is that it is by a country mile the most modern, real-feeling Star Trek that has been created.
1) Cast, characters and acting are great. Sonequa Martin-Green is doing an excellent job as Burnham, and Jason Isaac is PERFECT as the Captain with a dark side.
2) Technology seems very well done and as I imagine it would be
3) It feels human, dark, gritty... we have swearing, sex, torture, a starship dance club. FInally Star Trek has lost its "perfect cardboard cut-out" characterization and in-your-face morality.
4) Storylines were interesting, only the ending of the episode "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" annoyed me as I thought the bad guy (the awesome Rainn Wilson, Dwight from The Office, yay) was let off far too lightly for what he did.
5) The Klingons were well re-invented and now look less like humans with cornish pasties on their heads and more like the hideous and semi-monstrous warlike aliens I always imagined them to be.
I am really, really looking forward to Season 2 and it has breathed new life into what was a stale and often underwhelming IP.
I have to say I agree with the points you've made as on the whole I've enjoyed the show and I like the new look and feel to the production. However I would say with regards to "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad" ending it's not like Lorca is some moral angel and besides he know if he jumps to a starbase t hand over Mudd he risks loosing his starship/command so I'm willing to give them a bit of slack (for me it was one of the best episodes). The only direction choice I've disagreed with is the long talking scene's with the Klingons having them done in their native alien tongue meant the actors and actresses spent more time concentrating on correct pronunciation of the worsds which compromised delivery and I didn't really feel a lot them, it was only when Burnham turned on her translator in the last episode we finally got to understand what these guys were all about.