I watched the first few episodes -- and that was is. The first episode was a disjointed mess in which nobody acted like a real person, contrived relationships were the norm and the dark "edgy" mood was anti-Trek in tone.
For example, in the first episode Picard does a traumatic media interview (forgetting that past-Trek said they didn't need that anymore), and the next morning this strange bloody-faced young woman stumbles up to his patio muttering about how she killed them all and there was blood everywhere…but I saw you on TV… I'll be safe with you…I know you…and Picard doesn't call the cops?? He invites her to sit down and have a cup of tea?!?
This new Trek path is definitely now Space Opera with no pretense of being science based. In Picard the bad guys ignite the "trace gases in the Martian atmosphere -- and it's still burning!"
W.T.H. Not physically possible. I used to know a guy who was a science advisor on ST:TNG. He was an actual scientist – had PhDs in physics and chemistry, real smart guy. The writers/producers had him on their brain trust and they'd go to him and say "Hey, we want this cool sciency thing to happen in this episode. Could that happen?" And he'd do some research, extrapolate what we know of physics and so on and go back and tell 'em, "Yeah, and here's how it would work" or "Nope, totally not possible," and they'd use that advice to shoot the episode. That's why it felt science-based, 'cause much of it was – and even their Space Opera tech had some internal consistency to it.
Now? Pure Space Opera. And it's nasty, dark and bloody -- with drug addiction, random gore and sexual situations. Like a poor man's GOT in space. Oh well.
