For me, it’s just a question of whether it’s serving the story. If it’s baked into the premise, like the musical or puppetry episodes, I’m happy to go with it.

But disaster scenarios are more satisfying if the obstacles and especially solutions seem like a natural consequence of the world of the show. Magical particles that both heal and fuel showing up in M’Benga’s case notes feel too convenient, even if it took some effort on Spock and La’an’s part to track them down. I’m not sure if I’d call it a Deus Ex Machina or just a MacGuffin that came into the story too late, but it just doesn’t do it for me.