I'll let Luther Sloan take this one.

We search out and identify potential dangers to the Federation...we deal with them.

They certainly believe they're protecting the Federation.

Honestly, if there's one character whose upbringing I'd like to see, it's this one.

At least once more, as always.

And yet it endures. Unlike the Terran Empire, which fell centuries ago. Were you aware that the distance between our two universes started expanding sometime after your departure? There hasn't been a single crossing in over 500 years. You didn't know that, did you? You're all alone now.

There's definitely a lot of wiggle room in there.

Hmm yes I did expect it would go without saying, but the extra reminder can't hurt.

This makes me think that the flashbacks to Georgiou's childhood seen in the trailers might be directly related to the main plot, rather than something that's just there to provide character insight.

I was thinking that it's interesting that crossovers with the Mirror Universe stop completely at some point around the 27th Century. There's a story there.

One has to dig into the novels for some of this, but Picard took his promotion to oversee the evacuation plans, so in theory, Starfleet already knows about the supernova and is beginning their initial evacuation effort.

The Utopia Planitia fleet was a major project, but evacuations took place even before the fleet was built - Elnor's colony was an evacuee settlement, and Laris and Zhaban stuck with Picard after he rescued them.

I had been hoping that such a major re-evaluation of Starfleet's mission would affect this show, but it was not to be.

TrekCore is reporting that The Ready Room is coming to an end with this episode.

I wish I could say I was surprised, but the vastly decreased frequency of episodes was a red flag.

Is that an angry bullpup version of the unicorn dog from the Original Series?

I believe it was a jackal mastiff, which hasn't been seen (outside of STO) in quite a long time.

I never wondered if Klingons had claws for toenails, now I am.

We got to see Worf's feet once, and I apologize for the reminder.

Or was that Goodgey? Have I forgotten about them?

Goodgey did remain with the crew, and was last seen in episode 5x02.

Fun(?) fact regarding a *Defiant-*class ship landing on a planet.

Per Ex Astris Scientia, while the Defiant MSD had visible landing struts fairly early on (the revised MSD introduced in "Shattered Mirror"), it seems no one thought to inform the writers:

The real-world reason for the Defiant never landing is that the producers were not aware that there were landing struts visible in the MSD. Ron D. Moore said in an interview with LCARScom.net: "The Defiant has landing gear? You have to remember that things like CD-ROMs and the various "official" manuals put out by Paramount are not done in conjunction with the writing/producing staffs and that the authors are usually simply extrapolating information based on what's actually been seen on screen."

the shuttlebay appears to be in the nose assembly, where the deflector dish, docking port, and phaser emitter usually are.

There's always room for more shit in the nose of a Defiant.