this episode really suffered from prequelitis

I never really feel this way - realistically, the main cast is virtually never in danger of dying, regardless of whether we know what happens next, so it doesn’t really interfere with my enjoyment of the story being told.

I guess this is meant to be borrowing from the 24 style of show

Yeah, it did occur to me that the countdown seemed to be happening in real time. I guess that explains the occasional splitscreen, which in itself feels like a very 1960s thing to do, even though it’s not something that Star Trek did.

a line that sounds superficially vulcan but which under scrutiny makes no sense

Yeah, I did not like that.