Just wrapped up episode 4, and I kinda feel like the scene with Agnes and Rios is kind of a mission statement for some of the perspective that the series is working from.
Specifically, that while it may be a Star Trek show, this is not a Starfleet show.
Yes, half the cast are former officers, and much is made of the organisation's ideals. But that scene touches on the idea that, to everyone but Starfleet, where they're not going out and exploring every new star they come across, because that's their personal interest, space travel is just... long, and boring. These are not people who are okay with the idea of going on continuing missions to explore strange new worlds and the like. They have but one mission, chosen of their own accord. They're people who live in the Star Trek universe, but they're not Starfleet. That's why the ship'll be weird, and the dynamics between the cast non-standard. Because they're not Starfleet.
Meanwhile, though I did enjoy much of what we got to see on Vashti, am I alone in finding there was... kind of an odd, orientalist vibe to things? Like, it almost feels as though they're modelling the collapse of the Romulan Empire on various, early 20th century imperial collapses, including Imperial China and the Ottoman Empire. It's 'the frontier' not so much for being unexplored, but lawless, governed more by warlords and religious sects, peace maintained by 'rangers' stretched beyond their means.