Heartfelt usually but not always equals The Tendi Effect on LD to me hah. I agree about the subplot being weak - both for Mariner and also Boimler/Rutherford which was pretty much a slapstick sketch.

I would've liked to see something like Boims struggling to think of a first book to take to T'Ana's book club, with Ruthie enthusiastically but haplessly trying to suggest things (usually engineering related)