I like the exposition - with the new serialised approach it gives the whole thing the vibe of a novel written in a really well realised universe, and I'm the kind of person who loves exploring a well realised universe and its details. For me it also makes the 'detective story' element and intrigue easier to follow and more convincing: When you're working on a mystery (an unknown engineering fault is the equivalent for my background) you do spend a lot of time talking it over and exploring various angles of it. But I do see how some TNG fans might not be enjoying the feel of the show - to me this feels more like a child of the first few seasons of Babylon 5 than Star Trek (not a bad thing for me).
I also like both the idea that when asked, in an extreme situation atop an extreme situation, to rescue people who they saw as a threat... Starfleet failed its ideals. I have always felt that Star Trek occasionally conflated 'humanity has improved' with 'humanity's flaws have gone', this series does address that in way only DS9 really did before. This is showing humanity still has flaws - but people are wiling to struggle to overcome them (and some not so much).
It is slow in pace though. That's fine for me, but I can see how it frustrates some people. If it can move up a gear once the characters are introduced and the details of the situation well nailed down it might help - but maybe that would be stretching credibility: Picard really is old in this series. Tough and smart still (he still fights pretty well for guy his age, his chateau has phasers hidden under the tables, and his two assistants both seem to be ex Romulan intelligence personnel so he's definitely decided to be ready if trouble ever comes to his vineyard), but we see him struggling and out of breath after having to climb a lot of stairs fast, he has a brain condition that affects his moods and self control and will probably prove fatal eventually, and he's still living the assumption that he's the big noise at Starfleet he was decades ago when they don't want to know about him anymore. But that and the way he's decided to stand up for the ideals of Starfleet despite how the organisation itself has gone makes him more a hero - albeit a clearly flawed one - than ever. My two cents.