The hard sci-fi background makes the protomolecule stuff quite good actually IMHO. Since they are not goofing off in basic things and they've done their homewo

The hard sci-fi background makes the protomolecule stuff quite good actually IMHO. Since they are not goofing off in basic things and they've done their homework, having space magic happen is much more entertaining than in e.g. Star Trek where basically everything is driven by plot-based technobabble so you really have no distinction between "standard technology" and "unfathomable space phenomena of the week". Some of the space magic driven by protomolecule later on is fairly thoughtfull IMO and meshes nicely with rest of the show. I would advice you to continue watching - the series gets constantly better and better.