McMahan confirmed the season plot will come into focus in the next two episodes:
“The finale does. Episode 9 does to a lesser extent. But 10 is like a movie. It’s wonderful.”
I’m guessing either the Cerritos or the Sh’Val is disabled at the end of the next episode, then the remaining ship has to rescue the other in the finalé.
I remember reading an article in “Star Trek: The Magazine” that fans were convinced it was practical effects, but the sequence was actually CGI.
The fact that the CGI was indistinguishable from traditional methods is honestly really really impressive for the era.