Star Trek: Lower Decks

[ArugulaZ]

Didn't Boimler have to live through The Naked Now in a simulation or something? And he wasn't thinking of long-term survival, but "Eww eww eww I can see my commanding officer's weenie!" Dude's an even bigger prude than Judy Hopps from Zootopia, Disney's "it seemed like a good idea at the time" figurative and literal lionization of the police force.

 

[Sprite]

Boimler’s XO would be a great endpoint for Mariner, yeah.

I’m sure if the show gets the chance to end on its own terms I’ll be fine with whatever choice they make.

 

[ArugulaZ]

I'd say "don't do a Next Generation flashback episode where it turns out they were just watching archival footage," but that might actually work on Lower Decks. You know, mostly for the fan service the show revels in, but also to make fun of just how stupid that moment in Star Trek was.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Didn't Boimler have to live through The Naked Now in a simulation or something?

It was actually Mariner who did in the teamwork training exercises from last season. Her solution to that scenario was to jettison herself out an airlock. The final straw was seeing Boimler buck-naked and presenting himself in a very obscene pose. The way I read that scene was less that she was a prude (she's pansexual; constantly discusses her past escapades with pride; is the most vocal person on the show regarding her sexuality) and more that she doesn't really know how to handle intimacy and her own feelings very well. Further evidenced by her relationship with Jennifer that was adversarial simply because she was attracted to her and didn't know how to handle it in a classically juvenile manner. She's definitely also got the hots for Boims, imo.

 

[Tegan]

Important: She is visibly into Jennifer and Barnes making out in the Naked Time simulation.

 

[ArugulaZ]

I somehow misremembered that. Whoops!

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

I knew the twist with Martok’s cameo from interviews but it was still the best thing I’ve seen all week. Also, Bold Boimler is best Boimler. Where can I get a Boimler hug pillow?

 

[Daikaiju]

I knew the twist with Martok’s cameo from interviews but it was still the best thing I’ve seen all week. Also, Bold Boimler is best Boimler. Where can I get a Boimler hug pillow?

Etsy, most likely.

 

[chud_666]

Leah Brahms

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

I was greatly amused that one of Boimler’s greatest nightmares was a giant raisin

 

[Tegan]

I liked the episode but I wish that the first glimpse of the Mariner/Jennifer relationship we had actually had Jennifer present for it.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

I get the feeling Jennifer is only really there for Mariner's character growth, and that they won't last all that long. But who knows? Best I'm hoping for is just one episode centered on her, the way Boimler and his gf had that one episode in S1.

 

[jpfriction]

Boimler as a tiny comic relief robot could use its own episode.

 

[YangusKhan]

I... I think I have a crush on Tendi.

 

[Tegan]

I... I think I have a crush on Tendi.

This is the reason I got into Star Trek.

'Cause Tendi is cute

 

[Sprite]

Colonialist pulp fiction tropes trash talking each other at a recruitment fair is definitely the sort of thing this show was made for.

Gatdang what a great episode on all fronts.

 

[ArugulaZ]

You know Letitia James, the lady who's prosecuting TFG in New York? Anyone else think she sounds a lot like Carol Freeman from Lower Decks? Because whenever I hear her talk, I feel like she's about to chew out Mariner.

 

[madhair60]

hey just wanna pop my head in and say that I was initially put off by the unbelievably obnoxious cold open to episode 1, but gave the show another shot and was won over by the end of episode 1. I'm now about halfway thru the first season and having a blast, what a great show! it's funny without being shticky, and the characters are likeable and well-developed - quickly, too; the last episode I saw had a running joke they couldn't have done if they hadn't put the work in on character development

 

[Tegan]

You know how the first episode of Bob's Burgers was deliberately really bad so they could sell it to Fox? I feel like the first five minutes of Lower Decks is the show trying to Trojan Horse itself off as the next Rick and Morty.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Or like how the trailers for the first Paddington made it look like yet another snarky, lowbrow CGI mascot movie, like Garfield or Alvin and the Chipmunks or The Smurfs. Then it wound up being way more clever and British than anyone could have expected.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

This week on Lower Decks: SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

 

[SpoonyBard]

I never expected them to bring Armin Shimmerman back but I always hoped they would. Hooray!

 

[Daikaiju]

"... Sir?"
"Just keep circling"
DS9 INTENSIFIES

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

I never expected them to bring Armin Shimmerman back but I always hoped they would. Hooray!

Ok, so. NGL, both him and Nana Visitor both sounded kinda old in this episode, but they both made up for it with gusto. Also it was kinda weird because some of the episode, it sounded like Shimmerman had his mouth prosthetic in, and other times it sounded like he was speaking unencumbered BUT both quibbles are extremely trivial because WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I also thought, in the meta sense, this week's episode showed the writers are pretty deft and skillfully in the way they kept Mariner busy all episode/off DS9. Because they're clearly not ready to show all of their hand with regards to her past yet, and if she was walking around on DS9 too long, it would leave the audience hanging and upset if they didn't showcase more of her past and potential traumas. So instead, let's have her spend her first meaningful time with Jennifer! Everybody wins. Great writing/planning.

 

[Sprite]

That was a great Tendy episode. I like having her meet an Orion whose trauma is the exact opposite of hers, and how that chips a little bit away from her shell. I feel for that guy, too, they kind of gloss over how awful it would be to have pulp novels be your only connection to your heritage. Here’s hoping she can be a little window for him into the real Orion.

 

[Mr Bean]

Besides the pylon gag (which was great) I loved Shax and Kira’s running argument over who owed whom.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Gotta admit, I was hyped for this episode, skipping ahead to watch it, but ultimately I was a little disappointed. I'm not even sure it was the fault of the writers... after its ending, Deep Space Nine became something of an empty shell. Odo's gone, Bashir's gone, O'Brien's gone, Worf's gone, and of course both Siskos are gone. Quark and Kira (both sounding rather off, as was mentioned previously) just aren't enough to carry an extension of the series, even if it's just a crossover with another Star Trek series. Maybe an injection of Garak would have livened things up.

Oddly charming moment: Mariner and her girlfriend phasered themselves and fell asleep in each other's arms. Almost immediately afterward, the lights came back on, but I doubt that bothered them too much.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Gotta admit, I was hyped for this episode, skipping ahead to watch it, but ultimately I was a little disappointed.

What were you expecting here, haha

I'm actually very happy with how the episode played out. I don't think DS9's ending is close to the best ending in the franchise, but the thing I do like about it is the feeling of finality it gave audiences. The war is over, the status quo is forever changed, and everyone involved gets to go their separate ways and pursue whatever'll make them happy. No Star Trek short of The Undiscovered Country gives its cast and setting such a final and gracious goodbye. And I really, really, really don't want the equivalent of Star Trek Generations to come along and undermine it the way that film undermined both TOS and TNG. A brief cameo like this where we stop by and everything is where we left it is A-OK, maybe even ideal in my book. It doesn't mess with the ending whatsoever, and it only serves as a fun trip down memory lane without besmirching DS9's legacy. Anything more would have been incredibly risky and just not worth it.

 

[ArugulaZ]

I guess that's the problem... they couldn't have given us much. Deep Space Nine has very little to give at this point, due to the finality of the ending. I'd say they went there just for the sake of fan wank, but it's Lower Decks, Ensign Kim. Fan wank is part of the job.

 

[chud_666]

Tacky fascist cardassian eye sore