[Boffo97]

One of the problems of putting a show like this into a universe so established: The fight over who gets the spiffy new sensor plot would have made much more sense if we didn't know replicators existed.

[Faithful Reader]

The fight over who gets the spiffy new sensor plot would have made much more sense if we didn't know replicators existed.

It could be something that the Vancouver is field testing before being deployed en mass. There was a similar problem last week with the Senior Staff having a better menu than the rest. It all comes form the same place, there's no reason to do that other than to instill inferiority.

[Faithful Reader]

After openly wondering why we haven’t had a cameo from other Trek actors in Lower Decks, J G. Hertzler shows up! Once again, he’s a badass, using whatever means he has to protect his legacy. Not having weapons, he found a way to nonetheless attack the Cerritos, though when you toss the items you are trying to salvage at your opponent, that does leave less for you to claim.

Freeman had another great showing for the second week in a row. We consider Spock and Picard the master diplomats, but Freeman is certainly making a name for herself, not firing back after repeatedly being provoked. There’s no wiggle room here; she’s being directly attacked in the open and no one would fault her for fighting back, but she remained calm.

Speaking of guest stars, Jack McBreyer joins the cast and is outright stated if not strongly implied to be the first recurring villain. No stranger to comedy or animation, he’s an excellent addition to the cast. Badgie is a fun homage to the late nineties and the first instance in new Trek of large amount of bloodshed three years after the first instance of nudity. Best of all, he has the potential to work with anyone in the cast, though it will be a harder sell with the more senior members of the crew. He’s the fun little murderous hologram that could. Already he’s got quite the following.

The Mariner/Boimler plot didn’t really do much for me, but I am happy Riker got to kick Fletcher to the curb.

Looking at the draft, it was another week on the ship for everyone, though Ranson did unleash his phaser in the teaser. It was also the best teaser we’ve seen with some very real fun moments. Overall standings are the same as they were last week, but there is a closer gap with the top two spots.

On a more personal note, you will want to check out the most recent episode of The Ready Room. There is a very powerful moment looking at the bigger picture both in Trek and in the greater scheme of things. You don’t have to appreciate the series to watch it nor do you have to be familiar with it, though there is probably a spoiler or two in there.

[Faithful Reader]

We’re getting quite the deep dive into Mariner. She knows she has to climb back up and will do so but in her own time. There was a fun riff on the ‘old college buddy’ trope with someone who has ascended to the captaincy and someone who is almost entirely voluntarily an ensign. For an episode so focused on Edward Jellico babysitting, there were a lot of callbacks to Tapestry with not being able to live up to your younger self. She did take the mission as a joke at first, but when it comes down to it, she almost single handedly rescued a crew. While Boimler is angling for a fast track to his own ship, Mariner is content to go at her own pace. Plus, Huge Space Alien.

We got really close to a Boimler/Tendri combination, but they quickly went their separate ways. I’m glad there is a department helping people who are just too traumatized physically from mishaps. It shows how dangerous space is and how Starfleet will take care of their own. Once again Boimler literally walks into trouble and Tendri doesn’t understand basic animals. She thought those were normal?

Rutherford took the week off, I guess.

Looking at the cast, Fred Tatasciore joins Brent Spiner in the Playing Multiple Roles In the First Season Club. Plus, we got Nolan North and Maurice LaMarche.

Looking at the draft, Dr. T’Ana didn’t go on an away team mission and given that Freeman, Ranson and Shaxs had to undergo special training for a covert ops mission, they are working outside their stated field. Also, Tendri created a dog. Overall standings are the same but the gap on the top is a lot closer.

[Boffo97]

OK, if I were trying to get someone into this show, this week's episode is what I'd show them (maybe after showing them the 1st episode or explaining who the characters are myself).

An awesome surprise return to Trek is just the icing on the cake here.

[Faithful Reader]

Indeed. We have a good look at each of the main characters, almost in total isolation from each other. The best part is each one had a different reason for not knowing what was going on. Boimler and Mariner just missed the action. Rutherford was getting updates and Tendri self-censored. Speaking of Tendri, man can she kick ass.

The best part is that we don’t know what actually happened. Yeah, it involved a old school Romulan Bird of Prey and a Gorn wedding. Plus, an old hard two-dimensional copy of a map. It all fits together, how it does is just not obvious at first glance.

Unfortunately, a lot of this doesn’t make sense unless you’re deliberately trying to trick the witnesses into thinking it’s a trial. Three were clues, but why go to such lengths to keep them in the dark? No reason but for dramatic tension. Do they have a heated tank with eels at every celebration? Still a great half hour that had me smiling.

The T’Ana bit was fantastic.

The voice cast continues to be top notch. Senator Dumbass Kurtwood Smith takes the lead and recent addition to the Trek family, Kenneth Mitchell is there, too. Plus, John DeLancie reprises his famous character, one that translates best to animation.

Looking at the draft, Tendri had an away team mission along with Ransom. They also had phaser rifles. It looks like Rutehrford went on one too, again with Ransom. The remainder of the bridge crew didn’t have an away mission. Standings are still the same, but the gap at the top is closer.

[Faithful Reader]

Crisis Point is an excellent send up of most Trek films. If you love Trek films (old or new) you will find something fun here. If you hate Trek films (old or new) you will find something you like here. As a series mainly focuses on The Next Generation, this poked fun at the entire franchise, showing off tropes of the movies in spectacular fashion. My personal favorite was the twenty-hour flyby around the new Cerritos.

Rutherford had fun telling his holo boss how awesome he is. We saw BIlliups droopy faced at a table at the end of the episode and the two did get along on the holodeck so we have a clue as to where their relationship will go.

Boimler sure got away with a lot accessing the crews personal logs (with an appropriate handwave) and managed to fumble the interview entirely. We know how great Boimler is at keeping a secret so I cannot wait to see what happens when it inevitably gets out in time for the season finale.

For a show that kept characters stagnant for eight of the ten episodes in the first season, we got some movement with Mariner. It looks like she is finally able to move on. Hopefully, it will not take her too far from Boimler, but it is great for someone to have growth. She was very much a man-child thus far and did get a big revelation which one can only get from beating one’s self.

Tendri got comparatively little to do but got in a bit of anti-racial bias training. Glad to see her not falling into that trope at least.

Overall a great episode once you get into the series and a fun way to move the overall plot along. The show takes advantage of the medium showing us things that would be impossible in live action. Favorite line “We had that exact conversation this morning.”

Looking at the draft, there was no mission, so the bridge crew get points. Mariner, Rutherford and Tendri had phasers (including a bazooka) so they get points for that and Rutherford leaned into a shot. Our penultimate standings are the same but who knows that will happen in the final half-hour.

[Faithful Reader]

Season one is in the books. Ten episodes is not a whole lot, but the show quickly established what it was. It is firmly entrenched in the Trek universe and while the franchise has had some humorous moments, this was the first outright comedy.

The highlight was Mariner and Freeman. Their secret got out (though that could and should have been avoided quite easily) and the crew was all over Mariner. The two would eventually reconcile, after a fashion and it is great to see some BGM for the first time in Trek. Freeman is a solid captain and Mariner knows what she must do. After watching Mariner find her way back of her own volition, it is great to see her move beyond that.

Rutherford got to see how murderous Badgey is. Unfortunately, he lost his memory. Plot amnesia is a boring plot device since we already saw Tendri and Rutherford become friends. Do we really need to see that all over again?

Boimler finally got his much-requested promotion. He was very instrumental to finding a solution to the badass Pakleds and will work great on the Titan. He has come a long way since we first saw him, and the Titan can only help him move forward. Plus, we have the Titan onscreen along with Riker coming to save the day for the second straight first season finale. He did not direct an episode, but made his presence known.

Shaxs is now passed away. The hotheaded Bajoran Security Officer was a far cry from prior Bajorans but one of the most aggressive and that’s including Worf. We saw little of his Bajoran faith but he will be missed and he went out in a blaze of glory.

Overall, the show went out of tis way to not have too much Trek oversight but that makes this a comedy set in the Trek universe instead of a Trek Comedy. Personally, I would have welcomed more oversight, but the show was able to be its own thing. This will probably be a debate going forward as the series progresses.

Looking at the draft, how did I miss Freeman and Mariner going on an away mission last week? This week, the two went in addition to Boimler. Shaxs died and while there was plenty of weapons shown, no phasers. Barring anyone bringing up something I missed, final standings are final and I would thank The Guardian, weyounslastclone and Mogor for participating, with The Guardian taking the crown!

[WeyounsLastClone]

Thanks for running this, and the write-ups!

[The Guardian]

I thoroughly enjoyed the season. There were times that I felt like the show strayed a little far from what we've been told above Starfleet officers, but looking back at plenty of other examples from the live action series, that might be more of a story Starfleet tells than what is true, like Vulcans saying how they're above their emotions and constantly getting annoyed by others or Klingons saying they're all about honor, but not when a harmless civilian is between them and their victory. Maybe it's a matter of reminding ourselves who we say we are (which I maintain is a good thing), but it definitely seems like it's something they just like to tell themselves.

[Boffo97]

To be fair, a lot of the Vulcans we've seen (even before Enterprise) who weren't Spock, Tuvok or their immediate associates were jerks.

[The Guardian]

To be fair, a lot of the Vulcans we've seen (even before Enterprise) who weren't Spock, Tuvok or their immediate associates were jerks.

I agree. I also think Tuvok was a jerk. Spock was kind of a jerk in "command mode," but I think that was more of a style choice of his own. Spock was never really dismissive of other opinions, even those rooted in emotion. He would often caution against letting emotions take control, but he would always point out how he saw his point of view. How he arrived at his conclusions. Other Vulcans seemed to take it as obvious that if you didn't agree with them, it wasn't because you saw it differently, but rather that you were stupid. One thing I always loved about Tuvok was that he could surprise Janeway. She would suggest that she knew what he was going to say, often the by-the-book option, and instead he would argue the opposite. In my college days, I took that to mean that Tuvok often evaluated other points of view and argued whichever he found most logical. It was a trait that I consciously tried to emulate. I think I might have returned to more knee-jerk reactions in my adult life (I hope not, but I do see it from time to time), but I do find myself re-evaluating based on pushback.

All of that is to say that I admire the Vulcans for many things (and the Klingons and Starfleet), but the tendency to lie to oneself about your nature bothers me. I kind of find myself preferring Kirk to Picard in this aspect.

Kirk: "It's instinctive. But the instinct can be fought. We're human beings with the blood of a million savage years on our hands, but we can stop it. We can admit that we're killers, but we're not going to kill today. That's all it takes. Knowing that we won't kill today."

Picard: "The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. ...We work to better ourselves ...and the rest of humanity."

I'm cherry-picking, but I hope you see the point.

[jadziadax8]

The main plot was an odd love triangle but since our characters can’t have meaningful plot development, Boimler has to end the episode single.

I lollered at the Kirk sundae with Trip Tucker sprinkles quote.

[jadziadax8]

My personal favorite was the twenty-hour flyby around the new Cerritos.

I lollered at that.