Star Trek: Lower Decks

[Mabus]

Ep 7: Yet another "Mariner is totally awesome and her flaws aren't flaws you see".

[Dman]

When I first saw the preview images I thought that Freeman had somehow been rejuvenated and she was going to out-Mariner Mariner. Mildly disappointed, but maybe next time.

Tendi continues to live the good Starfleet life, just doing SCIENCE! Though I do find iffy they’re encouraged to mess around with DNA. If it weren’t for Tendi’s cinnamon-rollness, The Dog could have been an abomination…

I meant a /bad/ abomination.

Not much on Boimler this week. He snitched but he I could not fault him for it since I didn’t believe for a moment these “hide the freaks” stuff could happen in Starfleet. Loved all the callbacks in those scenes. We even got the Janeway lizard thing!

Now Mariner, oh boy. Might be an unpopular opinion, but I want to see more of Mariner.
Just what is her deal? All these bits of backstory, it goes beyond just thinking “upper decks are all glory hounds”.

Did her first command went horribly wrong? Maybe she served under someone who did terrible things? What made her want to stay where she has no real power and little responsibility?

And that’s the second starship destroyed in this series. Hope we get to see a Saratoga go down.

[J!!]

Well, it's StarFleet, so my quatloos are on parental issues. Mom's a captain, Dad's an admiral, wasting all her potential with self-sabotage; this has Tom Paris Syndrome all over it.


As far as the episode goes: The idea of all the many officers who get mutated or mangled on a regular basis being quietly swept under the rug is exactly the sort of joke I love to make about Star Trek; implying some horrible dystopian dark side to the federation. So I fully bought that that's where they were going with 'The Farm', and I absolutely love the bait & switch of presenting that, then turning it around in a big dumb misunderstanding to play the Trekian Utopia angle completely straight. I also love that the solution to the transporter accident (tm) was just to wait for it to wear off on its own. I'm kinda hoping that 'Boiming' becomes a running gag.

The one disappointment I have is that I think they missed an opportunity to develop the Boimler/Tendie dynamic, as they barely interact throughout the whole thing. It's understandable that they wanted the focus to be on Mariner, and didn't have time for much else, but still a bit of a shame.

Also, is anyone else here watching Infinity Train? Because I think someone in the writers' room might be a fan.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

I WANT to watch Infinity Train, but season 3 of it is just as inaccessible to me as Lower Decks after episode 1 is! >_<

[J!!]

Well, I'll have a glass of rum in your honor.

[Dman]

So many references. Khan, Gorn, fan dance, Tasha, giant Spock!

This might be my favorite episode. I felt it went by blazing fast and I couldn't stop laughing.

This was the most truly lower decks episode of the bunch. With our characters supporting the command staff in cool space adventures even if they don't get the whole picture (thought the should try reading the logs? they are apparently made public if Boimler knew about the lamp ghost thing with Crusher).

Boimler giving an such an inspiring speech clearly means he's Captain material. Though his taste in villains leaves a lot to be desired (I had to google Roga Danar)

We'll never know if Tendi can really beat up a bunch of Rom-bleep-ulans guards.

Next episode looks to be all about the movies (Mariner really did write a script in 2 seconds, you can see if you pause).

Boimler should be happy, he can probably get promoted from Ensign to Captain in that scenario, he just has to defeat Mariner who seems to be going full Khan.

[Ordo]

Tendi continues to live the good Starfleet life, just doing SCIENCE! Though I do find iffy they’re encouraged to mess around with DNA. If it weren’t for Tendi’s cinnamon-rollness, The Dog could have been an abomination…

They're encourage to do side projects....creating something like The Dog probably violates some code that Tendi wasn't aware of...

Not much on Boimler this week. He snitched but he I could not fault him for it since I didn’t believe for a moment these “hide the freaks” stuff could happen in Starfleet. Loved all the callbacks in those scenes. We even got the Janeway lizard thing!

I'm actually going to say Boimler did the right thing. He told a superior officer about a situation and then provided a valid recommendation of how to peacefully solve said isse. It's not HIS fault said officer flew off the handle. On the plus side the Officer did apoligize for his mistake and resolve to improve communications in the future. Classic Trek.

Now Mariner, oh boy. Might be an unpopular opinion, but I want to see more of Mariner.
Just what is her deal? All these bits of backstory, it goes beyond just thinking “upper decks are all glory hounds”.

I think her mother and father probably played a BIG role in her thinking that "upper decks" are glory hounds. Part of me think's she's a former 'Wesly' type...young talented and made an acting Ensign due to their relationship with the Captain. However, whereas Picard was just trying to get into Beverly's pants...I mean mentor the young man I suspect Mariner's Parents used her as a way to boost their careers.

Did her first command went horribly wrong? Maybe she served under someone who did terrible things? What made her want to stay where she has no real power and little responsibility?

Riker's first command involved a mutiny after the Ship's Captain violated a treaty the Federation signed with the Romulans. If something like that happened to Mariner I can absolutly see her going down this path.

This was the most truly lower decks episode of the bunch. With our characters supporting the command staff in cool space adventures even if they don't get the whole picture (thought the should try reading the logs? they are apparently made public if Boimler knew about the lamp ghost thing with Crusher).

I'm guessing that the logs for the most recent mission hadn't been posted yet. When everything's going down the Lower Decks kind of just have to roll with it and hope their senior leadership knows what it's doing. Then read up on the afteraction to determine what just happened.

Boimler giving an such an inspiring speech clearly means he's Captain material. Though his taste in villains leaves a lot to be desired (I had to google Roga Danar)

He's got a LOT of learning to do but, at present, I DO think he has potential. Sadly, Sisko's not around to give him the guidance he needs...but Boimler will get there soon....hopefully."

We'll never know if Tendi can really beat up a bunch of Rom-bleep-ulans guards.

Tendi dosen't strike me as a Liar so I'm inclined to believe her. We know very little about her upbringing so I'm willing to buy that she's had a lot of hand-to-hand combat training.

Next episode looks to be all about the movies (Mariner really did write a script in 2 seconds, you can see if you pause).

You know...I think Mariner is more of a nerd than she wants to let on. During Tendi's story she quietly admits to herself that she wishes SHE could be assigned to clean the conference room. Perhaps her friends are slowly helping her rediscover her love of Starfleet...boring bureaucracy and all. In fact, thinking about it, Mariner's friend in episode 7 possibly gave a really good reason why Mariner might actually WANT to work towards a promotion in the future despite the BS and annoyances she despise in the 'Upper Deck'

"Because I love leading a team that puts their trust in me."

I can absolutly respect that, you deal with all the crap of the job because knowing YOUR people place their faith in you makes you WANT to work to ensure the Political BS is cleared from THEIR path and they can shine as you know they can.

Mariner wasn't in a place to hear that during episode but perhaps one day...she'll recall those words.

[Ordo]

More thoughts on Mariner, looking at the TOS episode 'Obsession', it occurs to me that Mariner could've been in a situation like Kirk was on the Ferragut, and what we're seeing is survivors guilt and a refusal to ever be put in charge against because of her own percieved failings.

Might be giving a comedy show too much credit...but it's a thought.

[Hero_Of_Shadows]

The captain of that hospital ship didn't really do anything wrong, the patients were going to mutiny and if they had won do you really think there would have been a pretty fate for the captain and his crew, he moved first and stopped the mutiny and without the need to hurt anyone.

Ok I guess breaking his own desk in frustration was bad optics but he can just replicate a new one. ok and he left Boimler on his own which then lead to him getting beaten up and nearly thrown out of an airlock.

With the latest episode I'm seeing a pattern maybe it's just me imagining it but:

I think Mariner is supposed to be a TOS-style captain like Kirk, thinking on her own without regulation to guide her, always ready to get into fights and she makes a lot of the TOS references like the augments and the klingons.

Boimler on the other hand is supposed to be (eventually) a TNG-style captain like Picard, more of a diplomat acting within a stricter framework of rules, giving speeches and advocating he also makes most of his references to TNG (this is not clear as TNG is one of the most referenced series in LD)

[CharlesPhipps]

This episode has Boimler citing a TNG villain and Mariner citing a TOS one so I think it is the way its supposed to be.