[8.3/10] Another real winner of an episode. Lower Decks has found a great groove, and it’s wonderful to see.
I like how the show’s tack with the Pakled is “Do regular Star Trek stories, except really stupid.” Plots like a spy posing as an asylum seeker, a diplomatic negotiation that turns into a hostage situation, and starfleet officers finding themselves embroiled in another people’s internal r evolution are all classic TNG premises. But having them happen with the Pakled, who are much more clumsy and obvious about the whole thing, is a hoot.
I got a big kick out of the one Pakled getting aboard the Cerritos and trying to spy on the crew. The storyline features some nice comic twists, with Ransom and Kayshon thinking they can easily pull the wool over this would-be spook’s eyes, only to panic when they can’t find him and fear he may have outsmarted them. The reveal that he mistook an airlock for a bathroom is a nicely absurd resolution, and I appreciate the call-back to the Riker’s “crimson force field” ploy from the species’s first appearance!
Likewise, I got a big kick out of Captain Freeman and Shax going down to the beautifully-named “Pakled Planet” to try to negotiate peace with the species. Some of Lower Decks best comedy comes from Captain Freeman just sighing at all the bullshit she has to deal with. There’s plenty of that here, between various leaders demuring over negotiations because they don’t have big enough helmets, the attendees calling her Janeway, and an ill-fated revolution interrupting the proceedings. The fact that at the end of the day, the meeting is productive because Captain Freeman gets some intel on the Pakled’s plan makes it a nice win for her.
That said, I liked the “anomaly consolidation day” stories even better. Mariner, Rutherford, and Tendi going through the senior officers’ dangerous souvenirs from missions is a great setup. It let the writers get creative about the different effects of various skulls and cubes and crystals, and it let the animators show off their talents as those various trinkets and artifacts had their effects on the three Lower Deckers.
But I appreciated the heart of the story too. Mariner getting sick of Tendi’s positivity and lashing out, only to realize she should have fed on it rather than poo-pooing her friend’s enthusiasm is a good lesson. And Tendi secretly getting this assignment for her friends because they always want to go on missions, and admitting her frustration beneath some of her positivity is a good beat as well. Tendi’s gotten a lot more development this season, and I’m glad for it.
Still, my favorite storyline in this one was Boimler’s. On a comedy level, it’s just a fantastic idea to have a group of ensigns trying to rank up who’ve boiled down climbing the ladder to a science. Their efforts to emulate Riker and other captains in terms of dramatic speeches, well-tailored uniforms, and middle-management truisms are fun in and of themselves, and lend to the show’s extended spoofs of various TNG tropes.
I like the message even better though. Being a captain isn’t about following certain tropes, and it’s certainly not about imitating other commanders. It’s about getting in there and helping those who need to be helped, and finding your own way of leading. Boimler’s willingness to make a fool of himself, appearing anything but captainly, but getting the job done to save his friend, shows a kind of leadership and care that the self-proclaimed “Redshirts” could only dream about. Their snooty “Some people work in Starfleet and some people work for Starfleet” dichotomy shows why they’re not actually fit for command, and Boimler seeing the substance rather than the form is a great way of showing why he is Captain material someday.
Overall, this is another mark in the win column for Lower Decks, with great storylines all around for everyone involved, and a great parable about what makes for a great captain.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-09-17T03:11:21Z
[8.3/10] Another real winner of an episode. Lower Decks has found a great groove, and it’s wonderful to see.
I like how the show’s tack with the Pakled is “Do regular Star Trek stories, except really stupid.” Plots like a spy posing as an asylum seeker, a diplomatic negotiation that turns into a hostage situation, and starfleet officers finding themselves embroiled in another people’s internal r evolution are all classic TNG premises. But having them happen with the Pakled, who are much more clumsy and obvious about the whole thing, is a hoot.
I got a big kick out of the one Pakled getting aboard the Cerritos and trying to spy on the crew. The storyline features some nice comic twists, with Ransom and Kayshon thinking they can easily pull the wool over this would-be spook’s eyes, only to panic when they can’t find him and fear he may have outsmarted them. The reveal that he mistook an airlock for a bathroom is a nicely absurd resolution, and I appreciate the call-back to the Riker’s “crimson force field” ploy from the species’s first appearance!
Likewise, I got a big kick out of Captain Freeman and Shax going down to the beautifully-named “Pakled Planet” to try to negotiate peace with the species. Some of Lower Decks best comedy comes from Captain Freeman just sighing at all the bullshit she has to deal with. There’s plenty of that here, between various leaders demuring over negotiations because they don’t have big enough helmets, the attendees calling her Janeway, and an ill-fated revolution interrupting the proceedings. The fact that at the end of the day, the meeting is productive because Captain Freeman gets some intel on the Pakled’s plan makes it a nice win for her.
That said, I liked the “anomaly consolidation day” stories even better. Mariner, Rutherford, and Tendi going through the senior officers’ dangerous souvenirs from missions is a great setup. It let the writers get creative about the different effects of various skulls and cubes and crystals, and it let the animators show off their talents as those various trinkets and artifacts had their effects on the three Lower Deckers.
But I appreciated the heart of the story too. Mariner getting sick of Tendi’s positivity and lashing out, only to realize she should have fed on it rather than poo-pooing her friend’s enthusiasm is a good lesson. And Tendi secretly getting this assignment for her friends because they always want to go on missions, and admitting her frustration beneath some of her positivity is a good beat as well. Tendi’s gotten a lot more development this season, and I’m glad for it.
Still, my favorite storyline in this one was Boimler’s. On a comedy level, it’s just a fantastic idea to have a group of ensigns trying to rank up who’ve boiled down climbing the ladder to a science. Their efforts to emulate Riker and other captains in terms of dramatic speeches, well-tailored uniforms, and middle-management truisms are fun in and of themselves, and lend to the show’s extended spoofs of various TNG tropes.
I like the message even better though. Being a captain isn’t about following certain tropes, and it’s certainly not about imitating other commanders. It’s about getting in there and helping those who need to be helped, and finding your own way of leading. Boimler’s willingness to make a fool of himself, appearing anything but captainly, but getting the job done to save his friend, shows a kind of leadership and care that the self-proclaimed “Redshirts” could only dream about. Their snooty “Some people work in Starfleet and some people work for Starfleet” dichotomy shows why they’re not actually fit for command, and Boimler seeing the substance rather than the form is a great way of showing why he is Captain material someday.
Overall, this is another mark in the win column for Lower Decks, with great storylines all around for everyone involved, and a great parable about what makes for a great captain.