itt we talk about STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS. No, the cartoon.

superfun! loved that Janelle James, Wendy Malick & Rachel Dratch were the betazoids, they were v funny

Oh I should've guessed that they'd bring in some ringers!

Kind of delighted about the holistic philosophy to security.

And omg I forgot about the Tamarian security officer's Naruto run!

"Parth Ferengi's Heart Place" hahaaaaa. Nice.

Great episode. Did I notice the TNG theme playing as the muzak in the restaurant Tendi and Rutherford were at?

Chase Masterton's voice seemed off, to the point I didnt think it was her doing it til the credits came up. And I was wondering why all the Ferenghi women were clothed, but given Rom's grand nagus now I guess he changed some laws? He'd always been the progressive one in DS9.

I was cracking up at the Landlord cop show Boimler was watching. The whole TV thing gave me Interdimensional Cable vibes.

agreed about chase masterson. i wasn't even sure about rom at first. but i guess it has been 30 years : /

That's sort of what I thought with Shimerman in that Short Trek, but yeah, Masterson wasn't really doing the Leeta voice. Glad to see Freeman get a win, though.

Anyway, now that I've signed up for Paramount Plus, I sure could go for a cold refreshing Slug-O-Cola.

Boy I was totally wrong about the Vendorians!

Also I know that the cool kids are all about SNW but LD is easily my favorite nu-Trek.

i love Lower Decks!
the recent run of eps have been very weird /freeform storywise but i’m not mad at it

Maybe you should try your hand at this Lower Decks quiz then: https://learnedleague.com/oneday.php?4910

i got 7 out of 10! :)

👍

The last few episodes have felt like a Lower Decks quiz tbrr (but I've enjoyed them!)

Latest episode was the best in a while imo. That backstory was really unexpected, and I’m glad Ma’ah is still alive, hope he becomes a recurring character

I didnt twig who exactly Sito was when Mariner mentioned her but as soon as the other guy spoke, I realised it was Paris and then that whole TNG storyline with Wesley came back to me. Cleverly done!

The "service" I use to stream this show mixed up the latest episode with the Frasier reboot and for a few minutes I thought this is going to be the weirdest crossover yet.

agree this episode was one of the best
mcmahan himself wrote it, hence the absolute nerdery of it lol

I've seen people say that this is their first Trek but my lord I don't know how much they could get out of this episode! And it clears up at least two longstanding unresolved mysteries: Locarno and Paris are NOT literally the same person, and Tom Riker is apparently still alive.

Well done for the Mariner stuff too, in putting a touching twist on her recent death wish.

Teach me to tap dance Dr. Crusher...

<3

i don't think you need to know the backstory to get something out of this! it's a little odd that marriner's death wish only comes out/is explored in episode 39, but hey that's television

time for a new spinoff series! On stardate 48467.3 a Maquis terrorist was sentenced to life imprisonment on Lazon II for a crime he absolutely committed. This man eventually escaped a maximum-security stockade to the Bajoran underground. Today, still wanted by the Cardassian government, he survives as a soldier of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help -- and if you can find him -- maybe you can hire . . . TOM RIKER.

It was only a matter of time before Lower Decks did a crossover with... lower decks. I wonder if this is vindication for the writer of the original lower decks episode who got shafted out of Locarno money because of Voyager's cynical "this Tom Paris guy, he's totally different from Nicky, well only different enough so we don't have to pay $5 an episode."

In fairness Trayce, she only appeared in two TNG episodes!

I re-watched "wej Duj" just a while ago, such a great ep

I gotta say the Marriner backstory and hotshot-pilot-but not-Tom-Paris thing both fell a little flat for me - I don’t really remember the former at all and have a dim memory of the latter.

Mostly this show does a great job with making the callbacks fun if you get them but not crucial for understanding.

Without any knowledge of the Sito character that bit just felt like clunky telling-not-showing exposition… and the reveal of the season bad guy was similarly a bit underwhelming… treated like a reveal but a bit of a shrug if you don’t have the knowledge.

Not actually complaining, I couldn’t stay mad at this show. But was notable, mainly cos it is usually very deft with that stuff.

Lol wow there is already a Mariner/Sito fanfic on AO3.

sorry for non-use of spoiler tags above, i think i felt it was a “check in when you’ve seen the ep” vibe but see everyone else is being far more discreet - hope nobody had their experience messed up

I wonder if this is vindication for the writer of the original lower decks episode who got shafted out of Locarno money because of Voyager's cynical "this Tom Paris guy, he's totally different from Nicky, well only different enough so we don't have to pay $5 an episode." - different guys, Locarno was in Cito's previous episode (the writers of which were made madder by the lower decks episode, because it game Sito a redemption, while Locarno's irredeemable nature was the "reason" given for why they had to create a new character)

Ferenghi putting a paywall on a bomb = chef's kiss.

I truly don't enjoy being Debbie Downer on all the Star Trek stuff but while I really love that Lower Decks getting more ambitious I found both the resolution of this and Freeman's big "going against Starfleet" moment very unTrek.

I'm never going to be sympathetic to a storyline where the villain is the person pointing out the system is rotten, but even within that: it's made clear Locarno is an egotistical asshole, ok, but he's not even launching an attack on anyone, just staking out a territory for his group and using a deterrent - we don't even get to see any potential inhabitants he might be colonizing. I appreciate Mariner does everything possible for him not to get killed, but it still feels like there should've been at least a little "both sides"ing suggesting that maybe some of these young officers of various regimes, some of them p absolutist, might have a point? And the big "fuck yeah, she's going against starfleet" moment is severely undercut by Starfleet's actual concerns being that people might die.

I had a good time an' all, don't get me wrong.

I think the thumb is already on the scales there tbh - Locarno is the guy who leads kids astray.

Lower Decks seems more about being fan commentary about Trek than earnestly inhabiting it which oddly out of all the nu-Trek series, the cancelled kids show seemed to be the most serious (and successful!) about carrying the optimistic humanism of Trek/Federation banner.

Also, was Wil Wheaton deliberately doing a Morty impression as Cadet Crusher?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sHSDkxivvo

Talking loud and fast is just an animation thing, apparently!

Frakes asked me, “Do you change your voices for the animated show?” And I was like, “No, we yell and we talk fast and it’s just how animation works.” You don’t have your face and body to emote with so you have to do so much more, there’s just so much more energy and effort that has to go into your voice.

https://trekmovie.com/2023/11/29/interview-tawny-newsome-on-mariners-growth-in-lower-decks-season-5-wants-more-star-trek-crossovers/

Seeing how Tawny Newsome delivered rapid-fire Mariner dialogue was one of the things I was curious about the live-action episode.

Also, that quote sound a lot like the story Kristen Schaal related about when Kevin Kline showed up for the first time to record his lines on Bob’s Burgers and was talking about doing a vocal warm-up or prep. Schaal and Eugene Mirman just responded “what? No! We just yell at scream at each other!”

fifth season will be its last

Ugh, sad.

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