Logline
Boimler leads his first away mission on an alien megastructure.
Written by: Ben Waller
Directed by: Brandon Williams
In case you are wondering, the Koala says “It’s not your time, Bradward Boimler” in reverse.
Oh cool, ty! I was wondering.
“I can’t believe that worked!” is such a horrifying thing to hear your physician say just after waking up. Gotta love Dr. Cats
Just a collection of random thoughts I had while watching the episode.
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Captain Freeman saying she minored in something so she’s qualified is such a common Trek trope. I love seeing it backfire horribly. I mean it makes sense. Leave it to the professionals.
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The combadges have feedback. I fucking love it. The combadge tech has always driven me slightly insane in the inconsistency of how it works/should work so why not add another layer to it.
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“Everything that has ever occurred IS science stuff.” Stunning. Accurate yet also incredibly bitchy. So utterly fucking on brand for a Vulcan science officer.
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Anomaly Storage Room. That feels like such a monumentally terrible idea. Of course Starfleet would do it. I mean why not having a mini-Daystrom Station in every starship? I wonder if the Enterprise-D in the Fleet Museum just has a storage room with Moriarty inside of a memory cube.
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That fucking gift box. Gave me nightmares as a kid. I hate it. I need more.
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“Eat a bag of Borg dicks, motherfucker!” has been added to my lexicon.
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“There’s a 0.015 error in sensor readings so it must be fixed.” Makes sense. Starfleet has a fucking insane devotion to accuracy. I’m just wondering if the hazing or the accuracy came first. Like did everyone use accuracy has an excuse to haze people until Starfleet was known for having dummy accuracy, or was the accuracy devotion there first so officers used it as an excuse to haze people under them?
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T’lyn is amazing. The typical Vulcan response of passivity but curiosity is going to work perfectly throughout Lower Decks. Especially when she is sensible and amazing command material. I hope she stays in Starfleet. Moreover I hope that they actually show her changing just a little bit over the show and being molded by the crew. I love being able to watch an earlier episode and seeing the rigidity still there.
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“It sounds wet and that is what I like so please continue.”
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“They thoroughly describe your strength and shortcomings.” I love it when Vulcans are being backhanded, whether they mean it or not.
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Boims really can be a great officer when he doesn’t get in his own way.
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I genuinely don’t know what’s scarier. The Koala/mountain or Janeways Dad/Alien with the Matrix in Voyager.
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“GIVE ME 30CC’S OF WHATEVER JUST FUCKING WORKED A MINUTE AGO.” She would get along with Bones so fucking well.
Another slamdunk of an episode for me. Enjoyed every second and I have no real criticisms. Then again I often don’t unless they’re major. When it comes to Lower Decks it’s just too wonderfully silly/stupid for me to want to slow down the ride.
The typical Vulcan response of passivity but curiosity is going to work perfectly throughout Lower Decks.
It’s just perfect, isn’t it? Hardly a surprise to me given that a huge chunk of the funny parts of “serious” Trek stem from the dry bluntness of characters like Spock, Data, and Odo. Now that T’lyn is here my only question is why it took until the 4th season for someone like her to show up.
Don’t forget Tuvok! He was an amazing straight man to the shenanigans of the Voyager crew. I’ve really been coming to appreciate him more on my current rewatch. I actually get some Tuvok vibes from T’Lyn, just maybe a little lighter and ‘carefree’ in comparison.
It really is surprising that it took 4 seasons. I wonder if their fear just came from worrying that they might come off too much like every other Trek show with having the ‘straight man’ type character so focal.
They floated it a little with Rutherford in the first episode or two with his Vulcan implant randomly making him act Vulcan, but it was dropped almost immediately.
I think by the time appeared T’Lyn in wej Duj, they had already produced most/all of Season 3, and didn’t realize how much of a hit she would be. And then there wasn’t an opportunity to go back and add her in. I think they had just enough time/room to add her to the end of S3E10
“It sounds wet and that is what I like so please continue.”
new date one-liner unlocked
Just try not to make the face that Mariner made while saying that line.
“Eat a bag of Borg dicks, motherfucker!” has been added to my lexicon.
Right?
Agree. Agree. Agree. There is so much goodness in this episode. And, so much quotable material. Dr. T’Ana is becoming my favorite Star Trek doctor. Love her attitude. I laughed so hard when Dirk sicced Lancelot the ferret on Rutherford that I started coughing. Lower Decks! Lower Decks!
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Rutherford speedrunning Allamaraine is my jam. Dude is the epitome of geek awesomeness.
Annotations up at: https://startrek.website/post/1704883
halo music
Also at 13:27 when Boimler is putting the canisters away I swear they are using the same sound effect as “half life 2 crowbar hitting metal.wav”
T’Lyn’s delivery with her lines is also fantastic
it sounds super similar, but I’m pretty sure there is not enough reverb to be the crowbar sound
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That’s definitely a
StargateSupergate. -
The computer has a proper name? That’s totally normal and never bad.
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Do your spots go all the way down?
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BananaTea, hot. -
Freeman getting her hands dirty?
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Yes, and/or dismemberment.
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ALLAMARAINE! Why the hell do they have that?
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Definitely being hazed. Someone just got to tick another box on Cerritos bingo.
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AlL yOuR FiLeS aRe ExAcTlY wHeRe YoU lEfT tHeM.
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The sky is literally falling.
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[Stop trying to make Peloton happen]
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Lancelot!
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You got this Boims!
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Allamaraine.any%.record
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I MISS MY WIFE!
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Is that… the black mountain?!?!?!
- The computer has a proper name? That’s totally normal and never bad.
I see nothing wrong with this.
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Man, I’ve been waiting for a Boimler/T’lyn episode ever since they confirmed she was going to be a recurring character! It’s cool how having an extra member unlocks new sub-group to bounce ideas off each other.
A little let down by this one if I’m being honest. The setup is pretty fun and Vexilon is a charming character. I feel like there was nothing unexpected in Boimler’s plotline though. He’s stressed and sweaty just like we (and his friends) expect, he screws up a little, pep talk from T’lyn, he’s got his confidence and is a good boi leader. Sure, him questioning why he’s fit to lead is interesting, but the little “get your shit together Boimler!” moment is basically what we’ve seen in something the hunt vs Kranch and the resolution isn’t that much different.
I think the only bit of the episode that landed for me was the Dirk/Ransom bit at the end. Sure it feels a little mean and un-Starfleet but the past couple episodes have built up why Ransom’s actually a good superior officer/Mariner’s attitude about him is wrong, and it’s fun to peel back the reasons that he’s not so above it all.
I liked the Boimler one because even when he’s screwing up he’s showing why he got promoted. Under normal conditions, he would have completed a three man job by himself.
I agree on the predictability on Boimler’s story in this episode, but I think it’s rushing through his progression from hyper competent junior officer to competent commander (or manager or delegator even). Also it’s an opportunity to explore T’Lyn’s dynamic with other characters like you say. Mariner would’ve probably just taken charge (she believes in him but probably would’ve run out of patience), I imagine Tendi might’ve tried to be supportive as is her nature in addition to using her officer training and Rutherford would’ve cooked up some techy shortcut.
I enjoyed seeing him speaking confidently with the captain, especially in the midst of all the chaos. That shows how much he’s progressed over the course of the show imo
Loved the episode. My take is that we’ll get to see every classic junior management mistake from our Lower Deckers this season, fit to personality.
Boimler’s admission of discomfort sending others into danger may have been part of his motivation. The classic micromanager bad behaviour of not trusting subordinates with risks, and doing everything himself was pretty much what I’d expected of Boimler though. He had a hard time learning to trust and rely on peers, why would he be different with subordinates?
Lower Decks may become another Star Trek (after TNG) to be cited in leadership training.
That’s a Culture Orbital! Except that a Mind needing human maintenance is of course ridiculous.
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