US: Star Trek: Lower Decks (the new animated series)
- Thread starter JRS
- Start date
Right then. Last one of these for the foreseeable - a commentary/rant/review.
5x10 - "The New Next Generation"
5x10 - "The New Next Generation"
1) "Previously on..."
2) A whole season recap this time, not just a previous episode or two.
3) Into the episode itself then, and a new Klingon ship design - a heavier Bird of Prey alongside some regular examples.
4) Klingons doing Klingon things.
5) And getting walloped by the Negative Space Wedgie™.
6) Oh, that's fun. The guy got turned into a Disco Klingon and his regular Bird of Prey into a Disco one just before they get destroyed. An acknowledgement that DIS isn't quite in the same Prime part of the multiverse as Lower Decks?
7) Downtime. Calm before the storm I expect.
8) Fun interplay between the lower deckers.
9) Rutherford still struggling with implant issues, getting it to play nice with the systems on the Cerritos.
10) Here's where the cliffhanger from last time comes in.
11) Briefing the captain and Ransom.
12) And the captain taking them seriously. Because this is Starfleet, and weird is just a Tuesday
13) Back in Klingon space, with Ma'ah and Malor from earlier in the season.
14) Running into the Klingons from earlier.
15) Our antagonist Klingon lady is named Relga.
16) Who has history with these two.
17) Space battle.
18) Run away!
19) Back at the Cerritos.
20) A briefing.
21) Amusing dialogue. "Oh thank God, for a moment it sounded like this was up to us." "Unfortunately...it is."
22) The Enterprise (presumably 1701-E) is en route but until then the Cerritos crew are up.
23) Spot of exposition. And a plan to shield themselves from the refit altering them.
24) 'Our' Boimler getting the blame for this even though technically it was his duplicate William that did it
25) Down in Engineering, time to put the plan to rework the shields into action.
26) Rutherford still carping.
27) Shield plan not perfect. The hull could still be affected.
28) Carol snarking.
29) Ma'ah and Malor arrive to request asylum. Nice timing fellas!
30) Amusing bit from Malor regarding snacks.
31) Relga's posse arrive.
32) A message from Admiral Freeman. And more weirdness.
33) Story headed along at breakneck speed.
34) Fired on by Relga. And some fancy flying from Boimler. See Star Wars - when someone orders evasive maneuvers, this is what the audience expects. Not just moving slightly to the left
35) Takes out two of the BoPs without firing a single shot. Bradward Boimler, ladies and gentlemen and all points in and around.
36) And outta there.
37) Mariner and Ma'ah headed off to find Malor. The Cerritos arriving at the Schrödinger Field.
38) That's a big ol' anomaly.
39) Still not fully protected from the effects. So, much like that Bird of Prey earlier, we're going to see the Cerritos change when they get into the field.
40) "All hands, brace for weird!" I feel like that should have been used more in Trek over the years.
41) Cerritos now a single-nacelle ship class.
42) A Freedom-class starship.
43) No time to nerd out about it
44) Here comes Relga.
45) Another wave. The Cerritos changing again.
46) Mariner and Ma'ah still hunting Malor.
47) Engineering crew hard at work.
48) One of the Klingon ships is now an ancient Klingon sailing barge. A mildly unfortunate transformation, since sea vessels and space aren't exactly great matches...
49) Carol putting Boimler on navigation. Quick pause - yeah, so he still caught the short end of things by getting blamed for William putting them all in danger, but look how trusted Boimler is by now. Trusted at the helm to get them the hell out of dodge, now trusted at navigation to get them to where they need to be. If there's life for this show after it ends, and we get to see more of his career I'm sure it'd be worth it.
50) Tendi and T'Lyn back-and-forth.
51) And now Tendi-Rutherford.
52) Cetacean Ops
53) And the search for Malor gets physical. The whales think Ma'ah is hot.
54) Cerritos changing...into a Terran Empire version!
55) With the weapons of a Terran Empire ship...that immediately go offline
56) Meta commentary on how little Klingon ship design changes throughout the Trek timeline
57) Boimler smashing his alternate reality PADD to end the conflict with Ma'ah.
58) Cute moment between him and Mariner.
59) Ransom up!
60) Who hid Malor. The message from Admiral Freeman having set off his spidey sense.
61) Some gratuitous Tamarian from Kayshon. Who has proof that the message was faked.
62) Plotting.
63) And our plan involves our resident Greek demigod Olly.
64) Zzzaaaap!!!
65) And with their shielding down, Relga and crew devolve into protoKlingons (see TNG: "Genesis").
66) Another wave change...and now the Cerritos is a Cali-Sovereign hybrid.
67) More fancy flying from Boimler.
68) And the ship turns into an Oberth
69) Sex position joke.
70) Now a Galaxy class!
71) And a Miranda.
72) Significant look from Rutherford?
73) Back to a Cali class.
74) Rutherford happy. So 72) confirmed in record time.
75) The rift is expanding.
76) Rutherford going implant-free, and expositing. The Cali class is perfect for the job because it's almost infinitely reconfigurable as a jack-of-all-trades workhorse ship.
77) Taking power from the rift itself.
78) Negative Space Wedgie™ effect.
79) Our lower deckers are going to help save the day with the Power Of Friendship.
80) Malor on the bridge.
81) Beam engaged.
82) No sell. But Malor has an idea, and Mariner running with it.
83) Rift is stabilised as an open door.
84) Boimler log entry to deliver exposition - Ma'ah has been given Relga's fleet, bunch of starships at the portal including the Enterprise-E, the portal is going to be guarded by Starbase 80 which is the only station old enough to handle the tachyon mess, and Starfleet will explore what's beyond the portal. Carol's got the job. So who's going to command the Cerritos going forward?
85) Rutherford's completely removed his implant now. And getting the full force of his crush on Tendi (let's face it, you would wouldn't you? I'd love to see Noël Wells do the part in live action).
86) Amusing snark from T'Lyn.
87) Mariner bringing the drinks to the table.
88) And rounding up the whole series.
89) The Cerritos is a family.
90) "This isn't the end of a story, it's the beginning."
91) With the jokey button on the end, just in case you thought relentless sentimentality was the order of the day
92) Captain Ransom on the bridge.
93) Setting out for the next mission.
94) Ransom needs an XO, making Boimler and Mariner provisional co-first officers.
95) Carol watching the Cerritos go.
96) Random working out his 'go' order. Not a thing in live action Trek that I'm wild about, but I'll allow it here
97) "Engage the core!"
98) The adventure continues
2) A whole season recap this time, not just a previous episode or two.
3) Into the episode itself then, and a new Klingon ship design - a heavier Bird of Prey alongside some regular examples.
4) Klingons doing Klingon things.
5) And getting walloped by the Negative Space Wedgie™.
6) Oh, that's fun. The guy got turned into a Disco Klingon and his regular Bird of Prey into a Disco one just before they get destroyed. An acknowledgement that DIS isn't quite in the same Prime part of the multiverse as Lower Decks?
7) Downtime. Calm before the storm I expect.
8) Fun interplay between the lower deckers.
9) Rutherford still struggling with implant issues, getting it to play nice with the systems on the Cerritos.
10) Here's where the cliffhanger from last time comes in.
11) Briefing the captain and Ransom.
12) And the captain taking them seriously. Because this is Starfleet, and weird is just a Tuesday
13) Back in Klingon space, with Ma'ah and Malor from earlier in the season.
14) Running into the Klingons from earlier.
15) Our antagonist Klingon lady is named Relga.
16) Who has history with these two.
17) Space battle.
18) Run away!
19) Back at the Cerritos.
20) A briefing.
21) Amusing dialogue. "Oh thank God, for a moment it sounded like this was up to us." "Unfortunately...it is."
22) The Enterprise (presumably 1701-E) is en route but until then the Cerritos crew are up.
23) Spot of exposition. And a plan to shield themselves from the refit altering them.
24) 'Our' Boimler getting the blame for this even though technically it was his duplicate William that did it
25) Down in Engineering, time to put the plan to rework the shields into action.
26) Rutherford still carping.
27) Shield plan not perfect. The hull could still be affected.
28) Carol snarking.
29) Ma'ah and Malor arrive to request asylum. Nice timing fellas!
30) Amusing bit from Malor regarding snacks.
31) Relga's posse arrive.
32) A message from Admiral Freeman. And more weirdness.
33) Story headed along at breakneck speed.
34) Fired on by Relga. And some fancy flying from Boimler. See Star Wars - when someone orders evasive maneuvers, this is what the audience expects. Not just moving slightly to the left
35) Takes out two of the BoPs without firing a single shot. Bradward Boimler, ladies and gentlemen and all points in and around.
36) And outta there.
37) Mariner and Ma'ah headed off to find Malor. The Cerritos arriving at the Schrödinger Field.
38) That's a big ol' anomaly.
39) Still not fully protected from the effects. So, much like that Bird of Prey earlier, we're going to see the Cerritos change when they get into the field.
40) "All hands, brace for weird!" I feel like that should have been used more in Trek over the years.
41) Cerritos now a single-nacelle ship class.
42) A Freedom-class starship.
43) No time to nerd out about it
44) Here comes Relga.
45) Another wave. The Cerritos changing again.
46) Mariner and Ma'ah still hunting Malor.
47) Engineering crew hard at work.
48) One of the Klingon ships is now an ancient Klingon sailing barge. A mildly unfortunate transformation, since sea vessels and space aren't exactly great matches...
49) Carol putting Boimler on navigation. Quick pause - yeah, so he still caught the short end of things by getting blamed for William putting them all in danger, but look how trusted Boimler is by now. Trusted at the helm to get them the hell out of dodge, now trusted at navigation to get them to where they need to be. If there's life for this show after it ends, and we get to see more of his career I'm sure it'd be worth it.
50) Tendi and T'Lyn back-and-forth.
51) And now Tendi-Rutherford.
52) Cetacean Ops
53) And the search for Malor gets physical. The whales think Ma'ah is hot.
54) Cerritos changing...into a Terran Empire version!
55) With the weapons of a Terran Empire ship...that immediately go offline
56) Meta commentary on how little Klingon ship design changes throughout the Trek timeline
57) Boimler smashing his alternate reality PADD to end the conflict with Ma'ah.
58) Cute moment between him and Mariner.
59) Ransom up!
60) Who hid Malor. The message from Admiral Freeman having set off his spidey sense.
61) Some gratuitous Tamarian from Kayshon. Who has proof that the message was faked.
62) Plotting.
63) And our plan involves our resident Greek demigod Olly.
64) Zzzaaaap!!!
65) And with their shielding down, Relga and crew devolve into protoKlingons (see TNG: "Genesis").
66) Another wave change...and now the Cerritos is a Cali-Sovereign hybrid.
67) More fancy flying from Boimler.
68) And the ship turns into an Oberth
69) Sex position joke.
70) Now a Galaxy class!
71) And a Miranda.
72) Significant look from Rutherford?
73) Back to a Cali class.
74) Rutherford happy. So 72) confirmed in record time.
75) The rift is expanding.
76) Rutherford going implant-free, and expositing. The Cali class is perfect for the job because it's almost infinitely reconfigurable as a jack-of-all-trades workhorse ship.
77) Taking power from the rift itself.
78) Negative Space Wedgie™ effect.
79) Our lower deckers are going to help save the day with the Power Of Friendship.
80) Malor on the bridge.
81) Beam engaged.
82) No sell. But Malor has an idea, and Mariner running with it.
83) Rift is stabilised as an open door.
84) Boimler log entry to deliver exposition - Ma'ah has been given Relga's fleet, bunch of starships at the portal including the Enterprise-E, the portal is going to be guarded by Starbase 80 which is the only station old enough to handle the tachyon mess, and Starfleet will explore what's beyond the portal. Carol's got the job. So who's going to command the Cerritos going forward?
85) Rutherford's completely removed his implant now. And getting the full force of his crush on Tendi (let's face it, you would wouldn't you? I'd love to see Noël Wells do the part in live action).
86) Amusing snark from T'Lyn.
87) Mariner bringing the drinks to the table.
88) And rounding up the whole series.
89) The Cerritos is a family.
90) "This isn't the end of a story, it's the beginning."
91) With the jokey button on the end, just in case you thought relentless sentimentality was the order of the day
92) Captain Ransom on the bridge.
93) Setting out for the next mission.
94) Ransom needs an XO, making Boimler and Mariner provisional co-first officers.
95) Carol watching the Cerritos go.
96) Random working out his 'go' order. Not a thing in live action Trek that I'm wild about, but I'll allow it here
97) "Engage the core!"
98) The adventure continues
They stuck the landing.
I mean, it wasn't a sure-fire thing. This has been a pretty uneven season all told. And while the Picard finale was excellent, the Disco one proved that Trek showrunners are more than capable of absolutely screwing things up.
But not a bit of it. Hanging threads and plot points were resolved. Character arcs brought to satisfying conclusions or set on new and exciting paths. And it was fun. Get it Paramount, CBS? FUN. Trek can be fun. It doesn't have to be relentlessly grimdark.
I'm actually going to miss this series, not something I ever thought I'd say when it began and even the teaser made my teeth itch. Mike McMahan and crew took an idea that had the potential to really not work and made it into a love letter to Star Trek. It being animated helped them lean into the visual continuity side of things of course, but also the topics and plot points that they chose to explore with the series.
If this really is the last we'll ever see of these characters then I'm glad they finished the series on a high. But I could definitely stand to see these guys again.
I mean, it wasn't a sure-fire thing. This has been a pretty uneven season all told. And while the Picard finale was excellent, the Disco one proved that Trek showrunners are more than capable of absolutely screwing things up.
But not a bit of it. Hanging threads and plot points were resolved. Character arcs brought to satisfying conclusions or set on new and exciting paths. And it was fun. Get it Paramount, CBS? FUN. Trek can be fun. It doesn't have to be relentlessly grimdark.
I'm actually going to miss this series, not something I ever thought I'd say when it began and even the teaser made my teeth itch. Mike McMahan and crew took an idea that had the potential to really not work and made it into a love letter to Star Trek. It being animated helped them lean into the visual continuity side of things of course, but also the topics and plot points that they chose to explore with the series.
If this really is the last we'll ever see of these characters then I'm glad they finished the series on a high. But I could definitely stand to see these guys again.
