Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 1x03 - "Temporal Edict"

[tomalak301]

They should? What should their standards be?

I'm not sure but are you saying the Federation should have no standards? I mean I'm currently rewatching DS9 and got to the episode where Nog is taking tests for entry into Starfleet Acadamy (Facets). I would think being a captain should be somewhat higher than that.

Yeah I did forget about Harriman and Estaban. We are used to the best of the best (I would include Sisko in that as well) so maybe it is weird seeing a captain who might not be as smart.

 

[XCV330]

I deliver my vote of 8 to the statue of O'Brien

 

[The Old Mixer]

JT Esteban and John Harriman wave hi!

And Commodore Stocker does a hi-five!

 

[137th Gebirg]

I'd say the white boots for medical personnel are just a way to differentiate them from science officers. Could also be a nod to the fully white uniforms doctors wear on Discovery.

Have we actually seen a non-medical science person yet (with black boots) on-screen? I've been looking and everyone on that ship with a blue top has white boots, so far as I've seen. Either they have an enormous medical team on board, or someone forgot to actually differentiate such things.

 

[fireproof78]

I'm not sure but are you saying the Federation should have no standards? I mean I'm currently rewatching DS9 and got to the episode where Nog is taking tests for entry into Starfleet Acadamy (Facets). I would think being a captain should be somewhat higher than that.

Yeah I did forget about Harriman and Estaban. We are used to the best of the best (I would include Sisko in that as well) so maybe it is weird seeing a captain who might not be as smart.

No, of course I'm not saying there should be no standards. But I am always morbidly curious when people go "They should have standard!" as to what those are to be and how do we define them.

Secondarily, and this is accendotal, but my experience is that students and cadets are held to a higher standard and under scrutiny at all times. Versus a more experienced officer or employee who knows what they can get away with.

 

[DEWLine]

Miles O'Brien: I don't want to be a statue.

Like Tommy Douglas, Miles O'Brien has seen what pigeons - and their counterpart-species on dozens of worlds - do to statues.

 

[dswynne1]

Yeah, for my sanity, I mentally think, "This is the exaggerated cartoon retelling of slightly more serious events in an unseen live action version."

Exactly. In fact, in the novelization of TMP, the "real" Kirk stated that TOS was an exaggerated version of what really happened under his command, as authorized by Starfleet for recruiting purposes. In this case, I can imagine someone like Boimer writing in his journal about what his life is like aboard the USS Cerritos, with him as the hero (or victim) of his rival Mariner.

 

[Lord Garth]

Exactly. In fact, in the novelization of TMP, the "real" Kirk stated that TOS was an exaggerated version of what really happened under his command, as authorized by Starfleet for recruiting purposes.

With that, Gene built an "out" for a lot of things. Something a lot of people either don't know or tend to forget.

 

[Hythlodeus]

but I'm not sure how I feel about a crew of incompetents doing incompetent things. I mean this is still the federation right? They should have higher standards?

idk, did you like Voyager?

 

[tomalak301]

idk, did you like Voyager?

its not my favorite trek but I did like Voyager. I also liked Enterprise but I saw them as new to the whole exploring the galaxy thing so that’s more excusable. Lower Decks is, a year after Nemesis? If they want to write an incompetent crew for comedy, more power to them. I just hope it’s decent to good, and for the most part it has been.

 

[Kpnuts]

I haven't got the impression the crew are incompetent at all. Lazy, sure, but they get the job done fine.

 

[Charles Phipps]

I haven't got the impression the crew are incompetent at all. Lazy, sure, but they get the job done fine.

I don't even think they're lazy given that the crew of the Enterprise (TNG) were constantly holding concerts, goofing off in holodecks, and taking up weird hobbies. Starships are quite automated in the future and work fine if you take a leisurely pace to run them.

It's just that Captain Freeman wanted a tight efficient one like during the Dominion War and....yeah.

 

[Trekker4747]

I haven't got the impression the crew are incompetent at all. Lazy, sure, but they get the job done fine.

That Brad was able to easily adapt to the tighter schedule to the point of asking for more work while everyone else on the ship, including the senior staff (with the possible exception of the First Officer), where running around frazzled suggests the scheduling wasn't unreasonable and almost everyone on the ship is incompetent.

 

[137th Gebirg]

There are no bad workers. Only bad leaders that inspire workers to suck and only do just enough to not get fired.

 

[Charles Phipps]

That Brad was able to easily adapt to the tighter schedule to the point of asking for more work while everyone else on the ship, including the senior staff (with the possible exception of the First Officer), where running around frazzled suggests the scheduling wasn't unreasonable and almost everyone on the ship is incompetent.

I had the opposite opinion that Boimler is just a clockwork machine. His fatal flaw is Boimler makes horrible decisions when he is left to his own devices but thrives in an environment of strict orders as well as minimal self-reflection.

Which is TERRIBLE for someone on the command track.

 

[Kpnuts]

That Brad was able to easily adapt to the tighter schedule to the point of asking for more work while everyone else on the ship, including the senior staff (with the possible exception of the First Officer), where running around frazzled suggests the scheduling wasn't unreasonable and almost everyone on the ship is incompetent.

I think you're reading into things a bit too seriously, it's supposed to be comedic. Anyway I read it to mean Boimler is hyper competent and the rest of the crew are average.

I had the opposite opinion that Boimler is just a clockwork machine. His fatal flaw is Boimler makes horrible decisions when he is left to his own devices but thrives in an environment of strict orders as well as minimal self-reflection.

Which is TERRIBLE for someone on the command track.

Pretty much the opposite of Mariner. I was pleased to see Brad save the day instead of her for once. Suspect the series will finish with both learning off each other.

 

[matthunter]

A possible analogy would be Boimler = Rimmer but actually competent when given orders. Whether this makes Mariner Lister (brilliant but lazy and quite slobby if the ramen incident is anything to go by) is up for debate.

And we've already got a humanoid cat.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Most shows use and reuse basic archetypes but, you’re right, the similarities there do give one pause...

 

[Charles Phipps]

I think of Boimler as Dipper and Mariner as Mabel--only with violence instead of pigs.

 

[Michael]

I think some of the criticism towards Captain Freeman regarding her mistakes in this episode is a bit unfair. All previous Trek captains have been shown to be fallible in their handling of the crew once or twice:

Kirk hesitated to recognize what a danger Gary Mitchell had become in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, just because they were such good friends. He was too proud to relinquish his command sooner when he became incapacitated due to the aging virus in “The Deadly Years”. He let his “Obsession” get in the way of rational command decisions in the episode of the same name. And he was kinda selfish towards Will Decker, because he wanted to be the captain of the Enterprise in The Motion Picture.

Picard is introduced as lacking some people skills right from the get-go with his aversion towards children. He later falls in love with one of his subordinates in “Lessons”, which is kind of inappropriate. And then in Star Trek: First Contact he places his thirst for vengeance above his duty to save his crew and the timeline.

I bet if I thought about it long enough I could come up with similar examples for Sisko, Janeway and Archer. My point is, they are not supposed to be perfect and from time to time they just screw up and make the wrong decisions regarding their crew. Just like real people do, whether they are lowly ensigns or highly decorated captains.

Have we actually seen a non-medical science person yet (with black boots) on-screen? I've been looking and everyone on that ship with a blue top has white boots, so far as I've seen. Either they have an enormous medical team on board, or someone forgot to actually differentiate such things.

You know, they actually do seem to be kind of rare. Looking over the screencaps over at cygnus-x1.net I did find one (!) blueshirt with black boots in episode one here, here and here.