Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 1x08 - "Veritas"
- Thread starter DJ NoMad
- Start date
Overall, I enjoyed "Veritas" a lot.
Many funny moments, including, as others have said:
Gorn wedding.
"You may go uneeled, for now."
Mariner sending a message.
The redaction throughout Tendi's story and the ways she tried to keep her secrets.
T'ana saying she'll need to shave her <bleep> for the party.
The animation is great.
I loved the handling of the many cold opens throughout the episode, starting at the very beginning of the episode, in the characters' various stories, including the captain beaming back to the bridge just as Boimler and Mariner arrive there, and which became a running gag in Rutherford's story. Also, the myriad references were great, including Q's appearance and Mariner literally mentioning that Khan appeared in "Space Seed."
Many funny moments, including, as others have said:
Gorn wedding.
"You may go uneeled, for now."
Mariner sending a message.
The redaction throughout Tendi's story and the ways she tried to keep her secrets.
T'ana saying she'll need to shave her <bleep> for the party.
The animation is great.
I loved the handling of the many cold opens throughout the episode, starting at the very beginning of the episode, in the characters' various stories, including the captain beaming back to the bridge just as Boimler and Mariner arrive there, and which became a running gag in Rutherford's story. Also, the myriad references were great, including Q's appearance and Mariner literally mentioning that Khan appeared in "Space Seed."
WAAAAAAYYYY late to the game on this one, as even though I like LD, at a high level, it's not the type of thing I'd prioritize in terms of "must see" viewing.
That said, this was a DELIGHTFUL episode, and edges last week's episode out as the best of the season thus far. There were a few in a row mid-season that I really didn't like (down in the 3/10 to 5/10 range)...but the last two have been home runs.
For my tastes, this is shaping up to very much be a "feast or famine" show. They either really hit it on the mark for me, or it's a complete strike-out. This one was cute, thoughtful, funny, and very entertaining.
9/10
That said, this was a DELIGHTFUL episode, and edges last week's episode out as the best of the season thus far. There were a few in a row mid-season that I really didn't like (down in the 3/10 to 5/10 range)...but the last two have been home runs.
For my tastes, this is shaping up to very much be a "feast or famine" show. They either really hit it on the mark for me, or it's a complete strike-out. This one was cute, thoughtful, funny, and very entertaining.
9/10
Loved how so much crazy crap happens that conspiracy was her first conclusion
If its not him this could be 2020s Brian Brophy
Nope not kinky or openly bi enough
Mice...I wonder if the Gorn throw some kind of grain, or mealwormsat the end of a wedding?
I had to take a break from the show for a while because it was just so....dull.
(and also so the entire season could finish so I could burn all remaining episodes with another free trial week.)
I have been very critical about this show. Deservedly so. My criticisms were always deeply insightful and on-target.
And so, recognizing the show as very flawed and uneven, I happily admit that this episode was actually....CLEVER.
It was the first time the show was actually inventive and unexpected and, well, clever. The Rutherford sequence in the middle might be the single best five minutes of the series' run so far.
I was delighted by this episode through and through. I even enjoyed the Q cameo, even though I find the general nonstop parade of references to be a little tired. (Didn't need the "Why didn't the enterprise do this?" line at the end. Bleh.)
But this was smart and silly in equal measure, honored all of the characters, tapped well into the series' larger conflicts between the senior staff and the lower deckers.
best episode (that I've seen.) so far. Still have two left. God, if the show is able to maintain this quality, they can count me as an enthusiastic fan.
(and also so the entire season could finish so I could burn all remaining episodes with another free trial week.)
I have been very critical about this show. Deservedly so. My criticisms were always deeply insightful and on-target.
And so, recognizing the show as very flawed and uneven, I happily admit that this episode was actually....CLEVER.
It was the first time the show was actually inventive and unexpected and, well, clever. The Rutherford sequence in the middle might be the single best five minutes of the series' run so far.
I was delighted by this episode through and through. I even enjoyed the Q cameo, even though I find the general nonstop parade of references to be a little tired. (Didn't need the "Why didn't the enterprise do this?" line at the end. Bleh.)
But this was smart and silly in equal measure, honored all of the characters, tapped well into the series' larger conflicts between the senior staff and the lower deckers.
best episode (that I've seen.) so far. Still have two left. God, if the show is able to maintain this quality, they can count me as an enthusiastic fan.
so humble!
Just proof that when people say 'They're done!" they don't mean it.
Flouncing is an underappreciated (and underused) art form.
If you're talking about me, I said I was done since my free trial was expiring. And, in fact, I did step away for several weeks and didn't comment on the last few episodes until yesterday. Ultimately, I got a new free trial and binged the last three episodes in a short period.
I had previously said I would probably leave if the show stayed as terrible as it was at the outset. But there were noticeable upticks in the middle section, even though the show remained wildly inconsistent.
So, no "gotcha" moment here. Move along.
We all have skills, you know?
I just find it amusing. Humans are endless source of fascination.
There isnt a centimetre of this show that doesnt call back or reference something
It was okay but I must have been expecting more from Q. Turning the crew into pawns for a game worthy of "The Prisoner" from 1967 (during the "summer of love", no less) should have done more for me but feels like less than the sum of its parts.
That said, his line at the end about quoting Shakespeare got a good giggle grandly, but some of the nostalgia references are getting a little excessive. Most of the references are usually well-placed and some need a double-take... I'm still impressed over the quantity of references and how well most are used.
The cleverness of remembering pas classified events with censor bars over the eyes (but still enough to namedrop Andorians and Romulans and Humans, oh my) and a different beep tone for such information (or mixed with the censor beep) had me rolling...
The Gorn wedding scene was different, but genuinely funny.
The visual comparison of the old warbird with the new one was jaw-droppingly awesome (better than a previous episode where Cerritos and the other party were using tractor beams as a tug-of-war of sorts, which was also way-cool). As well as the back-n-forth between scanning, with each new warbird appearing each time. That was classic. Even better, for a hopefully-unintentional callback, the cloaked itty bitty warbird with glow effect is reminiscent - albeit superficially - of the void things from "The Immunity Syndrome" and "Where Silence Has Lease". There, I win.
Comparing Roga to Khan was as out of the blue as it was bizarre, and didn't serve the plot all that much. Maybe they're showing another example of Boimer's penchant for minutiae, or he has some character traits a la Tom Paris except it's not about 20th century entertainment but Starfleet history, which works...
Was the salt vampire not worth a proper episode? They didn't go extinct in the 23rd century and based on most episodes so far they'd have a field day with it. As a throwaway gag, it didn't do much. But the vampire didn't die... The visuals for the vampire were first rate too - so much of the show is...
Rutherford copping Uhura's dance was even more pointless.
And the Skin of Evil gag about the big garbage bag needed a double take but was good.
That said, his line at the end about quoting Shakespeare got a good giggle grandly, but some of the nostalgia references are getting a little excessive. Most of the references are usually well-placed and some need a double-take... I'm still impressed over the quantity of references and how well most are used.
The cleverness of remembering pas classified events with censor bars over the eyes (but still enough to namedrop Andorians and Romulans and Humans, oh my) and a different beep tone for such information (or mixed with the censor beep) had me rolling...
The Gorn wedding scene was different, but genuinely funny.
The visual comparison of the old warbird with the new one was jaw-droppingly awesome (better than a previous episode where Cerritos and the other party were using tractor beams as a tug-of-war of sorts, which was also way-cool). As well as the back-n-forth between scanning, with each new warbird appearing each time. That was classic. Even better, for a hopefully-unintentional callback, the cloaked itty bitty warbird with glow effect is reminiscent - albeit superficially - of the void things from "The Immunity Syndrome" and "Where Silence Has Lease". There, I win.
Comparing Roga to Khan was as out of the blue as it was bizarre, and didn't serve the plot all that much. Maybe they're showing another example of Boimer's penchant for minutiae, or he has some character traits a la Tom Paris except it's not about 20th century entertainment but Starfleet history, which works...
Was the salt vampire not worth a proper episode? They didn't go extinct in the 23rd century and based on most episodes so far they'd have a field day with it. As a throwaway gag, it didn't do much. But the vampire didn't die... The visuals for the vampire were first rate too - so much of the show is...
Rutherford copping Uhura's dance was even more pointless.
And the Skin of Evil gag about the big garbage bag needed a double take but was good.
This whole episode had me thinking, "WTF just happened?"
(And I have been a mushroom: kept in the dark and fed a lot of shit.)
As to salt vampires, if you really think about the chemistry and the physics, the whole concept makes the spore drive seem comparatively plausible.
Consider: sodium, as an alkali metal, and chlorine, as a halogen, are extremely reactive, tending to form ionic bonds, and virtually all of their compounds are water soluble. The sodium cation and the chloride anion are constantly in circulation, and constantly bio-available. At the same time, both sodium and chlorine are found on the Periodic Table between carbon and iron. So their nucleii are extremely stable. So a lifeform that metabolizes salt, and can realize a net energy gain by draining it from another lifeform, is practically a non-sequitur.
Many years ago, while taking a short story workshop class at a local junior college, I wrote a fanfic, "Interview with Dr. Ambrose Crater, or 'The Salt Vampire Ate My Parents'," that took the form of an interview with the Craters' son (who had been an undergraduate at the time of their ill-fated expedition to M-113). I named him Ambrose as a nod to the early scripts (including the one Blish used) in which the Craters were the Bierces. And the story revolved around the young Crater returning to M113 with Captain Sulu, and discovering wildlife related to the planet's extinct sentients (and with their ability to drain salt from other lifeforms, and their combination of limited shapeshifting and powerful illusion-projection). But as to the whole chain of implausibilities, I believe I just hung a very large lampshade on it.
(And I have been a mushroom: kept in the dark and fed a lot of shit.)
As to salt vampires, if you really think about the chemistry and the physics, the whole concept makes the spore drive seem comparatively plausible.
Consider: sodium, as an alkali metal, and chlorine, as a halogen, are extremely reactive, tending to form ionic bonds, and virtually all of their compounds are water soluble. The sodium cation and the chloride anion are constantly in circulation, and constantly bio-available. At the same time, both sodium and chlorine are found on the Periodic Table between carbon and iron. So their nucleii are extremely stable. So a lifeform that metabolizes salt, and can realize a net energy gain by draining it from another lifeform, is practically a non-sequitur.
Many years ago, while taking a short story workshop class at a local junior college, I wrote a fanfic, "Interview with Dr. Ambrose Crater, or 'The Salt Vampire Ate My Parents'," that took the form of an interview with the Craters' son (who had been an undergraduate at the time of their ill-fated expedition to M-113). I named him Ambrose as a nod to the early scripts (including the one Blish used) in which the Craters were the Bierces. And the story revolved around the young Crater returning to M113 with Captain Sulu, and discovering wildlife related to the planet's extinct sentients (and with their ability to drain salt from other lifeforms, and their combination of limited shapeshifting and powerful illusion-projection). But as to the whole chain of implausibilities, I believe I just hung a very large lampshade on it.
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