Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 2x06 - "The Spy Humongous"

[jackoverfull]

Really liked most of this, gave it an 8.

Loved all the pakled stuff, totally fitting, also liked captain Freeman a lot (of course the pakled mistake her for janeway!) and most of the Boimler stuff. The mission about the “space trash” was a bit too over the top for me, though, as it made everybody look really incompetent.

very enjoyable episode, in any case. Loved seeing the galaxy-class bridge and can’t believe that not only they brought back Armus, but it also made me laugh.

 

[Hawku]

Redshirts! "Cool name, right? Makes us sound invincible."

 

[dswynne1]

ARMUS! I have been waiting so long for a return to Armus, I loved that.

Another winner from Lower Decks! This writing staff is so gifted. The amount of material they effectively fit into these compact running times is incredible.

If Kurtzman ever leaves his post, Mike McHanon should be his replacement, imo.

 

[eschaton]

On my computer now, instead of phone. More in-depth response:

Not a bad episode, but not quite as amazing as last week. As per usual with Lower Decks, I simply don't find the jokes to be all that funny, but the character work is pretty great.

This was the first true Boimler episode, insofar as it treated Boimler not as a punching bag for Mariner, but as his own character with independent agency. His experience with the "red shirts" told us something important about him - he might be eager to impress, but even he has his limits, and he's much more concerned with doing the right thing and helping his friends when push comes to shove. I'm not entirely sure if this is supposed to show his character growth across the show, or to reveal who he has been all along, but either way it works quite well here.

The B plot of the episode was basically about Tendi, allowing Rutherford and Mariner to needle her a bit about her perpetually chipper demeanor. Again, this was a step forward, as like Boimler she ultimately is shown to not just be a cartoon character.

The Pakled stuff was basically C-plot fare to keep the bridge crew busy. It was...fine. Jokes didn't land with me, but I was entertained. I think the issue I have with the Lower Decks humor is it tends to be fairly predictable, while gut-busting humor tends to be more absurdist things that come out of nowhere.

 

[jackoverfull]

So we finally got to see a female Pakled. I thought that would be a bigger deal.

I seem to remember seeing one in background on DS9.

A solid 8.

How the Pakleds ever got into deep space I'll never know. Wow.

perhaps they found things that made them go.

1. The Pakleds are stupid (but as we know, the pakleds are smart)

2. Starfleet planned to send Admiral Janeway and told the Pakleds they were before deciding to send someone far less important.

3. It is the Pakleds being extremely passive aggressive (my vote).

4. They dealt with janeway in the last. They call every federation ship Enterprise for that reason after all.

I do hope that what they alluded to in ep 2 (that there’s a ‘puppet master’ controlling the Pakleds) will be addressed in the future..!

I'm sure it will.

 

[Tim Thomason]

I'm sure it will.

I think this episode was intended to solidify the fact that the Pakleds are being led by some other group (as Riker noted in a previous episode), and more importantly that Starfleet knows this, thus they sent the Cerritos on a mild errand while Riker (and Janeway? curious namedrop) deal with the real threat. Freeman is just too Pakledy to realize it.

The Pakled leadership is chaotic, and was just decapitated (literally), but they'll continue to trudge along. Because there was no one on Pakled Planet to negotiate a cease-fire with.

 

[Noname Given]

I gave this one an 9 (It would have been at 8 but the Armus/Skin of Evil gag at the end bumped it up 1 point for me.)

- Loved what the did with the Pakleds and the Pakled homeword. Also loved that the Pakled spy was stupid, even for a Pakled and ultimately killed himself . Yes they were able to revive him; but still yeah, loved it.

- The anomaly day bit was nice too - loved how Boimler went all out to save Scorpion Tendy and really overplayed the TNG trope of keeping/analyzing various dangerous alien items and substances all over the ship. (Believe me, I always laughed on TNG when Geordi was 'analyzing' a dangerous/explosive substance or conducting a 'weapons firing' test in MAIN ENGINEEERING just a few feet from the anti-matter warp core; and they did stuff like that often enough -- so yeah, once a year they send Ensigns through the ship to "safely" gather it up and ship it to a Starfleet facility.

- The 'Red Shirt' bit was okay. I did like the brown-noser got his in the end.

Not even a T'Ana sighting. The Kzin crewmember gets dialog though.

?? She was in the episode. Dr. T'Ana REVIVED the Pakled who killed himself because he thought an airlock was a restroom. She even mentioned that 'they're tough', etc. as she brought him back.

 

[jackoverfull]

I think this episode was intended to solidify the fact that the Pakleds are being led by some other group (as Riker noted in a previous episode), and more importantly that Starfleet knows this, thus they sent the Cerritos on a mild errand while Riker (and Janeway? curious namedrop) deal with the real threat. Freeman is just too Pakledy to realize it.

The Pakled leadership is chaotic, and was just decapitated (literally), but they'll continue to trudge along. Because there was no one on Pakled Planet to negotiate a cease-fire with.

Ah, very good point. I wonder who would have a hat big enough…

Believe me, I always laughed on TNG when Geordi was 'analyzing' a dangerous/explosive substance or conducting 'weapons firing' test in MAIN ENGINEEERING just a few feet from the anti-matter warp core; and they did stuff like that often enough

yeah, I always scratched my head at that. They did that all the time in TNG, VOY and (to a lesser degree) ENT. And I’m sure the only reason they didn’t in DS9 was because there was no engineering set.

Let’s test these phasers pointing them straight at the warp core. Let’s receive this mysterious robot in the most vulnerable place on the ship.

I guess that the science labs sets were deemed not looking cool enough…

 

[BigJake]

10.

Spoiler

The Pakleds are a perfect adversary race for a comedy show, used to perfection here. Rumdar the Spy made me laugh hard as hell, oh my God. Boimler and "the Redshirts" and Tendi and the Anomalies were both brilliant and tied together seamlessly, in a very funny way. Who else but Boimler could save the day with pratfalls at his own expense, and sell it as a moment of character growth? Loved it all the way around.

 

[oldtrekkie]

You have to admire the pun in the title.

 

[Harpsichord]

Ah, very good point. I wonder who would have a hat big enough…

 

[oldtrekkie]

A question remains: How did these idiots manage to get the most primitive technology in the first place and how stupid are we that we've not yet managed to get interstellar technology without having to invent it ourselves in the first place?.

 

[eschaton]

I do have to say though, while a good episode, this might have been the worst episode title yet.

 

[Tim Thomason]

A question remains: How did these idiots manage to get the most primitive technology in the first place and how stupid are we that we've not yet managed to get interstellar technology without having to invent it ourselves in the first place?.

I assume the old Klingon explanation, that they were given that technology by a civilization willing to exploit them in some manner (and it may have backfired on them, when the slaves revolted).

Otherwise, we may be witnessing an Idiocracy, a society that pampered itself in the long, long ago, and its descendants lost all access to explain what it is that makes them go.

 

[DaveyNY]

I assume the old Klingon explanation, that they were given that technology by a civilization willing to exploit them in some manner (and it may have backfired on them, when the slaves revolted).

Otherwise, we may be witnessing an Idiocracy, a society that pampered itself in the long, long ago, and its descendants lost all access to explain what it is that makes them go.

Or some advanced civilization tried to enslave them and they found that the Pakleds were just too dumb to have any use for. (same way the Borg would probably pass)
Then ended the occupation and left enough operating stuff behind for the Pakleds to put to use.
(they probably trained a few individuals in how to use the stuff but found it wasn't worth the effort to educate the entire society)

 

[Charles Phipps]

A question remains: How did these idiots manage to get the most primitive technology in the first place and how stupid are we that we've not yet managed to get interstellar technology without having to invent it ourselves in the first place?.

I always liked the idea that Pakleds are not stupid but just have uncomplicated syntax. Which is kind of racist since plenty of Earth languages, translated literally, sound a bit like the way the Pakleds speak.

This is not the take of Lower Decks.

My take is Rumdar told them about the bomb on Earth as a reward for saving his life, though.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

Call me simple or easily entertained, but I laughed every single time they called her Janeway. The first time caught me off guard... oh my god so funny. I was afraid it would get old, but it was funny the whole time.

And Boims as a Pike-type (Pike-subclass?)...hilarious! Right down to the impractically tight jacket.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Loved how Casey, the Riker wannabe, has only stubble--he hasn't grown the beard.

 

[Noname Given]

Call me simple or easily entertained, but I laughed every single time they called her Janeway. The first time caught me off guard... oh my god so funny. I was afraid it would get old, but it was funny the whole time.

And Boims as a Pike-type (Pike-subclass?)...hilarious! Right down to the impractically tight jacket.

Just FYI - The Pakleds have been calling her "Janeway" and the Cerritos "another Enterprise/the Enterprise" since they first appeared in the Lower Decks series.

 

[Tim Thomason]

I always liked the idea that Pakleds are not stupid but just have uncomplicated syntax. Which is kind of racist since plenty of Earth languages, translated literally, sound a bit like the way the Pakleds speak.

This is not the take of Lower Decks.

My take is Rumdar told them about the bomb on Earth as a reward for saving his life, though.

Yeah, my take was that they were always just as smart as any warp-capable species, and what we see was either a communication issue, a certain survivalist way of dealing with other species, or, at best, an purposely-ignorant underclass operating starships in demand of a ruling overclass.

It seems Lower Decks is possibly using the last possibility, but in a more nuanced way, since we saw their overclass this episode, and they were just as unintelligent as the average Pakled. Perhaps the true rulers of the Pakleds are yet unseen, or more likely that "ruler" (or, rather, manipulator) is a recent development and accounts for their increased hostility.