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

Simple. They aren't idiots.

Im finally listening to the Mission Log podcast. A few months ago I listened to their review of the TNG episode with the Packleds. Their conclusion or opinion was that the Packleds are really masterminds and this stupid act is an act that lulls unsuspecting targets into a false sense of security. They've done this con for a long time with much success.

If course, that's not exactly how LD presented them.

 

I mean the "Samaritan Snare" is all about it being a trap. Hence the name.

Lower Decks also has an inconsistent portrayal of Pakleds as they have managed to do some technical marvels with their cobbled together scavenger ships. They remind me a bit of the Scavenger ship from "STAR TREK: ELITE FORCE" which was made of a Klingon vessel, Mirror Universe Constitution craft, and some Malon bits too.

They're just extremely easily tricked.

For example, Rumdar is a great spy. He found out about the concept of gift shops and that their toilets can kill people. Yes, he told her about the fact that they're plotting to blow up Earth but is that due to being stupid or repaying them for saving his life (as well as it being a plot of the previous Pakled Emperor)?

Eh, eh.

 

Was Rumdar a spy for the Emperor, or was he an agent of the Rebelution? Are the rebels, who are now in charge of Pakled Planet, the only ones collecting the Varuvian ore and building the Varuvian bomb? They may have broken Rumdar free and sent him to the ship as a diversionary spy while they planned the murder of the old regime(s).

 

Anyone else think the menial tasks the group had to do were subtle Among Us task references?

 

McMahan directed The Escape Artist. But, yeah, Kurtzman doesn't run any shows. He's a production go-between and occasional writer. McMahan would follow suit, if given the position, coordinating new shows and showrunners for those shows.

I don't really put much stock in the usefulness of Kurtzman's present position of mostly just cashing checks, and would rather have McMahan continuing to write episodes and possibly develop series in his own vision.

 

I actually go with a more crazy Lower Decks explanation in my headcanon: Pakled toilets look like airlocks and are built on the sides of ships.

 

Rumdar floating past after being spaced felt like it could be an Among Us reference too.

 

Pretty good but not quite to the high point of last week.

The Aramus joke at the end was gold.

gave this one an 8.

 

In TNG they said the Pakleds got their tech too early. One assumes from someone else

 

Anyone feel that the Pakleds have been genetically enhanced? The ones in TNG were pretty short, chubby and physically unimpressive - all the ones we see in LD are massive, hulking figures... could they have gotten their hands on some augment tech (which obviously hasn't boosted their intellect much, but would account for the increased strength, toughness and aggression)?

 

I liked how after 20 years the pak'led still thought the Federation had this unbeatable 'Crimson forcefield' technology.

That scene where the pak'led killed the guy with the big helmet, said "Down with the big helmet!" then put it on himself is basically how all communist revolutions on Earth have gone.

 

How did the Pakleds ever get into space?

I loved Tendi's over-enthusiasm on anomaly consolidation day, so it was hilarious seeing everything blow up in their faces. Boimler being silly to calm her down at the end was cute, and it was so much fun.

The prank call to Armus at the end was a huge chuckle, as was D'Ana swearing in frustration at, well, whatever it was. She's such a Doctor McCoy.

 

Could they have ended the war right there just by replicating a giant helmet and beaming back? I’m pretty sure this works by Drasi rules.

 

McMahan wrote "The Escape Artist." Rainn Wilson directed it.

 

It's rare that I rate anything as Perfect, but, this one was for me. 10/10. The episode had everything I love about Star Trek and Lower Decks in general.

 

Maybe I'm seeing connections where none truly exist, but Boimler's tactic of having the food replicator spew copiuous amount of edibles to make Tendi laugh and thus calm himself reminds me of the scene in "The Practical Joker" Filmation episode. Scotty enters a rec room/mess hall where M'Ress and Arex are already seated to have a meal. They offer him a chair, but Scotty in in a rush so he request a simple fruit salad from the food slot. The machine starts ejecting absurd amounts of food, piling around the chief engineer's feet. He accuses the other crew of staging the prank and threatens to report them. It doesn't help their case as they can not resist laughing. Finally, a cream pie rockets from the dispenser to smack Scotty square in the puss, silent film style.

I wonder if the '74 cartoon segment inspired this bit for "Lower Decks"?

 

I love this episode if nothing else for the TNGeezer fan rage the Armus thing is causing on youtube

 

This was the first 10 for me this season, maybe all series.

"Shift change! Get out of my chair! Go clean airlock 17, the Pakled did something unspeakable in there"

Using the Pakleds for the "big bad" is actually quite fitting for this series. The ambitious "red shirts" was a nice touch.

Ending with a prank call to Armus was perfect.

 

I liked the bit about Armus. It was about time for this (self) glorified oil-slick to get a taste of his own medicine.


So the Packleds were planning to detonate a bomb of awful on Earth... We really dodged the bullet there.

 

This may have been asked, but is there a novel that would explain how those dipsticks know who Janeway is?