Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 2x07 - "Where Pleasant Fountains Lie"

Did anyone else notice the power transfer conduits in engineering were pulsing the WRONG way, into the core rather than out towards the nacelles?

 

Assuming it’s possible to turn it off without killing it. We’re talking about a sentient being here.

By the way, I seem to understand that Picard will make admiral in 2381, so if they want to show the Enterprise with in command they better hurry.

wasn't like that on the series as well?

 

Speaking as someone who didn't lose the V till 23, then couldn't get it up the first few times due to nerves despite having no issues alone...seemed realistic.

 

I took that as his mother did not know his preference and was covering her bases.

Are they synths or are they computers? Are they viewed the same way the starship computers are viewed? Or computers like Landru?

What about holograms? Characters on the holodeck can be pretty realistic. Did the Doctor survive the ban?

My impression is the synth ban only applied to androids similar to Data and did not apply to other machine intelligences. But that's just my impression.

 

Meh. This one did nothing for me. It wasn’t awful…but it was just kind of there…like one of those TNG episodes you question why it was ever allowed to exist, like “Haven” or “The Outrageous Okona” In a season where you only get 10 episodes at 25 min each, an episode that feels like filler is not my cup of tea.

After a couple of really good episodes, this one continues the LD trend of wild inconsistency for me.

4/10

 

La Sirena had EH crew and no one was shocked so holograms seem ok

 

The Alien alphabet in the ship at the end is Ba’ul

https://twitter.com/gaghyogi49/status/1441804079999557645?s=21

Clearly not a Ba’ul in that chair though.

 

Realistic? Yeah, but to me wholly unnecessary. It just seemed like they were aiming for every insecurity they could, and bearing down on tropes that are better left to other shows. The whole episode just felt off, even with Jeffrey Combs voicing the evil computer, I didn't really get into it. I'm hoping next week will be better. We get so few of these in a season.

 

9.

Good to see Boimler save the day.

 

If he hadn't been shy (impotent), he would have been the King by the time Rutherford got to him.

So it seems completely necessary for the writers desired outcome of the story.

Otherwise he would have had to leave the Cerritos and Star Fleet.

 

They didn't have to follow that at all. It wasn't a given, they made it as such.
Like I said, though, hopefully next week will be better.

 

I'm willing to bet I'd struggle to get it up too, if my mum had just died in an explosion like that,

 

There's nothing inherent in the definition of federation that the central government is "strong" or has "ultimate authority."

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/federation

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/federation

The UFP seems to be modeled after the sort of federalism in the U.S. where the federal government has its own diplomacy, military, legal systems and other governing responsibilities, but individual Federation planets also have at least some of these things and can act independently somewhat.

The sense I got from Crisis Point was that he wanted to run off with Rutherford, but was it because of love of engineering or sexual attraction? Seem jury is out.

 

The UFP really seems to resemble a Confederacy more than a Federation, especially early on, but they can't use that term for obvious reasons.

 

I do wonder if, had Billups been a woman facing a similar (ie. tricked into losing her virginity in order to become Queen by her father, the ruler of Hesperia), would we, as the audience, be so cavalier about such a scenario, due to actual Billups being male? Hmmmm...

 

Confederation would work better but then the Star Wars Prequels, The Clone Wars and other stories in that universe have the Separatists as a confederation called the Confederacy of Independent Systems which in pop culture doubles down on the negative connotations of that word. But yeah, each member world in the Federation seems to retain almost complete internal sovereignty and cedes its interstellar, defense and diplomatic authority to the Federation Council and President and the Constitution of the UFP and all worlds use the same unifying flag.

 

There's no way in hell this episode would have made it to air if the sexes were reversed.

 

Well the episode was just a spin on the trope of needing to get married to assume the throne. So if it was Princess Billups you just run in and stop the arranged marriage ceremony at the last second. It's just that trope has been done a million times so it's not unexpected and therefore not funny.

 

It's still a tropey episode and not that funny either way.