Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 2x10 - "First First Contact"

[DaveyNY]

The dolphins wearing Starfleet uniforms is the funniest thing EVER. There's absolutely no need for them to wear uniforms since they're, well, dolphins but Starfleet makes them wear one anyway. That's funny as hell.

I remember years ago someone made a joke drawing of a dolphin in cetacean ops wearing a Starfleet uniform (as seen below) but I never actually thought they would be wearing uniforms! I wonder if the writers saw the below drawing and thought it would be funny (and cute) if they had their dolphins follow suit!

They were drawn more like Beluga Whales but sounded like Dolphins.

weird

 

[Tuskin38]

So I'm thinking 3 possibilities right now

1. The Pakleds blew themselves up trying to create a new bomb
2. Rutherford did it under the influence of whoever gave him his implant
3. None of the above

 

[cooleddie74]

Who knew stretching out an Excelsior-class starship and giving it Sovereign-class nacelles would look so beautiful?

 

[Romulan_spy]

I think this episode illustrates that Lower Decks is at its best when it plays it straight and just focuses on telling an original Star Trek story.

 

[The Rock]

I think this episode illustrates that Lower Decks is at its best when it plays it straight and just focuses on telling an original Star Trek story.

Yeah I noticed there was much less silly humor in this episode and more "real" humor.

 

[eschaton]

Lower Decks ends strong once again, though I may have enjoyed this a tiny bit less than last episode, if only because my expectations were already so high.

This episode plays to the strengths of Lower Decks - straight-ahead, character-focused drama, and once again the memberberries take a back seat. Yet at the same time I laughed more than in any previous episode, largely because the dolphins in cetacean ops had such wonderful, random lines. Still, the setup was very "normal Trek" - crew working collaboratively to deal with a life-threatening problem - and executed amazingly well. Honestly I find it odd how much better LDS is doing this than Discovery (which had a very similar plot in Season 2's New Eden) despite having like half the run time.

Not only that, but we get to end on a cliffhanger! I'm genuinely excited to see where Season 3 goes. It appears that the show is slowly moving towards semi-serialization. I presume it will take several episodes to spring Captain Freeman out of prison. We'll get to see who the captain is during her absence (I am guessing a familiar face), see if Mariner/Jennifer will end up a thing, and follow up on what the hell is happening with Rutherford (Section 31 sleeper agent?).

If I have any reservations about the final episode, it's that I don't think the Rutherford/Tendi plot felt quite right here. I understand the desire to give the actors something to do, but in an episode with high stakes things felt a tiny bit deflated every time it focused back on Tendi's angst about her job. I'm also not entirely sure whether we were supposed to believe they both are masking their feelings for one another by stating their love for the ship, or if they are genuinely just friends. I honestly wish the show would do something here and shake up the dynamic.

 

[cooleddie74]

Rutherford's resurfaced memory of surgery is going to play into the Pakled Planet destruction. I won't be shocked if Section 31 has something to do with this and this plan is part of why the Cerritos made contact with the Pakleds so often this season.

 

[KimMH]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

 

[Deks]

Great episode. The plot of a ship making first contact getting caught in space radiation and another ship having to rescue, and the Cerritos stripping its outer hull to get through the asteroids felt very trek to me. And stripping the hull was a unique solution that showcased teamwork. We got some nice ship porn too! Seeing the cetacean ops was very cool. We also got some nice character moments and a great cliffhanger. You know its a good episode when the cliffhanger makes you mad because you resent having to wait to see the conclusion.

You know, when the Cerritos was removing its outer hull, a possibilty crossed my mind that the Archimedes would have restored power at the last minute, only for the Cerritos to arrive and have nothing to do and then being asked 'why did you strip your hull?'.
I REALLY hoped they wouldn't have done that as a last distched attempt at humor... and thankfully, they hadn't.

 

[Romulan_spy]

Some references that I caught:

Captain Freeman Day like Captain Picard Day in TNG
Joystick like in the movie Insurrection
Detaching the hull plating by turning those levers reminded me of the scene in the movie First Contact where they do a space walk and manually detach the deflector dish.
Navigating an asteroid field with no power like in the TNG ep "Booby Trap"
Rutherford's implant and his lost memory made me think of Geordi being brainwashed by the Romulans in TNG's episode "The Mind's Eye".

 

[Deks]

Some references that I caught:

Captain Freeman Day like Captain Picard Day in TNG
Joystick like in the movie Insurrection
Detaching the hull plating by turning those levers reminded me of the scene in the movie First Contact where they do a space walk and manually detach the deflector dish.
Navigating an asteroid field with no power like in the TNG ep "Booby Trap"
Rutherford's implant and his lost memory made me think of Geordi being brainwashed by the Romulans in TNG's episode "The Mind's Eye".

One thing I didn't agree with was that the crew had to detach the hull plates manually. That should have been possible to acomplish remotely (aka control from the bridge).
Manual release of the deflector dish panels on the Enterprise-E was necessary in First Contact movie because the Borg assimilated nearly half the ship and computer control was encrypted by Data.

Other references I agree with... except Rutherfords memory... that one reminded me more of Tuvok being brainwashed Tiero.

 

[eschaton]

Rutherford's resurfaced memory of surgery is going to play into the Pakled Planet destruction. I won't be shocked if Section 31 has something to do with this and this plan is part of why the Cerritos made contact with the Pakleds so often this season.

Rutherford was on the ship the whole time cleaning up trash with Mariner and Tendi however when they visited Pakled Planet. I'm not sure when exactly he would have been able to "get away."

 

[cooleddie74]

It's Trek. They can find an excuse. It could have been a software download from his implant which took mere moments.

 

[KennyB]

I'm not sure when exactly he would have been able to "get away."

When he wasn't on camera---duh

 

[Jadeb]

The horny dolphins just got funnier and funnier. What an amazingly ridiculous show.

 

[ToyBoxComix]

The ducky room has to be the most wonderfully obscure reference they've made. I laughed and laughed.

 

[KennyB]

Best episode of the season and in contention for best episode of the entire series thus far.

A solid 10.

I feel the exact same way.......sad about the wait for season 3.

Side note........someone voted 2? Really?

 

[Tim Thomason]

Side note........someone voted 2? Really?

Yes. It looks like some unsung hero has voted 2 for every episode this season in honour of it being Season 2, but decided not to comment on it in order to escape criticism for their continued misuse of the rating system.

 

[fireproof78]

I feel the exact same way.......sad about the wait for season 3.

Side note........someone voted 2? Really?

IDIC.

 

[Tuskin38]

TrekCore pointed this out, the Archimedes Ensign points at the Cerritos arrival similar to Boimler pointing at the Titan in Season 1.

Also I guess this Episode establishes that the Cerritos viewscreen isn't a window?

Why does that part of the bridge dome glow then, a light?