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

[Amaris]

Amusingly, I think the show is pretty straight forward with its revelations so my fandom speculation radar is thrown.



So Billups is the primary ace member of the cast because they broadcast it loudly.

Billups is definitely Ace, yes. That scene with the orgy and Billups just chilling and reading cracks me up every time.

He thinks Ensign Barnes is "hella hot" and has been on at least two dates with her.

Tendi might be Ace, but Rutherford is not.

Depends upon how sexually attracted he is to her. Asexuals can be attracted to people, even consider them hot/beautiful/etc., but their desire to have sex with them may not be there (though it can be if you're dedicated to a partner). We'll have to see how Rutherford advances with her going forward.

Mariner is bi, Boimler seems to be too. Tendi seems to be ace and I'm not sure about Rutherford, but he's been shown on dates with women. I don't recall him showing any attraction to men so far.

I thought they addressed that by making it clear that she wants to be friends. Men and women are capable of being close friends without any sexual attraction.

That would be awesome if Tendi is Ace, because considering her culture, it would be a big smack in the face of stereotypical Orion women, which would be a nice change of pace.

 

[Super Grover]

Wow, I never expected an animation series to be the best current Star Trek one.
They made me care for the crew and the ship (I am looking at you Disco) and I genuinely can't wait for next season.
And for me it is more than obvious that the people behind Lower Decks love and respect Star Trek.
And yeah, it is possible to make nice refreshing ST new series based on the old material without trying to impress using irrelevant elements borrowed by other Peak TV era shows.
Thanks Lower Decks for restoring my faith on Star Trek.
To be continued.

Yeah, when I watch this, then Discovery, it's like night and day. On LDS, I care more and more emotionally invested in every character. Then on Disco, Tig Notaro is the only likeable person on the crew, sometimes Tilly. The rest of the bridge crew are pretty much NPCs.

 

[Charles Phipps]

I admit, I watch Star Trek: Discovery for Tilly and Saru.

Then Stamets and his husband.

Then the Empress.

Then a bunch of the guest stars like Lorca, Spock, the Admiral, Pike, Number One, Book, Voq, L'Rell.

Then Michael.

My reaction is, "I like Michael fine but she's an utterly awful officer. OH AND NOW SHE'S THE CAPTAIN."

Good enough episode.
Shady implant shenanigans which is likely to be yet another S31 appearance in Trek

Section 31 didn't so much change Starfleet as put an umbrella to put all the shady stupid stuff like deranged captains and rogue Nazi historians under.

I’m not a huge fan of Jennifer the Andorian

These words do not compute.

 

[thribs]

I read through a few pages, just had a question I haven't seen answered: Any explanation for the Ceritos having the "new" uniforms and the Archimedes seemingly having the FC onwards Grey topped uniforms?

Obvious it doesn't.atter, but I am curious. In Disco they played it off that the Enterprise was so much more important they got the new uniforms first, and Disco just hadn't recieved them yet. But in this case that's definitely not the same situation, the Cerritos being a 2nd (3rd, maybe 4th) tier ship....

Obviously the Archimedes is a higher class ship.

 

[Tim Thomason]

Looks like Mariner needs a new nemesis. The Kzinti perhaps?

Nah, Taylor's a good guy.

I reckon Mariner and Jen might not have a good rapport with the new girl, T'Lyn. She's out of control.

 

[KlingonCereal]

This was... perfection! How they managed to incorporate such a complex story into 30 minutes and it not feel clunky or rushed is beyond me. If we could maintain a level of half this episode's quality moving forward I will be immensely satisfied.

 

[cooleddie74]

Oh, she went from drink-spilling, fidgety klutz to heroic Captain in 16 years.

 

[Paul755]

so Gomez probably outranks Geordi now. That’s kinda funny…and sad.

a great finale but just a notch below last years. So a 9/10 for me.

Loved: Cetacean ops, the horny whales, the stripping the hull idea, Gomez, the Archimedes, Mariner’s vote of confidence to Boimler, Rutherford as a secret agent, Billups outburst over how great the Cerritos is and the episode ending in a cliffhanger.

I actually can see Mariner in the roguish mold of Kirk. She just has parental and abandonment issues. She also lacks his discipline.

as much as Tendi and Rutherford should be together, they will probably end up as just another Crusher/Picard or Janeway/Chakotay.

this show really has surpassed Disco, Picard and Voyager in my mind and it’s closing in on Enterprise. Week in week out they just deliver the goods. Although that may be a bit unfair to Picard since they only have one season under their belt.

gonna be a long 10 months or so waiting on S3.

 

[thribs]

 

[Paul755]

Almost forgot, Boimler saying he saw a Koala as he was drowning was a great callback.

 

[cooleddie74]

And Tendi telling him to keep that to himself.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Speaking of Futurama, my son thought Gomez's first officer was Hermes Conrad. I thought it was merely coincidence because of the accent. However, he was right: Phil Lamarr voiced both the XO and the admiral. Moreover, Dawnn Lewis, Freeman, had voiced Labarbara Conrad.

 

[jackoverfull]

I read through a few pages, just had a question I haven't seen answered: Any explanation for the Ceritos having the "new" uniforms and the Archimedes seemingly having the FC onwards Grey topped uniforms?

as others have stated above, it’s not unusual for Starfleet to have a couple of uniforms in use at the same time, how it works exactly regarding who gets what uniform is still very vague, I like to think it’s up to the preference of the commanding officer.

Moreover, in ST-Picard we see a photo of Picard holding Riker’s and troi’s son set in 2381, same year this season is set, and he’s wearing yet another uniform design, the same he wears in 2385! Basically we know that there are at least three uniform designs in use by Starfleet in 2381.

 

[Orphalesion]

Moreover, in ST-Picard we see a photo of Picard holding Riker’s and troi’s son set in 2381, same year this season is set, and he’s wearing yet another uniform design, the same he wears in 2385! Basically we know that there are at least three uniform designs in use by Starfleet in 2381.

That's also probably why we didn't see Troi on the bridge of the Titan during the first two episodes. She was either preggers or on maternity leave and that alien in the science uniform filled in for her.

 

[DaveyNY]

I wonder if Ransom will be acting Captain - and if not him, who will be instead.

Captain Freeman did indicate that Star Fleet was sending a replacement Captain when she was talking to her pissed-off senior staff in her ready room.
She told Ransom that specifically.
(I wonder if Capt. Jellico is still around?)


Also, Billups explosion of profanities during that conversation was hilarious.

 

[jackoverfull]

That's also probably why we didn't see Troi on the bridge of the Titan during the first two episodes. She was either preggers or on maternity leave and that alien in the science uniform filled in for her.

indeed: in-universe happenstances occasionally we’ll align with real-world issues (Sirtis moving to UK).

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

Captain Freeman did indicate that Star Fleet was sending a replacement Captain when she was talking to her pissed-off senior staff in her ready room.
She told Ransom that specifically.
(I wonder if Capt. Jellico is still around?)
Also, Billups explosion of profanities during that conversation was hilarious.

Gomez is a possibility, but Jellico would be great! The loyal and therefore resentful crew will finally convince him to help exonerate Freeman, and will expose/ neutralize the whole Pakled plot. And I suspect we will see both Klingon Boimler and Vulcan Mariner again.

My favorite scene was T'Ana embracing Tendi, and also their very meta "Dax/ Spock" dialogue.
And I always loved the idea of "Jennifer the Andorian," so I'd be thrilled to see more of her.

 

[Paul755]

I’d love to see a rotating cast of replacement captains for the first few episodes until they resolve the Freeman situation. But Jellico would be fun.

 

[wayoung]

I hope they just never show up and the show makes jokes about it, like fans& Discovery's season 2 new captain that never showed up.

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

Ooooh, make that a whole season of rotating captains! (Freeman could be working on it on her end, like trying to reason and to find out what's going on, and finally be before a tribunal with bad, mean lighting for no apparent reason, as a tribute to Disco. Enter, last minute, the crew with new info.)