No. My comment about everyone being a commando was meant as humor, i.e not to be taken as support of the decision in episode. A joke, perhaps, or tongue in cheek commentary.
Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 3x01 - "Grounded"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
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Oh I completely agree and I'm conflicted about it, because part of the running gag, as you say, is that they're supposed to be in the dark. On occasion though they did manage to write these characters into bigger missions like Tendi being mistakenly taken along on a Romulan infiltration mission or the part that Rutherford played in the same episode with his glitching cyborg attachment. Then there's the times when they're lampooning around whilst we're seeing the otherside of the story play out with the bridge crew at the same time so we as viewers get a rounded view of what's going on.
I think they ended season 2 on a cliffhanger, making some pretty big statements, we've waited a year for this, the trailers implied a big rescue (yeah I know...trailers...) and then they handwave it all away with some really dense exposition in the last two minutes of the episode. I thought the episode was fun, it's not that I didn't enjoy what there was, I just don't think it serviced what they set up as well as it could have done.
My head canon tells me, that is unlikely as it may be, Dennis is actually an elderly "Mr Adventure" from Star Trek 3.
That was the first thing I thought as well. But I doubt it's supposed to be him.
Yeah, I doubt it is. But it could be intended as someone we met in a TNG Era series who's now a lot older. Chief Engineer Argyle?
We should start a letter campaign to make this character an older Chief Argyle.
Poor Biff Yeager. He was ahead of his time! If only he had social media, he would have pulled it off...
I think I've decided the issue I have with Lower Decks humor...how despite loving the show, I don't really think it's very funny.
The problem is - at least for me - bust-a-gut humor comes from something unexpected and absurd happening. While I won't call the show completely predictable by any means, there's generally speaking very little absurdist humor involved. Indeed, I think humor based upon Trek deep cuts/references is about as far away from absurdism as you can get.
The show hits the spot in terms of humor sometimes (the dolphins from last season were awesome!) but it's just more cute/charming than hilarious. Of course, most stuff intended as comedy isn't particularly funny, so this isn't the biggest slight.
The problem is - at least for me - bust-a-gut humor comes from something unexpected and absurd happening. While I won't call the show completely predictable by any means, there's generally speaking very little absurdist humor involved. Indeed, I think humor based upon Trek deep cuts/references is about as far away from absurdism as you can get.
The show hits the spot in terms of humor sometimes (the dolphins from last season were awesome!) but it's just more cute/charming than hilarious. Of course, most stuff intended as comedy isn't particularly funny, so this isn't the biggest slight.
More of a sensible chuckle situation?
I laugh a lot more at wit and sarcasm than I do at absurd or referential humor, so yeah, I get some of this. I think a big reason it works for me on LDS because the pacing. A lot of times, referential humor feels like there's a pause, waiting for the audience to laugh at something that's not particularly funny, but LDS moves so fast that the nod never has time to thud - by the time I've registered whatever they're referencing and gone, "aw, neat!", we're on our way to the next thing.
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Unlike The Orville (even the toned-down humor of the 3rd season), I find myself not laughing out loud at LDS's humor. Mostly because I find most of it forced. I actually think there's a good animated show here, but it gets buried with the idea that "WE MUST BE FUNNY BY HAVING LOUD AND OBNOXIOUS CHARACTERS DOING LOUD AND OBNOXIOUS THINGS!!!"
A satisfying season opener... loved the callback to the First Contact main theme, almost teared up for a second there... especially when they threw Zefram and Steppenwolf into the mix...! Trekgasm!
no: because it works in universe. Starfleet routinely assign officers to missions that make little sense in the real world, so it’s no surprise they do it again here.
Definitely agree. More charming than hilarious, which I think is a good place to be for what is essentially a workplace sitcom that has to walk a fairly fine line of not being so zany it questions what we know about the ST universe.
A comedy in the Shakespearean sense, I'd say. It has a lighter tone that allows in things that are funny, like so much of life, but not spectacularly comedic. Certainly very clever, though --- as I said, they really walk the line well.
The condensed format, and the pacing that comes with it, means there's not a lot of time to waste. I think that's what makes it so effective. I recall talk about Star Wars, where people said the limitations of the original trilogy are actually what prompted some creativity and kept it from feeling bloated --- unlike some later entries (but that's neither here nor there --- just a comparison!).
I'm pretty sure that wasn't the intent here.
Yeah, I suppose I could say that even though it doesn't make me laugh very often, I'm never put into the situation where there's something which is supposed to be funny which I just find awkward and weird. I suppose the fast pacing means that any "unfunny jokes" just breeze by too fast to even consider.
It was fun. Loving the site of First Contact being a cheesy amusement park in the late 24th century.
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This the issue I had with the episode as well. I get why it's happening, that it's a running joke, that it's expected that "lower decks" types wouldn't know what's going on amongst the command staff – but it really deflates the drama, especially given how emotionally involved Mariner was for most of the episode. And yes, I also know that the point of Lower Decks isn't satisfying drama, but still.
Still... it was okay. Not bad, not great. I'm loving the way they integrate 3D graphics into the art style though.
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