Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 3x08 - "Crisis Point Ⅱ: Paradoxus"

[JirinPanthosa]

Depends on your personal standards for being family friendly. Lower Decks always has cartoon violence but not graphic violence. And implied sexual content with the occasional naked cat hanging on large man with claws but no graphic sexual content. But this episode doesn’t have anything like that.

Actually now that I think about it the most risqué thing the show has done is the just off screen exocomp on bird action last week.

Anyway nothing sexual this week.

 

[Uhura's Song]

Did they reference/throw shade at ALL the movies + Disco?

Off the top of my head:

1) TMP: Wright Flier + jab at ending.
2) TWOK: Graphics + hot ex-scientist having research stolen.
3) TSFS: Boimler comes back to life in Tube.
4) TVH: punks with boom box take their clothes.
5) TFF: quest for meaning of life, god-like being.
6) TUC: ????
7) GEN: Lursa & B'Etor ish Romulan triplets + Kirk/Takei horse heaven.
8) FC: ???? Time travel?
9) INS: ???
10) NEM: the boming? Dsert bike chase scene?
11) Kelvin: alternate time line with same characters played by different actors (works for SNW & DISCO as well).

 

[Ghel]

I don't know if this was mentioned yet, but they also referenced the red blinky light device which showed up several times in Star Trek and Airplane II.

 

[Dukhat]

I don't know if this was mentioned yet, but they also referenced the red blinky light device which showed up several times in Star Trek and Airplane II.

That device was used in Regula 1, which the Europa Station was based upon.

 

[Bornin1980something]

So, the meaning of life (in the Trekverse) is found in the Wright Flyer? Do you realize what that means?

 

[Dukhat]

So, the meaning of life (in the Trekverse) is found in the Wright Flyer? Do you realize what that means?

No. Please enlighten us.

 

[fireproof78]

So, the meaning of life (in the Trekverse) is found in the Wright Flyer? Do you realize what that means?

That you have to go the Wright Way?

 

[Jag2112]

Screencaps gallery now online, with some nice grabs of the U.S.S. Wayfarer and the Defiant-Class ship:

https://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/sc-LD3-8.php

 

[Dukhat]

Minor nitpick: the bridge image of the Wayfarer depicts a Luna class ship, not a Sovereign. Did they reuse background animation from the Titan?

 

[CPT Baldwin]

Really didn't enjoy this, plot felt flat, Sulu didn't sound like Sulu, 4/10.

 

[Ghel]

That device was used in Regula 1, which the Europa Station was based upon.

True, but I have to say that I prefer its use in Airplane 2. "Buck Murdock (Shatner)--What have you found?
--All I've found is that these red lights keep moving back and forth. Other than that, this thing seems to have no function whatsoever.
Buck--That's impossible. It must have some sort of function. Why would they put all that money into a thing with red lights that go back and forth? It doesn't make any sense! Keep working on it..."

 

[NCC-73515]

4) TVH: punks with boom box take their clothes.

I took that as a Terminator reference

 

[The Wormhole]

I had guessed at some point Bashir or somebody must have publicized Section 31, at least within Starfleet. Brad mentioned some kind of Section 31 power walk in Season 1, and at the time it made my verisimilitude alarm go off with the unlikeliness of such knowledge being public. Maybe it wasn't public, and Brad had an intimate knowledge of the group, perhaps through a connection. He seems pretty young, so I would guess a parent or mentor. William's recruitment might make more sense in that context.

I assumed the Section 31 power walk thing from season 1 meant that there are conspiracy theories and urban legends going around about a top secret organization within the Federation called Section 31. Kind of like we have urban legends and conspiracy theories about the Illuminati. The novels did suggest something similar in their Section 31 novels where one character actually says to another "you're not about to tell me Section 31 is real, are you?"

 

[Charles Phipps]

I'd like to state that I think the "Kitty Hawk" reveal at the end is the absolute best joke in all of Lower Decks. Because really, it is about time someone does acknowledge that the entire premise of V'Ger is absolutely [colorful metaphor] nonsensical. You not only have the aliens uplift the barely sentient AI but it becomes a god after learning all there is to know.

The Whale Probe is actually far-far easier to understand.

And you know what, so is the Wright Brother's plane being made into a rock god. I can actually see some weird human worshiping aliens revering it as an artifact.

V'Ger? STILL WEIRDER.

 

[Dukhat]

True, but I have to say that I prefer its use in Airplane 2. "Buck Murdock (Shatner)--What have you found?
--All I've found is that these red lights keep moving back and forth. Other than that, this thing seems to have no function whatsoever.
Buck--That's impossible. It must have some sort of function. Why would they put all that money into a thing with red lights that go back and forth? It doesn't make any sense! Keep working on it..."

Yep, that was comedy gold.

 

[Charles Phipps]

I assumed the Section 31 power walk thing from season 1 meant that there are conspiracy theories and urban legends going around about a top secret organization within the Federation called Section 31. Kind of like we have urban legends and conspiracy theories about the Illuminati. The novels did suggest something similar in their Section 31 novels where one character actually says to another "you're not about to tell me Section 31 is real, are you?"

I always liked another theory that a fan shared with me (Michael Suttkus, my co-author on stuff) which was the idea that Section 31 didn’t exist but it wasn’t a delusion of Sloane either but Sloane LYING. Basically, Section 31 existed as Starfleet making a deniable project by invoking that article.

There wouldn’t be an organization of Section 31 operatives but they’d recruit whoever they needed for X, Y, or Z project.

Then when the project was over, they’d dissolve it and it would go their separate ways.

Which is even more sinister as it just means that Starfleet created a boogeyman as a distraction.

 

[UssGlenn]

So, the meaning of life (in the Trekverse) is found in the Wright Flyer? Do you realize what that means?

Something something the Orville?

 

[Dukhat]

I always liked another theory that a fan shared with me (Michael Suttkus, my co-author on stuff) which was the idea that Section 31 didn’t exist but it wasn’t a delusion of Sloane either but Sloane LYING. Basically, Section 31 existed as Starfleet making a deniable project by invoking that article.

There wouldn’t be an organization of Section 31 operatives but they’d recruit whoever they needed for X, Y, or Z project.

Then when the project was over, they’d dissolve it and it would go their separate ways.

Which is even more sinister as it just means that Starfleet created a boogeyman as a distraction.

That was the beauty of Section 31 during DS9. You had no idea if it was this super-secret shadow organization, or if Sloane was just making it all up and fucking with everyone. But then future writers and producers had this hardon for it, and decided to make it an actual thing. And that's when it lost any kind of legit credibility to me. Any kind of super-secret organization that does nasty things in the name of 'security,' has no oversight whatsoever, and chooses its members at random is just nonsensical Sean-Connery-Bond-era-SPECTRE bullshit.

 

[Charles Phipps]

That was the beauty of Section 31 during DS9. You had no idea if it was this super-secret shadow organization, or if Sloane was just making it all up and fucking with everyone. But then future writers and producers had this hardon for it, and decided to make it an actual thing. And that's when it lost any kind of legit credibility to me. Any kind of super-secret organization that does nasty things in the name of 'security,' has no oversight whatsoever, and chooses its members at random is just nonsensical Sean-Connery-Bond-era-SPECTRE bullshit.

I mean, Right Wing paramilitary organizations and spy agencies exist in real life and virtually every sort of secret organization has nasty dirty laundry and epic screw ups that rival the ones in the show. But I don't believe it would exist for 400 years.

They'd get renamed at least.

 

[Dukhat]

Yes, but the Star Trek universe is a static one. Nothing ever changes no matter what time period a show is set in.