That was the whole point of creating the show to begin with.
Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 3x09 - "Trusted Sources"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
Today’s episode reminded me of that episode of the Simpsons where Homer goes on that Rock Bottom show because he’s accused of sexual harassment.
Captain Mariner was going to make second contact when she noticed she had a…sweet…CAN…
Captain Mariner was going to make second contact when she noticed she had a…sweet…CAN…
I, on the other hand, love the continuity porn.
I find it kind of funny that CBS survives into the 24th century but was apparently bought by CNN....on a show shown by CBS.
Or maybe I'm reading too much into it.
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I’m happy for you.
Symbiosis is hardly a member berry, to be fair. They’ve been making deep cuts whether they’re popular nostalgic episodes or not.
The Texas class seems like an evolution of Message In A Bottle more than anything else we’ve seen.
According to Memory Alpha, LD season 2 also took place this same year. Season 3 of LD is in 2382. Of course, there is always a little wiggle room on years and dates. In real life we might say 17 years ago when it's closer to 18.
Also per Memory Alpha, this is 1 year after the events of NEM.
It's also a misuse of member berries.
A member berry is making a reference like "those naked people who punish destroying their lawns with death."
This is actually a sequel episode to Symbiosis where the plot is based around continuity. It's like saying "The Wrath of Khan" is a memberberry.
If they did a non comedic sequel to Symbiosis, I’d expect to see the situation reversed. One planet goes through hell and comes out of it stronger. The other faces total economic collapse, finger pointing and mass poverty, and the formerly addicted planet invents space flight and starts exploiting them.
I gave this episode a 6. Not bad but a bit forced. And the Breen thing came out of nowhere.
I’m not sure how Mariner can come back to the Cerritos after this. The sting of not being believed by any of the people who cared about her will be hard to get past even in a comedy.
I gave this episode a 6. Not bad but a bit forced. And the Breen thing came out of nowhere.
I’m not sure how Mariner can come back to the Cerritos after this. The sting of not being believed by any of the people who cared about her will be hard to get past even in a comedy.
When this episode first started I was pretty confused, because it seemed like a pretty low-stakes plot, strangely placed in the series following up on arguably three "very special" episodes in a row (the return to DS9, Peanut Hamper, and Crisis Point 2). However, once it really got rolling midway through the episode, I was strapped in, and it was a great continuation of Mariner's character arc.
The crux of the episode emotionally - what we don't see until the final act - is that Mariner has changed considerably over the course of Season 1 to become a more responsible ensign - something her mother/captain is totally blind to. She is not the same person as Season 1, and takes her job seriously now. The episode smartly hides this from us until the end of the final act, and most of the crew seem to be blind to it as well (they laid it on a bit thick when she was transferred off IMHO). Not everyone was blind to it however. Pretty notably Ransom has a bug-eyed look on his face when Freeman transfers her to Starbase 80. He knows that she does not deserve this treatment, as he's been personally overseeing her work. There was also smart payoff of the thread dropped earlier in the season with the woman from the Archeologists Guild offering Mariner a job.
The focus on Mariner here is so relentless we really don't see much of the rest of the Lower Deckers at all. They are entirely superfluous here, and aside from some jokes near the opening regarding pie, they're pretty much absent. Indeed, we (in a rarity) focus mostly on the main bridge crew and the guest star (who for once is not a memberberry) while Mariner's story is percolating in the background.
I have a feeling that there's something deeper going on regarding the sudden appearance of the automated Starfleet vessel as well. I think Admiral Buenamigo set the Cerritos up - whether it was just to have an excuse to get them attacked or that he actively wanted to make them look bad to help boost the program.
Since this is the penultimate episode, and not the season finale, I suspect it will be semi-resolved next week, but maybe I'll be surprised and Mariner will stay off the Cerritos into Season 4 at least.
Regardless, good, but not excellent. The humor not being all that amusing was fine, since this was meant as a dramatic episode. But I feel like there was too much setup even though the payoff was excellent. Since the story was really about Freeman's lack of faith in her daughter, they should have centered a bit more of the episode there rather than the second-contact scenarios (the first of which was purposefully constructed to be boring). Still, the episode had flawed characters make bad decisions and suffer from real consequences which is exactly what you want to see in dramatic fiction.
The crux of the episode emotionally - what we don't see until the final act - is that Mariner has changed considerably over the course of Season 1 to become a more responsible ensign - something her mother/captain is totally blind to. She is not the same person as Season 1, and takes her job seriously now. The episode smartly hides this from us until the end of the final act, and most of the crew seem to be blind to it as well (they laid it on a bit thick when she was transferred off IMHO). Not everyone was blind to it however. Pretty notably Ransom has a bug-eyed look on his face when Freeman transfers her to Starbase 80. He knows that she does not deserve this treatment, as he's been personally overseeing her work. There was also smart payoff of the thread dropped earlier in the season with the woman from the Archeologists Guild offering Mariner a job.
The focus on Mariner here is so relentless we really don't see much of the rest of the Lower Deckers at all. They are entirely superfluous here, and aside from some jokes near the opening regarding pie, they're pretty much absent. Indeed, we (in a rarity) focus mostly on the main bridge crew and the guest star (who for once is not a memberberry) while Mariner's story is percolating in the background.
I have a feeling that there's something deeper going on regarding the sudden appearance of the automated Starfleet vessel as well. I think Admiral Buenamigo set the Cerritos up - whether it was just to have an excuse to get them attacked or that he actively wanted to make them look bad to help boost the program.
Since this is the penultimate episode, and not the season finale, I suspect it will be semi-resolved next week, but maybe I'll be surprised and Mariner will stay off the Cerritos into Season 4 at least.
Regardless, good, but not excellent. The humor not being all that amusing was fine, since this was meant as a dramatic episode. But I feel like there was too much setup even though the payoff was excellent. Since the story was really about Freeman's lack of faith in her daughter, they should have centered a bit more of the episode there rather than the second-contact scenarios (the first of which was purposefully constructed to be boring). Still, the episode had flawed characters make bad decisions and suffer from real consequences which is exactly what you want to see in dramatic fiction.
Some random thoughts on all this:
1. I love Starbase 80 and would like to serve there. Who doesn't love a good sandwich and bat brooming?
2. Carol Freeman really is a TERRIBLE captain and should have taken Kirk's advice: never let them promote you past Commander where you being a hardass and jerk won't get you into trouble.
3. Jennifer is an awful girlfriend and I believe this sets up the endgame Boimler/Mariner romance! Maybe Jennifer can be a better girlfriend to Ensign Barnes.
4. The news services in the 24th century are absolutely awful.
5. So it's 17 years after Season 1 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Which means that it's been at least a dozen years since Sisko disappeared. That sucks. Apparently, Sisko really was an absentee father.
6. I liked how passive aggressive the Onarans are to the Federation. It's pretty clear they want nothing to do with the Federation and rightly so.
7. Speaking of which, WHY do they blame Picard? It's kind of weird because all he did was absolutely nothing.
8. I also give kudos to how Freeman and Ransom both reacted to Picard's action with, "What the HELL?" Which makes sense because even by the standards of the Prime Directive, that was an insane choice. Especially since it was NOT an internal political matter but a conflict between two species.
9. I actually have been wondering what would happen next in "Symbiosis' system" for almost 30 years. The answer is quite satisfying and interesting. Mind you, it's a comedy episode but the implications are HORRIFYING. 14 years of civil unrest and a genocide.
10. I feel so bad for all that wasted pie.
11. Mariner, when she returns, will once more be Lower Decks only because everyone else proved untrustworthy.
12. I'm glad our heroes just flat out ignored Freeman's order to ignore Mariner.
13. The Breen utterly owned the California class, which isn't terrible but it makes me wondered how overpowered the Aledo is. Then again, I suspect the Breen ship it one-shotted had its shields down due to the boarding.
1. I love Starbase 80 and would like to serve there. Who doesn't love a good sandwich and bat brooming?
2. Carol Freeman really is a TERRIBLE captain and should have taken Kirk's advice: never let them promote you past Commander where you being a hardass and jerk won't get you into trouble.
3. Jennifer is an awful girlfriend and I believe this sets up the endgame Boimler/Mariner romance! Maybe Jennifer can be a better girlfriend to Ensign Barnes.
4. The news services in the 24th century are absolutely awful.
5. So it's 17 years after Season 1 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Which means that it's been at least a dozen years since Sisko disappeared. That sucks. Apparently, Sisko really was an absentee father.
6. I liked how passive aggressive the Onarans are to the Federation. It's pretty clear they want nothing to do with the Federation and rightly so.
7. Speaking of which, WHY do they blame Picard? It's kind of weird because all he did was absolutely nothing.
8. I also give kudos to how Freeman and Ransom both reacted to Picard's action with, "What the HELL?" Which makes sense because even by the standards of the Prime Directive, that was an insane choice. Especially since it was NOT an internal political matter but a conflict between two species.
9. I actually have been wondering what would happen next in "Symbiosis' system" for almost 30 years. The answer is quite satisfying and interesting. Mind you, it's a comedy episode but the implications are HORRIFYING. 14 years of civil unrest and a genocide.
10. I feel so bad for all that wasted pie.
11. Mariner, when she returns, will once more be Lower Decks only because everyone else proved untrustworthy.
12. I'm glad our heroes just flat out ignored Freeman's order to ignore Mariner.
13. The Breen utterly owned the California class, which isn't terrible but it makes me wondered how overpowered the Aledo is. Then again, I suspect the Breen ship it one-shotted had its shields down due to the boarding.
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You both misunderstand. I wasn’t comparing the plot of this episode to memberberries. I was remarking that the general humor of this show relies on memberberries.
I would think that Mariner would have to be back on the ship by the end of the next episode simply because we'll be seeing the crossover with Strange New Worlds before we get season 4. Of course, they don't have to follow a strict timeline on these things, but it would seem weird if she's appearing as a Cerritos crew member on one show when her own show says she's elsewhere.
Another splendid episode, it started a bit slow but built up midway through. Didn’t expect the Breen (what were they doing there? And how come admiral Buenamigo knew about them in advance?) and the final twists with mariner.
Giving a 8. Star base 80 seems really awful…and they got yet another uniform there!
Texas class has a nice design.
Giving a 8. Star base 80 seems really awful…and they got yet another uniform there!
Texas class has a nice design.
not entirely, if Ramson met one after a few minutes on the planet. Hopefully they’ll recover.
That mural was awesome, by the way.
I doubt any alpha quadrant power is still a dominion member. The Cardassians clearly aren’t.
Starbase 80 appears to be a waste disposal facility. I wonder whether this is the place they send all the stuff they can't disintegrate.
Yup. And it will continue on that way for a long time.
I had been wondering if/when one of the current Franchise series would revisit the Breen...
I'm somewhat surprised that they only targeted one of the two habitable worlds in-system, rather than hitting both at once.
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Also, it's notable to see the Franchise add its own Texas-class - over in the Star Fleet Universe, that class designation is used for an old Earth light cruiser type, which was first built prior to the onset of the "saucer-and-nacelle" ships intended for use by the unified Star Fleet.
I'm somewhat surprised that they only targeted one of the two habitable worlds in-system, rather than hitting both at once.
----
Also, it's notable to see the Franchise add its own Texas-class - over in the Star Fleet Universe, that class designation is used for an old Earth light cruiser type, which was first built prior to the onset of the "saucer-and-nacelle" ships intended for use by the unified Star Fleet.
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