*sigh* I love "Lower Decks"

[Sakrysta]

I just love this episode so much. I just rewatched it for the first time in a long while. When it first started, I was concerned it would have lost its appeal. I remember watching it over and over when it first aired.

I loved how it showed a mission from a different perspective - that of the junior officers. And it was such a treat to have a guest character from a previous episode not only be brought back, but used to such compelling effect. It's a tribute both to the writers of the episode and to the actress that by episode's end, the viewer is completely invested in Sito's mission and ultimate fate.

TNG is by no means known for its emotional depth. However, as I watched tonight, once again I found myself tearing up as Sito boarded that shuttle and Worf watched her take off.

Anybody else feel the same way about this episode? Or is there another TNG episode that effects you on a similarly deep emotional level?

 

[Kegg]

It's a solid episode. Basically making your guest stars the entire focus of an hour can be a risky proposition - and I don't think TNG ever gave itself so completely to that idea as it did in this episode - but "Lower Decks" carries it off very well.

I know there was some talk of Sito Jaxa reappearing on Deep Space Nine, I think, but I'm mostly glad the franchise stuck with this episode's strong ending.

TNG is by no means known for its emotional depth.

I thought the show wasn't that bad at it, really. "The Inner Light", "Family" and "Brothers" aren't so bad for it off the top of my head.

"The Inner Light" especially.

 

[Trekker4747]

Sarek.

He shoots, he scores.

 

[SchwEnt]

The "Lower Decks" perspective of the Enterprise mission made me think of all the other adventures and how they'd be experienced if you weren't in the know amongst the main bridge crew.

A civilian or low ranking crewman would really never know what's happening most of the time.

Just minding your own business below decks and then suddenly a lot of RED ALERTs going off without details
(warp core problem? Romulans decloaking? tachyon disruption?)

Most of the people aboard wouldn't know Picard is having a tense moment with Tomalak, or that some experiment is having a horrendous effect, or how close a situation came to all-out war, or that the ship was minutes from destruction due to such-and-such.

Below decks, it'd just be a lot of tossing and shaking and red alerts without getting a full explanation of what's really happening upstairs. Gotta be unsettling.

 

[kirsten187]

I haven't seen Lower Decks for a while now (few years or so!) but I remember liking it.

 

[Cakemixo]

It worked with the point of view being unique. The senior officers freak the lowers ones out some. I hadn't even considered the lower officers sharing dorms I'm so used to the senior officers rooms. And then to have no clue what was happening.

TNG is by no means known for its emotional depth.

What about The Offspring?

 

[Warped9]

My recent revisit of the episode.

“Lower Decks” *****

Junior officers strive for promotion in the midst of a covert mission.

I remember liking this episode way back initially although I did have some reservations. Now I like it even more.

I like all the junior characters introduced, and I think it would have been nice to see them again. Of course we had seen Nurse Ogawa before as well as Sito, but Lavelle and Taurik were interesting new faces. We're also introduced to someone who works Ten Forward and he's treated as if he's been there for quite some time. He's likable enough, but it was a bit odd not seeing Guinan in the role.

I particularly liked the young Vulcan, Taurik. In his own way he made me imagine what a young Ensign Spock could have been like. I also quite liked the interaction between Worf and Sito and how it made Worf seem more accessible than we might have once imagined.

I also appreciate that the episode chose to end on something of a downbeat. It impressed me as more credible and nuanced.

I have to say that this has been one of my favourite episodes in the past two seasons.

 

[Too Much Fun]

Anybody else feel the same way about this episode?

I'm right there with ya. This is one of the few episodes that brings tears to my eyes (the other ones are "The Offspring" and "Darmok"). The part that really gets to me is when Picard makes his announcement at the end.

Him using the words "finest example", "remakable courage", and "strength of character" was so powerful, touching, and tragic after how he'd spoken to the person he described earlier in the episode. It just makes me hope she understood why he said what he said.

The way Worf looks at her when he sees the fake bruises was really moving too. A lovely piece of acting where he doesn't even make an obvious look of concern, and yet somehow you can really sense how much he cares and gets upset seeing someone he cares so deeply for looking that beat up (even if it's not real).

 

[RoJoHen]

Sarek.

He shoots, he scores.

Yeah, it was good at emotion when it really tried to be, but those episodes were hardly in the majority.

 

[mswood]

[qoute]Sakrysta
TNG is by no means known for its emotional depth.[/quote]

I think the poster was stating that it wasn't something TNG pulled off on a regular episode to episode basis.

I did really like this episode, in fact, its always something that annoyed me with the ship based series especially modern ones, is that in a contained environment you should get to know a much larger junior cast. We never did. Its always been something that bothered me, about Trek.

 

[MHT1138]

I really enjoy this episode too, one of my favorites. Alyssa Ogawa is one of my favorite recurring characters in TNG, and showing her interaction with her friends was a nice change of pace from seeing her as Dr. Crusher's assistant.

 

[Distorted Humor]

I really need to get around and watching it, as I have not seen all of season 7 yet...

 

[Pauln6]

I think it shows that Trek's obsession with senior officers isn't necessarily always the best focus. It also shows that supporting guest characters can have a lot of potential if you give them some respect. Ro Laren was the perfect example. Still, apart from Ogawa, I don't think we see any of these characters again do we? Although some of the actors played carbon copies in Voyager, I don't think they ever tapped into the emotional depth of this episode again.

 

[Warped9]

Well you are paying your central characters to be front and centre. But "Lower Decks" is also an example of creative thinking and creative writing, something Seasons 6 and 7 didn't impress me much with.

 

[Gary7]

This was a great episode from a number of respects. First, we're so used to seeing things from the perspective of the senior officers that we don't know how the rest of the crew perceives things. This episode gives us such a glimpse. There is a very important aspect to military service, that being "the need to know." I've been on both sides of this, being in the dark about something and in the know discreetly due to security clearance, unable to tell anyone not having clearance. They do a pretty good job of representing this. We really see the "wall of privacy" that surrounds senior officers. There is also the matter of how much fraternization is allowed between senior and junior staff. I don't think Riker would have minded that much to chat with Lavelle, if Lavelle hadn't been so awkward about it. Some officers are stuck-up, but others aren't so fraternization phobic.

While it was good to see a little bit of competition on rank promotion, I think they may have overdone it just a bit.

Nurse Ogawa was... annoying, to say the least. If she grinned any more than she did, her face might have split open. It was an over the top enthusiasm that just looked so... ridiculous. If Yasutake had toned down her characterization a bit, it would've been a much more palatable performance.

Overall, it was a welcomed shift of focus to the usual episodes. I enjoyed it and wished they had done another... perhaps a kind of "part II" for at least a few of the characters or at least incorporation into other episode themes. It was good to see the consistency with Ogawa's character (we'd seen her a number of times before), but it would've been nice if we'd gotten to see Lavelle and Ben appear as an extra a few times more before the season ended.

 

[SmoothieX]

One of my bottom 5 episodes to be sure. It's slow and boring.

 

[tighr]

While it was good to see a little bit of competition on rank promotion, I think they may have overdone it just a bit.

I disagree. At the company where I work, competition for promotions is fierce. And I don't work in the military!

When you're a low-level manager at a company, you're not privy to all the details of how upper management comes to decisions. Those decisions are passed down to you so that you can inform your teams. I've always wondered what goes on during those closed door meetings when upper management is discussing our futures.

Luckily, I just got a promotion a few weeks ago, but I still haven't got my pips...

 

[Gary7]

^ You disagree based on your experience, but we're talking 24th century Starfleet here. Very different context and period.

 

[Timo]

OTOH, these guys aren't competing for better-paying jobs. Starfleet doesn't appear to pay them, or at least doesn't give them pay incentives. Rather, these guys are there for the adventure. And competition for adventure would no doubt be fierce, considering how boring it is for 980 people aboard the ship when the 15 heroes get all the away team assignments!

Of course, by the same "we work to improve ourselves" adage, some people will be there for the very job they are already holding, and would hate to be promoted out of it - but even then there's competition from below, others who'd love to be junior assistant astrophysicists for the rest of their lives and have sworn to oust you and force you to become the senior assistant instead.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[tighr]

^ You disagree based on your experience, but we're talking 24th century Starfleet here. Very different context and period.

Star Trek is, and always has been, an allegory for our present lives. Otherwise, you wouldn't have the numerous episodes that deal with modern day topics such as abortion, cold war, the holocaust, losing a parent, etc. in a futuristic way.