Spoilers Is Lower Decks just a tad too episodic?

[Jackson_Roykirk]

Lower Decks is a series that could run for 20 seasons and it wouldn't have to worry about the characters aging. Being a cartoon, it's also not under any pressure to take itself seriously. So let's say it ran 200 episodes (I'm not saying I think it will, but just as an example), they want these characters recognizable and same-ish throughout. If there is any character development, you're not going to see it just four episodes in. More like 40.

This is not my preferred way of doing things, but I can see why they'd do it here. I think Strange New Worlds will be more of the middle-ground you're looking for.

Animated characters can grow from a character standpoint without really aging, or even without changing the core character traits. Futurama is a great example.

Some of the characters on Futurama followed a cumulative progression -- i.e., things they learned, the ways they grew, and the character relationships they developed were additive, cumulative, and preserved as the show progressed. However, there was very little in the way of an overt passage of time for the characters.

Granted, it isn't serious and deep character development, but the development they DID do with the characters was done so in an internally consistent and accumulative manner over time.

Throughout Fry's journey, he has learned things and cultivated relationships that were gradually added to his character as the series went on. By the end of the series, Fry still may have been basically the very same Fry with the very same personality traits from episode one -- but he also grew to be more than that.

 

[MvRojo]

• Tendi kissed the "ascension guy" this episode - suggesting that the hints of romantic interest between her and Rutherford in the first and especially the second episode meant nothing.

I think the romantic interest between Tendi and Rutherford is at best one-sided. She's happy to have a nerdy crewmate, while I think Rutherford may have a slight romantic interest based on his actions in "Envoys."

On the other hand, he may be such a people pleaser that he didn't want to disappoint a friend who he may have made a promise to. Also, keep in mind that at the end of Envoys, he wasn't even interested in the cosmic phenomenon she was interested in. He was content doing his work while Tendi was watching it.

 

[gblews]

Why? I swear TNG fans complain 'nu trek it TOO SERIALIZED - we want stand alone episodes....'; and when they GET such episodes in the exact same vein as from the B&B TNG era, it's 'well, dammit, it's TOO EPISODIC...what about more serialization??"

The object is “complain.”

 

[dinzy]

I wouldn't be surprised if there is eventual continuity, but being the first season they simply needed to get the episodes written and in production. 90s Trek was like this where a lot was forgotten, but sometimes came back. Also in a 20 minute episode you can't really claim that things are forgotten, they just aren't relevant. Kissing someone after an ordeal doesn't imply you don't have a crush on someone else. Making a lead move to a different part of the ship/power structure was part of the joke of the episode. Why would that carry on to the next one. Mariner hates authority and wants the freedom that being unimportant grants her. The demotion was in line with her behavior at the beginning and the promotion was part of the running joke of getting her to request a transfer.

 

[Oddish]

It's a parody. If you take it seriously in any way, you'll probably just get upset.

 

[BillJ]

It's a parody. If you take it seriously in any way, you'll probably just get upset.

I'm enjoying it as Star Trek.

 

[fireproof78]

Clearly you are not Star Trekking right if you're having fun...

 

[eschaton]

I still enjoyed the last episode, but much like the previous one the status quo was re-established at the end, with Boimler's girlfriend dumping him.

 

[Super Grover]

I think with Lower Decks, you should take the advice from another ship, and repeat to yourself that it's just a show, and should really just relax.

 

[BillJ]

I still enjoyed the last episode, but much like the previous one the status quo was re-established at the end, with Boimler's girlfriend dumping him.

I see Mariner and Boimler growing closer and closer together week by week, (as well as Rutherford and Tendi) so I’m not sure how that is returning to the status quo?

 

[XCV330]

I think they are just right, now. I do suspect long term they might be building a romance between Rutherford and Tendi, but it is very early for that.

 

[Nenya]

It's a parody. If you take it seriously in any way, you'll probably just get upset.

I think of it as a show cadets might watch at Starfleet Academy that makes fun of life in Starfleet. It’s not events “actually” taking place after Voyager. I’ve stopped watching but I don’t feel like I’m missing out on Star Trek.

 

[Oddish]

It actually sort of reminds me of the old Rainbow Animations Treks (don't bother looking for them, the site is gone) which were patently ridiculous. The first one was called "Picardi". Picard, drunk out of his skull, slaps O'Brien's backside, grabs Troi's boobs, then waves a bottle of booze and orders the Enterprise to Warp 9. And they just go downhill from there.

 

[Nenya]

It actually sort of reminds me of the old Rainbow Animations Treks (don't bother looking for them, the site is gone) which were patently ridiculous. The first one was called "Picardi". Picard, drunk out of his skull, slaps O'Brien's backside, grabs Troi's boobs, then waves a bottle of booze and orders the Enterprise to Warp 9. And they just go downhill from there.

That’s what this show basically is. Bad fan fiction.

 

[Oddish]

But is it so bad it's bad? Or so bad it's good?

 

[Nenya]

But is it so bad it's bad? Or so bad it's good?

That’s for each person to decide.