*sigh* I love "Lower Decks"

[Gary7]

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.

Obviously it is and has been an allegory for our lives today. But that doesn't mean it's exactly the same. In fact, it's ridiculous to accept that. In the Federation they've essentially conquered greed and poverty (to various degrees, depending upon the episode). Tell me we've conquered that today! My point is that these people are driven by different motivations, as Timo stated. I felt they spent a little too much time on the whole competition bit for promotion. Based on what we've already seen across all of the previous seasons, I don't see evidence of it being that intensely competitive.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

A very good episode. The moment that gets me every time emotionally - well it happens the very second the little whistle-sound is heard as Picard adjusts his communication to be a ship wide announcement. From there, it's hard for me not to feel something.

 

[Trek Survivor]

Yeah, great episode. Love Picard/Sito scenes, and Picard announcing Sito's death at the end...you can really see the good Captain's hurting there.

 

[tighr]

I felt they spent a little too much time on the whole competition bit for promotion. Based on what we've already seen across all of the previous seasons, I don't see evidence of it being that intensely competitive.

Will Riker stating that he wanted to make Captain by 30, to the detriment of his relationship with Deanna (then, because the series needed him, kept him at Commander for 15 years despite being offered 3 ships within his first 2 years as Cmdr).

Wesley Crusher competing with applicants for a spot to the academy.

The numerous ensigns/lieutenants over the years who specifically requested for a commission on the Enterprise because it would advance their careers.

I think just because its the future, and just because they're not getting paid, is not a good enough reason to say they wouldn't still be competitive about their jobs. If the Lower Decks crew is kept "in the dark" as much as this episode suggests, it may simply be a desire to be "in the know".

 

[Greystone_06]

Yes, I agree, it's also interesting to see the senior staff in context with the general crew.

 

[indolover]

A good episode, but the fact that any commissioned rank is "lowest of the low" on a ship is funny lol... I don't think Trek writers understand how the armed forces work.

 

[Unicron]

I can appreciate what "Lower Decks" was going for conceptually, but I've never felt it pulled it off as well as it could. One of the inherent problems in this sort of story is that it's easy to make the protagonists throwaway characters essentially, simply because they're lower ranks. That's the case with Taurik and Lavell here, and it's not that they're bad characters by any means. They work for the story, but afterward nobody cares about them.

Sito's really the only character who matters, and the ep is decent up till the end. I've never liked the ending, since it

a) screws up her attempts to rebuild her reputation after "First Duty" and
b) it seems very strange to me that Picard would choose her for a mission both very secret by necessity and important, and yet have no problem giving minor details about said mission to the crew when it seems likely that Sito isn't coming back. That makes no sense, because real covert missions aren't handled that way. Picard would have been lucky to say anything more than "no comment" in an official capacity.

That's just me of course. Not one of the worst TNG eps, but not one of the best either.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I've ranked this episode in my top twenty of TNG. As others point out, it's flawed. But it's also ambitious and different. It makes a sincere attempt to add dimension to the throwaway "red shirt" [in the parlance of TOS]. The darker ending seems more characteristic of DS9 than the typical TNG fare.

 

[Gary7]

The protagonists weren't "throwaway," really. There are plenty of guest stars that appear in just one or two episodes. Ogawa was certainly not tossed aside. And Taurik really kind of "continues" on, just renamed as Vorik on Voyager. As for Lavell, yes--it would've been good to see him at the helm a few more times, but I guess the budget just wasn't there.

The special mission wasn't terribly complicated, but Sito had a combination of the right experience, youth, and Bajoran identity to pull it off. It IS sad that she didn't make it back. But Ensign Sito not getting a chance to rebuild her career is part of what makes this episode good--it's not a happy ending, contrary to what is customary.

It is a flawed episode, but as CorporalCaptain pointed out, it was ambitious and different enough to overcome the drawbacks and be considered a top tier episode.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

In case I was ambiguous about what I meant, I meant that typically the red shirts are throwaways; Lower Decks ambitiously tried a different approach in which at least one was anything but a throwaway.

 

[TheDolphin]

I loved it. Star Trek at it's finest.

The first time I encountered this episode I was in a particular stage of Trek-deprivation. The shows weren't airing where I live, I couldn't buy or download them and videotapes were scarce. What saved me was a certain Trek-website which had the screenplays of many episodes, including all of TNG. So to satisfy my hunger for Trek I read these screenplays. I vividly remember reading the ending of this particular episode and starting to cry uncontrollably. I don't think any other Star Trek episode has ever made me cry.

So yeah, one of my favourites.

V.