Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 2x03 - "We'll Always Have Tom Paris"

[Crewman6]

While they do have a LOT of the original talent on What If.......there are about 20% of the cast that are NOT the original actors. Most notable for me was Drax not being voiced by Dave Bautista, when asked on Twitter he replied that he was never asked, which I find hard to believe considering how many others ARE a part of the show. RDJ, Scarlett Johansson, and Chris Evans also did not take part.

The guy who played Drax sounded just like the character. Lake Bell, who is a vocal god, does an amazing ScarJo impression.

But, weirdly, a few of the "actual" actors didn't sound "like themselves" to me, notably Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper and Neal McDonough.

 

[Crewman6]

The older brother of the Grand Nagus?

Fair point, I forgot about that.

 

[fireproof78]

Next you're going to say it's an extreme reaction to have the ship reading your brainwaves at all times like VOY.

I mean it's a little unsettling.

 

[Crewman6]

Oh sorry, did I infer the wrong similar occurance in classic Trek?

100% yes. You weren't meant to "infer" anything. You were meant to accept the joke as it was explicitly and repeatedly explained point blank. No inference necessary. No squinting to find another, extremely obscure, meaning.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Multi quote function is your friend.

 

[F. King Daniel]

100% yes. You weren't meant to "infer" anything. You were meant to accept the joke as it was explicitly and repeatedly explained point blank. No inference necessary. No squinting to find another, extremely obscure, meaning.

Is it really any more obscure than any other trivia Lower Decks has brought up? Leslie the Undying Redshirt is pretty common knowledge among Trekkies.

 

[Phily B]

I really enjoyed it. I like the idea that the Voyager crew are celebrities who just walk around Starfleet vessels basking in their status.

 

[Crewman6]

Is it really any more obscure than any other trivia Lower Decks has brought up? Leslie the Undying Redshirt is pretty common knowledge among Trekkies.

Redshirt jokes are common knowledge, yes. The fact that minor background characters or extra actors were recycled or resurrected due to oversight is not.

Regardless of any of that, the episode makes it blindingly clear what it's actually riffing on. It literally tells you again and again. So looking for "secret references" couldn't be more pointless. You guys are actively missing the point for reasons I cannot possibly fathom. There isn't a super-secret double meaning to it. They reference Spock, the Borg, Future selves, the Nexus, and a few others. THOSE are the references. That's what the episode is goofing on. Actual, legitimate instances of character resurrection, not some unbelievably small bit of trivia that .0000001% of super fans know about.

Just....stop.

 

[Crewman6]

I really enjoyed it. I like the idea that the Voyager crew are celebrities who just walk around Starfleet vessels basking in their status.

In reality, most should be in prison.

 

[Nerys Myk]

In reality, most should be in prison.

Who's to say they aren't ?

 

[Vger23]

Cute, I suppose? Kind of dull otherwise. I liked Tendi and Mariner getting to know each other and bouncing around the galaxy. Boilmer wandering around the ship was kind of pointless, as was the Tom Paris cameo. Not a lot of laughs, not a lot of references. Average and fairly unremarkable Star Trek.

5/10

 

[cooleddie74]

It's inexplicable that Quark's would be a galaxy-spanning franchise. What a seriously dumb idea in service of some very shitty fan service. Bleh.

Yeah, two known outlets in the same quadrant is such a stretch. It's Star Trek. What constitutes "inexplicable"?

 

[ialfan]

Good solid episode. Only disappointment for me was the lack of anything with the other Boimler on the Titan. The last few episodes have me wanting an animated Titan series although perhaps a little more serious than Lower Decks.

 

[Crewman6]

Yeah, two known outlets in the same quadrant is such a stretch. It's Star Trek. What constitutes "inexplicable"?

LD is set only five years after the ending of Ds9. Throughout DS9, Quark depicted as a fairly mediocre businessman, who never seemed to be doing all that well and who frequently complained that the bar was barely eking by (despite the fact that, other than his poorly-paid employees, he should have basically zero overhead.)

So for him to suddenly have multiple franchises only a few years later strains credulity. Though, as someone pointed out, the fact that Rom is now the Nagus could account for that, something which I admitted I forgot about.

 

[Crewman6]

Who's to say they aren't ?

Sadly, we know that Janeway, the true criminal in the bunch, is walking around in an admiral's uniform.

Good solid episode. Only disappointment for me was the lack of anything with the other Boimler on the Titan. The last few episodes have me wanting an animated Titan series although perhaps a little more serious than Lower Decks.

The show isn't about the Titan, so you can hardly fault it for that. You might as well say it's a shame TNG didn't become about Tom Riker on the USS Gandhi.

 

[Crewman6]

double

 

[DEWLine]

The older brother of the Grand Nagus?

Yeah, Quark would have leveraged the Hell out of that connection once his shock at the appointment wore off.

 

[cooleddie74]

LD is set only five years after the ending of Ds9. Throughout DS9, Quark depicted as a fairly mediocre businessman, who never seemed to be doing all that well and who frequently complained that the bar was barely eking by (despite the fact that, other than his poorly-paid employees, he should have basically zero overhead.)

So for him to suddenly have multiple franchises only a few years later strains credulity. Though, as someone pointed out, the fact that Rom is now the Nagus could account for that, something which I admitted I forgot about.

Yes. Grand Nagus Rom having extensive pull can DEFINITELY account for that.

 

[Charles Phipps]

Yeah, Quark would have leveraged the Hell out of that connection once his shock at the appointment wore off.

I assume Quark sold the rights to the Deep Space Nine adventures and his bar is franchised due to the fact the contract insisted his place was an iconic location of it.

 

[DEWLine]

Which, in fact, it was.

Fair enough.

Getting back to Tom Paris for a moment: you get the sense that he's still got some emotional scar tissue from his Delta Quadrant years there?