Delta Shift is okay.
Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 4x08 - "Caves"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
When this first started, I was apprehensive. Another vignette show like Veritas? I was worried that it was just going to be a collection of half-baked ideas that weren't long enough to fill out an entire episode, hastily strung together in Lower Deck's version of a "bottle episode." But I was pleasantly surprised that every one of them had common themes around trusting and bonding with those who you are initially apprehensive towards - essentially, about the power of friendship.
Boimler's vignette with the conspiracy theory dude had me off to a somewhat rocky start, largely because there was only one joke here (that he was somehow right). I like that even the dude seemed surprised by the fact that he wasn't spewing total bullshit, but given how the past few years have gone, conspiracy theories have gone from a harmless quirk to weaponized insanity, so I felt a bit uneasy about this, even in jest. It didn't help that there was really only one joke here. Still, the message that even crazy people can help you get out of tough situations was...good? I guess?
Rutherford's short with T'ana was adorable, though it's hard to screw up a plot with a baby. While I did feel a bit of the tension between the two was manufactured, I loved that they basically did a speedrun of Devil in the Dark, with the solution communicating with the alien monster. Basically a bite-sized version of the classic Trek morality tale, and when I began warming to the episode.
Mariner's vignette was ridiculous, though the whole rapid aging thing was pretty much within canon of Trek. I suppose I could quibble here that there really wasn't any sort of cooperation between Delta Shift and Mariner - they just sort of fumble around until the last one finds a section they can get to without getting old. But they managed to have a heart-to-heart and Mariner discovered Delta Shift weren't so bad, which was...a nice message. Enjoyed the gross-out body horror of losing the leg too.
Tendi's was super short - probably less than two minutes. Didn't even try and be funny, just heartwarming. It was nice to have a callback to the very first episode, though it did remind me how...rough...that episode was.
And of course, there was the framing device. I liked that the beginning of the story noted since they were all Lt.'s now, they don't work together as much as they used to - which was causing some building of tensions throughout the episode, as the crew realize they've been having experiences apart from one another, before it circles back and they realize it's fine that they have, because they will always be friends.
So, a heartwarming bit of near pure character-based storytelling,. My only issue this week is it wasn't really funny, aside from one or two jokes. Charming, cute at times, but not funny.
Boimler's vignette with the conspiracy theory dude had me off to a somewhat rocky start, largely because there was only one joke here (that he was somehow right). I like that even the dude seemed surprised by the fact that he wasn't spewing total bullshit, but given how the past few years have gone, conspiracy theories have gone from a harmless quirk to weaponized insanity, so I felt a bit uneasy about this, even in jest. It didn't help that there was really only one joke here. Still, the message that even crazy people can help you get out of tough situations was...good? I guess?
Rutherford's short with T'ana was adorable, though it's hard to screw up a plot with a baby. While I did feel a bit of the tension between the two was manufactured, I loved that they basically did a speedrun of Devil in the Dark, with the solution communicating with the alien monster. Basically a bite-sized version of the classic Trek morality tale, and when I began warming to the episode.
Mariner's vignette was ridiculous, though the whole rapid aging thing was pretty much within canon of Trek. I suppose I could quibble here that there really wasn't any sort of cooperation between Delta Shift and Mariner - they just sort of fumble around until the last one finds a section they can get to without getting old. But they managed to have a heart-to-heart and Mariner discovered Delta Shift weren't so bad, which was...a nice message. Enjoyed the gross-out body horror of losing the leg too.
Tendi's was super short - probably less than two minutes. Didn't even try and be funny, just heartwarming. It was nice to have a callback to the very first episode, though it did remind me how...rough...that episode was.
And of course, there was the framing device. I liked that the beginning of the story noted since they were all Lt.'s now, they don't work together as much as they used to - which was causing some building of tensions throughout the episode, as the crew realize they've been having experiences apart from one another, before it circles back and they realize it's fine that they have, because they will always be friends.
So, a heartwarming bit of near pure character-based storytelling,. My only issue this week is it wasn't really funny, aside from one or two jokes. Charming, cute at times, but not funny.
I wonder if it means anything that two episodes in a row have ended with the resolution being put off to extend an emotional moment.
Personally, I'm pulling for LDS to make it to at least season 14. I want to see what they do with the promo posters once they run out of movies.
(Yes, I am assuming Star Trek [1]4 won't come out before... 2033.)
Personally, I'm pulling for LDS to make it to at least season 14. I want to see what they do with the promo posters once they run out of movies.
(Yes, I am assuming Star Trek [1]4 won't come out before... 2033.)
What happens if they come out at the same time?
It's going to get pretty dark if they make it to 2385.
Have the titles been released yet?
I know they didn't drop them at the start of the season, presumably because they're spoilery in themselves.
Yes, I have to say that conspiracy theories aren’t fun in RL and thus aren’t very funny in Lower Decks. Part of the reason I feel this way is because I used to be a huge X-Files fan and am an anarchist in RL. There’s numerous RL conspiracies of shady inside things like the fact that the NRA was funded by Russia to subvert democracy and a certain electorate vote scheme on January 6th. Things that certainly are straight out of Tom Clancy or John Le Carre. However, these aren’t the conspiracies that people focus on. Instead, the conspiracy theories of the internet are usually Far Right barely disguised anti-Semitic blood libel and often used as propaganda for the Far Right.
*sigh*
Which is to say it just didn’t work for me at this day and this time.
I wasn’t even fond of Rutherford giving birth to a baby plot because not only does that remind me of one of the worst episodes of ENT with Trip’s pregnancy but it also reminds me of “the Child” where I maintained that it really is a form of sexual assault that is just sort of glossed over. It happened to Carol Danvers in the Avengers and it wasn’t funny there either, lack of sexual contact or not.
Best story was Tendi’s by far.
*sigh*
Which is to say it just didn’t work for me at this day and this time.
I wasn’t even fond of Rutherford giving birth to a baby plot because not only does that remind me of one of the worst episodes of ENT with Trip’s pregnancy but it also reminds me of “the Child” where I maintained that it really is a form of sexual assault that is just sort of glossed over. It happened to Carol Danvers in the Avengers and it wasn’t funny there either, lack of sexual contact or not.
Best story was Tendi’s by far.
An ok episode but definitely nothing special. I’m not fond of conspiracy theories being shown as true.
7
7
Because that RL stuff you mentioned? The internet conspiracy theorists approve of such things.
Great episode! Each story was fun and Tendi's was super cute, while also getting two great tropes in one episode. As cave episodes are over-represented in Star Trek, the meta-humor of having four separate cave stories in one was extra amusing to me. And that cuddle puddle in the less-used stuck in a turbolift story was so adorable.
"Bad people use value-neutral things to do bad things in real life so we should never ever show those value-neutral things in media because....reasons" is quite a take.
I gave it an eight because they mispronounced Pergium. I guess it could be called a rotten easter egg.
I quite liked how each of them got to tell their own cave story, even Tendi's stupid turbo-lift one.
It's interesting that we didn't have any arc advancement, but the personal stories were good enough to hold the episode.
Throwing in similar story ideas (being trapped), where any one of them couldn't fill an episode, but all of them added together can make one episode.
Could you be a bit clearer on the meaning?
just giving this one a 6. it was an ok story. I've seen this before where its a flashback show, but to stuff we havent seen before. I think they did this on Community once, and maybe South Park. Each story was good in itself. Tendi, RUtherford, and Mariner probably had the best stories. Boimler's was decent.
another week with no T'Lynn, or the Mystery Mirror Universe Agonizer ship.
another week with no T'Lynn, or the Mystery Mirror Universe Agonizer ship.
I adored this episode. Mariner flipping the double bird at the cave was awesome. The whole thing was lovely.
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