Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 4x08 - "Caves"

[fireproof78]

Like, I was yelling at the TV "aren't you gonna set it first?" and they went all the way with it. Omg.

I could not handle that scene.

 

[Charles Phipps]

No bringing up RL trouble magnets is a very good policy.

Thanks for the warning and it will be followed to the letter.

 

[jackoverfull]

When Mariner said they would just grow him a new leg I thought of poor Nog lol.

indeed! This show user around a decade later though, so medicine may have advanced in the meantime. Moreover, Nog was a member of a race that the federation didn’t knew at all until a decade earlier, it’s likely that a lot of advanced medical procedures that are totally viable for humans or say Vulcans are still not an option for ferengi.

 

[Anson Mount Seleya]

How come Delta Shift didn't have a Tendi?

They do, we just didn't see her in this episode for some reason.

 

[Tallguy]

Halfway through the next day I found myself laughing to myself about the whole broken leg/ageing bit to the extent I had to explain it to a coworker (who is a Trekkie bit is kinda new to it and only on TNG)

Like, I was yelling at the TV "aren't you gonna set it first?" and they went all the way with it. Omg.

Fair enough. It's been weeks and I laugh every time I think of Mariner getting stabbed. AGAIN.

 

[Pumpkin Bread]

When Mariner said they would just grow him a new leg I thought of poor Nog lol.

We'll probably see him later, hobbling around on a peg leg because T'Ana couldn't regenerate lost body parts from his species.

 

[Commander Troi]

Great fun! "Caves" - a wonderfully on-the-nose title! I loved the puppy pile at the end of Tendi's and the idea the moss changed its mind about eating them because of their stories.

 

[Krog]

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.

nothing to be uneasy about. It was a great commentary on current state of affairs. And a way to ridicule them. We need to face uneasy topics or those lunatics will always get their ways.

 

[Ogrebear]

Time for Episode 8

Caves time!

"A third of our missions are in caves!"

"stuck under rubble" - I suspect Marriner has had happen to her before!

"Not a tantrum" really?

Carnivorous moss!

Kyron 4 sounds like a fun time. Wasn't that where Riker was cloned?

Isn't that a Sinclair C5?

Vendorians seems nice. Weren't they in TAS?

Steve Levy stuck at the same rank for a decade? I can see that.

Brad lost it!

Sub-space forums!

"Take off your pants!"

"trapped in that cave with our kids!"

Balkus 9 - swamp rash sounds nasty.

Sam Rotherford got pregnant with a clone baby! Painfully too.

No way out heh?

Finding a translator to talk to the 'Monster' who is just "Protecting my baby!" - So, so Star Trek and nice to see.

Wonder what happened to the kid?

Glish - magnetic storm heh?

Typical Marriner landing there.

Nasty leg break there.

Bio-temporal flux - very Trek.

Old Marriner does not look like her Mum.

Age down temporal effect! That is cool.

Turbolift story - from season 1 - didn't expect a flashback to the zombie outbreak.

Sythenol swap out is very s1 Marriner.

Like how the team bonded together there.

Ensign pile!

Tendi's story saves the day again!

"Met ourselves from the future." - LOL

Dammmm Vendorians again? Dudes get around!

Nicely crafted episode that pokes gentle fun at the many cave missions in Trek, but also gives us some neat looks into the characters adventures.

 

[Tallguy]

"Take off your pants!"

Forgot about that. That was awesome.

 

[fireproof78]

Old Marriner does not look like her Mum.

Genetics are weird.

 

[DaveyNY]

Genetics are weird.

She did get the gray stripe in her hair though.

I was waiting for them to have the Kirk Rock in the background somewhere.
Alas, no go.

 

[Tallguy]

Old Marriner does not look like her Mum.

Do you think she looked like dad?

 

[Richard S. TaaAGH! *thud*]

That's the first 10 in the season for me. The first in this season to give me belly laughs. In particular the guys leg going bad, "Take off your pants!" and Mariner's reaction, Mariner saying "**** you, cave!" and the Carnivorous Moss saying "What?! No Way!".

Really sweet. I don't know if I was just in the right mood or what, but I really enjoyed that.

 

[Jedman67]

I like how it combines two often used things during the Berman era... bottle shows and caves. (Three, if you count how each of the planets looked almost exactly the same with only the color being different.)

I was crying. The entire show makes gentle fun at Berman era trek, but the obvious reuse of the cave and pond set from The Most Toys just got me.
I love LD.

 

[1001001]

This episode was hilarious.

Great season.

10

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

It felt like a homage to " Piller Filler".

I don't think I can remember ever seeing an episode (of anything) designed to feel like a "clip show," without actually being one. Usually, it's the other way around: a "clip show" that tries to hide the fact that it's just a frame around recycled footage.

Vendorians conducting morality tests? (Did Carter Winston have more influence on Vendorian society than we'd been led to believe?) And laying "brood pouches" in the throats of other sentients?

Let's see. LD has brought back Salt Vampires and Vendorians. Can Chameloids, the Alassomorphs of Daled IV, and Founders be far behind? LD has been bringing us more shapeshifters (well, maybe pseudo-shapeshifters in the case of Salt Vampires) than a Morongo Casino commercial!

A thought occurred to me this morning, about the conclusion of the framing story, with the moss allowing study, in exchange for more stories. It kind of reminds me of the resolution of TAS: "Once Upon a Planet."

 

[RPOW0614]

Fun episode.
I really enjoyed them beaming out as Mariner is saying "I hate... (dematerializes)... caves!"
Lots of fun callbacks, especially the Vendorians from TAS.
I love every scene with Dr. T'Ana.

 

[Tuskin38]

A live action comparison would be a bottle show. An episode that is only filmed, or mostly filmed on existing un-modified sets.

 

[Pumpkin Bread]

I love every scene with Dr. T'Ana.

Cats make everything better.