Space, the final frontier. While the Cerritos is back in action, things for Beckett Mariner have gotten pretty dire, as her more or less arch rival is in charge of every element of her day-to-day life. With her Starfleet career on the line, Mariner has to toe the line, no matter how bad the situation might get, for better or (more than likely) worse. But still, the work of Starfleet is never done, so grab your phaser and join us as we give you five thoughts on “The Least Dangerous Game.”
1. Downtime on the Cerritos
If you’re a fan of Star Trek, you know that downtime tends to be a key element of most shows. From shore leaves (where everything goes wrong) to holodeck simulations (where everything goes wrong), these shows do a good job of showing what their crews get up to when there isn’t something to explore. The jokes tend to come from how stuffy these off-duty activities are, from string quartets to reliving your favorite Sherlock Holmes mystery. But we’re on the Cerritos! Their downtime tends to be a little more relatable, and “The Least Dangerous Game” gives a punch off of my personal Trek bingo cards, Starfleet D&D.
Or, in this case, the bootleg Ferengi game “Bat’leths and Bihnuchs,” starring everyone’s favorite Klingon Chancellor, Martok. While it’s a funny visual watching our cosplayed out Ensigns roll d20s and react to the video screen. It’s also a fun callback to the actual video board games from the 90s. In any case, “The Least Dangerous Game” reminds us that the Cerritos isn’t like the Enterprise, with board games instead of holodeck adventures. It’s fun to see our favorite ensigns let off a little steam.
2. Boimler says “Yes!” to life (and faces unintended consequences.)
To say Bradward Boimler is regimented is an understatement. The man has a plan for practically everything, and those plans tend to be as risk-averse as possible. Even in a game like “Bat’leths and Bihnuchs,” Boimler takes the safest path, not learning the game’s lesson that sometimes the path of least resistance can still lead to bad consequences. What kicks Boimler into gear is the revelation that a former ensign, who he didn’t think highly of, has become captain simply by taking advantage of every opportunity thrown at him. “The Least Dangerous Game” makes Boimler reflect on the plan to have multiple plans and leads to the realization that he is perhaps limiting his success in Starfleet.
What follows is a fun montage of Boimler saying yes and realizing that putting yourself out there might lead to opportunities he might have missed. First, Boimler plays racquetball, leading to a chance to join Shaks’ dirge choir, earning him a favor from a senior officer. Next, he agrees to pose for a life painting class and realizes that a colleague he was scared of is actually a nice person. “The Least Dangerous Game” shows Bradward that life shouldn’t just be about following a path but taking risks. But saying yes can have unintended consequences, like becoming an alien’s prey.
3. An odd couple leads to a tense mission.
After last week’s premiere, Mariner answers to one person, Jack Ransom. While this is a fun setup, it creates quite a bit of tension to a seemingly routine away mission. For seemingly no reason, the engineering team is on the planet to keep the natives happy, and Mariner and Ransom are designated to fix the space lift. Unfortunately, while most of “The Least Dangerous Game” involved Mariner desperately trying to fix a rapidly devolving situation on the planet’s surface, it just gets frustrating over time.
Look, I know it’s a comedy show, and that odd couple pairings usually work well, but Starfleet people’s lives are on the line. That makes Mariner and Ransom’s arguments that much more inane. While it does lead to some funny moments, specifically Mariner fighting her way back to the top floor of the space lift after defying Ransom’s orders, it just shows how dangerous their arguments are. That’s not as much fun as Ransom and Mariner’s back and forth in “Temporal Edict,” mainly because they are in more control of the situation in “The Least Dangerous Game.” Again, it led to some good humor, but there seemed to be something more going on there.
Continued below4. K’ranch pushes Boimler to his limits.
Meanwhile, while the situation unfolding on the planet continues to devolve, Boimler is truly fighting for his life as K’ranch, an alien looking for a ritualistic hunt, proves to be a more formidable foe than expected. “The Least Dangerous Game” is, of course, a play on the short story of a similar name, with Bradward proving himself to be a coward at every turn. Again, this provides some fun callbacks and moments as Boimler rushes through the ship. It works well here for two reasons. One, it’s Boimler’s call. He wasn’t anticipating it being as intense as it turned out. Second, the episode gives us plenty of indication that everything will be fine.
While Boimler eventually finds his courage and stands up to K’ranch, throughout “The Least Dangerous Game,” it seems like he’s a bit of a pushover. However, he’s a gentleman who loves brunch and has quickly built a good rapport with the crew. While the eventual conclusion to the episode feels pretty well telegraphed throughout, it’s still satisfying.
5. So, is anything going to happen to Ransom?
The less satisfying conclusion of “The Least Dangerous Game” is the conclusion of the Mariner and Ransom storyline. Ransom eventually owns up to mismanaging the situation in the hopes that Mariner would defy his orders and he could punish her. But here’s the thing, shouldn’t that mean Ransom gets punished? It would be one thing if the away mission didn’t get so out of whack, but it was borderline irresponsible for Ransom to let it get that far. Again, it’s a comedy show with a funny resolution, but it seems crazy that Ransom let it get so out of hand. Mariner is entirely in the right to break her orders!
Maybe they’re setting up a Ransom betrayal story or Ransom getting demoted. Who knows? But if “The Least Dangerous Game” is any indication, putting him in charge of Mariner is bad for both of them and could be bad for the crew.
With more adventures, it’ll be interesting to see how Mariner and Ransom’s feud impacts the ship. What did you think? Sound off below, and see you next week!
