Space, the final frontier. Sometimes, it’s hard to escape your past, especially when your past is objectively awesome. But everyone has their own path, and if there is one thing Starfleet is good at, it’s taking those people who want to try something different than their cultures prescribed for them. It also turns out that they are excellent at being a safe haven for the mega nerds. So grab your ceremonial dagger, put on your holodeck universe, and join us as we give you five thoughts on season 4, episode 4, “Something Borrowed, Something Green.”
1. A forced walk down memory lane
While she’s a central Lower Decks crew member, we don’t know much about D’Vana Tendi. The one thing we know about her is that not knowing much about her is by design. Tendi is cagey about her past, sensitive to the stereotypes about her culture, and (on occasion) uses her status as Mistress of the Winter Constellations to open doors previously closed. “Something Borrowed, Something Green” puts that mysterious past into the limelight as Tendi returns home to attend her sister’s wedding.
“Something Borrowed, Something Green” is another example of Lower Decks doing what it does best, taking an underexplored culture and filling in the gaps with their standard quirky humor. As the episode progresses, it’s a delight to see Tendi brustle as her Starfleet friends go to pheromone dungeons, Orion nightclubs, and ship graveyards. It’s an excellent premise for an episode, and having Tendi confront her past makes it much funnier.
2. Even the best of friends run into unexpected conflict
While Tendi, Mariner, and T’Lyn go on heroic pirate adventures, best friends and new roommates Boimer and Rutherford settle in for a rather mundane week. The two have grown close since moving in, finishing each other’s sentences and driving Mariner crazy. But as “Something Borrowed, Something Green” reminds us, every honeymoon period comes to an end, especially if it’s about watering your beloved bonsai tree.
In a delightfully Lower Decks bit of inter conflict, a seemingly small problem threatens to tear the two apart. It not only acts as a delightful parody of the “no conflict” rule Gene Roddenberry espoused in the early seasons of The Next Generation but also a way to show how Boimeler and Rutherford are similar and how that similarity can cause conflict. “Something Borrowed, Something Green” is a wonderful bit of character work for these two, often pushover, characters as they navigate the power dynamic of being roommates.
3. Thrilling heroics with a reluctant heroine
. While Tendi isn’t exactly thrilled to be home, “Something Borrowed, Something Green” shows that the reluctant Orion mistress commands a lot of respect on the homeworld she turned her back on. Throughout the episode, Tendi’s effort to stay low profile routinely fails as she fights her way out of most situations. Add in the running bit of Mariner repeatedly getting stabbed in the shoulder, and you’ve got a fantastic running gag on your hands.
But it’s more than that. While we’ve seen Tendi embrace her heritage in other episodes, “Something Borrowed, Something Green” really leans into her discomfort with who she is, worried about how that might make her friends look at her differently. This is an incredibly amusing problem, considering that Mariner is thrilled to see her friend cut loose. But, if you’re trying to break a stigma about how others see you, leaning into it can be the worst thing possible.
4. In a vast universe, there is no universal solution
While Rutherford and Boimler are at odds, things only worsen when both try to play Samuel Clemens in their holodeck adventure. “Something Borrowed, Something Green” REALLY drives home the fact that Starfleet officers are HUGE nerds, and what you think is going to end in a bigger fight resolves as the two find it delightful to use old-timey colloquialisms to bury their feud.
“Something Borrowed, Something Green” takes this bit to the next level when the duo act like they’ve found some universal cheat code to diplomacy. Maybe, just maybe, pretending to be an American humorist on a paddleboat is the way to galactic peace. It’s not, of course, but I will be forever grateful for the image of Captain Freeman and the Chalnoth captain wearing their best white suits and failing to communicate. While it’s ultimately a failure, it’s a wonderfully absurd b plot, and I, for one, hope we get plenty of b-roll of Jack Quaid and Eugene Cordero doing their best worst southern accents.
Continued below5. Being true to yourself is never a bad thing
.While other episodes of Lower Decks have a similar moral to “Something Borrowed, Something Green,” it puts enough of a twist on resolution to make the episode feel fresh. Sure, it’s essentially about being true to who you are, but the episode adds the element of how being true to yourself might impact those around you. The episode adds a new character, T’Erika, Tendi’s sister, who is every bit the badass Orion assassin that Tendi is not. The problem, though, is that because D’Vana was so good at everything, even training she didn’t want to go through, her sister felt like she was failing the family. Even though our bubbly, nerdy, and enthusiastic science officer left this past behind her, some things cast a big shadow.
It also ends with Tendi’s friends assuring her that even though they’ve seen a new side of her, she’s still the nerd we’ve grown to love. “Something Borrowed, Something Green” is about being true to yourself, even if that means going against your societal expectations, and it does a wonderful job. Adding in the family adds another fun layer. We know more about Tendi and that her true self is on the Cerritos, even if she can kick the ass of everyone on board.
What did you think of the episode? Sound off below, and see you among the stars!
