In an attempt to give fans something at SDCC, in light of the Hollywood strikes, Paramount released episode seven of season 2 of Strange New Worlds‘s nearly a week early. So here we are scrambling to get a write-up out early and gather our thoughts on one of the most highly anticipated pieces of “Star Trek” in a long time. Because this episode is so dense with plot and references, like any great L.D. episode, I’ll be sticking to some of the broader, or simpler, ideas rather than spoiling specifics.
1. Oh, Boimler.
The episode opens like any other of Star Trek: Lower Decks with our beloved lower deckers going over their upcoming away mission to take some readings on an ancient and inactive portal generator. Ensigns Boimler, Rutherford, and Tendi are excited to check out this find. Mariner is, of course, playing it cool as if Commander Ransom stuck her on this detail out of spite, but “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” Tendi is adamant that her great-grandmother was on an Orion science vessel that discovered the portal nearly 120 years earlier, but Boimler doesn’t really think it to be anything more than an old legend, wholly believing that it was Starfleet that discovered it and that Orions being anything other than pirates is essentially unheard of, especially in that past era. It is purposefully played as a prejudice towards the usually notorious Orions, and misunderstanding of history on Boimler’s end. Which, is pretty surprising for the character, even with his nearly dangerous level of loyalty to Starfleet and the Federation. Anything that questions the history that’s been laid out is a bit hard for him to swallow. Everything he does and says does align with the character we know, but I still got a little bit of an icky feeling of Boimler being a little racist, even unintentionally. Tendi does call him out on this and thankfully he does back off and sees his error.
The entire cold open does a wonderful job of balancing the tone of a typical Lower Decks episode with the, as Boimler himself would put it, away missions of the “classic” era. Through a brief series of silly science stuff happening Boimler gets pulled into the now activated portal and sent back through time. It is equally spooky and funny as it should be. Hearing Boimler yell, “Remember me!” as he truly has no idea what’s going to happen before getting pulled in is hilarious and harrowing. Just a side note for later in the episode, seeing Jack Quaid do the ‘Boimler Scream’ in live action is something I’ve waited 3+ years to see and it didn’t disappoint.
2. What The Hell is Going On with Spock?
Spock keeps smiling and cracking weird jokes with and at Boimler. At first I thought this was going to be some odd occurrence that only Boimler could see, with it adding to the mystery of the portal, but no, everyone can see it. And it is tied to Boimler coming through time and having knowledge about everyone’s fate, Spock’s belief that Boims is kind of a screw up, the continuing loss of control over his emotions from the Gorn attack, as well as his whirlwind romantic life of taking a break from T’Pring and a one night stand with Chapel! It’s a lot. It fits with the narrative, but the absurdity of some of these emotional moments falls more in line with the humor of L.D., so it sort of feels out of place in a way, like it is digging for another explanation other than the information viewers already have.
3. Uhura, Ortegas, and Mariner
Boy, I loved this so much. Mariner has made it clear that she has some real hero worship for Uhura, but even from the cold open, and other moments after Mariner joins Boimler in this time travel fiasco, it becomes quickly evident that she doesn’t really know who this woman truly was outside of the history books. It makes a point that we should all make note of: While yes, Uhura becomes a famous hero of Starfleet and is a wonderful human being, she, like all people, contain multitudes and what has been written down isn’t all there is to know about her. The moments we get of Mariner trying to crack Uhura’s tougher than expected shell aren’t surprising, but still fun to see. And seeing the two of them with Ortegas at the mess hall getting drunk while trying to figure out how to send our lower deckers back to their own time is a perfect blending of these two shows.
Continued below4. First Person POV is a Mood?
More than once the camera cuts to Boimler’s point of view when he’s overwhelmed by what he’s doing or experiencing, like his first time being on the bridge of the Enterprise. It’s fun, but a bit jarring at first as it’s something we rarely get in live action Trek, but has been used to wacky effect in Lower Decks. It mostly works here, but only if you’ve seen Boimler’s p.o.v. on his own show. Otherwise, it’s a little out of place.
5. TOS
I love the in-universe explanation that the Lower Decks characters call the old era the “TOS” era like fans do, but rather than it standing for “The Original Series,” it’s “Those Old Scientists.” Cute, clever, and the reiteration of that joke for those who don’t watch Lower Decks didn’t even feel like a rehash for those who do.
Some Final Thoughts
I have been dying to see this episode for a long time and it was pretty much everything I could have asked for. My feelings outweighed most of my critical thinking while watching the episode so I didn’t want to get too deep with this write-up. Watch the ep, enjoy it, and if you aren’t watching Lower Decks, please correct your mistake. It and Strange New Worlds are the two best things to come out of ‘nu-Trek.’
