“Old Friends, New Planets”
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, Episode 10 – Debuted Thursday, February 2, 2023
Written by May Darmon
Directed by Bob Suarez
An excellent season finale delivers plenty of laughs while tying up all the important plot and character arcs.
Whattup nerds, ready for some finale-ing?
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
RECAP
“How exactly are we sticking it to those chumps?”
We start with a flashback to Starfleet Academy 13 years ago with the Nova Squadron gang listening to Nick Locarno pitch a risky maneuver for the upcoming commencement ceremony. Josh (TNG spoiler alert: He gets killed later when they fail), Sito Jaxa, and Wesley (yes, that is Wil Wheaton) Crusher still need convincing, but Nick sells them on becoming Academy legends. A frazzled freshman Mariner arrives with Boimler-level nerding over xeno-history and fangirling over Sito, who supports the young Beckett’s enthusiasm. Snapping out of this memory, Mariner picks up after last week’s cliffhanger with Nick excited for her to join him on Nova One, the flagship of his new Nova Fleet. He relishes a Starfleet admiral’s daughter joining his cause. A confused Beckett plays along as he broadcasts his manifesto to the Alpha Quadrant for anyone who feels unappreciated by “soulless bureaucratic captains” to come to the Detrion System and join his unaligned fleet of mutineers… and there are no worries because they are protected by his indestructible “Trynar Shield.” Oh, and he has a black market Ferengi Genesis Device (aka big ol’ bomb) in case any fleet gets some funny ideas. He hands the mic over to his latest recruit to really stick it to those chumps in Starfleet, and Beckett vamps for a bit before grabbing the Genesis Device and telling the galactic audience (including a proud Captain Mamma) Locarno sucks and is just in it for himself, then runs off. Zoink!
Nick, you left the Zoom bug-eye filter on!
“Ooh, dangerous and unpredictable space debris.”
Mariner makes her way through Nova Fleet’s base to find an old Starfleet ship, where she buckles in that Genesis Device and escapes. Locarno orders pursuit, with our first hint of resistance from these “independent” crews. Mariner soon finds out that super shield works both ways as she scrapes the inside wall during her outrageous maneuvering, all the while keeping up witty banter with Locarno. Unable to warp out, she finds a ring of space crystals to use as cover from pursuing Ferengi, who rebuff her use of the Rules of Acquisition to argue Locarno is bad for profit. She shakes them using the old venting coolant trick, but with life support failing and no crew, she decides to head to Detrion 9 to set off her “little buddy” Genesis Device and ensure Locarno never gets his hands on the planetary “murder machine.” Her plan is waylaid by sneaky Romulans, who don’t seem swayed by her arguments that Locarno is more interested in bossing than aiding their scheming. Surrounded, she heads into a lethal ion storm—because there always is a space cloud when you need someplace to hide. Locarno’s control over his fleet starts to waver when they refuse to follow, so he goes in alone with the Nova One to get his precious genesis bomb back. Nick and Mariner do a historic reenactment inside the storm and continue to trade barbs. She really nails him for trying to make up for his failure at Starfleet Academy and misunderstanding her disdain for authority for a lack of belief in Starfleet’s mission… a mission Sito died for. She puts in the final nail, pointing out he is just doing the same thing that got Josh killed, putting his new fleet in danger. He counters with “Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Very mature, Nick.
Captain Mariner prefers a crew that can’t talk back.
“Accept my flappity fisticuffs you foul fiend!”
The USS Cerritos doesn’t sit idle as all this is happening. The crew rallies behind Captain Freeman, who defies Starfleet’s orders to not engage with Locarno’s fleet, concerned about the politics of attacking all those aliens. Tendi suggests they parlay with her sister, so they warp to Orion. D’Erika isn’t keen to help but accepts Tendi’s “barter by combat” challenge. The Orion crime lord (crime lady?) picks a huge champion Boimler notes is a “Shaxs and a half,” and Tendi shocks everyone by choosing Dr. Migleemo. The fight starts off as you might imagine, with the Starfleet bird man getting thrown around the arena like a chew toy, but a confident Tendi turns things around when she beckons the counselor to fluff his down. After Migleemo puffs up like a plushie, the very allergic B’eth starts sneezing, giving him the surprise upper hand… until the giant Orion woman collapses on him in an anaphylactic coma, which still technically means the Orions now win the USS Cerritos. Before Freeman makes good on that deal, Tendi offers herself instead, knowing the family has always wanted her bad ass back on the crime payroll. D’Erika agrees, and the Feds have themselves the Orion destroyer Retribution, which turns out to be a giant hunk of junk. No backsies! Billups and the engineering team get to work, but soon enough, Rutherford and the dastardly Livik almost come to blows over how to get the old ship back to the Detrion system. T’Lyn has an idea. A mind meld? No. The clashing engineers find common ground in the holodeck as convivial Twains. I do declare a callback!
Shouldn’t a crime throne be more crimey?
“Explosive terraformation will initiate in five minutes.”
Soon enough, the Cerritos is back at the Detrion system under the command of… checks notes… acting captain Bradward Boimler! Ignoring Admiral Vassery’s exasperated call to stand down and with all the drama that classic musical cues can muster, the steely Lt. JG uses the towed Orion ship to ram a hole in Locarno’s “impenetrable shield” as Freeman and the other senior officers run through the gap in the captain’s yacht. Nick’s coalition of mutinous aliens are pissed his plan is falling apart and abandon him; even his own crew of Bynars beam away. Alone, he declares he doesn’t need any of them, and he soon finds Mariner’s ship and disables it. Out of options, she activates the Genesis Device, which she is delighted to learn comes with a friendly Ferengi UI. Nick beams in wielding a rifle and all of his entitled overconfidence that he can easily disarm the bomb. She tries once more to reach him, pointing out that so far he hasn’t killed anyone, but he has made the villain mustache twirl and is ready for some murdering. He fires his phaser. Mariner is beamed out at the last moment by her mom, but Beckett continues to try to save Nick until he seals his fate by putting up shields, so they book it. Locarno successfully stops the countdown but is foiled by the UI’s paywall, which demands two bars of latinum. Ferengi gotta Ferengi. BOOM!
Quit it Mom, you’re embarrassing me in front of the guys.
“I didn’t survive a Genesis explosion just so I could get hugged to death.”
With all the tense action over, things quiet down on the Cerritos. Captain Freeman is off the hook for defying orders since she also successfully opened up diplomacy with the Orions. As for the Detrion system, the Genesis explosion created a stable M-Class planet the Federation has decided to name after Locarno, so he did get remembered. Good for him. The four five lower deckers reunite for some hugs and character resolutions as Mariner apologizes for being a handful, promising to stop all her self-sabotaging, maybe. But for now, she is more focused on some classic drinking and “Lower Decks! Lower Decks!” chanting in the bar with her friends. This includes T’Lyn, who is also ready to move on from her past, rejecting a call from her old Vulcan captain and committing to stay on the Cerritos to become “science besties” with Tendi. OMG! With Boimler basking on the adulation of his “captaining” and Rutherford back to his feud with Livik, all is well again… until Captain Freeman drops the other boot: An Orion ship has arrived to take Tendi home. The tears start flowing (on screen, I’m not crying, they’re crying, I swear) in the transporter room as D’Vana beams away. The remaining four rally with hopes that she will be back soon enough, but it still hits hard, especially for poor Sam. As for Tendi, she watches the Cerritos fade away as the Orion ship warps home, and with a determined look, the Mistress of the Winter Constellations readies herself for what’s next… in season 5! And that’s a wrap.
T’Lyn still doesn’t do hugs.
REVIEW
This was a very entertaining episode and a great season finale. It had all the action and stakes you could want but never forgot to keep things fun and funny, with plenty of broad comic moments along with the subtle Trek gags just for the fans the show is known for. The pacing was perfectly balanced to allow for all the exploits in multiple locations while still delivering some heartfelt (and heartbreaking) moments. This was a particularly satisfying episode for Mariner’s arc as she finally worked past her self-sabotage, assisted by Tawny Newsome’s strong performance, often with only an inanimate object (her “little buddy” Genesis Device) as a scene partner. Guest star Robert Duncan McNeill also raised the bar to show Locarno’s descent. And while it was an obvious gag, the banter between Boimler and Rutherford debating if Locarno looks like Tom Paris was nicely played.
Picking up on some of the Star Trek themes of the previous episode, Mariner and the Cerritos crew never fire a shot to achieve their goals, instead using ingenuity and reason… and some “Twaining.” However, it might have been nice to see some of this finally get through to Locarno, but perhaps they are holding his redemption for a Star Trek III-like return now that he’s been integrated into the new Planet Locarno. If there was a weak point to this storyline, it would be about Locarno’s ultimate plan: It seemed a bit thin, which became evident as soon as his allies abandoned him. Speaking of classic beats, Mariner’s chase through the Detrion system had many nice franchise echoes, but things got a bit too on the nose when it turned into a beat-for-beat recreation of the Kirk v Khan battle in the Mutara Nebula.
Who’s going to make a cute little planet… you are!
One of the best things about the episode is how finely it tied together elements from the season well beyond bringing resolution to the mystery ship arc. A number of characters introduced earlier in the season returned to play a role, including the insufferable Admiral Vassery and Tendi’s formidable sister D’Erika. Even Goodgey got a brief moment during a montage. The callbacks also added to the laughs from the Twains to Migleemo (established as a foodie in the Ferengi episode) suggesting he and B’eth resolve their differences over a delicious bowl of slime. Consider the Ferengi Genesis Device, dropped in as a throwaway gag earlier in the season, and now it becomes the MacGuffin of the finale. Even the details of making it smaller so Mariner can eventually carry it around shows how Mike McMahan and his team finely calibrated this season.
Picking up on the big reveals from part 1 of this finale last week, this episode got to the emotional heart of Mariner’s origin story by taking us back to her time at the Academy. It was great to see that idealistic version of her, with perhaps a hint that some of that may return now that she has resolved her self-sabotaging. The flashback was also a fantastic way to bring in some major cameos in the form of Shannon Fill, coming out of acting retirement to reprise the role of Sito Jaxa, and Wil Wheaton returning as young (squeaky-voiced) Wesley Crusher. The only complaint here is that it was all too short. It might have been nice for Mariner to return to this memory to maybe tie up her arc in an even tighter bow, or perhaps as part of her plea with Locarno in the final confrontation.
The episode wasn’t just a satisfying tie-up for Mariner, as pretty much everyone had their own great moments, including Boimler getting to live out what he had only fantasized about before. His time in the captain’s chair was epic, assisted with some wonderful musical stings from the James Horner collection and beyond. Composer Chris Westlake was at the top of his game, seamlessly weaving in original and classic music throughout the episode. Another character arc that saw some wonderful resolution was for the fan-favorite new member of the gang T’Lyn, who had her own classic homage with the declaration “I believe the only response in this situation is Cerritos strong.” As for Tendi, when one looks back on the season, she has been the one who has been quietly competent while others struggled with their new promotions, and once again she got the job done in the finale. Her sacrifice was on brand and opened up the opportunity for some interesting stories for the next season, which can’t come soon enough.
The Mistress will be back.
Final thoughts
It is only fitting that the best season of the series so far ends with the best finale as well. “Old Friends, New Planets” is great comedy, but also great Star Trek. This season has been the best example of how the series is finding humor in and commenting on the franchise but never mocking it or punching down. Instead, it elevates Star Trek by showing it to us in a new light. We know we are getting at least one more season of the series, making it a bit easier to say goodbye for now, but these last nine weeks have been a delight and a highlight of 2023.
He really does look like Tom Paris.
RANDOM BITS
- This is the first Lower Decks episode written by May Darmon, who was previously Mike McMahan’s assistant and prior to that, Alex Kurtzman’s assistant on Discovery. Her first script credits were on McMahan’s other animated sci-fi comedy Solar Opposites.
- The episode begins with “previously on Star Trek: Lower Decks,” which the series also did with the season 3 episode “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption.”
- The Detrion System is new and not to be confused with the Detrian System seen in the TNG episode “Ship in a Bottle.”
- When Locarno made his speech, you could see reactions on a number of other vessels including the Free Spirit under the command of Petra Aberdeen. Mariner had joined that crew after resigning from Starfleet in season 3.
- The episode introduced two new Ferengi Rules of Acquisition:
- 91: Your boss is only worth what he pays you.
- 289: Shoot first, count profits later.
- The ship Mariner takes from the Nova base was a Steamrunner class named the USS Passaro (NCC 52670). There will also be a Gagarin class USS Passaro in the 25th century (seen in the Picard series finale). Both ships are named in honor of Star Trek artist Fabio Passaro, who passed away in 2022.
- Mariner refers to the ship as an “old tub” but Steamrunners were seen in active duty over the previous decade (in Star Trek: First Contact and Voyager) and one will still be active 20 years after this episode (as seen in season 3 of Picard).
- The “Trynar Shield” and Locarno’s bridge crew reveal that Bynars also work as trios, as noted by Mariner when she said “Oh, the three Bynars, right. Can you have three Bynars?”
Welcome to the Genius Bar.
Easter eggs and more to come
There were plenty of canon connections and more to explore in a follow-up Easter egg analysis, so keep an eye out for that. And every Friday, the TrekMovie.com All Access Star Trek Podcast reviews the latest episode and covers the latest news in the Star Trek Universe. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Stitcher and is part of the TrekMovie Podcast Network.
You know your base looks like V’Ger, right?
New episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks premiere on Thursdays, streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and Europe. It will stream on Paramount+ in S. Korea later in the year. Lower Decks also airs on Thursdays in Canada on CTV Sci-Fi Channel.
Keep up with all the news and reviews from the new Star Trek Universe on TV at TrekMovie.com.
To be honest i wasn’t impressed with this episode. I didn’t like Locarno being the ‘villain of the season’ it doesn’t make sense to me and I’m sure Tendi will be back with the rest of the crew quickly next season.
As a whole S4 has been for me a let down and my least liked season of the show. S1 was great as well as S2 but S3/S4 to me are missing what made S1/S2 great and that is funny and entertaining stories. I do hope S5 returns to early lower decks style stories.
I have to agree — the ep was nonsensical and I also didn’t buy Locarno begin the villain.
Although I am generally negative on this show, I really did like several eps in S3 where it seemed like they were doing some Trek stories that could have been good stories in live action Trek. This season seems like they got back to more of the lowest common denominator, middle-school level sitcom BS, not to mention that the leads are no longer lower-deckers, which kind of pooped all over the entire concept of the series in my book.
It was a great episode IMO. I loved the fact that Wil Wheaton returned to do the voice of Wesley.
I also loved the soundtrack too…..some of you may or may not have heard, they incorporated some of the STTWoK and STSFS music into the narrative. And there was a little call back with the TWOK too…which was neat.
I can’t imagine anyone NOT hearing it. It was blatant.
I liked that Shannon Fill returned as Sito
This is Hajar erasure!
lol I came here to say that. That aside, this is probably my favorite episode of the show. The Star Trek II battle reference was a little too on the nose as the review says though.
Great Episode. Amazing Season Finale! Lower Decks is definitely Movie Ready.
I am saddened to say this, but I feel the writers flubbed the final act of the season. Locarno’s ploy was nonsensical. He somehow convinced lower-deckers from multiple fleets to just come and… hang out with him inside a giant force field… with no one in charge. And they needed a Genesis device to force others to let them do it, on threat of… what, exactly? Destroying these lower-deckers’ own homeworlds? Huh? Why would they agree to this? Why would he even want this?
How is it that every lower-decker everywhere, in every government, would willingly betray their commander and become a space pirate–and for a guy without a plan, who they aren’t even willing to make their leader? Why would any of them think this wouldn’t end with all of them either disbanding and becoming disgraced fugitives, or being destroyed? Why did any of them even join their respective fleets in the first place if their sense of loyalty and honor is so nonexistent?
There was just no story there, when all is said and done. Nick was NOT a villain in the TNG episode. He was a hero who was too hyper-focused on proving himself to avoid safety mistakes. An ass? Yes. A villain with Khan-like motivations? Absolutely not. He shouldn’t have been turned into one. But if he was going to be turned into one, he at least deserved a villainous plot that made sense. This one was all over the place, with no payoff.
But that wasn’t the only problem. Tendi’s scenes with her sister fell flat since D’Erika is not that interesting a character, IMHO. The Star Trek II homages were as painfully on the nose as those in Star Trek Into Darkness. Yet again, Starfleet doesn’t discipline anyone when they disobey orders, showing how ineffective and spineless Starfleet has become. And in the end, nothing really came together. This was, for me, the weakest of the season finales to date.
Big swings? Sorry, Mr. McMahon–like Boimler’s inability to recognize the Paris-Locarno facial similarities, I don’t see any. I love the show and I enjoyed the season a lot and I can’t wait for season five, but as finale wrap-ups go, this one fizzled.
I think Locarno going into the different light is a post-Voyager development to be honest. There was discussion about Locarno because he originally was going to fill the Tom Paris role in the series. When the costs came into consideration suddenly Nick was Tom Paris and the story was the character was irredeemable.
they could have simply had Tom change his name to Nick to get away from his dad.
They could, but had they done that he still would have been Locarno and Paramount would have been liable for royalties every time he appeared on screen.
That story gets repeated a lot but I don’t think it’s actually true; I think it’s a Star Trek urban legend that’s totally false, like Ricardo Montalban supposedly wearing a chest prosthetic for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. As I understand it, since “The First Duty” writers Ron Moore and Naren Shankar were both on staff by that point (as opposed to freelance), Paramount would have had full rights to everything in the earlier episode’s script and wouldn’t have had to pay any additional royalties. I think the makers of Voyager just really did see Locarno as irredeemable and thought it would be better to have a new character who wasn’t as bad.
I’m not entirely certain it’s an urban legend because there are other examples where the same has happened. For example T’Pol on Enterprise was initially T’Pau. Berman admitted they made a new character once at a con because of rights and royalty issues.
But T’Pau was created by “Amok Time” author Theodore Sturgeon, who was NOT in the writer’s room for Enterprise.
They couldn’t, actually, since there were rights issues preventing them from using Nick’s character without owing the writers of that episode a lot of royalty money.
I get that, perhaps a slight allusion ? : I changed my name for a bit and it was a stupid phase I was going through
You’ve explained it well, as usual !!
I have to agree. Many years ago when asked why the the Tom Paris character couldn’t just be Nick Locarno, producer Michael Piller said that in the writing staff’s opinion Locarno was just too irredeemable. His call, of course, but I frankly never understood the reasoning behind that, any more than I understood exactly what Locarno was going for with this plot. He creates a fleet of lower-deckers and misfits because. . . Starfleet is bureaucratic and imperfect, plus, I dunno, reasons? I’ve come to enjoy this show as a spirited love letter to the franchise even though I often don’t find it all that funny, but even for a parody cartoon this was pretty weak tea.
I just wonder if an episode like this would have been created if Locarno was played by another actor.
…I feel the writers flubbed the final act of the season. Locarno’s ploy was nonsensical…Destroying these lower-deckers’ own homeworlds? Huh? Why would they agree to this? Why would he even want this?…Why did any of them even join their respective fleets in the first place if their sense of loyalty and honor is so nonexistent…There was just no story there, when all is said and done. Nick was NOT a villain in the TNG episode…This one was all over the place, with no payoff…Yet again, Starfleet doesn’t discipline anyone when they disobey orders, showing how ineffective and spineless Starfleet has become. And in the end, nothing really came together. This was, for me, the weakest of the season finales to date.
100% agreed. What a disappointing end to the season. Epic fail!
Any bets on what major species from DS9 they’ll pull into the season 5 finale and then do absolutely nothing with? Since they did this twice in a row now with Breen in season 3 and Cardassians in season 4. My money is on Vorta.
No scenes with them, no dialogue, no indications of how they came to join Nick’s fleet. No updates on Cardassia at all. Just. Nothing.
Did there need to be? This wasn’t an episode about Cardassia.
My point is that they were just there and we had no idea why or how, just like it was with those Breen last season. And as for any update on Cardassia, yeah, as a fan I’m going to want that.
They were just background color. I’m not sure why you were expecting more than that.
Because they’re Cardassians? And they’re just there? No scene of them being taken or anything? How would you not want to know the why or how? How you not want to know more?
Modern Trek has been teasing us with them for a while now and yet every time they appear we get absolutely nothing! I’m allowed to be angry and disappointed and want more!
Both the Breen and the Cardassians originated in TNG.
They were still major species in DS9 though. And as a Niner, I think of DS9 first when I think of both species.
A nitpick (which no one who’s watched Star Trek can possibly object to,) but while the Breen were first mentioned on TNG, they weren’t seen until “Indiscretion.”
That’s a DS9 species.
Yes, agreed. A lame one.
The Cardassians rule, though, and it was 100% DS9 where that happened.
Give me a Weyoun voiced by Jeffrey Combs and I’m in.
Of course I am too. I always want to see Weyoun. I love Weyoun.
This reminds me though. Where are the same actor jokes about Jeffrey Combs?
I want like Boimler and Mariner debating if agimus sounds more like Shran or Weyoun. I want AGIMUS saying that he has no idea who anyone they’re referencing are but he thinks he is the Krem of the crop. And that he doesn’t like taking the Brunt of the jokes.
You should be on the writing staff!
This wasn’t a horrible episode, but I question how Locarno was able to build up the resources he needed to essentially build his own Fleet. I know he had the support of alien Lower Deckers, but that’s a far cry from the resources he had. And how did he get a Steamrunner Class ship anyway?
But, that being said, my bigger concern is still the return of Genesis. TWOK and even Picard S3 showed its still highly classified and restricted information. Daystrom had a torpedo even. How did the Ferengi get their hands on a Genesis Torpedo? Seems outlandish to me.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan takes place about a century before this. I can easily see something that was top-secret and cutting-edge in the 2280s being more easily reproduced by the 2380s, even if it’s not quite readily available in every corner drugstore.
I apologize that wasn’t what I meant. Genesis seemed to be highly restricted and classified. I can’t see the Federation ever letting it get out to anyone.
I know they’re not canon (and this was an elseworlds type story anyway) but a Trek novella explored a galaxy where Genesis became available to the Klingons and Romulans around the same time as the Khitomer Conference. It led to war throughout the Alpha Quadrant.
And how many so-called “classified” documents in real life would end up having a sunset period? Why would “Project: Genesis” be any different? Also, the Federation terraforms planets and reignite stars on the regular anyway, so having a Genesis Device, while still hard to come by, isn’t exactly a big deal anyway. Besides, think of this way: with every power in the galaxy having access to the GD, you will have a MAD scenario. Hell, a single starship can destroy a planet, so, again, what makes the GD so special, other than the equivalent of a small yield nuke?
But, that being said, my bigger concern is still the return of Genesis. TWOK and even Picard S3 showed its still highly classified and restricted information. Daystrom had a torpedo even. How did the Ferengi get their hands on a Genesis Torpedo? Seems outlandish to me.
Yep, that tech NEVER was showed again in any Trek that came after that period, so what a dumbass idea this was to bring it back as a moronic Easter egg for this animated sitcom?
No need to run so hot about this, surely?
Related technology to the Genesis Device has shown up in Trek since The Search for Spock. The sun-restoring tech Seyetik used in Second Sight was intended to be an extension of the learnings made from Genesis. The bomb the Founders tried to use to destroy the Bajoran sun with in By Inferno’s Light contained protomatter, which was the key ingredient for Genesis.
How DID Locarno BUILD THAT SHIP ? i MEAN REALLY a super advanced warship by himself ? not buying it at all.
I wondered that, but given that he was actually secretly collaborating with crewmembers on all the targeted vessels, I’m not sure his ship actually is all that advanced.
Yea, just moronic!
It’s not necessarily a warship. It had a fancy mass transporter or disabling tech, but Locarno’s upper hand was in infiltrating the lower decks of target ships, not in overpowering them.
This was very easily my favorite season of Lower Decks, and this pair of episodes may be my favorite set of episodes in the series. Very very very much looking forward to season 5!!!
Nooooo! Our dear, sweet cinnamon roll Tendi, away from her friends?! Not a good time for a longer-than-usual break between seasons! Aaagh!
I must say, a Ferengi b̶o̶m̶b̶ Genesis Device requiring payment to abort a countdown… :: chef’s kiss ::
Yeah, definitely the best thing about the episode.
Was there a glimmer that this got inspired by the talking bomb in DARK STAR?
Oh, man, a Dark Star-esque talking Genesis Device (or even a photon torpedo) would be a scream.
It’d be fun and easy to make that work for TREK. You could put the bomb together with a Vulcan and have them talk ethics, or even bring the holo-doctor in to inject more of a McCoy-humanist perspective. (just so long as you don’t save the day by getting the bomb to agree that ‘the needs of the many outweigh the blah blah vampire emergency blah.’)
And it’s part of Star Trek’s future history now.
Whether we like it or not?
Good point! Yes, I agree with you.
repeated… AGAIN…
I saw three random clips of this episode and I pieced together what it was all about.
Do you want a cookie?
I wasn’t that far off in my idea of how it would end.
Where did i heared this end credits song before?
I read on another site it was Tendi’s theme in the DS9 crossover episode.
Well, it’s 2023, but I agree with the sentiment :)
I loved the interaction.
Rutherford: He really does look like Tom Paris.
Boimler:I don’t see it.
Would have been funnier if Geordi had been there to say, “I don’t see it.”
Making fun of blind people is NOT funny.
I wasn’t.
Liked how they did a reverse “Stars at Night” – Instead of Mariner coming to the Cerritos’ rescue (after they turned their backs on her), it was the Cerritos coming to her rescue, with the entire crew ready to help…and against orders.
I do have to say that I think season 4 here was the best season of LD so far. I think as they have gradually moved away from absurdist humor, and moved into the realm of finding humor in Star Trek, they have made a better show. The season finale did leave a bit to be desired. Nick as a villain was an interesting take, but he wasn’t interesting as a villain. I would have liked to have seen him as a villain, and not a supervillain, which is what he ended up being. With supervillains, you don’t look at the logic, you simply have someone who gives the hero a significant challenge, logic or not.
With good villains, you are given reasons to see things from their point of view, even if you don’t agree with it. Gul Dukat, for example, was a good villain because you understood what his motivations were, what drove him to take the actions that he did. Until the death of his daughter and the loss again of Terok Nor, his sole motivation was to Make Cardassia Great Again. After those losses, his motivation became defeating Ben Sisko and the Prophets, who he felt bested him. I just didn’t get that from Locarno.
I realize that 22 minutes doesn’t leave a lot of room for villain development, but 20 episodes a year instead of 10 would have given them the room to play more with that. Twenty episodes would (more or less) give them the same 10 hours of content that the other modern Trek show have per year.
I would like to see Paramount double-down on Lower Decks because it’s good, it’s popular, it brings in the fans, it has great merch potential, and it is relatively inexpensive to produce.
Unfortunately the entire season hinged on a premise that didn’t quite add up or make sense so it’s hard to love it, but I still love all the bits and pieces of this finale.
Unfortunately the entire season hinged on a premise that didn’t quite add up or make sense…
Well said!
SHANNON FILL as Sito Jaxa – just wow!! Well done LDS! I thought the ep was good, if a bit on the nose, though it was cool nonetheless. Also, the music was great!
Edit – I also loved the “he looks just like Tom Paris” bits. Hilarious!
That was a really nice touch. I hope she enjoyed the experience!
It was so nice to see Sito, didn’t expect that. And to have original actress back made it feel extra special. I didn’t know she stopped acting, so it was even more special to have her back.
The Tom Paris comparison was something we all knew was coming and still laughed hard over it.
“They put a paywall on a bomb?” So Ferengi!
A very enjoyable episode. I liked seeing Boimler as acting captain and the pay wall on the Genesis device really made me laugh. As for Locarno, it would have been nice to see more of him and fleshing out his scheme. If he was truly obsessing over it for many years his judgment could have been seriously impaired.
I enjoyed this finale. I don’t think it’s the best one, but it had heart, adventure, and laughs. Locarno didn’t think things through. He came off as very shortsighted and selfish, like his character in TNG.
ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! 😀
So many great moments in it, especially seeing Sito again (we miss you Sito!!!!). Rutherford and Boimler arguing if Locarno looked like Tom Paris even had my girlfriend laughing!
Loved the TWOK homage (even though I hated them in both Nemesis and Star Trek Into Dumbness, go figure). Ferengis using a pay wall to disable the Genesis device is classic Ferengis!
It was great to see them back on Orion and for Tendi (of course) sacrificing her Starfleet career was a downer but we all know they’ll find a way to get her back.
T’Lyn saying Cerritos Strong made me love my girl even more.
I just really loved how they gave us a good backstory to explain why Mariner is the way she is. I have read some people think it felt a little forced since they never hinted at it until now. I can actually agree with that but still love it though! I was a bit disappointed Ma’ah didn’t come back this episode. Really liking that Klingon.
I just don’t know how many ways I can keep saying the same thing four years later but this show constantly makes me smile and just makes Star Trek even more. Can’t wait for season 5!
Cerritos Strong! 😎🖖
8.5/10
🐨
It was cool the Romulans ship was the vertical concept version.
I think Locarno’s plan and motivation needed more time to be developed than a 25 minute episode could afford it. But there was still a lot to like about the episode, as its main character work is where it still goes from strength to strength.
No one seems to notice that Mariner hiding in the ice crystal fields was a copy of Titan AE where a ship is playing hide and seek with another ship that is trying to destroy it. What is even funnier is that in both movies you had a device that created planets from material out in space
I was thinking more Treachery, Faith, and the Great River.
Me too.
Totally reminded me of Titan A.E. The crystal design was the same.
Anyone catch the Titan A.E. homage where Mariner hides from Locarno in the ice rings?
Yeah, there’s no way that movie isn’t thought of affectionately by the people in charge of an animated sci-fi show.
Yeah I agree. No way was that just a coincidence. It had the same homage vibes the way the last episode was a homage to Star Wars.
I don’t believe Mariners’ age was ever cited in the series. Just jokes, like Boimler (“just how old are you?”) So, at the academy 13 years ago…assuming Mariner was a freshman at 18, she would be about 30-31 years old in the story. The other lower deckers are all probably in their 20s. Tawny Newsome is 40 in real life.
Not important. Just…interesting.
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Really thought this was an excellent finale and now my favorite one out of the four seasons. Up until now, the first one was still my favorite because of that awesome Riker and Troi saving the day reveal. But I just enjoyed so much of this one, from the usual fun easter eggs and great cameos like Sito and Wesley showing up to the WOK homage and making Boimler acting Captain! That made my day more than anything. That and the boys arguing how much Lorcano looks like Paris lol.
But reading some of the posts, I can understand why the finale disappointed others. I do agree Lorcano’s plan, or lack of one, is a big head scratchier. While not a direct comparison, it’s the exact same issue I had with :”Khan” in STID. They set these guys up of having these big epic plans just to see them execute them….but then no idea what comes next. Like what’s the end game?Lorcano going through all of that planning and recruiting all those ships and crew members was very ambitious like he was either planning to attack the Federation or start his own anti-Federation fleet. Maybe McMahan will fill us in at some point.
But still really enjoyed it and was a nice way to end season 4 which I also think was a much stronger season than season 3 (which I liked but my least favorite) and my second favorite after season 2. There was so much to like and I think all the characters have become endearing to me just like all the crews in classic Trek from TOS-ENT. I assumed I could like the show overall but I thought the characters may come off too ‘whacky’ to take them that seriously. Instead I have grown to love them all and see how well they become developed over the last four seasons is a testament to the great writing the show has done.
Now that another fun and interesting season of our lower deckers is over, it’s now time to either jump back to the 32nd century with season 5 of Discovery or maybe just stay in the 24th century with season 2 of Prodigy. Crazy we don’t know when either is actually showing up yet (even more crazy knowing both were originally suppose to be out this year) but it’s been a odd year for Trek to say the least.
Cerritos Strong!
Where did my review post go?? I just don’t have the energy to rewrite it so hope it shows up again.