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LD: "Strange Energies" & "Kayshon, His Eyes Open" (s2e1-2) with Katie Hampton
118 Plays1 month ago
RAINBOWS AND SKELETONS. Our monthly animated spotlight series returns as Bryan and Katie Hampton from the Napping Through Hour Podcast look at the first two episodes from Star Trek: Lower Decks' second season. How is Mariner processing Boimler's absence and the day to day of working with her mother? Meanwhile, is serving aboard the USS Titan everything Bradward hoped it would be?
The grades for "Strange Energies" begin at (18:01). The grades for "Kayshon, His Eyes Open" kick in at (48:10).
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Transcript
Introduction & Lower Decks Preview
00:00:00
Speaker
this month on Lower Decks, Riker, Ransom Knights, and Rapunkey. Give me warp in the factor of five, six, seven, eight. in it together. And they left us. They left us. How much oxygen do we have? A lot of little ballparks. Good morning, Serena!
00:00:29
Speaker
Lieutenant Keishan, welcome to the Cerritos. Rapunkey, when he joined the Seven. Computer, ramming speed!
00:00:42
Speaker
This could be your year to get promoted. That what it takes? Yes! Okey-dokey. Only thing missing is Boimler. Think of all the fun adventures he's going on. Oh, God. Get him out of there.
00:00:59
Speaker
I know we may not look like a lot, but when it comes to a fight, us Starfleet officers are trained to throw down at... Let's roll! Touchy roll!
00:01:08
Speaker
And who among us hasn't been pooped out by an alien creature? It is not... Don't touch me! Oh crap, it's the evil computer. Friend, I'm worried about you. My scans indicate you could lose a couple pounds. Excuse me? Our ship might not be the biggest...
00:01:25
Speaker
Oh, s**t. And we might do the missions nobody else wants. Come on, you've been in tougher spots than this. Thanks, Tom Paris. I am a little worried about the fumes in here, though. You know, since you're talking to a plate. But we are still Starfleet. wow
00:01:47
Speaker
else it's up to you guys. If only we had special powers. We do. Maybe not here, but here. Our skin. Our brains. Our brains. It's our brains.
Podcast Welcome & Format
00:01:55
Speaker
Our brains are inside of our skin. There's a team waiting to take me to the break, isn't there? You know me so
00:02:19
Speaker
Hi, I'm Brian. Hi, I'm Katie. Welcome to Trek Mary Kill, a Star Trek podcast that provides an invaluable service to fans by putting episodes into tiny little boxes of judgment. Good episodes are ones we'd trek, great episodes are ones we'd marry, and everything else is a kill. We started doing monthly spotlights on the animated shows last season, and we're continuing that here in Trek Mary Kill's third season. And we're doing that by bringing back the wonderful Katie Hampton from the Napping Through Happy Hour podcast. Welcome back, Katie.
00:02:47
Speaker
I really appreciate you having me back. I love this show. um i We're trying different things with the intro. ah Not a fan of the war go-to-warp catchphrases, but it's obviously fun to do the Riker version. I don't know. We'll see. I love the Riker version and also nice t-shirt you're wearing right now. Thanks. No one can see this but you because we're not a video podcast. right yes That's right. There's Trek Mary Kill t-shirts and bookmarks. and If you ever want to bookmark any listeners out there, just email TrekMaryKPod at Gmail and say, hey, send me a bookmark and then give me a place where I can send you the bookmark.
00:03:20
Speaker
bookmarks say Trek Mary Kill on one side on the other side asks the question, could this episode have been hornier and would that have made it better? Which I'd like to one day find in like an economics book after my chapter. Yeah. So yes. Anyway, ah so that's that. ah But as joyful as an occasion as your return is Katie and as joyful as returning to animated Trek can be. And by the way, listeners, if you haven't been watching Star Trek Prodigy, you need to check it out.
00:03:47
Speaker
You should. All the episodes are streaming on Netflix right now. Finish listening to us, then start watching Prodigy. Then watch these episodes of Lower Decks again. I just planned out your whole night, maybe your whole week.
Final Season Announcement & Reboot Discussion
00:03:58
Speaker
I don't know. But star trek animated Star Trek is going great, but there is still a bit of bad news that yeah needs to be announced. This upcoming fifth season of Lower Decks will be its last season, final season. It's going to come out October 24th. Let the morning period begin.
00:04:15
Speaker
Yeah, no, and that's fine. And I'm sure it's going to be bonkers, amazing and incredible. And I'm going to fight the entire way for them to reboot it very soon thereafter. But I mean, nerds, we don't get what we want all the time. That's right. I'm still holding out hope that we'll see Beckett Mariner and Bradward Boimler pop up just randomly in Starfleet Academy is like as like holograms. Because why not? That's kind of the promise of the premise that they could pluck anyone from any time in Starfleet history and put them in the show to teach the lesson. Yeah. Or just have them in live action again somewhere. you know yes That Strange New Worlds episode was incredible.
00:05:00
Speaker
I mean, it would be kind of funny to put um Jack Quaid in old man makeup and have him playing like a really old Boimler later on. but But then next to a mariner who hasn't aged at all, she's like, why did you program your hologram to look how you looked when you died instead of when you were awesome looking? And he's like, I want to convey respect.
00:05:23
Speaker
have them doing a bit. And then one of the students is like, are they supposed to be teaching us about life support systems or something? But they're just bickering the entire time.
Lower Decks Season 2 Spotlight
00:05:35
Speaker
ah So were but we're going to kick things off with the first two episodes of Star Trek Lower Decks Second Season for our monthly animated spotlights. First up, Strange Energies, which premiered on Paramount Plus, August 12, 2021, written by Mike McMahon, directed by Jason Zurich.
00:05:50
Speaker
Memory Alpha describes it. The USS Cerritos is dispatched on a mission where it ends up in a sci-fi event resulting in strange energy, which Commander Ransom inadvertently absorbs. ah Strange energies, as Dr. T'Ana defines it, ah is electrical phenomena with unknown properties. It can have all sorts of physical effects, unlock parts of the brain, even endow godlike powers. But Katie, how do you feel about that description? You think it adequately encapsulates this episode's concept, I guess, is the better way to say it?
00:06:20
Speaker
I mean, it's all right. it's It's nearly there. There's just so much about this episode that is such a blast to begin with. I mean, especially starting from the beginning. But ah yeah, Strange Energies, I guess it is and that. um But it's also it just kind of, I don't know, exacerbates things that are already going on. Yeah, I would say that this episode is playing on the anxieties of the, of our main characters after how last season ended. So like last season ended with everyone discovering that Mariner is the daughter of the captain. Boiler gets transferred to the Titan. And so things are kind of in a state of flux when that season ends and here season two is picking up on that status. And so ransom becoming a God is actually motivated in large part because
00:07:10
Speaker
he's anxious about his new role, like his role now that the daughter and the captain are budy buddy buddy. Yeah, exactly. But like, it's so quick. I mean mean, and I don't know, like how many corporate jobs you've had, but ah how many times have you seen someone in management who's got like a friend that doesn't really work well together, and you're just seeing it default, like,
00:07:32
Speaker
I want to say something, but I have no reason to say anything um exactly to your specifications of what you're trying to do with your job. yeah yeah no there's And there's a lot of tension going on and there has always been tension between Beckett and her mom, but ah this ah this is clearly not working out.
00:07:52
Speaker
Yeah, and then the other anxiety is, I mean, I guess you could say that Tendi has a crush on Rutherford. That would be one way to look at it. The other way to read that, though, is that Tendi is anxious that their friend group has been subtracted by one. And now that ah Rutherford is dating again, I guess,
00:08:13
Speaker
that the same character he dated in the first episode. That theoretically she's actually nervous about now them losing another member of their group effectively. So it's playing on an anxiety and she's basically coming up with a medical reason to follow Rutherford around and make his life miserable instead of him excited about the date and you know swimming with beautiful women. ah yeah sorry Right and then also eating pears that she thought he didn't like to begin with. Yeah, where do you land on pears, Katie? We we don't really have a food corner on Trek Mary Kill, but what what do you like them? I will absolutely talk into your food corner any day. ah ah Food is my favorite topic. But pears, I do like them, but they have to be like an Asian bear, like actually juicy. I feel like something about
00:09:04
Speaker
I don't know, the produce I get at the local grocery store is so flavorless and everything tastes like an apple but just like barely has a hint of peach or pear. um So I get why Rutherford would hate pears, but if you have like a good, solid, juicy pear, it's amazing. It's got an incredible flavor and like it's not as mealy. like When it's mealy, it doesn't have that much flavor, so I totally get it.
00:09:29
Speaker
Anyway, also don't blend pear up into a smoothie with the skin on. That's a note for my dad. Who does that? My dad. Oh, I do when I blend fruit apples in, I dont i just throw the whole thing in. i Oh, yeah. De-skin it. It's fine. But yeah, it's more fiver. That makes sense.
00:09:48
Speaker
um I like pears, too. I like them a lot. I remember as a little kid, the first time I ever had one, I i think there was a pear tree. It's not some school I was at. And like that was the first time I had it. Where did you grow up? Wherever pears are. Whatever they grow on. Is it a bush? It's a tree. It's a pear tree. It's a pear tree, yeah.
00:10:05
Speaker
And ah so that was the first time I ever had one. It was great. It was Northern California. so just Okay, see Northern California knows how to grow produce and like produce that like actually has like a juicy, beautiful flavor. Southern California, I feel like we just burned everything into the desert.
00:10:19
Speaker
figs and pears i both got like from nature so i can't eat figs i mean i don't dislike figs it's not my favorite thing but like any any other time i've encountered a fig it's basically as a jam or in a fig newton newton but getting it off the the bush or the tree of fig tree. It's great. It's good. It's incredible. There's so much flavor. I'm telling you, like go all natural organic, but no northern California. But L.A. wise, I think my only in interactions with pairs has been they've been like a surprise and a salad and made a little dessert and both good, good, ah good interactions with pairs.
00:10:57
Speaker
but Great with a gorgonzola. That's right. There we go. Little balsamic, little gorgonzola. Slice it nice and thin on a salad. Absolutely. Exactly. Oh, now I'm hungry. Oh, sorry. No, I intentionally scheduled it for before lunch. According to this episode, Summer Around Paramount Plus, the season premiere takes place approximately three months after the events of the season one finale, which makes sense. like The characters are contextualized. That feels about right when you're watching it.
00:11:25
Speaker
Back in 2021, because I can't believe that's how old this episode is now, Anthony Pascal of Trekmovie.com interviewed showrunner Mike McMan for the site. And Mike McMan had this to say about how season two differs from season one. I think season one was interesting for a lot of the writing in the first half of the season, I would get notes saying, what is sickbay?
00:11:45
Speaker
And I was kind of trying to balance Star Trek 101 with the Star
Writing & Production Challenges
00:11:48
Speaker
Trek comedy with meeting new characters, with understanding a new class of ship, and 2380 and 2381 in Federation history. There was a lot of explaining. And it's not funny explaining stuff. It's hard to make emotional character stories when stuff's getting explained. So then the second half of season one, now we got a movie episode going. We've got the Titan showing up. We were letting our hair down a little bit. For season two, I'm almost done.
00:12:10
Speaker
We took that energy from the end of the first half season one, and you'll see from the very first scene that there's no hand-holding anymore. From that first scene, you see that we've got Mariner in a situation that would be impossible to describe to people who had never seen Star Trek before. And we're wielding it in a way that is just saying, hey, this is an emotional story, this is a comedic story, and let's have fun. The training wheels are off.
00:12:32
Speaker
dude this opening especially I thought was kind of a genius move how they did it because they kind of held your hand with some of the backstory of between Beckett and the captain um while also just deeply entrenching it in a very odd reference of a Cardassian that what the Cardassian that Beckett faces off with it's actually based off of a character from next gen um it's an episode called The Chase it's season six episode 20 remember when episodes of live-action TV got a twenty to to 26 episodes. ah But it's the character goal offset from the episode where the enterprise D crew is trying to solve a genetic puzzle which served as the base for season five story of discovery.
00:13:18
Speaker
There's lots of references. There's ah references to Chain of Command. They've got a Miranda class ship in there, which wouldn't be able to do the things it does just technically. But it blows up a Jem'Hadar ship. It blows up a Romulan ship like it blows up all these different things. It's just a mishmash. But Katie, as you remember, when I lost my shit at the Crisis Point episode,
00:13:38
Speaker
That is why this is was an amazing opening sequence. We're not at the grades yet. But like what Mike McManus is saying is, like yes, this is what you can do in animation. This is the amazing part of it. So I guess I brought up that quote because I was making the same noises that you were as I was reading that. I'm like, really? They're doing a Star Trek show and they have to answer, what is sick bae? I know. like That like kills me. But I also understand that like having worked with producers and things like that. but like where When it it it feels like this season they were finally actually sanctioned as a Star Trek show, and maybe they had some other people who have a little bit more knowledge in Star Trek come on board and let them do some of the things that they wanted to do, but it definitely felt like in season one it was just like, it was a lot of hand-holding.
00:14:24
Speaker
and yeah I mean the thing is is that it's Paramount Plus so I understand I mean people might be shocked like it's Paramount they know Star Trek not really there's always a lot of changeover behind the scenes and there's the fallow period for Star Trek and during that time the institutional memory that knew all the Star Trek stuff that could the intermediaries between the new people who are like what is a ship What is the space? Like there would be people being like, don't worry about that. And they'd have that relationship. But those people are gone. So now it's all new people. And they only go Star Trek is Star Wars. Those are the exact same things. We have our own Star Wars. That's it. That's all they understand it as. And so they don't know. But here's the thing, sickbay and a lot of and a lot of Star Trek terms are just old military terms.
00:15:10
Speaker
This isn't like an institutional memory failure of people not understanding Star Trek. It's just people not knowing anything. It's not knowing what things are. From context clues, you cannot divine what sickbay is. I guess they're like, why is it called sickbay? Why isn't it called the doctor's office? is it Right. Right. Well, and i I think that that to me just screams, oh, producer doesn't know shit and wants to ah exert their control over something. And it's like, no, no, no, no, no. no no Yeah, it's ah it's tough, but it was still a worth worthy quote just to put in there because there's a part of me that was, the other part of me that was shocked to read that was that I feel like, and I think I said this in our reviews, that the first, I did feel like the second half was stronger than the first half, but it still, to me from the very beginning, one of the things I didn't like about the show from the start was that it was confidently Star Trek.
00:15:59
Speaker
So even if it was explaining things, it was also doing stuff that didn't need explanation or was using references as punchlines. So I guess what I'm saying is if they did figure out a mix where it's like, we're going to do more that are like crisis point. Great. So do the ones that this episode really is taking certain elements, certain tropes and tying it into an emotional justifying it emotionally, which is hard to do. But we're the. Yeah.
00:16:26
Speaker
Well, and I think that's, I mean, from the get go, this show has always been its own world in its own way. it's It's had their own story arcs, their own character arcs, you know, like, they, they have stayed true to the characters, which I think is hard when you're trying to introduce a funny version of something from like, a fairly serious, you know,
00:16:50
Speaker
yeah a series of shows. And to put it it into something that's a little bit more comic, which I think is what they tried to do with the Orville, and it was literally just TNG but funny. um I think they had to create their own whole star system their own way of doing things in order to get that show made as opposed to Lower Decks where they just said from the get-go this is in the Star Wars or Star Trek universe. um This is absolutely making reference to specific episodes and specific instances throughout from the original series to Next Gen to Discovery like all sorts of different things. um
00:17:30
Speaker
but They say true to that and I feel like this show kind of went through the first season sort of we snuck by in certain aspects while making some really incredible episodes and then fighting for their spot to get in their season two and then season two just kind of taking off um which is why I love this show because it just gets better from here and Why would you cancel this?
00:17:54
Speaker
so
00:17:57
Speaker
We'll be pondering that question all season long, for sure. ah Let's get into the grades, then. We'll start with the we'll start with the great moments. well remember Listeners, if you don't remember, we kind of do a slightly modified format for the animated spotlights. Because scenes, it can be tricky. What's a scene in an animated thing? There's cutaways, all that stuff. so Great moments.
00:18:21
Speaker
um Great moments. I would definitely say the opening. The opening. ah The opening it was amazing um in that you're just getting a handful of backstory and things like that. But one of my favorite parts about this was when Jennifer comes back, the Andorian, and Beckett says, okay, I know we're not supposed to have interpersonal conflict, but I really hate that Andorian. I find that hilarious because they end up dating later, but you know, spoilers.
00:18:48
Speaker
um i Just a fun little weird fact that like Jennifer has been introduced into this series as a character because um the actress Tawny Newsom just happens dance said, get out of the way Jennifer and so they had to create a character named Jennifer just for that reason and for that improv.
00:19:10
Speaker
um I was a big fan of Randall Park appearing in this episode as ah one of the alien entities um that is down um on the planet where Ransom becomes the big head of the godlike nature. um There's also like there's so many other comedians that are in this um in and in in including Neil Casey, um who you may know from um several comedy things. If you're a UCB fan, Neil Casey is a big guy in that community. But Neil Casey, when he sees the giant head of ransom coming after the ship, he says, Captain, there's a head coming after us. Then. ah I have a reference point for Neil Casey for for normies, I guess. OK, are you going to say the movie that we don't speak of? I don't know what the movie is that we don't speak of. The Female Ghostbusters. That's the one. yeah Listen, I love all those people, literally all those people. I also think that that is a product of some producers. He was the bad guy in that movie. Yes, he was the bad guy in the Female Ghostbusters.
00:20:21
Speaker
ah But I don't usually like to make that reference. of yeah I was just trying to think the one that most
Character Highlights & Emotional Arcs
00:20:28
Speaker
people would have that more people would have seen than what he's normally in. and Also, wasn't he a writer on SNL or am I completely making that up? you know He might have been. He was part of that New York UCB crew that I would imagine he if anyone were to be on that staff, it would probably be him. He's very funny in all respects. um But I would say probably one of my um My most favorite moments of this episode um was how Mariner was able to get Ransom to stop being the God head. And just basically solving it by kicking him in the nuts. times And any time it started to come back. just
00:21:15
Speaker
where a goingham yeah the nu yeah uh yeah those were my two favorite moments was the cold open where where it's basically a therapy and exercise class or a program that mariner has created for herself which is an amazing evolution of what happens in crisis point but then also once we understand what's going on she's also wearing her Starfleet workout gear, which the shoes having the emblem on it, like all that stuff was fun. She's got the headband on and then the holograms reacting to her doing squats while they're in battle. And just like this is all great stuff. But also she's as she's leaving, she also took the time to program a Boimler in there who's being tortured chain of command style. keep showing why But then like you said, they shoehorn in the emotional dilemma. She's I'm so mad at you for leaving and not telling. Right. Right. And like, and then the best way to find out that he's a hologram and he's not actually born more. yeah um But it's the best scene of the episode. I think that opening sequence because it sets everything up so well. But then, yes, undeniable. and that that For me, the only other great moment was the solve to the problem of how do you stop ransom? Who is a God and is able to separate his head and terrorize the ship in space while on the planet he's enslaving everybody with like a headless body. She's just like, oh, I'm just going to kick him in the nuts. Let's see what happens. She just keeps doing it. It's great. Until everybody returns to normal.
00:22:45
Speaker
It's one of my favorite solves. And this is, again, you know, what you can do with animation. And this is really the ridiculous solves that like rings true for animation. If you did this in like an Orville style show live action, it would be like, OK, wow, what are we 12? I guess I am.
00:23:02
Speaker
Well the thing is it's not that it seems silly but how different is it from where no man has gone before where Kirk's like I'm gonna have to get into a fist fight with a god and then I'm just gonna have to kill him like it's really not actually different and it is the most intentionally non-lethal way of ah because really the solve to how do we stop Gary Mitchell was kill him yeah Like, that's it. It was either abandon him or kill him. That was the dilemma of the episode. And they don't want to kill Ransom. So how do you do that? that It's something that really it only works in Lower Decks. Right. kid That would be too off format for any of the other shows. i I will say if they tried to do it in Strange New Worlds, I would definitely watch and see what happened. Well, I'm sure it'll happen in one of the spot comedy episodes. There you go. Oh, my God. That's right.
00:23:54
Speaker
They will definitely do that. And he'll cross his eyes and hold his crotch and then slump over. just they'll make a color frame yeah He'll make a squealing noise and then he'll fall out of frame and then he'll cut to a dog making a funny face or something. And yeah, yeah I'll go full hack. Anyway. All right. Best trek tropes.
00:24:16
Speaker
Um, best trek tropes, i I would say just a using the holodeck as this is like it again, I feel like all the trek trips I get are usually they've become a lower decks trek trope, but using the holodeck as sort of your therapy slash workout session, anything do you like work something out that you're having interpersonal drama that then become something that you can take into the actual reality. um Basically using VR to help with your real reality. yeah and gets get a workout in. Yeah and then also Tendi trying to science her way back into her friendship with Rutherford. um I feel like Rutherford's reaction and his turn on how this is going is very Rutherford tropey where he takes something that
00:25:04
Speaker
could be kind of damaging to a friendship or a relationship and then just turns it positive. And he's like, Oh, you were using so the deep science to like manipulate me to my core medically. Oh, great. What a great friend you are.
00:25:21
Speaker
I would say that's much more of a lower deck stroke. Yeah, no, totally. But like using science in order to like get your friend back, I mean, it is fairly tricky. And especially like, oh, you're not the same person that I used to know. Like, how can I get that back? How can I figure that out? um I feel like is a very trek trope. But yeah, no, it's definitely it's got a lower deck spin on it. Any others?
00:25:46
Speaker
I don't think so other than like, other than just someone becoming a god. Yeah, so that was one of mine meeting God and God as an asshole. Yeah, it's kind of a tried and true Star Trek trope. But that's kind of tied to the strange energies itself. I'm For science fiction, I'm perfectly fine with inexplicable ah energy that they don't understand causing the actual meat conflict of it. And so I thought it was used well here, but it happened obviously in the cartoon style where it all immediately breaks. You know what I mean? Like but she cleans up that orb, the orb shines a light.
00:26:24
Speaker
but yeah Like the way refracts light is radiation that causes a human body to turn into a god, whatever. um At least in where no man has gone before, which is what they're pulling from, they're actually leaving the galaxy and apparently there's some sort of energy distortion between the barrier between the end of our galaxy and then the void outside of our galaxy. So like they're passing through something and and they encounter this energy. Here it's just like the sun and a prism.
00:26:53
Speaker
Yeah, but they may just hit the sun hit that little orb at the right time and now he's a god. It's the hour of the day when people turn into gods. Yeah, exactly. Giant body parts grabbing a starship. It's so rare we get to try out that that ah trope. But yes, it's great. I very happy when that happens. I don't need it to happen a lot. So I'm glad in the history of Star Trek, it's very rare. ah Using an anomaly to hide in a battle.
00:27:20
Speaker
Uh, in this case, this is at the very end with the Titan. They're, they're trying to dodge the pack lids battle herpes by evading them in a nebula. The only reason why I'm putting as a best trek trope here, because you know, most of the time, are worst well, because most of the time it's like, it's a nebula or it's this or that is because we actually get to see the effect.
00:27:37
Speaker
Yes, like it does. It stretches them out and all
Unique Storytelling in Animation
00:27:40
Speaker
that. And because it's a cartoon, that's our animation. That's why they're able to do that. It's so rare when that happens. ah This it vaguely is reminiscent of the nth degree, the episode where Barkley gets zapped.
00:27:52
Speaker
by a probe that turns him super smart, remember? Similar, yeah similar. yeah but he he barkeleyy Yes, but Barkley is imbued with all this knowledge and intelligence, but also he seeded with this idea of creating an anomaly that will transport the Enterprise to the other side of the galaxy or another universe to interact with these aliens because they don't, they explore, but they bring everything to them instead of the other way around. So there's an anomaly and we see the distortion effect.
00:28:22
Speaker
Like they actually shot something that looks interesting and cool. yeah So I like when they do that, even though, yes, I generally agree that using an anomaly and the heat of the battle to get away from it is like, whatever. But anyway, it's the tag of the episode. I'm not hating it that much, but is that your lead off for worst Trek tropes?
00:28:39
Speaker
it what I mean, it's like, ah i I love that it's Riker that is like captaining the Titan and everything that happens on the Titan is just like one insane mission after.
00:28:54
Speaker
And of course it's Boimler who's just doing his girly scream the entire way through. ah Which it felt like it honestly felt like they did those little cutaway moments because I'm guessing Jack Quaid was probably shooting the boys and they didn't like have time to get him in the mix just right away. And so they were just like, hey, give us a couple of variations of screams and that'll be you in the first episode. so ah but but But yeah, no escaping into like a nebula or escaping into like some kind of minefield of asteroids or something like that. It feels like it feels so trippy, but I will agree with you that like seeing the effects of them pulling back and just getting sucked into something was quite hilarious. But yeah, I was just like, oh, why do we always have to just run and hide behind a rock?
00:29:40
Speaker
Yep. Did I catch you at a bad time? you know Have you ever noticed whatever captain gets a call from an admiral or something? Her husband. nine Yeah, in this case, her husband. But nine times out of 10, they've woken up from a nightmare. Right. They've just gotten some bad news. And then the admiral's like, yeah catch you at a bad time. Blah, blah, blah. I don't know. It just was silly. And we don't know any. That relationship is so paper thin. Like, I kind of forgot.
00:30:06
Speaker
that her husband was an admiral and all that. Also, why is he Admiral Freeman? Then where does Mariner's name come from? You know what I mean? It's just it's all weird. Anyway, that's it is interesting. I think it's isn't a Captain Freeman's ah maiden name. I might be making it. Oh, it could be. I've only seen every Lord X once. So of course, of course, the salient details that some of the facts, the biographical data is lost. That is a good point. She may have honestly just given herself that name in order to differentiate herself from the captain.
00:30:36
Speaker
And then I already said this in the intro, but the go to work catch raise. It's dumb. It's so bad. It's silly. It's an in, at least in this case, I will give it this. It is a pure joke. Like this breaks the reality. It's so like Riker would be so disrespected. people would think this guy's food but if was his honest to god thing. Like just all the jazz references in his dialogue, like that is stupid. He would be he would be made fun of constantly. ah But it's not the Riker that we understand. It's just very funny and lower decks. But at the same time, the go to warp catchphrase that secret hideout has foisted on the American public.
00:31:20
Speaker
I still love it. I do not stand for it. I will still stand for it. I will still cheer it on. I think it's hysterical. It's so stupid. And like sometimes I just like a dumb joke and then warp to the factor. I'll give it to them. I'll give him also this extra level of credit that they might actually be mocking the earnest version of it on the live action shows. No, I think that's, I honestly truly think that's what it's coming from, but at the end of the day- This is dumb, let's go all the way with it, is actually a very good, yeah. Honestly, I think a lot of the jokes, I feel like when they're that dumb, it makes me laugh every time, because it feels like it's a commentary on the live action stuff and how- Which, the live action is like, it's kind of a joke, but it's not, it's very strange.
00:32:10
Speaker
Yeah. All right. Right. No. and And it's become more of a thing, I feel like in modern day versions of Star Trek than it has sort of in the past. It only is. Yeah. The modern days, like what's Cisco's go to work catchphrase. What's Kirk's? They have one. Right. Right. Right. No one. No one really did. Yeah. um But I do love the cards and engage and make it so. And suddenly they're like, well, that's what all of them did. Yes. They all have a say. They don't.
00:32:34
Speaker
Well, I mean, I'm guessing. I'm turning into a Seinfeld guy. That's not what it means. What's going on? Who are these people? No trope for you. Yeah. um I do love the fact that Riker has basically Jason Statham as one of his crew members. That's in the second episode though. Oh, that's right. That's right. Sorry. I'm jumping yeah below in my my notes.
00:33:00
Speaker
Uh, so we're good on that. We'll move on. Yeah. Most cosplayable character or moment. This is new for this season. So i I saw this and I was like, Oh, I love this. And then I started thinking about how people could do sort of like the headless horseman style of ransom and then have the big head off to the side or something or just floating around. Yes.
00:33:21
Speaker
You'd have the star, the rainbow beams shooting out of the hands yeah or even out of his mouth. That's right. Throw up. yeah You could do the other way. So that's that's the best one. If you could do the headless one where you're walking around and like it's you're like a mascot. So you've cut holes and like what would be the chest? Yes. And then you've got a head attached. But you could also do the reverse where you've just got your normal head and a beard and then you're wearing like black cloth. And then you've got attached to you. You've got a body that's spinning with the rainbow lights. Yes.
00:33:51
Speaker
Because the head is so much bigger, is it? But it's like a Ken doll, like, size. Yes, exactly, exactly. It's just like floating around. You know what, that's actually more practical than the head one, because the head one is hilarious, but does require a lot of mechanics. ah But yeah, that's what I had. Let's see. That's good. i I love this new thing, though. ah This is a very applicable. Now it's time for the line, Mr. John. Great lines.
00:34:17
Speaker
Oh, God, I just so many. OK, so we've got in the beginning. Oh, my God, Mariner, you've got to get me out of here. They keep showing me lights from Boimler getting stuck in. So and what I love about the Boimler lines in that sequence is just the way he is revealed this kind of slow pan. And then you see him strapped to the wall. That was amazing. i but like because you Because it's like she's focused on just getting out of there. And then it's like, oh, what did Boimler do to get stuck there? and then you realize he yeah um and like Even the Cardassian comments, I was like, isn't that one of your crew members?
00:34:57
Speaker
ah Yeah. um Mariner, I never wanted preferential treatment, but I wouldn't say no to it. Does that make me a bad person? Cardassian, you are an extremely bad person.
00:35:09
Speaker
ah I love that Jennifer came back and she's ah and the one that I already quoted, but okay, I know we're not supposed to have interpersonal conflict, but I really hate that Andorian. It just makes me laugh. Cardassian. ah What are you? Why are you squatting? Stop that. We're going to die, Mariner. I can't. It's leg day. When Ransom has become the god, and he starts bench-prancing trees, and the captain asks, what is he doing? And Neil Casey says, he seems to be, oh no, actually, this is Dr. Tavada. He seems to be focusing on buys and tries.
00:35:49
Speaker
um Ransom removes his head and Rutherford goes on a date with ah the person from the first episode and then Tendi comes running through and says, present me your brain. Let's see, obviously Neil Casey's live. Captain, there's a head coming after us.
00:36:14
Speaker
um We'll see what we got. Captain, there's a giant head approaching the ship. That's what it is. Yes, there's a giant head approaching the ship. Later on, he says, he's growing hands. Brace for grabbing. Chomps down on the ship.
00:36:29
Speaker
ah okay oh Captain Freeman, where she says, I can fix this by giving out praise. When Mariner, describing to Ransom what happened, she says, you were trying to eat the ship, sir. I had to apply concentrated force into your neutral zone.
00:36:45
Speaker
Solid wordplay. Loved it. um Then also, there's another trope that we have going on, especially with Beckett just screaming things out after she gets taken to the brig. And ah Captain Freeman says, never disobey me again. And she's, I do what I want. um And then obviously Riker say, someone punch me out.
00:37:12
Speaker
I have just three more three to add to that pile there. those ah Those are good. I think the episode actually had a lot of fun lines and all that. Tendi, I'm worried about SMD, synthetic memory degradation. It's a rare condition that affects cyborgs with new implants. First, your opinions change. Then your brain liquefies and melts out of your nose.
00:37:30
Speaker
I just love the A to Z there. Oh yeah. First, your opinions change, then your brains, and the way she draws, like, does the graphic as she's saying that is funny too. The eyeballs swurp out the nose too. ah Mariner, ah we got some sci-fi stuff happening over here.
00:37:47
Speaker
after after she's cleaning up and causing the energy. And then ransom. Those energies weren't that strange. I'm fine. Now on hand me, I must rise.
00:38:00
Speaker
Just kick to the nuts. Yeah. All right, now it's time for the line must be drawn here. Great art. I kind of think everything involving ransom. Yeah, it was literally just the ransom head, especially the ransom head with the the planet in the background chomping on the ship. I thought it was like really cool. I even like when he's when his head and his hands are dying and you see him fall back into the atmosphere and the way it kind of burns away as well. Just also the colors, the rainbow is on the planet. It's all great. it's ah Yeah, it's beautiful.
00:38:31
Speaker
Yeah, I even really liked when they were when Mariner was cleaning off the the soot. Oh, that was great. Yeah, that's a good honorable mention. I like that cleanup beam. so yeah yeah I was like, oh, i it's like pressure washing. And I really need that on my balcony in my apartment. Makes sense. I got the sonic showers, which we'll see in the next one. but Remember, I've pointed out last year was like a lot of twinning between episodes a lot of the time. Yeah, there's a lot of twinning. And anyway, I think I feel like usually like the the first two episodes usually released like the same day. So I wonder if they start writing them with similarities in order to, like, have my honest opinion is that they might based on what I understand about how TVs made this day is that they don't actually have as much time as they used to.
Modern TV Writing & Production Changes
00:39:12
Speaker
Now, I'm sure that someone will come out and say we're writing in the same number of weeks that we always have. But there's something about it's either because they're doing remotely writing, they're not in a room, that there's just seems like attention gets clustered together instead of usually on shows, a showrunner, head writers, whatever. There's three or four episodes going on at one time. Yeah. And and I don't think that's the case as much anymore because there are just simply fewer episodes.
00:39:40
Speaker
Yeah, there are fewer episodes. I do not think they do have the same amount of time. They're also not necessarily on set slash ah in the room when rewrites usually happen. So a good portion of the time that kind of stuff is either worked out ahead of time and then it's just a showrunner sometimes in the room while it's being recorded or shot.
00:40:02
Speaker
And yeah, it the rate of everything has really changed. And especially when it comes to streaming, things have really pared down and budgets have really tightened up. It certainly doesn't seem like they have as much time to write episodes as they used to. No, they do. They do not. they i mean the The point that is someone's if someone told me that no, it's the same number of weeks, I just wouldn't believe them.
00:40:25
Speaker
No, and it's not. And if it is, they they put a lot of other bullshit in there on top of it. it's I mean, you might get a similar style of scheduling, but at the same time, it's like, no, they they're usually when writers write for these kinds of shows, they'll be able to be on set and whatnot. And like, for the last couple of years, especially via COVID,
00:40:47
Speaker
They've been excuses after excuses where you don't have to be on set and they a lot of producers won't let you come into the room and like help with rewrites when actors are struggling with certain parts or if something doesn't quite make sense. Sometimes the producers take that role and I think that's a huge mistake.
00:41:05
Speaker
well we're Part of the reason why lower decks is being canceled. I mean, five years, 50 episodes costs, whatever you want to say, it's also animation, whatever. But, uh, and this is less important to the listeners. I think it's vitally important to us who both live in Los Angeles and you directly and me tangentially, uh, work in the, in the industry.
00:41:24
Speaker
Yes. And that is we're watching it kill itself in real time. It is. Yeah. And it's distressing. You know, I always I always thought I was the harbinger of companies. I never thought it'd be the harbinger of Hollywood, um but.
00:41:39
Speaker
But I yeah, it's it's depressing seeing how sort of these systems are kind of eating themselves. All right. All that said, would this be a fun, hollow novel to play out? This is another new grade that we have this year.
00:41:52
Speaker
i Yeah, I saw that too and I thought that was really cool. um i i If I came up with the kicking ransom in the nuts, yes. Well, even if you just took her calisthenics program from the beginning, I think that just it was just that, that'd be fun. But I think even the ransom kicking, your your goal is to get close enough to this God to kick them in the nuts until they depower.
00:42:19
Speaker
yeah then I would be really in for this holo program, absolutely. If I was being chased after by Tendi, I don't think I would survive that holo program very well. From a video game standpoint, I guess, if your side mission is you have to harass Rutherford. That would be extra points that you might. If you had to survive the Titan, I feel like I would, I would die. That's a good point. Yeah. The Titan part would be tough too. But I'd still say generally this episode or at least parts of it would be fun holiday fodder. All right. So then what part will these teach at Starfleet Academy?
00:42:56
Speaker
um I definitely think it has to do with ah interpersonal relationships. you know I know we had like a throwaway line at the beginning where it's like, I know we're not supposed to have interpersonal conflicts. And it's like, wow, you really that it really is the theme between Beckett and Captain Freeman. um So I feel like working that out so that someone doesn't become a god and make it their problem too.
00:43:21
Speaker
Uh, yeah, that's a great one that I think we're, as you pointed out last year when I was like, what is the deal with Freeman? Like, I think we're, she's not supposed to be a good captain and that she's on her way to figuring things out. And this episode and the next one are kind of setting up that Starfleet's giving her the critical assessment. yes And this is sort of like a story that that contributes the idea of that she's got a great bird's eye view maybe of what she needs to be doing and how things should look like, but maybe the finer points, the little things are the things that she's still learning how to do. And not being so hands-on and trusting the right aspects of her crewmates.
00:43:58
Speaker
Kind of the opposite of Mariner, right? She's myopic and doesn't see the bigger picture right um or actually seems to actively ignore the bigger picture for the moment. So that's an interesting duality there or dichotomy, I should say. So I would say the numbers being of significance to the Apergosians on the planet that I thought it was a silly plot that that Ransom was trying to help them pick their subspace ID, basically. right ah But the idea that it the idea that it was culturally significant to them is where the is the loophole that I'm like, all right, that's kind of a Star Trekky thing, I guess. Yeah, I guess in the live action version, we might spend a little more time. The the bad version of the episode would be like Troy falls in love with the man there. Oh, my God. He shows her what these numbers mean in sequence or in clusters. And maybe there's something. He mentally takes over her. yeah And then of course something happened. Yeah.
00:44:56
Speaker
You could do the Masterpiece Society version, though. It doesn't have to be the Man of the People version or the Price, where they're using her. It could be the one where it's just like this dull guy who doesn't understand that the future is here, and now he's got his people through that. There's a version that doesn't have to be. There is a version. It doesn't have to be a bad version. It's not what they wrote. It's not what they ever wrote. So I would think that just as a cultural study thing, like our kind of, just that kind of thing. So Trek, Marry, or Kill, Strange Energies.
00:45:25
Speaker
I would say for this one, and I toiled on this one, but I'm going to say Trek on this one. I thought it was a great episode. It's always trick or marry for you. I know. I had two kills last season, I think, where I was just like, I could do without this. Or I think I was on the brink of killing something and then the koala came.
00:45:46
Speaker
ah That's right. I forgot. I love that one. and you like Yeah. And I was hook on the way to kill that. I hated it until the call. But yeah, no, I'm definitely I'm definitely a trek on this one. It's it's a fun episode. It launches this season in such a great way and ah shows you like how quick they are with their jokes and just how great and how deep they can go with their references. And I think we even see them go even deeper in the next episode. But yeah, I will track this.
00:46:17
Speaker
I'm going to join you. I think the opening is very strong, the ah the cold open. ah But I really felt that the attendee stuff and all the Freeman stuff that wasn't directly like when she goes and answers the call, but when she's talking to Ransom, like Anything that had nothing to do with anything that was separate from the ransom turning into a god and then literally that opening cold open, I was like, yuck, not good. Not like I kind of assumed. Yeah. Yeah. But then, you know, the I was fine with the ending like as a it's like a good punch line to he must be having the time of his life on the Titan. I thought as a punch line, it works, even though it's just like, OK, I I on the rewatches have gotten used to what they're doing with Riker and the Titan. But
00:47:04
Speaker
Yeah, so I was soft trek when I first saw this at midnight when it first dropped. And and even the first couple of re rewatches. But we just in talking about it, it's like, OK, yeah, this is a trek, so I'm joining you. Also, I'm going to persuade your opinion about these episodes. Even just talking about it, like ah there's no reason. I don't feel so strongly enough about it to be like, this needs to go to a vote and let the people decide.
00:47:29
Speaker
This is like, no, this is a solid, especially for a season opener. right Season openers aren't typically the strongest episodes on shows anyway. You'd like to imagine in 10 episode seasons that everyone would count and be amazing, but that's not the case with every show. And I think this one at least has a first good opening scene. If you're emotionally ah open to what Lower Decks ended last season with, which I was, that I thought worked. So there we go.
00:47:55
Speaker
I totally get it, I totally get yeah it's so i and it. it wasn't There wasn't anything that I was just like, oh, I just blatantly hate this and I could do without it. It's a solid, let's go.
00:48:10
Speaker
All right, our second episode for the monthly animated spotlight, Keishan, His Eyes Open, is the second episode of Lower Deck's second season. It premiered on Paramount Plus August 19th, 2021, written by Chris Kula, directed by Kim Arndt. Memory Alpha describes it. Our Lower Deckers have trouble bonding with Ensign Jet Manhaver, who has been assigned Boimler's bunk and shift duties. Meanwhile, we get a glimpse of Boimler's life on the USS Titan, which is more intense than he thought it would be.
00:48:37
Speaker
What memory Alpha doesn't mention is that they the lower deckers are tasked with basically helping the collector's guild. If you remember the episode from next generation, the most toys, they're basically ah an an entity of some kind. And they ask Starfleet to come in to basically give like a third party clean assessment of this deceased collector's property on his ship.
00:49:03
Speaker
And then, of course, because they're the lower deckers, something happens where the ship is trying to kill them. And then on the Titan Boimler goes on a mission with basically the core crew who are a trio of badasses, who are completely different from our next generation crew. There's like, ah like you said, there's a Jason Statham type type. So it's like, oh, I think that this is good. And he's like, OK.
00:49:31
Speaker
Then you've got like an alien ask Tasha Yar or yeah. Yeah. ah And then you've got basically a ransom, like ransom light as the other one. And then Boimler is there and they're tasked with ah implanting themselves with the group of miners as like spies because the packlets are up to something. So they're like, if we get it in bed with these miners, when the packlers packlets come, we'll figure out what their plan is, um which leads to a really great line I can't wait to talk about. I know, I'm so excited about that. I was like, I've been doing it now. but Hold it, hold it.
Themes of New Beginnings
00:50:07
Speaker
So ah just in terms of themes for this episode, I would say that this one thematically does not quite have the resonance. We are introduced, and I didn't mention in what's not mentioned by memory alpha here, we are introduced to Shaq's replacement as chief of security, Lieutenant Kay Sean.
00:50:25
Speaker
A Temerian from the episode Darmok, Kristen and I ah just did our Trek Mary Kill on that. That's why we did it was for this episode right to kind of match up. We've got our Shaka when the well walls fall. We got that ah coming in and being involved. He gets turned into a puppet.
00:50:42
Speaker
yeah on the collector's ship in a very grotesque, horrifying, scary sequence. Classic Star Trek there. So this one is kind of like a new beginnings thing and is kind of maybe the theme of the episode and trying to figure out a new way to deal with ah actually ah a way for a person who's fallen into habits to deal with a a new reality that they're in. Mariner has to figure out how to deal with this new guy in the group.
00:51:06
Speaker
this jet man, have her as his own way of doing things. And he's just as strong headed. Marin is used to being the alpha of the group and Boimler following her lead and occasionally giving her good advice that she takes or pushes him and he takes it.
00:51:18
Speaker
On the other side of it, you have Boimler who is trying to figure out where his place is when he's always the beta and like he's not the one that speaks up, but then he's get he kind of gets pushed into this mission where he has to be a little bit more of an alpha and actually share his opinion where and everyone's like, hey, we're ready to die for this. And he's like, I'm not ready to die. I just wanted to explore. yeah And like speaking out to the points that where he's like, I joined Starfleet because I wanted to like have treaties with other people and I wanted to explore different things and I would be happy to be in a string quartet that you're making fun of. yeah
00:51:53
Speaker
so that was So I think it was really nice. It was it was very simple. I think that was the other part of it. And the episode, the two storylines were very much about those emotions, I think. And we'll get into how successful each one is in that regard in just a sec, because I wanted to talk about Mike McMahon's comments to Star Trek dot com about this episode. ah Why introduce Keisha on here? He goes, I just love to Marion's one of the best And then here's this here's his anecdote. One of my best friends is Italian. And whenever I hang out with this family, he's the translator for everything. But everything makes sense. Like in comedy, you can say things in some comedies universal. We knew that Shaxx was gone and wanted to bring in a kind of new, exciting security officer and the challenge of how do we bring in a likable Tamarian who speaks broken Federation standard. The cool thing about Tamarian is that the universal translator is working. The translator, though, can't
00:52:48
Speaker
translate Tamarian backstory to their meme language, right? So it's funny because like he understands everything everybody's saying around him, and then when he breaks into Tamarian, it's just a funny thing to have to play with comedically. yeah Yes, as a surface-level punchline, that's true.
00:53:04
Speaker
But as you can see, they immediately pivot to turning him into a puppet so he doesn't sink in out of the episode. Which is hilarious because this is, Kaeshawn is played by Carl Tartt, who's a hysterical comedian. um yeah He can be seen as like a guest star in like different like comedies and things like that, but I mean, if ever you want to really truly appreciate the hilarity that is Carl Tartt,
00:53:29
Speaker
I highly recommend listening to any episode of comedy bang bang where Carl Hart comes on um because the guy is super quick and super hysterical and very out there but um love that he played with a dedication and and um yeah I would say like some of the joke the the very last line of this episode which I believe is his is probably the only time when his mistranslation does work for a good joke. Yeah. When he's basically trying to say, you know, you've been running around my mind all day. Like, are you tired? You've been running around my mind all day. But he inserts that sort of weird phrasing of it all. Yeah. Let's see here. OK, so that's always it. All right, let's get into the grades then. We'll start with great moments. I have a couple. How many do you have?
00:54:22
Speaker
So if nothing else, there was um a ton of really great and interesting reference points that that were really cool. um This is all just based on imdb.com, so you can always look it up and take a ah closer look, but I'm just reading straight from that. um We've got Abraham Lincoln's Skeleton and the Silicone Lifeform from The Savage Curtain, a episode 1969.
00:54:46
Speaker
There is the Salt Monster slash Vampire from The Man Trap, 1966. One of the addictive eyepieces from The Game, 1991. One of the Vulcan pudgels sticks from Amok Time, 1967. A box of wine from Chateau Picard, which is just, of course, I mean, of course they have a bottle of Chateau Picard.
00:55:07
Speaker
um We've got the visor worn by Data when he dealt poker. ah Riker's trombone, which I think is fascinating, especially since we've got Boimler on the other side in the Titan.
00:55:18
Speaker
um ah Let's see what else we got. We got the photon tube Spock was buried in from Star Trek III, The Search for Spock, 1984. One of the mine spheres from Return to Tomorrow in 1968. Sulu's fencing foil from The Naked Time in 1966.
00:55:35
Speaker
the Caddis-Cott board, which was a game favored by Seven of Nine and Naomi Wildman, first seen in Infinite Regress, 1998, a pulse cannon from Star Trek Insurrection, 1998, a Terran Empire flag from Mirror Mirror in 1967, and in a mirror, Darkly, 2005, the cards curling Nice Ghost ah given to him by Professor Galen.
00:56:00
Speaker
Yeah, in 1993, a Horda egg from The Devil in the Dark in 1967, and the necklace Kahn made out of the Starfleet insignia from a uniform belt buckle in Star Trek II, the Wrath of Kahn, 1982. So a ton of ah different pieces in this collector's stuff that is just unbelievable.
Star Trek Easter Eggs & Humor
00:56:22
Speaker
um We also have the giant skeleton wearing the tattered blue Starfleet uniform belongs to Spock or a clone of Spock from the Infinite Vulcan, 1973.
00:56:34
Speaker
A lot of references in this episode um just um in this this piece, which I thought were incredible moments. I mean, they're not necessarily tropes, but they are um really great shout outs that like are scattered throughout the entire episode. But the trombone and the poker visor from Data might be my favorite little pieces that the collector had. A real Deadpool and Wolverine situation. Oh, yeah. no Oh, yeah.
00:57:02
Speaker
yeah Or maybe Deadpool and Wolverine just took the concept from, uh, they may have, you know, like i just probably like each other. So yeah, let's get a room with references going. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Just put them all in a room. Yep. Well, my two great moments were captain Freeman immediately disputing the notion that she's a micromanager. yeah And I really appreciated the way they introduced it, which was.
00:57:27
Speaker
Ransom making kind of a comment and she's like, is that because you think I'm being a micromanager? He's like, no. And she goes, well, that's what Starblade thinks. And I thought that was ah actually a really funny way of getting into her her problem in the episode. So I really appreciate that. It was nice comedic thing. And then the other one, I just thought the Boiler clone tricking the other. Yes, that's great. The Boiler clone was ah very fun, but also maybe.
00:57:53
Speaker
And I don't want to take away because i so I highlighted two great moments, but to be perfectly honest, I really actually liked the whole Titan storyline yeah just in terms of like moments that jumped out at me. yeah I was just like, no, I mean, they're on the shuttle talking and like ah it's whatever. But ah I guess I kind of like the and the bit at the end that you already mentioned, which is when he's saying why I got into Starfleet and that compels the compatriots to say why they got into it, which I'll say later.
00:58:18
Speaker
Which is nice, but I still thought in terms of like a great moment, I just like that Boimler being a dick to himself. Like that is the one he would be a dick to. Oh, absolutely. And then he's like, I don't like this Bradward thing. And then he's like, I love it. Of course he does. Yep.
00:58:37
Speaker
I don't know how I feel about them making a Riker a full cartoon character, but at least compared to this one, and when we saw him last season, i I did think in that briefing scene, he has moments where it's like, okay, he kind of is playing Riker straight a little bit. But then when they do the purely comedic moments, he's like the mayor of Star Trek, Jonathan Frakes.
00:58:58
Speaker
yeah So anytime he gets into mayoral mayor mode, yeah it's like it's just funny. It's like, okay, what about the character? Anyway, right great go watch Star Trek Picard season three, I guess, when he's actually playing a character. Or watch a bunch of Strange New Worlds, which he directed. and you know which he He has that rev he has a line later in this episode, or so I guess we'll talk about later. All right, best Trek tropes.
00:59:22
Speaker
um i do I do love that the Titan is constantly getting into these insane battles that Boimler feels like he's in and over his head about. like i feel like that's it's It's almost like the antithesis of how Riker used to be on next gen when he would take over command and he would be just like a little too serious and it was like his fast and loose like second and number one type personality finally meeting like an actual captain with responsibilities all the time.
00:59:49
Speaker
And that felt very true to form to me, even though it is exacerbated by the fact that it's animation. um I thought that was hysterical. I loved everything that Keishan was saying when he's trying to translate.
01:00:04
Speaker
um And ah let's see. ah That's a good trick trope. that Can I add? Yeah, please. but ah Just the idea of We are introduced to this one species one time and then they become, I'm the first whatever in Starfleet. I don't know if I dislike that trope enough or if there's plenty of negative examples, but I, I guess the exo comps. I think peanut hamper is the one exception. The first time. uh as a but the first blank in starfleet is kind of fun and tamarian is is pretty random like if you like how would that work and i think it's great it's like well let's see how it would work so i'm with you on that yeah um and then i will say that um it feels very star trek trophy it maybe it's a lower deck stroke but it feels star trek trophy to be like
01:00:56
Speaker
I didn't get in this to start fights. I got in this to do science. I got in this to like explore and discover new things. And that being sort of the catalyst to change the tides of how this battle goes. um it It feels very true to the heart of Star Trek, in my opinion, where it's like Yeah, like this can be fun and ridiculous and and violent. But I got into this because of the fun and the discovery and, yeah you know, the science of it all. And I think that's what brings a lot of people to Star Trek and is almost a commentary on that for the audience. It's you saying that just kind of why it resonates so much for me in this episode is the first episode has like a weird frenetic pace to it. I guess not weird. weird It's not the right word, but it's It's quick. It's a quick episode. It's frenzied. Well, it isn't. it well it's The first episode is frenzied. This episode has moments of frenzy in it for sure, but those scenes are all kind of weirdly
01:01:56
Speaker
Star Trek paste, am I making sense? yeah Like the briefing room, the scene where they they're they've they've barricaded themselves and they're talking like you just pointed out, and like all those scenes are like normally paced scenes. It was strange. It was like, yeah, this scene would exist in the live action version of the shows. yeah So I thought that was really nice. And so I think that's what it makes that trope that you mentioned work more. ah Do you have any other best Trek ones, best Trek tropes?
01:02:24
Speaker
Um, I mean, I will always love the Packlins being stupid and the end. Hey, they're taking our snacks. yeah You know, it's, they never have more fun with it other than on this show. But I mean, it's an, it's an interesting thing that like they introduced in next gen, the Packlins just in general, where it's just like, it's not the smartest race.
01:02:54
Speaker
seemingly not the smartest race they seem actually pretty good at if not mimic mimicry then we're picking the things up very yeah very quickly yeah but they just sound just blindingly stupid so yeah lives I have three best trek tropes that I have ranked in the order of awesomeness. And it just so happens that it actually goes along with all three acts. So the first one, which is not a bad, it's best trek trope, but it's of lowest intensity.
01:03:24
Speaker
And it's the opening captain's log is great. It sets up what the episode's about to the point where I didn't think they needed then the second scene, the the next scene where they're talking to the guild collector on the bridge. I think you could have just started them on the ship and then that guy's there and he's talking to them and all that stuff. I don't think we needed that, but I think you needed to have Freeman right away to get into the whole micromanagement thing. Yeah. To set up the story of why they're not coming to help them. Right. Because she's like, no, no. No, I'm going to laugh. I'm going to let it. I'm like, Lieutenant Kaishan is very capable. So I think that worked to be I like, I went with that. I was worried that you weren't going to like buy that part. And I was like, ah the time compress like it all is happening in enough amount of time that to me, i'm i maybe the only wrinkle will be the ship would have detected that they couldn't detect them anymore once the
01:04:18
Speaker
distortion beam comes up but it could have also just been that the comms were severed and that there wasn't masking anything other than dampening the comms anyway i thought that all worked and that was great good captain's log really set up what the episode is about then the second trope It's actually not in the second act. It's towards the end. And this is a lowered X-stroke, and it is probably my favorite. And that's Boimler's scream. Yep. Which they strobe in and out. It flickers in and out when they're trying to beam them up. So that's awesome. Just to find a new way to do it is always great. That means they they respect their own running gag yeah to be like, how do we make it different this time? Beautiful. And then the third one.
01:05:01
Speaker
Computer, play Night Bird. Any opportunity I have to say, Night Bird, because it's such a distinct random Troi line that she's so insist on in Second Chances. It's just funny. ah Night Bird, as a star, best Trek Chope. Fucking awesome, I love it. You make me so happy. Where's Trek Chopes? I mean, look.
01:05:27
Speaker
i'm i'm This is also a bit of ah a Lower Decks trope, but um Mariner just getting in the fight of who's in charge, and I understand why they have to do that with her character. I understand that she has to have an arc.
01:05:42
Speaker
She's had this arc a couple of times where it's like, who does she see power to? Or when does she come in as someone who can be someone to speak with? I do think that they fixed this quite simply in like the second act when Tendi and Rutherford were just like, we didn't say anything because you guys were in charge. And like that whole fight between her and Jet, which I feel like Jet is purposefully there any time that he's in Lower Decks just to like show like what manliness is, I guess. Well, yes, but also just like here's what a not neurotic person is like. Yeah, who's like probably going to be very good in command and but like also needs to learn a little bit of finesse.
01:06:26
Speaker
um And like that's a fine thing to do, but ah it does annoy me when Mariner constantly gets in this whole army charge type situation. um ah i I also am not the biggest fan when it comes to splitting a person into two personalities via the transporter clone situation.
01:06:49
Speaker
So where is Trek Trope bad trans or the transporter clone? The transporter clone. yeah My thought on that was how else were you going to get him back on the ship that made in a way that made sense? Because ah I think for the show it makes any other thing would actually would degrade the characters striving for something better. Right. And as we pointed out last season, he kind of didn't totally deserve to be promoted to the Titan. Oh, no, definitely not. So the fact that he's there and and especially in this episode, he really shows why he's valuable and all that stuff.
01:07:25
Speaker
It is a way of having your cake and eating it too, I think. in a I understand what you're saying, though, the transporter clones. So just in general, you don't like transporter accidents as seen as a trick, though? Yeah, just like to to solve a problem. i mean you like Literally, Boimler's just coming from a place of saying, like I kind of miss my crew. I kind of miss an easier time of of you know dealing with certain things and it like exasperating like situations.
01:07:55
Speaker
And then he gets transporter cloned and like that clone is like, I'd rather stay on the Titan. It's just like, oh, that that feels a little too convenient um because he's coming from the same, like the point of which he was cloned feels wrong. that half of him, his clone would be down to stay. So there's just like a little piece of like connecting the dots and like the character's arc that I was like, Oh, but he, he was coming from a place where he didn't want to be on the Titan anymore. It it felt like at least
01:08:25
Speaker
um And so i i I feel like it's a band-aid situation where it's just like, oh, easy peasy, we'll clone him. That clone will be on the Titan and then we can get Boimler back. They'll be two Boimlers. Yeah, and we'll get Boimler back on the Cerritos and then we can continue our story. and It just felt a little too convenient to me and I'm not huge on the transporter clone unless they merge them together and they become a completely different person that you have great qualms with and separating. Yeah. But yeah, I'm not huge on the transporter clone situation. ah Mine was just basically referencing other Star Trek as though it's pop culture, which is basically a Lower Decks trope. It's where it's their bread and butter. But the whole like, oh, they they tried to kidnap data. Everyone tried to kidnap data. He just wanted to feel.
01:09:15
Speaker
what not ever And and to be perfectly honest, the room of I don't know how many references you listed. so I started laughing. It was like 20, 30. Like it was just. Yeah. Well, and that was just that was just the items within the collector's collection. but know To me, it's like it's fun. Like it's a good I actually think it's a good idea. That seems like kind of the middle of the road. You know, why would the Federation why would Starfleet take an assignment or a request for assistance for sorting a pack rat stuff. And like, well, the the collector's guild actually politically has some power. And so Starfleet can show that we are a bit, you know, I can see the the next generation season six or seven version where like Troy's like, actually, there is some value in this and wharf's like, whatever, they're all criminals or whatever. I could see that making sense. So I like the setup. But then when you get into the room and it's just a bunch, it's like literally all tracks.
01:10:12
Speaker
references is nuts. It felt to me like they were like the writers were showing their hand where they were like, make sure you animate this, make sure you put this in, make sure like, just so it's just like, we've got you, we know what we're talking about. Like, that's what it felt like to me. Also the collector, the the collector that is assigned to like help clear all this stuff out does say like, there might be weapons in here. So we thought it would be best if Starfleet came in and took care of them. That's right. And he and even ah man-havers like, I'm and not going to do that. We're in the middle of carrying ordnance. But then it's just like a a torpedo we've seen in Star Trek II. You know what I mean? It's like it's not anything. it's It has to be a reference. It's just like if you fanservice too much and too hard, you could go blind, guys.
01:10:57
Speaker
You need to relax. A lot of it's just in the background. It's not like they're creating stories. It is and it isn't. It is and it isn't. I feel like it was almost like, hey, here's my nerd card. I want you to know that I understand what we're talking about. These are the kinds of jokes that you're in for, at least for this season. And here's the reference points that we're pulling from.
01:11:19
Speaker
We got a, you know, we've got a lot of like, original series references, we got a lot of next gen references, but it's it's also it's nice to see how far they can go with that. and And just saying, you're in good hands, like, we don't have to make everything a ah bit, but we can if we wanted to. Most cosplayable character or moment?
01:11:39
Speaker
I mean, Kaeshawn is the puppet, maybe? I was having a little bit of a hard time with this one, but Kaeshawn is the puppet. You could do Miglimo holding him as a puppet as well. You could do both of them. You could just be... Kaeshawn with the sign that I am not a toy to play with me. I do not play with me. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Paul of Tompkins character, you just the the bird therapist. Yeah. That's that's good. You could do the the the cool alien. I don't I didn't should have should have written her name down the purple and black alien that is on those like. Yeah. Yeah. She's cool looking. Yeah.
01:12:25
Speaker
You could just be the Jason Statham guy. And then you just do his voice. That'd be fun. um i I do. It's funny. i This is not a cosplay, but I do think it would be funny to dress as a packlet and then just put like a weird like slumped over figure in a corner with a bunch of like cheese puffs underneath. And then any time someone moves it, it's just like, hey, they're stealing our snacks.
01:12:51
Speaker
Okay, this is folks who are recording this during the big probably the most intense heatway of Los Angeles and in the 21st century for sure. um But so I'm a little delirious and I did write down my actual answer. That's number one with the bullet. This is the most cosplayable character or moment that I dare someone to do. I can't do it. I'm too old and fat. And that is you could do a cosplay where like a bikini or a swimsuit, you do the sonic shower blurs over your private. That is the perfect cosplay costume. That's actually pretty funny. but And you're like, i'm I'm in the sonic shower. And that's your cosplay costume.
01:13:35
Speaker
It's actually very funny. Like you could just like have like hoops around you that are sort of like the sonar type thing. And then, ah I don't know, paint your body to look. but Well, it's just as as what I remember in the animation cell, it's just the it's the characters without clothes on and they just like blurred them. And it's just like a way. They're a little bit Barbie Dulles. Where he's just like, there's nothing there. Yep. Oh, that's actually very funny.
01:14:01
Speaker
Now it's time for the line message on here. Great lines. Oh, man. Okay, this was a good one.
Collector Trope & Cultural Commentary
01:14:08
Speaker
Let's see. um Why couldn't they leave data alone? He just wanted to feel. Let's see. um Can we do the Boimler line now? Yes.
01:14:19
Speaker
Stay strong, brother. We might as well overcome. Dude, you're clearly Starfleet. the I nearly put that in as like one of my favorite moments, but I was just like, I can't say that when he's not even here. Yeah.
01:14:34
Speaker
ah But I just love Boimler getting into character. He just really wanted to be, like, yeah undercover. And I was like, you're clearly a star. You're clearly a cop, dude. Me minors shall overcome. And the way he changes his voice, it's perfect. if it's very um It's very... Hello, fellow kids. Yes. How do you do? Yes.
01:14:57
Speaker
Oh, it's so good. um I do love when Jett is talking to Kaeshawn and he's basically like, he also speaks um in the way that he's like, he's like, it's no beast at Tanagra. He's like, it's no, and then Mariner's like, it's no suck up at Tanagra.
01:15:16
Speaker
um Let's see, we've got, ah could you stop collecting for one mid fire? and see i Oh, the other trope, sorry, going back real quick, the other trope that I'm just like so over Star Trek trope is collectors. I'm so over the collectors. like It feels like they're making more of a commentary on like nerd collection stuff, but like how many times have we seen a collector writer that is just... You we have done this trope to death and drama like literally Toy Story 2 is about a collector. It has been done. It's let it go. Come up with new ideas. And listen, there are people who collect things just for fun. And it's not like an obsession that you have to kill for the portion of the time. Yeah, like, i you know, to your point, it might have made some sense if it was more like an inheritance thing.
01:16:13
Speaker
To make it the story emotional, you know, to give it as like, I was promised this or the conflict is over. You know, in the other storyline, it's about minerals, right? The pack lids are trying to get this or so they're going to take over a mine. Here's like ah this person's belongings were supposed to be divided between these two tribes. But what you know what I mean? Like we find out that one guy is just being greedy and steals a helmet.
01:16:37
Speaker
You could have made it more of a conflict to be less, slightly less about the collecting and more about just the greed and possession and all that. But but i I agree with you. i don't I'm tired of watching neckbeard nerds collections being the focal point of a story.
01:16:53
Speaker
Right. Right. And it's, you know, sometimes, sometimes people collect things just for the fun of it. It's not it's not nefarious. um Yeah, I would just like and I understand why people make fun of it. But it's also like, Okay, guys, we've done all they do is make fun of it. Right? now it's all it is now You're beating a dead horse at this point. And I'm not saying because I'm not really a collector of anything, but I guess video games, maybe, and food items and experiences. But it's, I don't know. But the most toys wasn't about
01:17:27
Speaker
he was ah He was interested in collecting the most, like, extremely prized things. Yeah, but in the original Next Generation that they're basing this on is like, it was also about power and control. Like, that was a very clear thing right next to this affectation of this is how he shows his power and control is by collecting very rare items and people being oppressed by him and controlling the narrative of how amazing he is about what he can collect anyway.
01:17:57
Speaker
Uh, I have two more great lines, this couplet when, uh, when when we're saying he got into Starfleet to be an explorer and the alien woman, I guess I should look up her character name. She goes, I got into Starfleet to study Moss. I joined up because I love beaming, which is a stupid thing. That's a stupid joke, but just the, this going from exploring Moss beaming, that's good. I appreciated the little three there. So. Yep. Yeah, he's like, I like exploring and and I want to do the string quartet and all the stuff they're making fun of is yeah stuff when I was into but then it ends with beaming. And then when they're when they rescue Boimler and the transporter room, he goes, Thank you, Riker. I mean, Mr. Captain yeah ja was my of their way ever.
01:18:45
Speaker
A lot of Jack Quaid-Fummick's lines I'm on board with. Yeah, it's always it's always a joy. And then my last one is Dr. Travana notices, I can never remember Paul Tompkins' character's name. Miggly Mo. Miggly Mo, yes, Dr. Miggly Mo, yes. Miggly Mo comes in and Travana's like, this isn't my first guy got who got turned into a puppet. And then Paul Tompkins says, ooh, I could use this for talk therapy. Hands off, read the sign.
01:19:12
Speaker
I thought that was hysterical. but yeah and then i i absolutely love I didn't get to write it down because I didn't um have enough time to quote it correctly, but when Keishan basically is trying to say, are you tired because you've been walking around my mind all day or whatever, but he turns it into like some kind of weird phrase, I found it hysterical.
01:19:38
Speaker
Let's talk about the line must be drawn here, the great art in the episode. i'm I'm jumping the line here. I think the opening bit in the Sonic shower, that looked really cool. It was really cool. Especially when they started. I didn't like the moment. I thought certainly that's dangerous, especially since it can affect everybody and burn everyone's skin. ah But you know as a logic rule of the universe, whatever. but I two things out of that looked amazing. Cool cosplay costume could come out of that. So yeah, I thought that would. What about you? Or do you agree? I agree with that. Yeah, I like do think that would be a really cool cosplay item. I also just thought it's a weird thing, but I did like that Boimler they distinct. They had made a distinction between Boimler who teamed up and Boimler who took the.
01:20:27
Speaker
escape pod back to the ship to the Titan um just by his hair. like The one that was like down on the planet and stuck there and then managed to get back to the ship. He's like completely burnt and cut up. And then when we got beaten up, it was just fine. Yep. Would this be a fun Hollow novel to play out?
01:20:48
Speaker
Which part? ah The collector, I think, ah the collector's section with Tendi, Rutherford, ah Mariner, and Jett, I think would be hectic. Yeah, the collector level would not be a fun level to play. No, but the, ah but the Titan level might be a fun one.
01:21:09
Speaker
Yeah, the ti level I would probably pick the Titan level over. The collector one, just to be as much as I don't like seeing it in storytelling anymore, ah if I were playing it out in real life, I probably would have been killed by one of those Roombas oh just by staring at an old item, being like, this is cool. Right, right. but a head shot and Yeah, ah start over. Yep. What part of this will you teach at Starfleet Academy?
01:21:33
Speaker
Um, this one, I did not know what to say. Okay. Uh, I mean, we've got to know some science stuff about how they can use that or yeah the, what, what the packlets mission is. So I don't know. That seems like pretty basic science, even for ah the 24th century, but that's one part of it. Maybe, maybe one of the biggest pieces would be, um, transporter clones and like what mechanics it is. when Yeah.
01:22:01
Speaker
Also, what kind of existential crises that you might go through? May or may not encounter, yes. The the the ethics of beaming. Oh, well, that they would say no, I have that note as well. They would teach the ethics of collection. That was what Boimler said. He took that class that's the at the academy. So that's what they'd be teaching, is that they literally have an ethics of collecting course at the academy that anyone can apparently take. So that's what they'll teach. All right, so Trek, Merry, or Kill, Kaishan, his eyes open.
01:22:31
Speaker
I confidently trick this one. I absolutely confident. I also confidently trick it. Good stuff. Yeah, really fun stuff. And that'll wrap up our ah animated
Season 2 Confidence & Future Teasers
01:22:43
Speaker
spotlight for the month. There's a nice ah kickoff here where we've got a pair of treks and a nice confident start to the second season of Lower Decks as well. Katie, away from this podcast, where can listeners find you to listen to you or watch you perform, not like in public eating? Oh, sure. Sure.
01:23:03
Speaker
Well, if you'd like to listen to more of my ramblings, you can always find me on the Napping Through Happy Hour podcast. ah We talk real life, real drama in real time. um We have a great guest coming on that's actually going to be recorded later today and should be coming up in like the next week or so, um an author and artist. And um you can also find me on Pretty much anywhere on Geekscape, i just G-E-E-K-S-C-A-P-E. Find it on YouTube. I'm on Marvel Movie Talks and a bunch of other podcasts. um But if you'd like to see me live and in person, you can always find me at the Pack Theater on the House Team faux pas now. um It is a new team name. We've got a really fun thing going on where we take your embarrassing stories and we either make them even more embarrassing or the situation's worse.
01:23:52
Speaker
So come check that out. We are the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 8 o'clock at the Pack Theater, now located conveniently with great parking off of Vermont Avenue. So check that out. ah As long as the AC is working, we are performing.
01:24:10
Speaker
um ah Then you can ah always find me on the socials at E-L-S-A-S-S-Y-P-A-N-T-S, sometimes with a Z if you're on TikTok. And, uh, you can check us out on social media, Trek, Mary K pod, uh, and on the web, trek, Mary kill pod.com to see all of our standings. If you have a chance and you're enjoying the show, consider liking rating, reviewing us wherever you listen. Next week, we're going to be looking at the episode, the chase, which we talked about, uh, cause later this month, we're going to be beginning our review of the final season of Star Trek discovery, uh, season five, which is, as Katie mentioned earlier, based entirely on.
01:24:49
Speaker
Basically the episode, the chase. So Kristen and I will look at that one and next month we'll be back with another animated spotlight where we will look at the next two episodes of Lower Decks second season. So until next week and next month, TMK out.