Logline

An accident while investigating a time portal sends Ensigns Beckett Mariner and Bradward Boimler through time from the 24th century, and Captain Pike and his crew must get them back where they belong before they can alter the timeline.

Written by Kathryn Lyn & Bill Wolkoff

Directed by Jonathan Frakes

  • Value Subtracted@startrek.websiteOPM
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    1 year ago

    My expectations for this one were high, but I’m really impressed with how well they pulled it off. Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid did a great job of dialing their performances back just enough, and the SNW cast went just a little bit broader.

  • Mezentine@startrek.website
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    1 year ago

    I cannot believe they had Boimler and Mariner move like physical cartoon characters and pulled it off that well, holy shit. We absolutely lost it when Boimler was tangled in the control panel

    • poundsignbuttstuff@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      And him doing his walk away from Una the second time. And so many of Tawnie’s mannerisms like in the shuttle where she kinda strikes a pose before getting caught. And Quaid’s mannerisms and screaming with Spock in the lab.

      Those two really worked to make realistic versions of the silliness they have in LDS and it was magnificent. I caught so much more on second watch.

  • ClarkDoom@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Boimler exclaiming “RIKER” as he hopped on the saddle had me howling. Frakes is such a sport!

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      1 year ago

      I saw somewhere that the actor improved that line which means he blurted it out with Riker standing right there which feels totally in line with the tone of the episode they were shooting. It’s funny to me on so many levels.

      • ClarkDoom@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That honestly makes it’s so much better. I’d love to see a behind the scenes for this episode!

        • poundsignbuttstuff@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Definitely watch the Ready Room episode. They talk about a lot of this. I remember another interview where Tawnie Newsom, I think, talks about how Frakes, Quaid, and her just kinda took over the set because they were all nerding out, being silly, and improv-ing a bunch because that’s what they do on LDS.

  • williams_482@startrek.website
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    1 year ago

    Poor Christine Chapel! Now she knows what the audience has always known: her relationship with Spock is ultimately doomed. Plus a delightful mix of guilt and fear that she could unwittingly cause Spock to never measure up to the vague but crucial future that Boimler mentioned to her in the turbolift, simply by trying to make the two of them happy.

    That suuuuuucks.

    • concrete_baby@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      So Boimler inadvertently causes Nurse Chapel to end her relationship with Spock and encourage him to go back to T’Pring?

      • Jestersage@startrek.website
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        1 year ago

        Predestination paradox. In fact the entire thing is likely a predestinaiton paradox. “Activated 120 years ago”, which is caused by the imager at “now”; the reason why the two can go back home is because Tendi told them about the version according to Orion and mentioned her great-grandma being the discoverer, which is what let the past Orion to recognize the truth and probably themselves assigned it to Tendi’s great-grandma?

        • polymorphist_neuroid@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          …this little bit of cooperation between the Federation and the Orions probably improves their relationship a bit, which will eventually lead to Orions joining the Federation, which is how Tendi is friends with Boimler in the first place, which is how Boimler knows that not all Orions are pirates which is why Pike tones down his hostile response which gets them to a deal with the Orions which leads to…

        • samus12345@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Tendi just said her great-grandmother was on the ship that discovered it, not that she was the discoverer.

    • polymorphist_neuroid@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      OMG! They managed to make that scene just so hilarious and poignant at the same time. Watching her facial expressions as she realizes what Boimler is telling her made me want to just scream at him to shut the fuck up and slap the shit out of him…but he’s just being dear sweet clueless Boimey. :(

      Theme-wise, I think they’re setting up a comparison between Pike knowing his doom and Christine/Spock knowing their relationship is doomed. Knowing that, what do you do in the meantime?

  • deweydecibel@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Sooooo many people that never watched Lower Decks are going to be asking why there was a koala in the opening and I’m delighted by that.

  • Corgana@startrek.website
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    1 year ago

    Loved having a Sunday morning cartoon 🖖

    This episode was way better than it needed to be. I was genuinely moved seeing Una’s reaction to the knowledge of her being the “poster girl”, as well as the reaction of the Orion captain at the end.

    Seeing Boimler and Mariner in this context really drives home how much Lower Decks is essentially “what if Trekkies could serve in Star Fleet” and it worked so well!

    • Hogger85b@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Especially the poster girl part being how she (and her lawyer) presented her self in the trial in ep2

      • Corgana@startrek.website
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        1 year ago

        Yes exactly! To Boimler it was a major and inspiring story out of history, but to Una it was a personal moment that happened only recently. Imagine being told something you did that you thought was relatively minor (and over) would inspire generations of people in the years to come. Her reaction was perfect.

  • Acid@startrek.website
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    1 year ago

    This episode is one of the best episodes in the modern era of Trek, it’s lighthearted it’s funny it celebrates Trek and it’s done so tastefully that I genuinely have nothing bad to say about it. It reminds me of Trials and Tribble-ations.

    Plus that line at the end where they tell Una ad astra per aspera and that’s why boimler joined Starfleet is just the right kind of emotions.

    Honestly, they smashed it in this episode and ofc the 2d animated intro was chefs kiss.

  • SpacedBear@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Anyone else see Boimler do the Boim-walk to get away from Una the second time with Mariner there? I did not realize human hips could move like that.

  • Continuumguy@startrek.website
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    1 year ago

    Thoughts and observations as I watched over at the “other place”, special Saturday night/early Sunday morning edition:

    • AHHHHH, WE’RE DOING THIS ON A SATURDAY!
    • AHHHHH, WE’RE GETTING THE CROSSOVER!
    • AHHHHH, A CROSSOVER BETWEEN A CARTOON COMEDY AND A LIVE ACTION DRAMA!
    • AHHHHH, IN GENERAL!
    • First off, that they have “Those Old Scientists” as the title is (chef’s kiss).
    • Previously: Nyota had a really bad day, La’An got a bad case of Kirk hotness, and Chapel/Spock had a bad case of hotness for each other
    • OH GOD WE’RE STARTING ANIMATED
    • “Numero Una”
    • Tendi would like to remind you all that the Orions have a rich and varied history.
    • “You guys look… very realistic.”
    • AHHHH, ANIMATED OPENING CREDITS!
    • Hahaha, the thing that eats the Ceritos Nacelle!
    • AHHHH, THE KOALA AT THE END OF THE CREDITS! WHY IS IT SMILING, WHAT DOES IT KNOW!?!?
    • “But flipping it open is the best part”
    • “Computer, end program.”
    • “Worf’s honor.” DANGIT!
    • I wonder if Frakes showed Quaid how to properly do a Riker maneuver
    • “You just… laughed.”
    • Ah, we’re tying in with what Tendi said.
    • Boimler is a toddler knocking over furniture.
    • “We have jetpacks now”
    • Pike’s birthday is a holiday… CRAP!
    • Boimler freaking out over the fact he made Spock laugh is such a Boimler thing.
    • Hey, a reference to his sehlat!
    • I like how they are using this episode to also move the other plotlines forward.
    • HE MENTIONED PIKE’S REALLY GREAT HAIR
    • Triticale, as opposed to Quadritriticale.
    • I totally saw Mariner coming.
    • Dystopian San Francisco!
    • “Have you noticed their references are weirdly specific?”
    • “Hot Spock agrees with me”
    • “It’s a poster that is pinned up”
    • I feel like Tawny herself probably demanded a scene with Uhura
    • Ah, there’s the Boimler scream!
    • “Holy Q!”
    • “They had a Trelane thing going on.”
    • “He had to contour the hell out of the jawline”
    • “Oh, I already know.” Hahaha, they finally got out-future knowledged.
    • Oh god, are they going to steal a piece of an NX?
    • Oh, just a piece of it in the Enterprise.
    • The “Mistress of the Winter Constellations” strikes again!
    • Of course Ransom calls Una the hottest first officer in starfleet history.
    • Hahaha, 2D animation Enterprise crew because they are drunk!
    • All-time classic.
  • TrashMeNot@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    My face hurt by the end of the episode. I had no idea I was smiling the whole time. It really was that perfect mix of physical comedy but down to earth. It reminded me so much of The Orville. Definitely one of those I’ll go back to watch again.

    • UESPA_Sputnik@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      My face hurt by the end of the episode. I had no idea I was smiling the whole time.

      Is that you, Mr. Spock?

  • Prouvaire@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    The danger with these “very special fun episodes” is that they can be confined to being just that. But what elevated this episode is how it used the time travel/crossover conceit to foreshadow, progress and pay off SNW character arcs, including Chapel and Spock’s ultimately doomed relationship (something that I’ve previously said could be incredibly poignant, if handled right), Number One’s legacy, and the way Pike confronts his fate. I hope the musical episode does the same.

    • Continuumguy@startrek.website
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      1 year ago

      They also tied in to Tendi’s story on LD (her constant reminding to people that Orions have a culture far beyond pirating), even though we didn’t see her in Live Action.

      • Eva!@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Are Orions now the designated species for calling out how essentialized Star Trek aliens tend to be? Because we have D’vana Tendi, the somewhat obscure Ensign Harral from Discovery, and now the crew of the D’var. You can argue the last one’s just an extension of Tendi’s character arc, but still, that’s three series that have touched on this.

        • Mikey Mongol @lemmynsfw.com
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          1 year ago

          TBH I think TNG did this very well with the Klingons (depending on who was writing the episode, of course). Like, some Klingons were Real Klingons™ but many others only gave lip service to those ideals and were actually as sneaky and cowardly as any other race. I think a lot of Worf’s inner conflict came from realizing and processing that fact.

          • Manabi@startrek.website
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            1 year ago

            And on the extreme end of that was the Duras family being more like the stereotypical Romulan (and even allying with them against their own people) than a Real Klingon™. It was disgusting how they managed to keep their house throughout the series, even though they were everything a Klingon wasn’t supposed to be.

            • Mikey Mongol @lemmynsfw.com
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              1 year ago

              The viewer naturally sympathizes with Worf and adopts his view of Klingon culture, but remember that he was raised by humans and most of his knowledge of Klingon culture came from very early childhood and books. Imagine a human child raised by another species whose knowledge of Human culture came from fairy tales and like Arthurian stories. He’d come to earth and be outraged that everyone isn’t following some virtuous code of chivalry. A politician broke his word? DUEL TO THE DEATH! That’s Worf.

        • HardlightCereal@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          There’s also the Orion on DS9 who likes to talk big game about being a pirate, but he’s actually from Cincinnati and has never pirated anything in his life

    • YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The hidden line in the episode is that the crew knows they end up as historical icons of Starfleet and thus the line ‘I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until finally I became that person. Or he became me.’ this applies to the crew now. It allows them to be more confident in their decisions and become the icons they are meant to be. This episode likely has one of the largest impacts on the character direction of the crew going forward.

  • batmaniam@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    They NAILED it. They, somehow, took the loving but self aware fan service of lower decks and jammed it into SNW which has been the most consistent reboot back to the core of this series. This was absolutely some of the best show writing I’ve seen in a very long time.

    • HardlightCereal@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I actually think Lower Decks is closer to the core of Star Trek than SNW. I mean, you couldn’t do a “the enterprise got pregnant” episode in SNW

      SNW has been continually frustrating me by almost being great trek but continually falling short. Like, that prime directive episode on the forgetting planet was great, right up until the captain decided to flagrantly ignore the prime directive and destroy a culture’s individuality