The inhabitants of Beta III went back to worshipping Landru at some point. I love the "Do Not Obey" sign that Starfleet has put on Landru now. Also, the term "TOS" now exists in-universe, and while it means the same thing, it stands for "Those Old Scientists".
Didn't take long for Boimler to spill the beans about Mariner to everyone, albeit accidentally. Also doesn't take long for everyone to treat Mariner differently because she's Freeman's daughter. Mariner decides to start acting like the perfect officer to get a transfer off-ship.
Another new starship: USS Solvang, NCC-12101. It doesn't last long, though. Literally. It's a brand-new ship, and gets torn apart brutally by unknown assailants.
Tendi gets to show a new recruit around the ship: An exocomp named Peanut Hamper. She's adorable... until she decides not to save the ship later on by sacrificing herself. Good callback to the original exocomp episode.
The Cerritos gets ambushed by the alien ship while responding to the Solvang's distress call. And the aliens turn out to be... Pakleds. The Pakleds have managed to steal enough technology over the years to make their ships quite powerful.
Badgey returns to code a virus to disable the Pakled ship, and he's just a psycho as before.
Shaxs and Rutherford take the virus in Rutherford's implants to the Pakled ship to download it. When Badgey tries to kill Rutherford again by destroying the Pakled ship, Shaxs rips Rutherford's implants off and throws him in the shuttle to save him... at the cost of his own life. Was not expecting that.
Just as the Cerritos is about to escape, three more Pakled uberships join the fight... and who comes to the rescue but the MOTHERF***ING USS TITAN, complete with Riker and Troi! The Titan looks awesome. Troi looks awesome, very recognizable even in the Lower Decks style. Riker... If it wasn't for Jonathan Frakes' voice coming out of his mouth, I wouldn't be able to tell it was him, honestly. Also, kudos to the Lower Decks folks for giving Marina Sirtis equal billing with Frakes. At least they know how to treat the lady. Also also, the Titan crew is still wearing the TNG movie uniforms.
Dammit, Freeman! Your ship is UGLY! Say YES to the cosmetic changes!
Without his cybernetics, Rutherford has lost his memories from his time with them. Tendi takes it remarkably well.
Freeman and Mariner reconcile somewhat.
Lastly, Boimler gets promoted (to Lt. j.g., happy now?) to the Titan, which angers Mariner to no end.
Cute reference to the Enterprise finale. I guess Riker kept running those simulations. Also, Riker really needs a better catchprhase.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
They used that stupid design from the novels for the Titan. That sucks. That means that they’ll probably also use that stupid STO design for the Enterprise-F for PIC.
Also, brand-new California class ships with registries of NCC-1XXXX are really getting on my nerves. If registry numbers really don’t matter and could be literally anything, then there’s no point in giving the same class of ship a 7XXXX registry.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dukhat: They used that stupid design from the novels for the Titan. That sucks. That means that they’ll probably also use that stupid STO design for the Enterprise-F for PIC.
Do you understand how FUCKING PISSED I am about that? Thank fuck I'm treating Lower Decks like an in-universe TV show so I don't have to include it or any of the show's other dumb designs.
Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :
There’s also the possibility that Lower Decks takes place in the novelverse, which is now not the same thing as the prime TV show universe.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Such a well-done season finale! Of *course* the villains are another callback to a one-off alien race. The Pakleds are a perfect fit for the Lower Decks story style. I loved that they called *every* Starfleet ship “Enterprise”.
And the best thing, not really a surprise by now, that they’re fitting such great character development along side (and thanks to) the comedy. Mariner and Freeman on good terms, Tendi’s eternal optimism and sweet acceptance of Rutherford’s amnesia, even Boimler getting his promotion. I’ll miss Shaxs, he was my favorite senior officer... I always thought of him as Worf if he didn’t have any self-restraint. (“Don’t talk to me, I’m pissed off!”)
The Titan’s appearance with the full, glorious TNG theme was so satisfying, they even adequately foreshadowed it early on. I should have realized as soon as they mentioned the ship that we were going to get the cameos. But I think Riker really needs a new catchphrase.
Anybody want to bet that next season we’ll see Badgey team up with Peanut Hamper? (There’s a sentence that makes both no and total sense at the same time...) Leaving an Exocomp floating with tons of salvageable wreckage, including computer chips that probably still have intact memory...
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Peanut Hamper as a baddie works for me.
I liked the use of the TAS Kirk & Spock on the PADD Ransom was reviewing. Also, "Get phased, Lundy!" still has me laughing.
So now the California class is Ambassador contemporary? Uh, okay.
I was half expecting Freeman to put Mariner in Shaxs' spot.
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
quote:So now the California class is Ambassador contemporary?
The USS Rubidoux from episode 7 was NCC-12109.
quote:They used that stupid design from the novels for the Titan.
I kinda like it and the scene with the TNG theme was great. I agree on the Enterprise-F. That ship looks like a pregnant Sovereign. I hope the Enterprise-E is still around.
quote:Also, brand-new California class ships with registries of NCC-1XXXX are really getting on my nerves.
Let's just not take Dayton's words too literal. Maybe the Solvang had a complete do-over in Spacedock.
What really bothered me was the Titan crew in FC uniforms. What's up with that? Seems to me the showmakers just did it to make Riker and Troi more recognizable.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
quote:Originally posted by Spike: Let's just not take Dayton's words too literal. Maybe the Solvang had a complete do-over in Spacedock.
That was my thought as well. Freshly refurbished and upgraded.
Concerning the uniforms, maybe the FC uniforms are the front line design and Cerritos has the service uniforms? There are enough precedents for inconsistent uniform designs around the fleet.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
It would certainly explain away the Worst Person In Starfleet. Look! There he is! Right there! At the back!
I hate him so much. So does Martok.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
How about this for an explanation of the California-class's longevity? It's an easily-storable and upgradable reserve-fleet vessel.
So far we have about a half-dozen examples, but only four registries - two 12xxx, one 75xxx and one 87xxx. Here's what I propose happened:
1. Sometime after Wolf 359, as part of the fleet rebuild, a stored California-class hull was unmothballed and commissioned as the USS Cerritos, NCC-75567. 2. Again, this time sometime after the end of the Dominion War, so too was a second unused hull, the USS Merced, NCC-87075. 3. However more ships were still needed. They'd used all the unused stured hulls, so broke open the supply of mothballed ships previously in service. These were left till last because they needed stripping of really old texh prior to being brought up to modern spec - the Rubidoux and the Solvang, NCC-12109 and NCC-12101.
Or (3) happened first and these two ships remained in service - albeit heavily and recently upgraded in the case of the Solvang - and the Cerritos and Merced happened as described, or were newly recommissioned with newer registries (I doubt this for various reasons).
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
quote:There are enough precedents for inconsistent uniform designs around the fleet.
Yes, but mostly for budget reasons. This instance was very deliberate.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
Considering each military branch has multiple uniforms I guess to me it's not a stretch. When I served I had utilities, coveralls, working whites and blues, and dress whites and blues.
Also in Generations the Enterprise crew was wearing both TNG and DS9 uniforms. The original DS9 uniform was suppose to have a more 'utilitarian' look compared to the more formal TNG uniform. I'm guessing the Cerritos uniform is similar to the DS9 uniform while the FC uniform is more formal style.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
I was already pondering whether the LDS and PIC-flashback uniforms were two sides of the same coin, like the TNG & DS9 uniforms. This muddies that slightly but it’s not insurmountable.
Also, "I'm only hard on you when you make me hard!“ may be the greatest line ever uttered in the franchise. 🤣
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
The only flaw is that while I can easily accept Starfleet has multiple uniforms... the only thing that screws up that logic is that while the crew of the Titan still wear the FC uniform, is they also have different commbadges and that doesn't make sense.
As for the episode itself. It was really good. I didn't imagine this series would do something like killing off one of the characters like this Also curious how Boimler will get sent back to the Cerritos or if they'll replace him with new ensign.
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
Good point about the commbadges. Eh, I guess we just have to assume that Starfleet has a grace period when switching uniform designs.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
quote:...the only thing that screws up that logic is that while the crew of the Titan still wear the FC uniform, is they also have different commbadges and that doesn't make sense.
Why? It is basically a cosmetic difference.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
I suppose there is precedent in differing badges, even if it’s from a time when they were just badges, not communication devices.
And really there are plenty of real-world examples of wildly differing uniforms within single services, so it’s not that much of a problem - if you ignore the fact that for much of the course of established Trek continuity there was very little evidence of it!
... Aside from random examples, like the TMP uniforms (which were all over the place, and were I suspect an example of Roddenberry in his later years, being all happy-clappy, and seeking to play down the quasi-military trappings of Starfleet?) or the mix of TNG & DS9 in Generations.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
It also makes sense for the crews of ships that "follow up", and for the staff of embassies, to wear a less militaristic uniform. Messaging is important.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
I’m a bit late here. Didn’t have Amazon Prime for a while, so didn’t get to see LD until now. *loved* this episode. Best of season 1, and there were some GOOD episodes. The explosion when they went to warp was actually quite shocking. Also nice call back to use the little front section of the Pakled ship to be the ship they showed in Samaritan Snare.
Also some comments about naming inconsistencies and registry inconsistencies. Maybe they just build these older ships to the same design but 30 years after they first were released? Like they were probably still making Excelsior class ships into the 2370s.
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