Okay, this was way better than it had any right to be.
So our poor Lower Deckers get left behind on a satellite for six hours while the Cerritos goes off on a rescue mission. As a result, the crew has to go through drills given by a Pandronian. Gotta love all these TAS callbacks.
Simulations include:
Mirror Universe: Mariner must escape from the mirror universe. The dialogue from the mirror versions of the crew is quite on the nose. "Torturing people makes me horny! Being horny makes me want to torture people!" Mariner fails because she salutes with the wrong arm.
Wrath of Khan: Rutherford must make the same sacrifice Spock did to save the ship. However, he can't even open the door because its too hot from the radiation. He finally opens the door, but then the ship explodes. (Nitpick, though... was the ship actually going to explode? I thought the danger was that the ship just couldn't go to warp and would be caught up in the Genesis wave?)
Medical Ethics: Tendi must practice medical ethics. Unfortunately, this simulation is based on "Ethics", so she fails for doing everything she should.
Wild West: Mariner finds herself in one of those Wild West towns from various Trek shows. However, she gets stomped on by her horse despite the fact that she's had horse riding lessons.
Naked Time: Wow, Lower Decks just got racy. Very VERY racy. Mariner spaces herself rather than deal with this simulation. I don't blame her.
Borg: This is the one we see the most of since Boimler keeps running it over and over to get a higher score. Lots of callbacks to previous Borg episodes, including lots of adorable Borg babies. Also, the Borg Queen appears, reprised by none other than ALICE FREAKING KRIGE. (Gotta wonder what she thought of the dialogue, because the Borg Queen gets to be funny here.) Eventually, Boimler has to fail this simulation, which results in him actually getting assimilated. (My other major nitpick: How does one get assimilated by holographic Borg? And even if one could, wouldn't the safeties prevent that?)
Lower Decks: The Cerritos bridge crew initially find their simulation easy, but then find themselves having to stack crates while random things are going on that aren't explained. (Klingons! Jem'Hadar!) Also, why are the crates shaped like that if they're supposed to be stacked?
We eventually find out the drill instructor is purposely trying to fail the Cerritos crew for her own job security. She is convinced to cancel the results when Freeman and company show her how dangerous space can really be.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Agreed, for a story that’s mostly “greatest hits” references this worked surprisingly well. A great way to develop character for everyone by putting differing interpretations on the usual bureaucracy-imposed tests.
A few of my favorite bits…
The Pandronian was done surprisingly well, obviously it’s the sort of thing that was incredibly cheesy in TAS but still works pretty well with improved animation. And her floating around among the characters (especially her head) lent her personality. Her “get ahead” joke was perfect, a terribly lame pun that fit right in.
I’m pretty sure the Wild West simulation was supposed to be from “Spectre of the Gun”, some of the buildings in the background seemed to lack any depth.
And in the mirror universe encounter, they snuck in an “Invasion of the Bodysnatchers” joke when Mariner gets discovered.
Last one, when talking about the California-class ships, the drill administrator rants how “most of the Federation doesn’t even know you exist”, a sadly and hilariously appropriate nod to how these ships have supposedly been around for a long time but were never seen in TNG.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Legible list of scenarios has Borg Encounter & Naked Time. The rest are:
• Kobayashi • Time Trap • Tribble Troubles • From Q To Q • Cause & Effect • Natural Selection • Evolution • Survival Of The Fittest • Chain Of Command • Hero Worship • Carbon Based Units
The idea they can only get a slice of pizza at a time or can't get pesto is stupid.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
quote:Wrath of Khan: Rutherford must make the same sacrifice Spock did to save the ship. However, he can't even open the door because its too hot from the radiation. He finally opens the door, but then the ship explodes. (Nitpick, though... was the ship actually going to explode? I thought the danger was that the ship just couldn't go to warp and would be caught up in the Genesis wave?)
Yes, but in this case I believe the dialogue is that the warp core is going to explode, so while it's clearly inspired by The Wrath of Khan, it has more in common with the scenario Deanna Troi goes through in the commander simulation in "Thine Own Self."