Created by Rick & Morty writer Mike McHMahan, Star Trek: Lower Decks features the voices of Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells and Eugene Cordero as the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos.
Synopsis
The animated comedy series follows the support crew on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, in 2380. Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford and Tendi have to keep up with their duties and their social lives, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies.
Review
In its first first season Lower Decks proved itself a worthy entry to the Star Trek franchise by pulling elements from across all the shows and movies. Two episodes in to season 2 and we’re now seeing Lower Decks take a more measured approached to how self-referential it is. For example, opening this episode in sonic showers tips the hat to tech mentioned in previous episodes. But it doesn’t club you over the head with mentions of characters or episodes past.
Having said that, “Kayshon, His Eyes Open” does introduce the new security chief of the U.S.S. Cerritos, a Tamarian. The Tamarians were first introduced in The Next Generation episode “Darmok.” The Tamarians were famed for their incomprehensible language, made up of metaphors rather than direct communication. Lower Decks plays on that heavily in this episode but not in a way feels slavish to their introduction.
This week the Cerritos has been sent to help divide up the treasures held by a collector. A brilliant excuse for plenty of visual nods to the franchise. On first watch I spotted the hypnotising VR game from TNG‘s “The Game,” as well as a baseball bat which could easily be a reference to Ben Sisko. There’s also a trombone, Khan’s broken Starfleet insignia necklace, the Top That and a logo from the Terran Empire. All seen in this episode’s opening minutes.
“Kayshon, His Eyes Open” also weaves in a brilliant sub-plot set on the Titan. It brings Boimler (Jack Quaid) back in to the fold and sets up his return to the Cerritos. The animators do an excellent job of setting apart the two ships. Where the Cerritos is colourful and bright, the Titan feels much more like the U.S.S. Enterprise E, ready for battle. In addition, the crew of the Titan still wear uniforms from the TNG era movies.
Boimler as a fish out of water amongst the action is perfect for his character. Jack Quaid has an incredibly emotive voice which seamlessly taps in to the desperation of Boimler. His fanboy attitude towards Riker, particularly when the Titan crew are less keen, feels like executive producer Mike McMahan writing about his own Trek fandom. It’s another example of how Lower Decks takes care in crafting its characters, even when their experiences are comedy in its purest form.
Both ships missions descend in to chaos, of course and of course both end hilariously. For Boimler, he gets to repeat a famous TNG storyline of Riker’s. It takes his fanboy imitation to new levels. Anyone who has watched The Next Generation will get a kick out of the conclusion to this story.
For the Cerritos crew it’s about learning to accept Jet (Marcus Henderson), the hunky replacement for Boimler who knows how to handle a crisis. Of course the punchline is that he’s dropped the second one of the Boimler’s returns…
Verdict
“Kayshon, His Eyes Open” is another exciting and hilarious entry in the series. This is Lower Decks travelling at maximum warp and I’m here for every second of it.
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