LizstarTrek - Lower Decks Season 2

Every Sunday my Twitch subs and I watch Star Trek in my Discord. Here are my reviews and thoughts on each of the episodes as I see it. If you’re curious about a nerd’s views on Star Trek episodes, please read on, I go quite in depth with some of these episodes! I’ve watched some Star Trek before but not all of it!

I know very little about this show except it was made by nerds like me with a very different sense of humor. God, please be good.

Strange Energies - ENT 4/10

Our season starts with Mariner busting out of a Cardassian torture center, while Mariner is expositing about how her life is exhausting. This SHOW is exhausting. I was hoping they’d slow down a little, but no, still going a mile a minute. This is a hologram btw, we aren’t like at war with the Cardassians, I hope.

Mariner and her mom are getting along a lot better, and it’s rubbing the rest of the crew the wrong way. Our B plot is Tendi and Rutherford, again. Rutherford lost his memory and he’s a bit different. Tendi is worried he has some kind of deadly condition that effects cyborgs.

Mariner does a power washing on some ancient monuments that unleashes an energy wave that hits Ransom. He becomes a superpowered god and goes mad with power. As annoying as I find this plot point, it’s classic Trek and we haven’t seen it in a while.

Ransom becomes a giant head and tries to eat the ship. They need to short out his godliness by making him more powerful. Meanwhile, Tendi chases Rutherford around the ship with guns and stuff. She eventually admits its a lie and just wanted to cut into his brain to make sure he likes her. He finds it cool. That’s weird as hell but okay, if they’re good for each other.

They ignore Mariner’s suggestion to overpower him, and try to talk him down instead. It doesn’t work, so Mariner kicks him in the dick which depowers him. Okay. Mariner and her mom decide “okay maybe working together wasn’t working, let’s go back to the status quo”. All’s back to the status quo… except Boimler still isn’t here. How’s he doing on that ship with Riker anyway?

Poorly! Why did they make Riker like this anyway, it’s kinda weirding me out.

Kayshon, His Eyes Open - ENT 6/10

This episode introduces a few new characters. We need a replacement for Boimler, that’s Jet Manhaver, he’s a tightass who butts heads with Mariner a lot. And then we have the new security staff, that’s Kayshon, a Tamarian. Remember them, from like, the best episode? Darmok indeed.

Meanwhile, Boimler is still having trouble settling in on the Titan. Neli is complaining about how the Titan is a science recon ship but all they show it in is combat missions. That’s very Neli and while I don’t care, I do care, y’know?

Riker’s crew is like “man, the Enterprise D was so lame and boring”. It’s like it was made directly to annoy my chat lol

The Lower Deckers are going to a guy’s collection ship to reposses his stuff after he died. This sets off his security, and Kayshon is turned into a doll. Poor guy. Mariner and Jet are arguing a lot and fighting the entire time.

Riker’s team are infiltrating some Pakled. One of them is like “We got a ‘led over there”. DON’T SAY IT LIKE THAT. WE DON’T NEED TO INVENT SLURS. Riker’s crew is like “THIS IS WHAT STARFLEET IS ALL ABOUT, FIGHTING TO THE DEATH IN PHASER FIGHTS” and Boimler finally is like “What are you talking about? Starfleet is about exploring and boldly goingly, that’s what Starfleet is to me.” The others go “Oh yeah, actually, I got into Starfleet to study moss.” This is NOT how I expected this to go. That’s not the vibe of Lower Decks.

They eventually realize that NEITHER Mariner OR Jet should be in charge, and Tendi and Rutherford fix the problems very quickly.

Boimler gets cloned like Riker’s clone did, and one of them gets sent back to the Cerritos. They IMMEDIATELY replace Jet with him, and all’s well. Oh and Kayshon goes back to normal.

We’ll Always Have Tom Paris - ENT 3/10

Shaxs is back from the dead. Rutherford is freaked out, everyone is like “nah, bridge crew always come back from the dead it’s fine”. I’d say that’s funny but they kinda dwell on it for a while.

Meanwhile, there’s a few other plots. 1) Tom Paris is on the ship, and Boimler is trying to get him to sign a decorative plate. 2) Security is beefed up and causing problems 3) Tendi and Mariner are going to collect anti-flea cream or something for the doctor.

Tendi and Mariner are like “man we’re besties but we never hang out, why is that?” they draw attention to the fact that they never actually hang out much, which I kept complaining about in season 1. At least they realized it tbh? Anyways the thing they’re getting is actually a “caitian sex post”, which they of course break.

They keep trying to do things Mariner’s way, and it makes the problem even worse. They bet on billiards with some Nausicaans, and they of course get angry and break shit. There’s also a lot of stuff about “oh yeah, Tendi’s an Orion”. They didn’t talk about that too much in season 1, but yes, Orions have been commonly shown as evil pirates. She has a complex about this, but if SHE’S doing it, it’ll be fine.

We find out that Mariner is pansexual. Cool. She even namedrops “bad nonbinaries”. Sick.

This episode is all over hte place. A, B, AND C plots in a 20 minute episode is way, way too much.

Boimler goes nuts from a gasleak and Tom Paris tackles him.

Mariner and Tendi crash the shuttle into the ship. It bounces off the shields. THAT’S NOT HOW SHIELDS WORK. They only work on energy weapons. Okay.

The conclusion to the Rutherford plot is that he learns horrifying secrets of death and it makes him upset.

This epsiode was ALL over the place.

Mugato, Gumato - ENT 7/10

We start our episode with Mariner beating the shit out of Rutherford and Boimler. Boimler ends up throwing up. This is VERY Rick and Morty. They then go chat with the bartender, and he gives them a conspiracy theory that Mariner is part of Black Ops. Now they’re both anxious about her. They all need to go to a planet to find a Mugato. They’re from a TOS episode.

Meanwhile, we got another B plot. Tendi needs to scan some people who are avoiding it so she can impress the doctor. She is bad at asserting herself.

They find a Ferengi poaching operation, and shit goes south. They then find Mariner stabbing and eating Shaxs. Uh, okay. They run off into the wilderness, trying to hide.

We get a bunch of moments of them trying to survive in the wilderness. They barely do. They eventually come across Mariner, the only person not caught by the Ferengi, and she’s like “wtf no, I was sucking venom out, dog.” Yeah, she’s not a spy. She set that rumor herself.

Also turns out that the last holdout for people avoiding seeing the doctor… is THE DOCTOR HERSELF! She chases her around the ship, it’s fun. She breaks her arm, whoops.

Rutherford and Boimler use THEIR skills. They convince the Ferengi making a mugato perserve is way better for their profit margin. Hey man, when you don’t solve the problem with VIOLENCE, it’s good!! And also the jokes were pretty funny here. I like how it ends with them playing a board game they both love, and though MAriner barely understands it, she’s kicking their teeth in.

An Embarassment of Dooplers - ENT 5/10

The bridge crew has to take care of “Ambassador Doopler”, a guy who can duplicate if freaked out. It’s stressful as hell. But when they’re done, they get to go to the WILD party that’s being thrown every few years. Meanwhile, Boimler and Mariner are going to go to the party, cause Boimler’s clone was invited but is too busy.

Things go south on the station VERY quickly, they are NOT supposed to be there, cause the ship is under Doopler Quarantine. Why are the ship security dressed like Judge Dread?

Boimler and Mariner have a falling out cause they’re kinda both butthurt about things the other did to each other but never brought up until stress is happening. Boimler gets into the party in the end, but Mariner doesn’t. But even though the party is sick as hell, Boimler knows no one and wants to be with Mariner in the end, so he hangs with her in a shitty old bar.

Are we re-learning the same moral lesson every episode??

They fix the Doopler problem by making him angry. After they don’t get into the party after all, the captain just teleports him into th e party. I THINK that’d get you like, fired, but aight. Anyways they all have fun just partying on their own with their friends.

An Embarassment of Dooplers - ENT 6/10

The captain goes to the Pakled’s home planet, notably called “Pakled Planet”, and a Pakled prisoner escapes to their ship and requests asylum. They keep the captain on the planet until they give the prisoner back. Meanwhile, the B plot is Boimler is drafted into a group calling themselves The Redshirts. One of them is a Kzinti, which is sick as hell, I love the Kzinti.

The Pakled, Rumdar, is actually VERY obviously a spy. But he’s also incompetent because the Pakled’s one joke is they are very dumb. Of ALL the aliens to expand upon, why oh WHY did they decide to choose the Pakleds

The Kzinti does this thing from TAS. Yay. But actually this new friend group is kinda shitty. Not yay. They’re clearly not caring about Boimler as a person or his own person, and he needs to learn that his TRUE friends are his… friends. Yeah it’s not the deepest plot.

Rutherford gets blown up like a balloon by a science experiment, and Tendi gets eaten. This episode is FILLED with kinks.

Tendi LITERALLY TFS INTO A BUG. Were the writers actually trying to fit in as many crews as they could? Anyways Boimler fix this by being not GLAMAROUS, but by being Starfleet, and is abandoned by his new “friends”.

Meanwhile they find the spy floating in space. He spaced himself cause ha ha Pakleds are stupid. He doesn’t die because “Pakleds are strong”. They counter spy him easily cause he’s dumb and then they fly off, all’s fine.

It ends with them prank calling Armus. Fuck that guy, fun joke.

Where Pleasant Fountains Lie - ENT 6.5/10

The crew saves a civilization from being enslaved by an evil computer voiced by THE MAN, JEFFREY COMBS. He’s Agimus the Evil Computer. I love it. Meanwhile, Commander Billups, the chief engineer, turns out to be PRINCE OF HYSPERIA, fantasy kingdom. But he gave up his royalty to be an engineer. But if he ever HAS SEX he’ll lose his engineering powers and have to go back to being a prince. What the fuck? Alright, fair enough. “Sorry mom, but there’s only one lady I love, and she’s 2 stories tall and pumped full of dilithium.” You love women?! Rutherford and Billups go over to their ship to fix their “Dragonbreath engines”. Apparently they renamed everything to sound magical.

Oh thank GOD. Boimler and Mariner crashland on a ship due to an anomaly, and now they’re stuck with Evil Jeffrey Combs computer. Yay, more Jeffrey Combs!!! It drives a wedge between the two of them, cause of course it does, but also that’d been happening for a while, cause of the whole Titan problem that I SWEAR we’ve solved THREE TIMES NOW.

Meanwhile, Billups fixes his mom’s ship and heads back, all’s good. Whoops, the ship’s engine explodes, killing her and Rutherford. I mean, we know what’s going on, obviously. Billups immediately resigns, cause he blames himself. Very obvious plot here, but that’s fine. Tendy immediately finds out that it’s fake, and Rutherford saves Billups from sex.

Turns out Boimler was PRETENDING to be angry at Mariner so he could use Combs to power a distress beacon. It’s pretty funny, honestly, in the end. Agimus is put in a wall with a hundred other evil computers, the end.

I, Excretus - ENT 4/10

Due to captain incompetence, the lower decks almost die. They are not happy. I still don’t find this fun.

A Starfleet drill instructor is here to do some kind of drills to test the ship. I am confused by the idea of Starfleet having drill instructors, but she’s Pandronian, from TAS. Cool, I like all the TAS references. Her name is Shari yn Yem, and she gamifies running the ship, for some reason. They gotta do holodeck stuff, the lower decks are assigned higher bridge duties, while the bridge officers are assigned lower deck stuff.

We get lots of weird scenes iwth them doing strange stuff like uh… Tendi has to kill a Klingon who DESPERATELY wants to die? Mariner has to be in an old wild west town. It’s a bunch of rapid fire references. Boimler gets a Borg one, while everyone else fails their’s, he succeeds easily… but wants to be perfect, so he does it over and over.

Mariner also has to go in one where it’s The Naked Now, and she runs into the simulated ship having a sex orgy. This is DEFINITELY some kind of HR violation. Does Starfleet have HR?

Things aren’t going much better to the other side either, btw.

After failing some more, they both realize that grass isn’t greener on the other side. But yeah, the drills are actually rigged so that the drill instructor can prove her job is actually worth having. Uh, okay. But she can’t be done and send in their failing numbers until Boimler is done. And he’s still not done.

They… for some reason send the ship into a fucking crystalline entity in order to freak her out, basically holding her hostage and doing scary shit that they do all the time. It all works out, and all it took was getting Boimler traumatized. But the bridge crew promise to treat the lower decks better, AND they make thgeir food replicator y’know, normal. Before it was like, segregated cause ha ha joke? Okay if we can do away with those jokes, I’ll be very happy.

wej Duj - ENT 8/10

We get some little vignets about Vulcan and Klingon lower decks. They are… basically what you’d expect someone would write about when asked to do alien lower decks. A Klingon tries to impress his new captain after that captain killed the old one, so he can be first officer. Meanwhile, a Vulcan feels like something is off, and goes to tell the captain. Everyone thinks she’s a freak for following “feelings”.

Meanwhile, back on the Cerritos, everyone is hanging out with the bridge crew today… except Boimler. He doesn’t really have an “in” like the others. So he tries to get a bridge crew buddy. It goes poorly.

Boimler lies about being from Hawaii to get an in with Ransom. Oh great, time for the liar revealed trope. Rutherford is like “Dude, what’s more important? Having a commander friend, or being true to yourself?” And the answer is obvious. Commander friend.

Okay, this Vulcan, T’Lyn, I kinda like her? All the Vulcans around her are snooty assholes and she’s like “I just want to work.” “The others can see how unstable you are, T’Lyn.” “Well if they’ve been watching me so closely they must be aware I do not care about their opinions”. I like her :D

The Klingon and Federation plotlines collide. The Klingon captain was supplying bombs to the Pakleds. His new first in command is like “wow this is REALLY not honorable?” and then the Cerritos shows up and is attacked by the Klingons and Pakleds. The Vulcans then show up to save the day and we get a big fight scene.

The Klingon takes command and then orders a retreat, as it’s nto their battle. The Pakleds are easily defeated, with T’Lyn’s new project having made the Vulcan ship even stronger, and it works out.

The episode ends with Boimler being a upper rank buddy for a new cadet on the ship. It’s kinda cute.

…Actually it REALLY ends showing “Borg Lower Decks”, with them just sitting there regenerating. Fair. Legitimately good episode!!

First First Contact - ENT 7.5/10

Captain Freeman is working with Captain Sonya Gomez with a first contact mission. She ALSO learns she’s going to be promoted. Remember Gomez? She’s the ensign who spilled coffee on Picard. We loved her but she was only in a few episodes. It’s nice to see her.

Mariner tells the senior staff that the captain is transfering off. They are VERY angry about this, especially when they find out none of them are going with her. It IS kinda rude tbh. Meanwhile, Tendi sees the doctor delete her from the system, and thinks she’s gonna be transferred off the ship.

Shit suddenly goes bad, Gomez’s ship is suddenly knocked out by a planetoid hitting itt and shut down. It’ll crash into the planet and do catastrophic damage. The Cerritos comes up with a very dangerous and risky mission to try and rescue them. It’ll be dangerous, but if they work together, it can work.

Holy shit, Cetacean Ops!!!! I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE CETACEAN OPS! Boimler has to go into a flooded place to do a thing, and ends up drowning, while Mariner is thrown from the ship and flies towards the anomaly…. but is saved by that Andorian who was in this season a few times who’s been a real bitch to her! Huh, okay.

They save the day, and all is well. First contact goes well, no one dies. The Andorian’s name is Jennifer, she’s cute. The captain also turns down the promotion… but uh, finds out she’s ACTUALLY under arrest for a suspected bombing that blew up Pakled Planet. Bullshit of course, but y’know. We end on a sad note as everyone sees the captain taken away in cuffs. To be continued.