At Last,Star Trek: Lower DecksFinally Nailed It This Season

Star Trek : Lower Decks ’ third season has struggled to find apoint for itself , recidivate its national flag heroesand relying on the charms of its medley rather than the increment of its eccentric to find something to say — a charm that was beginning toquickly run out . gratefully , at the season ’s halfway mark it decided to remind us just why we love this show in the first berth .

In fact , if anything , all I could possibly complain about in “ reflexion ” is that both its A and B vitamin - plots were so interesting and well carry through I almost wish that both got their own episode to be center on — but after four week of uncertain doubt about the show , I will fain take “ there is literally too much of a sound thing going on ” as a concern .

This is because “ reflection ” fork over on three key fronts that have been severely lacking from Lower Decks ’ third season , molest as it has been by going back and forth on just exactly it wants to do with its national flag protagonists , awkwardly shunt their anterior growth as characters around to tread water . Firstly , there ’s the delivery of a brutally amusing , scathing , and yet loving indictment of just what the hell Starfleet is in the A - plot , which sees Boimler and Mariner assign with Starfleet enlisting booth duty on a nearby planet , only to have their merchandising pitch skewer by a dashing independent archaeologist named Petra Aberdeen ( guest star Georgia King)—Star Trek does love itself a saucy archeologist from meter to time , of trend . Then in the boron - plot , there ’s the long - awaited geographic expedition of Rutherford ’s past and his implant , when an attempt to fix a string of insomniac nights leads to his physical structure being taken over by a disaffected vestige of his mind from his pre - Starfleet youth . Lastly , there ’s the fact that both of these plots actually climax with the hope of actual growth for two of our main characters . wait at that ! That ’s an episode of television right there , and it only took half the season to get there .

Image: Paramount

Let ’s dive into the A - patch a fleck more . Mariner is charge to the recruitment booth by Ransom as part of his on-going direction of her functioning , and the key conflict here is that she has to equilibrize doing her problem — pitching Starfleet to the locals as an exciting adventure — while the nearby Petra , from her own archaeologist guild booth , expertly skewer all those promises . It ’s the sorting of deeply nerdy humor that Lower Decks is at its good with : not necessarily loving pastiche of Star Trek , but the questions we all constantly think about its populace . In this slip , it ’s primarily if whether or not Starfleet is the exploratory scientific organization it pitches itself to masses as , or if it ’s really the quasi - military that … well , that it really is . Can Starfleet really be about discovering the undiscovered country , as Mariner is forced to bleat , if most of the metre it ’s really about trying not to be assimilated by the Borg , or getting in disputes with the Klingons , or the Romulans , or the Cardassians ( a potent admonisher that Lower Decks is not * that * far take from the aftermath of the Dominion War ! ) ? Can a career in Starfleet really promise base hit , exemption , and scientific curioisity if it act and dresses like a military ? And just why do they change those blamed matter every few years ?

Hilariously , it ’s not Mariner who breaks under this needling , but Boimler , who lose his total shit when a passing outpost scientist mock his rank and file radar target and removes it from his uniform . Just as nerdily fan - based as Petra and passer - bys ’ needling of Starfleet as a recruitment drive are , Boimler ’s infuriated defence force of why Starfleet matters in spitefulness of all this is equally plucked justly out of fan disputation . or else of just prod at us if we know which Star Trek the show is referencing , this is the first bit of potpourri this time of year that truly palpate like low-down Decks at its good : treat its characters as Star Trek fan who just bechance to exist in Star Trek .

It ’s not the only eddy on that idea “ Reflections ” has though . The B - plot of ground reveals just what has made an jittery personality pass Rutherford ’s body : a pre - implant version of his younger self , an Academy skiver who used his engineering artistry not to prepare for a vocation in outer space , but build and bucket along illegal ship . In many ways , as Rutherford ’s internal self niggle with each other over who will get to control their body — his implants and damaged Einstein think there ’s only elbow room for one — there ’s parallels to the needling between Petra and Mariner in the A - plot . What materialise to himself , the younger Rutherford wonders , that he travel from an tempestuous , ill-affected military man to the conformity of a nerdy Starfleet grunt who ’d rather say “ oopsie doodle ” than “ make ? ” How did he go from using his abilities as an engineer to follow his own passions , to someone willing to pass their life determine someone else ’s problems ? What could possibly be worth go that life to his angry , passionate untested ego ?

Image: Paramount

The answer , as the Rutherford ’s metaphysical race to manipulate their peculiar body reveals , is ultimately the friendships Samanthan has made among his fellow Lower Deckers . He ’s no longer wild as he once was , at either the macrocosm around him or himself , and he ’s no longer alone — he ’s channelling his mania healthily instead of into something that could ’ve arrest him killed . “ I have ally who wish for me ” might be the lovey - dovey conclusion to eventually getting to explore Rutherford ’s past , just as Mariner not falling for Petra ’s jibes — eventually , we watch she was stress to provoke a scene so she could purloin an artifact ( none other than the gat of the Ferengi Grand Nagus — how on Ferenginar did Rom suffer that!?)—is in the A - plot that would let Lower pack of cards comfortably pounce this growth under the bed as an quarantined story arc . gratefully , “ reflexion ” excels in letting these revelations loiter . Mariner figure Petra , after years of being recite by her female parent and her superiors that they do n’t believe she can mold herself into Starfleet , as a potential escape to a life better suited for her — even if it means leave her friends behind . Rutherford meanwhile , bump the memory of him welcome his implant , discover that it ’s the resultant role of an accident on a secret Starfleet task , and was designed to disguise his engagement in it .

These are actual , tangible plot thread for Lower Decks ’ third time of year to continue to mine , and crucially , they at long last reflect a level of growth in our characters beyond one - off adventure . That ’s something that , up until now , the third time of year was distinctly sputter to articulate , as it blend in back on forth on just what these characters should be at this point in time . We can only desire it can keep this energy up for the rest of the time of year .

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Image: Paramount