Last week, Andrea and I finished of season 3 of Star Trek: Lower Decks. The animated series has a tricky mission of having fun with the legacy and mythology of the Star Trek universe while also adding something of substance to that universe as a legitimate Star Trek series.
OK, I know Star Trek: Lower Decks is an animated series but does it need to be paced, produced and performed like one? Frenetic bursts of activity and dialogue spouted (and sometimes shouted) at super fast rates of speed can leave me lost and disconnected from what's going on.
Thankfully in it's 3rd season, the show has learned to trust itself a bit more and slow down a bit. Although the season premiere leaned really hard on those break pace speeds and some it's worst habits.
In “Grounded”, Capt. Freeman has been arrested for blowing up the Pakleds' home world and her daughter, Becket Mariner, is convinced that she and only she can save her mom from an unjust fate. But she and the rest of the crew are stuck with the Cerritos in drydock for repairs after the events of season 2.
One of Star Trek: Lower Decks' bad habits is having lower deck officer Becket Mariner save the day even if her impulsive and reckless actions are the cause of the problems. And the season starts with Becket at her worst behavior with the following 2 point plan:
1) Steal the Cerritos
2) Save mom.
If step 2 seems a bit lacking in detail, welcome to Becket's world where she frequently jumps into a situation and hopes an answer presents itself.
In this case, the plan gets no further than step 1 thanks to the intervention of Capt. Freeman. It seems while Becket was talking fast and acting faster, Freeman and her bridge crew were already on the case of who blowed up the Pakleds' home world (answer: the Pakleds because Pakleds are dumb) and clearing the good Captain's name.
But Freeman's had more than enough of her rash and impetuous behavior and puts First Officer Jack Ransom in direct charge of Becket Mariner.
Over the course of the season, something remarkable happens: Becket Mariner actually... behaves. There are times when being brash and impulsive might be warranted but Becket slowly builds the skill sets she needs to know when to follow protocol and when to throw caution to the wind.
Also developing over the season is Brad Boimler who makes a life changing decision to be more bold, to take chances. Yes, it's the opposite direction of Becket's path but it has the same impact of making Boimler a better Starfleet officer.
D'Vana Tendi is coming to terms with her legacy as an Orion (who are primarily known for piracy and sex slaves) and her aspiration to become one day a Starfleet captain.
And there is Sam Rutherford, the ultimate Starfleet engineering geek discovering his lost memories. The mystery of who he was before he got his cybernetic implants and why he has those implants are unravelled a bit this season.
The season finale turns on two of Star Trek's most problematic tropes: computer driven technology run amok and the ethically compromised Starfleet admiral. But the episode does provide for a exciting finale and some significant character development for our lower deck pals.
Perhaps the most beloved episode of the season was “Hear All, Trust Nothing” which brought the Cerittos to Deep Space Nine and Nana Visitor and Armin Shimmerman reprise there roles as Kira Nerys and Quark.
The most controversial episode of the season was “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption” which spent the majority of the episode away from our principal characters and focused on return of Peanut Hamper, the selfish Exocomp who put survival over duty in the season 1 finale. Peanut Hamper is a self centered bitch of an Exocomp but they do seem to be on a path of redemption with Starfleet. Until they are not.
Star Trek: Lower Decks has a plethora of inside jokes and Easter Eggs to appeal the most hard core Trekker and that remains a lot of fun. But in addition to the homages to Star Trek's past, the show has evolved to actually trust itself to establish it's own meaningful journey and tell it's own story. I still wish the show would be a little less frenetic and less shouty. But over all, Star Trek: Lower Decks continues to be an enjoyable ride through the Star Trek universe.
On the subject of animation, even as Star Trek: Lower Decks brought it's 3rd season to a close, Star Trek: Prodigy has returned to resume it's 4th season. It's been since February since episode 10 dropped so as I told Andrea, it might take me a bit to remember who these characters are.
The Protostar crew have conducted several "good deed" missions under the guidance of the Janeway hologram. The crew wants to establish their bonafides as trustworthy and hope to be welcomed by the Federation.
At the very edge of Federation space, they make contact with a distant outpost. Unfortunately, the Diviner's evil scheme to turn the Protostar into a weapon against the Federation manifests itself, resulting the outpost being destroyed and Protostar's crew labeled as saboteurs.
Prodigy may be designed to target younger audiences but the complexities of the plot and the character development seem to belie that directive. Prodigy succeeds because it does not talk down to it's intended audience.
And that is that for the touchbase this week.
Next week, I'll post about Interview With the Vampire. And at some point, we'll catch up on what's going on with Stargirl.
But we're not done with TV yet. We've got a Doctor Who post coming up tomorrow.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
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