S03.E01: Grounded

[tessaray]

Season 3 premieres August 25, 2022.

Mariner enlists her friends on a rogue mission to exonerate her mother as Captain Freeman faces a military tribunal for the destruction of Pakled Planet.

[AnimeMania]

Bobby Moynihan as Denny 

[johntfs]

Show was good.  Mariner still seems to be a person who fails to realize that she's in Starfleet and not some shady asshole military in a different sci-fi universe.  I liked the thirsty farm gals and Boimler being oblivious to them.  Kudos to them getting James Cromwell as holo Zephram Cochrane.

[dwmarch]

I want to rewatch this episode which is always a good sign.

I'm glad James Cromwell is still around. I was under the impression that he was no longer with us as of several years ago.

The callbacks are always fun in this show and they are almost always done so well. I couldn't help but smile at the "Magic Carpet Ride" blaring as the Phoenix ride took off. I'm so glad they paid for the rights to use that song again. It just wouldn't have felt the same with some other song.

Captain Morgan Bateson has apparently recovered from his temporal hangover and now leads a squad of Starfleet badasses. That is an update I was not expecting.

YMMV but "Trek to the stars" is a lot less clunky than "astronauts on somekinda... star trek?" from First Contact.

[Chaos Theory]

What I find clever about this episode is that we are basically watching the B or even the C plot while the A plot is going on somewhere else.  

Edited August 26, 2022 by Chaos Theory

[marinw]

Hands down my favourite current Star Trek series. Smart, funny, great to look at with breathtakingly efficient storytelling. 
 

The Cerritos is still without its outer shielding. How far could it get in that state?

Edited August 26, 2022 by marinw

[starri]

There was some gorgeous animation in this one.  Not only the naked Cerritos, but also the theme park Phoenix.

It wouldn't have mattered how the rest of the episode went, I'd have loved it for the use of the First Contact theme.

[rtms77]

Lots of laughs for me. 

Mairner remains my least favorite though.  Even the whole “miss my mom” stuff really didn’t move me. But then she’s a product of both parents who are questionable at best. 
 

-Poor Broimlier , 😂 one tiny taste of the sauce and he’s down for the count, meanwhile Mairner had more sauce than food .

The stolen Phoenix, was a hoot. Was wondering if they’d get it back.  
 

Poor Tuvok, still a commander? The guy should be an admiral by now. 
The Crystalline Entinty  is yet another enemy The Cerritos runs from, 😂 

So they dry docked the Cerritos near the sun? and they need warp speed to get there? I seem to remember casual shots of a leisure fly over that never took long.

Edited August 26, 2022 by rtms77

[Chyromaniac]

This was a fantastic start to the season.  I loved everything about Historical Bozeman- this needs to be a real thing that I can go to on vacation (preferably not in actual Montana, but it’s not a total dealbreaker…). It’s got a signature ride, kids play areas, a restaurant/bar, vendors, merch… it’s perfect.  At the very least “First Contact Land” should absolutely make the cut for any future Star Trek theme park plans.

As for the story, I think the part that really got to me is that, in the end, Freeman is cleared because this is Star Trek, and the system works.  That’s one of the things that I enjoy most about this show - it, in its own way, is often the one series that is able to really “go there” with the Utopianism the franchise represents.  Even at their most optimistic, TOS and TNG had an undercurrent of flaws in Starfleet or the Federation- the Badmirals, unresolved tensions with Klingons, Romulans, and so on, questionable laws…. That’s not even getting into the moral compromises presented in DS9 onward.  But here, we’re to the point where you don’t really have to worry about being falsely accused of war crimes, because the truth will obviously win out.

Of course Mariner operates in the headspace of the other shows, where ‘sometimes, ya just gotta break the rules…’. She basically treats everything like it’s the 79 exciting days from the original five year mission- when it turns out that this is one of the other 1,747 days, when everything goes according to plan.  Still, there are times when her approach is effective.  It’ll be interesting to see how the balance plays out going forward.

[marinw]

7 hours ago, rtms77 said:

So they dry docked the Cerritos near the sun? and they need warp speed to get there? I seem to remember casual shots of a leisure fly over that never took long.

The shipstill looks like its missing it's shielding.

7 hours ago, Chyromaniac said:

I loved everything about Historical Bozeman

The Vulcan Ship as a Bouncy Castle/Slide thing ended me.

[Starchild]

19 hours ago, rtms77 said:

Mairner remains my least favorite though.  Even the whole “miss my mom” stuff really didn’t move me. But then she’s a product of both parents who are questionable at best. 

I don't like her. I used to think it was because she was super ensign, always the smartest, the best fighter, always winning. Like Burnham.

But lately she's been fallible, and I still don't like her. She's a selfish asshole. Throwing and breaking things, always yelling at everyone when she doesn't get her way. She's a tantrum-prone child in an adult body and that is never attractive. Her parents have done her no favours protecting her from consequences. Yes she's super talented, but there should be a limit on how long someone gets second, third, fourth, etc. chances to come into their potential at the risk of harming others.

We'll see if being under Jack's purview will make any noticeable difference, but I have strong doubts. If they really want her to learn how to be a mature and responsible Starfleet officer, she should be transferred to a completely different ship. Play by the Trek universe's rules, show.

Or maybe she should just go be a ranger with Seven. That seems more her style.

[marinw]

You make some excellent points about Mariner @Starchild. That said, I do like Mariner. I find the combination of talent and lack of ambition fascinating. Mariner wants to do Starfleety things, but has no use to the rat race of seeking rank and promotions. Her privledge is a problem, and I wuld love to see her team up with Seven.

Edited August 27, 2022 by marinw

[greekmom]

Best part - Broimlier and how all those women were trying to get him to sleep with them. 

LOL.

[Tachi Rocinante]

17 hours ago, greekmom said:

Best part - Broimlier and how all those women were trying to get him to sleep with them. 

I kept waiting for Mariner to say something obvious, but the payoff never came.

-Did Bobby Moynihan also voice the kid they left in the Phoenix?  It sounded like him.
-I guessed that her Mom would be exonerated, but not in that convoluted way.
-A very strong way to start the season.

[Mari]

On 8/26/2022 at 8:01 PM, Starchild said:

I don't like her. I used to think it was because she was super ensign, always the smartest, the best fighter, always winning. Like Burnham.

But lately she's been fallible, and I still don't like her. She's a selfish asshole. Throwing and breaking things, always yelling at everyone when she doesn't get her way. She's a tantrum-prone child in an adult body and that is never attractive.

This is it for me, exactly. 

I don't care how smart and talented she is. I wouldn't want to be in a contained space with her.  Being on a starship with her 

And it's compounded by her being a good ten years older than her coworkers.

Edited March 6 by Mari