S04.E09: The Inner Fight

[AnimeMania]

Captain Freeman assigns the Lower Deckers an overly safe mission to try and keep a self-destructive.

Air Date: October 26, 2023   Paramount+

[dwmarch]

For a "Mariner is back on her bullshit" episode, this one was surprisingly emotional.

Great callback to TNG's Lower Decks as well with Mariner knowing Sito Jaxa.

I also liked that Mariner has a connection to Nick Locarno. Voyager was originally going to have Locarno instead of Tom Paris but it would have meant paying a lot more in residuals for use of the character so they decided to go with a Locarno-type and ended up casting Robert Duncan McNeill anyway. I guess they don't mind paying the residuals for a couple of appearances here or maybe the rates for animation are different.

Once again Tendi comes in clutch as the Mistress of the Winter Constellations. I never thought Orion royalty would be so much fun!

The impromptu peace conference towards the end of the episode was very Star Trek, convincing all the opposing factions to work together against a common enemy.

This season has gone by too quickly! I think we have the last season of Discovery coming up next and then we'll be Trek-less until season 2 of Prodigy comes out.

[Quickbeam]

Part 1! Cliffhanger! 
 

“Teach me to tap dance, Beverly Crusher” was the LOL line for me. Boimler gets the best lines. 

[johntfs]

Ma'ah is accidentally a better therapist than Miglimoo ever dreamed of being.

[DrScottie]

52 minutes ago, Quickbeam said:

“Teach me to tap dance, Beverly Crusher” was the LOL line for me. Boimler gets the best lines. 

Yes, he does. The reference to the Dancing Doctor. Gates McFadden herself is a very talented choreographer 

This was around the time that Beverly and Jean-Luc's son Jack would have been born. She went off the grid for a while around then. I'm not sure if they knew of the events of the last season of Picard when they were writing this. 

Speaking of Lower Decks, there was the callback to the original TNG Lower Decks episode with Sito Jaxa being a friend of Mariner's whose presumed death at the hands of the Cardassians would shape the rest of Beckett's career. Of course, Nick Locarno was the head of the same squadron with Sito (and Wesley Crusher) where Cadel Albert died after the stunt maneuver. Since they overlapped, it seems like Beckett Mariner was at the Academy between the late 2360s and the early 2370s. 

1 hour ago, johntfs said:

Ma'ah is accidentally a better therapist than Miglimoo ever dreamed of being.

I agree, but that's a very low bar to cross. I'm glad Ma'ah is still around as I didn't think they would have killed him off so abruptly. I'm sure he'll play an important role in the season finale too.  

[marinw]

I always what wondered happened to Nick. And Jean (spelling?) the fourth member of the team who never said anything.

As I have said on the TNG forum, Picard sending Sito on that stupid mission (instead of surgically altering a more experienced officer to look Bajoran) was a real low point for him.

The wars with the Borg and the Dominion caused a lot of moral injuries. For a show that is ostensibly a comedy, LD has an astonishing amount of depth.

Nice to have some more T'Lyn, she was in fine form.

Edited October 27, 2023 by marinw

[txhorns79]

9 hours ago, Quickbeam said:

“Teach me to tap dance, Beverly Crusher” was the LOL line for me. Boimler gets the best lines. 

It could only have been topped by a dream where Boimler tries to get Beverly Crusher to light his candle, and/or manages to work in reading a "particularly erotic chapter in his grandmother's journal." 

[crashdown]

10 hours ago, DrScottie said:

Speaking of Lower Decks, there was the callback to the original TNG Lower Decks episode with Sito Jaxa being a friend of Mariner's whose presumed death at the hands of the Cardassians would shape the rest of Beckett's career.

That's not just a random callback--I think it's Big Fucking Deal. I really think that Nick Locarno is planning a rescue mission of Sito and that SHE'S ALIVE. I'm beyond geeking out about this!

And P. S. Why the hell is this forum marooned in "Kids and Animation" and not grouped with the rest of Trek? Lower Decks is the most Trek show out there right now!

 

[DrScottie]

7 minutes ago, crashdown said:

That's not just a random callback--I think it's Big Fucking Deal. I really think that Nick Locarno is planning a rescue mission of Sito and that SHE'S ALIVE. I'm beyond geeking out about this!

It is a very big deal, no question. It's possible she is alive. After all, the Enterprise saw a debris field and conveniently intercepted a Cardassian report about her escape attempt, but not a body. We know that the Cardassians are experts in faking these things. Like Garak said at the end of "In the Pale Moonlight" about the Senator's exploding shuttle, what conclusion would you draw?   

We'll find out if that's the case. Given he was name dropped too in the episode, maybe Tom Riker is with her also after he was sent to the Cardassian labor camp. 

[crashdown]

There's not much reason to name drop either Tom Riker or Sito if they're not going to factor into the season finale in a major way. I'm very excited! Lower Decks plays so well with canon, and the whole Nick Locarno/Ensign Sito thing is ripe for picking up--it hasn't been used by any other Trek series and isn't likely to be. I wonder if they'll have Wesley come back from his wanderings, too. 

[wanderingstar]

"I think we should find shelter before anything is brought." It's official, T'Lyn is my favorite on this show. 

Love that they brought in the history of TNG's Lower Decks episode. My ears perked up as soon as I heard the name Nichols Locarno. And I love that Mariner knew both Sito and Nick. 

I liked Marniner and Ma'ah first fighting then teaming up. I was touched when he said "Beckett is honorable; she would not betray us."

Tendi is such a delight! Loved her swooping in as Mistress of the Winter Constellations!

Freeman, Shax, and Rutherford were also fun. Of COURSE she had a plan to get that info about Locarno!

This finale should be interesting.

Edited October 27, 2023 by wanderingstar

[marinw]

There has been fanfic where Tom Riker and Sito ended up in the same Cardassian labour camp. Fun times(not).

Edited October 27, 2023 by marinw

[MaryMitch]

I can't wait to see the "Ready Room" episode after the last episode of the season. Wil Wheaton is going to really be in full-out nerd joy!

[MaryMitch]

This article speculates about the return of Thomas Riker (Will Riker's transporter accident duplicate):

https://screenrant.com/star-trek-lower-decks-thomas-riker-clone-update/

[marinw]

Rewatching. I just noticed that in her fight with Ma’ah Mariner uses the same two-fisted punch Kirk was famous for in TOS. Standard Starfleet martial arts training for the past 100 years!

Edited October 29, 2023 by marinw

[johntfs]

14 hours ago, marinw said:

Rewatching. I just noticed that in her fight with Ma’ah Mariner uses the same two-fisted punch Kirk was famous for in TOS. Standard Starfleet martial arts training for the past 100 years!

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Affogato]

On 10/26/2023 at 3:09 AM, AnimeMania said:

Captain Freeman assigns the Lower Deckers an overly safe mission to try and keep a self-destructive.

Air Date: October 26, 2023   Paramount+

Is that an genetically unmodified (but somewhat mammalian) Gorn in the foreground, in front of Mudds?

[driver18]

Did anyone else notice that the compound they were in front of when Mariner made her big speech was quite similar to the bunker Return of the Jedi? Not Trek, but still.