Lower Decks season 3 opens by descending, in a very Star Trek fashion, on a familiar-looking vineyard. We push in on a gentleman sitting there in a straw hat, he stands up, and it’s Boimler. His family owns a raisin vineyard. That’s just brilliant.
This is season 3, episode 1, “Grounded,” and it’s a lot of fun. I was supposed to have Baby Know-It-All with me for this one. Unfortunately she couldn’t make the first episode, but hopefully we’ll have her on for the second.
Right Where We Left Off
The episode starts right where we left off: the captain of the Cerritos herself has been arrested for bombing the Pakled homeworld. It’s a big to-do, and we had a cliffhanger to get here, which is something we love from Star Trek. I know I’ve loved them all. Some of the best episodes have been two-parters, and when they have an opportunity to tell a story in its fullness, I think that’s when Star Trek really begins to shine. Not that you have to have serialized storytelling in one large arc, but even in episodic storytelling, it lends weight to the story.
Same thing here. Yes, Lower Decks is fun, but at the same time it’s Star Trek, and this feels very Star Trek.
Civilian Life in the Federation
I absolutely love a look at civilian life in the Federation. We very, very rarely get to see planet-side. So seeing everybody doing their own thing, with their own outfits, and what life looks like, and the news, I’m into all of it. Reporters are still a thing. The news is still a thing. Dude, I would love to see an FNN report in Star Trek. The proper kind, the one that’s not animated. You show me that, forget about it. How cool would that be? Starting to connect everything, man. So as far as I’m concerned, more or less, mostly, it’s what, canon? I don’t know. I’m kidding.
You get this really great scene where Mariner’s talking to her dad. I love his outfit, by the way. Very cool. Through the window, she’s like, “What’s that thing for?” They’re talking about the Golden Gate Bridge, which I thought was interesting, because I think in one of the previous series we’ve seen that the Golden Gate Bridge has essentially been converted into a giant solar receiver. No one really uses it for driving anymore. I thought it was pretty cool that they even commented on it.
I think Mariner’s going way over the top in this whole scenario. In essence, she’s coming to the conclusion that only she can help save her mother and rescue her. She has no faith in anybody. So she’s getting the band together.
The Yellow Line on the Cerritos
Then you see the intro, and am I the only one? Did they change the design of the Cerritos? I don’t mean the shape of the ship. There’s a very stark, contrasting yellow line. Now, I’ve looked, and I know for a fact already that it did exist, but this is the first time I’m noticing it, and it’s weird. I thought maybe it was something they were doing to update the intro for whatever’s moving forward, because remember, they still have to reskin the Cerritos. It’s still without its outer hull. So that’s something to keep in mind.
For Kirk’s Sake
Back to that vineyard. Raisins. It’s so upside down. I just think it’s awesome.
And then all of the workers are these beautiful, attractive women, and they’re basically throwing themselves at him, and he’s completely and utterly oblivious to the fact that it’s happening. It’s so Boimler. It’s wonderful. Chef’s kiss, you guys. I’m a big fan.
He says “for Kirk’s sake” at one point, like it’s a swear. For Kirk’s sake. And I was like, that’s awesome. I think I’m going to start using that ironically. For Kirk’s sake, everyone.
Sisko’s, Tacky Clothes and Ketracel White
Then we cut to a really cool one: Sisko’s, the little bar. You’ve seen it before. I think it’s cool. Anytime they name drop and wrap the universe up around what we know, I’m enjoying that. Some people feel like it’s making the universe smaller. I actually think it’s making the universe a little more intimate, which is probably just another fancy way of saying smaller.
I love the tacky futuristic clothing. And by that I mean, in all of old Star Trek, Wesley Crusher was a notoriously guilty offender of this. They would always show some folks in jumpsuits and weird, patterny things that don’t quite go right. It’s an utter joy to see that again. For me, it’s the consistency. They’ve always been a little tacky in their outfits in Star Trek where the civilians are concerned, and now you’re maintaining that, which is really awesome.
Then the group has finally come together, and they’re talking and planning and plotting. It’s the scene from the trailer, where somebody asks, “Were you waiting this whole time for that line?” and the answer is, “She totally was.”
They’re sitting there eating, and there’s hot sauce on the table. The hot sauce is Ketracel White hot. For those of you Dominion fans with a keen eye. I don’t know, should I call this an Easter egg video? I can’t stand those. A million Easter eggs you might have missed, and it’s all the silliest things ever. But I love the Ketracel White. That’s one of those Easter eggs that I caught and went, I know that reference, because I’m a huge Deep Space Nine fan. The Dominion War is my jam.
Zefram Cochrane World
I love the fact that, conveniently, we have a transporter issue. The convenience factor is that there’s this migration of aliens happening that just happens to be crossing in front of Earth, between them and any possibility of transporting to the Cerritos. They’ve built it right into the story. I skipped a part, too: they meet this really nice, sweet old man, a transporter chief, who’s awesome.
So finally they essentially go to Zefram Cochrane world. Hello, explorers, and welcome to the 21st century. We hope you enjoy yourself and make a first contact. They don’t call it that. They have another name for it. But this essentially is Zefram Cochrane world.
Total big shout-out, big ups, for James Cromwell coming back to give us a little bit of that sweet, sweet Zefram Cochrane action. He’s the voice in the speakers, almost like Walt Disney back in the day. It’s Zefram Cochrane all day long. It’s really funny. You’re walking through and Zefram Cochrane videos come up, and he’s like, hey there, welcome, this and that.
The music in this moment is literally the First Contact music, with that big French horn sound. It’s so much fun, because you sit there and you’re like, all right, guys, you’re really laying it on thick, man. But it was great.
Gavin Is a Pilot Now
They find out they can’t transport and they can’t get a ship. So what they’re going to do is steal the Phoenix ride, because what else would you have in the 24th century but an actual spaceship that takes you into space for a ride?
We get to meet Gavin. Gavin’s pretty awesome. There’s one seat left on the ride with their group of four, and he’s the guy who has to fill it. He’s totally a bystander, and they hijack the ship and take it to the Cerritos. Rutherford resets it and is going to send the dude home, and he’s like, “No way. I’m a pilot now.” And he goes off. Before this is all out, we absolutely are going to see Gavin again. I just thought it was so dope. Right on, man. Go ye forth.
Boimler’s Logs and the Orgy on the Cerritos
The whole point of getting to the Cerritos is that Boimler has logs. Apparently he listens to the captain’s logs, which are public access, and revoices them as a way of keeping a backup. Whatever. They get to the ship and they manage to find his logs, and at first you think they’re going to be the right thing. They’re kind of comical. He’s literally talking about having gas, and he just makes all these goofy comments.
So Mariner’s totally dejected. She takes them to the shuttlecraft and kicks them off the ship. Not really. She fools them into getting on the thing. Either way, they’re gone, and with her it’s escalation, escalation, escalation.
And then there’s the aliens. Come to find out they’re looking for a place to mate. The Cerritos ends up becoming home to an alien orgy. Hold on. Please don’t demonetize my video. I just thought it was hilarious, because it’s all these pink jelly things just rubbing, like alien slugs.
The Adventure We Didn’t See
Then an amazing thing happens. Starfleet officers show up, and they try to pass it off like there’s some sort of science experiment happening. The officer gets down to the end and he’s like, oh no, great, it’s totally great. And he goes, “Now, what commander authorized this mission?” That’s all he needs and this is done.
Well, they don’t have one. In walks the captain and the command crew from the Cerritos. Come to find out the captain was freed while all this was going on.
Then they give this in-depth recap of the mission to clear her name and find out who was responsible. Spoilers, big spoilers: it was the Pakleds. The Pakleds blew up their own homeworld in an effort to get Starfleet to relocate them to some place that had more resources. Oh, yeah. Brilliant idea.
All I can think to myself, watching this recap, is what a much more fun adventure that would have been. Mind you, this was a Cerritos adventure all day. But I’d love to see a slightly more edgy Star Trek animation, even if it’s a little bit in this style. Or, you know what, since they’re just handing out Star Trek projects, give us a version of whatever Star Trek you want to do, but do it in that Batman: The Animated Series style, that blocky shoulder look. There’s a whole bunch of people online who have images of different Star Trek uniforms in that style. That would be so dope. I think you could do some really cool covert ops type stuff with it.
Also, alien spooge. Is that canon?
The Verdict
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, episode 1, “Grounded,” is a 9 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index.
I liked it. I liked it a lot, man. There were ups, there were downs, there were whatevers. I’m giving it a 9 straight out the gate. Now, I know everyone’s like, you always give this stuff a high score. Dude, this is my jam. I like these things. I’m not going to give them a bad score.
There wasn’t anything that I didn’t like. To go 10 out of 10 it would have had to impress me on another level, and I don’t think it did that either. It wasn’t a wow story or a “this is amazing.” I feel like there might be one coming this season, though, since everyone’s heard of the crossover episode. We’re going to get to see a fairly well animated Anson Mount, which I’m here for, and then of course there’s Strange New Worlds.
Lower Decks is super fun. It’s light. To me it’s literally Rick and Morty meets some version of Star Trek, and I like it a lot. It’s irreverent. It’s exciting, and it feels very familiar. It feels like Star Trek regardless of anything else. Your mileage may vary, but I hope you had a really good time.
Leave a comment and let me know what you thought of the episode. I can’t wait to talk to you next week about the next one. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.
