Lower Decks is four seasons in and I’m seeing the same gags. I loved the premiere anyway, and that’s the argument I’ve been having with myself since the first two episodes dropped.
I didn’t watch these alone. I dragged Baby Know-It-All out of a sound night’s sleep for this one, and you guys loved her in the Barbie review, so she’s back. We watched “Twovix” and then “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee,” and I’m not going to do a deep, deep dive on either one. It’s what stuck with us, and then two numbers.
A Walk Down Voyager Memory Lane
The first episode is about the characters all growing into their roles, and it happens while they have to transport the USS Voyager, which has just been converted into a museum. So we get to go aboard Voyager, and it’s an ocean of callbacks. I had to walk her through it and explain all the different parts, because this is literally a walk down Voyager memory lane.
The big one is Tuvix. I’d told her it was a controversial episode back when Voyager was on the air, and her version of it was pretty good: two people became one person, and then some scientist person killed that person to get the two people back. Close. It was Captain Janeway, and she had to make that decision.
So there’s a plan to transport the ship, and then all of a sudden the newly Tuvixed people are making more Tuvixed people. She remembered the mix of the cat doctor and the guy with the mustache. That’s Dr. T’Ana and Billups, and together they were T’Illups.
It’s one of those things where you have to get the inside joke, otherwise it’s wasted on you. Some friends of mine I follow on Discord felt the callbacks were a little more tongue-in-cheek this time. I feel like it works in the story, especially when you’re on Voyager, with all the ridiculous things that happened during that series. I thought they were good callbacks.
Everybody Gets Promoted, Except Rutherford
At the very end of that episode, on the heels of its success, everyone gets promoted. I said exactly that on camera and got corrected on the spot, and she was right. Everybody but Rutherford.
There’s also a new face. I called her a little Spock girl, and no, there’s no relation to Spock. That’s T’Lyn, and I think she’s the character they’re trying to sell us on this season as part of the lower decks crew. She’s sort of a foreign exchange student. The Vulcans have assigned her to the Federation, which is why she has a provisional rank.
The Original Space Chad
The second episode is about Mariner coming to understand that she actually has stuff to contribute, and that Ransom’s not going to give up on her. The crux of it is framed around a menagerie episode. If you’re a Star Trek fan you know those are exactly what they sound like: creatures get put into some form of zoo. This time the crew has to go pick up the humans who ended up in this guy’s collection, and then the hijinks ensue.
They were really cool animals, I’m not gonna hold you. There was a little snake unicorn thing. I believe every animal in there, if we went through them, is a callback to something from Star Trek. The glowing snake creature with three heads is another one.
I felt it was a good episode for growth. You come to find out Rutherford has rejected promotions in the past, and all the way through this one he’s trying to get one. There’s a new guy named Livik, who is basically a Star Trek Chad.
But the original is Ransom. Early on, when Mariner’s getting mad about her promotion, you see Ransom start doing pull-ups, and I told her, oh my god, the fact that Ransom has weights in his office. He’s the original space Chad. That’s Ransom all day.
Moopsy
I asked her what stuck out, and she went straight to the Moopsy.
It’s this cute little character that kind of looks like an ocelot. It gets out, and you’re thinking, okay, how did it get out, and you learn later it was the humans next to it. And it’s a bone-eating creature, hence the title. It walks around saying “Moopsy,” and then it literally sucks the bones out of a person or a thing or whatever.
What a crazy creature. But it’s a very Star Trek creature, and I liked it, even though its design looks like what I’d expect a bald Tribble to look like.
She had no idea what a Tribble was. The little furry guys. She looked it up right there while we were recording, and this is where I’ve failed as a father. I got Mrs. Know-It-All to watch the Tribble episodes, and I’ll get her to watch them too. T-R-I-B-B-L-E-S. Once she saw one she thought it was so cute, and it reminded her of a thing she had when she was younger, a little colorful ball of fur with eyes.
The Verdict
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 gets two numbers on the Know-It-All Index: a 7 out of 10 for “Twovix” and an 8.5 out of 10 for “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee.”
We rated them separately. The seven came from Baby Know-It-All first, and she was worried it might hurt my Star Trek card. I loved it, and I’d still say seven’s fair. That’s our collective answer.
The seven has nothing to do with the quality of the episode or what we’re seeing. We’re in season four and I’m seeing the same gags. I get it. The show is designed to call back to the past and let us laugh at it. But some of these are hitting really hard, so do a little better as far as I’m concerned. At this point, come on, guys. I’m glad we’re seeing the characters move forward, because it would’ve been kind of weak to get to season four without some kind of promotion.
The second one we both really liked. She was thinking either eight or nine, and eight and a half is right in the middle, so that’s perfect. That’s a solid one, and I’m going eight and a half too. Her reasoning: it was really entertaining, and she wants a Moopsy even though it might suck her bones out.
Believe me, I don’t think it’s going to be long before you see those at the conventions. Matter of fact, I bet you if you go on Etsy later this afternoon, someone’s already on there going, oh, I can do that all day.
Let us know what you thought of both episodes, and whether the callbacks are still working for you in season four. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.
