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March 28, 2024, 03:20:58 PM

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Star Trek: Lower Decks

Started by Malcy, July 12, 2020, 07:07:21 PM

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Wonderful Butternut

Episode 3:

I'm already annoyed at the teaser. Boilmer plays Violin in the ship's bar and everyone is bored by it. Then Mariner pushes him off stage to play heavy metal so loud as to briefly disrupting ship operations. This is both a hilarious send up of people always performing classical music in Star Trek and showing Mariner as totes awesome and Boilmer as a wet blanket.

Except no, what it actually is is a waste of animation cels.

The main plot actually turned out a bit better than I thought. The setup was stupidly ridiculous and the Captain should be discharged from Starfleet and preferably killed over it,
Spoiler alert
but I liked that it showed that Boilmer was actually better at something than Mariner and the First Officer fought the huge alien instead of her. But then they went and shat all over it by having the him put Mariner in the brig for a minor breach of uniform code just to lolariously flex his command muscles. This wasn't funny and just annoyed me.
[close]

The Caitian doctor did a cat hiss when fighting an alien and told Mariner she looks like a fucking scratching post. She's the best character in it.

mothman

I LOLed out loud at the Chief O'Brien gag. But retrospectively I have a lot of problems with it.

First off, it doesn't look like Colm Meaney. Not even slightly.



And... it doesn't make any sense. Why is Miles O'Brien the most important person in Starfleet history? And a statue of him in his TNG days (TNG uniform, standing at a transporter console), no less - suggesting that's the basis of his fame - after all, do you see statues of Alexander The Great doing his laundry? No, he's on a big fuck-off horse waving a sword.

No, it's a pointless Family Guy-style cutaway gag that makes no sense within the internal Star Trek logic than Lower Decks purports to adhere to.

Wonderful Butternut

Is it a side-splittingly funny dig at that webcomic that consists entirely of O'Brien being completely unimportant, lonely and miserable? Or perhaps just a hilarious subversion of our expectations when she said "the most important person in Starfleet" that it'd be Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Pike, Janeway or one of the Lower Decks crew?

Either way it was obviously meant to be tremendously funny. I just thought it was a thing that happened, personally. Like rain falling or a dog shitting somewhere.

Malcy

Still enjoying this. Everyone is becoming a little less annoying and it might not be all that funny but it's still infinitely more enjoyable than DSC & Picard. I do think the constant referencing of past-Trek is getting a bit much though. Kirk Sundae's with Trip Tucker sprinkles, and things like that. They seem so forced and I usually love little nods to the past but i just feel the majority are unnecessary.

This week had
Spoiler alert
a ship the same class as Capt. Crushers ship The Pasteur from All Good Things which i was delighted to see, especially since it was docked at DS9! But they never showed them ON DS9! Thought that was a wasted opportunity but maybe something we'll see in the second half.
[close]

Alberon

Finally watched the last half of episode 1. It's awful.

Malcy

There's been a new trailer on the Lower Decks Star Trek Day panel. It's got a spoiler in it I would rather not have known in advance but it was on Twitter etc so hard to avoid even though I didn't see the trailer.

But if you're not arsed then
Spoiler alert
John DeLancie is back as Q!
[close]

Malcy

Nice to have JG Hertzler (Martok in DS9) do a voice this week. Rutherford & Tendi are the better pairing of characters i reckon. Still flinging loads of references around but it's enjoyable enough and not miserable which means i look forward to it.

Wish this was focused on the Bridge crew. Shaxs the Bajoran security chief wanting to just open fire was great and very Worf.

Malcy

Great episode this week. Really enjoyed it. Genuine laughs and loads of visually familiar stuff. Shame there's only 2 left.

Ant Farm Keyboard

That was the first decent episode and, not coincidentally, the first one that sounded like an ensemble piece without Mariner as Poochie.

Malcy

Another great episode, the show has definitely settled in and is nowhere near as annoying as it was when it started. Loved all the film stuff. Especially the music and opening credits in the holodeck. I wonder will there be another big cameo for the finale next week.

Alberon

Maybe I should try a late-season episode? At the moment I've no inclination to touch episode 2.

Malcy

Quote from: Alberon on October 01, 2020, 09:30:55 PM
Maybe I should try a late-season episode? At the moment I've no inclination to touch episode 2.

Episode 8 and 9 are great.

Mobbd

Quote from: Phil_A on July 15, 2020, 10:05:33 AM
The idea of a Lower Decks spin-off has been discussed as far back as the TNG episode of the same name (which felt at the time like it was written as something of a backdoor pilot), and I think the concept of having a Star Trek show from the perspective of the lower ranking crew members has some legs. The problem is I don't think anyone expected or wanted it to be made like this.

My quiet hope for a show with this title was that they'd retell TNG from the perspective of a lower decks crew starting with Encounter at Farpoint. Use clips intermingled with new stuff on authenticly recreated Enterprise D sets. Basically 'Trials and Tribble-ations' the series.

They could 'expand' the beloved TNG world by going deep instead of wide, going into new areas of the ship we've not seen before.

Some episodes would be directly and significantly affected by the events of the episode in which it is set (e.g. in 'Genesis,' our lower decks crew would have to devolve and we'd get that story again from a different perspective) but some episodes would be standalone and relatively original if the episode (e.g. Darmok) was just about Picard/the main crew on an away mission or stuck in the Holodeck.

The original TNG crew would be almost like celebrities in this show so our guys could talk about the antics of Data and Worf and Bev without the elderly actors having to be in it. You could have some new voice work from Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes addressing the crew over the intercom or through the comm badges.

CBS: DM ME IF YOU WANT TO BUY THIS IDEA. ALSO, PLZ RETCON DISCO AND ST:PICARD COMPLETELY, THANKS.

The rest of you, email me if you want a pizza roll.

Mobbd

Quote from: Malcy on September 24, 2020, 11:51:23 AM
Great episode this week. Really enjoyed it. Genuine laughs and loads of visually familiar stuff. Shame there's only 2 left.

Which episode was this, Malcy? I'll seek it out.

Mobbd

Quote from: mothman on August 28, 2020, 10:21:46 PM
Why is Miles O'Brien the most important person in Starfleet history? And a statue of him in his TNG days (TNG uniform, standing at a transporter console), no less - suggesting that's the basis of his fame

So Lower Decks is in TNG's future? Post-Voyager even? The uniforms and the shuttlecraft in the trailer (all I've seen of this) makes it look like it's set during TNG times. Isn't it?

Malcy

Quote from: Mobbd on October 03, 2020, 02:59:53 PM
Which episode was this, Malcy? I'll seek it out.

Episode 8. 9 is really worth a watch as well.

Quote from: Mobbd on October 03, 2020, 03:03:10 PM
So Lower Decks is in TNG's future? Post-Voyager even? The uniforms and the shuttlecraft in the trailer (all I've seen of this) makes it look like it's set during TNG times. Isn't it?

It's around 2380 I think. 1 year after Nemesis whenever that was set.

Mobbd

Quote from: Malcy on October 03, 2020, 03:44:08 PM
Episode 8. 9 is really worth a watch as well.

It's around 2380 I think. 1 year after Nemesis whenever that was set.

Nice one. Thanks!

Small Man Big Horse

I just watched episode 8 and it's better than the first couple, but it still didn't do it for me, it was just far too shouty and annoying still. Mariner's better in it at least, and the storyline was vaguely involving, but I just didn't find it funny at all bar a couple of jokes. And I know they bleeped it out, but swearing in Star Trek just seems wrong to me.

Malcy

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on October 03, 2020, 04:25:30 PM
And I know they bleeped it out, but swearing in Star Trek just seems wrong to me.

Yeah Trek doesn't need swearing. It was very cringey in DSC and I really don't see the point of it here. Especially when it's bleeped out anyway.

grainger

Quote from: Wonderful Butternut on August 11, 2020, 05:58:46 PM
I wouldn't be surprised if Season 1 of Picard was actually successful in terms of viewership. A lot of people gave it a chance for the season even though they didn't like it. Those people, me included, are still numbers and money, even if we're poor in terms of critical reception. Season 2 could see those people switch off if it's more of the same though.

I'm not even going to watch one minute of Season 2. I'm done with Picard. They can simply fuck right off now. I'm not even going to explain again why. They didn't bother. Why should I?

It's (and other modern stuff claiming to be Trek) has also pretty much killed my desire to watch anything else in the "franchise" for the forseeable future. It's dead.

Mobbd

Quote from: grainger on October 03, 2020, 11:28:37 PM
I'm not even going to watch one minute of Season 2. I'm done with Picard. They can simply fuck right off now. I'm not even going to explain again why. They didn't bother. Why should I?

Agreed.

Quote from: grainger on October 03, 2020, 11:28:37 PM
I'm not even going to watch
It's (and other modern stuff claiming to be Trek) has also pretty much killed my desire to watch anything else in the "franchise" for the forseeable future. It's dead.

Nah, don't let them spoil it for you. Watch the originals from The Cage to Endgame on a continuous loop like I (and the other winners) do.

Malcy

#111
Very TNG episode this week for many reasons.

Spoiler alert
Pakleds! And as soon as the captain spoke I recognised it was Rich Fulcher which was great.

I guessed when the Titan was mentioned that it was probably going to appear. Great to finally see it in action and especially with the TNG theme playing. Since Riker & Troi have already appeared recently it would have been nice to put Dax & Tuvok in there as well. They were part of the crew in the books.

Riker's joke about Enterprise and it's theme tune was brilliant. One of the highlights of the series. Really enjoyed Ransom talking about the TOS era and saying it stands for 'Those Old Scientists'.

Only bit I didn't enjoy that much was the stuff with the Exocomp. Don't think I enjoyed the TNG episode they appeared in that much either.

Seeing TAS versions of Kirk & Spock was a good touch as well.

Wasn't expecting them to kill anyone off but I suppose Shax being the security chief killed off in the first series is very Tasha Yar of him. Shame as I liked the character.
[close]

Shame they whacked a trailer for Discovery between the final scene and the credits though. I didn't have much hope for this show but it's really stepped it up in the last 3. It's definitely the most I've enjoyed Trek since Enterprise. I've looked forward to the next episode without wondering what misery laden bore fest awaits in DSC & Picard.

Ant Farm Keyboard

The episode was fine. It had some epic scope, it was funny, there were some genuine emotions, the callbacks were fine, and there were surprises.

If only the season had managed to reach these heights. The main problem is that the show still doesn't know what it wants to be.
Is it Star Trek, but with some snark, for millennials?
Is it a show that pays tribute to the old ST shows, especially TNG, with some callbacks and easter eggs for the fans?
Is it parodying the worst trends in ST?
Does it want to explore weird concepts developed in Star Trek over the decades (something that Rick & Morty already does about parallel universes) or mostly fill the holes about what happened to so-and-so after their sole appearance in a Star Trek episode?
Does it want to have stand-alone episodes as in the old shows, with some comedic spin, or tell a longer, unified story? (the finale at least found some satisfying balance to the season)
Why does it spends so much time exploring Mariner's psyche, especially when it's much more predictable and less interesting than the writers assume? (Not a dig at Tawny Newsome, who was genuinely great in Bajillion Dollar Propertie$)

With some insight, they could turn the show into something good and consistent for the second season, but they really need to know why they want to write and produce this.


Malcy

This is finally getting a UK release. Friday 22nd January on Amazon Prime. Think they are quite far ahead on series 2 production.

Fambo Number Mive

Binge-watching this due to their being nothing to do. All the characters are one-note obnoxious cliches that don't come across as remotely like real people. The different worlds they visit are quite interesting and well thought out.

Why do characters in cartoons have to be idiots? Aside from perhaps the security officer, there isn't one character who comes across as normal. It's like they put a load of Instragram models on a starship. There's almost no growth or development of characters.

On Season One Episode 5 now. If the ship
Spoiler alert
blows up a moon, it kills the people on one planet. If they don't, it kills the people on another planet
[close]
. The solution is
Spoiler alert
surely move all the people on the two planets onto the same planet, whichever one won't get destroyed
[close]
. Eventually it is solved by there
Spoiler alert
being only two people on one of the planets
[close]
.




Pink Gregory

Similar sentiments from a non-Trek family here.

Striking how the crew's full of cyborgs and aliens of all races, and yet they seem to all have the same face and body type.  Also any good material is immediately overwritten by another 2-3 gag lines so nothing gets to land.  Wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot of improvisation.  Also I get it's supposed to be an action-comedy show, but it comes and goes with little impact.

Just made us watch Futurama again, which (especially the pilot) seems avant-garde in comparison.

Nobody Soup

Just saw this was on prime. I find it surprisingly decent so far. Allowing for first series feet finding it's definitely worth sticking with. I didn't believe people who said this was actually the best of the 3 new treks but it probably is.




Malcy

Quote from: Nobody Soup on January 25, 2021, 11:38:28 PM
Just saw this was on prime. I find it surprisingly decent so far. Allowing for first series feet finding it's definitely worth sticking with. I didn't believe people who said this was actually the best of the 3 new treks but it probably is.

I got more enjoyment and pleasure out of the opening titles and theme tune to this more than I have from every bit of Picard & DSC combined. Every week watching the titles with the speakers turned up and a smile on my face compared to shouting "fuck off" numerous times an episode with the other shows.

Michael Dorn has gave some more details of what his Worf show is about. Wish they would make it but not with the current staff!

QuoteYears ago you and I spoke – and this was before CBS All Access even existed – about your idea for a Captain Worf show. In the last five years or so, have you talked to the CBS All Access people about this project?

Yeah, I actually did. And, interestingly enough, it seems to rise and fall. There's interest and then there's not. Then there's interest and then there's not. And I guess it was two years ago I thought they would take it a little further. But that did not happen. So I don't know if the whole idea is dead – not in my mind. [laughs] I believe that they are missing a great opportunity to insert something into Star Trek that's always been part of the Star Trek lexicon, which is the Klingons.

Could you give us your latest elevator pitch?

Basically, the script I wrote was: Instead of looking at the Klingon Empire from Starfleet, we look at Starfleet from the Klingon Empire. And it has been going on for decades, the Klingon Empire just can't go on. It's the Russians, basically. And they decide that they have to either die with a sword in their hands and go extinct, or change with the times and become something different. And Worf is the guy that says, "We have to change with the times, that is the mark of a warrior."

And so two things happen. They start letting other races into the Klingon world. And the only way they can do that is by letting in Starfleet officers. That's sort of the way it's done. 'We'll let in other people, but first Starfleet offers because we understand Starfleet. They're soldiers, we're soldiers.' The second thing they have to do is their resources are limited and dwindling, because the Klingon universe is just like the Federation. They have planets and worlds and societies that they own, but they do it in a brutal way. And so they have to go out to every one of these worlds and either give them their freedom, or try to work with them, which is something that's anathema to Klingons.

And since Worf opened his big mouth and said, "This is what we have to do," then they say, "Okay, then you're the guy that has to go out to all these worlds." And every world is different. Some worlds are rebelling. Some worlds want to be part of the Klingon Empire. Some worlds want to be independent. And so every episode is that.

So Worf is no longer part of Starfleet, but a member of the Klingon Defense Force? 

Exactly. This is the Klingon Empire. He's a captain aboard a ship.

The IKS Something.

Yeah, I forgot what it is. It's the Vortas or something. [laughs]

It probably has a random apostrophe in there.

[laughs] Exactly! The thing is, Worf is a character that has no fear. We have seen that over the years. I think Star Trek has always liked that about the Klingons. What I wrote, it's claustrophobic. It's Shakespearean in its scope. There's assassinations and coups and behind-the-scenes politics going on. It's such a great fit and it doesn't feel like anything else that's on All Access. It's funny because it's like they are looking for something and they've totally ignored this easy path. But we'll see what happens. I don't know if it's dead or not. I have the script ready. [laughs] It's on my computer and ready to be emailed to anybody that's interested. But we'll see. They have their own take on these things, and we'll leave it at that.


There's still Prodigy to come this year and Kate Mulgrew said she's about to start work on S2 of that.

And check out this shite promoting Paramount+, the rebranded CBS AA with Pike & Spock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCUUTUmLBKs

Famous Mortimer

WHY DID YOU MAKE ME WATCH JAMES CORDEN