Star Trek: Lower Decks cleans out its literal and metaphorical closets

This post contains light spoilers for season two, episode six of Star Trek: Lower Decks.

In last weeks episode, Lower Decks wrapped up the first half of its second season by addressing some leftover plot threads from season one, namely Rutherfords memory loss and the fallout between Mariner and Boimler. With those issues out of the way the series is free to move forward. But first, this weeks The Spy Humongous takes some time to look at an average day onboard the USS Cerritos. Its not quite the TNG classic Data's Day, but its close enough for fans of smaller, more intimate Trek stories.

Theres no strict division between A-plot and B-plot this time, with both upper and lower decks crew starring in four loosely connected stories. The bridge crew is attempting to negotiate a ceasefire with the Pakleds, while the ensigns have been assigned to anomaly consolidation duty, which is a fancy way of saying clearing out weird space junk. Boimler is thrilled, but he gets pulled away by a group of career-driven redshirts who think his time on the USS Titan makes him prime command material. And Ransom ends up babysitting a Pakled defector/tourist/spy. Its a grab bag of jokes and Star Trek lore, sure to please any long-time Trekkie.

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However, its still remarkably newcomer friendly, in that it doesnt require too much background to understand the basic plot, while also illustrating the shows core concept as a show about the nuts and bolts of Starfleet. If this were a live-action show it would be whats called a bottle episode, one shot on a limited budget using pre-built sets and the regular cast. Even on the one exotic locale were shown Pakled Planet we never actually go inside any buildings. Its an interesting contrast to last weeks expansive tour of Starbase 25.

In live action programming, bottle episodes exist because a show blew through its guest star or special effects budget on a big important story, and An Embarrassment of Dooplers would fit that bill. But as I pointed out last week, Lower Decks is not limited by what a set designer can build or how much makeup an actor will wear or how long would it take to render a sentient gaseous anomaly on a green screen. The animators can draw whatever needs to be drawn. So theres no reason to follow the trope of a bottle episode except that they want to.

CBS

Lower Decks has made no secret that its essentially a giant love letter to Star Trek. What was initially predicted to be Family Guy in space, ended up treating the franchise with a lot of respect, and was packed full of jokes for the fandom to discuss and catalog in places like Reddit and Trek wiki Memory Alpha. But this weeks adventure illustrates that attention to Star Trek tropes and backstory can go beyond showcasing little-seen alien species or getting justice for murdered characters.

Its also about the love of how Star Trek tells its stories, with a strong emphasis on the personal aspect. Here we get to see Freeman, Mariner and the others simply do their jobs. We know theyre not going to die, especially not mid-season, so its really about seeing how they handle adversity and ultimately, what made them Starfleet material in the first place.