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The latest episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks is called ‘Crisis Point’, and is mainly about Mariner and her attempts to address her long simmering issues. Unusually, the cold open is disconnected but related, with Mariner saving a planet of lizard people from a bunch of rat people that were eating them, with the Captain beaming in to excoriate her daughter for violating the Prime Directive.
This leads to a ‘forced therapy’ session with Dr. Migleemo (the always hilarious Paul F. Tompkins) whose constant food puns infuriate Mariner but are essentially always funny. So instead of facing her issues directly, Mariner decides to hijack Boimler’s holodeck simulation to create a sort of interactive movie where she can take out her anger towards her mom.
Everything that was confusing about Mariner and the Captain’s relationship externally, including why they have different last names, is revealed at the end of the episode: Their mother-daughter relationship has actually been a secret this whole time. The Captain having her aboard, despite all their issues, is the only way to keep her protected and in Starfleet. It’s a heavy reveal, but what’s good about it is that it helps recontextualize a lot of Mariner’s annoying behavior in the past.
The movie she creates is just a blast, starting with the TNG styled fonts in the opening credits that Rutherford praises — and that literally bowl over Boimler. I don’t know every single reference, but I picked up a few, like the crashing onto a planet or the one minute of slathering over circling around the Cerritos, just like the interminable first Star Trek movie. But this particular movie is far better.
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So instead you get a series of fun moments, interspersed with Boimler desperately trying to get more information on how to impress the Captain (e.g., the hilarious ‘Allergic to What?!’ parody of people screaming after their fallen comrades). You get some funny stuff from Tendi as Mariner portrays her in a racist way, even if Tendi admits that many Orions are pirates. And a fantastic, extended riff from Rutherford with his deep affection and connection with the Head of Engineering.
Even if Tendi left early, it was great to see the whole Lower Decks gang involved with the story together. The final moments, where Mariner as Vindicta fights the simulated version of herself, are a bit ‘explaining things out loud’, but it still feels pretty effective. We get the whole gamut, from the mundane (despite her making fun of Boimler about it in the past, she actually loves the warp core) to the deep (her badass attempts are really a front based on people’s expectations of her).
It’s a pretty good culmination of moments, and it sets up a legitimately intriguing season finale where Boimler has to confront Mariner about the secret. Freeman has her own lingering issues to resolve, as she cannot accept Mariner’s apology and pleasant respect for what it was, pondering to the therapist that it must be some sort of mind games. But her anger at the food puns shows clearly that mother and daughter are more alike than they’d care to admit. Even if only Mariner understands that even in the ’80s (a great joke referencing the TNG era) that ‘Therapy Works!’
I think overall it really worked, and even if I wanted more from Tendi in general, she’s still always funny. And boy, there were a lot of great stand-out funny moments: DaVinci with his skeet shooting and fourth wall breaking, the callback to Freeman’s attempt at a catchphrase with ‘Warp Me!’, the computer saying ‘Warning: The Ship has crashed’, the Boimler replacement Shempo, and everything the therapist said (ethical pickle, you’re being a real pineapple right now). The more Paul F. Tompkins, the better.
Star Trek: Lower Decks streams new episodes every Thursday on CBS All Access.
What did you think of the episodes? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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