Crisis Point

 DVD, Lower Decks S1 (Crisis Point)

Another one I found myself enjoying more than on original viewing, which at the time I considered 'less painful to watch' as the best thing I could say about it. Now I find it good fun, even if it is largely a succession of Trek (and other), film references. But importantly, it also has a serious theme running through it: that of Mariner's issues with authority, or specifically, with her own Mother, Captain Freeman. That she faces off against herself is a classic Trek story, and it had that genuine drama of the villain being tricked into their own destruction, but that it was by a holographic version of herself who could be honest about her motivations, and that she learns something from herself, gave it that 'big scale' cinematic style of storytelling that they were going for. I think the only real problem (other than the occasional content issue which is, unfortunately, par for the course), is that the episode wasn't entirely sure what it wanted to be - it made many Trek film connections, some of which were very amusing, but it was also not fully committed to an actual mashup of the various films because it was trying to do something of its own at the same time. So Vindicta, the villainous role assumed by Mariner, doesn't have any connection to any other Trek villains, unless the fact she was a generic, cackling ham was a joke in itself, that too many of the films' antagonists were mere revenge-driven, almost identikit enemies without much more to them (maybe even another 'Voyager' nod as she was very Dr. Chaotica, who in turn was modelled on old sci-fi villains of the 1930s).

For me it was just too generic. The best parts were when they were directly recreating a Trek film moment with these characters, like the shuttle tour around the Cerritos from every conceivable angle - it worked as a joke, recreating the long (though beautiful and much-loved by myself), scene from 'TMP' where the refit Enterprise is toured as an excuse to show off all the glorious cinematic detail of the new filming model. And it also worked as exactly what it was: showing off the glorious detail of the animated model! They really got that right (they'd do a similar recreation of the 'DS9' opening credits when visiting the station in Season 3), we get some stunning shots of the ship, and I already love the look of it and the animation style it's presented in. Another good scene was Vindicta's Bird-of-Prey blowing up, forcing the Cerritos to crash into a planet, much like in 'Generations,' although while the saucer rolling along like an escaping hubcap worked for humour's sake, it didn't have the same dramatic impact of the incredible saucer-crashing sequence in the film. There could have been a 'Voyager' reference intended, too, since it crash-lands on a snowy ice planet, though I suspect they were concentrating much more on film references this time, which would make sense since when they're in the Holodeck it's all filmic and would be more apt to keep to that in theme and tone.

There's even the old trope of a torpedo tube on the planet, only this time rather than Spock, it contains Vindicta (presumably a holographic version - though that doesn't really have to make sense as no 'real' characters are present, so the Holodeck should be off!), but then she's shot by Leonardo Da Vinci whom we saw interacting with our people in a previous program before Boimler changed it to his simulation of the Cerritos (which is then altered by Mariner into the 'Crisis Point' script - when Boimler points out she wrote a whole script in two seconds it could be a little Nick Meyer call-out since he was well known for creating the 'Star Trek II' final script in a very short time). So there you go, another 'Voyager' reference, even if it technically came from the previous program so still fits - a shame they didn't have John Rhys-Davies reprise the role, though I imagine he'd be more expensive and might not be interested in such a minor part - it also would have wasted his talent (in much the same way John De Lancie was rather wasted in his cameos last episode), and it's always better to give a returning character at least a fairly significant part if you're going to go to the trouble of bringing them back, but they were still learning at this stage, as is only to be expected in a first season, and they got better with the cameos as the series progressed. And what about that perfect 'signing off' start to the end credits (almost wish they'd done it for the whole closing credits except it would take a lot longer), recreating the signatures of the cast, as seen in 'Star Trek VI.' Of course this doesn't have the same emotional resonance, but is at least playing off of that.

The generic feel stems from more of a general use of Trek film style rather than following a specific story - you see the fantastic opening titles with their swooping credits over a starfield and that rousing 'Star Trek II'-aping theme music, though with an 'LD' twist. They introduce film grain and imperfections, alter the colours to make them a bit darker to simulate the lower lighting of a projected image, and best of all, narrow the aspect ratio to cinematic proportions (they couldn't have done that gag if it was already in that ratio as all the others are presented - another joke at other Treks?). Then there are the lens flares when we first go aboard, although they wisely didn't keep that up all through the 'film' as it could have been distracting - it was enough to poke a little fun at the Kelvinverse films, and wouldn't be the last time. If anyone was upset that 'LD' joked about Trek, I suspect those same people probably enjoyed any jokes at 'modern' Trek's expense, I know I tend to find that funnier because it's stuff that's still in production (or supposed to be), and is of inferior quality. Then there are the second tier references that are either just the usual mentions of things we know (the best being Mariner calling Boimler a 'Xon' who probably wouldn't have made the final cut, him asks who Xon is, and she replying, "Exactly"!), like Mariner dressed up as Toby the Targ for Halloween when she was younger, the stuffed toy of which was owned by B'Elanna. Or how Rutherford is able to beam the crew to safety, explaining it away by saying you can do all sorts of beaming stuff in films (very 'Star Trek XI,' and even more 'Into Darkness' when Khan can beam to Qo'noS!).

We also have Shakespeare quotation-spouting from villainess Mariner, and her holographic self emergency transports Freeman away so she can face the villain alone, much like Data saving Picard in 'Nemesis,' and maybe even the moment Boimler first appears in the program, high in the sky, falling a long way, could be a 'Star Trek V' connection, even though he isn't on a cliffside and there's a lake beneath him - see, that's why the tributes don't always work as well as they might. You sense they want to have these great jokey recreations, but at the same time don't want to go too far, but then if you're doing it anyway you may as well go the whole hog. I think that's why I didn't warm to the concept of 'Crisis Point' as a whole - they brought it back at least once, in Season 3 (they do love to pick up past stories again, which is something that makes it feel more Trekky than, say 'DSC,' which often fails to even connect with its own backstory, always moving on to something new), and no doubt they'd be doing more (such a shame there'll only be five seasons of the series!), and it's not like it's taking 'valuable' time away from other arcs, or the chance for more serious stories, because there are only ten episodes a season and they're all pretty silly most of the time. This remains in that vein. I don't even have a problem with Holodeck episodes, it's just not focused enough, and that's the way I've felt about the season as a whole. That they didn't drill down into the tropes they were playing with, but they were still finding their feet.

As I've said before, the series is certainly improving this end of the season, and with episodes like this it shows the seeds of promise - the big thing is that Mariner works through her problem, as she'd already started to in some way when 'Masks'– sorry, 'Moist Vessel,' forced her to work with her Mother. That's been the theme of the season, and being confronted by an honest mirror image of herself compiled from her own logs forces her into realisation that it's problems with herself that are the issue, not the blame she heaps on her Mother, and that's what makes this more of a Trek story than all the references put together: learning something about yourself and resolving to do better. There is a more glaring issue that gets no exploration at all, barely even any outrage at Boimler recreating realistic versions of the entire ship's crew merely so he can 'cheat' by doing a 'pre-interview' in order to learn how best to impress the Captain. From his perspective I'm sure he merely saw it as good preparation since he's the sort of person who wouldn't countenance doing something unethical, it wouldn't enter his mind because he's such a straight arrow. But you'd think there'd be serious questions about privacy and inappropriate use of a person's image. It had already been covered to some extent in 'Meridian' when Jeffrey Combs first appeared in Trek as an alien wanting Quark to make him a holographic recreation of Kira, and before that, Barclay's use of Enterprise-D crew to play roles in his holoprogram, to name but two examples.

I suppose it would be difficult to find a way to do the story itself in the same way if they hadn't used the characters (it relies on Freeman and Mariner particularly), and also you can point to the slim running time of these episodes for why they may not have time for ethical quandaries. At the same time it is a little worrying that no time is given over, other than Mariner expressing unhappiness about her logs being used, and you'd think from a practical point of view there'd be safeguards to prevent such things in this generation of Holodecks after all that's transpired over the years on previous Treks. It works fine in a 'TNG' universe where the characters are naturally good-natured, socially accepting and without cynicism, but even in 'Hollow Pursuits' they expressed dismay with being recreated as they had been. Again, I can point to Boimler's naivety, solely focused on his desperate wish to impress the Captain by saying and doing the right things, but it doesn't entirely work in the 'LD' universe because we already know how cynical and unpleasant it can be. It's also a bit shocking that Mariner was so angry at her Mother that she'd be so gleeful at the idea of killing her, and perhaps torturing her beforehand - I don't remember exactly what she said, but I had the impression she wanted to cause her pain, even if it was the holographic version, not the real one. I remember years ago I was playing 'Goldeneye' with cousins, and my Aunt joined in, but her daughter didn't want to kill her in the game! I feel like actually being 'in' a game and physically killing a recreation like that would be many times worse, which makes Mariner seem like an awful person!

I was expecting her to throw away the spear-like shard at the last moment and be unable to skewer her Mother, but instead Freeman's saved by a holographic Mariner leaping in, real Mariner never given a moment of redemption or choice. Unlike the end of 'The Most Toys' when you're left to wonder if Data would really have killed Kivas Fajo or not, there isn't anything like that and it's not really the same situation anyway. But I just thought of the parallel and there are probably others. Too often action can be more important than redemption or morality in modern Trek, and though 'LD' enjoys poking fun at all Treks, it sometimes forgets that it, too, is Trek, not just a form of commenting on Trek. As usual, there are some of the things I don't like to see in this series, such as holographic Shaxs and others being blown up to shower Mariner and Tendi in blood, which was way too much for Trek - can you imagine if they did that in the films? They'd be '15' or '18' rated! The films always seemed a little more edgy in terms of content, but now it's the 'TV' series' that are more inappropriate and more film-like than the films, it seems. Maybe that would have been a good source of commentary for examining Trek? I will say, I did like that the blood disappeared off Tendi as soon as she stalked off the Holodeck, unhappy with the direction Mariner was taking things - this may be the first time they'd mentioned her Orion pirate heritage, and how she's not like that, but whether or not they had, it would be something that would be explored further.

Boimler's arc is the most fun, going from his methodical, safe plan to get insight into the Captain as ideal prep, to being hacked by Mariner's own wishes (did she ever apologise to him for messing up his program?), then the shock revelation upon later returning to the program that Freeman is actually Mariner's Mother, which had been kept secret... That was very nicely done, well judged and then hilarious when he's so upturned by the whole concept he can barely speak in his interview. That's funny! I also enjoyed the first appearance of Migleemo the counsellor, who's budgie birdlike appearance and constant food analogies entertain, even if it feels off that he should be wearing glasses. But you immediately get the sense of someone that appreciates old ways, whether it be bonsai to be tended or cabinets full of books. A great line from Mariner when she doesn't want to go to counselling, 'It's the Eighties, we don't have psychiatric problems,' which is a joke about how 'TNG' (made in the '80s, but the 1980s rather than the 2380s in which 'LD' takes place), controversially introduced counsellors. I wasn't so sure about the teaser, which threw up a few issues: 'Lizard Men,' is that really the official term for them? They looked weirdly like Gorn (an offshoot?), but more confusingly, an Antican appeared to be their enemy - so where were the Selay? And why not just have them be Selay and Anticans, except this is many years after 'TNG' encountered them, and... it was just confusing. As was the idea that Starfleet introduces itself, then doesn't mind that there's cannibalism of species, with only the vague solution being to give them Replicators. But if it's a Prime Directive issue then surely they can't give them tech?

It's not important really, it was just a silly little aside to set up Mariner's increasing frustration with her Mother, but it's one of those things that grates a little because the series is so good at the most obscure details of lore, canon and continuity, one of its greater positives. Keeping track of the credits has been a good way to get to know it a little better as I begin to notice more and more names. For example, I did not realise it was Gary Cole doing the voice of Da Vinci! He's not Rhys-Davies, but I know him best as the main star of the 'Babylon 5' spinoff, 'Crusade,' and he'd never been in Trek before, so that's a fun connection. Rutherford's Cordero gets to bring in Winger Bingston, Jr., this time as a hologram (with an onscreen credit in Mariner's film!) - I like that we're slowly getting to recognise members of the crew, like Jet Manhaver, the tough guy Boimler wishes he was like. Nolan North is back again, a regular contributor (I couldn't remember who Lars Lundy was, but the Borg head was memorable). Ben Rodgers usually plays 'Steve Stevens,' but he's also the weak holo-parody of Boimler, 'Shempo' (also credited as writer of the actual episode!), and other members of the cast continue to provide the occasional other role (Fred Tatasciore, invariably - this time reprising Admiral Vassery from 'Moist Vessel'), the most interesting credit is Gabrielle Ruiz - she played 'Lemonts,' whom I don't recall, but would go on to be T'Lyn in Season 2's 'wej Duj,' joining the cast as that Vulcan character in Season 4 (which I have yet to see).

**


DVD, Lower Decks S1 (No Small Parts)

Bucking the trend of modern Trek season finales, where usually they're the worst episode, this is the best and showed real promise for what the series could be, encouraging a slightly disillusioned me that it might be worth buying Season 2 after all when I'd been burned by each successive season boxed set to be released. Perhaps it was down to what had come before ('DSC' and 'Picard'), being serialised so all the eggs in the season basket had to be hatched in that final episode, while in this (and 'SNW' Season 1, which also reserved its best, by far, for last), they could play with big stakes that they'd created just for this moment, giving them more freedom and no expectation for all the slow plotting and tedious buildup (who said shorter seasons meant no more filler!). That's what makes this feel absolutely like classic Trek (i.e: 'TOS' to 'Enterprise,' both ends of the spectrum getting called out at beginning and end, almost like they were deliberately pointing to the parallel that this series is just like those, from beginning to end!), a big story that suddenly ramps up the stakes, something that couldn't be done with the serialised seasons because they were already hovering around 9 in terms of galactic threat or whatever, so had nowhere to go but disappointment. This gives us all that could have been promised from the premise, from Riker (and Troi!), on the Titan, to a striking new enemy... with a familiar face. But this being Kurtzman era Trek it can't all be good, and the strength of the story suffers from the usual problems.

As ever, the swearing is mostly bleeped out (because it's 'funny'...), but it's still there and makes everyone seem coarse and foul-mouthed, not the shining examples of Starfleet goodness you'd expect. Then there are the heavily cynical and negative impressions of Starfleet and the Federation in general that threaten to drag the story down into the mire and don't gel with the optimistic nature of the characters and their self-sacrifices or ingrained desire to do right that evokes the old Treks so well. It's definitely not miserable like 'DSC' or 'Picard,' it doesn't have that dystopian feel, but it's still got the tarnish of negativity. For a start we see that the people of Beta III whom Kirk set free from their computer god in 'TOS,' have gone back to worshipping Landru, and in consequence it causes Mariner to say Starfleet is good at observing, but bad at maintaining. Is that really the message we want to send about this organisation for the sake of a cheap joke? Then there's the return of the evil, Lore-like Badgey who's desperate to kill his 'Father,' Rutherford and though his twisted plotting fails to do that, it's only thanks to the sacrifice of Shaxs, saving Rutherford's life at the expense of his own. And most horrible of all, we have another terrible character introduced in the Exocomp, self-named as 'Peanut Hamper,' supposedly for being a mathematically perfect name (even the final shot of the episode with PH floating helplessly across the screen like the bottle from 'Generations,' crying piteously for help, was a nasty choice - you'd think they'd make sure to pick her up even if she didn't help them, because that's the Starfleet way: to be better).

I love Exocomps and it was a joy to see one again, hovering around in the air with those cute little traction boots hanging off, the enthusiasm and optimistic helpfulness to rival Tendi, and the discovery of a great skill when she performs surgery in Sickbay, impressing even the grumpy Dr. T'Ana (not to mention the ever-cool interchangeable tools on the front!). But the joke they make out of it all is that while it seems like this is the perfect time for this little robot (a legitimate robot, not those stupid 'dot-7' droids that fell out of a portal to the 'Star Wars' universe!), to come into its own and show what it's made of... and then it selfishly refuses. All that build-up just so we can laugh at the lack of selflessness. It jars with the general tone and ambition of the series and really capped the season for me as why I couldn't quite like it, for all its many fun little jokes, deep-cut references aimed at someone like me who really knows Trek well, and clean visual beauty. It's less that they're laughing at Trek and poking fun at it, rather it's poking fun at the goodness there is in Trek, and that's disturbing, in the same way that the gory Badgey episode was disturbing, going down into nastiness. At least this time Badgey was constrained to impersonal wickedness, he didn't have the chance to physically attack anyone, but it's another horrible, wicked character, if better used in this instance (and I am generally in favour of having recurring characters).

Going back to Landru, it suggests people are very stupid and don't learn, undoing the good work of Kirk and his crew - I grant that it's realistic, if you go back through the Old Testament of The Bible and look at Israel's history and how often they turned away from the one true God to go after other false ones, it shows how easy it is for human nature to be corrupted, or more precisely, how human nature is corrupt and will quickly return to evil ways if there are times of plenty or they become complacent (a situation we're in right now in our own society). I know the Beta III inhabitants aren't supposed to be human (even if they look it), but the principle remains. My point is that Trek isn't there to be realistic in that sense and so I prefer it when goodness prevails. I suppose it is a timely warning about not just assuming each generation will follow the right path, especially as there's a tendency to go your own way when you're young, and acting in opposition to whatever the previous generation considered right. But to me it just smacked of cynicism and wasn't the tone of Trek I like to see, especially as it's really just there as a joke. It doesn't make a lot of sense in-universe either, since their excuse is that Landru was very persuasive, yet Landru was destroyed, so it would have taken someone to come along and fix his remains. I will say it was quite nice to revisit an exact location from 'TOS' and see it again all these decades after the original sets were first shown, especially in an era where 'SNW' is riding roughshod over the sets and visual style of the era it's supposed to be recreating!

The unlikelihood of Landru being rebuilt was only one flaw of the episode, where they usually seem to be pretty good about keeping to established Trek rules. Another mistake was when Ransom contacts Boimler via Combadge and proceeds to hear all his and Mariner's conversation when the former had never hit his badge so surely there shouldn't have been any receiving audio - usually you have to activate it to respond, but for story reasons they do it this way so everyone can know the secret that Mariner is Captain Freeman's daughter. It's a good scene, but all they needed to do was show that something fell on the badge to activate it, or it was the way Boimler threw down his jacket, or even one of the little children they were giving out crayons to could have been curious and pressed it without them knowing. Then you could have had an innocent standing their wide-eyed as this conversation was occurring. It's not major (especially compared to the many grievous mistakes and choices of other modern Trek!), but I hold 'LD' to a higher standard because of what they've shown is their depth of knowledge and love of the source material. And what about T'Ana letting out a meow in her distress at seeing the Captain injured - wouldn't that be translated by the Universal Translator and come out as words anyway? But then you wouldn't have the joke of her losing control and going into cat-speak.

Another major mistake seemed to be when Freeman takes the Cerritos into an area from where the USS Solvang had sent a distress call. To digress a moment, the Solvang scenes were a great moment in the episode and season - one moment we're enjoying Captain Dayton (returning from a couple of episodes back when she was captaining the USS Rubidoux in 'Much Ado About Boimler'), and her ridiculous attempt to keep this new ship looking shiny and fresh, to the extent that she makes her crew wear socks so as not to scuff the carpets (and doesn't want to remove the protective film on screens - I can understand that myself!), and then suddenly they're up against a dark and powerful unknown vessel that bears a similarity to the Scimitar of 'Nemesis,' and are ripped apart in a shockingly swift destruction. It's a powerful way to introduce the new villain which would have ramifications across Season 2. But back to my main point: why wouldn't the Cerritos go in with shields up, it's not like a Starfleet Captain to be so overconfident or fail to follow safety protocols. Again, it's for story reasons (it's reminiscent of 'Star Trek XI' when the Enterprise warps into the remains of the fleet Nero had annihilated), and they do set it up with it being most likely Dayton has made some mistake and there's nothing supposed to be in that area, but even so, space is dangerous and you never know what you might encounter so it makes Freeman look bad.

Then there's also the usual (for this series), wacky crew-member, this time a Lieutenant who believes Wolf 359 was an inside job, Changelings aren't real and the Dominion War never happened (as amusing as it was, not to mention very cool to hear of such things back in 2020 when 'Picard' Season 3 had never even been thought of yet and there were few connections to 'DS9' in what had been made so far in any of the series'). You could say that Starfleet are putting their ideology of including all points of view into practice, but I don't believe someone in Starfleet who would have seen all the evidence would believe things like that, it doesn't make sense. While I'm picking holes, I'd also say it would seem a bit much for a holo-character such as Badgey to be able to monitor all ship communications, because surely when he's turned off, or the Holodeck's off, he has no consciousness. I will say that it's believable from the character's point of view since he is a wicked, conniving monster, always looking for a way in which he might cause trouble, hopefully of a deadly kind. And it was fun when he reveals he'd already created three viruses which can break up the Pakled ship before Rutherford even arrived. And I loved the over-the-top villainy when he activates that ship's self-destruct and the screen is absolutely covered in the red self-destruct logo! But I could do without Badgey or Peanut Hamper, two of the worst characters the series created, almost on a par with evil Georgiou, Burnham, Tilly, Jurati and Chapel as the most awful creations of modern Trek.

All that being said, I did enjoy this episode and it has the most beautiful and dramatic space scenes (assisted in the swooping in of the Titan, by the wonderful 'TNG' film version of the theme music), the series had accomplished in the first season, one reason why I felt it had a lot of potential if they could just tone down some of the content and tone up some of the intelligent writing. Shaxs gets to be the hero, first getting Rutherford over to the Pakled ship, then pushing him off to safety before the place blows (even though he could probably just as easily have jumped on the shuttle - though I suppose the point was the engines didn't work so he had to physically push the craft away), and though it's somewhat undermined when he just shows up good as new in Season 2, I don't think most would mind since he is a fun character (even if we really don't learn anything about Bajorans through him). There's even the first hint of Dr. T'Ana's love for him when everyone's asking Mariner's advice now they know she has the Captain's ear and T'Ana wants to know how the Captain would feel about them being paired off. They set up the Titan as the hero ship early on, saying it's also in range of the Solvang, but Freeman just wants to annoy Dayton by showing up to her rescue instead.

What works best about the episode is it has the air of the 'DS9' Season 1 finale, 'In The Hands of The Prophets' (who actually get a mention when Shaxs is said to be with the Prophets). That also dealt with a difficult situation, one which was resolved, and the characters took stock of their positions with a sense of consolidation and learning for the season. It also doesn't end with a cliffhanger, as if both 'DS9' Season 1 and 'LD' Season 1 didn't know for sure they'd be renewed because they were both doing something different which might not be received well, and if this was to be the only season, it could work: Tendi has grown in confidence (despite her potential for disillusionment after the Exocomp debacle), Rutherford loses his memory, but eagerly awaits whatever comes next (his implant would come to the fore more as the series went on), Mariner has learned to work with her Mother, not against her, and Boimler gets his coveted promotion and transfer to his dream ship, the Titan. It ends happily with the characters in a good place and if this had been it, it would have served as a great point of speculation for what might have been had the series continued, much like 'DS9.' But like 'DS9' I'm very glad the series went on, even if it's been sad news this year that 'LD' will end at five seasons, fifty episodes a fraction of the 176 'DS9' got (although with talk of spinoffs of some kind from Mike McMahan, who knows... And whilst you're at it, make more 'DS9'... Actually probably best not to touch it considering the live action Treks we've been getting...).

The Titan is a beauty of a ship and it was wonderful to finally see her (I don't think they mentioned it's Luna-class, but the series isn't above mentioning such important details since Freeman's offered the Cerritos' repair to be made better and she says she hates it when ships come out looking all Sovereign-class - that's the kind of detail I like to hear in my Trek!). It had been created years ago for the covers of the Titan book series back in the wilderness years of no new Trek (or at least no 24th Century Trek - the novels began when 'Enterprise' was still being produced, though the actual design came from a competition that came to fruition a couple of years after, much like the Enterprise-F was the result of a design competition for the game 'Star Trek Online' and would later become part of canon in 'Picard' Season 3), and while I never particularly liked it, preferring my own ideas of a deep space exploratory ship of vast configuration to match its name (a bit like the Enterprise-J, but maybe not quite so massive as that - oh, how I still want to see the 'J' in action!), it was better than the nothing we got in 'Nemesis' where we were told Riker and Troi (I suppose I should refer to her as Deanna since they're both Riker-Trois now, as revealed in 'Picard' Season 1 - I like that Boimler and others still refer to him as Riker, though, otherwise it would be a bit cumbersome), were moving to that ship, but they never bothered to show it, so what an introduction here, speeding in as a white knight!

Riker and Deanna deserve some notice: they hold the distinction of being the main characters who have appeared in the most Trek series'. They were both in 'TNG' (obviously), Jonathan Frakes was in both 'DS9' and 'Voyager,' Marina Sirtis was in 'Voyager,' they were both in 'Enterprise' (once again: I absolutely love the finale, one of my favourite episodes of the series, and I was even more enamoured with the reference to it in this episode, so there!), and both in 'Picard,' making this the sixth series for Frakes and fifth for Sirtis. That's good going! My only annoyance is that Frakes wasn't in 'DSC' (unless they found a way in the final season, but despite him being a Director there, I doubt it), and is unlikely to be in 'SNW,' but I really wanted him to keep his record of being in every Trek other than 'TOS,' which would be amazing (there's still hope for 'Prodigy'). I appreciated not just Riker and Deanna appearing, and aboard the legendary Titan no less (a period I would have loved to have seen if only the makers could have got their act together in the mid-2000s for a new live action series starring the pair - but not the sitcom idea, I wouldn't have liked that), but that Marina was credited as a Special Guest Star, along with Frakes, undoing the slight of 'Picard' Season 1 where she didn't get that distinction and it felt really off since she's one of the main cast of 'TNG,' the best known and loved iteration of the franchise! 'LD' usually makes right what other modern Treks have done wrong (a bit like 'Quantum Leap'), whether it be the carpeting on starships or the references only the most faithful would get: the Spock helmet toy in this episode, at least I think it's supposed to be that barmy 1970s toy that had no connection to Trek whatsoever, just a bizarre marketing decision of stick the name on anything and they'll buy it! Did Billups put it on in the fight, I didn't notice?

As usual, it's attention to detail, not just references, so if you pay attention to the schematic of the Pakled vessel you see different parts are from different races, so if you recognise the logos for Romulans, Bajorans, Klingons and Ferengi, you know the origin, but there's no text, just the logos. One of the best references is a fourth-wall-breaking moment, or seems like it at first: Ransom calls the time when Kirk, Spock and Scotty were dealing with things like Landru, as the TOS era. Whaaaaaaat??? That's almost as mind-boggling as when Zefram Cochrane said the words 'Star Trek' in 'First Contact'! Fortunately, he's not referring to 'The Original Series' which is what the original Trek came to be known as (though as late as the mid-90s it was still being called 'Classic Star Trek' - see early issues of 'Star Trek Monthly' for proof!), but 'Those Old Scientists,' a monicker that would later be used for the 'LD' crossover with 'SNW' in Season 2 (which I'm getting to soon, anticipating excitedly!). He ties the phrase down to the 2260s specifically, which doesn't make a lot of sense since they'd all be 'TOS' to him, but it's obviously a direct reference to the period of the original, so I can forgive it. Almost as fun is seeing a picture of Kirk and Spock on a PADD in their 'TAS' style, which was lovely - connecting these two animations ever more firmly as they've done so much, and would continue to do (don't forget, it's all non-canon except for what's referenced in other Trek, although does that count for other animation? Now it's getting confusing, even more because animated Trek now represents closer adherence to canon than the terrible deviations and mess-ups that have been done in 'DSC,' 'Picard' and especially 'SNW,' so who knows any more...).

Freeman threatens to paradox Landru into destroying himself, but surely they should just destroy it or put it in that Starfleet vault for errant computers as we'd see in future episodes? She also mentions a theoretical 'Gamester of Triskelion' to add to the 'TOS' references, while Mariner cites Wesley Crusher working with his Mother as proof that situation can work. And we learn that, like Captain Picard Day on the Enterprise, the Cerritos celebrates a Captain Freeman Day, as Rutherford points out how awkward it's going to be this year (now that everyone knows Mariner and the Captain's familial connection). Mariner even throws in one more for 'TNG' at the very end when she threatens to feed Boimler to 'an' Armus for not responding to her messages - does that mean there are more than one of those horrible creatures? It may be a throwaway line, but it means something to us Trekkers (and they know it!). Less specifically, Ransom uses the traditional Trek mode of fighting, rather than the apparent modern preference for martial arts: rolling, jumping, and most importantly, the double-handed punch, providing a running commentary as he bowls through the humungous Pakled invaders, and, typically for him, says he's setting his fists to stun and his kicks to kill! But the best and most potent joke of all has to go to Riker: he shows up on the Titan's Bridge at the end, apologising for being late because he was watching the first Enterprise on the Holodeck, Archer and those guys (and yes, he even goes there with the line about them having a long road getting from there to here, from the famous and divisive theme song of 'Enterprise' - love it!).

It's not just the guest cast, nor is it the sprinkles of well chosen references that suit the episode, nor even the spectacular ship externals in all their light and beauty - the characters themselves are treated well: Mariner completely changes when she decides the only way to ride out the storm of being Captain's daughter and everyone knowing it, is to become the model officer so she can get a transfer. So instead of the traditional rolling up of sleeves and letting the hair down, Mariner, whose sleeves are already unrolled and whose hair is already down, rolls down her sleeves, tidies her hair and starts calling everyone 'Sir.' She put her hands behind her back (just like Dax!), she even copies Boimler's ultra-efficient fast-walking from the early episodes (that minute attention to detail is superb - it happens again when she says no one aboard would be called Jen, and in her last moment 'Jen' tells her to quiet down as they're trying to sleep - brilliant!). But of course it turns out that in a crunch Freeman turns to her daughter for a 'dangerous, half-baked solution that breaks Starfleet codes' and she has to go back to being the typical Mariner we know (and have come to somewhat appreciate - love might be too strong a word!). You know it's a serious situation when Mariner calls her Mother 'Sir,' without any irony, and for once the drama is serious with death and destruction all around. It makes so much more impact when the series is usually about the day-to-day problems of interspecies faux pas or issues with ship operations, to go to the Cerritos being pummelled - again, with the 'epic' serialised Treks there's not enough break in tone to make anything big meaningful. They get it right here.

One of the best ideas was to use an existing race that had never been developed because they were a joke. The Pakleds appeared (or I should say, starred), in only one episode: 'Samaritan Snare' on 'TNG,' though they were seen many times on 'DS9.' They look like dopey computer programmers, overweight and with a cunning simplicity. It would be difficult to treat them seriously in live action, but they were an ideal fit for a series that is a joke in itself. The title of the episode comes from the famous quote of an actor (was it Olivier or Richard Burton, someone like that?), that there are no small parts, only small actors, meaning every role is important if you make it so. This resonates strongly with this series since the whole premise (flawed, it's true), is based on the idea Starfleet has a two-tiered system of starships, where the important ones do all the exploring and make first contacts, while the California-class and its like come in to tidy up and do the 'boring' stuff. I can't say I ever liked that idea because it should all be essential to maintaining peace and goodwill between races and planets, but that's the jokey base the series was built on, and so it was good to see that they can be integral, too. It could also be applied to the Pakleds themselves since they are clearly of little brain (they assume every Federation ship they meet is the Enterprise!), turning them on their head to be dangerous and powerful out of the blue (and I love that they recreate the tiny original Pakled ship from 'TNG,' as we see when Boimler's recapping their MO of trapping vessels, only now it's just part of the configuration that makes up this super ship).

Looking back over the season I have come to appreciate it more, if not significantly more than when I first saw it in 2022. Having come around to it in Season 2, I was eager to go back over the first season just to see how it came out compared to later episodes, and it was more uneven, though in fairness the series is uneven even in its best seasons. I still feel they made wrong choices in a lot of ways, I often feel how good this would be if the humour was dialled back and the seriousness brought to the fore. Imagine it like that and in live action as the first of the modern era of Trek and I would have got on board with it much quicker and it would certainly have been a superior way to kick off Trek back in series form, much better than 'DSC.' But maybe we needed 'DSC' and 'Picard' in order for 'LD' to have something to kick against, and taking us back to a much more Berman era aesthetic and style might not have had as much impact as it did following those. It shows that Trek can be true to its past and canon, can even embrace those things while doing new ones, can explore underused established races, and remind us of the incredible beauty and power of starships in the vastness of space. Flawed it is, but it has the merit of being significantly less flawed than the rest of what has been produced. If only they could have done forty-four minute episodes to be even more in keeping with the era they're recreating, that would have been lovely. As it is, I think this episode was the longest for the season at twenty-eight minutes and they managed to pack in a lot. It can't help but be as much Upper Decks as Lower Decks, but they couldn't very well call it 'Somewhere In The Mid-Decks,' could they.

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