Reflections

DVD, Lower Decks S3 (Reflections)

Was I watching Trek or 'Smallville'? Is Mike McMahan a secret fan of the young Superman series? Look at the evidence: Rutherford, the boy scout of Starfleet turns into an evil, cooler version of himself, complete with red eye and proceeds to mess around with Rutherford's life, pushing Tendi over and upsetting Barnes. Then at the end we have Mariner with a computer visual showing her choice whether to delete the 'contact' with a new character, yes or no. Okay, so that's about it for 'Smallville,' but the central theme was very like Clark Kent's descent into Kal in certain episodes of that series. Not that it's uncommon in sci-fi/fantasy, and even red being the colour of evil is standard stuff. Actually, the episode had more in common with the seventh season 'Voyager' episode 'Drive,' which in turn was seemingly inspired by the pod-race in 'Star Wars Episode I,' so everything feeds on everything else, I suppose. It was nice to see the Delta Flyer return, even if it was only in Rutherford's mind, and when he and his friends were all wearing the white-shouldered racing uniform (as ridiculous as it was even on 'Voyager'), and working together to beat evil Rutherford, there was a part of me that warmed to it all. But only a part because I didn't find this to be a particularly appealing episode.

The Rutherford who's ten years younger than the one we know was just some nasty, unpleasant rebel, I didn't understand how someone like that could get into Starfleet, or was it meant to be when he was at the Academy - even then I don't believe someone like that would get in, or even exist in the 24th Century world where there's no lack of anything. Why would he be so rebellious, it makes no sense? He talked in typically annoying yoof speak and was all angry and bitter. Are they saying Rutherford only became Rutherford due to an implant which changed his personality? I know this plays into the series' arc, so that gives it a slight lift of importance, and continues the mystery of his flashbacks, but it's a bit messy. I didn't feel there was a particularly strong theme, nor really any connection between the two storylines, unless you count seeing Boimler acting rebelliously, enraged by the criticism of, and insults towards Starfleet, finally blowing his top when his prized pip is tossed away like nothing. I wonder if McMahan had a bet to prove he could get the most swearwords in a single episode, because it was full of it, albeit mostly bleeped out, but when the guy in charge of a series wants to write it that way you have to wonder at Trek's place now and whether it has a shred of itself left any more.

It'd been a few weeks since I last watched a modern Trek episode (other than the child-friendly 'Prodigy'), so maybe I forgot what the content was like, but it did seem excessive even for what we've seen in recent years. Other than that, content was fine, a bit of blood (young Rutherford dying in our Rutherford's arms, bloody and bruised was a reflection of Badgey in Season 1), we see Rutherford's accident (in memory, so how can he see himself?! I preferred it when they kept the flashback scenes to his POV), skin all scarred and burned, but there wasn't any grossness or gore, for which I am thankful. Of course if the story had been stronger it would have taken my thoughts away from content anyway. This time they don't have the draw of a returning character/actor to divert attention (unless you count Palor Toff of the Collector's Guild, but it wasn't the same actor so I can't count that), but they certainly filled the screen chockablock with mainly visual callbacks and Trekferences, too many to keep track of. I enjoyed the dialogue mentions more, such as Boimler ranting at the Wadi booth for trapping people in games (before they'd bring them back for that in Season 4!), during his violent tantrum - that happened to me once: at work a colleague, out of the blue, got so irritated by me he ripped by name badge off and threw it on the floor. Fortunately I didn't react like Boimler and calmly picked it up, but it was funny!

The brief argument between non-Starfleet personnel about whether the organisation is or isn't military was fun, as was the reference to them changing their uniforms so much (the outpost scientist even holds up two PADDs, one with the original 'TNG' outfit complete with 'speed' stripe, and the other featuring a dress uniform of the kind Picard would wear - again, it's fun he has a separate PADD for each image!). Boimler even begins to give us some information on the current state of the uniform, saying the style worn on the Cerritos aren't across the whole fleet, as we know, since the grey-shouldered 'DS9' variety are still in use, but he's cut off before he can go into any more depth, which is a shame! Then there are the aliens questioning what happened to Sisko, something many people want to know about ever since 'Picard' brought back that era's characters in live action (though it will either never be resolved as Trek turns more towards teen-pleasing varieties of itself, or not until Avery Brooks is dead and gone - I can certainly imagine them recasting the character then, but I'd hate that), so McMahan certainly knows his audience in that respect (even mentioning the parasite aliens from 'Conspiracy' as a conspiracy!). Not sure how well he knows the wider universe, though, as young Rutherford claims he 'funded' the building of racers by winning races, which suggests he needed money, which the Federation doesn't use.

Too often modern Trek wants to get in on the detail and flesh out specifics, not seeming to realise there was a reason certain things were left vague (such as the bit with Stamets brushing his teeth in 'DSC' - the link to this episode being he sees an alternate version of himself in the mirror, the same way Rutherford sees his real self in a reflection of the viewing port). It's too difficult to plan out how they'd work, and the economics of the future is something to avoid or else you just make it like now and you're trampling established canon. I never much cared for space races (the pod-race was terrific, but that was on land - in space it's difficult to create a sense of speed and distance travelled since the vastness of emptiness is so all-engulfing), and a race without even reality outside of someone's brain has even less meaning. If they could imagine whatever they wanted then why even have a fair race anyway? Who imagined the Romulan Warbird? For that matter evil Rutherford was just as likely to cheat, or maybe the whole thing was an elaborate trick to get his older self to rescue him. Maybe he's not even dead. I don't think the intent was to suggest anything of the sort, but when you're dealing with bad guys you can never be sure. The other thing is, even though it's all happening in Rutherford's head, his younger self's racer doesn't look anywhere near as sleek and attractive as the Flyer! Couldn't they come up with anything better?

The "Remember..." moment was good, cleverly advancing the flashback arc, but I can't say this was one of my favourite episodes and I'm really struggling to remember why I thought so highly of the season unless the second half is all top-notch stuff! But I always find some things to like, and in this case little details like Ransom's threatening attitude to Mariner's bad attitude to manning the Starfleet recruitment booth was appreciated (especially when he calls Starbase 80, 'SB80,' the same naming convention as DS9!), the plant with the mind control pollen from Omicron Ceti III (as seen on 'TOS' in 'This Side of Paradise'), even the detail that Rutherford transferred aboard the Cerritos from Douglas Station (although I thought that was a previously established location from old Trek, but apparently not), but at the same time it falls into the trap of thinking all Trek is equal and the same. For example, as much as I love Kirk and Spock, I don't believe a 24th Century recruitment booth would feature a silly camera-posing standup where you put your head in the hole over the famous officers' bodies - they're even wearing the 2260s uniforms rather than the later, film-era versions! It's purely aimed at fans rather than thinking what the reality would be. I suppose it's a bit late to be complaining about such things two-and-a-half seasons in, but the series is at its best when it brings that sense of reality back into modern Trek. For which modern Trek is in dire need.

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