TREK REVIEW: Lower Decks 4-1 & 4-2

All Star Trek: Lower Decks episodes are watched using the traditional Orion method.

4.1 - "Twovix"

Now, with a title like that, it could only be a winner. Lower Decks storms back with a cracking episode that acts as a love letter to Star Trek: Voyager, particularly the most out-there, unexpected and idiotic parts of its seven-year journey.

So, as well as having a "Tuvix" situation when several crewmembers end up merged into composite beings by the transporter, we have a macrovirus infestation, a holodeck malfunction (made worse by the ship having holoemitters installed throughout, something they gave up trying on Voyager itself), hyper-evolved newt people (sadly only as models) and even Neelix's stinky cheese.

Given that fans are still debating the ethics of Janeway's decision to split Tuvix back into Tuvok and Neelix over his own wishes, it's refreshing to have Captain Freeman announce that Janeway straight-up murdered the guy, and sensibly go to Starfleet for some support in the matter. Of course, things get out of hand from there, helpfully having all the merged characters stuffed into an unviable mess (although as for Tendy's insistance it was non-sentient - was that just a handy assumption to make the decision easier?) Either way, the blob couldn't very well carry on as it was, and a little unlikely pseudoscience, and some good work between Tendi and T'Lyn saved the day.

Meanwhile, the madness on Voyager, which gets increasingly out-of-hand, is a lot of fun, not only for all the callbacks but just the overall ridiculous thrill of it all. There's a fast-and-loose approach to continuity (with even Mariner pointing put that the evil clown guy shouldn't be in the holodeck's logs since he was never a hologram to begin with), but it's all in service to the jokes. There's a real sense of the series loingly poking fun at the franchise's past, which is what it's always been best at. Focusing on Voyager makes for a tighter story than just wildly grabbing at the whole back catalogue.

I particularly like the addition of T'Lyn, who provides a new dynamic to the team. After being introduced in season two, it seemed clear she was going to transfer over to Starfleet and the Cerritos, only to disappear until the closing moments of season three. She makes a great foil for Tendi, and it'll good to see how she does on the Cerritos (although, given it's Gabriel "Valencia" Ruiz voicing her, maybe the USS West Covina would be more appropriate).

Links and observations: 

Boimler and Mariner briefly discuss "that Pike thing we aren't supposed to talk about," placing the Strange New Worlds crossover before the season.

The USS Voyager is here installed as a museum ship, after several years being of prep after arriving home in 2378. We're still in the early 2380s, probably crossing into the timeframe Star Trek: Prodigy, which was set starting in 2383. At the end of the first season, the Voyager-A was nearly ready to launch, and it makes sense Starfleet would try to time the events together. By the time of Star Trek: Picard, in 2401, the original Voyager has been moved from Earth to the Fleet Musuem, and the Voyager-B is active.

4.2 - "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee"

After that storming opener, the second episode was going to have a tough time impressing, and it's fair to say it doesn't hit the same heights. Nonetheless, there's a lot to love about this episode, and in the absence of a ton of callbacks, it has to work harder for both jokes and adventure.

It's full of sci-fi cliches, though, from the alien zoo holding humans as exhibits (which has been used as recently as the first season of The Orville, and as far back as the original Trek pilot "The Cage," and doubtless much, much earlier) and the cutesy alien that turns out to be a blood-thirsty monster (which we've seen on Doctor Who, Farscape, Futurama, to name but a few. Even Mike and Angelo had the fuzzballs.) 

Still, it works, giving us a fun adventure in service of the characters' development. Having Mariner face up to her self-sabotage is a much-overdue step for her, and it's interesting that it's shepherded by Ransom, giving us a glimpse of how such a dudebro managed to make commander in the first place. It appears he's actually got a real insight into his crew's personalities.

Meanwhile, there's some lovely stuff with Rutherford once again making things difficult for himself rather than taking the simple route, all because he wants to stay best buds with Tendi (and when the hell are they going to get together?) At the same time, Boimler has a horrible time trying to find new quarters, showing that the much-deserved promotion the team have all now received comes with its own challenges. (Of course, we discover that Boimler is being an idiot and never considered that the quarters next to the collector lights would have a dimmer switch. Or think of, I don't know, replicating some curtains maybe.)

In both episodes, we've also seen a mysterious alien ship make unprovoked attacks on first a Klingon ship, and then a Romulan Warbird, wiping them out. This new background arc is intriguing, and I'm left wondering if this is a new threat or, more likely, something unexpected from the past. (I swear the ship looks like one from one of the Trek games, but I can't put my finger on it.) We shall have to wait and see.

Links and observations 

The Romulan Warbird is oriented to be taller than it is wide, which was the Andrew Probert's original design for The Next Generation before he was told to tweak it.

While this episode doesn't depend on callbacks, there are several, teh funniest being Ransom and Shaxs exercising in the same leotards that Troi and Crusher wear on TNG. 

There are also plenty of recognisable aliens in the Menage, incuding an Aldebaran serpent (which Q turned into on TNG "Hide and Q"), a glommer from TAS "More Tribbles, More Troubles," the space dog from TOS "The Enemy Within," a Hanonian land-eel from VOY "Basics" (a very long way from home) and a Ceti eel from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

It's not only Trek getting referenced. The episode title is a reference to I Have No Mouth, Yet I Must Scream, a truly disqueting and justly famous sci-fi horror story by Harlan Ellison.