A Look at Those Old Scientists (Strange New Worlds)

In this crossover, Boimler and Mariner wind up being sent back in time to the Pike-era Enterprise. Nothing more need be said.

[@darthroden]

The scene when Una is explaining to Pike that the badge is a communicator and Pike responding with: "But flipping it open is the best part." Old Skool Trekies everywhere: THANK YOU!

[@CaptainGCN]

Smart phones are cool and useful, sure… but I will always miss going “beebeep” while opening up my flip phone one handed.

[@bthsr7113]

@@CaptainGCN That would explain why there's been numerous attempts at folding/flip open smart phones.

[@boobah5643]

@@bthsr7113Pretty sure that's mostly "How do bigger screen _and_ fit in pocket?"

[@seamusburke639]

Jack Quaid is so good as playing an awkward nerd, you almost forget he's descended from two movie stars and looks it.

[@PeterWDawson]

He did an episode of Best of the Worst before he went to film Oppenheimer, he definitely has that nerd joy in real life.

[@Knightfall182]

He's been typecast as the beta male in everything now 😅😅

[@VoidNull9222]

I like how the Enterprise crew were gushing about the NX-01 in this episode Enterprise itself might not have been great but it’s a nice nod that the characters are legends in-universe and deserved better

[@Azure_Fire]

Never shy away from your own lore. Regardless of Enterprise's quality it's still part of the story. Star Trek Beyond was improved by tying its villain's backstory into the MACOs. It's a lesson I wish Star Wars had learned before they released the sequels.

[@toddfraser3353]

​@@Azure_FireEnterprise, still being one of my least favorite Star Trek series, still had its moments. Just as time often brings nostalgia to even what was poor quality of the time, having the 1701 crew gushing over the nx01 seems realistic, and they didn't need to fix to cannon, as some aspects will be lost to legons.

[@KnightRaymund]

And I liked that they used it to shout out the underused characters of Travis and Hoshi.

[@KairuHakubi]

@@Azure_Fire i mean... when Voyager shied away from its own lore, like the bad lore.. that was smart.

[@ravenwilder4099]

Surprised Chuck made it through without making a crack about Trip and/or Archer.

[@TianaSidhe]

Feel a little disappointed that you didn't include Boimler saying "RIKER!" when he mounts the saddle.

[@myriadmediamusings]

That moment being improvised by Quaid and in front of Frakes the director no less is the cherry on top.

[@Stinkehund]

I'm surprised he didn't mention what the nausicaan symbols translate to.

[@JounLord1]

Unfortunately this is one of those episodes that if Chuck touched on every neat moment the review would wind up being longer then the episode itself.

[@vservo1149]

I love that all an actor has to say is “unscripted moment” and fools eat it up.

[@Azure_Fire]

@@vservo1149 It's in line with Quaid's sense of humor. They might have reshot it for the final version, but I have no doubt that's actually how they came up with it.

[@TyrMcDohl]

Boimler is drawn to be average human height, but Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsom are tall AF. It's a little tongue in cheek to imagine that Ransom or Shaxs on the Cerritos are like 9 feet tall.

[@IamMeHere2See]

Better nutrition in the future? Maybe different grow caps for different gravity wells? Even Mayweather from Enterprise said his dad kept the ships at about 90% G.

[@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

According to The TNG episode The Gambit, Picard is almost 2 meters tall, so this tracks.

[@lockskelington314]

That is Hilarious to know.

[@berniethekiwidragon4382]

​@IamMeHere2See Shax was fighting in the Bejoran Resistance, so how he got so big is quite astonishing.

[@benives254]

The LD uniforms look great irl!

[@markuscriticus8278]

I like the implication the characters on Lower Decks are drunk off their ass 24/7.

[@bthsr7113]

I mean... especially in season 1, there's a pretty decent chance someone is at least buzzed in a scene.

[@fluffywolfo3663]

That makes sense for Mariner lol

[@myriadmediamusings]

"This crew is always weird and yelling". -Provisional Lt jg T'Lyn, USS Cerritos

[@bthsr7113]

What really sells it to me is the heart. That there feels like genuine respect both in universe, and from a meta perspective of the actors drinking in being as close to The Original Series as possible, and all the cultural weight of that. That especially seemed apparent in a clip I saw of Uhura and Mariner.

[@EnsignRicky011]

Honestly, my favorite line in the ep is La’an: “I *love* grapplers.”

[@kevinramsey417]

So did Seattle Seahawks quarterback Jim Zorn. In fact, you could call him Grappler Zorn.

[@KianaWolf]

That line, followed by the "See? I told you!" gesture in response gave me a genuine laugh.

[@fisheyenomiko]

@@kevinramsey417GET OUT.

[@stevena488]

My absolute two favourite things from a character point in this episode. First is that Tawney Newsome and Jack Quaid knocked it out of the park. Second.... I love that Una gets to know that she literally becomes the poster girl for Starfleet by the 2280s. A hundred years on and she HASN'T been forgotten, despite wars and everything else, meaning that she's remembered. Also Ransom having the hots for Una was hilarious. Just a solid fun episode

[@Morinaka25]

"Also Ransom having the hots for Una was hilarious". It's also an extra joke because the voice actor for Ransom (Jerry O'Connell) is married to Una (Rebecca Romijn) in real life.

[@travis7294]

My only complaint about the two of them is that Quaid looks older than his character is supposed to be. But that's incredibly minor and I absolutely loved everything about this episode.

[@user-do2ev2hr7h]

They really lucked out that both of them have the right look to credibly play their characters in live action.

[@steelgriffin7716]

@@user-do2ev2hr7hHell Quaid manages to MOVE Like Boimler too.

[@tbeller80]

@@steelgriffin7716 Quaid making sure he got Boimler's nervous ticks and reactions down was very important to him.

[@Jokie155]

The clip with the Nausicaan's 'playing' darts is just, chef's kiss for that edit.

[@dm121984]

I do find it bizarre to wonder what Nausicaans where like before if they where making time portals long ago. The fact that the writing just states "this is a time portal" is both funny and seemly in line with modern Nausicaans and their 'unique' culture.

[@thomaskalinowski8851]

@@dm121984 I think the implication is supposed to be that the ancient Nausicaans found the portal and wrote "this is a time portal" on it to warn other Nausicaans.

[@dm121984]

@@thomaskalinowski8851 that actually seems a reasonable explanation.

[@MrChupacabra555]

2:10 : "Why do you keep calling me 'Wee Hughie? I'm Six Feet tall!" 😂

[@luiscuellar685]

Is everyone else small

[@andrewnetardus801]

Why would I be worried if it were a Who Framed Roger Rabbit situation? I would welcome that.

[@wdcain1]

I'll give _Enterprise_ praise, turning the Orions into a pirate nation was a smart choice. Trek had vikings (Klingons), fascists (Cardassians), chess masters (Romulans), and evil capitalists (Ferengi) as threats; but not a thieves guild until ENT and that helps flesh out the universe more.

[@joeyshears1483]

And most of the bare bits we got on the orions from tos was stuff like slave trading and trying to stir up wars so they could steal more freely from contested areas and sell to both sides, so it's still lore compatible.

[@ghjong001]

I'll have you know that *some* Orions haven't pirated in over FIVE YEARS!

[@boobah5643]

The Orions had been known as pirates in at least beta canon for _at least_ a decade before _TNG._ (I could have sworn "Journey to Babel" actually established that, but it's not hard to believe I'm misremembering because of not-quite-canon material.)

[@EspanolBot]

Yeah, Jack Quaid really is that tall, no boxes required!

[@DigiRangerScott]

Oh man, Lower Decks! Lower Decks! My Adventures with Superman can’t be too far behind

[@ThomasFishwick]

Sees what the review is of. oh No!!!

[@myriadmediamusings]

Whoa whoa whoa we’re just skipping to the crossover then eh? Not complaining just very surprised is all. I remember when this was initially announced and shocked at how unexpected yet brilliant the idea was, and the end result definitely did not disappoint. It’s the modern day equivalent of DS9’s Trials and Tribbleations, and evokes such a brand synergy not seen since that era. Newsome/Quaid bring their animated characters to life fantastically, and I especially love how the crossover benefits both shows and isn’t just a one-sided affair.

[@michaelsinger4638]

The Lower Decks characters were translated fantastically into live action. Mariner mentioning you got young Spock was made me laugh.

[@KingOfMadCows]

It is pretty funny how tall Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome are in real life, so the crew of the Cerritos must be giants. If they do another crossover and make other characters live action, I hope they make a joke about how they feel like they should be taller.

[@stryke-jn3kv]

Not just an excellent episode, but if managed to make to make the rather dull trial episode into something that I looked back on a lot more fondly. It's so hard to pick a favourite moment. The one where Pike panics at the idea of Tendi and Rutherford coming through though has to be up there.

[@Aezetyr]

I was floored by how much I really enjoyed this episode. I like both shows quite a lot. I was happy that the cast and crew gave it all they had and then some. Frakes did an excellent job directing. It leaned into both series' themes quite well and married them in a great way. Overall to me this is a top 3 episode for SNW. The scene where Boimler jumps onto the saddle and says 'Riker!' was ad-libbed because he saw Frakes off-screen. I like how they kept that in. I also liked how the scene with Boimler and Spock trying to create that unobtanium was handled in a "realistic" way- too often in Trek there's these wild plans that seem to go off without a hitch. I was happy to see that this time it didn't. I'm pretty sure that his and Chapel's discussion in the turbolift led directly into her song in 'subspace rhapsody'. Just well done overall.

[@davido.1233]

This is without a doubt my absolute favorite episode of Strange New Worlds ever! Of All time!

[@TheMadTube]

What’s the over/under on Chuck having an aneurysm doing Subspace Rhapsody? I kid. Absolutely loving the SNW recaps.

[@kevinramsey417]

He will when he edits it for KZbin

[@KianaWolf]

The entire video portion of that review is going to be four still images with an [INTERNAL SCREAMING] caption. He'd have to fight off more bots than Shepard vs the geth.

[@aceshighdueceslow]

hasn't he already made subtle hints in the other SNW S2 reviews that he didn't like that episode?

[@toyotatacoma1616]

So, when there was Tritritricale grain on the enterprise, time travelers showed up. Quadtriticale grain? More time travelers. I’d like to think the old time cops are slightly on edge about the events of More Tribbles More Trouble, wondering if the correlation somehow connects to causation.

[@nekolalia3389]

Turns out the Pasteur in All Good Things… was hauling an assload of octotriticale.

[@dm121984]

I loved how this episode worked so well with the Enterprise drew being a little creepied out by how much the Lower Deckers are obsessed with them, and it also works as a meta comments on the parasocial relationship between the audience and the authors - even positive admiration can be damaging to the target of the admiration if allowed to go too far. Whilst I don't generally find Lower Decks that funny, I do like how this episode works and the Lower Decks voice actors really work very well in live action. Stand out funny moment for me was Spock and Boimler trying to make the stuff and Spock calmly walking away whilst offhandedly stating 'no this isn't good and you need to seek safety'

[@matthewst537]

The announcement got me so anxious and excited and when it came it was exactly what I needed after years of disco

[@jaygee6738]

Disco was done in the early 80s.

[@Redrally]

@@jaygee6738 ba-dum-dum-tish!

[@ziggystardust1973]

It's really cool how they made their animated characters look like their voice actors. Except for the height, I guess

[@SaphoSheep]

I was really unsure about this episode at first, but it actually ended up being my favorite SNW episode. It probably helps that im also a diehard Lower Decks fan

[@teddyboragina6437]

I paused the vid I was watching to rush here and watch this instead!

[@TheTransporter007]

Now you need to take a crack at Subspace Rhapsody.

[@teilanittv]

This episode was so much fun and makes me want to watch LD. I was laughing and the animated opening credits threw me off in a really nice way. Someone one loved this episode and enjoyed making it. Trials and Tribulation is one of my favorite episodes for a lot of the same reasons and I think this episode stands very well right beside it.

[@S1nwar]

Lower Decks' quality clearly lifted up SNW in every way

[@anjetto1]

Yeah. SNW isn't very good

[@KnightRaymund]

This was a fantastic episode. Such a perfect crossover. And while we didn't get them in live action, I am glad we got a couple scenes with Rutherford and Tendi too. And Ransom, voiced by the real life husband of Una's actress. I love that end scene with the SNW gang animated. M'Benga's line is just chefs kiss

[@ptonpc]

I avoided SNW for a long time until I decided to take a chance (after having seen clips) I ended up getting both seasons on Blu-ray. I was pleasantly surprised at how much respect they have for the show, how much like 'Trek' it is. There is a line in one episode that goes along the lines of "The Federation is not perfect, we do many things wrong but we are trying to be better.! Yes, I also have Lower Decks and yes, I have never watched the first two episodes.

[@Zeithri]

This inspired me to pick up both shows again :D This is funny.

[@Azure_Fire]

It took me a while to "get" what they were doing with Spock. I didn't like at first, but I've grown to...accept it would probably be right word. I don't love the idea, but it doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the show. Not anymore anyway. If they have an episode in future, like near the series finale, where Spock chooses to accept the Vulcan path fully then I'll be more accepting of these moments. It's a shame we don't get to see Sam or Tendi in live-action, since their VAs look enough like them, but it does showcase an advantage of animation. It's much easier to do cameos, something LD constantly takes advantage of. Even if they couldn't fit Sam and Tendi into the main plot, or hadn't the budget for making them live-action, they still get to be in the episode.

[@DeaconBlues117]

Interestingly, that was done to follow up on something from the very first Trek pilot, with Spock smiling in delight at chiming Talosian plants. Nimoy said later that Spock had been experimenting with showing his human side back then.

[@Azure_Fire]

@@DeaconBlues117 I hadn't even considered that. Awesome, that takes care of any lingering dislike I had.

[@DeaconBlues117]

@@Azure_FireAlso, the episode "Subspace Rhapsody" tells us exactly why Spock reverted to more-Vulcan-than-Vulcans mode. He gets a song about it (it's a musical episode, which is a lot better than it sounds).

[@Azure_Fire]

@@DeaconBlues117 That is another blunder on my part. For whatever reason I missed that episode when it came out and I keep putting off watching it. I swear I'll get to it one day.

[@dylanthomas385]

Do more lower decks

[@BobSentell]

The two best modern Trek series combined. Made for a great outing. So much more fun than Discovery and Picard.

[@joeyshears1483]

If star trek brings in slenderman Saru's actor should play him, he's more freaky out of make up then in lol

[@brianweaver327]

It IS really great hair.

[@KianaWolf]

I put off watching LD until after I had caught up on SNW. This episode made the wait one of anticipation. It's a _vastly_ better sell for LD than LD's first episode. And this episode is packed to the brim with fantastic dialog and great use of body language. It's a 10/10.

[@ThePiachu]

It was a really fun episode! Watched it twice, once coming in from just Lower Decks and once coming in from Strange New Worlds and boy do those two viewings hit differently when you have the context of why is everyone acting strange in SNW. Originally I missed Pike knowing about his future, why Spock was acking up, the time travelling gal speaking from experine, etc. Seeing Boimler and Mariner being so tall in comparison to everyone else was really funny and unintentionally hitting on the "people from the past are shorter" trope. Really amusing how that worked out! What personally bothered me a little bit was all the gushing for the big name characters. It would be nice if some more of that was spread around some smaller people in the background as well maybe - not everyone that will ever be important is a big named character right now, some would just be ensigns and what not. But since we're viewing it through the lens of fans of the show and characters fanboying over the characters we know, we don't get that... Still, a really fun crossover!

[@NickJohnCoop]

Hearing Boimler squick in live action was great.

[@OUTSIDER40]

It’s a great episode 🖖

[@TheRezro]

What I really like in this episode is the subtle reference to fact that NX have notorious track record for time travel. And that not only include Enterprise, but also disappearance of Columbia and related incident involving canceled Ceres class (UNSS Bonaventure?). And technically also Franklin, as Freedom class was failed NX candidate, what fall apart during tests. Anyway, those ships have unique hack, what in case of malfunction could throw ship in warp 10 (it could be also material used by Tom Paris and during failed Grand Experiment done by Excelsior). Anyway Archer learn to cause anomaly deliberately and he also deliberately caned Archer Drives later. With Vulcans granting Earth they Warp 7 to prevent future incidents. And speaking of that Spock also did know how to time travel, so that episode sort of establish how.

[@cyrussoxlegion]

I love this episode so much!! 😂

[@det.bullock4461]

I'd object that one would need the first two episodes of Lower Decks for narrative background. I'd just give a warning to not be discouraged if one doesn't like them.

[@marshallhuffer4713]

When Mariner and Boimler return to the Cerritos, Ransom notices Boimler's Una poster and calls her "The hottest first officer in the fleet." This is a reference to how Jerry O'Connell, who voices Ransom, is married IRL to Rebecca Romijn who plays Una.

[@ravenwilder4099]

Man, I gotta start watching this show.

[@Thomas-rv1wi]

Lower Decks is my favourite of the new Star Trek series. I know controversial but it's definitely that respects the old lore the most.

[@ZipplyZane]

It still bugs me that they didn't make live action Boimler's hair more obviously purple.

[@KnightRaymund]

I like the color

[@bthsr7113]

Yeah no, it's actually funny how tall Jack Quaid is when compared to some of his fellow actors in The Boys. Like how it's the genetically augmented evil knockoff Superman who needs to stand on something and still be noticeably shorter. Which only got funnier when Jack Quaid started voicing an actual version of Superman, and a very good one at that.

[@Redrally]

The new DECREE title card - nice!

[@jamesabernethy7896]

It took me a few episodes to warm to Lower Decks but I fell in love with it. After being burned out by two seasons of Discover I gave up on live-action. I may yet dabble into New Worlds but so far have only seen clips. Although I get why some people would dislike this crossover,... so far I love the clips of the live-action Cerritos crew. It's fun and quirky but they seem to have chemistry.

[@travis7294]

SNW is more like TNG era Trek than Disco or Picard. I recommend it!

[@jamesabernethy7896]

I also got exhausted by Picard's melancholy. Some of it looked pretty good but I heard about the trans episode and musical episode. They had disabled representation with a legally blind actor and when that box was ticked they got rid of him. It's maybe a cynical way to look at things. I might check it out when i have more time. @@travis7294

[@wertyppl]

SNW is pretty much what TOS would be if they filmed it today. I love it.

[@hyrinshratu]

The Slenderman reference is especially funny because Doug Jones over on Discovery was one of the inspirations for the big guy.

[@strandedgeek]

This was not a crossover I was expecting if I'm honest. But it is kind of nice to see that in some ways Lower Decks is being treated like a true Star Trek show and not just a adult toon.

[@SaginawCareerComplex]

The Lower Deck uniforms look good in live action.

[@Gungelion]

You know everybody being constantly drunk explains a LOT about lower decks LOL

[@GENERIC_CHANNEL_HANDLE]

"This isn't a _Who Framed Roger Rabbit_ scenario." Okay, but _could_ it be? I just really wanna see the version of this episode where Boimes and Mariner are fully animated and have nobody comment on it at all.

[@carlzerris6566]

'Dont watch the first 2 episodes. They're crap. Second, do watch all the rest of the episodes' 100% agree.

[@pauljohnston8011]

Nailed It!

[@steelgriffin7716]

Quaid and Newsome both really impressed with this episode. I was already impressed with Quaid after all of his other stuff, especially The Boys. But he MOVES like Boimler in this. Like... Holy Shit. Newsome too, to a lesser extent. She really did embodied Mariner.

[@DarinRWagner]

While I DID like that the show gave props to ST: ENT and the NX-01 crew... that part about traditionally having a component of the last ship to bare the name seemed a little "pulled-out-of-the-ass" to me... but it's probably fine.

[@cambiata]

I thought it was a brilliant addition to the canon, personally. And it was foreshadowed right at the start of the episode with Rutherford mentioning that the NX-01 was made of the stuff.

[@DarinRWagner]

@@cambiataI thought it didn't make sense that Starfleet ships of Archer's era were made of something that was no longer available by Pike's era.

[@Azure_Fire]

It absolutely is. The reasoning may make sense, but it was a "we need to write ourselves out of the corner" situation.

[@Stinkehund]

@@DarinRWagnerIt was still available, just much rarer since it fell out of usage for making shiphulls and there was no significant production.

[@DarinRWagner]

@@Stinkehundif it was still available, they would have gotten some. Spock and Boimler couldn't even make any.

[@horaciosi]

(9:06-9:12) Anyone who worked on Voyager knows what a life without happiness is like.

[@wangbot47]

I may not like Strange New Worlds but I respect their willingness to take risks.

[@KonElKent]

Honestly, I liked the idea of a "Roger Rabbit style" crossover. Just because I think it would have been more funny.

[@bthsr7113]

Maybe another time.

[@KainGerc]

kind of a shame that we didn't even get a small scene of Tendi and Rutherford in live action (I guess they didn't have the money to spend on the prosthetics and makeup)

[@ShumaniTatankaOwachi]

I hope temporal investigations shows up on SNW

[@caseyglick5957]

I do really wish that Tendi had been sent to the future instead of Mariner. Yes, partly it's because I really don't like Mariner. But mostly because having an Orion onboard the 1701 could have kickstarted a cultural shift among TOS-era Starfleet. The story was about Orions, and it was weird that the only Orion Starfleet character didn't get to participate.

[@richardgadberry8398]

7:00 We should not have made this bargain.

[@TheGamersShade]

thanks to this cross over and lower decks frequently referencing the old animated series, does that mean that the animated series is officially canon?

[@stevetheduck1425]

It's simpler to say, 'it's all real because I experienced it'. This saves a lot of religious wars in the future.

[@Cloverpotato]

TAS has been considered canon for a good while now.

[@lordbritannic]

British army regulations will not allow posters featuring bare breasts or nudity of any kind to be displayed in you private room on base.

[@stevetheduck1425]

RAF serviceman here, 1976-1986. Nope, not then. You only had to be able to take them down without causing damage to the accomodation.

[@lordbritannic]

@@stevetheduck1425 they changed it in the 90's

[@BobMcBobJr]

What kind of culture did the Ancient Nausicans have that possessed them to build a portal into toonworld?

[@noblehelium3794]

I'm surprised the premiere of Lower Decks is poorly rated. I thought it was very funny but the show isn't really for me since it's basically a Star Trek sitcom.

[@toonezon4836]

yea um about that that whole tall boimler/tall mariner thing, both jack quaid and tawny newsom are actually very much on the tall side

[@MrGranten]

They could have played around with camera angles, but it's a minor thing.

[@AFMountaineer2000]

Only episode I've seen of Strange New Worlds specifically because of the crossover

[@anjetto1]

The only one you need

[@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

7:07 You need mods to run it? Yeah, they could mod Mariner, like removing her muscles so she can't touch anything. It seems a bit heartless, but I don't care.

[@dylanthomas385]

And far scape

[@thisisme2476]

You skipped the "Riker!" when Boimler mounted the saddle??

[@MrGranten]

Let's be honest, if he covered everything worth a mention this episode we'd be here all day. And YT would purge him from existence for the sin of daring have one second too much material from the show.

[@thisisme2476]

@@MrGranten Aw come on. THAT, was an iconic moment.... Surely it should have made the cut.

[@CT_Phipps]

We all agree that Boimler is using the poster for....other purposes, right? Number One is deluding herself if she thinks otherwise.

[@wertyppl]

Nah, he's too proper for that. Mariner, on the other hand...

[@ImperatorPenguin]

Well, that would explain... everything related to Neu-Trek honestly. Everyone downing Orion cocktails.

[@teilanittv]

Why are the first 2 episodes crap. I havent watched LD yet.

[@SageofStars]

I hate to say this since it IS going to come across a specific way, but the fact that THIS comes out a few years after the person some of us said was trying to destroy Trek by making it awful was taken out of a leadership role(Alex), and that role was given to groups of others shows that it was true. This episode couldn't have been made without a love for the franchise, the characters, and the world that the Trek of only a few years before was missing, especially when you remember THAT regimes name for Strange New Worlds was Enterprise for several months before someone brought up that that was ALREADY a Star Trek series that they didn't know existed. That said, beyond that, I agree with Chuck. This episode is the best of both its shows, allowing for character growth(in their own ways for LD's characters) while advancing forward with ideas the way Trek likes to do, for instance how this is a predestination paradox, but one that gets muddled by just how it works. Overall, a great outing.

[@KnightRaymund]

Huh? Kurtzman is still overseeing all the Trek shows. I don't know the degree of his involvement in each one but he does care about Trek.

[@SageofStars]

@@KnightRaymund From what I understand, and to be fair this is leaks and hearsay, but it seems to fit, about midway through the production of Picard Season 1 and Discovery Season 3, his role in the production was marginalized due to the sorry reception of that stuff, plus the whole Netflix lawsuit that accused, though never proved, he was using the production to pad his pockets. This is about the time projects outside the mainline series started to do as good or better than said series in terms of sales and eyeballs, and since then saw Picard turn into...well if you haven't seen it yet it goes out on a high note, all I'm saying there. Sadly that did come at the cost of a lot of political thriller style hints in season 1 being rendered moot. I've heard Discovery got way better too...I refuse to check it out for personal reasons, but Prodigy, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds are all of a high enough quality to say something changed in comparison to the earlier two projects.

[@Azure_Fire]

Regardless of whatever the truth is, whatever Paramount has done, it's working. If Kurtzman was removed, keep him removed. If he's still in the chair, keep him in the chair.

[@robboyte1101]

Actually, a "Roger Rabbit" element to this episode might've made it even more interesting.

[@freshFerdinand]

Like a subspace anomaly changing the characters designs or just the episode we got with Boimler and Mariner being animated and no one acknowledges that anything is different.

[@pearsegallagher9832]

algorithm comment

[@user-su4nq3nk4p]

They sound like mad Star Trek fans

[@Vanessinha91Pucca]

I'm sorry, too fanfic to me

[@myself2noone]

Yeah, those first two episodes are shit. I still haven't bothered to watch the show sense then. Though i do find it funny, they took Seth McFarland's idea after telling him no.

[@Azure_Fire]

You're missing out man.

[@wertyppl]

The rest of the show is pretty much "TNG-era Star Trek, but with more humor". Definitely recommend checking it out, I also didn't like the first few episodes, but by the end of season 1 it became one of my favorite shows.

[@Nyst2]

There's a lot to like in this episode, but Picard and Discovery have forever ruined Star Trek time travel stories for me. Why save the timeline when you know how awful the next thousand years are going to be was like a constant nail being driven in in the back of my head while watching. As someone who hadn't watched Strange New Worlds before, I found this to be a poor introduction to the series. Spock smiling was indeed creepy, and I didn't really get a good feel for who the other characters were aside from every one of them having some kind of drama going on. I wonder how Lower Decks came across to people who hadn't watched that before. I did like the majority of the jokes though.

[@Azure_Fire]

Well if you wanted an introduction to SNW, starting with the back half of season 2 probably isn't a great idea. Also is the 1000 years a reference to Disco season 3? The "bad future" of that show only takes place after 1000 years, not during. The 1000 years prior were business as usual for the Federation.

[@Excalibur01]

No offense to Ortegas actress but her character really shouldn't be remembered as a TOS legacy because she and Khan were created for this show. It's not like we had names for every crew we see in Star Trek history. Nameless background characters are just meant to be there to fill I'm space not to be remembered but here we have 2 characters created solely for SNW and future guy is acting like they were always there and important. Not every one is important in history just because they lived it

[@nctsoftware5272]

This is one of my least favorite episodes of Trek. I am not a fan of Lower Decks. i dont think its particularly clever and relies almost exclusively on nostalgia for people to point at the screen and scream "Thats the thing from that other thing!" Thankfully the live action versions of the cartoons were not as irritating so theres my silver lining.

[@JosephDavies]

That's understandable. Unfortunately, "relies almost exclusively on nostalgia" is the entire basis for Discovery, SNW, and especially Picard. Lower Decks is oddly enough the only one that isn't a direct prequel or sequel to anything, and doesn't involve any major established characters, ships, or settings in its premise. The humor is often referential (more at the start), but the show itself manages to be the most original in this regard. Weird.

[@sargon6000]

Yeah, I bailed out after the first season 1 of LD, there was only so much memberberries I can handle before it turns ridiculous.

[@nctsoftware5272]

@@JosephDavies save for Picard I’d say the examples you cited are live action shows that actually try to tell new stories with dramatic performances that expand and build upon the franchise. You don’t have to have watched TOS to enjoy SNW. Lower Decks is banking heavily on the audience having watched the other shows for jokes to land.