Second Contact After Picard • Star Trek Lower Decks S03E09

[@FirstLast-cg2nk]

If they wanted a real second contact checkup, they should have gone to that world where they had made supersoldiers and then basically threw them away onto a penal colony rather than do anything to help them. That literally ended with the supersoldiers holding the government at gunpoint with Picard basically saying "Sort this out for yourselves" before beaming out. Picard assumed it would resolve peacefully, but until we get a Second Contact, we won't know for sure.

[@SteelPaladin1997]

To be fair, that government had been clubbing him over the head with "you can't interfere" every time he tried to resolve it before that point. He just gave them what they asked for.

[@WellBattle6]

@@SteelPaladin1997 Picard just pretty much siding with the supersoldiers there. Who knows what kind of new government he’s inadvertently created.

[@thomasrowe5264]

Luna five, an orbiting gulag

[@azimnazlen8564]

She isn't trying to put here best foot forward, she is putting her worst foot back.

[@nothri]

I mean, to be fair the times I focus most on dressing up and get my house nice and clean is when I have company coming over...

[@karlbenito9992]

Then isn’t her best foot still forward?

[@dragonrider1736]

Mariner?

[@djshy3]

@@karlbenito9992technically yes, but it’s still backwards momentum.

[@jackbadley4890]

Clever 😂

[@LukeCuddy]

"Oh shit! She's serious!!!"

[@SuperSaiyanAl]

The captain is right to cancel the pie-eating contest after that incident on the 1701. Poor Chekhov.

[@summers1]

So swing by missions are all just callbacks to the first 2 seasons of tng where Picard would just morally shame a planet then peace out

[@JamesLandon]

Anyone else notice the reporter's badge had the CBS logo on it?

[@johnwclick]

Not until you pointed it out, and now that you mention it, her floating camera looks like a big eyeball...

[@StLouisBatman]

It sort of does resemble the logo for CBS.

[@warhawk9566]

Honestly things like Pie Eating contests look really good on news reports. I mean shit just the other day I was watching a video that was a sort've interview/sort've report by a youtuber who actually got to tour a submarine for about 3 days. And he spent like 20 minutes showing Pizza night on the Submarine, followed the Kitchen as they prepared it, the officers mess who were complaining that the Jalapeno poppers weren't ready, and the sailors mess who were having a movie night with the Pizza (Hunt for Red October or something I don't remember.) It was oddly interesting and it kinda humanized the submarine corps and showed the things ships do to keep morale up. Point being Freeman is being really short sighted by not letting things like a pie eating contest continue with the reporter on board

[@Shadowkey392]

Oh, I’ve seen that one! I forget who the guy was, but it was cool!

[@SpartanSniper3]

Agreed, 100% Fluff pieces like that are fantastic for PR, even if it's not what you're aiming to report on. Makes the crew look like real people doing real stuff and makes them more interesting to the audience. Why else is Fleet Week always a huge PR coup for the Navy whenever they hold it?

[@Grz349]

I think you missed the point of the setup, the reporter isn’t there for the crew, but for the drop by missions. The captains wants to show why the job of checking in on planets is important, this isn’t a nuclear submarine but rather a small ship dropping off foreign aid- other ships or groups could do it and not everyone think it’s necessary.

[@warhawk9566]

@@Grz349 True but the show depicts her being on the ship for multiple days and part of what goes into these missions is showing crew life. How they're treated, what they do on their off time (if there's off time), how they prep for the mission and carry it out. And Freeman in her panic to make the ship look professional comes off as a taskmaster who reassigns crew if they anger her. The stories the reporter is told may still put a damper on things but with a crew who is both willing and able to meet the challenges and is shown clearly enjoying their work and ship's culture could make up for any short comings that may present

[@djcfrompt]

Sounds line you're describing the submarine deep dive series that Destin (SmarterEveryDay) did

[@Jarod-vg9wq]

The captain in this episode has done what is called “self fulfilling prophecy” in trying to hard to keep her reputation and the ships she destroyed it.

[@Nebagram]

Is it just me, or is that opening shot of the Cerritos the best animation we've seen yet in Lower Decks?

[@Hedning1390]

I like how they made Mariner so peppy and excited at the start, to make the fall so much more devastating.

[@ede9177]

"My family is from Flagstaff" "Yes, Arizona is very near California" As a Californian I feel like I should be offended by this, but mostly I'm just confused.

[@hfar_in_the_sky]

I mean, we do *technically* share a border with Arizona down in the south east. It's just you have to drive through, you know, basically all of Death Valley in order to cross the border

[@edbouhl3100]

Guess the reporter is from the news media equivalent of the California class. Everyone is trying to look better than their records would suggest - and struggling.

[@jackhosier8498]

@@hfar_in_the_sky As an Arizonan, I can confirm this is 100% true

[@Matkingos]

Basically Freeman can't think of anything good to say about Arizona so she gives the most milquetoast bland response she can think of off the top of her head

[@Tech-Kaplan-Kali]

Federation equivalent of Americans talking about their european roots.

[@DDarkestKnight]

1:35 Sweet callback to the pilot

[@andrewxu3602]

And the Season 1 finale

[@ianharac5153]

Maybe they ought to look at Eminar and Vendikar, after Kirk destroyed their war simulation computers and said "Well, engage in a real war, or make peace. Anyway, I'm outta here. See ya!" (I dimly recall that may have come up in the DC Star Trek comic, and things did NOT go well. But it hasn't had a canon look yet.)

[@josephbridges4914]

Honestly, I don't blame Mariner for resigning in fact I probably would've done the same thing in her position I mean everyone on the ship her mom, her friends even her crush/girlfriend automatically assumed she was the one bad mouthing the Cerritos without even giving her a chance to explain what she said or considering what everyone else said even though ransom had said he was impressed by her improvement

[@floppydisksareop]

Mariner spent the last whoever knows how long bad mouthing the Cerritos and trying her best to put her mom in the most awkward position (see him telling the entire bridge crew about the transfer for example). She also went and spoke with the reporter while she was *expressly forbidden to do so*. Trust is difficult to rebuild, and Mariner spent years eroding every shred of trust someone might have for her. So yeah, no shit everyone assumed out of the gate she was the one bad mouthing the Cerritos, especially since she spent a week insinuating that she will show the "real" Cerritos to the reporter. I don't blame her for resigning, I blame her for creating the scenario in the first place

[@josephbridges4914]

@floppydisksareop okay some valid points but she spent the entire season really making an effort to be better I mean ransom said her supervisors/commanders had nothing but praise and even ransom showed some hesitation when Carol kicked her off the ship even after everything mariner had put him through

[@floppydisksareop]

@@josephbridges4914 Sure, she showed some improvement (still wouldn't call it turning over a new leaf - she started the year by stealing the fucking ship), and for Ransom, who frankly didn't know her for that long, this earned her *the benefit of the doubt*. For Carol, who knew her for a long-ass time, and was singled out by Mariner way more frequently, this was the final straw. Mariner got kicked off from every other ship she ever served on for insubordination. Behaving for like, a year at most, is not enough just erase years upon years of systematic assholery.

[@josephbridges4914]

@floppydisksareop so you just go and disown your only child before getting all the facts wow that's fucking cold

[@khemmeta]

@@floppydisksareopStarfleet officers steal ships all the time. Usually they aren’t even being possessed or summoned by a subroutine.

[@wolfness27]

Picard knew he wasn't a God, the only thing he could do was not further help the brekkians allowing the ornarans to free themselves.

[@joeswanson733]

fan theory is freeman and or mariners father served undr picard on the enterprise D as in season 1 and later episodes you see a black female character that is eerily similar to mainer in looks and it's assumed she grew up on the enterprise-D for a period of time so you'd think they would've learned a few things under picard. :D

[@podemosurss8316]

@@joeswanson733 Freeman and Riker are from the same promotion.

[@exposingproxystalkingorgan4164]

Did you see the trail of blueberry pie filling Mariner was leaving everywhere she walked. 😂

[@robertaylor9218]

I absolutely love the California class. All tried and tested tech. Small, but large enough for a diverse workload and trouble. Adaptable, cheap, able to be produced and maintained in large numbers to allow starfleet to operate effectively throughout federation space. It’s just too bad that the class, her missions, and crews are considered so second rate that they can’t get service, backup, or respect. Except that it gives us a great show, that is the one upside of their wannabe classism.

[@homeonegreen9]

The current US Navy needs some ships like that!

[@robertaylor9218]

@@homeonegreen9 maybe, but the coast guard probably could.

[@Strykenine]

Such a good show.

[@sonicguyver7445]

Remember, the true measure of a captain is if whether or not they cancel a pie eating contest.

[@williamrosen3179]

Watching this in Flagstaff makes the last bit of this video so much more fun

[@Jazzer995]

So, I don't have the streaming service, but I can guess this almost/will end in a colossal SNAFUBAR because the Captain didn't have the nerve to tell Mariner to be on her best behaviour and Mariner is egotistically clueless.

[@liveadhdtv]

Yes and no. Snafu happened because she wasn't there to witness Mariners character development. She assumed the worst and wrongly kicks mariner off the ship. For once, Mariner wasn't the problem. In Freemans defense however, Mariner did talk to the reporter against orders.

[@JohnPeacekeeper]

In hindsight, the bridge crew hardly saw their own character development except for Ransom and Shax

[@SpartanSniper3]

@@liveadhdtv just going to throw it out there though; Freeman absolutely insisted on hiding her daughter and other lower deck crew, despite them being absolutely loyal and highly productive. I get that she wasn't there for most of the character development but you'd think she'd remember the fact that Mariner went to bat for her in the S3 premier and has been keeping herself in line all season (so far as she's aware). Carol asked her daughter to support her and watch her back to get THIS EXACT initiative approved at the end of S1. Now that she's finally getting her shot, she's shoving her daughter and other crew out of sight because she doesn't think of them as exemplary officers, despite their myriad accomplishments. I see a lot of people trying to see Captain Freeman's side in this but I just can't give her a pass here. She exhibited terrible judgement and leadership qualities. F### her. She needs to do a hell of a lot to even begin making up for this kind of thing.

[@J.Valentine1031]

After watching this episode Freeman is really not fit to be the captain of any Federation ship.

[@zanite8650]

She can deal with life-or-death situations OK, but the minute someone comes to micro-manage 'her' it all goes out of the window.

[@GodwinXZ]

The whole crew should been at Wolf 359

[@lizahamid5611]

Nika: i see Beckett Mariner like a Mariah Carey!! IT SNOOOZE YOU LOOOSE!! In 2:58 - 3:03

[@Mikewee777]

That last frame . 🤣👍

[@lizahamid5611]

Nika: "you better be ready to shovel some freaking pie, Marty! Your whole divisions going DOWN." It's so comfortable.

[@procyon6370]

Thanks Ross Scott

[@curnott6051]

Was thinking exactly that when I saw this episode. You got to wonder if someone on the writing staff saw Accused Farms review on those episode and drew inspiration from them. They even referenced the mass withdraw thing Ross brought up on his video and well as the total societal collapse of the Brekka planet that Ross brought up on his video.

[@procyon6370]

Even though we got definitive answers about where the planets ended up, I would still kill to watch a show about these planets in the intervening years- the show that "Symbiosis" is simply a boring prequel to. Besides, this show adds the detail that the Breen Confederacy took over Brekka during that time (although pretty much everything concerning that battle with the Breen is suspicious). Whether the battle was real or staged, there's a story behind that, too. And there are so many unanswered questions about those planets too- Why is all the information on how to run starships lost? How did the real plague break out, and what circumstances led to the creation of the eponymous symbiotic relationship we see? So many questions, so much fun.

[@sirkylanthered]

haha "My family's from Flagstaff." Yeah sounds about right. I actually kind of feel like Flagstaff would have been left mostly unscathed during the Second Civil War, and WW3. Its a largish mountain town in the middle of northern AZ. And half the country doesn't even know AZ exists. Just go on the street and ask folk on the east coast. But some folk in this town have that attitude. "Oh this happened over there, we'll I'm from Flagstaff and we felt that here." Fucking people hahah

[@nursyalizaabdulhamid5923]

Nika: Beckett has an Blueberry pie!? I know that he is! in 2:25 - 3:03 I think it was a good idea!

[@cholodelrosari0543]

Federation News Network? Isn't that where Capt. Sisko's son Jake work with as an amateur journalist

[@nursyalizaabdulhamid5923]

Nika: the Second Contact is the best thing to happen for California Class I getting the chance for this!

[@B.B.Digital_Forest]

Nice going, Captain. 😟

[@KnightSwordAG]

Floating news camera? I feel smug saying Babylon 5 did it first. :)

[@tremor3258]

That's not quite right, Picard didn't just give them repairs they couldn't manage themselves so their fleet would gradually degenerate versus cutting contact.

[@mikesully110]

Didn't their last ship break in the episode (symbiosis) so when Picard left, the Onarans had no way to get more Felicium and thus had to go cold turkey? (thinking about it, it's amazing the Brekkians didn't get hooked too unless it didn't work on their species). I thought the system had gotten their ships in trade somehow and had no way to build replacements. Personally if I was going cold turkey due to a ship malfunction I'd become a warp specialist within days

[@redstoneparadox]

@@mikesully110 I literally just watched that episode; the Brekkians' ancestors had also gotten hooked but somehow figured out that Felicium was a narcotic.

[@thomashill6347]

I think it is such a great show. BUT no one has that much BLUEBERRIE PIE FILLING

[@thegrimmretails3777]

Replicators. Replicators.

[@kirkrobinson2355]

CBS made it to the 24th century. Lol

[@matthewfergusons4318]

All the nerds and trees that used to watch G4 would love to have the lower decks I wonder TV shows on G4 it so well it's a new show but it fits the classic mystique is G4 really really want to be back into the cool kids on the block they should have a video game called Eastern thunder war of heroes which you can imagine this can't take place in the current Ukraine conflict versus Russia and Ukrainian army actually you can play two sides actually and it's a fundraiser for the Ukrainian charities so why not bring enforcer lazer pig dining babish babishwith KZbinrs who make food from video games and TV shows on attack of the show on G4 makes this interesting if Eric Flint was still on I was invited him you know 1632 on G4 wouldn't be a bad idea Omega Force on G4 as a series would be cool cool of course you have to do you have to make your own stuff you could make or you could be have the rights for it Castlevania they can even make with Eric Clint written with some other author I forgot his name the mother of demons I think would be cool if it's about these place teenagers with technology where these demons live inside their electronic devices if he had the same type of animation style as Castlevania now that could be very interesting on G4

[@Thoralmir]

G4 is _dead._ They blew their big second chance through a combination of lackluster programming, woke politics, and hostility towards their niche fanbase.

[@matthewfergusons4318]

@@Thoralmir programming was too skimpy by the way they hate to show the skimpy and the good way I guess there was not enough good shows on G4 like G4 had good show blocks in the 2000s but they don't have no way of making a good show you know that they really really want to save the G4 brand CollegeHumor is pretty good I pretty much would give the college humor guys and dorkly maybe G4 I think they should have fire on the characters and hire all the characters from CollegeHumor and darkly which would fit very well in the show that's the kind of humor that people are looking for not this woke I guess first of all I don't like it when people use the word broke because it has nothing to do when you think about it or was just say over this activist syndrome that's more better because work is not supposed to be used as that as that way it's used well I can't explain it exactly but that's just not the way the world supposed to be used

[@Bobby90]

How is second contact not priority? Aside from bad writing, intentional or not, meant to make older series look worse.

[@badwolfgooddog7979]

Agreed

[@ADayintheLifeoftheTw]

They make mention of this in the first episode, they are mainly there to hammer out the details the first crew established with the planet. Some ships deliver tech, or help build up the infrastructure, and some help out with certain specific problems. Overall though, they aren't supposed to actually be having the crazy adventures with each second contact. But of course that would lead to a boring show. Every episode of the older series were the exceptions to the norm, and so is the Cerritos adventures all the exceptions to the smooth second contacts.

[@badwolfgooddog7979]

@@ADayintheLifeoftheTw You put way more thought into the writing than the actual writers.

[@ADayintheLifeoftheTw]

@@badwolfgooddog7979 nah, I watched an interview some of the Star Trek freelance writers for the RPG doing a deep dive into some of ships designs with some of the writing and design staff for the show. I personally think the writers for LD are amateurish compared to the older series, but from their conversations, you can tell they actually do really like the older series quite a bit, as opposed to certain "fans" and "writers" who can't name anything from the series pre-2009. Classic case of idolizing little brother attempting to impress older brother with a polished turd. Heart's in the right place, but the final product isn't quite up to snuff.

[@badwolfgooddog7979]

@@ADayintheLifeoftheTw I completely agree with everything you just wrote 100%. In fact, despite my criticism, Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds are getting good. Lower Decks gets credit for doing its homework, even being consistent with the 70's animated Trek. Strange New Worlds gets credit for several well written, stand alone episodes much akin to the original and tng shows.

[@albireotheredguard1599]

Eww!

[@curiousgeorge5992]

More like the fascist News Network just like fascist book🙄 and the owner CEO originator his ancestry and the activities of the app and other related apps oh the irony

[@aaronatherton7431]

So the report is one Biden's people, generations of reporters...needs fresh air.

[@badwolfgooddog7979]

California class? The worst writing comes from writers who self-insert themselves into a story, but it's always fun to watch a dumpster fire every once in a while. At least this show has that in their back pocket to fall back on.

[@tenjenk]

why are you posting this rubbish on an episode 3 and a half seasons in? its pathetic to go this out of your way to hate on a show which does nothing to deserve it, its just the vitreol in you. its been more than 2 years now, star trek fans have no issues discussing the california class in extensive ship discussions. So shoo.

[@watch_kitty]

Self insert? The fuck are you on about?

[@badwolfgooddog7979]

@@watch_kitty California sucks

[@hfar_in_the_sky]

I mean, you'll notice that the California classes are not exactly prize postings in Starfleet. I personally think it's a bit of a self dig that California gets associated with Starfleet's C-tier ships

[@Dave102693]

@@hfar_in_the_sky I always wonder why was that the case?