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this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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I really enjoy how lower decks makes the events on screen absurd in a way that fits the vibe of an adult animated scifi series but manages to make it still feel like LD is in the same universe as other star trek shows that are superficially very different in tone, genre and pacing. In the crossover episode Captain Pike finds Boimler and Mariner annoying (they act like cartoon characters... because they are) but ultimately Pike is pretty seriously charmed through an immediate recognition that what these annoying time travellers value about starfleet/the federation is the same thing he does. It is things like this that ground LD in the rest of the universe and make it not feel like a superfluous side gimmick.
This week's episode is a great example, the ferengi joining the federation (from my as of yet incomplete star trek watching experience, I havent finished DS9) is actually a pretty massive expansion of star trek canon to hand out to the animated spinoff show. To me, as a fan of star trek less for what happens in any one particular moment and more for the broader constellation of stories in a shared universe, I had high expectations for what the final negotiation process was going to be like with the ferengi.
I thought they nailed it, the ferengi acted like cartoon versions of themselves by trying to swindle them, but ultimately it came not from an unrealistic supervillian type place but rather a place of ferengi's not wanting to enter into a serious alliance that makes them vulnerable with an organization that can easily be swindled by others (which would probably be considered a serious moral failing by ferengi) ... it is a cultural thing to them and the final test was looking for a recognition of that which I think is a perfect way to allow a lot of silly fun while also making the choices feel like real people were making them. It also echoes the SNW episode where Pike realizes how to be genuine with an alien species in order to convince them to join the federation, and I don't think I will ever get tired of those episodes as they get to the heart of what star trek is about.
Great episode!