Clicket: "That was set to kill." T'ana: "So am I!" I can't begin to tell you how much I laughed at that line. Probably one of the funniest lines of the series.
Agreed. I had to pause it because i was laughing so hard. I even tweeted Sean that a certain T'Ana better be the latinum up. If it wasn't i think there would be riots..
@@alextirrellRI I loved it when T`lin said boom at the end of the episode she sounded so funny saying it even for a vulcan, thats what I lovr about the voice actors they picked the perfect ones for the show.
The completely unnecessarily epic shots of Captain Freeman while she compliments the Crickets ending in that thumbs up was my favorite bit from the whole episode.
I like that with Barnes and the sousaphone recital the play it up in a couple of ways. At first it's the usual "yet another recital, ugh" gag that they do all season. Then Barnes shows up kicking all sorts of butt with it, which is a great joke by itself. But then she takes a second to thank the captain for coming to the recital in the first place, which is just a nice little reminder that it's an important event to the performer. It was a nice touch.
Plus the added ridiculousness of it being a sousaphone. No one criticizes her for it (because it's Barnes) but it does seem weird that she'd pick THAT of all instruments.
As someone who played the susaphone in their high school marching band I can can confirm that a properly maintained and polished one can indeed reflect disruptor fire.
There’s also Captain Freeman saying “I didn’t even know you weren’t human!” Referencing the countless Star Trek aliens that don’t even have any distinctions from a human!😂
I majorly disagree with your assessment that this episode doesn’t add to the end. This is a perfect episode to explain our understanding that time passes and we see how our* lower deckers have grown up and will soon will not be lower deckers. You seem to be empathetic and able to discern these things, so you get a “down” for not seeing how this fits into the end. If I’ve acknowledged anything about this show, it’s that it’s incredibly warm-hearted it is. They will go out on that note, and this adds to that.
Yep, thought so too. This is about the same placement as the cave episode last year, which fit well as a moment to explore character development and relationships that season, so I don’t get why this is not what they should be doing.
Forgot something kind of important, something in CO. In TNG, the episode that started it all was called "Lower Decks," about the people that weren't paid much attention to. This one was called "Upper Decks" and featured the support characters. I do believe it likely it'll play a part in the end.
One little thing I think you missed...I feel you owe Commander Stephens a shout out for being the one to orchestrate the anniversary dinner date between the Freemans. His thoughtfulness and attention to detail was a very nice touch, an "aww" moment if you will, that got completely overlooked here.
That scene was so sweet. I immediately felt so bad for her in that moment knowing she sees her husband maybe twice a year and that is usually for a work lunch at best. So them having a whole evening on the holodeck together is awesome and shows how they keep the magic alive after so many years in the profession.
Don't forget the Fallout Vault-Boy thumbs up impersonation that Freeman did in cetation obs (it's even in the thumbnail) :) This was one of my favorite episodes!
Great episode, reminds me of the light touch of DS9's 'In The Cards' before getting the heavy hammer out for 'A Call To Arms'. And on that note, I reckon the last two episodes of LD will have shades of EVERY Trek finale, and I am absolutely 110% here for it.
I actually really liked the Shax storyline in this one and it's something that makes me wish we both had more episodes per season and more seasons overall. I think there's a general misconception about comedic series that you can't do comedy and drama together because the tones clash, but I don't agree with that sentiment. It only takes going back to look at shows like Scrubs or Parks and Rec to know that isn't true; those shows had lots of laughs, but also lots of character defining elements that included sad or dramatic moments. And there's something really compelling to getting to see and explore some of these characters in a more earnest way. Lower Decks is honestly one of my favorite Treks in part because I do think Trek has the potential to be very funny and honestly (as much as I truly love it) sometimes a bit dumb, so a Trek series that can lovingly take the mick out of Trek itself works wonders, but I do wish it did more of that character work, especially outside of the main group of Lower Deckers. That is unfortunately I think a side effect of seasons being so short these days. There just isn't as much opportunity experiment and explore.
Considering the last two episodes will most certainly focus on our core crew of lower deckers, and we know for a fact that there’s *at least one* returning featured cameo on top of that to give time to, this episode makes lot of sense placed where it is as our literal farewell to these other characters in the Cerritos universe. There is nothing wrong with well fleshed-out characters, but when a half hour show has too many (and only gets 10 episodes a “season” which is the real crime), all you really can do is a series of vignettes like this.
On one hand, I understand the pre-emptive down. On the other, the network pulled the plug on Lower Decks when this series was almost completely written and finalized. It's a miracle that they managed to give it some sort of proper ending as they claim (but I still remain skeptical, we'll see what happens in the next couple of episodes.) It's unfair to judge this season as if it was intended to be the series finale from the get go. Had they known it was their last they would've done something different from the get go, I reckon.
I love when shows do these type of episodes. The one in house MD is a particular fave of mine. My fave side story was ransom "pretending" to be a bad leader
yeah my thought as well. it 's very much a person shaped costume... though the ones in MiB were made from actual skin. Part of the bug thing was that the skinsuit was actually getting slowly eaten apart by bugs.
The Grazerite turning out to be a Clicket reminded me of Susan Welles transformation into a Xenomorph in the graphic novel version of William Gibson's Unproduced Alien III script.
I thought this was a lovely symmetry to how lower decks was conceived. So nice that the supporting cast got showcased before the series ended. It's easy, IN Universe, to think of the higher ranks as more privileged than our cast even though these actors are second stringers.
Brass player here (French Horn), a Sousaphone made from Silver brass or fiberglass would shatter upon contact. However, as seen in the episode, a gold brass would do the job. @trekculture - Sean, youtube Ohio State University Marching Band - Script Ohio. The “i” is dotted by a Sousaphone. It’s actually an honor to do it and you don’t play so anyone can carry it!!!
Barnes is a Trill. I was able to just barely make out her spots in amongst the brow ridges. They didn't get in the way of her sousaphone, but they did get in the way of her Trill-ness.
T'Lyn has stolen half of this seasons episodes with an amazing line right near the end. "I have made a joke at your expense . . . boom" Tendi has been a favourite since holding a heart in the very first episode. I love them all really, but these 2 are something else
It's appropriate that Migleemo is the one that knows about the Clickets. Although he is an upper decker, he's not on the command crew, so he doesn't interact much with Freeman, but it shows that she was listening. When I heard the Clickets, I could only recall that someone had mentioned earlier, but I couldn't recall what he said, just like Freeman.
The sousaphone was named after American composer, John Philip Sousa, who helped create the instrument. You may know him as he wrote the tune, The Liberty Bell, which eventually became the Monty Python's Flying Circus theme.
The Sousaphone: When you want to aim that sweet sweet tuba noise directly at someone, not just let it wander off into the sky. I absolutely love this episode, and the way it turned the "lower decks" trope on its head. I am going to miss this show so badly when it's gone.
At the end of the video, you chose a completely different Latinum Up than I would have... and I RESPECT that! I have made a TH-cam comment at your expense. Boom.
Considering the Halloween theme of the LD plot, I'm thinking that this was intended as earlier in the season, but then got moved to later for the narrative lull before what hopefully will be an amazingly epic series finale (maybe even on par with DS9!)
I like the filler episodes. They give the characters time to show relationships, develop the universe a little bit more, and the low stakes mean we can see lighter sides of people.
Maybe it was too obvious a reference, but I'm surprised you didn't mention that the entire concept for the episode was a play on the original Lower Decks ep of TNG (which likewise occurred late in the series); changing the focus away from the usual stars of the series. From the episode title, this was clearly an intentional joke.
Latinum up fully agreed! She was always one of my favorites on the show *anyway*, but this definitely moved her up in the overall standings of all Trek characters.
the "rearrange my guts" joke went sailing over my head when i watched the episode originally, but it dawned on me with Sean's face at 11:54 making me go "Ohhhh, that too"
Sean I’m surprised beard watch missed Rutherford apparently shaving his beard. I guess a possible explanation is that he came to his sense after the incident with the transporter in the last episode and went back to being himself. I can’t help but wonder though if this episode was originally planned to air earlier and closer to Halloween and thus he wouldn’t have started growing it yet. If it had aired earlier though then Boimler would have had to have had less facial hair in this episode and more in the others that followed compared to what we saw
Billings arranged Freeman's schedule so that the "meeting on the holodeck" was really her date with Zo. He purposefully placed something there to secure time in her schedule to make sure she could go on a date for her anniversary. That deserves an up!
22:06 That pregnant pause after the joy of calling weird people weird ... and remembering how much some people just can't stand being called weird when they do weird things ... Sean gets an up from me.
I admit, I wondered if it was a variant of Barcley's Protomorphisis Syndrome there during the trailers. And man, I felt for Shax. PTSD is a real bitch to deal with, speaking from personal experience.
I just hope that John Phillips Sousa in Heaven would be proud of what a Sousaphone can do since he was both a US Marine Warrant Officer and a US Navy Lieutenant Commander.
I was wondering why the matter/anti-matter conduits go down. 16:01 - it's right there behind Billups' head. I had no clue the warp core was in the saucer section. Also these California-Class ships are huge.
Chris Westlake has ended up being my top artist on my Spotify Wrapped 2024. 5500 minutes and 129 days streamed. All just the Lower Decks soundtrack. Really hope they release the Seasons 3-5 soundtrack at some point.
Watching this kind of turned my normally introspective mood into feeling, once again, delighted, and engaged in the nuance of Lower Decks. TC lifts us up through revealing the joy of Trek. Nicely done team. Great editing and script.
This episode feels like a full circle moment. Lower started as a Next Gen (an upper decks show) episode. It seems fitting to end Lower Decks with an opposite episode to what started the concept in the first place
Actually I think the Date Night in Paris scene was a reference to The Sound of Her Voice when Odo and Kira celebrate their 1-month anniversary in a Paris Holosuite program
In any other Star Trek series, Shax would be that Starfleet Marine (The only one we ever see like O'Brien is the only NCO we ever see) suffering PTSD, quietly and with control, but it does color his behavior from time to time. In a very un-Star Trek fashion shows how faith helps a lot with such traumas.
It helps that Bajorans have always been shown to be deeply spiritual (iconoclasts like Ro Laren aside). This isn't too out of the ordinary for Bajorans, especially: there's an episode where Kira goes to meet several of her old resistance cell buddies early in DS9, and one of them talks about how, in a moment where he thought he wouldn't survive the night's combat, he prayed openly to the Prophets to protect him...and he made it through only losing one arm. Kira asked him why he hadn't gotten it replaced with a biosynthetic, since the Federation could provide that now, but he'd refused...believing it would be an insult to the Prophets for answering his prayer to Them that night.
@@barbarossarotbart Starfleet had no enlisted, forget non-commissions officers (NCOs), but then came along O'Brien. So, don't go there. It is just stupid.
@@MishraArtificer About the arm. Maybe I would agree. But if he felt that way, he could take the arm off when at temple/service or when he goes to bed.
@@DocWolph Wrong. Starfleet always had enlisted and NCOs, but we could not distiguish them from ensigns. Yeoman Rand was an enlisted (or even an NCO). TMP had two named NCOs: Rand and DiFalco. Both were chied petty officers with distinguishable rank insignia. The rank insignia introduced in TWOK included insignia for enlisted and petty officers. They even gave them a special uniform (which BTW later was interpreted as cadet uniform). Yes, those jumpsuits are enlisted and NCO uniforms. But there is not a single episode or movie which mentions Starfleet Marines. Starfleet does not need them, because the security division fulfills all roles marines have in modern navies.
This Thursday is a treat for animation fans. New episodes of Star Trek Lower Decks and Dandadan. The premier of Jentry Chau vs The Underworld and Creature Commandos.
My man, I totally agree. It is beyond disappointing that only two episodes of this series remain (as far as we know...)! Mike McMahon needs to talk to and team up with Taylor Sheridan since Paramount is throwing so much in his direction. If in fact Lower Decks is gone in about two weeks time, I'm done with Paramount+.
The one line description for T'ana is "She's a good Doctor and a bad cat." So it makes complete sense she would knock the hyposprays off the table for no reason.
Don't forget the whole sleeping and being woken up and clapping exchange at the recital is a referance to when Riker fell asleep, got woken up by Diana and started clapping during Data's 'Ode to Spot' poems
It's probably a tradition left over from the early days of nuclear-powered ships and subs, where the act of "scramming" (i.e., emergency shutdown) of the reactor got its name from SCRAM or Safety Control Rod Axe Man. Basically? If the reactor was going critical for some reason, a designated sailor would be called on to use a fire axe to sever the ropes holding the control rods up and out of the way, causing them to drop down into place to absorb all the radiation and kill the chain reaction before a proto Chernobyl happened. Though I doubt the same trick would be useful on a 24th-century M/AM powerplant like Cerritos' warp core...
I loved the episode. There were so many laugh out loud moments in it, all of T'Ana's scenes in particular. I'm looking forward to watching it again. The "trapped in a painting" story that Mariner mentioned reminded me of an episode of Farscape, where Crichton and the others find themselves trapped in a painting. It's probably not an intentional reference, but it would be fun if it was.
I think switching perspectives from lower to upper decks is an easter egg itself referencing to " lower decks" from tng and good shepherd from voyager. My personal up
I absolutely loved that we’ve finally had an episode focussing on the senior staff, after the overall premise for the show being that we DON’T focus on the senior staff. I totally get your criticism about the episode being right before the final two episodes, but I think it works because of countless seasons of shows having those “downtime” penultimate episodes because they’re usually saving the budget and action for a massive season finale. If there’s one criticism I did have, it’s that it probably would’ve been better if the regular Lower Deckers had been completely off the ship on an Away Mission. That would’ve made more sense as to why they totally missed everything that happened. Anyway, glad I wasn’t the only one laughing his ass off at the “rocks in the ceiling” gag!🤣👏
T'ana knocking things on the floor is just another example of hilarious cat like behavior.
I was going to say that. 🤣 Great minds think alike.
Totally agree.
I did write it then deleted my comment when I saw you beat me to it -- I laughed out loud when she did it
I came down here to say "Well, she is a big cat... it's just her being a big cat". Kudos on beating me to it.
Yep, came here to say that. Yes she was rude, but all cats are assholes.
Clicket: "That was set to kill."
T'ana: "So am I!"
I can't begin to tell you how much I laughed at that line. Probably one of the funniest lines of the series.
Agreed. I had to pause it because i was laughing so hard. I even tweeted Sean that a certain T'Ana better be the latinum up.
If it wasn't i think there would be riots..
This scene had me damn near rolling on the floor! Every single T'ana scene this week was *beep*ing GOLD!
Yeah!!!🤣🤣🤣
T'anna knocking the hyposprays off the table is peak cat person behavior that shouldnt get downed
They gave Captain Freeman a Yeoman. We haven't seen one since, *Captain Kirk's Yeoman,* *_Yeoman Janice Rand._*
The line in the coolant chamber was so funny it deserves an up. “This is how all engineers want to go. At work, in a tube.” Legend
I think Stevens arranging Captain Freeman's schedule months in advance, so she would have her anniversary dinner with her husband deserves an up.
The fact that it didn’t is a crime
It was my up.
I love how the show keeps acknowledging that T'Lyn is *hilarious*
It doesn't excuse her lack of use. She should be the only character. ... or at least take the lead more, I guess.
Her delivery after the joke at the end really had me going.
@@alextirrellRI I loved it when T`lin said boom at the end of the episode she sounded so funny saying it even for a vulcan, thats what I lovr about the voice actors they picked the perfect ones for the show.
The completely unnecessarily epic shots of Captain Freeman while she compliments the Crickets ending in that thumbs up was my favorite bit from the whole episode.
I like that with Barnes and the sousaphone recital the play it up in a couple of ways. At first it's the usual "yet another recital, ugh" gag that they do all season. Then Barnes shows up kicking all sorts of butt with it, which is a great joke by itself. But then she takes a second to thank the captain for coming to the recital in the first place, which is just a nice little reminder that it's an important event to the performer. It was a nice touch.
Plus the added ridiculousness of it being a sousaphone.
No one criticizes her for it (because it's Barnes) but it does seem weird that she'd pick THAT of all instruments.
@@kyuven well when you play an instrument as a hobby because of boredom... why not choose a weird one?
As someone who played the susaphone in their high school marching band I can can confirm that a properly maintained and polished one can indeed reflect disruptor fire.
Spoken by T'Lyn...deadpan...perfect...
How bad was your band that somebody took a shot at you? lol
@@KnightRaymund Our rival school was from Romulus...
There’s also Captain Freeman saying “I didn’t even know you weren’t human!” Referencing the countless Star Trek aliens that don’t even have any distinctions from a human!😂
Lanthanite, the Watchers, the Q (to be clear they hide their godliness because “we couldn’t comprehend it), etc.
@@christinacody8653 I think Memory Alpha classifies the Q as being non corporeal.
The Clickeds not being able to take a compliment is about the most Douglas Adams thing I've seen in a while.
I majorly disagree with your assessment that this episode doesn’t add to the end. This is a perfect episode to explain our understanding that time passes and we see how our* lower deckers have grown up and will soon will not be lower deckers. You seem to be empathetic and able to discern these things, so you get a “down” for not seeing how this fits into the end. If I’ve acknowledged anything about this show, it’s that it’s incredibly warm-hearted it is. They will go out on that note, and this adds to that.
Yep, thought so too. This is about the same placement as the cave episode last year, which fit well as a moment to explore character development and relationships that season, so I don’t get why this is not what they should be doing.
Fully agree. Seeing the rest of the ship and crew run is a massive addition to the end of the series
Forgot something kind of important, something in CO. In TNG, the episode that started it all was called "Lower Decks," about the people that weren't paid much attention to. This one was called "Upper Decks" and featured the support characters. I do believe it likely it'll play a part in the end.
One little thing I think you missed...I feel you owe Commander Stephens a shout out for being the one to orchestrate the anniversary dinner date between the Freemans. His thoughtfulness and attention to detail was a very nice touch, an "aww" moment if you will, that got completely overlooked here.
That scene was so sweet. I immediately felt so bad for her in that moment knowing she sees her husband maybe twice a year and that is usually for a work lunch at best. So them having a whole evening on the holodeck together is awesome and shows how they keep the magic alive after so many years in the profession.
the 26th up was addressing that...
Definitely deserves an up.
2:42 it's placed at the same place where Lower Decks was placed in TNG season 7
The de-evolution episode was also in S7 TNG.
T'ana knocking the vials off was housecat energy.
You missed something: Recall that a repeated line from TNG was "Shut up, Wesley".
Here it was "Shut Up, Westlake!"
I laugh so hard with that line, understood right away the reference, hahahaha
I don’t know what’s funnier, the rearrange my guts scene, or Sean’s expression 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣😳
Someone please teach her Earth slang. Unless she knows what it means, in which case, maybe send her to HR instead.
I think he was upset that somebody stole his favorite opening line.
You are correct about the sousaphone. This is why the Romulans have never attacked a Big Ten Football Game.
Be careful, tho. You want to equip your ship with a Corbomite Sousaphone.
IN HEAVEN THERE IS NO BEER!!! THAT'S WHY WE DRINK IT HERE!!!
Rutherford had a beard coming in last week and it was gone this week. That's totally a reference to LaForge having random beard of the week in TNG.
Well, one beard was because he wanted to be bearded in his wedding photographs
Tendi probably said she didn't like it. Boom. Gone.
I’m surprised that Sean didn’t mention the missing beard, what with all the Boimler beardwatch stuff.
So the Dr knocking the Hyposprays off the table....she is a cat....it's what they do!
As a Celtic pagan, it's great to hear you acknowledge Samhain in reference to Halloween.
Don't forget the Fallout Vault-Boy thumbs up impersonation that Freeman did in cetation obs (it's even in the thumbnail) :)
This was one of my favorite episodes!
I laughed so much at T'ana "SO AM I"!
One of my favorite episodes ever of LD
Great episode, reminds me of the light touch of DS9's 'In The Cards' before getting the heavy hammer out for 'A Call To Arms'.
And on that note, I reckon the last two episodes of LD will have shades of EVERY Trek finale, and I am absolutely 110% here for it.
I actually really liked the Shax storyline in this one and it's something that makes me wish we both had more episodes per season and more seasons overall. I think there's a general misconception about comedic series that you can't do comedy and drama together because the tones clash, but I don't agree with that sentiment. It only takes going back to look at shows like Scrubs or Parks and Rec to know that isn't true; those shows had lots of laughs, but also lots of character defining elements that included sad or dramatic moments. And there's something really compelling to getting to see and explore some of these characters in a more earnest way. Lower Decks is honestly one of my favorite Treks in part because I do think Trek has the potential to be very funny and honestly (as much as I truly love it) sometimes a bit dumb, so a Trek series that can lovingly take the mick out of Trek itself works wonders, but I do wish it did more of that character work, especially outside of the main group of Lower Deckers. That is unfortunately I think a side effect of seasons being so short these days. There just isn't as much opportunity experiment and explore.
Considering the last two episodes will most certainly focus on our core crew of lower deckers, and we know for a fact that there’s *at least one* returning featured cameo on top of that to give time to, this episode makes lot of sense placed where it is as our literal farewell to these other characters in the Cerritos universe.
There is nothing wrong with well fleshed-out characters, but when a half hour show has too many (and only gets 10 episodes a “season” which is the real crime), all you really can do is a series of vignettes like this.
Or the show could just not waste time on these side characters. I don't think anyone would care if the show ended without another Freeman plot.
On one hand, I understand the pre-emptive down.
On the other, the network pulled the plug on Lower Decks when this series was almost completely written and finalized. It's a miracle that they managed to give it some sort of proper ending as they claim (but I still remain skeptical, we'll see what happens in the next couple of episodes.)
It's unfair to judge this season as if it was intended to be the series finale from the get go. Had they known it was their last they would've done something different from the get go, I reckon.
I love when shows do these type of episodes. The one in house MD is a particular fave of mine. My fave side story was ransom "pretending" to be a bad leader
The clapping after falling asleep was a callback to TNG with Riker doing it to Data 😮
The body horror bit you mentioned reminded me very much of the bug tearing off his "Edgar suit" in the first Men in Black movie.
yeah my thought as well. it 's very much a person shaped costume... though the ones in MiB were made from actual skin. Part of the bug thing was that the skinsuit was actually getting slowly eaten apart by bugs.
The Grazerite turning out to be a Clicket reminded me of Susan Welles transformation into a Xenomorph in the graphic novel version of William Gibson's Unproduced Alien III script.
I thought this was a lovely symmetry to how lower decks was conceived. So nice that the supporting cast got showcased before the series ended. It's easy, IN Universe, to think of the higher ranks as more privileged than our cast even though these actors are second stringers.
Brass player here (French Horn), a Sousaphone made from Silver brass or fiberglass would shatter upon contact. However, as seen in the episode, a gold brass would do the job.
@trekculture - Sean, youtube Ohio State University Marching Band - Script Ohio. The “i” is dotted by a Sousaphone. It’s actually an honor to do it and you don’t play so anyone can carry it!!!
What, no mention that Rutherford shaved in Beard Watch? And his beard was coming in so nicely too. Also I thought Barnes is a Trill not a Human?
She is
I think they were mirroring how Geordi had a beard for like one episode, he got compliments on it, and then it was gone the next episode.
Barnes is a Trill. I was able to just barely make out her spots in amongst the brow ridges. They didn't get in the way of her sousaphone, but they did get in the way of her Trill-ness.
Somehow you forgot that Barnes is not a human but a trill... Also this episode is my favorite of this season so far.
Sean, in regards to T'ana knocking the hypo sprays off her desk, you've clearly never had a cat. She's not being rude, it's just in their nature.
We currently have four cats, and I will confirm that it is in their nature, but I'm not buying the argument that it's therefore not rude ;)
Man, I'm gonna miss lower decks when it's gone 😢
T'Lyn has stolen half of this seasons episodes with an amazing line right near the end.
"I have made a joke at your expense . . . boom"
Tendi has been a favourite since holding a heart in the very first episode.
I love them all really, but these 2 are something else
It's appropriate that Migleemo is the one that knows about the Clickets. Although he is an upper decker, he's not on the command crew, so he doesn't interact much with Freeman, but it shows that she was listening. When I heard the Clickets, I could only recall that someone had mentioned earlier, but I couldn't recall what he said, just like Freeman.
10:31 She's a f**king cat! She's a very good kitty. The Bagoon are reminiscent of the tardigrade from Descovery.
The sousaphone was named after American composer, John Philip Sousa, who helped create the instrument. You may know him as he wrote the tune, The Liberty Bell, which eventually became the Monty Python's Flying Circus theme.
“Viruses that make the crew sing” 27:10 reminds me of Kevin Riley in the TOS episode The Naked Time
Or Subspace Rhapsody
"I'll take you home again, Kathleen." Kathleen also happens to be my sister's name.
I loved this episode, and it really brought home to me how much I'm going to miss this series.
Goddammit, I'm going to miss this series! Are there no Trekkie billionaires in the world?
The Sousaphone: When you want to aim that sweet sweet tuba noise directly at someone, not just let it wander off into the sky.
I absolutely love this episode, and the way it turned the "lower decks" trope on its head. I am going to miss this show so badly when it's gone.
At the end of the video, you chose a completely different Latinum Up than I would have... and I RESPECT that!
I have made a TH-cam comment at your expense. Boom.
She knocks the hyposprays off the table because she's a cat.
BY now Westlake should have known better than to put them there.
I'm loving T'lyn's jokes.
Considering the Halloween theme of the LD plot, I'm thinking that this was intended as earlier in the season, but then got moved to later for the narrative lull before what hopefully will be an amazingly epic series finale (maybe even on par with DS9!)
Watching this while playing STO. MY inner geek is happy.
Everyone seems upset that episode 8 is a filler episode. Just remember any Lower Decks is better than no Lower Decks.
100%
💯🫡😊
I like the filler episodes. They give the characters time to show relationships, develop the universe a little bit more, and the low stakes mean we can see lighter sides of people.
Always
Maybe it was too obvious a reference, but I'm surprised you didn't mention that the entire concept for the episode was a play on the original Lower Decks ep of TNG (which likewise occurred late in the series); changing the focus away from the usual stars of the series. From the episode title, this was clearly an intentional joke.
This week's episode was a riot! Also, just seeing Sean is a highlight of the week!
Latinum up fully agreed! She was always one of my favorites on the show *anyway*, but this definitely moved her up in the overall standings of all Trek characters.
My BIGGEST down for this episode was when it ended :( I wanted moreeeeee
The episode was fast. I found it to be a standard, "Day in the Life of..." episode. No complaints.
the "rearrange my guts" joke went sailing over my head when i watched the episode originally, but it dawned on me with Sean's face at 11:54 making me go "Ohhhh, that too"
Rearrange my guts, oh that line had me snorting. That was definitely my latinum up.
Sean I’m surprised beard watch missed Rutherford apparently shaving his beard. I guess a possible explanation is that he came to his sense after the incident with the transporter in the last episode and went back to being himself. I can’t help but wonder though if this episode was originally planned to air earlier and closer to Halloween and thus he wouldn’t have started growing it yet. If it had aired earlier though then Boimler would have had to have had less facial hair in this episode and more in the others that followed compared to what we saw
Billings arranged Freeman's schedule so that the "meeting on the holodeck" was really her date with Zo. He purposefully placed something there to secure time in her schedule to make sure she could go on a date for her anniversary. That deserves an up!
22:06 That pregnant pause after the joy of calling weird people weird ... and remembering how much some people just can't stand being called weird when they do weird things ... Sean gets an up from me.
When Sean said that he "almost" gave the Latinum up, I thought for sure the Latinum up was going to be "I have made a joke at your expense. Boom."
I admit, I wondered if it was a variant of Barcley's Protomorphisis Syndrome there during the trailers.
And man, I felt for Shax. PTSD is a real bitch to deal with, speaking from personal experience.
The bottom lip fuzz is a soul patch.
Flavor saver.
10:20 Let's face it, she's a cat, it's in her nature to swipe stuff off a countertop.
I just hope that John Phillips Sousa in Heaven would be proud of what a Sousaphone can do since he was both a US Marine Warrant Officer and a US Navy Lieutenant Commander.
I think that this was the best and funniest episode of Lower Decks so far.
I was wondering why the matter/anti-matter conduits go down. 16:01 - it's right there behind Billups' head. I had no clue the warp core was in the saucer section. Also these California-Class ships are huge.
I think it's been one of the most bonkers episodes they've done. Absolutely loved it
Chris Westlake has ended up being my top artist on my Spotify Wrapped 2024. 5500 minutes and 129 days streamed. All just the Lower Decks soundtrack. Really hope they release the Seasons 3-5 soundtrack at some point.
Watching this kind of turned my normally introspective mood into feeling, once again, delighted, and engaged in the nuance of Lower Decks.
TC lifts us up through revealing the joy of Trek. Nicely done team. Great editing and script.
This episode feels like a full circle moment. Lower started as a Next Gen (an upper decks show) episode. It seems fitting to end Lower Decks with an opposite episode to what started the concept in the first place
Actually I think the Date Night in Paris scene was a reference to The Sound of Her Voice when Odo and Kira celebrate their 1-month anniversary in a Paris Holosuite program
Ohhhhh... MAN! The Ups &Downs for S5E9 is going to be OFF. THE. HOOK! Sean is gonna be beaming! I can't wait!
I just came here to say something similar. 4 guest stars from older series.
In any other Star Trek series, Shax would be that Starfleet Marine (The only one we ever see like O'Brien is the only NCO we ever see) suffering PTSD, quietly and with control, but it does color his behavior from time to time. In a very un-Star Trek fashion shows how faith helps a lot with such traumas.
Starfleet has no marines, they have security instead.
It helps that Bajorans have always been shown to be deeply spiritual (iconoclasts like Ro Laren aside). This isn't too out of the ordinary for Bajorans, especially: there's an episode where Kira goes to meet several of her old resistance cell buddies early in DS9, and one of them talks about how, in a moment where he thought he wouldn't survive the night's combat, he prayed openly to the Prophets to protect him...and he made it through only losing one arm. Kira asked him why he hadn't gotten it replaced with a biosynthetic, since the Federation could provide that now, but he'd refused...believing it would be an insult to the Prophets for answering his prayer to Them that night.
@@barbarossarotbart
Starfleet had no enlisted, forget non-commissions officers (NCOs), but then came along O'Brien. So, don't go there. It is just stupid.
@@MishraArtificer
About the arm. Maybe I would agree. But if he felt that way, he could take the arm off when at temple/service or when he goes to bed.
@@DocWolph Wrong. Starfleet always had enlisted and NCOs, but we could not distiguish them from ensigns. Yeoman Rand was an enlisted (or even an NCO). TMP had two named NCOs: Rand and DiFalco. Both were chied petty officers with distinguishable rank insignia. The rank insignia introduced in TWOK included insignia for enlisted and petty officers. They even gave them a special uniform (which BTW later was interpreted as cadet uniform). Yes, those jumpsuits are enlisted and NCO uniforms.
But there is not a single episode or movie which mentions Starfleet Marines. Starfleet does not need them, because the security division fulfills all roles marines have in modern navies.
Ransom is similar to what Boot-camp Instructors. The upper brass makes you hate them, so you work together.
I thought that was towel guy too.... Oh and T'anas "SO AM I" had me in stiches!
It wasn't the towel guy? Oh...yes he is still a Lower Decker. Unless he got a major promotion in between seasons.
This Thursday is a treat for animation fans. New episodes of Star Trek Lower Decks and Dandadan. The premier of Jentry Chau vs The Underworld and Creature Commandos.
Loved the Geordi and Ro reference! I need to watch that episode now!
My man, I totally agree. It is beyond disappointing that only two episodes of this series remain (as far as we know...)! Mike McMahon needs to talk to and team up with Taylor Sheridan since Paramount is throwing so much in his direction. If in fact Lower Decks is gone in about two weeks time, I'm done with Paramount+.
They leaned on the 4th wall so hard it fell over.
When I hear “stuck in a painting” my first thought was Doctor Who special “The Day of the Doctor”
The one line description for T'ana is "She's a good Doctor and a bad cat." So it makes complete sense she would knock the hyposprays off the table for no reason.
Don't forget the whole sleeping and being woken up and clapping exchange at the recital is a referance to when Riker fell asleep, got woken up by Diana and started clapping during Data's 'Ode to Spot' poems
Loved the baby bagoon at the end trying his best to keep up with the rest of his litter, had to roll up and ball it to catch up. 😻
lol T'ana is a cat makes sense she knocked something off her table. lol
Sorry, Sean, but the Cordry Rocks are clearly the Latinum up of this episode, if not this series.
The Boimler Spread is my up for ALL of Lower Decks!
I like seeing Stevens and Ransom being good at their jobs. Presumably they had to have earned their ranks.
10:45 She's a cat.... cats knock things off tables!!
Exactly my thoughts too!
Congrats on the new home, Sean!
Being pulled into a painting could be a Dr. Who reference from The Day of the Doctor.
Giant insectoid race improbably fitting into a smaller body suit could also be a Doctor Who reference, from Tom Baker's the Leisure Hive.
I have so many questions about the Starfleet Emergency Axe.
_Lots_ of vehicles have an Emergency Axe.
It's probably a tradition left over from the early days of nuclear-powered ships and subs, where the act of "scramming" (i.e., emergency shutdown) of the reactor got its name from SCRAM or Safety Control Rod Axe Man.
Basically? If the reactor was going critical for some reason, a designated sailor would be called on to use a fire axe to sever the ropes holding the control rods up and out of the way, causing them to drop down into place to absorb all the radiation and kill the chain reaction before a proto Chernobyl happened. Though I doubt the same trick would be useful on a 24th-century M/AM powerplant like Cerritos' warp core...
I loved the episode. There were so many laugh out loud moments in it, all of T'Ana's scenes in particular. I'm looking forward to watching it again.
The "trapped in a painting" story that Mariner mentioned reminded me of an episode of Farscape, where Crichton and the others find themselves trapped in a painting. It's probably not an intentional reference, but it would be fun if it was.
I think switching perspectives from lower to upper decks is an easter egg itself referencing to " lower decks" from tng and good shepherd from voyager. My personal up
I absolutely loved that we’ve finally had an episode focussing on the senior staff, after the overall premise for the show being that we DON’T focus on the senior staff. I totally get your criticism about the episode being right before the final two episodes, but I think it works because of countless seasons of shows having those “downtime” penultimate episodes because they’re usually saving the budget and action for a massive season finale. If there’s one criticism I did have, it’s that it probably would’ve been better if the regular Lower Deckers had been completely off the ship on an Away Mission. That would’ve made more sense as to why they totally missed everything that happened. Anyway, glad I wasn’t the only one laughing his ass off at the “rocks in the ceiling” gag!🤣👏
I thought for sure that "I've got a non-functional indicator light behind panel 785" was going to be some sort of come on.
If you don't want a cat to knock your breakables of your table, then don't get a cat.
lmao your reaction to the Doc pretty much sums up my reaction. 🤣🤣🤣
Kira and Odo go on a date to Paris on their anniversary.
Yep! 1920s Paris, in the Season 6 episode "The Sound of Her Voice". Loved that B plot in that episode. 😊
The latinum up was spot on, laughed so much at that scene
Sean's quote about calling weird, weird?
Take an up
hehe sousaphones are commonplace here in US and Mexico! That was both hilarious and fantastic to see her playing that!