Star Trek: Lower Decks: Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus
October 13, 2022 9:11 AM - Season 3, Episode 8 - Subscribe

A sequel to 2380's smash hit Crisis Point: The Rise of Vindicta, and this time... Boimler's directing! (I think that Boimler and Mariner have it in their contracts that they get equal time, or something.)

Memory Alpha doesn't know what they'd do without Honus the Bartender, Nurse Westlake, and Matt the Whale:

- Early in the episode, Mariner says, "Don't tell me that we're gonna have to go back in time and assassinate Kennedy, because that is not happening" is a reference to a proposal for a Star Trek movie that Gene Roddenberry made several times after TMP.

- Shortly after that, Mariner also makes a reference to the Kelvin timeline.

"The horsey's going to bite you now." -- Sulu

Poster's Log II, the Postering:

If the first Crisis Point was about Mariner working out her resentments toward her mom, this one is about Boimler starting out with some holo-RPG preening ("Bucephalus Dagger", y'all), but then pivoting to an existential crisis, thus achieving the remarkable feat of a GM derailing their own game by concentrating on a side quest and irrelevant NPC to the detriment of the main plot. There's a whole lot of lampshading in this one (as is customary for LD) so I won't point out all of it, but I do wonder if the bit with Sulu being at Kirk's old ranch is just because they could get Takei for the VA instead of Shatner, or if it has to do with their old feud. I'm also guessing that the Wayfarer was named after Becky Chambers' series.

Poster's Log II, the Postering, deleted scene: speaking of lampshading, the last scene was pretty eye-rolly, but it introduces yet another Mysterious Shadowy Figure For the Purposes of Foreshadowing (Saavik? Valeris? Sito Jaxa?), and I'd been wondering about the whole black badge thing myself.
posted by Halloween Jack (12 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
The black badge is a classic example of the age-old "Why does this secret organization put its logo on everything?" question.
posted by Karmakaze at 9:34 AM on October 13, 2022 [2 favorites]


That reminds me of an episode of Agents of SHIELD in which HYDRA--which, of course, had just been revealed as having successfully infiltrated SHIELD over the course of decades--was working out of an office with a big freakin' skull-and-tentacles logo on the wall.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:25 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]


I for one appreciated the recycling of the TOP SECRET video bumpers from (I believe) the Genesis video in Star Trek II.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 12:09 PM on October 13, 2022 [4 favorites]


Tendi! Rutherford! Stop talking over the opening credits, I'm trying to enjoy the music! #petpeeve
posted by Molesome at 12:27 PM on October 13, 2022


This is the funniest and also most profound episode of LD in a while, maybe so far. But also, I liked the ending because (1) let's not forget we're watching an animated comedy show and (2) it's a clever way to take this A-story and warp it into a cool use of Clone Boimler, or Cloimler. I mean, one would be remiss NOT to make the twin evil.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 2:09 PM on October 13, 2022 [3 favorites]


Neurocine gas is something the Cardassians used for riot control on Terok Nor. Does Section 31 really think no-one's gonna ask how it got into William's quarters?
posted by hanov3r at 4:13 PM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]


Well, Dark Boimler is still Boimler, so probably some wacky and highly improbable hijinks were involved.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:39 PM on October 13, 2022


I cannot be the only person who thought the blond physicist was a dead ringer for Carol Marcus.
posted by suelac at 10:13 PM on October 13, 2022 [2 favorites]


We were expecting Boimler to get V'Ger-ed, but we didn't expect Kitty Hawk. That was fantastic.
Also appreciated the:
Boimler: Uh, Captain Kirk?
Sulu: Oh, my, no. It's Captain Sulu.
Boimler: Oh my gosh! Captain Sulu! Even better!
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 1:48 PM on October 14, 2022 [13 favorites]


Not only did they have the way-cool graphics of the Top Secret video, I also spotted the weird light tube prop that shows up all the time.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:48 PM on October 14, 2022 [4 favorites]


Wow, I'd love to see Sito Jaxa again, but I'm pretty sure 1.) that Lower Decks would get Shannon Fill (the original actress) to portray her if that's what they were ding, and 2.) that they actually wouldn't do that just because it would undercut the TNG episode "Lower Decks" a hell of a lot.
posted by Navelgazer at 2:51 PM on October 20, 2022 [1 favorite]


Okay, I did a spit-take at the Kitty Hawk reveal.
posted by schmod at 1:45 PM on November 19, 2022


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