Star Trek: Lower Decks: Something Borrowed, Something Green
September 21, 2023 8:52 AM - Season 4, Episode 4 - Subscribe
Tendi is summoned back to Orion for a wedding. Spoiler alert: not hers! Not that that makes it any easier, or less involving blades...
Memory Alpha is hopped up on the stink:
- Tendi's status as "Mistress of the Winter Constellations" was established in a previous season.
- Two classes of 22nd century Orion vessels that first appeared in Star Trek: Enterprise, namely the Orion Interceptor and Orion barge, appear to still be in use during the 24th century.
- A Raven-type starship (previously seen on VOY) was found in the ship graveyard on Orion.
"A house divided in twain cannot stand."
--Twin Twains
"Mom! Dad! Found her!"
"Sorry, sorry, had to steal a ship."
"Oh, my special girls... accomplices!"
-- Tendi, D'Erika, and Shona
Poster's Log:
So, this is all about establishing that, even with Tendi and other Orions joining Starfleet, the "hat" of Orion is still the Syndicate and sex; they're all about crime all the motherloving time, to quote MC Hawking, not to mention the pheromones, what with murder bug drinking games and hump dungeons and whatnot. But it's still ultimately about family and who got to go off and be their true self and who was stuck at home being the (checks notes) "tip of the moonlit blade", which sounds way cooler than scanning stuff, but what do I know.
The B story is Brutherford and hashing stuff out as historical figures. I don't know that Mozart has much potential; it involves more skill than drinking on a riverboat.
Poster's Log, supplemental: and another ship gets blasted by the mysterious little hacking ship. I hope that it's a mystery or at least a halfway-decent plot twist and not just Agimus and Badgey hacking into a bunch of different ships' command-and-control systems, because at this point it's getting a little tedious. Maybe an extragalactic probe and the 'ritos has to ask Agimus and Badgey for help?
Memory Alpha is hopped up on the stink:
- Tendi's status as "Mistress of the Winter Constellations" was established in a previous season.
- Two classes of 22nd century Orion vessels that first appeared in Star Trek: Enterprise, namely the Orion Interceptor and Orion barge, appear to still be in use during the 24th century.
- A Raven-type starship (previously seen on VOY) was found in the ship graveyard on Orion.
"A house divided in twain cannot stand."
--Twin Twains
"Mom! Dad! Found her!"
"Sorry, sorry, had to steal a ship."
"Oh, my special girls... accomplices!"
-- Tendi, D'Erika, and Shona
Poster's Log:
So, this is all about establishing that, even with Tendi and other Orions joining Starfleet, the "hat" of Orion is still the Syndicate and sex; they're all about crime all the motherloving time, to quote MC Hawking, not to mention the pheromones, what with murder bug drinking games and hump dungeons and whatnot. But it's still ultimately about family and who got to go off and be their true self and who was stuck at home being the (checks notes) "tip of the moonlit blade", which sounds way cooler than scanning stuff, but what do I know.
The B story is Brutherford and hashing stuff out as historical figures. I don't know that Mozart has much potential; it involves more skill than drinking on a riverboat.
Poster's Log, supplemental: and another ship gets blasted by the mysterious little hacking ship. I hope that it's a mystery or at least a halfway-decent plot twist and not just Agimus and Badgey hacking into a bunch of different ships' command-and-control systems, because at this point it's getting a little tedious. Maybe an extragalactic probe and the 'ritos has to ask Agimus and Badgey for help?
IT WAS SO GREAT GUYS
posted by sixswitch at 5:11 PM on September 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by sixswitch at 5:11 PM on September 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
Tendi and the Orions are so much fun, and the writers so far have been really good at doling her and them out just often enough that we all say Oh, right, she's awesome! rather than Yeah, okay, we get it, she's awesome...
posted by Etrigan at 5:15 PM on September 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 5:15 PM on September 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
Is it my imagination, or did the Chogoth captain look a little like Brak (HI I'M BRAK!) from Space Ghost?
posted by briank at 6:51 PM on September 21, 2023 [13 favorites]
posted by briank at 6:51 PM on September 21, 2023 [13 favorites]
I'm wondering if there's anything significant to Freeman mentioning the Orion ship "disappearing", rather than it being destroyed. We saw wreckage of the Klingon and Romulan ships, but not the Orion ship. I'm just hoping that wasn't the last we see of Ma'ah and his targ.
posted by dumbland at 9:09 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by dumbland at 9:09 PM on September 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
One of the best so far this season.
Why can't the new Futurama be anything like this?
posted by Marticus at 9:44 PM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Why can't the new Futurama be anything like this?
posted by Marticus at 9:44 PM on September 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Anybody able to explain the name A. B. Chambers?
The Chalnoth sounded a biiiiit like J. G., but MA doesn't know who voiced him, so it probably wasn't J. G.
and another ship gets blasted by the mysterious little hacking ship. I hope that it's a mystery or at least a halfway-decent plot twist and not just Agimus and Badgey hacking into a bunch of different ships' command-and-control systems
I'm certain it's the whale probe aliens, and I'm equally certain it's no coincidence that all of their victims so far have been treacherous types. Now, what that might mean?, I can't possibly (wait for it) fathom.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:48 AM on September 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
The Chalnoth sounded a biiiiit like J. G., but MA doesn't know who voiced him, so it probably wasn't J. G.
and another ship gets blasted by the mysterious little hacking ship. I hope that it's a mystery or at least a halfway-decent plot twist and not just Agimus and Badgey hacking into a bunch of different ships' command-and-control systems
I'm certain it's the whale probe aliens, and I'm equally certain it's no coincidence that all of their victims so far have been treacherous types. Now, what that might mean?, I can't possibly (wait for it) fathom.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:48 AM on September 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
Was the other captain character named Coqqor? If so, IMDB says that’s Eric Bauza (uncredited).
posted by LooseFilter at 6:29 AM on September 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by LooseFilter at 6:29 AM on September 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm equally certain it's no coincidence that all of their victims so far have been treacherous types.
Whoa, whoa--are you equating the Klingons with the Romulans??? That's a really good way to get a bat'leth in your chest...
posted by rhymedirective at 7:28 AM on September 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Whoa, whoa--are you equating the Klingons with the Romulans??? That's a really good way to get a bat'leth in your chest...
posted by rhymedirective at 7:28 AM on September 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
I've been assuming the tilt ship has just been traveling in from somewhere in the Beta Quadrant.
I loved getting more Tendi backstory, and I found the Twain simulation hilarious. I've sometimes found Trek holodeck storylines tedious, but Lower Decks has made excellent use of it.
posted by audi alteram partem at 8:52 AM on September 22, 2023
I loved getting more Tendi backstory, and I found the Twain simulation hilarious. I've sometimes found Trek holodeck storylines tedious, but Lower Decks has made excellent use of it.
posted by audi alteram partem at 8:52 AM on September 22, 2023
Did anyone see the Orion rhinos (say that three times fast) as Tendi et gals first arrived for the wedding? One was being ridden, and all of them were fitted with Orion rhino bridles (as opposed to Orion rhino bridals).
posted by Mogur at 9:37 AM on September 22, 2023
posted by Mogur at 9:37 AM on September 22, 2023
Presumably, about half of them would be Orion rhino bridal bridles.
posted by Etrigan at 9:48 AM on September 22, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 9:48 AM on September 22, 2023 [10 favorites]
LD borrowed some of Lauren Tom's awesomeness for this episode and it caused a multiversal multinasal fissure, resulting in the smelloscope making this season of Futurama stink.
posted by Riki tiki at 7:31 PM on September 22, 2023
posted by Riki tiki at 7:31 PM on September 22, 2023
This was so good!
I'm always going to love a Tendi-centered episode, and this was probably the most Tendiriffic one of the series so far, so that's already great, but it was also just hilarious. Plus the whole thing felt like "well, Orions have been part of this franchise since TOS and nobody's really bothered to explore them, so I guess Lower Decks will take charge there..." which is great. None of the other shows have the proper tone to really be able to flesh out a Planet of Hats, both poking fun at the hat while also carving out a bit more room for variance in the monoculture, so I'm glad LD has taken it on. (Also, it reminds me of how often the Orion Syndicate came up in DS9 without ever showing any Orions on that show. I think the closest we got was the like New York Irish mobster dude in the O'Brien-Donnie-Brasco episode, and that dude was clearly human.)
posted by Navelgazer at 9:07 PM on September 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm always going to love a Tendi-centered episode, and this was probably the most Tendiriffic one of the series so far, so that's already great, but it was also just hilarious. Plus the whole thing felt like "well, Orions have been part of this franchise since TOS and nobody's really bothered to explore them, so I guess Lower Decks will take charge there..." which is great. None of the other shows have the proper tone to really be able to flesh out a Planet of Hats, both poking fun at the hat while also carving out a bit more room for variance in the monoculture, so I'm glad LD has taken it on. (Also, it reminds me of how often the Orion Syndicate came up in DS9 without ever showing any Orions on that show. I think the closest we got was the like New York Irish mobster dude in the O'Brien-Donnie-Brasco episode, and that dude was clearly human.)
posted by Navelgazer at 9:07 PM on September 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Fantastic episode. Loved everything about it.
I enjoyed seeing the return of a Chalnoth for (I think) the first time since TNG: Allegiance. Lower Decks really excels at the deep cuts.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 4:24 AM on September 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
I enjoyed seeing the return of a Chalnoth for (I think) the first time since TNG: Allegiance. Lower Decks really excels at the deep cuts.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 4:24 AM on September 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
Also, it reminds me of how often the Orion Syndicate came up in DS9 without ever showing any Orions on that show. I think the closest we got was the like New York Irish mobster dude in the O'Brien-Donnie-Brasco episode, and that dude was clearly human.
I kind of love that as a piece of worldbuilding, to be honest. The Orions run the syndicate, but they don’t get their hands dirty actually doing any of the on-the-ground work. It sets up a nice hierarchical society which I think LD is running with.
Plus, I would imagine that if you deal with the Orion Syndicate and an actual Orion shows up, you know you really, really, really fucked up.
posted by rhymedirective at 6:36 AM on September 23, 2023 [12 favorites]
I kind of love that as a piece of worldbuilding, to be honest. The Orions run the syndicate, but they don’t get their hands dirty actually doing any of the on-the-ground work. It sets up a nice hierarchical society which I think LD is running with.
Plus, I would imagine that if you deal with the Orion Syndicate and an actual Orion shows up, you know you really, really, really fucked up.
posted by rhymedirective at 6:36 AM on September 23, 2023 [12 favorites]
Far-future ST:DIS also featured organized crime with Orions (and Andorians) in the 31st century, though I can't say we learned much about Orion culture in the process.
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 7:13 AM on September 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 7:13 AM on September 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm loving the mysterious little hacking ship vignettes on the intros! I don't much care about whatever mystery plot the're working on, but I do appreciate a good windup. What I lovie is the continuing gag of "this is what the Lower Decks looks like on this alien species' ship". Right before they get obliterated.
posted by Nelson at 7:17 AM on September 23, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Nelson at 7:17 AM on September 23, 2023 [4 favorites]
Calling it: There’s a Moopsy piloting the recurring mystery-ship.
posted by schmod at 7:54 AM on September 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by schmod at 7:54 AM on September 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
Brotherford as competing Mark Twains was so great, and then to rope Captain Freeman into trying it out as a diplomatic measure...
I also liked how T'Lyn took copious notes, but discarded them the instant Tendi wasn't wild about it. "Here is where we met a priest with an eight-pack." Such a great addition to the cast.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:26 AM on September 23, 2023 [10 favorites]
I also liked how T'Lyn took copious notes, but discarded them the instant Tendi wasn't wild about it. "Here is where we met a priest with an eight-pack." Such a great addition to the cast.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:26 AM on September 23, 2023 [10 favorites]
In episode 1 this season, the Klingons detected one lifesign aboard the mystery ship before it blew them up. I'm hoping for some crazy deep cut of a character from TNG or something.
posted by tomboko at 6:57 PM on September 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by tomboko at 6:57 PM on September 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
Harry Kim: "...but you promoted these little punks?!?"
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:59 AM on September 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:59 AM on September 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
An answer to my question about "A. B. Chambers" from Jörg Hillebrand, Picard research assistant
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 11:47 AM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 11:47 AM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
I’m ashamed and disgusted by everyone here failing to comment even once on that extremely great running gag with the dagger wounds to Mariner’s shoulder, made even better by the way she acknowledges it just before (and after) the third time, and then they gloss over a fourth off-screen incidence
My one and only disappointment with this episode was that Ransom’s new teeth didn’t get continuity
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:05 PM on September 26, 2023 [6 favorites]
My one and only disappointment with this episode was that Ransom’s new teeth didn’t get continuity
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:05 PM on September 26, 2023 [6 favorites]
Just a heads up tomorrow, September 27th has a special Lower Decks themed addition to the Day of Blood crossover special, if the comics are your thing. More Ryan North penned strips? Yes please!
(Don't worry about the continuity, they're off doing their own thing.)
posted by Kyol at 6:44 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
(Don't worry about the continuity, they're off doing their own thing.)
posted by Kyol at 6:44 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
Just noticed that this episode is the 900th installment of canonical Star Trek, according to MA. This math includes all the movies, Short Treks, and Very Short Treks.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:28 AM on October 17, 2023
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:28 AM on October 17, 2023
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posted by kyrademon at 1:46 PM on September 21, 2023 [9 favorites]