I Tried Again and Still Didn't Like It
- Thread starter Athena28
- Start date
Out of curiosity, how far along are you?
Speaking for myself, I liked the show well enough from day one but it took until episode seven or so to really click. By the end of season 1, the Rick & Morty-ness had been toned down quite a bit.
Speaking for myself, I liked the show well enough from day one but it took until episode seven or so to really click. By the end of season 1, the Rick & Morty-ness had been toned down quite a bit.
Even though I do think it's true that the show improves as it goes along, I don't think it changes to such a degree to be significantly different to how it started out. So to be honest, I don't think you will suddenly start to like it in season two or later. I know I certainly wouldn't have the patience to try a show twice after already not liking what I'm seeing the first time around. There's actually no point at all when the show starts to get “less jokey”, so I think that's a dubious claim to begin with. There's certainly serious story points and genuinely intelligent and heartfelt moments – in all of the seasons – but it is a comedy show and it never stops being that. So if you don't vibe with the humor, I don't see why you should keep trying to get into it.
There's no rule saying that everyone has to like every Trek show CBS is currently producing. I personally stopped watching DSC after the third season.
As for LDS, I've always felt that there's actually a halfway decent show buried somewhere in there, but it's covered over by the producers' incessant need for dumb jokes, stupid fanwank callback humor, loud fast-talking obnoxious characters, and the unnecessary use of gratuitous expletives for no other reason than they can do that on a streaming show. I rarely find their humor to be funny, but every once in awhile there's a gold nugget like "wej'Duj" hidden in all the muck.
As for LDS, I've always felt that there's actually a halfway decent show buried somewhere in there, but it's covered over by the producers' incessant need for dumb jokes, stupid fanwank callback humor, loud fast-talking obnoxious characters, and the unnecessary use of gratuitous expletives for no other reason than they can do that on a streaming show. I rarely find their humor to be funny, but every once in awhile there's a gold nugget like "wej'Duj" hidden in all the muck.
I guess it just kills me bc I started watching TOS when it premiered and have seen everything since.
I agree right to here. Because I never liked TNG, and gave up on VOY, with only a handful of "gold nuggets" (as you say) popping through from time to time.
It's ok to not like a show.
I totally understand... I have made multiple attempts to grind my way through DIS. It's just not my Trek of choice. Maybe LD isn't yours.
I don't love it, either. I force my way through it.
Kind of like my duty since I've seen everything since Day 1.
Wise.
Some things just will not work for all people. If entertainment is work and becomes a drudgery then it's not really entertainment any more is it?
I totally get that, and personally haven't given up on any Trek show yet*, even though I have massive problems with both Discovery and Picard. Both shows regularly brought me to a point where I asked myself if I wanted to keep watching them. It's a weird thing for Star Trek fans, isn't it? For many – certainly for me – there's just this built-in loyalty to anything bearing the brand name. Looking at it objectively it is kinda weird, but I certainly get the sentiment.
It does sound, though, like Lower Decks might just not be for you. Because the kind of loud, fast, over-the-top humor is in the show's DNA and that's by design. What I can promise, though, is that if you keep watching, you will find moments like I talked about earlier. Emotional and heartfelt scenes that put the characters and their motivation front and center. Superficially this might be a show about fast-paced humor and Trek callbacks, but they absolutely love their characters and take them very seriously. But of course you'll only feel that once you invest in them, follow them on their journey, etc.
*Although it is also true that I stopped watching Enterprise back when the second season was originally on, because I was at a point in my life when I just didn't enjoy it anymore. I returned to it about ten years later though, and now love it almost as much as the other shows.
@Athena28, I swear I'm not trying to convince you to keep on watching the show – mostly because I think doing that is a silly endeavour and ultimately there's just no problem with you skipping this one – but now you've piqued my interest. What are some of your favorite Trek shows, characters or episodes? What is it you're enjoying most about Trek? I guess I'm just trying to gauge if you'd find what you are looking for in Lower Decks.
Probably TOS bc it was my first and original and VOY bc I like the fact that 3 women are basically in charge.
Here’s what my thought on Trek is. I like comedy in Trek. It’s the story plus some fun. It’s happens in most eps. I think the difference is I don’t like my Trek to be a comedy just going for the jokes.
Here’s what my thought on Trek is. I like comedy in Trek. It’s the story plus some fun. It’s happens in most eps. I think the difference is I don’t like my Trek to be a comedy just going for the jokes.
I think the range of shows that fall under Trek is becoming so broad now that it's getting increasingly difficult to like all of it. Neither do I think there's any need for that. Just pick what you like.
I'm not really much of a fan of LD but I think I appreciate it more having seen SNW's "Those Old Scientists". I definitely liked those times when Boimler and Mariner dialed it back a bit as to the hijinks. (Such as the scene with Boimler and Chapel in the turbolift, and Boimler in Pike's quarters.)
Thanks for that!
And you know, the funny thing is that I'm basically in agreement with almost everything you've just said there: TOS and VOY are two of my favorites as well (even though I ultimately put DS9 at the top of all of it) and I too love the fact that Voyager featured so many women in prominent, stereotype-defying roles. Kate Mulgrew's Janeway is one of my favorite characters of all time.
And even though I also agree that I prefer my Trek to be more on the serious side with its storytelling and comedy sprinkled in there as an important ingredient, I'm also open to other forms of presenting the Trek formula. On paper I might even agree with you that something like an all out workplace comedy set in the Trek universe shouldn't work. But I think ultimately the producers were able to convince me that it can and does indeed work. And I think in the end – at least for me – it all comes down to the characters.
I think if Lower Decks were a show where the characters didn't feel right, where everyone was just mean to each other for no reason and there was no sense of these being people with their own motives, desires and agendas … then I don't think it would work for me either. But I believe they absolutely did manage to create a show where all of this mattered. There was a scene very early on in the show – in episode two, “Envoys” – that really drove that home for me and made me trust the authors to create a world that fits very well with the rest of Star Trek, if not necessarily in tone. And that was when Rutherford quit engineering to try out other positions on the ship. The fact that his crewmates and superior were cheering him on felt very Trekkian to me. It works as a funny moment, because it defies the expectation in that scene, but it also worked in presenting a group of people that works in space to better themselves and humanity.
One thing I'd like to add is that if you liked the strong female characters in Voyager, you won't be disappointed with Lower Decks; at least in that regard. Mariner comes off super obnoxious in the first couple of episodes (and she definitely is that), but there's more depth to her character than you might initially realize. There's a clear ark going on with her throughout the entire show so far and it's not really a laughing matter at all. If you decide to keep on watching, I can recommend the seventh episode from season one, “Much Ado About Boimler”. Mariner's self-sabotaging behavior is addressed by an old friend of her's that went through the ranks to captain her own ship already. And of course it only gets more interesting from there in later episodes.
But … as I said earlier. Lower Decks is a comedy. It's not all it wants to be, but it certainly is that. So because of that alone it does indeed sound like this might just not be for you.
I’ve noticed some people react badly to what they perceive to be the main characters’ “unprofessional behavior” or perhaps it’s even been termed “idiotic.” If, by any chance, this is a concern you have, I offer my experience with watching Lower Decks.
I am one of those people who can’t watch a number of popular comedies because they rely on embarrassing situations and I feel secondhand embarrassment acutely. Pretty much anything I watch, I watch because I care about the characters and I don’t like to make fun of them. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to handle watching Lower Decks because, at first glance, it does appear that our “heroes” are making laughingstocks of themselves.
However, all four main characters are actually very smart, very adept, very hardworking crew members. (Okay, maybe Mariner generally seems to subscribe to “work smarter not harder” but she gets the job done.) They sometimes joke around with each other but they’re literally lower decks not bridge crew. They’re tasked with a lot of upkeep and routine labor which doesn’t necessitate prioritizing “the optics.” The attendant boredom such a work roster can cause can be alleviated with some levity. I can’t blame anyone for that.
Are several of them so earnest and/or enthusiastic that they can seem somewhat awkward? Definitely. I find that endearing and believable (I know that would be me, if I found myself in their shoes). It also helps that they have each other and offer support and understanding even if they don’t necessarily get the appeal of a particular interest (even Mariner, although she does get some ribbing in while she does so).
If that appearance of silliness is putting you off, I urge you to look beyond it at what they actually accomplish, how deeply they care and how dedicated they are. If this isn’t a concern you have about the show, I apologize for my rambling essay. As many have said, it’s okay for any part of the vast Trek universe to not be your cup of tea. In that case, more time to focus on the parts you love!
I am one of those people who can’t watch a number of popular comedies because they rely on embarrassing situations and I feel secondhand embarrassment acutely. Pretty much anything I watch, I watch because I care about the characters and I don’t like to make fun of them. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to handle watching Lower Decks because, at first glance, it does appear that our “heroes” are making laughingstocks of themselves.
However, all four main characters are actually very smart, very adept, very hardworking crew members. (Okay, maybe Mariner generally seems to subscribe to “work smarter not harder” but she gets the job done.) They sometimes joke around with each other but they’re literally lower decks not bridge crew. They’re tasked with a lot of upkeep and routine labor which doesn’t necessitate prioritizing “the optics.” The attendant boredom such a work roster can cause can be alleviated with some levity. I can’t blame anyone for that.
Are several of them so earnest and/or enthusiastic that they can seem somewhat awkward? Definitely. I find that endearing and believable (I know that would be me, if I found myself in their shoes). It also helps that they have each other and offer support and understanding even if they don’t necessarily get the appeal of a particular interest (even Mariner, although she does get some ribbing in while she does so).
If that appearance of silliness is putting you off, I urge you to look beyond it at what they actually accomplish, how deeply they care and how dedicated they are. If this isn’t a concern you have about the show, I apologize for my rambling essay. As many have said, it’s okay for any part of the vast Trek universe to not be your cup of tea. In that case, more time to focus on the parts you love!
Last edited:
I think nuTrek is intentionally designed as a broader spectrum than it had been up until then - they cater for lots of different segments of the wider ST audience with each piece of content. That means inevitably it is gonna be harder to click with every single series. I personally enjoy all of it within the ST spectrum, but to different degrees which is totally fine; some of it just isn't designed for me. The peaks for me have been Picard S1+3, DISCO S2 and Prodigy, but I really dig LD, SNW, and DISCO S3+ as good entertainment too, just to a lesser extent (yup, appreciate that I'm unique in not including SNW in the total love fest!). Academy and S31 don't exactly have me quaking in my boots with anticipation personally, but who knows. The idea of Legacy however is definitely my jam.
You don't have to apologize for not digging everything - they're all designed as different styles and aimed at different audiences within the broad ST audience spectrum. Something for everyone. I actually appreciate that they seem to be seeing the ST universe as less of a set of individual series' and are instead thinking of all of the content together as a spectrum of different jump-on points for different fans.
You don't have to apologize for not digging everything - they're all designed as different styles and aimed at different audiences within the broad ST audience spectrum. Something for everyone. I actually appreciate that they seem to be seeing the ST universe as less of a set of individual series' and are instead thinking of all of the content together as a spectrum of different jump-on points for different fans.
Last edited:
I agree with every word of this.
Try watching some clips from random episodes on Youtube, because at this point if it's not gelling for you who cares about spoilers. And if you can't find something you like, just stop. The door's always open to come back later.
Similar threads
