Spoilers ST Lower Decks - Starships and Technology Season One Discusssion

[Dukhat]

Huh those ships in the 80ks weren't on M-A's NCC list last time I looked, someone edited it since then.

The registries of those ships listed in the "Conspiracy" computer displays are iffy at best. If someone can see 87270 on this display, you must have better eyes than I do:

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net...ision/latest?cb=20120816145821&path-prefix=en

 

[Tim Thomason]

Ooh, so it’s entirely possible that the Cerritos was commissioned during the Dominion War? Fascinating! I wonder if that explains any of the design choices, if the California class was dropped at about the same time...

Mark

I think that's most likely. Either during or just before (in the late TNG era) based on its appearance, if not registry. I don't think it's supposed to be a brand-new ship, so if it's at least five years old, it saw some action in the Dominion War (or was somehow spared the war on some comical mission cataloging gaseous anomalies in Beta Quadrant).

So it's technology at launch should be on par with what TNG had, but we're three years removed from Voyager's return and five years from the War, so they likely are including the massive advancements from the War and perhaps from Voyager as well. The adaption, or lack thereof, of these technologies might be a plot point. Will they have transphasic torpedoes? Will they experiment with ablative armor?

 

[NCC-73515]

I guess 31 took all the future tech for themselves

 

[Ronald Held]

An older ship seems appropriate for that quality crew.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

If the "USS Enterprise" takes the "Best of the Best".

I guess the "USS Cerritos" gets what is left after everybody else has been chosen?

 

[Henoch]

I guess the "USS Cerritos" gets what is left after everybody else has been chosen?

Reminds me of my little league baseball team. There was too many players, so, each team picked to "lose" a few players to make up one more new team. Of course, all the coaches just unloaded their worst players including me. Our team didn't win a single game. My batting average at the end of the season was 0.000, and I wasn't the worst player on the team. We still had fun, though.

 

[Deks]

Should we expect tech later then Nemesis from a ship with such missions and a non A class crew?

I don't see why not.
Starfleet should be regularly upgrading ships by that point... if its a newer design, it would feature latest technologies by default (we've seen that crews can upgrade ship systems outside of drydocks/spacedocks when in the field - all they really need are 'updates' being sent by Starfleet via encrypted subspace transmission - for more prominent upgrades such as Warp core replacement/upgrade, they would either need access to a drydock, or go inside an uninhabited star system and conduct upgrades by harvesting surrounding raw materials and/or using the local star for inexhaustible source of energy for replication).
But seeing how the Cerritos has access to starbases, I don't think the crew would be doing this work out in the field (this would be reserved for ships in deep space who don't have immediate access to a starbase where extensive upgrades/maintenance may be needed).

Even if the DESIGN is older, it would probably be built to incorporate latest technologies developed for that class that would make it 'fit' for 24th century and on par with other ships of more 'modern design' (this would be equivalent to the USS Lakota/Excelsior Class being upgraded just prior to the Dominion War to be a match for the Defiant).

I doubt that Starfleet would allow a ship to be crewed by incompetent people... and given the dangers out there, a ship would need to be equipped to handle them.
Though this is supposed to be a 'comedic spin' more or less (one which is also supposed to be canon - though this doesn't mesh too well with what we saw thus far).

If its a 'lower caliber crew', Starfleet might give them a 'less prominent design'.

 

[Deks]

If the "USS Enterprise" takes the "Best of the Best".

I guess the "USS Cerritos" gets what is left after everybody else has been chosen?

This wouldn't necessarily work like that in Trek.
Starfleet Academy does have relatively high standards, so its highly unlikely that you'd end up with really low quality people en mass (or at all - and if you do, the number of 'low quality personnel' would be exceedingly small - and they'd be dispersed throughout the fleet, not all packed onto a single ship - its also possible that if some people are of 'lower calibre', they are usually put with other more experienced officers so they could learn from them).

In Voyager, we've seen from episode 'Good Shepherd' that there were about 3 people (out of a crew of 150) who were described as 'misfits'... but this was mainly because they never went on an away mission.
One however wasn't particularly bad (Harren I think)... had really high aptitude in theoretical physics, but serving on a starship for 1 year was 'mandatory' to get into a designated Institute... but otherwise, wasn't incapable or 'worst of the worst' - in fact, if Voager didn't get stranded, he wouldn't even be on a starship after the first year - but might have been transferred when the Dominion War started.

As for the other two... Celes (who had issues with reading sensor data and generally dealing with algorithms) was an oddity... the fact that she passed the Academy on 'benefit of the doubt' (because of Cardassian occupation of Bajor) seemed 'iffy' at best - I fairly doubt Starfleet does this for people on a regular basis (she would be an exception rather than the rule).

And the third one (the hypochondriac - Telfer I think)... well, to be fair, he didn't seem incompetent at all... just lacking in overall confidence (heck, even Barclay was comparable to him, and Telfer managed to solve his issues in a single episode - all it took was a dark matter life form to invade his body temporarily ).

The Cerritos is more of a parody... but at the same time is supposed to be canon?
It just seems so vastly contradictory compared to what we saw up until that point from Trek as a series... and doesn't strike me as something that would WORK as part of Trek canon.

 

[Henoch]

Starfleet Academy does have relatively high standards, so its highly unlikely that you'd end up with really low quality people en mass (or at all - and if you do, the number of 'low quality personnel' would be exceedingly small - and they'd be dispersed throughout the fleet, not all packed onto a single ship - its also possible that if some people are of 'lower calibre', they are usually put with other more experienced officers so they could learn from them).

You know what you call the person who graduated at the very bottom of their class from Medical School? Doctor. I guess even the worst Starfleet cadets are still highly qualified. They just don't get the prime postings like a Galaxy Class ship.

 

[DEWLine]

No. They're going to end up in a ground base on a core world, or maybe an obscure outpost.

 

[fireproof78]

It just seems so vastly contradictory compared to what we saw up until that point from Trek as a series... and doesn't strike me as something that would WORK as part of Trek canon.

Individuals keep saying this and I don't under how it doesn't? We don't see all Starfleet personnel behaving perfectly professional all the time (Barclay, Geordi, Wesley). We see alcohol use among personnel (Scotty, McCoy) as well as struggles with a variety of issues. And that's supposedly the best crew. We've seen wacky hijinks, clones and giant Vulcans. There is room in there for lower tier, less competent, crew.

 

[Deks]

Individuals keep saying this and I don't under how it doesn't? We don't see all Starfleet personnel behaving perfectly professional all the time (Barclay, Geordi, Wesley). We see alcohol use among personnel (Scotty, McCoy) as well as struggles with a variety of issues. And that's supposedly the best crew. We've seen wacky hijinks, clones and giant Vulcans. There is room in there for lower tier, less competent, crew.

We've seen a certain dose of professionalism from all crews across all Trek series most of the time... and this 'seriousness' and general behavior appears to be maintained even by low ranking crew-members (in fact, its essentially required part of starship operations).
We've seen how the Maqui on Voyager behaved in an anti-Starfleet manner, but that was due to not being familiar with starship operations and were not trained at Starfleet Academy (I fairly doubt that trained cadets would behave like this).

I also doubt that low ranking ensigns would be getting ridiculously drunk on Romulan whiskey and swinging bathlets around in that state, shore-leave or not - let alone keep turning on and off 'blast shields' on a shuttle.
I just don't see how Rick and Morty style comedy can work on Star Trek.

I'm not saying you can't have a fun animated series (you certainly can), but I doubt it would need to rely on Rick and Morty style humor and antics to be successful.
There are multiple anime and animated series that don't rely on Rick and Morty style to be good.

But then again, we've only seen the trailer and opening shot... not the actual episode, or multitudes of them to properly ascertain whether it 'works'.

 

[Deks]

You know what you call the person who graduated at the very bottom of their class from Medical School? Doctor. I guess even the worst Starfleet cadets are still highly qualified. They just don't get the prime postings like a Galaxy Class ship.

I'm not disputing that... but I doubt they would be 'oozing' 'Rick and Morty' style behavior either.

 

[fireproof78]

But then again, we've only seen the trailer and opening shot... not the actual episode, or multitudes of them to properly ascertain whether it 'works'.

Exactly. We have seen one clip, and that was ostensibly on "shore leave" with one ensign enjoying their leave one way and the other practicing his captain's log.

As for the blast shield thing, I'm sorry but I get giddy playing with new tech. It's one of my favorite things to do, and I will certainly be inclined towards such antics, even in a professional setting. It reminds me of the Volkswagen commercial where the guy shows off how he can put his windows down from the fab. It's just fun with the tech.

 

[Deks]

Exactly. We have seen one clip, and that was ostensibly on "shore leave" with one ensign enjoying their leave one way and the other practicing his captain's log.

As for the blast shield thing, I'm sorry but I get giddy playing with new tech. It's one of my favorite things to do, and I will certainly be inclined towards such antics, even in a professional setting. It reminds me of the Volkswagen commercial where the guy shows off how he can put his windows down from the fab. It's just fun with the tech.

I like playing with new tech myself, but then again I don't go 'gaga' over it. I do get excited and enthusiastic about it, but I don't turn into a child with a crazed look.
Point is that this 'gaga' kind of behavior is not particularly 'realistic' of what you'd usually see (or expect) from a Starfleet ensign in the late 24th century where human behavior is bound to much more different compared to today. Enthusiasm and excitement yes, but definitely not 'childish' behavior as was shown in the clip (especially for a show that's supposed to be 'canon').

The closest I'm reminded of is Short Trek's with Spock and Number one being stuck in a turbolift ending up with singing and laughing... but that wasn't particularly 'childish' of either of them. It showed a looser side of the characters yes... and that WORKS... but you certainly didn't see them jumping at each other with crazed expressions on their face to tap away at the controls.

I don't know... we'll have to wait and see, but I'm not encouraged by those snippets.

 

[fireproof78]

I like playing with new tech myself, but then again I don't go 'gaga' over it. I do get excited and enthusiastic about it, but I don't turn into a child with a crazed look.
Point is that this 'gaga' kind of behavior is not particularly 'realistic' of what you'd usually see (or expect) from a Starfleet ensign in the late 24th century where human behavior is bound to much more different compared to today. Enthusiasm and excitement yes, but definitely not 'childish' behavior as was shown in the clip (especially for a show that's supposed to be 'canon').

The closest I'm reminded of is Short Trek's with Spock and Number one being stuck in a turbolift ending up with singing and laughing... but that wasn't particularly 'childish' of either of them. It showed a looser side of the characters yes... and that WORKS... but you certainly didn't see them jumping at each other with crazed expressions on their face to tap away at the controls.

I don't know... we'll have to wait and see, but I'm not encouraged by those snippets.

Would that not fall under the difference of genre and style? Hyperbole for the sake of comedic effect? Kind of like Kirk overacting with the androids?

 

[Deks]

Would that not fall under the difference of genre and style? Hyperbole for the sake of comedic effect? Kind of like Kirk overacting with the androids?

Well, as I said, that kind of approach doesn't exactly speak 'Star Trek' to me.
It works in Rick and Morty sure (but that's a completely different show with its own set of rules).
I don't mind seeing humor, excitement and enthusiasm in Star Trek... I just don't see Rick and Morty style gags working in a Star Trek animated show supposed to be canon (to push this further, that the writers thought they HAD to display that in Trek seems a bit sad).

Trek has its own flavor... and it has its own genre and style. It just seems from what we saw that the writers decided to ignore it here.

As for Kirk overacting with the androids... that can be described as mission specific adjusted behavior to get out of an unfavorable predicament, but it wouldn't be part of his character in everyday life.
We've seen Starfleet officers having to behave differently in first contact situations as a way of respecting that culture... but again, that would be a 'one time thing' or 'mission specific' and not something these characters would do in their personal lives.

 

[fireproof78]

Trek has its own flavor... and it has its own genre and style. It just seems from what we saw that the writers decided to ignore it here.

Star Trek is a multi-faceted platform, capable of doing drama, comedy, mystery and even romance. I think that this is an opportunity to expand that platform rather than relegating it to one thing. I think that if Trek can do things like giant Vulcans and plant people in TAS, among other gags, then Lower Decks will do just fine.

Also, the showrunner is a person who has been doing a Star Trek TNG season 8 on Twitter or something like that. I think he might be able to bring in the flavor more than is able to be seen here.

 

[Deks]

Star Trek is a multi-faceted platform, capable of doing drama, comedy, mystery and even romance. I think that this is an opportunity to expand that platform rather than relegating it to one thing. I think that if Trek can do things like giant Vulcans and plant people in TAS, among other gags, then Lower Decks will do just fine.

Also, the showrunner is a person who has been doing a Star Trek TNG season 8 on Twitter or something like that. I think he might be able to bring in the flavor more than is able to be seen here.

I never said that Trek is not a multi-faceted platform. Its just that 'comedy' as we saw from the 'snippets' here doesn't really fit Star Trek.
But, we'll see how it does in the actual episodes.

 

[fireproof78]

I never said that Trek is not a multi-faceted platform. Its just that 'comedy' as we saw from the 'snippets' here doesn't really fit Star Trek.

I refer you to TAS to be sure. The giant blow up Enterprise as well as a magical devil were very hard things to reconcile with TOS to be sure.