Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 4x05 - "Empathalogical Fallacies"

[Nerys Myk]

No, she was worse, an ensign.

So?

 

[Deks]

The issue was joining the Vulcan Expeditionary group. The VEG was only going to allow one of Sarek's children to join, and even though Michael qualified upon graduating the Vulcan Science Academy, Sarek decided he would leave the vacancy for Spock instead, and thus arranged to have Michael join Starfleet instead. Then Spock chose to enroll in Starfleet Academy instead, therefore preventing himself from joining the Expeditionary Group altogether.

And I get that, but if Burnham went through the Vulcan science Academy and managed to get directly into SF service, why hadn't Spock done the same if he finished the Vulcan Science Academy like Burnham did but instead decided to enroll into SF Academy?
Or was it a special case with Sarek pulling some strings to get Burnham into SF service on an accellerated track or something allowing her to skip the Academy?

 

[UssGlenn]

And I get that, but if Burnham went through the Vulcan science Academy and managed to get directly into SF service, why hadn't Spock done the same if he finished the Vulcan Science Academy like Burnham did but instead decided to enroll into SF Academy?
Or was it a special case with Sarek pulling some strings to get Burnham into SF service on an accellerated track or something allowing her to skip the Academy?

Spock never attended the Vulcan Science Academy at all, he went directly to SFA instead.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Does anyone else think that this season resembles DS9 season 4 in terms of structure? It feels like each episode is doing a lot more character work than a series normally would at this stage of its life. Each episode feels like it is more specifically focused on one, maybe two characters, giving them more motivation, if not more backstory. By now, all the threads of Tendi's life have been tied together. We've had a plot that dealt specifically with the relationship between Rutherford and Boimler. Another dealt specifically with Rutherford's relationship with the engineering staff. Etc. It feels to me that they are trying to reintroduce the show in some way, using the promotions as a vehicle, in order to make it easier for new viewers to come on board.

 

[Charles Phipps]

I'll be honest, I feel like these last few episodes have been a bit dryer and less epic than the previous seasons.

 

[Sumire]

I feel like what we may be seeing is a comedic take on building tension with mixed results since humor tends to be a form of breaking tension.

Like, you know how to heighten suspense you will follow someone doing something very everyday? A person goes to pick up a snack at a convenience store and we close in on the crinkle of the package of chips, cut to a close up of the clerk ringing someone up and opening the cash drawer, back to the shopper choosing a drink and then? Bam, door thrown open, guns drawn, it’s a robbery! (Maybe the shopper was actually an accomplice? Maybe not.) Anyway, we’re seeing the lives that are going to be thrown into chaos when $&#% goes down.

We’re seeing it in microcosm with the Klingon ship, the Romulan ship, the Orion ship, but I think, ultimately, we’re seeing a more drawn out version on the Cerritos. Enjoy these character episodes, they are the calm before the storm. (Just a prediction, not a spoiler.)

 

[ToddCam]

Does anyone else think that this season resembles DS9 season 4 in terms of structure? It feels like each episode is doing a lot more character work than a series normally would at this stage of its life. Each episode feels like it is more specifically focused on one, maybe two characters, giving them more motivation, if not more backstory. By now, all the threads of Tendi's life have been tied together. We've had a plot that dealt specifically with the relationship between Rutherford and Boimler. Another dealt specifically with Rutherford's relationship with the engineering staff. Etc. It feels to me that they are trying to reintroduce the show in some way, using the promotions as a vehicle, in order to make it easier for new viewers to come on board.

It's hard for me to compare. DS9 Season 4 was so Worf-obsessed, and while T'Lyn is the flashy new character, it's not like she has stolen the spotlight from the other characters. LD has a much smaller primary cast, so no one has to be the loser in terms of focus like Kira was in Season 4 (arguably her only episode foci were "Indiscretion" and "Return to Grace", and I'd argue she was more a supporting character to Dukat in those). It's also a lot fewer episodes so it's much harder to compare in terms of season flow. Would you compare this episode to "Rejoined" in terms of story placement (incidentally the last TV story with Jadzia Dax as the lead character that didn't primarily focus on her relationship with Worf) or halfway through the season with "Crossfire"?

 

[Tallguy]

An 8 because I can't always rate them as 10's.

In the "sweeping cultural stereotypes" section I just love that we now have an entire planet that is assumed to be JUST LIKE Lwaxana Troi! AND THEY'RE NINJAS! Although it's such an LD trope at this point I figured out that they weren't going to be the bad guys. My daughter caught that it was Wendie Malick before I did.

T'Ana: Oh dear. Is this the first time someone has said "Caitian" out loud? TAS for the win!

This episode made me say "Ah, yes. T'lyn is my favorite character." And the episode replied "Perhaps you have overlooked Lieutenant Shax?" So good.

T'lyn has a freaking poster from the Star Trek: The Motion Picture SPECIAL EDITION!

Romulans! Ha ha ha ha! All the Romulans!

 

[Farscape One]

It's hard for me to compare. DS9 Season 4 was so Worf-obsessed, and while T'Lyn is the flashy new character, it's not like she has stolen the spotlight from the other characters. LD has a much smaller primary cast, so no one has to be the loser in terms of focus like Kira was in Season 4 (arguably her only episode foci were "Indiscretion" and "Return to Grace", and I'd argue she was more a supporting character to Dukat in those). It's also a lot fewer episodes so it's much harder to compare in terms of season flow. Would you compare this episode to "Rejoined" in terms of story placement (incidentally the last TV story with Jadzia Dax as the lead character that didn't primarily focus on her relationship with Worf) or halfway through the season with "Crossfire"?

I would disagree that DS9 season 4 was Worf obsessed. He did get a lot of focus, but I don't think it was at the expense of the others. (With the possible exception of Jadzia, though she did cement herself as the Riker of DS9: being the other person to bounce a great scene with.) Definitely not to the degree VGR did with Seven in their season 4.

Regarding Kira... she may not have had a full episode centering on her, but she was co-lead (for lack of a better term) in "INDISCRETION" and "RETURN TO GRACE". And she did have a LOT of great scenes and time in many season 4 episodes: "STARSHIP DOWN" (on the bridge and at the end), "CROSSFIRE" (getting with Shakaar and her scenes with Odo), "ACCESSION" (ALL her scenes were great because they showed how conflicted her faith was becoming), and "BODY PARTS" (the fetal transport of the O'Briens' baby, which I still maintain was the most genius way I've ever seen of incorporating an actress' pregnancy into a series).

I do agree that having a smaller lead cast does make it easier to bring in someone new without it taking too much away from the core. However, I do disagree that such a thing was done on DS9 season 4. (Season 7 with Ezri, though, I would say that did happen. At least in terms of main cast, Jake especially. DS9 had so many secondary characters at that point, and utilized them well, that it wasn't as noticeable as VGR season 4 with Seven.)

Shorter seasons also make it hard to compare previous shows. Even with half seasons. Though DS9 might ironically be the best one to do this comparison, because more than most of the other shows, they did A and B (and sometimes C) combined story episodes very frequently and very well. LDS certainly does this... and well, too.

The short time of LDS episodes is a factor, though. However, I can't really knock LOWER DECKS for this because they do much with so little time. Someone in another thread called this show 'economic storytelling', and that's an apt phrase for this show. I honestly feel LDS characters have been fleshed out more in less time than almost every show in the current era. It's one of the reasons why LOWER DECKS was my favorite series of the current era until SNW came along.

 

[The Wormhole]

And I get that, but if Burnham went through the Vulcan science Academy and managed to get directly into SF service, why hadn't Spock done the same if he finished the Vulcan Science Academy like Burnham did but instead decided to enroll into SF Academy?
Or was it a special case with Sarek pulling some strings to get Burnham into SF service on an accellerated track or something allowing her to skip the Academy?

As mentioned above, Spock never attended the Vulcan Science Academy. If he had, then, yes, he'd likely become a Starfleet officer right away like Michael did.

Indeed, in the real world, a sufficient university education can be used to enter the military without attending a military academy or Officer Candidate School. My mother says when she was in university she talked to an army recruiter who told her if she joined with the level of education she had up to that point, she'd automatically receive the rank of Captain (O3). It seems reasonable to assume Starfleet operates under a similar principal. Then again, there's Mortimer Herron on Voyager who had all kinds of degrees from civilian universities yet served in the enlisted ranks.

 

[Tallguy]

BTW, how many episodes in and we get largely a T'lyn episode (and a great one at that). And HOW much of an Ortegas episode have we ever gotten?

 

[fireproof78]

*prepares measuring sticks for appropriate beating *

 

[mithril]

There's no reference to chocolate at all in any of them according to my search. It's fanon as far as I can see. There are multiple instances of people saying that Quark offers "port or chocolate" to a Vulcan in The Maquis, but it's complete bunk presumably based on someone's shitty memory. He offers port in The Maquis, and in Necessary Evil he offers a drink, and then chocolate...but it was to Odo.

I predict this will be one of those things that was misreported, then taken up and implied as fact by LDS, thus becoming fact after the fact. Pun intended.

The word chocolate doesn't appear in the novelization. I'll read the scene and see what's up.

Edit: Kirk gives Spock a mint wafer. Later, Spock specifically claims that it is the sucrose that affected him.

Ahhh, so it hopped from general sucrose to Chocolate (loaded with sucrose) and ran around fandom like that. Fascinating.

in the novel Ishmael, spock loses his memory and is stranded in the past, but one of the flashes of memory he has is on being offered a sugar, with the thought "refined sugar is a poison" while watching people put sugar cubes in their tea. that came out in 1985, a year before Star Trek IV, so perhaps the idea that sugar was harmful to vulcans had been floating around the fandom for awhile prior.

That whole thing with Ro not being allowed to wear her earring made no sense and was really just a clunky means of providing exposition, to shine a light on the fact that Bajorans wear earrings for cultural reasons. In the modern western world, all uniform services including militaries allow their personnel to wear cultural adornments like turbans and hijabs. And Starfleet does allow Worf to wear a twenty pound baldric. There really is no reason Ro wouldn't be allowed to wear her earring.

it is worth noting that Ro was not an actual follower of the bajoran faith, and wore her earring on the wrong ear, so it is possible that a bajoran who was wearing one for religious reasons rather than just cultural tradition like Ro was, would have had an exception included in their file. which would have kept Riker from being able to force them to take it off.

They took a strange course to get to Betazed...

Also, are Caitians from Betazed? Or did they hunt Betazoids when both had warp drive already? Or were the Caitians technologically superior? A funny Kelpien/Ba'ul situation

yeah, they were going very much the wrong direction, if the sztarcharts books is to be beleived. Risa is about 40 light years rimwards from earth, while angel one is located about 60 lightyears corewards from earth, neat the eend ofthe romulan NZ. so the ship had to be passing through roughly in the same region as the Enterprise was in TOS "Balance of Terror". the numbering of the NZ outposts fits the numbers the starcharts book gives for that region, so diving itn othe NZ would be the exact opposite direction they'd need to use. (honestly, why they even are near the NZ at all is odd, as you can draw a fairly direct route between angel I and Risa that doesn't take you near it at all.)

and the starcharts book puts Cait something like 60-70 lightyears rimwards from Betazed, down near tholian space.

edit: here is a linkto the starcharts books map pages spliced together in reasonably high def.
https://static.tumblr.com/9vpcbie/GpTng4j7i/startrekstarchart.jpg
sadly cait doesn't show up on the main part of the map but you can see it on the "wider view" inset.
so caitians would have had to have had some pretty good warp drives to be able to reach betazed, much less visit there often enough for betazoid to become a staple food.

 

[Therin of Andor]

and in TMP there was an officer wearing native American headdress.

Three.

so caitians would have had to have had some pretty good warp drives to be able to reach betazed, much less visit there often enough for betazoid to become a staple food.

According to Alan Dean Foster's ST Logs, Caitians have a shared ancestry with kzinti. So the Caitians may not be native to Cait.

 

[Deks]

yeah, they were going very much the wrong direction, if the sztarcharts books is to be beleived. Risa is about 40 light years rimwards from earth, while angel one is located about 60 lightyears corewards from earth, neat the eend ofthe romulan NZ. so the ship had to be passing through roughly in the same region as the Enterprise was in TOS "Balance of Terror". the numbering of the NZ outposts fits the numbers the starcharts book gives for that region, so diving itn othe NZ would be the exact opposite direction they'd need to use. (honestly, why they even are near the NZ at all is odd, as you can draw a fairly direct route between angel I and Risa that doesn't take you near it at all.)

and the starcharts book puts Cait something like 60-70 lightyears rimwards from Betazed, down near tholian space.

edit: here is a linkto the starcharts books map pages spliced together in reasonably high def.
https://static.tumblr.com/9vpcbie/GpTng4j7i/startrekstarchart.jpg
sadly cait doesn't show up on the main part of the map but you can see it on the "wider view" inset.
so caitians would have had to have had some pretty good warp drives to be able to reach betazed, much less visit there often enough for betazoid to become a staple food.

Who knows which star charts LD used... and also given that everyone's emotions were going all over the place (incl. the Betazoids), are we surprised that they would have set a non-sensible course to Betazed which would lead them through the NZ?

 

[The Wormhole]

So, just had a weird and random thought. This episode reveals that in the distant past, Caitians hunted Betazoids. We learned back in TNG Genesis that Betazoids evolved from fish. So, the whole Betazoids being hunted by Caitians thing is just cats eating fish.

t is worth noting that Ro was not an actual follower of the bajoran faith, and wore her earring on the wrong ear,

The idea that Ro was not a follower of the Bajoran religion comes from novels and was never reflected on the show. Quite the opposite in fact, given when Ro showed up on season 3 of Picard (it's been six months, I don't need to spoiler code that) she even stated herself to be a believer. Really, the novels only went with that in an effort to explain why she wears her earring on a different ear than other Bajorans, which was even the case in the episode Ensign Ro.

 

[Farscape One]

So, just had a weird and random thought. This episode reveals that in the distant past, Caitians hunted Betazoids. We learned back in TNG Genesis that Betazoids evolved from fish. So, the whole Betazoids being hunted by Caitians thing is just cats eating fish.

The idea that Ro was not a follower of the Bajoran religion comes from novels and was never reflected on the show. Quite the opposite in fact, given when Ro showed up on season 3 of Picard (it's been six months, I don't need to spoiler code that) she even stated herself to be a believer. Really, the novels only went with that in an effort to explain why she wears her earring on a different ear than other Bajorans, which was even the case in the episode Ensign Ro.

Actually, in the final scene with Geordi in "The Next Phase", Ro said she 'dismissed all the stories' as superstition and the recent experience made her think maybe she was arrogant to dismiss all those stories so easily.

So it's at least implied Ro was not a follower of Bajoran beliefs.

 

[Deks]

So, just had a weird and random thought. This episode reveals that in the distant past, Caitians hunted Betazoids. We learned back in TNG Genesis that Betazoids evolved from fish. So, the whole Betazoids being hunted by Caitians thing is just cats eating fish.

Actually, Troi was reverted into an amphibian, not fish.

 

[Tosk]

it is worth noting that Ro was not an actual follower of the bajoran faith, and wore her earring on the wrong ear

Really, the novels only went with that in an effort to explain why she wears her earring on a different ear than other Bajorans, which was even the case in the episode Ensign Ro.

Except it's not actually true that she wears it on a different ear to everyone else. At least not at first.

In Ensign Ro, all the female Bajorans wear it on their left ear, and all the male Bajorans use the right ear.

 

[Tuskin38]

That's speculation only, likely MA's vain attempt to hold onto the old fanon theory that Spock was the first Vulcan to join Starfleet, which is since been negated to the extreme.

I removed the speculation from the article.