The fun, excitement, and drama continues and picks up where season 4 left Tendi… Off the ship and back home with an uncertain future. Read more.
Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 5x02 – “Shades of Green”
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
The fun, excitement, and drama continues and picks up where season 4 left Tendi… Off the ship and back home with an uncertain future. Read more.
First episode was better. Kinda wish we had kept Tendi and her Sister together longer. Everything returned to the Status quo a little too quickly.
I did appreciate P+ bringing out both episodes early. I wonder if this is going to happen every week.
I did appreciate P+ bringing out both episodes early. I wonder if this is going to happen every week.
I'm okay with the reset. Having an A-plot and the Orion B-plot was killing the momentum. The episodes and by extension scenes are too short to sustain it.
It seems like Tendi's house just got "Richer" by luck thanks to StarFleet's connections through Tendi, despite the recent loss of wealth.
A step down from the first episode of the season, I thought.
In a reversal from the first episode, here Tendi has the A plot. I could not enjoy this for one reason and one reason only - it's all conflict based on miscommunication between Tendi and her sister. Like many people, I absolutely loathe artificial conflict based on miscommunication. It made every scene where Tendi tried to be overly protective of her sister cringeworthy. Worse yet, the reason D'Erika hides it from Tendi makes no sense at all. Tendi would be 100% aware of the normal cultural practices of Orions, and yet she seems only motivated for her sister's (and the baby's) safety, not considering the responsibilities she'd need to have to help train the child. And then, when she finds out, that responsibility means nothing - to her, to her sister, to her parents.
At least Tendi's actions - destroying her sister's chance at winning the race - actually have consequences. Even her last-minute rally doesn't do better than a tie, and in a tie, both sides lose. Except due to a deus ex machina, Starfleet gives them even more wealth back at the literal last minute. While I don't know what the season has in store for Tendi's clan later on, restoring the status quo here wasn't needed. This episode also ends with Tendi reunited with the Cerritos - exactly mirroring the Season 2 foray of Boimler on the Titan, which lasted all of two episodes. I'm just not a fan of this sort of artificial drama splitting the crew apart.
There's not a real B plot to speak of here, but on a planet giving up capitalism, Mariner and Boimler get into some shenanigans on an away mission. There's actually some humor here, and it makes a gesture towards an arc. Boimler seems still impacted by meeting the alternative "cool Boimler," trying to grow a beard and experiment with new command styles with ensigns. He retreats back into typical Boimler behavior soon enough, and ultimately discovers that he should trust his instincts. It's fine, but strictly space filling.
There's a tiny C plot here as well with Rutherford and T'Lyn. Basically just that we discover, once again (as the first episode of the season also reminded us) that Rutherford is (non-romantically) head over heels for Tendi, and dealing poorly with his absence. T'Lyn shows unusual emotional maturity understanding Rutherford's pain and needs for a Vulcan. I don't like going to the well with Rutherford on this yet again, but I loved seeing this side of T'Lyn.
In the end, I don't think this episode was actively worse than the first one. However, it was actively worse than the first one for me. Please, no more artificial conflict based on poor communication!
In a reversal from the first episode, here Tendi has the A plot. I could not enjoy this for one reason and one reason only - it's all conflict based on miscommunication between Tendi and her sister. Like many people, I absolutely loathe artificial conflict based on miscommunication. It made every scene where Tendi tried to be overly protective of her sister cringeworthy. Worse yet, the reason D'Erika hides it from Tendi makes no sense at all. Tendi would be 100% aware of the normal cultural practices of Orions, and yet she seems only motivated for her sister's (and the baby's) safety, not considering the responsibilities she'd need to have to help train the child. And then, when she finds out, that responsibility means nothing - to her, to her sister, to her parents.
At least Tendi's actions - destroying her sister's chance at winning the race - actually have consequences. Even her last-minute rally doesn't do better than a tie, and in a tie, both sides lose. Except due to a deus ex machina, Starfleet gives them even more wealth back at the literal last minute. While I don't know what the season has in store for Tendi's clan later on, restoring the status quo here wasn't needed. This episode also ends with Tendi reunited with the Cerritos - exactly mirroring the Season 2 foray of Boimler on the Titan, which lasted all of two episodes. I'm just not a fan of this sort of artificial drama splitting the crew apart.
There's not a real B plot to speak of here, but on a planet giving up capitalism, Mariner and Boimler get into some shenanigans on an away mission. There's actually some humor here, and it makes a gesture towards an arc. Boimler seems still impacted by meeting the alternative "cool Boimler," trying to grow a beard and experiment with new command styles with ensigns. He retreats back into typical Boimler behavior soon enough, and ultimately discovers that he should trust his instincts. It's fine, but strictly space filling.
There's a tiny C plot here as well with Rutherford and T'Lyn. Basically just that we discover, once again (as the first episode of the season also reminded us) that Rutherford is (non-romantically) head over heels for Tendi, and dealing poorly with his absence. T'Lyn shows unusual emotional maturity understanding Rutherford's pain and needs for a Vulcan. I don't like going to the well with Rutherford on this yet again, but I loved seeing this side of T'Lyn.
In the end, I don't think this episode was actively worse than the first one. However, it was actively worse than the first one for me. Please, no more artificial conflict based on poor communication!
After skipping almost all of season 1, and seasons 2, 3, and 4, decided to come back for the last season (I think it was episode 5 of S1 that annoyed me to the point I didn't come back). Just a question--if the planet had no need of wealth anymore because of replicator tech, why would that discarded wealth be of any use to the Orions either? Do the Orions not have replicators? They didn't clarify this was latinum or anything unreplicable
Not quite as good as the first episode, although I did enjoy the Mariner/Boimler plot well enough. I'm glad Tendi is back on the Cerritos, I guess it would be around two episodes before she got back, but honestly the Orion plotline hasn't really done anything for me. I would've preferred that be the B story here.
Orion plot just seemed like an excuse to find a way to reset Tendi. I assumed it would be quick and easy like the last seasons so not really disappointed.
Getting real sick of Rutherford though. I really hope himself and Tendi don't get together.
Getting real sick of Rutherford though. I really hope himself and Tendi don't get together.
Borg Jurati from Picard shows up out of nowhere and assimilates Rutherford. In a fit of rage and despair Tendi hides in the holodeck alternating between programs where she ***** a holographic Rutherford and another program where she's gunning down Borg with machine guns (a classic leaked holoprogam from the Enterprise called 'Dixon Hill vs the Borg on the eve of First Contact')
They had a whole episode in Season 4 where they essentially admitted they liked one another, but thought they worked better as just friends. I can't see them going back on that.
The robot guard/iner despairing that it didn't water its prisoners was the only scene that slayed me with laughing too hard. 
The Blue Orions were awfully Pakled-like.
The Blue Orions were awfully Pakled-like.
I liked this a lot more than the season premiere. The TAS Orions were a hoot. 
About time that visual look got acknowledged in post-1974 Trek.
About time that visual look got acknowledged in post-1974 Trek.
This was more like a 7 compared to the 8 of the last episode.
I love Tendi, but I was just having a hard time buying into the whole Orion storyline because I had no indications that her story was'nt going to just lead back to the Cerritos, much like any other change to the status quo over the years.
I loved everything else though, with my emotional highpoint was T'Lyn helping Rutherford.
I love Tendi, but I was just having a hard time buying into the whole Orion storyline because I had no indications that her story was'nt going to just lead back to the Cerritos, much like any other change to the status quo over the years.
I loved everything else though, with my emotional highpoint was T'Lyn helping Rutherford.
We also got to see her mother, who would be the daughter or granddaughter of the crewmember on the Orion ship in "Those Old Scientists(SNW)."
Replicators are NOT post-scarcity technology though (and I wish people would stop describing them as such).
We have achieved post-scarcity levels decades ago ever since we started producing more than enough for everyone... the main issue for us is that because of Capitalism, resources end up WASTED in tremendous quantities (aka, Capitalism as a socio-economic system is BAD at resource management/distribution - which is pretty evident).
So, in themselves, replicators don't result in post-scarcity. The ability to produce abundance along with having a socio-economic system which properly manages/distributes resources does (along with a societal awareness/desire to actually create such a society) - all replicators really do is improve production speed and efficiency, but that's pretty much it.
I really wish people would STOP thinking we need some kind of 'magical post scarcity technology' to actually achieve post-scarcity and non-monetary system, when in fact, that is extremely erroneous (and I'm sad that LD writers perpetuated this nonsense via Freeman in this episode).
At the very least, early 20th century levels of technological development would be needed for post scarcity to be achieved globally (so basically, we already had the capability to do that over 100 years ago).
This is one of the reasons why different species like Orions and Ferengi are comparable technologically to UFP and also have replicator technology, but maintain Capitalist systems - in short, they don't want to alter their systems to non-monetary ones (at least, not yet), because on a societal level, they just aren't there.
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But DS9 clarified that most currency other than latinum is worthless because of replicator technology. That being said, we arguably have tech that can replicate cash in real life and the only reason that doesn't upend society is because government has made use of that tech illegal. So I *guess* there's no real way to answer this question without going into details on the Orion currency system and how that planet's treasures would (or wouldn't) contribute to that.
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