Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 5x05 - "Starbase 80?!"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
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I could certainly be mistaken, but I seem to recall that Coda had a one-off reference to the clones. Granted, it wasn't really a true follow-up; more like an in-joke based on how that particular dangling plot thread had kind of become its own meme.
Yeah, there was a throwaway reference in Coda. Kind of "oh hey, there's some sort of transporter clone scandal going down on Andoria. So anyway, about the imminent End of Everything..."
Maybe it’s deliberate, to encourage Starfleet personnel to look out for one another.
Yeah, it really does feel like Mike & company have kind of lost sight of the characters here. I think part of it is the tension that all semi-episodic comedies have. The characters change over time due to their experiences, but since it's not a drama, are the changed characters/change dynamics funny? It's so easy to go back to the well and resuscitate the old dynamics.
So far, this season has done a little bit of both! Mariner sometimes seems like she's growing up a bit, and then regresses (like her episode dealing with unresolved relationship tension with Jennifer). Boimler sometimes acts more confident, but then regresses into a screaming manchild if it would be funnier. Tendi and Rutherford...fuck, I dunno. The show gave up any pretense of having something interesting to say about Rutherford back in Season 3.
IMHO the show should have leaned more into T'Lyn this season. Yeah, the existing voice actors may not have been happy with being somewhat sidelined, but she's the chaos agent in their little polycule, who can mess up the existing dynamics.
That was a very fun episode!
Really liked the commander. She really has that Starfleet attitude, and making the best out of SB80. Dunno how I feel about them using ENT uniforms out of nowhere but hey, Starfleet apparently lets you use whatever uniform you want if it's starfleet. Maybe it should had been the old TOS style ones? Or even TNG? I digress. And the Cerritos helping out in the end really fits their role in the fleet IMO, which was neat to see. AND! Fusion Reactors!!!!!
Love that the only thing that really phased her was Mariner being a bit blunt with the doctor, and lambasting her mall sauce:
Really liked the commander. She really has that Starfleet attitude, and making the best out of SB80. Dunno how I feel about them using ENT uniforms out of nowhere but hey, Starfleet apparently lets you use whatever uniform you want if it's starfleet. Maybe it should had been the old TOS style ones? Or even TNG? I digress. And the Cerritos helping out in the end really fits their role in the fleet IMO, which was neat to see. AND! Fusion Reactors!!!!!
Love that the only thing that really phased her was Mariner being a bit blunt with the doctor, and lambasting her mall sauce:
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Well, when you're not constrained to the limits of real sets, and don't have the budgetary issues of full on photo realistic CGI? Why Not?
Was fun to see them point-laugh at that bit of Ent era 'here let's show the actors in their undies!'
Also. Rutheford is low-key jacked here.
I know, right!? You'd think whenever crew get assigned or rotated out, they'd send at least a few things. I don't get it, but I ha
Ransom WOULD be the sort to go ham with the gel. It just ... Fits.As much as I hated the idea of the decon chamber in ENT, I laughed hard at Ransom going to town on himself with gel.
Not a bad class at all, but you can pry my T'varo out of my cold dead hands. I love my doom hockey puck that will vomit out twice its own mass in torpedos.
My running theory is technically the Acamerians own it and the treaty Starfleet made was to either take administrative posession of what they had previously decomissioned, or following the dominion war they were just that desperate and re-comissioned SB80 and as it's in the Acemerian's end of space, asked them to settle as way to both give them a way to gain experience working with the wider sector, and to fill out the non-administrative roles on station so Starfleet doesn't have as much of a personnel burden.
The unfortunate side effect is SB80 is a null priority, as they don't want to give the Acamerians access to technology beyond their current means.
Definitely Horner inspired musical riffs there.
Ixnay on ethay imetay aveltray.You know, I did notice that SB80 looked like TOS and not the SNW version of the era Boims and Mariner had visited
As per above statements. I suspect the Acamerians have posession of it thus Starfleet wants to withhold technology from them. Combine that with ship's quarter masters likely going 'wait that makes no sense. I'm being pranked.' And deleting the equipment from the ship manifest so the tools andp arts Gene needs are never delivered.
Maybe they should go hit up the mobster planet. Don't they have 23rd century technology by now thanks to Bones leaving his communicator there?
I will admit that is an honestly solid look. Add a belt to break up the long torso and maybe some contrasting boots and some other accessories.
More tellingly I noticed the division colors follow TOS convention of gold=command red=engineering.
I suspect arcade tokens are rationed to avoid station crew from just kinda... goofing off there all the time, or hogging a specific machine. :PFerengi's Fortune, Cardboard Chaos, The Captain's Chair and some game based on the Ascention Koala. I'd play them all.
SB80 honestly feels like it'd be an amazing place if it got just that little bit of love to get it cleaned up.
I honestly want to see what she would've looked like brand new, or failing that, fully cleaned up. Then again I'm a sucker for 23rd century fed aesthetics. Clean lines and minimalist architecture. She probably runs on duotronics. Granted Rutheford got the grav plating working but I suspect the whole thing being as old as it is would go a long way to explaining the lack of refits. It takes too much manpower and for that same manpower build a new station. Oh look the Acamarians want to expand, and there is a group that are mal-contents but other than disliking the governing body are otherwise productive members of society, we can find a way to help them and get a nominal presence out in the middle of the sector.
Headcanon that SB80 has an old Antares-class ship as it's 'defiant.'
Anyone know what sector SB80's in?
I'm asking largely because I'm noodling with a fic idea and 'HUH would it be too stupid to put them in traveling distance to the Mob planet? I have an idea.'
I would like to offer my sincere apologies to the officers of Cetacean Ops. I was under the impressions that they were both dolphins, and their fellow crewmates referring to them as "whales" was an over-generalization. However, after five seasons it has dawned on me that they are, in fact, Beluga whales, and that I had them wrong all along. Again, I offer my sincerest apologies.
In which case, Freeman should have resolved that by acting as a diplomat - she has some decent track record with the Karema and bringing Ferengi into UFP (or at least, acting like a Ferengi to secure the original deal).
But as we saw, the SF personnel was still mainly operating the station (on which everyone on the station depended) - and again, where are molecular production facilities that predate replicators?
The Starbase still needs to be able to produce food, and other basics... which would most certainly include tools that can be used to repair and maintain the station.
Bring more personnel to the starbase to secure it better on top of that.
I won't deny the Acamerians aren't the issue, but SF did kinda let things fall through the cracks here.
Depends.
Assuming they survived early destructive phases and embraced technological growth, Sigma Iotia II could be a unified or semi-unified planetary society, technologically advanced to early spacefaring levels, akin to Earth circa 2150, and focused on expansion into space, possibly with remnants of their mobster culture influencing diplomacy or interstellar relations.
Their main distinctiveness would probably be in communications technology which could rival 24th century one... but I don't think the Acamerians could potentially pillage that planet. If the Sigma Lotians have progressed to the point of 22nd century, or maybe further, they'd likely not allow any of their technology to fall into enemy hands - plus I don't think the Acamerians would be organised enough to pull off something like that.
In full agreement here. I'm simply trying to headcannon a way to justify the least amount of outright incompetence here.
I had seen bits from 'A Piece of the Reaction' and the scrapped 30th anniversary DS9 concept of visiting Sigma Iotia II and finding it on par with 23rd century starfleet in many ways outside of warp capability while still having some factionality (the Gold Shirts, Red Shirts, Blue Shirts, etc.)
Was less meaning 'raid them for stuff' and more 'open trade negotiations for transtator based equipment.'
I am in full agreement with you and everyone else, however, that Starfleet has utterly failed SB80 in letting it show the levels of neglect on display. One thing to pass the place over for upgrades after recommissioning because joint ownership/administration with a non-federation government. An other to let it become so covered in grime and filth and show obvious neglect that it looks like a warhammer hive city.
I wouldn't be so bold to assume the Sigma Lotians would have advanced to the level of 23rd century SF.
Mid/late 22nd century seems like a viable stretch given the kind of society they had to start with.
Depends if the Sigma Lotians would be ameniable to that.
But the Acamerians didn't strike me as the type who would try to establish trade negotiations. They seem to be more 'raid them for stuff' type of people.
Exactly. I mean, a little cleanup duty is something that's supposed to be 'standard' for what was originally 'SF run starbase' (and technically still is).
The cleaning bit is likely the least problematic since the automated bots could be delivered to do that with a passing SF ship (the Protostar had them - I'm pretty sure the Cerritos would be able to whip them up or replicate them to do these tasks on the station) - heck, we now know that DOT like drones existed in the 23rd century and can be used for exactly that kind of thing.
The station is already a 23rd century level standard starbase... so it stands to reason that SF could at least provide the tools/equipment to keep it at least at that level of 'peak efficiency' if the Acamerians are as big of a problem as you posited (I think they're more than manageable and SB-80 just got a bad rep really due to rumours and here-say - maybe some SF officer noticed the state of the starbase and tried raising the issue with SF, but it was not a priority and then others heard something similar, created their own version of the report, which then circulated across SF).
Welcome to part of why I'm writing the fic I'm writing.
'Here is this grungy as all get out star base. Why is it being neglected?'
I'm going to put it out there: "Starbase 80" is basically a subtle commentary on the state of affairs California, and how the state used to be "The Golden State" back in the 1980s, but has since gone to pot, in spite of the leadership of the state trying say otherwise while putting on a happy face.
Could be commentary on a lot of things having been better in the past but haven't really been maintained and leadership trying to claim otherwise. that is as close as i will get to anything political.
That’s an odd read.
It's just meant to be fun satire showing the less glamorous side of Starfleet, much like this entire series in general. This particular episode showcasing Starfleet's absolute rock bottom.
Wut.
California’s the fifth largest economy in the world. That’s hardly gone to pot. That’s all I gotta say on that.
This year, California moved ahead of Japan and is now the world's fourth largest economy.
The bugger question is should Starfleet have a rock bottom?
It's just meant to be fun satire showing the less glamorous side of Starfleet, much like this entire series in general. This particular episode showcasing Starfleet's absolute rock bottom.
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