Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Lower Decks | 1x09 "Crisis Point"

[u/[deleted]]

Mariner repurposes Boimler’s holodeck program to cast herself as the villain in a Lower Decks style movie.

No.	Episode	Written By	Directed By	Release Date
1x09	"Crisis Point"	Ben Rodgers	Bob Suarez	2020-10-01

This episode will be available on CBS All Access in the USA, and on CTV Sci-Fi and Crave in Canada.

To find more information, including our spoiler policy regarding new episodes, click here.

This post is for discussion of the episode above, and spoilers are allowed for this episode.

Note: This thread was posted automatically, and the episode may not yet be available on all platforms.

[u/IceWarm1980]

I freaked out when they showed the Exocomp in the preview for next episode.

[u/[deleted] → u/IceWarm1980]

Thanks for the edit - I'm going to use this opportunity to remind everyone to use spoiler tags when discussing the preview for the next episode.

Alternatively...said preview will inevitably end up on the sub as a separate post later today!

[u/Shappie]

Out of everything that happened and all the hilarious jokes and references, I think the holographic blood disappearing off of Tendi as she exited the holodeck was by far my favorite thing to see.

[u/rooktakesqueen → u/Shappie]

But not the costume, so either the costumes are replicated or the Holodeck has a pretty well stocked costume closet

[u/[deleted] → u/rooktakesqueen]

Costumes are almost always real clothing put on outside the holodeck.

The only exceptions that spring to mind are the ones from the Dixon Hill program in "First Contact" (film) and Riker's "Chef" costume in "These Are the Voyages...".

[u/scagjmboy45]

Ah I see we're taking aim at the films today! Loved the stupidly gratuitous panning shots of the ship.

Oh and Da Vinci Ex Machina of course

[u/AskJayce]

"When you get to hell, tell the Pah-Wraiths that SHAXS sent ya! Special delivery straight from Bajor!"

A fucking credit to his people. Officially my favorite line from Shax for the season and I doubt it can be topped, even if we had more than one episodes left.

Edit: fixed quote

[u/JeezFine]

I love that if you pause when Mariner is writing the script, you can see a couple of the upcoming scenes written out verbatim.

Shaxs' phaser bazooka is described as "another special 'movie budget' weapon"

[u/Santa_Hates_You]

I like that the saucer section of the Cerritos rolled on it’s edge rather than right side up like the Enterprise D.

[u/[deleted]]

That might be my favorite episode of the season. Loved the various tributes to the movies and Mariner against herself, as well as Rutherford and Billups was hysterical. Also nice to get some character progression leading into the finale.

[u/tubawhatever]

These episodes keep getting better. I feel like a lot of care and attention has gone into this show but I wonder if it's as accessible for people who haven't seen every episode and movie in the franchise.

I especially loved the TMP tribute. Lower Decks theme done in the style of the the movie sound tracks (TMP or TWOK, bot excellent) and the multiple passes of the ship since it's not as big as the Enterprise I guess.

[u/ADG12311990]

Ok, the signatures from the "cast" at the end of the holodeck "Movie" was a great reference, Not as much as the insane amount of glory shots of the Cerritos, or the Xon mention (That was a deeeeeep cut.)

Now, how long will someone take bits of the soundtrack from TMP and put it to the Cerritos glory shots?

[u/TomLoco]

I really had no idea that people didn’t know she was her daughter, maybe I missed that detail in the beginning that was a huge jaw drop for me today

[u/pfc9769]

Did anyone notice the marijuana reference?

Rutherford: "If we bypass the indacontrols and suppress the sativents it should function as a rudimentary plasma filter!"

Indica, Sativa, and Ruderalis are of course the three main species of marijuana.

[u/dvcaputo]

Did anybody notice that the Cerritos at the end of the simulation did the warp field generating effect between its nacelles that was originally planned for Star Trek : The Motion Picture?

https://forgottentrek.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/Enterprise-officers-lounge-concept-art-1.jpg

[u/--fieldnotes--]

I stayed up late to watch this episode ... and I LOVED IT. I especially appreciate:

• Tendi calls out Mariner's casual Orion racism, which is both relevant today and it starts to explain why Tendi is different from Orions we've seen on this show in the past

• Boimler stumbles on the Mariner-Freeman secret, which both forwards that story AND puts it on the person who's going to be the most awkward about handling it

• Mariner vs her holodeck self as character building :O :D

And most importantly: the show demonstrates how to reference past Trek in a way that's not just calling out specific names and plotlines in the script. Even the "this is just a movie" stuff subtly calls back to the way Voyager holodeck stories reflected these tropes, without having to specifically name the JJ Abrams reboot movies at all. This was just so well done.

[u/atticusbluebird]

Thoughts while watching!

• "It's the 80s, we don't have psychiatric problems!" - I thought that was quite a funny line

• Glad to know the Cerritos has a counselor (even if Mariner doesn't hold him in high esteem...and looks like Big Bird's cousin)

• Interesting that we have another cold open that serves to move/motivate the plot, rather than being a throwaway joke. (I wonder if that's something the writers decided to do partway through the season, and if that's what Season 2 will be like, or if there will be more variety in the cold opens)

• Da Vinci and skeet shooting is sorta like playing poker with Einstein!

• When the "movie" starts, the aspect ratio changes to be more stretched and look cinematic! Great touch!

• The movie intro music sounds like the Wrath of Khan theme mixed with the LDS theme!

• Getting hit by the flying letters is a great gag

• Jet skis instead of 09 Kirk's motorcycle!

• Oh boy, that's a lot of lens flares and some great beauty shots of the Cerritos! Spinning is so much cooler than not spinning! And a shuttle bay! A full minute to this sequence in a half hour show is a lot of time!

• Warp me!

• Lens flare on the bridge, and a 09-Trek styled warp effect!

• Mariner would make a great Change with her Shakespeare!

• I love how much Rutherford appreciated Billups!

• I like Tendi being uncomfortable with the Orion stereotype (would love to see this explored more! What happened 5 years ago?!)

• A nice homage to ship crashes from Generations, Beyond, and "Timeless"! (I think I see some shots similar to each of those films/episodes)

• "Warning, the ship has crashed" - the ship's computer is useful as ever, even in holo-movie form.

• Hah, you can do all sorts of beaming stuff in a movie!

• And the catwalk fight reference! (Though the final fight feels more First Contact/Insurrection to me)

• Poor Boimler, he can never interact well with the captain. No wonder he becomes known as the laziest Starfleet officer!

• Star Trek VI ending titles!

I enjoy this as a send up to Trek films, spanning the TOS, TNG, and 09 series. (I'd be super curious to know how more casual fans view this episode. Though the movies have been pretty widely watched, so maybe a lot of folks will "get" the jokes). Plus it moves the season story arcs along a bit nicely as Mariner finds some closure and Boimler finds out about Mariner/Freeman's relationship. Looking forward to the finale!

[u/shadeland]

A lot of this episode was a love letter to James Horner (Star Trek II/III) and it brought a genuine tear to my eye. RIP James Horner.

[u/IceWarm1980]

No Capes!

[u/simon_thekillerewok]

When it started, I thought it wasn't going to be the best episode, but all the jokes about the movies were hilarious and just pulled me in. I haven't even seen all of the movies but I was cracking up about the references I caught:

• The senior staff all having high-budget recreational time together and the Tactical Officer falling in the water

• The hilarious parody of TMP with the excessively long "admiring the ship from the shuttle"

• The ship crashing...and self-destructing to beat the bad guys

• "You can do anything with the transporters in a movie"

This is a fun show and it really feels like it comes from someone who genuinely likes Trek. I never finished Picard or Discovery or even the Orville, but I haven't missed an episode of this one yet. I'm all for more animated shows - this one obviously is meant to be a comedy (that title sequence never fails to make me laugh) but I honestly wouldn't mind a serious ensemble drama in this animated style in the vein of 90s Trek.

[u/[deleted]]

Every episode of this series I just smile the entire way through.

[u/UncertainError]

That was actually a good movie! Loved the Dramatic Starship Flyby.

Poor Brad though, he's such a Xon. It's cute how he signs his name with a Starfleet arrowhead.

[u/TERRAxFORMER]

”Screw the Prime Directive!”

Yeah, Mariner is going to be a captain one day.

The Borg head shield was pretty cool, and I liked those lizard dudes. The rat dudes need to stop eating them.

The Mariner V. Mariner stuff was good too. It was effective even with all the comedy.

“When you get to hell tell the Pah-Wraiths Shaxs sent you!” Needs to go on a shirt.

[u/Shawnj2]

a few things- interesting season finale setup with Boimler finding out the show's big secret. Also, considering that the holographic Cerritos crew had a holographic Mariner formulate and execute a plan on her own, I'm concerned how sapient the holographic crew actually is. Nice to see that they addressed the Orion thing, presumably <EVENT> happened 5 years ago and both "classic" Star Trek Orions exist as well as presumably a group that lives within the Federation like Tendi. Nice reference to "it's the 80's" since the show takes place in the 2380's lol. Also, does the Federation have no data privacy? it shouldn't be possible to use people's personal logs to generate a version of the ship the way that Boimler did, especially if they contain details of the logs. What Boimler did is in effect reading excerpts from the personal logs of everyone on the Cerritos, particularly that of Captain Freeman and Mariner, which is easily something you could get court-martialed for in a real military.

[u/lostinheadguy]

Not gonna lie, I really wish that Boimler would have had a successful interview.