"Crisis Point" – Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E09
After episode 8 overdosed on fan nostalgia for The Undiscovered Country, “Crisis Point” makes it clear that there’s a competition for the episode with the most fun fan callbacks; and the prize isn’t even close to being awarded yet. Thankfully,…
Star Trek isn’t political. It’s theological.
Call anybody you want. They can’t do anything to me, not anymore, and nor can any of you. I am a human being, damn it! […] You can pulp a story but you cannot destroy an idea. Don’t you understand?…
"Veritas" – Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E08
“Guys, this is basically a resort compared to what the Klingons do to you.” —Beckett Mariner Ok, but…it’s pretty much exactly what the Klingons do to you. This is the fanservice-iest episode of the season, by far. Mostly for The…
"Much Ado About Boimler" – Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E07
I’ve always loved Star Trek’s penchant for forcing characters together who don’t really interact much in a usual story; you see Sisko & Kira scenes and O’Brien and Bashir scenes all the time, but every once in a while the…
Darmok and Jalad in the Upper Room
A recurring theme in some of the strongest episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation is the pursuit of understanding. You could almost say that this theme is a core value of the Star Trek universe as a whole. For…
Terraforming the Human Soul
Through Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry envisioned a future Earth with no war, disease, or division, a place of peace and human unity. It is an ideal that closely reflects the culmination of the Christian gospel, only without the Christian gospel.…
"Terminal Provocations" – Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E06
First of all, I felt personally attacked by this episode’s cold open. Just because I listen to Star Trek warp engine sounds while I work sometimes and can definitely tell the difference between the Enterprise-D’s and Voyager’s ambient warp core…
From Farpoint to the Poker Table: Picard Walking in Fellowship
The very first time we meet Captain Jean-Luc Picard he is shrouded in darkness, peering out a window into the great unexplored mass of the galaxy. He is alone in the shadows, having just taken command of the Enterprise-D, and…
"Cupid’s Errant Arrow" – Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E05
Find yourself someone who talks about you the way Tendi and Rutherford say “Whoosh.” “Cupid’s Errant Arrow” is the first story I’ve felt fit within the duration of a Lower Decks episode thus far. While the other four entries into…
What You Control Can’t Hurt You: Fear, Victimhood, and the Dominion
Fear takes many shapes. From cowering victim to preemptive striker, from passive aggression to dedicated isolationism, fear leads both people and societies to pretty much every extreme of reaction. Still, perhaps the most unexpected result of fear is, paradoxically, an…