Recently, The Star Trek: Lower Decks crew set off on more crazy adventures. This week, the ensigns find a possible fourth to fill-in the vacant Boimler spot while the USS Cerritos receives another head of security to replace Shaxs, who sacrificed himself in the season one finale. Once again, a rather mundane assignment explodes into a life-or-death situation.
A member of the Collector’s Guild passes away and the ensigns, now joined by Jet, are tasked to safely sort and catalog the deceased’s vast array of antiquities and artifacts. The mission is led by the new head of security, Kayshon, the first Tamarian in Star Fleet. As they make their way through the different items, they accidentally trigger the security system and Mariner and Jet butt heads on how the group should proceed.
Lower Decks bringing in Jet freshens up the group dynamic between the ensigns. Mariner is usually so confident, or borderline cocky, in how she goes about things. Having a new member in the quartet puts her on the defensive and she tries too hard to assert her dominance. For his part, Jet is as hard headed and is part of the reason why the situation continues to worsen. He serves as a nice contrast to Mariner and is one of the few people that can actually challenge her.
Luckily for both of them, they do have a level of humility and know when to step aside and listen. One thing the series does from time to time, is to show brute force isn’t always the way. There are scenarios where a level headed and intelligent plan is all that’s needed. It’s nice to see Tendi and Rutherford have an opportunity to save the day. Overcoming dangerous situations can bring groups together and it seems Jet has earned the respect of his peers but…
…his time in the Lower Decks gang is over almost as soon as it began. Boimler returns to the Cerritos after his brief tenure on the Titan. The show has demonstrated how much of a culture fit he wasn’t with Captain Riker. Similar to Tendi and Rutherford, he’s more the cerebral type while his coworkers are all testosterone filled shoot first, ask questions later individuals.
Although it probably was a memorable experience for him as we watch all the times Boimler geeks out and references all the Star Trek episodes related to the plot. He even has a Riker-esque experience of his own while transporting, which leads to the convenient resolution to bring him back to his friends on the Cerritos.
It’s good that the show didn’t draw out Boimler’s storyline away from the group. They spent an entire season building up Boimler and Mariner’s relationship and chemistry and it would be a waste to keep them separated for a long time. Plus, it can stretch the narrative too thin having to go back and forth between their two ships on a half hour series.
“Kayshon, His Eyes Open” introduces the new head of security. Star, Tawny Newsome, spoke of her excitement for the character because of his Tamarian roots. Cart Tart, who voices Kayshon, captures the quirkiness of the language and how it involves allegories and metaphors.
Much of the time it comes out as nonsense in the basic language. The silliness it provides suits the overall tone of Lower Decks especially when Kayshon is trying to pick up a woman at the bar. However, they do go the well too many times and the running gag does become played out.
The episode brings in an eccentric and memorable character to the series that fits in with its fun and absurd tone while concluding the Boimler on the Titan saga. We can feel complete now with the whole team back together.
New episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks are released Thursdays on Paramount+.
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