Star Trek: Lower Decks
"Caves"
Air date: 10/19/2023
Written by Ben Rodgers
Directed by Megan Lloyd
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
I think maybe the modest goal of Lower Decks should be to use the Star Trek universe to tell fun, lightweight, comedic stories where the tone of the episode lands on something more pleasant than annoying. "Caves" does just that by employing two standbys: (1) The flashback episode told as a series of mini-stories, and (2) the Star Trek cave setting that was obviously filmed on the reusable cave set on the soundstage at the Paramount lot.
In the case of Lower Decks, where the animators could give us any setting they wanted, using a cave is a deliberate and knowing wink, as is the complete lack of surprise on Mariner's face when the team becomes trapped by a cave-in — with a deadly growing mass of bioluminescent moss consuming the available space and threatening the four. The cave joke is something Trek fans will smile knowingly about, but that joke alone would not carry the day if this episode didn't also win us over by ultimately telling a nice little story about these four people and their enduring friendship.
We get a flashback from each of the four characters. Boimler's involves his away mission with Lt. Levy, whose rampant speculation turns out to be informed insight about the aliens — the Vendorians from TAS's "The Survivor" — who are behind the morality test that he and Boimler are currently undergoing (while under observation).
In Rutherford's flashback, he and T'Ana are trapped in a cave when their cave guide is killed in an attack by a ferocious cave creature. T'Ana must deliver Rutherford's baby after he's impregnated with a "consciousness clone" (through simple touch) by the dying cave guide. Turns out the ferocious beast is actually an intelligent creature who can be reasoned with if we just break down the communication barrier. (Although, if it observed them being good parents, why was it still trying to kill them?)
In Mariner's flashback, her team is stuck in a cave where one half of the cave ages you until you're too old to move. The problem is, the substance that will enable their escape is on that side of the cave. Meanwhile, Mariner is at odds with one of her team members over the question of Delta shift versus Beta shift. Delta shift never gets the good missions. And Mariner thought she had it bad on Beta shift. The biggest laugh for me: Mariner victoriously declaring, "F*** you, cave!" with a double flip-off when she realizes the cave is not blocking their communications. (There's also a throwaway line of the crashed shuttle's power being "dunsel.")
Tendi's story brings it all home. Set immediately after her arrival on the Cerritos in the first episode, it's actually not a trapped-in-a-cave flashback, but a trapped-in-a-turbolift flashback, where the four Lower Deckers were stuck for hours in an ordeal that solidified their friendship forever. It reveals the episode is actually about these four characters, not the mission they are on or the missions of their flashbacks (although a final reveal that shows the Vendorians were actually behind this latest cave trap, putting the group through a test that they unknowingly aced).
After the lamentable "Empathological Fallacies," I said I was close to giving up on this series. I was serious. Because — let's face it — this show is really only as good as how pleasant it is while it's happening. If it's obnoxious, it feels like I'm setting my time ablaze by watching it. But the episodes since then have all landed on the pleasant side of the coin, and "Caves" may be the most pleasant of the season yet. Could it be as simple as that?
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Next episode: The Inner Fight
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21 comments on this post
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 4:05am (UTC -6)
None of the humor is mean. It comes organically from the characters and the situation. The flashback plots are decently creative (any one of them could have made for a compelling episode on its own). It almost feels like a fake "bottle episode," which of course is a staple of past eras of television production including Star Trek. On top of that the episode ends with a positive Trekian message.
Yes, I really enjoyed this one.
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 4:09am (UTC -6)
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 6:12am (UTC -6)
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 7:36am (UTC -6)
The episode has a similar structure and feel to “Veritas”, but works far better, because we know the characters by now, and therefore can enjoy their interaction and reaction to cavey dangers much more. We get a framing story with the whole team being trapped in a cave with carnivorous moss (bad memories of the parasitic ice in “Far From Home”), and everyone recounts a story of a previous cave-trapping. Each of these cave entries looks exactly the same, as stated in the intro.
Of these stories, I considered Boimler’s the most funny. Lieutenant Levy, the crackpot who has been seen a couple of times before (Wolf 359 was an inside job etc.), was the worst guy to be stuck with. I am somewhat surprised that after all his BS talk he was onto something real with his Vendorian connection, but he he was also way off in every detail, so I guess it cannot be taken as an endorsement of crackpottery (“Your knowledge is artfully mixed with hyperbole and fiction”). The Vendorians now have been retconned to investigate human morality by setting up elaborate illusions, which does not make much sense given how they were introduced as scheming and totally alien aliens in “The Survivor”, but I like this development of a species (reminded me of the Excalibians). Also, they look gorgeous with their individual head marks and luminescent eyes.
I found Mariner’s story in the aging field felt less funny, but was wholesome with her reconciliation with the δ shift (perhaps the Vendorians were present, but didn’t reveal themselves because of the reconciliation. Huh, Levy lives in me!). Now we understand why these guys and gals are so hostile, it is just the lack of limelight. Rutherford’s and T’Ana’s adventure did he least for me, because it was really a rehash of “The Devil in the Dark” (funny since Pergium appears in the next vignette), and the clash of constructive engineering ethos with a bad-mouthed doctor was good enough. Tendi’s story emphasizes the heartwarming comraderie between all these characters, and I laughed loud seeing the on-duty shift scrubbing the walls after that mess with the rage virus in “Second Contact”; that’s what TNG always glosses over.
The episode was as lowerdecky as can be; by now, the show has broken enough ground that it can comfortably refer back to itself rather than draw exclusively from previous Trek (even Vendorians have been seen before in “Envoys”). This strengthened worldbuilding and thus the episode as a whole. While it wasn’t the most imaginative plot-wise, it felt very genuine Star Trek, and I give 3 stars. Quote of the episode goes to Boimler: “Yeah, there shouldn’t be another disaster until 15:30 at the earliest.”
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 10:28am (UTC -6)
Boimler's vignette with the conspiracy theory dude had me off to a somewhat rocky start, largely because there was only one joke here (that he was somehow right). I like that even the dude seemed surprised by the fact that he wasn't spewing total bullshit, but given how the past few years have gone, conspiracy theories have gone from a harmless quirk to weaponized insanity, so I felt a bit uneasy about this, even in jest. It didn't help that there was really only one joke here. Still, the message that even crazy people can help you get out of tough situations was...good? I guess?
Rutherford's short with T'ana was adorable, though it's hard to screw up a plot with a baby. While I did feel a bit of the tension between the two was manufactured, I loved that they basically did a speedrun of Devil in the Dark, with the solution communicating with the alien monster. Basically a bite-sized version of the classic Trek morality tale, and when I began warming to the episode.
Mariner's vignette was ridiculous, though the whole rapid aging thing was pretty much within canon of Trek. I suppose I could quibble here that there really wasn't any sort of cooperation between Delta Shift and Mariner - they just sort of fumble around until the last one finds a section they can get to without getting old. But they managed to have a heart-to-heart and Mariner discovered Delta Shift weren't so bad, which was...a nice message. Enjoyed the gross-out body horror of losing the leg too.
Tendi's was super short - probably less than two minutes. Didn't even try and be funny, just heartwarming. It was nice to have a callback to the very first episode, though it did remind me how...rough...that episode was.
And of course, there was the framing device. I liked that the beginning of the story noted since they were all Lt.'s now, they don't work together as much as they used to - which was causing some building of tensions throughout the episode, as the crew realize they've been having experiences apart from one another, before it circles back and they realize it's fine that they have, because they will always be friends.
So, a heartwarming bit of near pure character-based storytelling,. My only issue this week is it wasn't really funny, aside from one or two jokes. Charming, cute at times, but not funny.
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 12:59pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 1:33pm (UTC -6)
*sigh*
Which is to say it just didn’t work for me at this day and this time.
I wasn’t even fond of Rutherford giving birth to a baby plot because not only does that remind me of one of the worst episodes of ENT with Trip’s pregnancy but it also reminds me of “the Child” where I maintained that it really is a form of sexual assault that is just sort of glossed over. It happened to Carol Danvers in the Avengers and it wasn’t funny there either, lack of sexual contact or not.
Best story was Tendi’s by far.
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 2:41pm (UTC -6)
Fantastic impression!
Took me until the middle of the first paragraph to realize what you were doing, haha!
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 4:35pm (UTC -6)
Easy 4. I'm watching this again tomorrow.
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 5:00pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 5:33pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 5:43pm (UTC -6)
We've endured far worse *entire seasons* of Star Trek than any single 24 minute dud of Lower Decks. This feels like a weird line in the sand, especially four seasons in. :P
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 6:43pm (UTC -6)
Mariner also came off as too jaded at the beginning of the episode. Is exploring a cave on a foreign planet really that boring? Could caves from other planets really be so comparable that the mere mention of a cave sucks any prospect of adventure out of it? I’m not sure I buy that premise.
The vignettes themselves were fairly light-hearted and inconsequential which allowed for some benign storytelling and fun callbacks. However, it was so painfully obvious that Tendi’s story (that was repeatedly shut down by Mariner) was going to somehow be the key to the crew escaping the cave. This is all sitcom plotting 101 and I’m surprised Jammer enjoyed it so much (in other episodes he’s quick to pounce on this same point).
This is a 2 for me. Nothing harmful but no real character growth either.
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 7:01pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 8:22pm (UTC -6)
I found it an unexpected delight to see a callback to one of the better TAS episodes, “The Survivor,” via the Vendorians, a species introduced there who I don’t think have ever been in live action Trek. This is also a worthy successor to its theme of empathy, building the same warm feeling as the original story. This episode could almost be considered a direct sequel to the TAS story.
I also liked the self-aware style of this episode being a “cave story” in which the characters trauma-bond by sharing past cave stories. It evokes buried memories of the trope in past Star Trek series without being too on-the-nose with references to all of them. That leaves the narrative uncluttered and is all too rare on LD.
While the anthology style of the episode feels original for Trek, the mini stories crammed within it are more of a mixed bag. Some glide by so quickly that they don’t make any impact, a limitation of a 30-minute episode, and the story May try to cram in a bit too much. Still, this is very entertaining and I’d watch it again, which I can’t say of many other LD stories.
Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 11:52pm (UTC -6)
Star Trek Lower Decks could very well be reaching its mid-point. And that’s okay, folks. This narrative is revealing TO our characters that they’re starting to branch out.
They’re having separate lives. That’s life.
Fri, Oct 20, 2023, 5:13am (UTC -6)
Fri, Oct 20, 2023, 6:13am (UTC -6)
Fri, Oct 20, 2023, 1:12pm (UTC -6)
Sun, Oct 22, 2023, 8:31am (UTC -6)
Nothing to add.
3 stars from me too.
Sun, Oct 22, 2023, 8:32am (UTC -6)
FOUR STARS from me.
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