Decrease Decks Is Rising the Beard in Extra Methods Than One

Made well-known by Jonathan Frakes’ superb facial hair in The Subsequent Technology, “rising the beard” has change into a synonym for the second a Star Trek present actually settles into its imaginative and prescient of itself, understanding what its strengths are, and is able to develop up and settle right into a groove. To be clear, Decrease Decks discovered its confidence and its imaginative and prescient a very long time in the past, and has largely caught to it. However now, in a final season that has to date been about its heroes re-navigating the teachings they’ve discovered of their Starfleet careers, the present is proving once more that it itself nonetheless has issues to study—the maturity to acknowledge when it’s screwed up, as effectively.

It helps that this week can be about Boimler fairly actually rising a beard, too. This present’s received layers! And most of them are very, very foolish.

“The Greatest Unique Nanite Resort” keenly splits our heroes into two fascinating events. The Cerritos has been despatched to the Cosmic Duchess Resort, a large area resort station on a two-fold mission: Tendi, Mariner, Rutherford, and T’Lyn have been tasked with capturing a rogue cluster of nanites inflicting chaos on the station. In the meantime, the patchily scruffed Boimler has been assigned a way more essential activity with Ransom and Billups, to find and detain an AWOL Starfleet Admiral who’s uncared for his humdrum line of obligation to dwell a lifetime of leisure.

Boimler’s storyline is the least-explored of the 2 right here, as a result of it largely performs with a narrative format Decrease Decks has masterfully completed earlier than, utilizing the communication hole between senior and junior officers to create a comedy of misunderstandings. Boimler, as assured as he’s grown throughout the present, nonetheless fears that Ransom sees him and his fellow juniors as chattel to sacrifice and maim on harmful missions.

Once more, this all performs into what this season is already saying about our heroes needing to speak overtly and actually with one another and themselves. Boimler’s anxieties over whether or not or not he’s attaining his objectives been a part of his character from the get-go, however he’s developed from a perpetually anxious worrywart to somebody who is aware of easy methods to cope with these anxieties (if not absolutely push them apart, as we noticed during the premiere) as he’s gained extra expertise over the past 4 and a bit seasons of TV.

Ransom likewise assumes that due to how far he’s seen Boimler come, he doesn’t really must underline to him that he takes him on essential missions as a result of he trusts his instincts, as an alternative of simply telling his junior this type of constructive reinforcement. It’s good for Bomiler as a personality to have the present acknowledge that typically these moments of doubt, imagined or in any other case, are one thing he nonetheless must work on, and that his development as a personality just isn’t strictly linear alongside an arc. Boimler, identical to everybody on else on the present, is in a continuing state of studying and re-learning, identical to any of us are. Certain, the present basically does it by re-hashing a B-plot comedy of errors, however it’s innocent enjoyable.

The extra curiously self-reflective a part of the story comes within the nanite cluster plot (though that itself is essentially only a little bit of set dressing for the drama). Becoming a member of the remainder of the Lieutenants Junior Grade instead of Boimler on the mission is Mariner’s hardly ever seen girlfriend, the Andorian Jennifer Sh’reyan. It seems she isn’t seen, as a result of when Decrease Decks promptly dropped her shortly after establishing Mariner’s relationship along with her… so did Mariner, principally, who thinks they’ve been damaged up for ages simply because she determined it, reasonably than really explicitly stating that reality. An insane selection, but in addition a wonderfully Mariner one, given how usually we’ve needed to be reminded simply how a lot she hates having to navigate her personal emotions.

Addressing this discomfort and lack of consideration is nice for a number of causes. Firstly, it once more all ties this again into the season’s wider message about communication, and the way that, regardless of coming a good distance since we first met them, these characters nonetheless must work on themselves like this. That is particularly essential for Mariner, after the cathartic arc she went by way of final season unpacking her trauma from coming of age during the Dominion War, to point out that deep-rooted pains and responses to that ache will not be simply solved, even with the maturity it takes to confront them within the first place. Secondly, it’s a uncommon second in Decrease Decks‘ metanarrative that the present will get to basically take a step again and go “hey, that is one thing that we screwed up on, and we are able to’t change that now, however at the very least we are able to handle it.”

Given what a boon it was to see Mariner and Jennifer collectively as Decrease Decks‘ pretty much only romantic arc, one of many greatest disappointments of the present was how unceremoniously it dropped Jen after introducing her as a personality. The present itself seemingly simply not caring to make use of her, or to make use of Mariner being in a relationship, was particularly disappointing contemplating it was the still-rare occasion of getting a primary queer relationship in a Star Trek series, however it additionally simply made Mariner herself come off as oddly callous to by no means be seen along with her companion. Does she nonetheless suck a bit for internalizing all of her anxiousness and simply assuming if she acted distant to Jen she’d know she didn’t need them to be collectively anymore? Sure! However that’s an fascinating side of Mariner’s persona that the present lastly addresses on this episode, as an alternative of fully ignoring Jennifer metanarratively.

And once more, this speaks to a maturity that not solely our heroes are coming into, however the present is as effectively. Decrease Decks is, like some other Trek present, one that’s continually studying about itself, and making errors in that course of is totally pure. That it had the notice on this ultimate season to acknowledge and handle this shortcoming, and tie that acknowledgement into the present’s wider themes because it enters the house stretch, isn’t only a welcome acquiescence to criticism, however a mirrored image within the confidence Decrease Decks has in itself at this level—a willingness to rejoice what works, however a willingness to handle what doesn’t is one thing we anticipate of any good Starfleet officer. It’s additionally one thing we must always anticipate of fine Star Trek, and Decrease Decks is not any exception to that.

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