Lower Decks’ Tom Paris Love-In Wasn’t Really About Tom Paris at All

Whether on a plate or on the Cerritos bridge, Robert Duncan McNeill’s return as Voyager pilot and holodeck aficionado Tom Paris was the large draw for Star Trek: Lower Deck’s newest episode. But as ever with this present, the Trek cameos are by no means actually the large deal—it’s how they’re used to say issues about Lower Decks’ precise heroes.

In the excellently titled “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris”, McNeill’s temporary look because the cocky Lieutenant stands someplace between season one’s temporary gag appearances by Q and Miles O’Brien, and Jonathan Frakes’ return as a jazz loving jock Riker over at the united statesS. Titan. While not fairly so main a catalyst for our heroes as Riker’s presence—he’s primarily there for Boimler’s sake—Paris’ presence offers an fascinating middle for a myriad of plotlines to spin round, ones that, refreshingly, push our Lower Deckers in some fascinating new instructions. In what spins out to be not only one, however three completely different plot by strains in one of many sequence’ most narratively-dense episodes but, Boimler, Rutherford, Tendi, and Mariner all largely spin off into their very own arcs for the episode, a uncommon feeling for a present that has, at instances, struggled to stretch past the apparent narrative pairings of Boimler and Mariner, and Tendi and Rutherford. Some of the perfect moments final season got here when these pairings had been blended up (Like Boimler and Tendi in “Much Ado About Boimler”), and it’s a lot the identical case right here.

Two of the three arcs are slightly extra ancillary. Boimler, nonetheless making an attempt to regulate to life again on the Cerritos, finds himself trying to find a brand new identification slightly actually, when up to date safety protocols after final season’s Pakled assault imply the ship’s pc doesn’t recognise him, main him on an appropriately absurd arc that begins with him unable to order lunch from the replicators, to crawling by Jeffries Tubes excessive on engine fumes as he deseprately tries to discover a option to the bridge to get Tom Paris to signal his ‘VOY’ commemorative plate (bless these nerds for canonizing the best way followers discuss with the Trek exhibits as soon as once more!). Rutherford, in the meantime, is horrified to find that Lieutenant Shaxx is seemingly alive and effectively after he perished saving the younger Ensign on the season finale, and tries to uncover what he thinks is a sinister coverup about what actually occurs to Bridge Officers who die in motion. While these are each very enjoyable facet tales in and of themselves, the majority of the episode is rightfully given over to the meatiest character work to be present in Tendi and Mariner’s plot.

After Tendi is handed up for a promotion in Sickbay and tries to get into Doctor T’Ana’s good books by occurring a private errand for her (whereas she is uh, present process the Caitian equal of Vulcan Pon Farr, the libido-driving mating season), Mariner decides to tag alongside, turning Tendi’s mission right into a Girl’s journey, because the duo more and more desperately intone to one another when issues inevitably go unsuitable. And go unsuitable they do, when the household artifact Tendi is supposed to get better will get broken, flinging the duo on a wild journey between shady starbases and Orion pirate outposts in an try to cowl up their errors. A lesser episode may simply cease there on hijinks alone, however Lower Decks fortunately makes use of the opportunite of thrusting Tendi and Mariner collectively correctly for the primary time in a really lengthy whereas to really tackle a problem that has bugged the present for some time: they don’t really really feel like the buddies they suppose they’re.

From Tendi’s growing exasperation with Mariner escalating their journey into the journey it turns into, to even staple items that the duo notice they don’t learn about one another—Mariner can’t even do not forget that D’Vana is Tendi’s title, jokingly considering it’s an Orion cultural title—the episode not solely gracefully addresses the elephant within the room (that it’s leaned too typically on treating Beckett and Boimler and Tendi and Rutherford as separate {couples} of associates, as a substitute of a cohesive group), but additionally dives into Tendi’s personal backstory a bit extra, airing her frustrations as she has tried so desperately onerous to be acknowledged as being greater than an Orion, to place apart the cultural stereotypes of her race as piratical seducers to easily be the perfect Starfleet officer she could be. It’s nice stuff, and a terrific instance of the present taking one in every of its few precise flaws and utilizing it to push its characters, even when it’s to an uncomfortable conclusion like them merely not being the folks they thought they had been to one another at this level. By the tip of the episode at the least, Tendi and Mariner even have extra of a bond by 20-odd mintues of character work than they’d throughout everything of the primary season. Instead of it simply being merely said that they’re associates, as a result of they’re the protagonists of the present, that relationship really feels earned now.

Maybe it didn’t take Tom Paris exhibiting as much as facilitate that development, however nonetheless—it was good that he was there for the time being.

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