Lots of Star Trek: Lower Decks has been about taking basic setups and premises from collection previous and reframing them or poking holes with loving enjoyable. So it’s uncommon to see the collection riff on not one, however two enjoyable stalwarts of the previous and not likely play them for laughs—even when it nonetheless makes use of them to strengthen the bonds between its characters.

“Where Pleasant Fountains Lie” as soon as once more splits its storytelling into its acquainted format of placing Rutherford and Tendi, after which Boimler and Mariner, by means of two totally different homages to basic Trek episode archetypes (fascinating for an episode about consolation zones, however we’ll get to that later). The first, for Tendi and Rutherford—the latter particularly—is a riff on a way more hyperspecific Trek gag: the concept of a extremely superior race whose know-how and civilization simply so occur to appear like these ren truthful costumes already within the studio’s costume departments that you might borrow for a few weeks. In this case, it comes with an fascinating twist on a little-explored character, Paul Scheer’s Chief Engineer Billups, who, it seems, left a lifetime of royalty—and royal bloodline continuation, extra particularly—on his homeworld to affix Starfleet. As his mom, Queen Billups (herself a riff on Troi’s extravagant mom Lwaxana, albeit with much less of Majel Barrett’s camp attraction), and her royal flagship come knocking on the USS Cerritos’ door for restore and refit requests, the chief drags Rutherford into the unusually sex-obsessed lifetime of his former society.

It’s a weird mishmash of all these basic “period” civilizations that Trek has been fascinated by, whether or not it’s wild gods like Trelane or the Q, who simply occurred to appear like cosplayers as a option to clarify themselves to “lesser” races, Holodeck applications like Voyager’s Fair Haven, or truly technologically regressed societies like TNG’s, uh… not precisely nice colonists of Bringloid V. But it additionally performs into one other long-running aspect of Trek a bit extra delicate than most Lower Decks jokes: the collection’ fascination with the interaction of intercourse, sexuality, and in some ways, heteronormativity in a supposedly utopian future.

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It seems Billups’ mom has spent her life since her son left for Federation service desperately making an attempt to get him laid—and never as a result of Billups himself has an issue doing the deed. In truth, he’s willingly celibate. The backward guidelines of his individuals embrace the subsequent in line shedding their virginity with the intention to ascend to the throne. Should Billups ever fornicate, which means he’s introduced his intent to sire an inheritor and change into oking. Like different episodes this season, this all comes all the way down to belief between the individuals closest to you. Rutherford is dragged into the awkward music and dance of Billups’ testy relationship together with his mom, because the latter retains making an attempt to trick him into intercourse so he can take her place, whereas the previous is more and more pissed off that his household and even his individuals have basically ignored the satisfaction he takes in his responsibility and life’s work as a Starfleet engineer as a result of it’s not what is anticipated of him.

It’s the identical for Rutherford and Tendi too after she pushes him to go on the project with Billups within the first place—making an attempt to assist her pal overcome his lingering confidence points and escape of his consolation zone. But the transfer backfires when Rutherford and Billups’ mom are seemingly killed in an unintentional techniques overload, just for it to be revealed that it’s simply the most recent within the Queen’s line of (horrifyingly drastic) makes an attempt to get her son a one-way wormhole to the Bone Zone. It’s all about belief within the individuals round you, one thing Billups and the Queen simply don’t have—however Tendi and Rutherford do, and are capable of expose the plot in time to maintain the chief the place his coronary heart desires to be: by a warp core, fairly than in a threesome.

Trust is the matter of the day in Boimler and Mariner’s arc, as properly. Tasked with escorting Yet Another Star Trek Evil Computer to the Daystrom Institute for containment—Agimus, a pleasant flip from Trek legend and man of one million faces Jeffrey Combs—Boimler finds himself reassigned from a extra high-profile away mission to assist Mariner with the busywork. It’s one thing that places a little bit of a dent into the connection they’ve reforged over the course of this season. Things worsen when, as with all good shuttlecraft-based away missions, there’s an emergency crash touchdown, and abruptly the duo discover themselves on a planet with little in the best way of sustenance. There’s no life past just a few roaming wild animals and little likelihood for getting a misery sign out, plus that evil laptop that simply actually desires to be plugged into any socket it can get its cables on. Dehydrated, exhausted, scared, and seemingly solely capable of replicate black licorice for meals, Boimler and Mariner’s relationship is basically put to the take a look at, and practically torn aside when Agimus manages to disclose that Mariner is who acquired Boimler reassigned, believing he wasn’t prepared for such a harmful mission despite his repeated speak of his time aboard the Titan.

It’s an important battle and goes to indicate that the work these two have made to date in closing up the rift between them is ongoing work, and never solved even once they make nice strides towards being shut as soon as extra. But it’s made even higher when, having seemingly determined to solid his lot in with Agimus and use the evil laptop’s energy to hijack a still-functioning wrecked ship to get off-world, it’s revealed that Boimler manufactured at the very least some of his animus with Mariner to persuade the rogue AI he was on his facet. He solely finally ends up letting the pc energy a misery beacon, fairly than the ship itself, however extra importantly, Boimler goes a good distance in exhibiting how a lot belief has been restored between himself and Mariner—what she did to him wasn’t cool, however he understands her intentions had been well-placed. That, and he’s come a good distance himself to have the ability to convincingly seem to Agimus like he’d turned on her within the first place, so the belief isn’t only a matter of him putting it again in her, however belief in himself to get the job finished, like several good Starfleet officer.

It’s that factor that makes “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie” greater than the sum of its pointed franchise referencing elements. By constructing in these moments of belief between our heroes, bringing collectively a season that has change into way more character-focused and introspective than it seemingly might need first let on, Lower Decks is discovering a coronary heart for itself that’s bigger than simply its love for the concept of what Star Trek is, and the way foolish and enjoyable that concept will be within the first place. And because the collection goes on to larger issues, that’s an essential step on a highway we are able to’t wait to see the collection journey additional on.

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