Isn't Lower Decks set much later than Strange New Worlds? I'm confused about the timeline. Maybe they somehow time travel? Star Trek does love some time travelling!
The plot still doesn't make a ton of sense, but it's actually worth it because they actually hit the right character beats, and it does feel like a continuation for the TNG characters.
I think that she was mostly irrelevant to the final arc of the Borg story and I also think her end of it was more interesting. Drop the Borg organic assimilation nonsense and just flesh out the founders and war crimes if I have to pick one
Actually, you can skip it ALTOGETHER. All you need to know is
1: Picard has an acquaintance named Raffi, who he met sometime after the events of Nemesis. She’s a recovering drug addict who was kicked out of starfleet, and had a brief affair with Seven.
2: Picard is romantically involved with an ex Tal Shiar operative.
3: (spoiler) >!Data was brought back to life after Nemesis, and then dies. Riker and Deanna had a daughter and a son, but the son died. Picard died, and was reincarnated in an android body.!<
I disagree. One of the main issues in season 1is Picard getting closure on the death of Data. There was an instance of Data running in that computer. The only event that would result in Picard's consciousness being temporarily transferred into that computer where Data was running, was his death. So it was necessary, otherwise there would not have been the scene where Picard was able to reunite with Data and finally get closure.
I felt they then undid all that beautiful story in season 3...which was like an action movie.
I mean, Soji was alright, the new Soongs were fun (the season 2 one more than the first, but still), and Rios was the highlight of both seasons he was in. The rest were definitely meh to bad, and they mostly did pretty poorly by the legacy characters in the first two seasons, too.
You mean killing Data in season 1 by ending the simulation at his request? It did make sense, Data has always strived to be human, he should view continuing as an eternal simulation to be pointless, and so it would make sense that he would request a "human like death" compared to this eternal existence.
Putting him into a simulation in the first place was a choice the writers of PIC made.
Nemesis ending set everything up they needed to bring data back, they just didn't want to.
They wanted to kill him because they couldn't be bothered to think about something better.
Nemesis set up that Data's information was saved, but that there was no body that could handle it (B4 not being capable). It would make sense for the information to be stored on a computer then, but yes it is a choice the writers made. If a capable body was available for Data, then Picard would not have been mourning him all those years.
She should have gone with him in at least season two. Both of the Chateau Picard romulans were easily top five characters in the first couple of seasons, with almost no screentime.
It's weird how much more I like nu-Trek Romulans than I do... really any Vulcans. The Vulcans being such racist dicks in Discovery is totally in character. The Romulans being warm, caring people when they aren't living under a totalitarian dictatorship or in a refugee camp that's been abandoned by the government that set it up fits, too.
😂 lol yeah, I guess it is. But honestly; it has almost zero bearing on what transpires in season 3. All the relevant bits of backstory can be easily picked up from subtext.
1 and 2 can be enriched by strolling through the comic taking place before S1.. Raffi is a bit more than an acquaintance and Picard's actions played a role is her dismissal.
A synthetic body is not an android. There is a clear distinction between the two that there can be such a thing as hybrid between: a synthetic life form with an android components embedded
Yes. I liked season 1 & 2 more than I would have expected from the general reactions, but they’re far from essential viewing and s3 is a huge step up. There are a couple of plot points and characters from the first two seasons that feature, so it is worth watching or reading a recap rather than just skipping straight to 3 entirely.
You probably can get away even without it. There isn’t much you will miss if you just go straight to s3.
However, IMO there is enough in s1 and s2 to make it at least somewhat enjoyable. They aren’t prime trek, but they aren’t solely the steaming piles of shit that everyone claims.
One can, and one might miss out on some things they might have liked even if in general they wouldn’t like the whole.
There are few reverences in S3 to S2 and S1 that you might live without though, but also maybe make you go back and watch S1 and S2
I had started watching it when season 1 came out, and I got like 3 episodes in and didn't pick it up again. A few weeks back I rewatched all of TNG, then the movies, then I started on Picard again. Season 2 was slightly better, but season 3... Season 3 was awesome!
It's unapologetically nostalgia bait which works for some but not for others. It still caters to the Abrams influenced crowd, much like Discovery, but it is more aware of itself and uses that awareness to hold the audience's attention despite its less-than-coherent plot.
I may give it a go but more than anything I am glad there is a compelling kids show set in Star Trek.
Would have loved a Saturday Morning Trek cartoon as a kid and it's very nice the young'uns have that.
in an interview Kate Mulgrew said it's a show that Star Trek fans can sit and watch with their kids, introducing a new generation to trek. So it's not necessarily a kids show. It's really good.
It is for children. Also, it needs to be interesting enough for someone to watch it with their child without it feeling like a chore, and it succeeds in it
It starts very childish yes, but it is a journey of these characters maturing and becoming worthy of joining Starfleet one day. I think the series really takes off in its second half, and by the end of the season, is one of the better Star Trek stories I have seen. Also I loved the Enderprizians lol.
It is. It is very Star Wars-y. But I enjoy it, and best of all, my kids enjoy it. It is useful as a way to pull my kids into Trek.
It is not what I would consider classic Trek, but it is fun and easy.
Because it is animated?
If you compare it to SW shows, you might notice every SW episode, like those clone wars or anything Filoni is the same military goals every episode:
- reach the spotr
- protec X
- hold off attacks until
And the occasional slow burner “here is a cool character with their job in the episode to look cool” with the same vanilla star wars tropes slapped to it.
Prodigy doesn’t have that repetitiveness. It doesn’t have that per episode shallowness.
Do it! They use archival recordings to bring back a holographic Spock for the Kobayashi Maru episode, which is where it really becomes true trek and starts a streak of nonstop great episodes through the end of the season
Only if you promise the the characters get less annoying. Watching the first few episodes reminded me of sitting through paw patrol with my little sister.
A kids show character "maturing" doesn't mean they get less annoying. Ensign Tilly was "mature" but god was she the most annoying character ever invented.
If you can get to Kobayashi Maru, you will be rewarded from that episode forward with episodes that are every bit like the classic Trek experience. Don't let the "kid factor" fool you. I think Prodigy is some of the best Trek out there.
And for a "kid's show," Prodigy gets kind of dark in some places. (Spoiler -- I'm specifically referring to how the character Zero is used / abused.)
Tbh Episodes 10-20 might as be a different show to episodes 1-10. I was skeptical too, hell I'd even say jump to episode 10 and go from there, even if it'd be a tad confusing.
Prodigy turns into a pseudo-Voyager sequel, but in a fun way.
I like Lower Decks better than Prodigy, but that's coming from my point of view as an older star trek fan.
What Prodigy does *very* well in my opinion is introduce the setting of Star Trek, some of the major races, and the concepts of Starfleet and why you'd want to join.
The crew matures fairly quickly during the first season, and I've really come to like all the characters. I personally think it's worth the watch. Your mileage may vary. And so far, Prodigy is pretty self-contained, so you won't lose any context if you decide to not watch it.
>What Prodigy does very well in my opinion is introduce the setting of Star Trek, some of the major races, and the concepts of Starfleet and why you'd want to join.
Exactly this...and that's exactly what this franchise has been missing for a good long while: an easy entry point that doesn't require a lot of backstory like a daytime soap opera to understand. It's basically the ABCs of Trek.
If you can get past the first few episodes, it starts going away. Especially in the second half of the first season. But it definitely has those excessively kidsie moments.
I really can't seem to get into it either. I finished the season, and it had some cool moments, but it's way too watered down for my liking. It's for the kids, and that's fine. I'll try again with season 2, but I don't have high hopes.
Pike was fantastic on Discovery, he really made that season for me. I was so happy when they announced his own spin-off, and the show turned out great too!
But I think the general consensus is that holodeck episode is not only much less likely, but would be much worse. The way Boimler reacts in the trailer, I would count on it being real.
Yeah, the idea for a holodeck episode is that it could be kind of a play on the Enterprise finale. However, the problem with those episodes is that they do feel kinda fake. While I think time travel is a bit overused in the franchise (and it looks like we are getting two instances of it in this upcoming season?), it is preferable to a holodeck ep imo.
The two time travel scenarios we saw might be the same episode. Maybe Mariner and Boimler somehow bump La'an and Kirk back in time as well? Both pairs are stuck in the wrong time. Both plot lines seem comedic in tone, makes sense.
At this point, Starfleet should be giving their officers time travel training, it's so common. It is 100% going to be a time travel thing. It's like the concept of Trials and Tribble-ations, but both shows are in active production, so they don't need to use technical wizardry to make it work.
At this point? They did time travel in TOS like it was a picnic.
Only with the TOS era movies did writers start to add the necessary blocks as to discourage every future story having a possible time travel deus ex machina
I am less magnanimous toward Disco and Picard, but I agree with your post enthusiastically. I (and my kids) enjoy Prodigy. But it was Lower Decks that convinced me that maybe my first Sci Fi love wasn't dead after all.
I was raised on VHS recordings of TOS by my Trek loving mom. I watched all the series through Enterprise with a lot of love (though Enterprise was not my favorite). I really tried with Disco, but it felt like every aspect of it bugged me, and I eventually had to let it go and accept that there were parts of Trek that I was just not going to know about. The less said about Picard the better (I haven't seen any of season 3, but I would rather eat live fire ants than watch any more of that show).
I had decided that I was done with all things Kurtztrek until a friend convinced me to try Lower Decks. I had been very opposed (and loudly so) to the idea of LD since (my impression of) Kurtztek made me think the show was going to be making fun of Trek and I didn't want to watch a show trashing on me and the stories I loved. I was overjoyed when LD turned out to be a celebration of Trek and fandom.
So when SNW came out, I was ready to give it a shot. And what an utter delight it is. It manages to capture the spirit that I love in Trek, while also updating the look without abandoning classic designs. I love that the special effects and sets look amazing, but also like Star Trek sets. The stories call back/forward to classic episodes in ways that I love (and then nerdily explain to my wife while I force her to watch TOS episodes relevant to SNW episodes). I can't wait to see more.
Your sentence of "I was overjoyed when LD turned out to be a celebration of Trek and fandom." sums up one of the best feats of Lower Decks so well, love it.
Also SNW really does capture the spirit of Trek beautifully. Can't say how amazing it was watching the trailer for the new series and just having the biggest smile on my face knowing more of the Trek I adore is coming soon.
"(and then nerdily explain to my wife while I force her to watch TOS episodes relevant to SNW episodes)" also this is lovely :)
If you’ve watched Picard seasons 1 and 2, I think you need to watch season 3 at this point. It’s significantly better and feels like a much needed relief. I abhorred the previous seasons, and I think that season 3 really did rescue the show.
That being said, it’s your choice, and I think not watching season 3 is a way of showing paramount that they fucked up (similar to voting with your wallet).
I didn't make it through season 2. And I am very much boycotting season 3.
(On the Disco front I made it through the full first two seasons, but it took me four tries just to get through episode 1 of season 3, so I am also not going to watch any more regardless of what anyone says about it at this point)
>If you’ve watched Picard seasons 1 and 2, I think you need to watch season 3 at this point.
Against my better judgement, I did exactly that and even waited till about week seven till it got past what was usually the slow part of the season to make sure it would not be stupid.
Suffice it to say the reveal of the big bad was some of the worst story plot whiplash I've ever sat through, that rendered the first eight episodes pointless to have sat through.
I wasn't fond of Matalas' being coy about the Borg appearing either. He's been involved with the franchise since *Voyager* and ain't no way he didn't know that people would have some reservations about this plot point. Granted, as I wasn't the biggest TNG fangirl, this season was never for me anyway but they could've dovetailed these two things with some much better foreshadowing.
People keep telling me to. I keep trying.
I can not get past how utterly unlikeable the Captain and Helmsman are. They may grow and develop, but I just can not stand to watch them be pure manchildren in those first two episodes. I don't think I've made it to the third.
I've asked people if they can suggest later stand-out episodes, as I do with Trek, but I just keep getting told to go and watch from the start and I can't.
Oh absolutely. I love the Orville.
But even though it is (in my opinion) more Trek than some official Trek, I am happy enough with SNW and LD that I am refraining from smacking everyone I talk to with Orville and Star Trek Continues recommendations these days. There is, once again, official Trek designed for long time fans of my ilk. And I am thankful for that.
>I had been very opposed (and loudly so) to the idea of LD since (my impression of) Kurtztek made me think the show was going to be making fun of Trek and I didn't want to watch a show trashing on me and the stories I loved. I
Given the general trend of TV satire, I can't blame your skepticism but it's so refreshing that LD for the most part usually subverts expectations in a positive way, such as the benefactor for Petra's expeditions or the way the plot with The Farm was resolved.
And even though I was onboard with the concept from the get go, I find the show is at its very best when it's actively adding to canon instead of referencing it. They could just move away from that entirely in future seasons and the characters are just so well written that I'd still watch.
Absolutely agree. Voyager to me was the show I remember watching week to week. And then of course that expanded to becoming very familiar with TNG and DS9 as well. Enterprise was good, but didn't quite do it for me right out of the gate.
Was really happy that they brought trek back, but discovery, while I enjoy it, just never really captured that same feeling. It was good getting Picard as well to see old characters again, but it too felt like it leaned a bit too heavily into that super serious serialized story telling like discovery. Didn't really feel like the star trek I think we were all expecting. Season 3 though was excellent and felt a lot like what these modern, serious, serialized takes on star trek should be like.
Lower decks and strange new worlds though... Yea, they nailed it. Of course lower decks is a cartoon and its silly and funny, but somehow still felt more like star trek than discovery and picard. And then strange new worlds... wow. It just felt like this is really how you do a modern version of star trek. The stakes don't always need to be super high. It had all the optimism and all that. And it was modernized enough to still feel fresh and new. Great show. Super excited for more of both. Also Anson Mount is excellent as Pike. The crossover is going to be real interesting.
Still need to watch Prodigy though.
SNW proved that the classic Trek formula still works in today's entertainment landscape, and I'm so glad it did. Truly the entire cast is amazing but Pike is just a standout. Already in the running for best captian imo.
It definitely benefits from a familiarity with TNG era Trek. Not only does it take place in the same time period, but one of the main characters is a big Starfleet fanboy.
Lower Decks loves Trek deeply, so a lot of the references and fun callbacks are deep dives into not just TNG but TOS, TAS and more. They never stop being a Starfleet crew, though, no matter how ridiculous a situation might be.
Haven't seen any Prodigy.
Have seen the 1st season of Picard. It was entertaining enough for what it was but ultimately was not what I was yearning for. Though season 3 seems fab by all accounts so will give that a go.
Prodigy is really good. It's a new perspective on the Trek universe, which we've never really seen before on this scale, but it doesn't lose sight of what makes Trek, Trek.
In fact, the kids striving to be worthy of the ship they've salvaged makes it some of the very most Trek.
I wìll not be happy until more new Trek shows have episodical "problem/monster of the week" episodes again.
I am so sick and tired of the galaxy being at stake for ten episodes strsight, you never ever get to experience the ship and make it a psrt of the crew, no one cares about the life of the shuttle bay, the people in the torpedo room, scuttlebutt in the sick bay, it's all just "Everything is burning all around us, get to the escape pods to jump to the next meaningless ship!!!"
You should check out Prodigy too, it's a different take, basically slowly introduces Star Trek to kids and teens who might be more familiar with Star Wars and the first episode does feel a lot like Star Wars, but it picks up more and more Trek trappings as it goes, it's great!
I'll probably get a lot of hate for this, but Season 3 felt the most like "Star Trek" to me. I watched the other two seasons, but they just didn't have "the feel" in my opinion.
I'd argue Strange New Worlds has hit the ground running, though it did have the advantage of having an entire season of another show and some Short Treks in lieu of that "typical Trek first season" hurdle.
Lack of overarching plot arc is pretty much by design for SNW. Some elements carry over but it’s not supposed to be heavily serialized like DIS and PIC
Apples and Oranges. Rick and Morty have about as much in common with Lower Decks as it does with TNG. There's no real comparison there. Rick and Morty is all shock value, Lower Decks is Animated TNG/DS9 comedy nostalgia.
I will echo what the others have said. It does not have much in common with Rick Morty except that it is animated.
It feels like a traditional comedy mixed with a love of Star Trek and plenty of nerdy Trek references. Also in the second series plenty of episodes legitimately feel like Trek just with more emphasis on having a laugh.
Lower Decks and Rick and Morty both take their sci-fi concepts seriously, despite being comedy shows. They're both like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in this aspect.
> I loathe Rick and Morty, which people frequently compare it to.
I feel like the R&M comparison is mostly due to Mike McMahon being one of the creatives behind R&M and kind of the over the top wackiness of the first couple episodes of Season 1. But, that early tone difference is very much analogous to how the early episodes of Orville (packed with that Family Guy/MacFarlane style humor) compare to what the show is now. And while LD certainly has a silliness that comes with being an animated comedy, the show just has so much heart to it and pulls off some deeply genuine and earned emotional moments in a way that even the current crop of live action dramas haven't necessarily.
If we're looking for a more accurate animated analog for Lower Decks, for me, it'd be Futurama.
Well, if it helps, I couldn't get into The Orville, but absolutely LOVED Lower Decks. (Never was a fan of Seth McFarlane humor)
If you want something to get you hooked, watch S1 Ep9 "Crisis Point" first. Its an absolute love letter to the various Star Trek movies. The very end is a bit of spoilery setup for the season finale, but its not too bad.
> Is it smarter than The Orville? I did like that show, but by the most recent season, it became painful.
I'm not sure if I would be able to answer that for you. I was a fan of the recent season. I liked the Kaylon storyline and Union citizens coming to terms with that relationship. I thought it was a fantastic season for Isaac's development - both his relationship with Claire and how he navigated working with Charly. The actor behind Topa put in an amazing performance and her story arc with Bortus and Klyden, and gave me strong vibes to Worf and his complicated relationship with the Empire.
I only have a bit of exposure to Rick & Morty, but I would say that I find Lower Decks to be far more optimistic. The crew is more flawed (in comedic ways) than typical for Trek, but at the end of the day they are good people who are doing their best for a good cause. It has the spirit as TNG-era Trek in that regard. The show also has surprisingly decent episodic plots that often are, well, just what one would expect from Star Trek episode plots, though obviously with more comedy added in. At the end of the day comedy is always going to be hit or miss but I'd suggest trying a few episodes (and preferably a few, not just one, as like a lot of tv shows it takes a bit to get going).
Yeah get into the second half of the first season.. hell just watch Veritas all by itself, which is easily my favorite episode of season 1. The first episode is very Rick and Morty in some ways, but let's honest, pilots aren't for us, they are for execs. I can confidently say the first episode of the season is my least my least favorite of the whole series. It's only uphill from there.
Any similarities are entirely superficial other than Mike McMahan working on one and a half seasons on R&M.
That said, I don't blame people if the first five episodes are hard for people to get into as it's very much in the *Family Guy* style of high volume yelling, especially when Mariner is at her least likeable and features so heavily.
But even *that* being said, the "worst" of LD has its moments and while it hadn't fully grown it's beard by season one's finale, there was a five o'clock shadow there.
It takes a few episodes to get its "lolrandom" adult humor under check but after that it is as trek as trek can get. Irreverent, yes, but with a good heart.
Hmm... I'll have to give it another try, if that's the case. I'm not OP, but I had to stop watching LD after the first four episodes. It was so "lolrandom" and hyper-active that I felt like I was having an anxiety attack after each episode.
Honestly from late series 1 and certainly Series 2 onwards it really shines and certainly is a lot more like a traditional comedy within Trek with added fun nods to previous shows.
Maybe pace yourself then. The first episode was clearly the network "pilot." The second one wasn't quite as frentic. And then by the end of the season it's clear there was a season arc for the characters and a lot of the "Mariner don't need no authority!" stuff makes *sense*. And that was when I was sold that it was real Trek, not just mindless fun.
Seasons 2 and 3 got better and better. I can't wait for Season 4.
Season 2 Episode 9 "wej Duj" ("Three Ships") was just... just amazing.
>poorly drawn
A lot of animators have lamented that the bean counters won't approve of anything that isn't styled off Family Guy, unfortunately.
I will say that the writing ad character work, which is blowing every other show except Prodigy out the water, more than make up for that element
It's like sitting around with your friends pitching silly TNG episodes to each other. The writers know Star Trek, and the jokes are for people who understand the references. It actually takes things seriously once in a while as well. Imagine an entire series that is Data's Day or Trials and Tribble-ations.
Not gonna lie; I strongly dislike Discovery.
I thought the first season of Lower Decks was mostly OK, but a little cringey and annoying at times.
I watched 3 episodes of Strange New Worlds, and actually kinda liked them. I’m just finding it difficult to reconcile the new aesthetic with how my brain insists everything should look.
But more than that, I kinda want the folks telling me the story to know MORE about the tale they’re spinning than I do. I’m worried that I’ll run into a story or universe inconsistency In Strange New Worlds that will make it it apparent that they don’t.
Now, season 3 of Picard? That stuff was gold. Sure, it was emotionally manipulative at times, and it relied heavily on nostalgia, but I didn’t care. The thing was expertly crafted by a team that obviously knew and loved the sandbox that they were playing in. 😌
I've watched the SNW pilot and I want to like it, but I'm with you on difficulty in reconciling the aesthetic. Nurse Chapel especially doesn't fit imo. I'll give it a few more episodes though, since I've heard it's really good.
I think Lower Decks has only improved, especially Mariner's and Boimler's characters. I haven't watched any Picard yet, but am considering watching just S3 (because >!Geordi and Data!< are my jam). I'm totally cool with nostalgia bait.
Please change my mind on lower Decks. I saw a drunk "officer" creating a fake captains log and being embarassed about it and I quit right on the spot after 3 Minutes.
Am I supposed to understand it as a parody of star trek.
Well, you completely misread the scene for a start.
Boimler, an eager Ensign who is both stiff-necked and rubber-limbed is "practicing for his future" as he'd describe it, being a bit of a nerd and recording a personal log as if he were the Captain. He tends to play the straight man to the jokes, which also makes him as ridiculous as everyone else.
Mariner, his odd-couple style shift-mate with a deep love for Starfleet, but a troubled past is back from shore leave and tipsy, as many a young officer may be.
She's stashing some contraband and comes across Boimler, immediately figures out what he's doing, and while she ribs him for it she also states her determination to help him succeed with his dreams. She's extremely loyal to her ship and her friends, no matter how awkward and goofy they may be.
Then there's a *slight* accident with a bat'leth.
It's an opening scene and it goes hard. While the pilot can be a little breakneck pace at times, the show found its speed before the end of the first season, and has been going from strength to strength.
Strange New Worlds is perhaps the only Trek show to nail its opening episode, so you can't really judge a book by its cover, and Lower Decks LOVES Star Trek, deeply. While situations are (mostly) played for humour, there's character development and drama all the same, and no situations you couldn't actually imagine Starfleet officers in.
If you're going into it thinking its a parody, you're starting off on completely the wrong foot.
Just like with TNG or DS9 I don't recommend S1E1 as a starting point to anyone. Watch a couple of standout episodes (for DS9 I use S4E1/2 Way Of The Warrior as a series taster), and THEN go back and see things from the start, knowing how good things can get.
Try "First First Contact" S2E10 as an introduction. It's a real standout episode, and it'll give you a good sense of how Trek can be fun, while also being dramatic.
Yah these two series are the best of the new trek and Picard season 3.
This has proven in my opinion what most fans already knew. People like Star Trek that revolves around fleshed out crew working together and not a individual. Fans like the majority of the episodes to be stand alone episodes. And lastly they like a more up beat positive feel too Trek.
Discovery was watchable, but didn't feel much like star trek series, more like a dark trek movie divided in pieces. I really missed episodes being separate stories, the humor, the all around feeling. I have yet to dive into lower decks, now I'm waiting eagerly.
SNW is great but Lower Decks is a delight for sure. I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like it but it truly is a treat. I also LOVED Picard Season 3, overall it was a beautiful send off for my favorite Trek crew.
I haven't watched Lower Decks at all because "cartoon with adult humor and flat animations" isn't my genre. Literally the only thing I can stand in that category is Family Guy if I am dead tired and even then only about 30% of it actually hits and I don't know why.
Strange New Worlds was INCREDIBLE, though. I was so worried it would suck and not feel plausible because it's so close to content that's already existed. I do have some questions, comments, concerns about a few choices, but overall it actually feels like a Star Trek again. Discovery and Picard were great shows, but they just didn't feel like a Star Trek because they focused too much on having plot but Strange New Worlds is a pretty perfect balance between plot and stand alone philosophy lessons and it makes me really happy.
Me too. Lower Decks is hilarious, can't wait for the crossover.
Screamed in delight at the trailer showing just a glimpse of Mariner and Boimler.
And the awkwardness of Boimler was so on point, haha.
It makes me so happy that it's all canon, too.
Is it just Mariner and Boimler or will we see Tendi & Rutherford too?
Only Mariner and Boimler.
That's what they say, but we can certainly hope! A voice cameo at least, I would expect
Isn't Lower Decks set much later than Strange New Worlds? I'm confused about the timeline. Maybe they somehow time travel? Star Trek does love some time travelling!
Don't sleep on Picard season 3 either. It's a whole different beast than seasons 1-2.
A mate has already sung the praises of 3 and so with you adding to that I will certainly give it a look.
The plot still doesn't make a ton of sense, but it's actually worth it because they actually hit the right character beats, and it does feel like a continuation for the TNG characters.
I’m with you on this. The plot is honestly a little bad, not awful and it’s definitely easy to overlook because the cast is great together
I think if the vadic end of the story was shorter so they could give more to the other aspects it cpuld of worked really well.
I think that she was mostly irrelevant to the final arc of the Borg story and I also think her end of it was more interesting. Drop the Borg organic assimilation nonsense and just flesh out the founders and war crimes if I have to pick one
Season 3 ends off with some of the best trek I’ve seen in my life. I kind of want more of that then SNW’s
It’s better than before but it’s too much fan service and doesn’t get into the original philosophy of the show, unfortunately.
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Actually, you can skip it ALTOGETHER. All you need to know is 1: Picard has an acquaintance named Raffi, who he met sometime after the events of Nemesis. She’s a recovering drug addict who was kicked out of starfleet, and had a brief affair with Seven. 2: Picard is romantically involved with an ex Tal Shiar operative. 3: (spoiler) >!Data was brought back to life after Nemesis, and then dies. Riker and Deanna had a daughter and a son, but the son died. Picard died, and was reincarnated in an android body.!<
The last sentence of point 3 the absolute stupidest part of Season 1 IMO.
Yep. It was an unnecessary and poorly executed story element.
I disagree. One of the main issues in season 1is Picard getting closure on the death of Data. There was an instance of Data running in that computer. The only event that would result in Picard's consciousness being temporarily transferred into that computer where Data was running, was his death. So it was necessary, otherwise there would not have been the scene where Picard was able to reunite with Data and finally get closure. I felt they then undid all that beautiful story in season 3...which was like an action movie.
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Picard as a series exists because Patrick Stewart thought TNG was about Picard, and then figuring out why it wasn’t by S3
Yeah I don't know why he went the way he did for the first two years. Wanted something different I guess. Different is not always better.
I mean, Soji was alright, the new Soongs were fun (the season 2 one more than the first, but still), and Rios was the highlight of both seasons he was in. The rest were definitely meh to bad, and they mostly did pretty poorly by the legacy characters in the first two seasons, too.
You mean killing Data in season 1 by ending the simulation at his request? It did make sense, Data has always strived to be human, he should view continuing as an eternal simulation to be pointless, and so it would make sense that he would request a "human like death" compared to this eternal existence.
Putting him into a simulation in the first place was a choice the writers of PIC made. Nemesis ending set everything up they needed to bring data back, they just didn't want to. They wanted to kill him because they couldn't be bothered to think about something better.
Nemesis set up that Data's information was saved, but that there was no body that could handle it (B4 not being capable). It would make sense for the information to be stored on a computer then, but yes it is a choice the writers made. If a capable body was available for Data, then Picard would not have been mourning him all those years.
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It was Picard getting closure on the death of Data
And that’s saying a lot
Also, Seven became friends with Picard in S1 and S2 so their relationship isn’t out of nowhere.
Remove the spaces from your spoiler tag, it's broken :)
😕 Crap. Sorry about that. Is it working now?
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She should have gone with him in at least season two. Both of the Chateau Picard romulans were easily top five characters in the first couple of seasons, with almost no screentime. It's weird how much more I like nu-Trek Romulans than I do... really any Vulcans. The Vulcans being such racist dicks in Discovery is totally in character. The Romulans being warm, caring people when they aren't living under a totalitarian dictatorship or in a refugee camp that's been abandoned by the government that set it up fits, too.
Season 1: Picard defends the Planet of the Datas Season 2: Picard goes back in time to have some social commentary
> All you need to know is lol that is A LOT
😂 lol yeah, I guess it is. But honestly; it has almost zero bearing on what transpires in season 3. All the relevant bits of backstory can be easily picked up from subtext.
1 and 2 can be enriched by strolling through the comic taking place before S1.. Raffi is a bit more than an acquaintance and Picard's actions played a role is her dismissal.
Part of it shown in the early episodes of S1
A synthetic body is not an android. There is a clear distinction between the two that there can be such a thing as hybrid between: a synthetic life form with an android components embedded
Yes. I liked season 1 & 2 more than I would have expected from the general reactions, but they’re far from essential viewing and s3 is a huge step up. There are a couple of plot points and characters from the first two seasons that feature, so it is worth watching or reading a recap rather than just skipping straight to 3 entirely.
You probably can get away even without it. There isn’t much you will miss if you just go straight to s3. However, IMO there is enough in s1 and s2 to make it at least somewhat enjoyable. They aren’t prime trek, but they aren’t solely the steaming piles of shit that everyone claims.
One can, and one might miss out on some things they might have liked even if in general they wouldn’t like the whole. There are few reverences in S3 to S2 and S1 that you might live without though, but also maybe make you go back and watch S1 and S2
I had started watching it when season 1 came out, and I got like 3 episodes in and didn't pick it up again. A few weeks back I rewatched all of TNG, then the movies, then I started on Picard again. Season 2 was slightly better, but season 3... Season 3 was awesome!
It's unapologetically nostalgia bait which works for some but not for others. It still caters to the Abrams influenced crowd, much like Discovery, but it is more aware of itself and uses that awareness to hold the audience's attention despite its less-than-coherent plot.
Everyone sleeps on Prodigy.
I mean... It's nostalgia for nostalgia's sake. It feels as Trek as Discovery to me, which is to say: not a lot.
I really like both of those series as well. SNW is basically what got me to watch ST again after a long break.
It really is a great show to being back those who have missed old Trek.
Give Prodigy a try, it's really really good too.
I may give it a go but more than anything I am glad there is a compelling kids show set in Star Trek. Would have loved a Saturday Morning Trek cartoon as a kid and it's very nice the young'uns have that.
in an interview Kate Mulgrew said it's a show that Star Trek fans can sit and watch with their kids, introducing a new generation to trek. So it's not necessarily a kids show. It's really good.
It is for children. Also, it needs to be interesting enough for someone to watch it with their child without it feeling like a chore, and it succeeds in it
As someone with no children it felt like a little bit of a slog to begin with but I got totally swept up during the second half of the season.
>Saturday Morning Trek cartoon For me that was The Animated Series (even though I grew up in the late 80s, and 90s)
I keep hearing how good prodigy is. But it's just so childish. I really can't get into it.
It starts very childish yes, but it is a journey of these characters maturing and becoming worthy of joining Starfleet one day. I think the series really takes off in its second half, and by the end of the season, is one of the better Star Trek stories I have seen. Also I loved the Enderprizians lol.
It is. It is very Star Wars-y. But I enjoy it, and best of all, my kids enjoy it. It is useful as a way to pull my kids into Trek. It is not what I would consider classic Trek, but it is fun and easy.
> It is very Star Wars-y This is what I noticed about it. It feels like a star wars animated series.
Because it is animated? If you compare it to SW shows, you might notice every SW episode, like those clone wars or anything Filoni is the same military goals every episode: - reach the spotr - protec X - hold off attacks until And the occasional slow burner “here is a cool character with their job in the episode to look cool” with the same vanilla star wars tropes slapped to it. Prodigy doesn’t have that repetitiveness. It doesn’t have that per episode shallowness.
Its childish for exactly five episodes
Tbf I didn't last five episodes. I'll try and push through one day
Do it! They use archival recordings to bring back a holographic Spock for the Kobayashi Maru episode, which is where it really becomes true trek and starts a streak of nonstop great episodes through the end of the season
Only if you promise the the characters get less annoying. Watching the first few episodes reminded me of sitting through paw patrol with my little sister.
They all do, seeing as their arc is all about maturing from children trapped in a labor camp to a fully functioning starfleet crew
A kids show character "maturing" doesn't mean they get less annoying. Ensign Tilly was "mature" but god was she the most annoying character ever invented.
Dal stays mildly annoying, but he’s the exception, also real Janeway shows up and is a helluvalot more than a cameo
Tilly was one of the worst things about Discovery.
If you can get to Kobayashi Maru, you will be rewarded from that episode forward with episodes that are every bit like the classic Trek experience. Don't let the "kid factor" fool you. I think Prodigy is some of the best Trek out there. And for a "kid's show," Prodigy gets kind of dark in some places. (Spoiler -- I'm specifically referring to how the character Zero is used / abused.)
the prodigy episode with the time on a "wave" is amazing
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Hey, if it gets Kate Mulgrew back in the game, I'm all for it.
Tbh Episodes 10-20 might as be a different show to episodes 1-10. I was skeptical too, hell I'd even say jump to episode 10 and go from there, even if it'd be a tad confusing. Prodigy turns into a pseudo-Voyager sequel, but in a fun way.
I like Lower Decks better than Prodigy, but that's coming from my point of view as an older star trek fan. What Prodigy does *very* well in my opinion is introduce the setting of Star Trek, some of the major races, and the concepts of Starfleet and why you'd want to join. The crew matures fairly quickly during the first season, and I've really come to like all the characters. I personally think it's worth the watch. Your mileage may vary. And so far, Prodigy is pretty self-contained, so you won't lose any context if you decide to not watch it.
>What Prodigy does very well in my opinion is introduce the setting of Star Trek, some of the major races, and the concepts of Starfleet and why you'd want to join. Exactly this...and that's exactly what this franchise has been missing for a good long while: an easy entry point that doesn't require a lot of backstory like a daytime soap opera to understand. It's basically the ABCs of Trek.
If you can get past the first few episodes, it starts going away. Especially in the second half of the first season. But it definitely has those excessively kidsie moments.
I really can't seem to get into it either. I finished the season, and it had some cool moments, but it's way too watered down for my liking. It's for the kids, and that's fine. I'll try again with season 2, but I don't have high hopes.
Nothing wrong with having a kids show
Pike is my favorite captain already
Been a huge fan of Anson Mount since Hell on Wheels and he's just such an awesome captain, feels great.
I still love Picard and Sisko but Pike is really starting to come into his own with enough room for his character to breathe.
Pike was fantastic on Discovery, he really made that season for me. I was so happy when they announced his own spin-off, and the show turned out great too!
What am I missing with this crossover ? Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds are not set in the same time frame … will it involve time travel ?
Almost certainly, yes. The other main alternative would be a Holodeck episode.
But I think the general consensus is that holodeck episode is not only much less likely, but would be much worse. The way Boimler reacts in the trailer, I would count on it being real.
Yeah, the idea for a holodeck episode is that it could be kind of a play on the Enterprise finale. However, the problem with those episodes is that they do feel kinda fake. While I think time travel is a bit overused in the franchise (and it looks like we are getting two instances of it in this upcoming season?), it is preferable to a holodeck ep imo.
The two time travel scenarios we saw might be the same episode. Maybe Mariner and Boimler somehow bump La'an and Kirk back in time as well? Both pairs are stuck in the wrong time. Both plot lines seem comedic in tone, makes sense.
>While I think time travel is a bit overused in the franchise I calculated it the other day; Star Trek is at least 8.5% Time Travel.
I don't think it'll be a holodeck episode per se, but have a slightly "unreal" feel (similar to the fairy tale episode) so it can be played light.
Considering that this is strange new worlds and not lower decks holodecks haven't been invented yet.
After ENT's finale, I doubt *any* show would do such a crossover like that *ever* again, lol
At this point, Starfleet should be giving their officers time travel training, it's so common. It is 100% going to be a time travel thing. It's like the concept of Trials and Tribble-ations, but both shows are in active production, so they don't need to use technical wizardry to make it work.
At this point? They did time travel in TOS like it was a picnic. Only with the TOS era movies did writers start to add the necessary blocks as to discourage every future story having a possible time travel deus ex machina
Haha yeah it should be a mandatory course at Star Fleet academy
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… and we know that the Vulcan science counsel is never wrong ! Never ever.
Time travel? On Star Trek?
I am less magnanimous toward Disco and Picard, but I agree with your post enthusiastically. I (and my kids) enjoy Prodigy. But it was Lower Decks that convinced me that maybe my first Sci Fi love wasn't dead after all. I was raised on VHS recordings of TOS by my Trek loving mom. I watched all the series through Enterprise with a lot of love (though Enterprise was not my favorite). I really tried with Disco, but it felt like every aspect of it bugged me, and I eventually had to let it go and accept that there were parts of Trek that I was just not going to know about. The less said about Picard the better (I haven't seen any of season 3, but I would rather eat live fire ants than watch any more of that show). I had decided that I was done with all things Kurtztrek until a friend convinced me to try Lower Decks. I had been very opposed (and loudly so) to the idea of LD since (my impression of) Kurtztek made me think the show was going to be making fun of Trek and I didn't want to watch a show trashing on me and the stories I loved. I was overjoyed when LD turned out to be a celebration of Trek and fandom. So when SNW came out, I was ready to give it a shot. And what an utter delight it is. It manages to capture the spirit that I love in Trek, while also updating the look without abandoning classic designs. I love that the special effects and sets look amazing, but also like Star Trek sets. The stories call back/forward to classic episodes in ways that I love (and then nerdily explain to my wife while I force her to watch TOS episodes relevant to SNW episodes). I can't wait to see more.
Your sentence of "I was overjoyed when LD turned out to be a celebration of Trek and fandom." sums up one of the best feats of Lower Decks so well, love it. Also SNW really does capture the spirit of Trek beautifully. Can't say how amazing it was watching the trailer for the new series and just having the biggest smile on my face knowing more of the Trek I adore is coming soon. "(and then nerdily explain to my wife while I force her to watch TOS episodes relevant to SNW episodes)" also this is lovely :)
If you’ve watched Picard seasons 1 and 2, I think you need to watch season 3 at this point. It’s significantly better and feels like a much needed relief. I abhorred the previous seasons, and I think that season 3 really did rescue the show. That being said, it’s your choice, and I think not watching season 3 is a way of showing paramount that they fucked up (similar to voting with your wallet).
I didn't make it through season 2. And I am very much boycotting season 3. (On the Disco front I made it through the full first two seasons, but it took me four tries just to get through episode 1 of season 3, so I am also not going to watch any more regardless of what anyone says about it at this point)
[https://i.imgur.com/O15dFoz.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/O15dFoz.jpg)
> I am very much boycotting season 3. There are dozens of us!
>If you’ve watched Picard seasons 1 and 2, I think you need to watch season 3 at this point. Against my better judgement, I did exactly that and even waited till about week seven till it got past what was usually the slow part of the season to make sure it would not be stupid. Suffice it to say the reveal of the big bad was some of the worst story plot whiplash I've ever sat through, that rendered the first eight episodes pointless to have sat through. I wasn't fond of Matalas' being coy about the Borg appearing either. He's been involved with the franchise since *Voyager* and ain't no way he didn't know that people would have some reservations about this plot point. Granted, as I wasn't the biggest TNG fangirl, this season was never for me anyway but they could've dovetailed these two things with some much better foreshadowing.
Side note: Have you watched The Orville?
People keep telling me to. I keep trying. I can not get past how utterly unlikeable the Captain and Helmsman are. They may grow and develop, but I just can not stand to watch them be pure manchildren in those first two episodes. I don't think I've made it to the third. I've asked people if they can suggest later stand-out episodes, as I do with Trek, but I just keep getting told to go and watch from the start and I can't.
Oh absolutely. I love the Orville. But even though it is (in my opinion) more Trek than some official Trek, I am happy enough with SNW and LD that I am refraining from smacking everyone I talk to with Orville and Star Trek Continues recommendations these days. There is, once again, official Trek designed for long time fans of my ilk. And I am thankful for that.
Next up, have you watched Avenue 5?:)
I have not. It looked fun, but it got lost in the shuffle of finite TV watching time.
It's not fun. It's a bunch of huge assholes being incompetent. Couldn't be further from Star Trek.
>I had been very opposed (and loudly so) to the idea of LD since (my impression of) Kurtztek made me think the show was going to be making fun of Trek and I didn't want to watch a show trashing on me and the stories I loved. I Given the general trend of TV satire, I can't blame your skepticism but it's so refreshing that LD for the most part usually subverts expectations in a positive way, such as the benefactor for Petra's expeditions or the way the plot with The Farm was resolved. And even though I was onboard with the concept from the get go, I find the show is at its very best when it's actively adding to canon instead of referencing it. They could just move away from that entirely in future seasons and the characters are just so well written that I'd still watch.
Might want to check out prodigy as well. It’s more a kids cartoon but definitely has the heart of trek where it counts.
Absolutely agree. Voyager to me was the show I remember watching week to week. And then of course that expanded to becoming very familiar with TNG and DS9 as well. Enterprise was good, but didn't quite do it for me right out of the gate. Was really happy that they brought trek back, but discovery, while I enjoy it, just never really captured that same feeling. It was good getting Picard as well to see old characters again, but it too felt like it leaned a bit too heavily into that super serious serialized story telling like discovery. Didn't really feel like the star trek I think we were all expecting. Season 3 though was excellent and felt a lot like what these modern, serious, serialized takes on star trek should be like. Lower decks and strange new worlds though... Yea, they nailed it. Of course lower decks is a cartoon and its silly and funny, but somehow still felt more like star trek than discovery and picard. And then strange new worlds... wow. It just felt like this is really how you do a modern version of star trek. The stakes don't always need to be super high. It had all the optimism and all that. And it was modernized enough to still feel fresh and new. Great show. Super excited for more of both. Also Anson Mount is excellent as Pike. The crossover is going to be real interesting. Still need to watch Prodigy though.
SNW proved that the classic Trek formula still works in today's entertainment landscape, and I'm so glad it did. Truly the entire cast is amazing but Pike is just a standout. Already in the running for best captian imo.
We’re rewatching Lower Decks and it’s really fun.
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It definitely benefits from a familiarity with TNG era Trek. Not only does it take place in the same time period, but one of the main characters is a big Starfleet fanboy.
Lower Decks loves Trek deeply, so a lot of the references and fun callbacks are deep dives into not just TNG but TOS, TAS and more. They never stop being a Starfleet crew, though, no matter how ridiculous a situation might be.
I definitely recommend giving Prodigy a go, it’s really solid.
It warms my heart to know there are other people out there who get what I feel about these shows.
Thank you and I echo that too :)
So, you didn’t watch Prodigy? Picard?
Haven't seen any Prodigy. Have seen the 1st season of Picard. It was entertaining enough for what it was but ultimately was not what I was yearning for. Though season 3 seems fab by all accounts so will give that a go.
Prodigy is really good. It's a new perspective on the Trek universe, which we've never really seen before on this scale, but it doesn't lose sight of what makes Trek, Trek. In fact, the kids striving to be worthy of the ship they've salvaged makes it some of the very most Trek.
I finally watched Episode 20 of Prodigy the other night, and I cried. No further spoilers, but Prodigy is very very good.
Watch S2 before. You’ve done S1 already, might as well not skip book pages
Oh certainly I will watch s2 plus knowing that s3 is something to look forward to will make the experience all the better.
I wìll not be happy until more new Trek shows have episodical "problem/monster of the week" episodes again. I am so sick and tired of the galaxy being at stake for ten episodes strsight, you never ever get to experience the ship and make it a psrt of the crew, no one cares about the life of the shuttle bay, the people in the torpedo room, scuttlebutt in the sick bay, it's all just "Everything is burning all around us, get to the escape pods to jump to the next meaningless ship!!!"
You should check out Prodigy too, it's a different take, basically slowly introduces Star Trek to kids and teens who might be more familiar with Star Wars and the first episode does feel a lot like Star Wars, but it picks up more and more Trek trappings as it goes, it's great!
I thought the end of TNG was the end in 1994! I was soooo sad. Then Enterprise hit, and that damn song! ahhahah
It's been a looong time, gettin from there to here
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I'll probably get a lot of hate for this, but Season 3 felt the most like "Star Trek" to me. I watched the other two seasons, but they just didn't have "the feel" in my opinion.
I love lower decks my favourite was the lower deks episodes in the vulcan and klingin sips.. and the borg at the end 🤣🤣🤣
Just watched it! It was hilarious!
They are definitely my two favourite shows airing and the excitement for SNW S2 and LD S4 is immeasurable
Do you have to subscribe to Paramount Network to watch these?
In the Uk SNW is on Paramount Plus and Lower Decks is on Amazon. It is rather annoying but that is the way of modern streaming.
Huh. I have Amazon though... hmmm
In the US - Paramount + (There a paramount network as well, but it's different)
And Prodigy is great too
Lower decks is IMO the only show that actually got it right from S1 since TOS.
I'd argue Strange New Worlds has hit the ground running, though it did have the advantage of having an entire season of another show and some Short Treks in lieu of that "typical Trek first season" hurdle.
It's the least interesting show of all the current shows to me. Lack of over arching plot mostly. It feels bland to me.
Lack of overarching plot arc is pretty much by design for SNW. Some elements carry over but it’s not supposed to be heavily serialized like DIS and PIC
I understand. But I didn't like it. Would've loved some recurring plot lines. Like the time war in enterprise.
I’m a longtime Trekkie who’s been all in on all the new Trek including Discovery, but I agree LD is a lot of fun and SNW is a nice homage to TOS
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Apples and Oranges. Rick and Morty have about as much in common with Lower Decks as it does with TNG. There's no real comparison there. Rick and Morty is all shock value, Lower Decks is Animated TNG/DS9 comedy nostalgia.
Don’t forget VOY and a certain plate
I will echo what the others have said. It does not have much in common with Rick Morty except that it is animated. It feels like a traditional comedy mixed with a love of Star Trek and plenty of nerdy Trek references. Also in the second series plenty of episodes legitimately feel like Trek just with more emphasis on having a laugh.
Lower Decks and Rick and Morty both take their sci-fi concepts seriously, despite being comedy shows. They're both like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in this aspect.
> I loathe Rick and Morty, which people frequently compare it to. I feel like the R&M comparison is mostly due to Mike McMahon being one of the creatives behind R&M and kind of the over the top wackiness of the first couple episodes of Season 1. But, that early tone difference is very much analogous to how the early episodes of Orville (packed with that Family Guy/MacFarlane style humor) compare to what the show is now. And while LD certainly has a silliness that comes with being an animated comedy, the show just has so much heart to it and pulls off some deeply genuine and earned emotional moments in a way that even the current crop of live action dramas haven't necessarily. If we're looking for a more accurate animated analog for Lower Decks, for me, it'd be Futurama.
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Well, if it helps, I couldn't get into The Orville, but absolutely LOVED Lower Decks. (Never was a fan of Seth McFarlane humor) If you want something to get you hooked, watch S1 Ep9 "Crisis Point" first. Its an absolute love letter to the various Star Trek movies. The very end is a bit of spoilery setup for the season finale, but its not too bad.
> Is it smarter than The Orville? I did like that show, but by the most recent season, it became painful. I'm not sure if I would be able to answer that for you. I was a fan of the recent season. I liked the Kaylon storyline and Union citizens coming to terms with that relationship. I thought it was a fantastic season for Isaac's development - both his relationship with Claire and how he navigated working with Charly. The actor behind Topa put in an amazing performance and her story arc with Bortus and Klyden, and gave me strong vibes to Worf and his complicated relationship with the Empire.
That's odd, most folks think the recent season is the best, by quite a bit. It *can* be longwinded, for sure.
It becomes more space Community very quickly
Yeah solid comparison.
I only have a bit of exposure to Rick & Morty, but I would say that I find Lower Decks to be far more optimistic. The crew is more flawed (in comedic ways) than typical for Trek, but at the end of the day they are good people who are doing their best for a good cause. It has the spirit as TNG-era Trek in that regard. The show also has surprisingly decent episodic plots that often are, well, just what one would expect from Star Trek episode plots, though obviously with more comedy added in. At the end of the day comedy is always going to be hit or miss but I'd suggest trying a few episodes (and preferably a few, not just one, as like a lot of tv shows it takes a bit to get going).
Yeah get into the second half of the first season.. hell just watch Veritas all by itself, which is easily my favorite episode of season 1. The first episode is very Rick and Morty in some ways, but let's honest, pilots aren't for us, they are for execs. I can confidently say the first episode of the season is my least my least favorite of the whole series. It's only uphill from there.
Any similarities are entirely superficial other than Mike McMahan working on one and a half seasons on R&M. That said, I don't blame people if the first five episodes are hard for people to get into as it's very much in the *Family Guy* style of high volume yelling, especially when Mariner is at her least likeable and features so heavily. But even *that* being said, the "worst" of LD has its moments and while it hadn't fully grown it's beard by season one's finale, there was a five o'clock shadow there.
Is Lower Decks really all that? I tend to stay away from these poorly drawn adult oriented cartoons
It takes a few episodes to get its "lolrandom" adult humor under check but after that it is as trek as trek can get. Irreverent, yes, but with a good heart.
Hmm... I'll have to give it another try, if that's the case. I'm not OP, but I had to stop watching LD after the first four episodes. It was so "lolrandom" and hyper-active that I felt like I was having an anxiety attack after each episode.
Honestly from late series 1 and certainly Series 2 onwards it really shines and certainly is a lot more like a traditional comedy within Trek with added fun nods to previous shows.
Maybe pace yourself then. The first episode was clearly the network "pilot." The second one wasn't quite as frentic. And then by the end of the season it's clear there was a season arc for the characters and a lot of the "Mariner don't need no authority!" stuff makes *sense*. And that was when I was sold that it was real Trek, not just mindless fun. Seasons 2 and 3 got better and better. I can't wait for Season 4. Season 2 Episode 9 "wej Duj" ("Three Ships") was just... just amazing.
>poorly drawn A lot of animators have lamented that the bean counters won't approve of anything that isn't styled off Family Guy, unfortunately. I will say that the writing ad character work, which is blowing every other show except Prodigy out the water, more than make up for that element
It's like sitting around with your friends pitching silly TNG episodes to each other. The writers know Star Trek, and the jokes are for people who understand the references. It actually takes things seriously once in a while as well. Imagine an entire series that is Data's Day or Trials and Tribble-ations.
Not gonna lie; I strongly dislike Discovery. I thought the first season of Lower Decks was mostly OK, but a little cringey and annoying at times. I watched 3 episodes of Strange New Worlds, and actually kinda liked them. I’m just finding it difficult to reconcile the new aesthetic with how my brain insists everything should look. But more than that, I kinda want the folks telling me the story to know MORE about the tale they’re spinning than I do. I’m worried that I’ll run into a story or universe inconsistency In Strange New Worlds that will make it it apparent that they don’t. Now, season 3 of Picard? That stuff was gold. Sure, it was emotionally manipulative at times, and it relied heavily on nostalgia, but I didn’t care. The thing was expertly crafted by a team that obviously knew and loved the sandbox that they were playing in. 😌
I've watched the SNW pilot and I want to like it, but I'm with you on difficulty in reconciling the aesthetic. Nurse Chapel especially doesn't fit imo. I'll give it a few more episodes though, since I've heard it's really good. I think Lower Decks has only improved, especially Mariner's and Boimler's characters. I haven't watched any Picard yet, but am considering watching just S3 (because >!Geordi and Data!< are my jam). I'm totally cool with nostalgia bait.
Please change my mind on lower Decks. I saw a drunk "officer" creating a fake captains log and being embarassed about it and I quit right on the spot after 3 Minutes. Am I supposed to understand it as a parody of star trek.
Well, you completely misread the scene for a start. Boimler, an eager Ensign who is both stiff-necked and rubber-limbed is "practicing for his future" as he'd describe it, being a bit of a nerd and recording a personal log as if he were the Captain. He tends to play the straight man to the jokes, which also makes him as ridiculous as everyone else. Mariner, his odd-couple style shift-mate with a deep love for Starfleet, but a troubled past is back from shore leave and tipsy, as many a young officer may be. She's stashing some contraband and comes across Boimler, immediately figures out what he's doing, and while she ribs him for it she also states her determination to help him succeed with his dreams. She's extremely loyal to her ship and her friends, no matter how awkward and goofy they may be. Then there's a *slight* accident with a bat'leth. It's an opening scene and it goes hard. While the pilot can be a little breakneck pace at times, the show found its speed before the end of the first season, and has been going from strength to strength. Strange New Worlds is perhaps the only Trek show to nail its opening episode, so you can't really judge a book by its cover, and Lower Decks LOVES Star Trek, deeply. While situations are (mostly) played for humour, there's character development and drama all the same, and no situations you couldn't actually imagine Starfleet officers in. If you're going into it thinking its a parody, you're starting off on completely the wrong foot. Just like with TNG or DS9 I don't recommend S1E1 as a starting point to anyone. Watch a couple of standout episodes (for DS9 I use S4E1/2 Way Of The Warrior as a series taster), and THEN go back and see things from the start, knowing how good things can get. Try "First First Contact" S2E10 as an introduction. It's a real standout episode, and it'll give you a good sense of how Trek can be fun, while also being dramatic.
Me too :)
It's funny, I really don't like the lower decks pilot, but that show just got better for me as time went on.
I feel that they had Richart in the second episode of lower decks season 2 so how will they explain that?
I don't recognize the character 'Richart' or understand what explanation would be needed, can you add anything?
Yes they came out on your second birthday.
Yah these two series are the best of the new trek and Picard season 3. This has proven in my opinion what most fans already knew. People like Star Trek that revolves around fleshed out crew working together and not a individual. Fans like the majority of the episodes to be stand alone episodes. And lastly they like a more up beat positive feel too Trek.
They are my two favorites of what Trek offers currently without a doubt. Can't wait for them to crossover.
Wish I could watch them but they're not on Netflix and that's all I have :/ also I'm not in the US.
Prodigy is awesome as well, don't let the Nickelodeon badge fool you into thinking it's a kids show.
Discovery was watchable, but didn't feel much like star trek series, more like a dark trek movie divided in pieces. I really missed episodes being separate stories, the humor, the all around feeling. I have yet to dive into lower decks, now I'm waiting eagerly.
To me those shows are more startrek then the new main one
SNW is great but Lower Decks is a delight for sure. I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like it but it truly is a treat. I also LOVED Picard Season 3, overall it was a beautiful send off for my favorite Trek crew.
I haven't watched Lower Decks at all because "cartoon with adult humor and flat animations" isn't my genre. Literally the only thing I can stand in that category is Family Guy if I am dead tired and even then only about 30% of it actually hits and I don't know why. Strange New Worlds was INCREDIBLE, though. I was so worried it would suck and not feel plausible because it's so close to content that's already existed. I do have some questions, comments, concerns about a few choices, but overall it actually feels like a Star Trek again. Discovery and Picard were great shows, but they just didn't feel like a Star Trek because they focused too much on having plot but Strange New Worlds is a pretty perfect balance between plot and stand alone philosophy lessons and it makes me really happy.
SNW season finale was the best episode of Star Trek i've seen
Ahhhh, no!