Review Category: Television

Issac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy is quite rightly regarded as not only a classic, but a cornerstone of science fiction.  It’s set in the very far future; humanity has spread across the stars, an Empire that has lasted over 12,000 years but is already starting to show signs of fading.  Enter Hari Seldon, a man who has used incredibly complex mathematics to predict the future.  His grand plan is to use this science for the good of humanity.

Apple TV’s adaptation is visually stunning and filled with a wide variety of incredible talent. Tone-wise, it will remind some of The Expanse; space is dangerous and majestic, yet humanity’s petty bickering and lust for power is even more deadly.

The original books are hardly action-packed – immersive and engaging yes, but mostly filled with mesmerising prose that comprises an extensive meditation on the nature of empire. Luckily for viewers, the fall of an empire, especially a galactic one is something that will feature a lot of action. Big, sweeping events get plenty of air-time, making the galaxy seem vast and dangerous.

The TV series opens pretty much in the middle of the narrative and then flashes back to the story of Gaal Dornick, a genius unlucky enough to be born in a place where scientific thought is reviled. This show is a modern parable about how there will always be those who deny scientific facts in their quest for power, and as timely as it was then as it is today.

The original story was written in 1942 for an audience of white American men. The TV show has made some changes to the characters in order to make the whole thing more visually interesting and to appeal to more people. The cast is more diverse and some characters have been gender-flipped, for example. It’s an obvious choice and a welcome one. After all, having a cast of mostly one type of person in a story about a galaxy filled with humanity would be a serious misstep in this day and age.

They are some petty gripes; it’s an American show so everyone says math instead of maths, and the narrative does stop at points to focus on character development and show the audience how much has been spent on costumes and special effects.  Though this is mostly welcome, it does slow down a narrative that isn’t exactly quick.

The performances are staggering. Lee Pace is jaw-dropping as the Galactic Emperor Brother Day.  Jared Harris portrays the role of Hari Seldon as if he’s actually lived the character’s life and Lou Llobell is unstoppable as Gaal Dornick, taking on perhaps the trickiest lead role in the show and being fantastic throughout.

If these two episodes are a sign of things to come, then this sci-fi classic has finally found an adaptation it deserves. Let’s hope that the show becomes as influential as the books are.

Episodes 1 and 2 of FOUNDATION are available on apple TV+ now, with new episodes premiering weekly. Read our interview with the showrunner here.

The first half of Lower Decks’ second season has focussed very much on resolving the fallout of the show’s central relationships following the events of last year. Mariner and Boimler have repaired their relationship following his leaving both the Cerritos and her for a short-lived posting to Riker’s U.S.S. Titan, while Tendi and Rutherford have rebuilt their friendship following his memory wipe. Other secondary plots, like the fallout from the revelation that Mariner is Captain Freeman’s daughter, and the death/resurrection of security chief Shaxs have also been successfully resolved.

There is, however, one major thread that has been left dangling – that of the increased threat from the Pakleds, and what they’re up to. Bar a solitary appearance at the start of the season, they’ve been absent so far.

The Spy Humongous – freed from the other ongoing storylines – finally catches up with Starfleet’s least-cunning adversaries, as well as giving the command crew a proper story. The Cerritos has – unusually – been chosen to negotiate a ceasefire with the Pakleds and arrives at their planet which, with the race’s usual flair for poetic language, they’ve named “Pakled Planet.” There, Captain Freeman, accompanied by Shaxs, beam down, where a succession of Pakleds not only insist they haven’t got the authority to negotiate a ceasefire (apparently their helmets aren’t big enough), but they also insist on repeatedly addressing her as “Captain Janeway.”

They’ve also got an “escaped” prisoner to deal with – Rumdar – who’s managed to make his way to the Cerritos and, in his own Pakled way, requested asylum. Naturally this doesn’t sit too well with the Pakleds, who refuse to negotiate until he’s returned.

Meanwhile, our intrepid foursome have pulled anomaly consolidation duty – the worst assignment on the ship. Everyone’s dreading it, with the excitement of the ever-optimistic Tendi. Their job is to retrieve all the weird alien crap that the senior officers acquire on their missions, and have it safely sent to storage. For Tendi, this is the next best thing to going on actual missions. To the others, it’s collecting garbage.

Fortunately for Boimler, he’s spared it, falling in with a group known as the ‘Red Shirts’ (surely the most cursed name in Starfleet history) – a group of ensigns who work together to earn promotions. Alongside a couple of human ensigns, there’s the ever-annoying Jennifer the Andorian, and the Kzinti crewman who’s been lurking in the background all season (although this time he gets lines, marking the first time we’ve heard one speak since The Animated Series). Boimler’s caught their interest due his short stint on the Titan, and since they all seem to have a bit of Riker worship going on, they’re keen to learn how to ape his command style. You’d be forgiven that his friends would be annoyed at him abandoning them and avoiding an awful assignment, and a couple of episodes ago, Mariner probably would have. Now, secure in their friendship again, she simply admires his (non-existent) ingenuity for avoiding work.

Having the central foursome distracted with either collecting the officers’ rubbish or trying on padded uniforms means they’re oblivious to the Pakled situation. Not only does Freeman have to deal with a revolution on the planet, but Ransom and Kayshon figure out in about two seconds that their asylum seeker is actually a spy (and if Ransom can figure it out, it must be pretty damn obvious). Being a Pakled, he’s hardly James Bond-level, and after been shown top-secret areas of the ship like the gift shop and juice bar, he mistakes an airlock for a bathroom and manages to eject himself into space.

Mariner, Tendi, and Rutherford, however, are completely ignorant to all these spy shenanigans, as they’re too busy removing dangerous alien crap from throughout the ship. Tendi soon discovers her friends were right, and it’s the worst job onboard. After they’ve been inflated, slimed, had needles shot in their faces and – in Tendi’s case – been eaten and pooped out by a giant alien slug, she confesses that she actually volunteered them for the job in the first place as she thought it’d be fun. Up until now in the series, Tendi’s been unflappable, the unjaded optimist of the group. But everyone’s got their breaking point and being ejected out of a space slug’s rectum is Tendi’s. Which is understandable.

Unfortunately, she decides to have a rant about their group’s crappy jobs while holding one of the weird alien pieces of junk they’ve been collection, which turns her into a green alien space scorpion thing which proceeds to run riot throughout the ship, naturally.

No need to panic though because the Red Shirts are here to save the day. After a hard day of captain’s training – which in their world consists solely of making their uniforms look cool and practicing their motivational speeches (Boimler’s in particular, where he imagined himself on the bridge of the Enterprise-D was particularly mildly inspiring) – they spring into action. And proceed to all simultaneously give speeches to the crew. As this proves completely useless, Boimler saves the day by doing what comes naturally to him: being an accident-prone twat. His slapstick display – repeatedly ordering food from replicators and spilling it over himself (deliberate here, instead of accidentally like pretty much every other time he orders anything) simultaneously calms Tendi down and disgusts the Red Shirts with the indignity of it all.

The plus side of this is that the Red Shirts realise the futility of imitating their heroes instead of becoming one themselves and decide to disband, with the exception of their leader Casey, who earns himself a temporary shift commanding the ship from a disinterested Ransom.

Meanwhile, Rumdar is revived in sickbay, and returned to the planet, where the boastful Pakleds celebrate getting one over on “Captain Janeway” and congratulate their spy on not revealing their plan to set off a bomb on Earth during his mission – just after he’s tricked into revealing it to Freeman. Why the Pakleds want to attack Earth isn’t revealed, but it goes against what we know about them so far. They’re generally motivated by the acquisition of technology by any means necessary, to compensate for their natural slowness. It’s unlikely they’re acting out of malice, or for that matter, alone. Having gotten all the important character development out of the way in the season’s first half, the show looks set to ramp up the Pakled storyline from now on, revealing both what they’re up to and who’s pulling their strings.

Trek likes a good morality lesson, and the one here is about the importance of accepting people for who they are. Boimler’s always been looking to impress his superiors. Here he finally does it, not by imitating famous captains like the other Red Shirts, but by using his ingenuity and natural predilection for clumsiness. It’s a lesson that rubs off on most of his fellow Red Shirts. Mariner and Rutherford too learn that they shouldn’t try to dampen Tendi’s natural optimism by dragging her down to their level. She’d tried to organise a fun day for them, even if it did result in her turning into a giant scorpion. The group learn the importance of both self-acceptance and accepting others for who they are too. Unless they’re a Pakled. Those guys are dicks.

The Spy Humongous is another increasingly confident episode of Lower Decks, which continues to combine solid Trek storytelling, increasingly complex characters, and humour in impressive entertaining ways. It may not have Discovery’s grandeur, or Picard’s grandstanding performance from Patrick Stewart, but Lower Decks continues to be the most consistently entertaining incarnation of modern Trek. Plus this episode concludes with the gang prank-calling Armus – The Tasha Yar killing oil slick from Skin Of Evil – you don’t get that in Discovery!

Oh, as for Casey’s shift in command – it lasts about five seconds before he’s relieved by Shaxs, who promptly dispatches him to clear up the “unspeakable mess” the Pakled left in the airlock. Serves him right.

New episodes of STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS premiere Fridays in the UK on Amazon Prime Video

For our previous STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS reviews, click below:

Season 2, Episode 1 –  STRANGE ENERGIES

Season 2, Episode 2 – KAYSHON, HIS EYES OPEN

Season 2, Episode 3 – WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE TOM PARIS

Season 2, Episode 4 – MUGATO, GUMATO

Season 2, Episode 5 – AN EMBARRASSMENT OF DOOPLERS

One of the great strengths of the MCU – and its Disney + TV spin-offs to date – is that it manages to delicately balance the outlandish drama of its superhero shenanigans with the need to occasionally puncture the pomposity with a bit of well-placed humour. It’s a difficult balancing act, though, but by and large they manage to keep their high stakes narratives rolling without undermining the drama and the excitement (or the absurdity) whilst providing moments of levity thanks to some well-judged humour, one-liners and quips.

The MCU humour arises from the characters as they have been carefully established; it’s rarely allowed to tip over into parody, slapstick and farce – or at least it didn’t until  Tahita Watiki’s tiresome comedy romp Thor: Ragnarok in 2017. At a stroke the God of Thunder was robbed of his nobility and his majesty (and much of his intelligence) in a script that could have run with a laughter track  (if you found its brand of infantile humour amusing, that is) in which every character made the same sort of glib quips and jokes, totally undercutting the impact of any drama inherent in the plot because it was obvious that no one was taking anything seriously and everyone was grabbing every available opportunity to pratfall, boggle their eyes or throw out some lame gag. But many fans adore the film and certainly its…refocusing… of Thor’s character persuaded Chris Hemsworth to stick around and sign up for a fourth Thor movie next year. Presumably it also persuaded him to lend his voice to the character in this misjudged comedy episode of What If…?, the only core Avengers star (apart from, debatably, Jeremy Renner) to make the transition from live-action to animation. Sadly whilst it’s clear that everyone involved here is having a great time – there are a number of MCU big hitters on board, as ever – What If… Thor was An Only Child? is as annoying and irritating and throwaway as Ragnarok but mercifully runs for only thirty-odd minutes.

Jeffrey Wright’s Watcher introduces us to a Universe where Odin discovered an abandoned baby Frost Giant nd returned it to its father rather than raising it as a son of his own where, in the MCU we know and love,  it becomes the devious Loki. Bereft of fraternal influence Thor grows up to be a boisterous, carefree party animal who travels down to Midgard to host a huge party, inviting aliens from all over the Galaxy, including various Guardians, Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster and even Howard the Duck.  Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) track Thor and his posse to Las Vegas and become involved in the merriment. Giant-sized Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his Frost Giant mates also arrive to join in the fun and games. Meanwhile, SHIELD has become concerned by the group’s destructive antics; Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) summon Captain Marvel (voiced here by Alexandra Daniels) and she and Thor engage in combat around the world, hilariously destroying monuments such as Stonehenge in the process. Eventually – and tortuously – Thor’s mother Frigga (Josette Eales) is summonsed and Thor races to put right the damage he has accidentally caused before his mother arrives to read the riot act.

What if… Thor Was an Only Child? is as silly and inconsequential as it sounds and is so light and fluffy and pointless, even by What If…? standards, that it barely sustains its running time. It really is just a succession of gags, both visual and verbal, that can’t help but grate and annoy in a series that has previously explored much darker and more interesting corners of Marvel’s Multiverse. That’s not to say that the episode doesn’t elicit a few smiles; Howard the Duck’s whirlwind relationship with Darcy is fun and a few of the gags and bits of wordplay do land – Thor desperately putting right his vandalism by rebuilding Stonehenge, cleaning up the defaced Mount Rushmore and… er… straightening up the Tower of Pisa – is amusing. But, as with Ragnarok, the humorous tone is just too relentless, the comedy a bit too kindergarten and unsophisticated and, in the end, the whole episode just seems to undermine characters the MCU has worked hard to make audiences believe in, root for and want to spend time with.

It was inevitable that Marvel would do an out-and-out comedy episode of What If…? and having previously established that this is a style that seems to “work” with Thor, it was equally inevitable that they’d chose the God of Thunder to deliver the big yuks. But now that the comic cuts are done and dusted, let’s hope What If…? can return to the flavour of the first half of the series and regain its dramatic sensibilities whilst delivering the odd bon mot when the moment arises. What If… Thor Was An Only Child? really is too much of a not very good thing.

Episode six of What If…? sees Jeffrey Wright’s omnipotent Watcher taking us right back to the very beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Events initially play out just as we remember them from Iron Man, the film that began this cinematic phenomenon back in 2008 as Tony Stark’s convoy in Afghanistan is attacked by terrorists from the Ten Rings organisation (hmmm… wonder whatever happened to them?). But in this particular corner of the Multiverse Stark isn’t kidnapped and forced to build a rudimentary robot suit to save himself; here he’s saved from a fate worse than metal by Erik Stevens – we know him as the ambitious and ruthless Killmonger from Black Panther.

But where the MCU’s Tony Stark used his experiences not only to perfect his Iron Man technology (which here never even exists) but also as a wake-up call to change the nature of Stark Industries’ obsession with making bigger and better weapons, What If…?’s Tony recruits Killmonger as his right-hand man/bodyguard. But Killmonger has an agenda of his own. Back in the USA Killmonger exposes Obadiah Stane’s involvement in the nearly-lethal ambush and encourages Stark to create an army of indestructible combat drones made of vibranium. A scheme to obtain more vibranium from Ulysses Klaue with James Rhodes as the middle man goes worryingly wrong when Klaue leaks word of the transaction to Black Panther and Killmonger’s subtle, sinister plan moves into high gear.

What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark is a slick, busy episode that sets the show back on the rails after last week’s rather silly and inconsequential zombie diversion. There’s a lot going on here and the script neatly blends Marvel’s first smash hit with one of its most acclaimed titles and it’s an absorbing and agreeable combination. Seeing Stark (nimbly voiced here by Mick Wingert to the extent that we quickly forget that RDJ isn’t actually on board) not becoming Iron Man is something of a jolt and our knowledge of Killmonger’s devious machinations in our MCU creates a real sense of dramatic tension as Stark is inevitably led down a rabbit hole of betrayal and deceit. Some of the dialogue is stunningly crafted: “The difference between you and me is that you don’t recognise the difference between you and me”, Killmonger tells Stark at one point, and earlier on Stark remonstrates with Pepper Potts with a put-down to die for: “Are you allowed to talk like that to someone in my tax bracket?” Glorious. But generally, this is quite dark and mature fare – once again it’s abundantly clear that this is no cheap kid’s cartoon cash-in – packed with vicious and kinetic fight sequences and stakes that climb higher with almost every scene. As ever the animation is moody and powerful, and again the sheer volume of original MCU voice talent turning up to get the job done is impressive – here we get return engagements for Paul Bettany as Jarvis (in little more than a cough-and-spit sequence), Don Cheadle as Rhodes, Michael B Jordan as Killmonger, Jon Favreau as Happy, and Andy Serkis clearly glorying in the opportunity to bring the magnificent Ulysses Klaue back to the screen. Wakanda is well-represented by Chadwick Boseman, breaking our hearts yet again in a final Black Panther appearance that is ultimately his most poignant, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, John Kani as T’Chaka, and Danai Guirira as Okoye. Wingert is joined in the stand-in stakes by Beth Hoyt out-Gwynething Ms Paltrow as Pepper Potts, and  Ozioma Akagha filling in as Shuri. What If…?, love it or loathe or even if you just don’t see the point in it, is clearly another MCU product put together with extraordinary detail and the returning original voice artists are easily matched by the performers stepping into the shoes of absent friends to the extent that we so quickly become accustomed to their uncannily-accurate interpretations that we forget that they’re not ‘the real deal’ at all.

One problem inherent in the series though – we’ve seen it a couple of times already – is its tendency to set up its premise, tell its story… and then just stop. It happened last week in the zombie episode (a small mercy we must ultimately be grateful for) and it happens again this week. A situation has been set up across the episode and a massive dramatic peak has been reached but we’re left hanging with a couple of core characters determining to work together to defuse a situation that could ultimately lead to a monstrous act of genocide in the wake of Killmonger’s ruthlessness and selfishness. But what happens next? Curious minds might like to know. Of course, it’s entirely possible that the Watcher will allow us to revisit this particular Multiverse backwater in some future episode or season but it seems more likely that the series continues to just offer us tantalising possibilities of how life in the MCU could have been entirely and sometimes catastrophically different at the whim of a moment of fate. Certainly, there’s been at least a couple of episodes here as powerful and engaging as anything in the live-action MCU which in itself is more than we might have reasonably expected, and What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark almost effortlessly delivers another clever, sophisticated, and thought-provoking flight of fancy and adds another layer of intrigue to the most thrilling and immersive entertainment franchise in history.

Recent episodes of Lower Decks’ second season have shaken up the formula by pairing off the central foursome in unusual combinations. An Embarrassment of Dooplers returns to focus on the show’s two central relationships: the odd couple of the rebellious Mariner and ambitious, stickler for the rules Boimler; and sweet-hearted nerds Tendi and Rutherford.

Lower Decks is always at the best when it focuses on the characters and their relationships, while placing them in absurd twists on classic Trek scenarios. So here we have Mariner and Boimler resolving the emotional issues caused stemming from his temporary transfer to the U.S.S. Titan and getting into trouble on a Starbase (that’s happened before) while trying to gatecrash an epic party (that’s new). Meanwhile, Tendi and Rutherford continue to rebuild their friendship following the latter’s memory loss while dealing with a shipboard crisis featuring a rapidly duplicating alien dignitary, in a neat twist on The Trouble With Tribbles.

The party in question is held every year after the Starfleet Command Conference and is legendary in Starfleet circles (despite never ever being mentioned before, but we’ll overlook that). And the command crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos is looking forward to attending. The only snag – their lowly status as an unimportant California-class ship would normally exclude them from the exclusive guest list. However, Captain Freeman is confident that her exploits against the Pakleds (plus she once escorted the Enterprise out of Spacedock) are sufficient to land them an invite, something that Mariner – always one for a good time – is keen to get in on. She persuades Boimler to pose as his transporter clone William (who, serving with Riker, is cool enough to be on the list). Boimler, eager for the chance to suck up to lots of Starfleet’s finest, agrees. The old Boimler would never have done anything like this. Perhaps Mariner’s influence is finally starting to rub off on him?

The main snag in the Cerritos reaching the party lies with their current mission. They’re heading to Starbase 25 – the location of the conference – to deliver a representative of the Doopler race to a meeting. The snag comes in the form of a quirk of the Doopler’s biology. Every time he gets embarrassed (and he gets embarrassed very easily), he duplicates. Obviously, this makes no sense whatsoever – either he’s an unusually nervy representative of his species, or they come from a bloody big planet – but then neither do Tribbles, and we all love them.

After walking on eggshells around him for most of the mission, the inevitable happens when the Doopler hears Captain Freeman complaining about him behind his back and he starts duplicating. A lot. Soon the Cerritos is overrun by versions of the Doopler, (voiced by the great Richard Kind, Inside Out’s Bing Bong – no, we’re still not over it), which means the ship is immediately banned from both the starbase and the epic party.

Equally inconvenienced are Tendi and Rutherford, who are spending their free time from working on the ship, by building a smaller model of the ship. It was always their old way of spending quality time together, deliberately never finishing it so they could enjoy each other’s company, and keep away unwanted outsiders.

While the two attempt to escape the swarm of Dooplers (the collective noun for which is, if the episode title is anything to go by is the rather apt ‘an embarrassment’), Tendi helps her friend come to terms with his feelings of inadequacy compared to his former, pre-memory wiped self. Watching this pair build then rebuild their friendship is one of the sweetest elements of the show. While it’s sometimes hard to see what Mariner and Boimler see in each other, it makes perfect sense that these two socially awkward nerds would find comfort together.

Elsewhere, Mariner and Boimler are getting into trouble on the station. Because Mariner used to live there, obviously. It’s a great running joke that, besides her 20-something appearance, the ensign has been everywhere and done everything. There may be a mystery here, but frankly, if it’s just a joke, it’s one we like. Besides pointing out that the station now has a Quark’s (his bars have popped up a couple of times in both Lower Decks and Picard, so it’s nice to have confirmation that DS9’s entrepreneurial bartender is doing very well for himself, establishing his own franchise. Also, can we have an appearance from Armin Shimerman please?) she has a contact who knows where the secret party is.

Unfortunately, her contact isn’t too fond of her, and it turns out the crate of Commander Data bubble bath (want!) – possibly with a few Lore thrown in – that she transports across the station for him in exchange for the location, is actually hiding illegal Klingon disruptors.

This leads to a frantic, fun car chase throughout the station, with them pursued by security, and  a terrified Boimler commentating as they go: “Vulcans!” “Fish people!” and ending in an aviary (with a neat cameo from a pair of Aurelians from The Animated Series).

They eventually reach the party, where Mariner’s plan works. To an extent. Boimler is admitted by pretending to be his Titan double, but Mariner is excluded. Too bad, as she’d love it. Besides being DJ’d by The Outrageous Okona (from the Next Generation episode of the same name) the prestigious guest list includes Captain Shelby (from The Best Of Both Worlds) and her first officer, who looks suspiciously like the original, rejected makeup for Saru (now that’s a deep cut reference).

Boimler – who should love having Starfleet’s finest to fawn over – soon realises the party’s no fun without his best friend, and the two soon end up drinking and resolving their issues in an out-of-the-way bar festooned with Trek memorabilia (favourites: the portraits of M’Ress and Arex on the wall). Here the bartender consoles them with the knowledge that many of Starfleet’s finest have ended up there after failing to get into the party and points them to a couple of names scratched into the bar: ‘Kirk + Spock.’

Back on the Cerritos, Freeman resolves the issue of the duplicating Dooplers by realising that berating them reverses the process. Cue the crew insulting them, the most memorable of which include Shaxs’s fantastic “Your Pagh is weak and it disgusts me,” and T’Ana’s foul-mouthed tirade which is unfortunately lost on us due to being entirely bleeped out.

Doopler problem resolved, Freeman leads her command crew to the party, only to be informed that they’re still not allowed in due to them coming from a rubbish ship. After getting their revenge by beaming their Doopler guest into the shindig, where he proceeds to rapidly multiply (another nice Tribbles homage), they join Mariner and Boimler in the frankly much cooler bar. Here the crew bond, Tendi gifts Rutherford a new model kit – Deep Space Nine, “It comes with an Ezri and a Jadzia!” – (it turns out Quark also does a nice side-line in model kits), and Mariner and Boimler leave their names etched into the bar next to those of their Starfleet heroes.

There’s a feeling of finality about An Embarrassment of Dooplers. The first half of the season has focussed on the relationships between our four heroes, specifically the two central pairings, and this feels like a resolution to the issues they’ve had. Mariner and Boimler have made up, and resolved the power dynamic in their pairing, with him reluctantly accepting that he’s her “number one.” Rutherford, with Tendi’s help has come to terms with his feelings of inadequacy compared to his former self, and the two are best friends once again. Now we’ve reached mid-season, it looks like the show’s about to throw some new challenges at our quartet of Lower Deckers. Bring it on.

New episodes of STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS premiere Fridays in the UK on Amazon Prime Video

For our previous STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS reviews, click below:

Season 2, Episode 1 –  STRANGE ENERGIES

Season 2, Episode 2 – KAYSHON, HIS EYES OPEN

Season 2, Episode 3 – WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE TOM PARIS

Season 2, Episode 4 – MUGATO, GUMATO

A pair of Trek’s most ridiculed creations come back for a further pummelling in Mugato, Gumato. Firstly the Mugato itself – a ridiculous-looking creature introduced in the second season Original Series episode A Private Little War, and a source of amusement to fans ever since. It looks like an unconvincing gorilla costume with a horn stuck on it (for good reason), and the episode couldn’t settle on a name, referring to it as both a Mugato,  Mugatu and, in the end credits, a Gumato (its original name, which was changed during production after DeForest Kelley was unable to pronounce it).

And secondly, Anbo-Jyutsu. Introduced in The Next Generation episode The Icarus Factor, it was billed as “the ultimate evolution of the martial arts,” even though it was essentially two people hitting each other with sticks while dressed as Power Rangers, like a particularly crap episode of Gladiators.

Both were lovingly mocked by fans over the years for their inherent crapness, and the franchise conveniently forgot that they existed. Until now.

After receiving a (shockingly violent) defeat at Anbo-Jyutsu by Mariner; Boimler and Rutherford nurse their wounds in whatever the Cerritos’ equivalent of Ten-Forward is. While indulging in a very geeky, diplomacy-based board game (wonder if that’s going to come in handy later?) a gossipy bartender informs them that Mariner is not who they think she is. Apparently, she’s actually a lethal black ops operative masquerading as the captain’s rebellious daughter. Being utter twats, and against a season-and-a-half’s evidence to the contrary, they of course believe him immediately. It’s out of character for them, and to be honest feels a little forced, as they spend the rest of the episode terrified of one of their best friends.

Complicating this is the Cerritos being sent to investigate the sighting of a rare Mugato (by a pair of Denobulans no less). The three of them are assigned to an away team, commanded by Shaxs – who, despite pronouncing the Mugato’s name differently every time he says it (it’s a meta joke, see) tracks the beast down by sampling its dung. Repeatedly.

The trail leads them to discover not only one Mugato, but many, imprisoned by nefarious Ferengi, or ‘throwback Last Outpost-style Ferengi’ as Mariner calls them, referring to their original, ill-advised appearance where the whip-cracking aliens were intended to be menacing. The Ferengi are harvesting them for profit, and a fight breaks out between them and the away team, during which the Mugato are all accidentally released. And of course, high jinks ensue.

And by high jinks we mean Mariner stabbing Shrax (in order to suck out Mugato poison), which of course makes Boimler and Rutherford even more paranoid about her; people being eaten alive; a Mugato mating scene, and a watching Mugato who cracks one out watching the horny couple (in Trek’s most awkward sex scene since Doctor Crusher got it on with a candle). Masturbation is a new one for Trek, and, not that we’re being prudish, but frankly it’s something we could live without thank you.

If this all sounds a bit gross and un-Trekish, you’d be right. Between all the awkward sex stuff, shit eating, blood and vomit, it’s a long way from the clever in-jokery we’ve come to expect from the series.  Fortunately the finale – where Boimler and Rutherford use their boring diplomatic skills – told you – to convince the Ferengi that turning the planet into a Mugato reserve will be far more profitable, is a more traditional, if unlikely, Trek solution.  And bonus points for having their homemade projector resemble Kirk’s makeshift cannon from Arena.

Thank Q then for the B-plot, which sees Tendi tasked by Doctor T’Ana with that old Trek favourite – getting unwilling members of the crew to undertake their annual physicals. Traditionally it’s the captain who’s reluctant, but not this time (Captain Freeman is preoccupied with a duplicitous client of the Ferengi who’s trying to con her out of a shuttle and all her possessions). As she diligently works her way through the list, Tendi reaches the last patient, whose name has been erased from the system. Tendi eventually figures out that it’s T’Ana herself, leading her to chase the medical officer (who’s rapidly becoming our favourite character) around the ship in true feline fashion. It’s only resolved when Tendi breaks her arm and manages to scan the doctor while she’s being treated.

It’s a fun subplot, focusing both on Tendi’s growing confidence (“Maybe the old Tendi was a pushover, but a lot’s changed since slightly earlier today!”) and the well-worn Trek trope of people avoiding medical care because it means the inconvenience of having a little light waved over them for a few seconds. (Completely unrealistic we know. If the last couple of years have taught us anything, it’s that no rational person would put themselves at risk by avoiding perfectly safe medical treatment.)

Mugato, Gumato isn’t a bad episode of Lower Decks, but it is a step backwards. Its tendency towards gross-out humour in a show known for its smart, knowing writing is disappointing. There’s a few good meta jokes, although anyone not familiar with the Mugato’s offscreen history may be baffled by them. Character-wise it also feels like a step backwards for Boimler and Rutherford, who are far more gullible and stupid than usual. It’s balanced by some nice growth for both Tendi and Mariner – who it turns out unsurprisingly isn’t a black-ops killer after all, but started the rumour herself to give herself more of a mystique, and something that we’re definitely going to start doing.  Pleasuring ourselves to the sight of a pair of mating Mugato we’re going to pass on though if you don’t mind.

New episodes of STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS premiere Fridays in the UK on Amazon Prime Video

For our previous STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS reviews, click below:

Season 2, Episode 1 –  STRANGE ENERGIES

Season 2, Episode 2 – KAYSHON, HIS EYES OPEN

Season 2, Episode 3 – WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE TOM PARIS