WHY WE LIKE IT: Promotions! Can't help but feel bad for Harry Kim, especially in the context of this episode.
WHY WE DON'T: Don't remind us!
REVIEW: It's very strange to see the TOSiffication of Voyager, but here we are. I mean, there are a lot of ropy Original Series episodes that we nevertheless forgive because they are charmingly goofy, don't we? Lower Decks opens the season with the same attitude 'ported to "VOY", with the ship being turned into a museum featuring exhibits (and then threats) that are just as goofy: The Janeway/Paris salamanders, the macrovirus (chunky cold sores as Mariner calls them), the Clown, Chaotica, Neelix's toxic cheese... Many of these were derided by fans at the time and since, but it's hard not to get into the spirit of things when Mariner gets really excited to be on Voyager (which WOULD be particularly in-world-famous), which even to this crew did have - yes - goofy adventures. Perhaps the 30 years between TOS and VOY should count for something, but what about the similar gap between VOY and now? It might make some of us feel old to think about it, but Voyager is just as much forgivable nostalgia as earlier shows.
Of course, I'm not sure I want to be reminded of Tuvix, a PARTICULAR sore point with Voyager fans (and indeed, still controversial), though Lower Decks is at least of the majority's opinion that Janeway straight up murdered a guy. For all his freaking out at the crew to be careful with the exhibits, conservator Beljo Tweekle really is the one who screwed up. A hidden microvirus in the walls should have been found before this and loose wall panels allow it to escape, merge with equally undiscovered nanoprobes to create a Borg threat, and Billups and T'Ana wouldn't have been Tuvixed into T'Illups had the hydrid orchid's container been secured correctly. It's all on him. This Tuvixed character (who for no reason has Neelix swirls on their uniform) wants to live just as badly as Tuvix did, and Captain Freeman has no intention of killing him, aghast at Janeway's solution, and even Shaxs who is in a relationship with the doctor isn't proposing they do that. Still, T'Illups, having also read the file, becomes paranoid and turns to villainy, creating more Tuvixes from the crew. Unfortunately, a lot of key personnel are missing (they're aboard Voyager), so a lot of these amalgams are with crew members we hardly know. Freeman merged with the bird-like counselor has a fun look, and Steve Stevens Tuvixed with one of the whales is funny, but generally, I have no idea who at least one of the pair are supposed to be. Tendi and T'Lyn also have to escape Tuvixation because they have to solve the problem. T'Lyn makes the mistake of trying to run them through the transporter again, en masse, creating a blobby non-sentient creature that voids Tendi's ethical concerns and allows them to make the choice without going full Janeway. Except they do it by scanning personalities within the creature, which is absolute nonsense. I don't see why they couldn't just have used Voyager's old solution and avoided even more ridiculous technobabble (though perhaps that was the point).
The big subplot, meanwhile, is that Ransom has notified Boimler that he might be promoted to Lt. (j.g.), which has really ruined his mojo, or else he's subconsciously self-sabotaging. Charmingly, he admits he doesn't want the extra pip to come between him and Mariner, but she's the one who recommended him, and her pep talk puts him into motion. He makes strong decisions (like rescuing Rutherford over anyone else to manage an engineering solution) and saving the day, even playing the part of Captain Proton Jr. to stymie the killer holograms. The breakneck pace leaves enough time for a promotion ceremony in which Boimler DOES get his pip, but so does Tendi (she's so cute), T'Lyn (who proves a nice addition to the sciency characters by being the OPPOSITE of their shared enthusiasm) and surprisingly, Mariner. I'm starting to really like Ransom who, at first, was portrayed as a douche and little else. He realizes that Mariner has leadership potential, but every time she's been promoted in the past, her commanders have bumped her back down again because of her acting out. He'll show them wrong by not letting her self-sabotage. (I also very much appreciate his little moment with his Tamarian security chief, using his mode of speaking as a sign of respect.) Mariner is NOT happy about this, but the friends agree that Lieutenant Junior Grade is still Lower Decks - more responsibility for little more reward. If the status quo changes, it's going to be incremental, but I'm looking forward to new types of stories for our leads.
This review would not be complete without mention of this season's addition to the opening sequence's battle - a Whale Probe! Nice! And it may or may not connect thematically with the season's mysterious threat, a ship that drifts into range of a vessel and destroys it. Here it happens to a Klingon ship, our access to which is through its Lower Decks. I loved that about wej Duj (which spawned T'Lyn, natch), and look forward to more.
LESSON: One person's most hated episode is another's fodder for parody.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Nice tribute to Voyager, but like Voyager, its solutions are complete balderdash.
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