Star Trek: Lower Decks’ third season is starting to wrap up, but there are still some episodes to cover. This week had a sequel to Mariner’s movie and thus the episode title is “Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus.” The Lower Decks crew embarks on a holodeck adventure that is befitting any big Star Trek adventure, even though it’s all just a hologram. Boimler is captain of a ship that must defeat some Romulans before they stop the formation of the Federation. But, some terrible news involving his transporter double, William, makes him question life and take a tangent adventure with Mariner. It leaves Tendy and Rutherford to complete the movie’s mission. And, here we go with the movie…I mean Lower Decks review for the week.
Music
Mr. Daps: “This episode is the kind of episode I really look forward to in terms of music. The score that accompanied it did not disappoint. I would not mind at all seeing this one released so it could be streamed. Definitely worth listening to, accompanies the story solidly, and was one of the stronger scores of the show.”
Murray: “An epic adventure of a movie deserves an epic score, and this had it in spades. It felt like a full movie soundtrack even though it was one episode. It was well composed and polished and was epic.”
Design
Mr. Daps: “I think this is an episode where the team behind Lower Decks really got to have some fun. I think they did a really nice job with a LOT of different designs throughout the course of this episode. This included ships, uniforms, styles, and so much more. It was great seeing the nods to the different Star Trek movies that were recreated in the different parts of the episode as it moved forward. This was great episode in terms of design!”
Murray: “I was extremely pleased with all the animation and design of the episode. Starting with the uniforms the lower deck officers were wearing and then to the film grain that completed the feeling that this was a film. The best design of the whole episode was Knick Knack. This secondary character really stole the show and his generic design worked so well. The voice acting and surprise of him being a beefed up species really made him the highlight…at least in my opinion. But, there were so many choices of elements that really provided some wonderful Easter eggs. The founding of the Federation scene had some Enterprise series uniforms in the background, which wonderfully sold this movie adventure, for example. Overall I was very pleased with the overall design choices for the episode.”
Story
Mr. Daps: “This was one of the more enjoyable stories that have been told in Star Trek: Lower Decks. At first it looked like it might be a redo of a Star Trek: The Next Generation holodeck episode but it quickly became apparent that this wasn’t what was happening at all. As the story moved forward it did a great job giving nods to different Star Trek movies and then also adding depth to the characters. The plot was good, the character development was good, and the overall story was enjoyable.”
Murray: “The story seemed slow at first. It was a little tongue-in-cheek, which is great for the series, but had a feel of being a bit of a drawn out average Lower Decks story of them trying to make things work despite a setback. Instead it was all about the parody of the Trek films, but wrapped in a package to really let Boimler’s vulnerability shine and give Tendy a boost in her potential. It really had a great and short movie plot. The only critique is that the plots didn’t intertwine other than that they took place in the same holodeck.”
Hit or Miss?
Mr. Daps: “This is easily a hit for Star Trek: Lower Decks. In fact, it might be my favorite. I loved how they revealed the motivations for the characters throughout the episode. At first, things seemed very transparent but as it moved forward it was revealed that there was more than what was initially seen. The nods to all of the different Star Trek films and the Easter eggs that accompanied them were fantastic! It was a lot of fun with some humor and a surprising amount of heart. I may have to go watch it again now.”
Murray: “Well, if you can’t tell by my raving reviews of the categories, this ended up being a hit with me. I will say I wasn’t sure at first. It started off slow and I really wanted Boimler’s meeting with Ransom to be divulged right away. It didn’t take the whole episode, thankfully, and really got going. But, what really sold it for me were all the parodies of Trek films I love. Generations, Trek 5, Search for Spock, even Nemesis were fair game for the episode. And I loved that. Not to mention a huge jab at the Kelvin universe films and maybe how a lot of the series heads feel about those films. It was worthy of being a sequel to the first Crisis Point.”
