Ep: 049 React & Review of Lower Decks "The New Next Generation"

[00:00:00] I'm saying that we struggle all our lives to answer it, that it's the struggle that is important. That's what helps us to define our place in the universe.

[00:00:09] This is, uh, Beverly. Dr. Beverly. Dr. Dr. Beverly Crusher.

[00:00:16] Honest. Forceful. Trusting. Brilliant. Strong. And adventurous.

[00:00:25] And this is Crusher Convo.

[00:00:28] And welcome to Crusher Convo where we're crushing the conversation, one episode at a time.

[00:00:34] Tonight we celebrate the Cerritos crew as we discuss the final episode of Star Trek Lower Decks and my season 2 finale.

[00:00:42] And with me today to share the laughs and maybe a few tears, another amazing podcaster, Trekkie and friend, Mercy!

[00:00:50] Yay!

[00:00:51] Yay!

[00:00:52] Lower Decks!

[00:00:54] Lower Decks! Lower Decks!

[00:00:56] My apologies for giving you the wrong time.

[00:00:59] That's alright. I'm here! I made it!

[00:01:02] You made it! She is a tripler.

[00:01:05] I just texted her, I was like, I'm so sorry. You're like, oh, I'll be on! I'm like, please take your time.

[00:01:11] I apologize to those, like, everyone knows I've been sick. So for any reason you see this pretty lady and I'm on mute. I am probably coughing a lung out and or needing to blow my nose and that's not appropriate. So luckily for me I have Marcy who is a pro and will take over.

[00:01:32] I can't talk the night away.

[00:01:35] I can't talk the night away.

[00:01:35] He sure can!

[00:01:38] Oh, we already have Captain's Quadrant here. He says he knows how that is because I said I was going live soon.

[00:01:45] 10 minutes late, but it's fine. That's perfect.

[00:01:49] I mean, under 15 minutes, so.

[00:01:52] That's goals.

[00:01:54] Feels pretty good.

[00:01:55] As everyone can see, we are dressed in our festive gear because next week is Christmas.

[00:02:01] So I got my meowy Christmas hat and my cat mist and then of course I have my Merry Christmas right here.

[00:02:10] I had to throw in some Star Trek, of course, but you know.

[00:02:13] I don't know why you didn't just like lead with the Crusher wearing a Santa hat.

[00:02:18] I know, but it's just, I'm a little cold and then this is cats and I don't know.

[00:02:24] I just felt like I was in the mood.

[00:02:27] But I have Crusher close to me.

[00:02:30] So, but this is, as I said, this is Marcy.

[00:02:33] She is a fellow podcaster, part of Green Shirt and Idol Podcast, Idol Ride Podcast, excuse me.

[00:02:41] And she has been on the show before.

[00:02:43] So I'm super excited to be talking this final episode.

[00:02:47] One thing I want to ask you though, what is it about Lower Decks that you love so much?

[00:02:51] Well, I'm a big fan of Rick and Morty.

[00:02:54] And I feel like I love that style of cartoon.

[00:03:00] And so when Lower Decks came out, I was attracted to it because it had that kind of humor just wasn't as dark as Rick and Morty, which was nice.

[00:03:10] Because there's some dark stuff in that cartoon.

[00:03:12] And I feel like all the new Trek that had come out, disco and some of the other shows, Picard, they have some pretty dark undertones.

[00:03:25] So to have this like really light, fun, but take Star Trek seriously show was such a breath of fresh air.

[00:03:35] And I loved it.

[00:03:38] I love the humor.

[00:03:39] I love that they had these like really deep cuts to like old TNG episodes.

[00:03:44] Like there was some stuff I was like, damn, if you hadn't like watched TNG and analyzed it like I did in green shirt, like I don't even know if half 90% of the people would catch some of those references.

[00:03:58] So right.

[00:03:59] It's pretty awesome in that way.

[00:04:02] I know it's funny because we we dissect these episodes, especially the next generation.

[00:04:07] So I'm watching them like that's from that episode, you know, minor little thing that you just exactly.

[00:04:17] I was like, wow, they went there.

[00:04:19] You know, the show runners have to love Star Trek to make this show because of all of that extra stuff.

[00:04:26] So, yeah.

[00:04:27] Oh, yeah.

[00:04:28] And Mike McMahon is such a huge fan, you know, and you could tell what you're watching this.

[00:04:33] Captives Quadrant said hot dress to the nines.

[00:04:36] We sure are.

[00:04:38] Challenge.

[00:04:38] I gave Marcy the challenge.

[00:04:41] I was like be festive and challenge accepted.

[00:04:43] I think we did pretty well.

[00:04:46] We have Rashid over on Instagram.

[00:04:48] He says hello.

[00:04:51] He says Gates McFadden is coming to the London Comic Con in March after senior absence of the UK.

[00:04:55] So, yeah.

[00:04:56] He's going to be able to see Gates.

[00:04:58] And then he says get well soon, Jessie.

[00:05:00] Thank you.

[00:05:01] And happy holidays to us both.

[00:05:04] Yeah, it's been a rough week for me.

[00:05:06] I was almost like, I don't know if I could do this.

[00:05:08] But I was like, no, I could do this.

[00:05:11] Yeah, I can hang in there.

[00:05:14] It's going to be fun.

[00:05:15] It's going to be fun.

[00:05:16] I'm afraid, though, that I'm going to you're going to make me laugh to the point that I'm going to start coughing.

[00:05:23] Maybe pass him out.

[00:05:24] I don't know if that's why I'm going to go.

[00:05:27] It's a good way to go, I guess.

[00:05:33] So typically I usually will do a clip of the episode first, but I'm going to do that last.

[00:05:38] I guess we could just jump right in.

[00:05:40] And of course, the episode started with Klingons, which is not my favorite.

[00:05:45] But I do enjoy.

[00:05:48] Is it maya and maylor, right?

[00:05:52] Is that how I think mock?

[00:05:54] I think and may or something like that.

[00:05:57] It's M a apostrophe a h.

[00:06:00] But they say it like it's a K at the end.

[00:06:03] So I know it's the whole Klingon.

[00:06:04] Some titles make it like how you're saying it.

[00:06:09] But every time they say I'm like mock or something.

[00:06:12] Yeah, Larry Nemechek says it very well.

[00:06:14] He did my episode of the fall.

[00:06:16] And he was pronouncing it correctly.

[00:06:18] And I just let him do it.

[00:06:19] So where's Larry?

[00:06:20] I need Larry right now.

[00:06:21] Eminem.

[00:06:22] That's what we can call him from now on.

[00:06:25] Eminem.

[00:06:26] Honestly, I loved Maylor before, but I really loved him.

[00:06:32] Yeah, the surfer bro Klingon.

[00:06:34] But it opens with Relga.

[00:06:37] It does.

[00:06:38] Which she gave me Dura sister vibes.

[00:06:41] Oh, yes.

[00:06:42] And I have kind of a like her Pomeranian Targ.

[00:06:48] So I have some Klingon that I wrote down and maybe people in the comments can try to figure out what this Klingon is.

[00:06:57] And I'm going to say it really poorly.

[00:06:59] Okay.

[00:07:00] But this is about this Targ.

[00:07:04] Ragh.

[00:07:06] K.

[00:07:07] Pa.

[00:07:08] Maarg.

[00:07:09] Pa.

[00:07:10] So if you can figure out what I'm trying to say with that.

[00:07:13] But that little Pa.

[00:07:14] Maarg is like the cutest little shit.

[00:07:18] And like he's constantly like biting on Relga's arm and she's just like completely ignoring it.

[00:07:24] So yeah.

[00:07:25] Yeah.

[00:07:26] Reminds me of my daughter's cat actually, Arolyn.

[00:07:28] And she's, she thinks you're going to pet her.

[00:07:31] And then she's like, nope, I'm going to bite you instead.

[00:07:33] It's like, thank you.

[00:07:35] So I should call her a, what did you call it?

[00:07:38] A Pa.

[00:07:38] Pa.

[00:07:39] Pa.

[00:07:39] Pa.

[00:07:39] Pa.

[00:07:40] Okay.

[00:07:41] Eresch.

[00:07:41] That's perfect.

[00:07:43] But the thing up, it was funny because when I saw Relga, I was like, why are they showing

[00:07:48] these Klingons?

[00:07:49] And then she's all like, well, they, you know, killed my, my brothers were killed.

[00:07:53] And I was like, oh, she must be the sister of the brothers.

[00:07:55] Cause I knew these brothers, you know, may I, and, and Malar, forgive me for but insult concerned

[00:08:00] in his name, but.

[00:08:02] M and M.

[00:08:02] I M and M cause I knew they were going to be in the episode.

[00:08:06] I was like, oh, so this is a vengeance thing, but how are they going to play into this

[00:08:10] episode while they're trying to do these dimensional riffs. So it was a very nice,

[00:08:14] like this, and it's a typical TNG thing, right? Where, okay, they got to go do something and

[00:08:21] then something else happens. Right. And that always happens where it's like, oh my gosh,

[00:08:26] we have this crisis. And Picard's like, but now I have to deal with this. Right. And so it had

[00:08:30] that same setup, the B plot. But what was interesting is because the A and the B were

[00:08:38] kind of together. Yeah, I have a little issue with like the flow of this episode, but because it's

[00:08:46] the series finale, I'm going to like give it a pass. But it felt like there was like a lot of

[00:08:53] stuff happening like action wise. And I think I would have liked a little bit more time spent

[00:09:02] doing some like more one on one with each of the characters. But I get why they decided to go with

[00:09:10] like, the ship is a team as opposed to like the individual relationships. Did you think that the

[00:09:18] episode was too short? Yes. I mean, that was a huge issue. I think like, because I don't feel like

[00:09:26] why did they waste so much time with I mean, it was a super fun episode last episode. Don't get me

[00:09:33] wrong. Like, I love the Harry Kim's. I loved Lily. I loved all that stuff. But like, if we're going to

[00:09:40] do a two part episode, like the Rutherford storyline, I was like, he is just so angry for the majority of

[00:09:47] the episode. He is. And I was like, I wished that we could have seen more of like, not just

[00:09:56] Boimler and Mariner, like being upbeat, but like some of the other characters. And they could have

[00:10:02] started that in like, the first part of this episode. But we spent all that time with like

[00:10:08] Beard Boimler. Right. Beard Boimler. And then even the Klingons, right? Which I know that they were

[00:10:15] trying to connect those two stories, but it almost was like not needed.

[00:10:22] Yeah, like, I'm not sure why they even had the Klingons in it, to be honest. Like, I think

[00:10:27] they could have done a whole story with just like, the risks themselves are enough of an issue.

[00:10:35] Right. Like, with all this changing, they could have had the characters changing into like different

[00:10:40] versions of themselves and having to come to terms with different aspects of themselves. That would

[00:10:45] have been like, anyway, but we got Klingons. But we got Klingons, which are not my favorite. Like,

[00:10:52] Klingons are not something I care for. We have Eric, who was on my episode last week. He says,

[00:11:00] I agree with you, Marcy. I wish it had more time with the main characters. I'm gonna check Instagram

[00:11:06] real fast. Nope. All right. So yeah, I was very surprised when I saw it was only 33 minutes or

[00:11:14] something. I was like, Oh, that's gonna be a lot to unpack in 33 minutes. And I typically don't

[00:11:20] really pay attention to the normal episodes. And I'm probably they're probably around 20 to 25,

[00:11:26] because they're animated. So this is going to be a little bit longer. But I don't, I don't know,

[00:11:31] I think I was expecting like a 40. Like I was all like, big and bad and just like, go for it.

[00:11:36] And so a little extra time to the series finale. Yeah, series finale. Yeah, not season series.

[00:11:43] Like, it's just like, just give us a little more that we can. But I let me see here. Oh,

[00:11:51] so of course, like you were mentioning how they were talking about the crew, they go back to where

[00:11:56] our, you know, lower deckers are sitting at that booth, just how we saw it before he got Will's

[00:12:03] message. And, and yeah, Rutherford is angry. He is frustrated. He's like something, you know,

[00:12:10] the Cerritos is not connecting to my ocular implant. He's just not himself. And then I was like,

[00:12:18] is this are we gonna do another Rutherford like going crazy with his implant thing here. But also

[00:12:23] before we skip, so I had a question for you. So one of the things that I love about Star Trek is that

[00:12:31] for whatever reason, I never skip the title sequence. And I was wondering if the people in

[00:12:38] the comments or other people like an Instagram, do you skip the title or not skip the title? Because

[00:12:44] I feel like I never do with Star Trek. But with every other show, I feel like new shows,

[00:12:49] there's title sequences are so boring. And like, and like, abstract. But with Star Trek, you get like

[00:12:56] all this fun, like ship stuff. And in space, it has to do with the show. Yeah. Well, I usually skip it.

[00:13:06] Except for the first episode, because lower decks always did like Easter eggs, right? So when you

[00:13:14] watch it, you would notice something different. And so you're like, okay, like they had the hand

[00:13:19] thing. So you're like, okay, what, what TOS episode with the hand is we're gonna end? Of course, we got

[00:13:24] Ollie. And so I, but after that, it's just like, I don't need to keep watching. So I'm a skipper.

[00:13:33] Oh, that's interesting. That's all right. I mean, I think for me, it's like the music is so

[00:13:40] inspiring that and I just love seeing all like, especially like in the animation, the animation is

[00:13:46] so fun and beautiful. And then, and all the television shows, it's like, I don't know,

[00:13:53] it's just really pretty. And to hear those instrumentals just gets in the mood for the

[00:13:58] Star Trek.

[00:14:00] What's interesting is I don't skip TNG.

[00:14:03] Oh, okay. There you go.

[00:14:05] I had to think about that for a second. I don't skip TNG. I skip everything else, but not,

[00:14:10] not that. I don't know why. Cause it's, I don't know. It's mostly their names flashing on the

[00:14:17] screen.

[00:14:18] I mean, it's not like it's that interesting, but for like example, strange new worlds,

[00:14:24] it's just so beautiful when you watch the opening, you know? So.

[00:14:29] Yeah.

[00:14:30] Anyway, we can move on.

[00:14:32] That's fine. I think it's Nami who makes that really beautiful for, for strange new worlds.

[00:14:38] So of course, like I was saying, we, they, they got the message. He's freaking out. We have

[00:14:42] already angry Rutherford. Um, and enterprise is not going to make it. Well, first they go to Freeman

[00:14:51] and they're like, I know this sounds weird and everything, but you got to believe it. She's like,

[00:14:55] okay. And they're like, really? And she's like, after all we've been through, why wouldn't I? And

[00:15:00] they're like, Oh, that was way easier. I thought, I thought that was funny. And I was like very big

[00:15:05] character growth for captain Freeman. Yeah. And I think her and Mariner, I mean,

[00:15:10] I think they're starting this, like, I think it's three times in this episode that she tells

[00:15:15] Mariner that she trusts her, which has been an overarching arc throughout all of the seasons of

[00:15:22] Mariner and her mother learning to trust each other. Uh, again, after all these years of

[00:15:29] Mariner being a fuck up or whatever. Well, even especially after star base 80.

[00:15:35] Right. Right. Cause Carol really, sorry, mom, but fucked up a lot after that because, you know,

[00:15:43] she just didn't trust Mariner or Mariner had nothing to do with it. And so that, that was a whole arc in

[00:15:48] itself where Carol had to like, I, I messed up. I need to make amends with my daughter. And that was

[00:15:57] a whole, you know, story, which I think put them in the right, the right direction. I was,

[00:16:02] I was actually thinking about when they were mentioning, cause they were talking to the three.

[00:16:06] One was the Admiral that was Admiral Friedman one in the middle of, I guess he's a science officer,

[00:16:12] but he only had three pips. Maybe he wasn't a captain or anything. And then they had that other.

[00:16:18] Oh, you're talking about when they contact the high counselor or whatever.

[00:16:23] Yeah. For star fleet. And they were like, the enterprise isn't going to make it. And I had to

[00:16:28] think, I was like, okay, where's the enterprise? What, you know how I am about dates. I was thinking

[00:16:32] about, I was like, captain wharf is on the enterprise E at this very second. And we didn't get it.

[00:16:39] That would have been a Klingon. I wouldn't have minded to see.

[00:16:43] Yeah. That was kind of a funny, a whole thing where they're talking to the heads of star fleet.

[00:16:51] And then they reveal that, uh, you guys are going to have to take care of this. And it's such like a

[00:16:56] perfect lower decks moment when, uh, they say, ah, we have to be the ones to take care of this,

[00:17:05] like world ending rent. Like, dang it. We didn't want to be part of this. Uh, and yeah. So that was

[00:17:12] like a really funny moment because it's a very lower decks moment where they don't actually want

[00:17:17] to take on the responsibility for this. Like who would truly a huge responsibility, right? This is

[00:17:25] it. Right. It's like the, the universe is going to be destroyed if you don't take care of this.

[00:17:31] And that's why I was like, right. It's an enterprise job. That is Cerrito's job. So they were hoping that

[00:17:36] the enterprise would go and, and fix it like they always do. But you know, Picard wasn't there. He's off

[00:17:44] with, with, uh, Michelle hurt. Was it Rafi on another ship trying to do the, uh, Rami Lombrio location. So

[00:17:52] it was a Dorito crew at this time. It's funny that you make those connections between the dates

[00:17:59] of those two things happening. Cause I wouldn't have ever thought to like cross check Picard

[00:18:07] versus lower decks, but I'm like, I cross check. I'm just like, where's Beverly at this?

[00:18:14] What is going on? So, you know, it just, it just happens. So, oh, there's my friend Danny from comics

[00:18:22] and everything. Hello, go check her channel out. She just did a review about the new Superman trailer

[00:18:28] that just came out. So we were very excited about that. But, um, so yeah, so like you said,

[00:18:35] the Cerritos is like, well, crap. Now we have to, we have to go save the universe. Like even all of them,

[00:18:40] like Tiana's cursing in the background, just like, we didn't sign up for this.

[00:18:46] And I love that they're like blaming the Boimlers, like, because they're quantum entangled and

[00:18:53] everybody's like, Boimler, God damn it. And he's like, it's not my fault.

[00:18:56] It wasn't me. He was like, it's not me. It was Will. And they're like, why would you do this? I did it.

[00:19:04] You know? Yeah. Yeah. That was funny. He was like, why am I in trouble? Um, I guess it's like,

[00:19:11] is that a twin thing? Like, what twin is in trouble? Is the other one gonna get in trouble?

[00:19:15] Yeah. I mean, I, I guess at a certain point, like I've always had issue with the, uh, transporters

[00:19:20] and like, I'm like, you're basically matters getting destroyed and remade. So you're all,

[00:19:26] we're all, they would all be clones anyway. Like your original body is gone.

[00:19:32] So no longer exists. Yeah. But, uh, that's just my headcanon anyway. Right. Um, but I guess before

[00:19:41] the high command part was where the brothers, uh, uh, get attacked by Relga. Oh, that's right.

[00:19:50] Yeah. Yeah. This is where we see, cause I mean, may may, uh, I guess I'll say it is where he's just

[00:19:57] like, all right, we're going to die today. And Maylor is like, no, we're not. Like today is not a good day

[00:20:02] to die. Yeah. That was a good, good line. A good Klingon line. And then even when they had just been

[00:20:08] told by the high council of Starfleet, and then all of a sudden he's all like, we seek asylum.

[00:20:14] He's like, we're looking for Mariner and they're fighting. And she's like, I have no idea what's

[00:20:19] going on. And he's like, don't listen to it. I mean, I love that whole sequence.

[00:20:26] Was, was funny, but I mean, at least Carol took the time to be like, okay, we got to figure this out.

[00:20:31] Yes. We got to go see the universe, but something else is clearly happening. And so she couldn't

[00:20:36] ignore it. It's a, it's a very Picard thing to do where, you know, he can't ignore those moments

[00:20:43] for that reason. Yeah. If somebody asks for asylum, it's, you still have to, uh, take note of it.

[00:20:51] And she does have to bring them on board, but continues on her, uh, other quest. Uh, but it

[00:20:58] is funny when she takes them into the room and, uh, they're kind of like, again, Maylor lesser for bro.

[00:21:06] He's just like, so funny. He's like eating his snacks off in the corner. Like,

[00:21:11] Oh, that would be me. As long as you got good treats.

[00:21:20] I'll go anywhere. Right. As long as you feed me, I'm fine. Um,

[00:21:26] now kind of going and then, and this kind of all happens at the same time because Relga shows up right

[00:21:31] after they have that meeting in the observation lounge. And then she's like, you have two fugitives.

[00:21:36] I want them, blah, blah, blah. She's like, but they seeked asylum. And I don't know about you,

[00:21:42] but it was kind of obvious that that Admiral

[00:21:46] Freeman message was off.

[00:21:49] And I was like, that was weird. You know, it was like, all of a sudden he just popped up there.

[00:21:57] Gotta get rid of them. Boom. They're gone. And I'm all like, what the hell? I mean,

[00:22:00] I knew it came from her. And so it was kind of interesting how she was just like, oh, well,

[00:22:07] the Admiral says I have to return them, you know? And so it was nice that even like Mariner and even

[00:22:12] Jack and all that stuff were just kind of like, um. Well, I guess I just chalk it up to like, she

[00:22:21] doesn't hang out with her husband all the time anymore and her mind is on something else. So

[00:22:26] she's just like, okay, this is an easy out. I'll just give them back. Like as much as she's

[00:22:31] their friends of her daughter, like this is not the time to care about like a couple of random

[00:22:38] Klingons that have just arrived on my ship. So. Right. Right. But I mean, it was good of Jack too.

[00:22:45] He was being a very good first officer. For sure. Because he's like, I knew you had to listen to this

[00:22:52] and you were going to follow orders. But as your first officer, I had to make sure that it took the

[00:22:57] time for you to understand that there was something weird going on. Now, Danny says, I just want to

[00:23:02] know if that stable portal at the end means that we're going to get or seem in live action again,

[00:23:08] or open the possibilities from our animated series. I think so. I wouldn't see why we wouldn't.

[00:23:18] All I care about is if we get even animated. I would love a Starbase 80 though. Yeah. You know,

[00:23:28] kind of a DS9 situation. Right. I mean, that's another problem I have this episode is that it

[00:23:34] doesn't feel like the end of the series, like the end of it, like her speech kind of wraps it up. But

[00:23:42] there's this open portal. Like you said, there's station 80. It didn't feel like an ending. It felt

[00:23:51] like a new beginning. So what are they trying to new begin? Yeah. What is the new beginning?

[00:23:58] Yeah. Eric says they should have had Maylor and Dr. Bigly Moo bonding over snacks. Oh,

[00:24:04] I would have loved to see that. Awesome. I could see Maylor just like learning. He wants to know

[00:24:11] about like, oh, why is this salty? Why is this sweet? There's actually a great episode of Strange New

[00:24:17] Worlds. The one where Spock, I can't remember the name of the episode, but Spock's parents are meeting his

[00:24:27] fiance's parents. Yeah. And there's like a scene because Pike is just like bringing in these snacks

[00:24:34] and the father-in-law is like, oh, it's so tasty. And then the mother's like, don't eat those.

[00:24:40] They don't taste like traditional Vulcan snacks. Anyway, if you want to see people sharing snacks,

[00:24:46] watch that episode.

[00:24:48] I love the part though, is when they started, I guess, arguing or something and Pike just like

[00:24:52] slowly turned around. Yeah. That was good. That was so good. Anson did such a good job.

[00:24:59] I think one of the things though that I didn't like is that Freeman trusted Relga too quickly. She's like,

[00:25:05] in peace, I'm going to give you the freaking shield, you know, to help with the shielding and

[00:25:12] things like that. And I'm all like, she's already threatening to kill these guys. It doesn't seem

[00:25:19] like she's going to give a crap about you, Carol. So why would you give her important data? I don't

[00:25:25] understand that. But like you said, she's just trying to get the fuck out.

[00:25:31] That issue. Like, Hey, here's some good stuff. She's like, I got a timeline here. I got a deadline.

[00:25:40] Um, Eric said charades. Yes. That was the episode. And then Danny says that would have been good. I

[00:25:47] love the show and I did like this season, but if I'm being honest, it's not my favorite season. The

[00:25:52] previous seasons really set a high bar. I was hoping for more, I think for really set a bar

[00:25:58] high because it really connected the whole lower decks aspect with Cito and having Wesley and her

[00:26:07] being a part of star. That was a very high bar. And I think in a sense that almost could have been

[00:26:14] their series finale. Does that make sense? Because that was kind of the whole, that was his whole thing

[00:26:20] of why he made Laura decks. He was basing it off that one episode. And so since he wrapped it of like,

[00:26:26] this is why Mariner is Mariner, that would have been the, now she's onto this new path. Do I hate

[00:26:33] season five? No, I think they had a lot of great episodes and a lot of great scenes in season five,

[00:26:38] but there was some missteps with a couple episodes where I was just like,

[00:26:42] like the Ollie episode, the whole Zeus granddaughter. I didn't care for it.

[00:26:46] And I'm a Greek fan. Like I love Greek mythology. So.

[00:26:51] Yeah. I think it's always weird when they try to mix magic and science, like that's kind of

[00:26:56] falling a little bit short because in essence, then you're just another like super being,

[00:27:03] you're not like a God. And so they're kind of trying to mix those two things, which is,

[00:27:08] you know, can be done better. I think in a cartoon than it can in

[00:27:12] Yeah. Like an actual show, live action show, but.

[00:27:16] Well, I think we can kind of buy it more, it being the Laura decks than we did while it was on TOS.

[00:27:21] Sure. Yeah.

[00:27:23] Just saying. For sure.

[00:27:26] Let me see here. Trusted too quickly.

[00:27:29] So then they get fired on by the Klingon.

[00:27:32] They do. Now, because they have to start heading into that dimensional rift.

[00:27:38] So they warp out. She does the warp me.

[00:27:41] They warp out. That's right.

[00:27:42] Warp me.

[00:27:43] Warp me.

[00:27:45] And I think I'm trying to remember after this point, because I know they were getting chased, but

[00:27:52] there was a point.

[00:27:54] So then they just land close to what I call the S wave, the soliton wave area.

[00:28:03] Yeah. And so he ransoms like, the rings are getting freaky. Everybody get ready for weird.

[00:28:13] Yeah.

[00:28:13] Yeah.

[00:28:14] So they just kind of slowly impulse power into that zone where the soliton waves hit.

[00:28:21] And again, I feel like there's so much like techno babble in this episode. Again, it kind of takes away

[00:28:28] from the episode because I spent so much time trying to figure like, what are these solitons?

[00:28:34] Like, no, now the like hole is made of some kind of thing that is not as affected also by the wave.

[00:28:42] And like, there's all these different things coming at me when like, all I care about is like,

[00:28:47] okay, this is like the series finale.

[00:28:49] Like, I care about the emotions of the character, not about all this techno babble.

[00:28:53] No, this is, this was the ship porn section because the ship kept changing.

[00:29:00] Well, they needed to get to a place where they could do that. I get it.

[00:29:04] Which is fine. Like, I totally loved that, but it was just sort of like, oh,

[00:29:11] because I want to like hear what's being said and kind of understand it. And I think they didn't do a

[00:29:16] great job this episode of like, like, they just kind of were shoehorning it all in to get to the

[00:29:21] action. Into that part. Yeah. Especially because she ended up following them in and they didn't

[00:29:26] expect that. I thought, so I wrote, I wrote this down. I went sailing barge when all of a sudden the

[00:29:33] Klingon ship, and then you just see the bodies floating out. I was like, holy crap. Yes. So

[00:29:41] Cerritos turns into like the single nacelle ship, which I can't remember what it's called. I'm sure

[00:29:46] more nerdy nerds than me know that name of that ship. But, and then the Klingons, like you said,

[00:29:53] turned into like a barge. And I was like, oh yeah, sometimes I forget how really like bloodthirsty the

[00:30:00] Star Trek show is. Sometimes you like don't see the deaths on screen, but this was like,

[00:30:04] you literally just saw like dead Klingons just floating off. You're like, okay,

[00:30:11] they're not holding anything back. Nope, they were not. So Dave showed up. He says,

[00:30:17] hey, hey, Crusher Convo listening in. And this is body go floating away.

[00:30:24] And I just saw, I'm watching Enterprise. I'm on season three and it's on that whole Zindi storyline.

[00:30:33] And I think it's at, oh, I can't remember. It was like a Zari prime or something like that.

[00:30:40] But there's a part where they were getting attacked by the Zindi and one part of the ship got hit and

[00:30:46] all you see is the bodies just blow out. I was like, oh, that was, that was a bit much. Okay.

[00:30:51] Yep. That was, that was what, 2002? I mean, space is not kind. I mean,

[00:30:58] one little hole in a ship and like you're fucked. So like one pulsar hits you. I mean,

[00:31:05] thankfully they have the tech now to like avoid that, but like as a human in our day and age going

[00:31:10] into space, like it's cool, but it's scary. Oh, I mean, well, I mean, we saw it in Picard when

[00:31:16] Vatac and all of them got sucked out. Then she shattered. Dave, Dave did say they do embrace

[00:31:24] death. So they did die an honorable death. That is for sure. True statement. Klingons,

[00:31:30] they're like, as they're floating in space. Oh, wait, I didn't get murdered by anything.

[00:31:37] I'm just freezing to death. Sorry, not going to death. Klingon heaven.

[00:31:41] I like how the ship had turned into the sovereign class, which is the enterprise E. And then it also

[00:31:47] turned into the galaxy class, which went to the D and then it was also a Terran ship. And Shax is

[00:31:52] all like, we have Terran and we have all these like, and they're offline. Yeah. He was so excited.

[00:31:58] That was a really funny scene. And like, I also like that they send Boimler, go to navigation. We need

[00:32:06] to make sure it stays online. And he goes down there and all he's doing is like spraying down

[00:32:11] the dolphins. Like in my mind, I was like, he was actually going to be doing something, but he's just

[00:32:16] like spray support for the dolphins. They had to go do their stuff, but they can't be out of the water

[00:32:23] for too long. Eric says, pack lids are strong and space-worthy. You know what? I think it was kind

[00:32:33] of a miss that we didn't get the pack lids one more time as much as they're not like they, they were

[00:32:38] just funny on lower decks. I think they kind of been should have been added into that. And of course,

[00:32:45] as they're trying to escape the Klingons ago, there was that one scene where Carol goes, why hasn't her

[00:32:54] ship changed? And Deanna's all like it has, it's just, it's always a damn stupid bird.

[00:33:00] Yeah. And I didn't realize how many of the Klingon bird of praise, there's like

[00:33:04] the huge ones and the small ones, but they all look exactly the same.

[00:33:09] They all look, I noticed that I was like, why is her ship so ginormous? And then it had

[00:33:14] tiny little birds around. I was like, what the hell?

[00:33:17] Yeah. I think there are actually just, I looked it up because I was like, what the hell?

[00:33:21] And I was like, I guess there's just a larger size bird of prey, but

[00:33:25] And they're all called bird of prey. Yeah. And of course, like you were saying, Boimler is over,

[00:33:32] you know, watering down the, the, the, the belugas and, oh, they're the belugas. Yeah. And of course,

[00:33:42] you know, Maya and Mariner are, he thinks that Mariner knows as Maylar is because Maylar is,

[00:33:49] is missing. They were going to take them over and they're like, we can't find them. Right. And so,

[00:33:54] you know, they start arguing and stuff. And what's, what's Boimler's decision?

[00:34:00] Break. I'm just saying, it's like, sorry, you're not listening. You're not understanding that

[00:34:05] Mariner has no idea what's going on. And I'm just going to just destroy this red pad, which

[00:34:10] I've been saying this, this whole season, this red pad has, I thought that it was going to

[00:34:17] do something bad. Right. Because he was relying on it so much that he was changing his own history

[00:34:24] or his own future, I should say. And I thought that it was good. There was going to be a consequence

[00:34:31] to that. Because typically when you do change something in the past,

[00:34:36] it does change your future in a way we saw it with even all good things. You know, we saw that,

[00:34:43] you know, Troy was the one that died and Beverly was captain and she was married to Picard, but they

[00:34:49] divorced and all of these different things. But then because he saved humanity and changed the

[00:34:56] future that ended up being data died and not Troy and Picard and Beverly didn't get married, but they

[00:35:01] had a son. And so there was just these little, you know, one little thing that you change is going to

[00:35:06] change the future. And so I thought that pad was going to be more of a central to the storyline than

[00:35:13] just, he just destroyed it. And I was like, oh, yeah. I mean, I guess it's like the whole episode is

[00:35:21] about like, the crew has learned to trust each other. So like he reads on the pad that Becky Mariner

[00:35:28] was the one who hid, um, one of the M's. And, uh, so then they're like, the captain's getting all

[00:35:38] freaked out, takes him to the bridge. And I think he breaks it in show of solidarity with Mariner.

[00:35:46] And I actually think it is kind of a cool moment because it has been so pivotal to his character for

[00:35:52] so long that you can tell it's like an addiction, right? To like look at the pad. He doesn't have to

[00:35:58] make decisions for himself. He can just decide, see what bearded Boimler did and do that, you know?

[00:36:04] And this is him actually like becoming his own person kind of. And I think that's a really important

[00:36:11] character thing to do is to become your own person. Um, cause what was it literally one of my favorite

[00:36:18] lines was when a Mariner at the very beginning of the episode says, I can't believe you're basing

[00:36:23] your part or I can't believe basing your personality on that thing actually worked. That beard looks good.

[00:36:29] I hate it. I hate it. And like, the truth is, is that it did make him kind of a better person

[00:36:34] because it gave him confidence, but now he can have that confidence on his own, you know?

[00:36:39] Which I think even William was also showcasing that because he was missing that piece of having

[00:36:47] hit a Mariner, right? Which I hear so glad you see that alternate Mariner come through.

[00:36:52] So that was, I guess a little bit of a hint. I just thought there would be more consequences.

[00:36:56] I like how, yes, like it showed that he trusted Mariner and enough where he's like, I don't need this.

[00:37:03] I trust you and you are, you are what matter. But I just thought there would be more of a consequence

[00:37:09] instead of having to deal with the Klingons. Um, Danny says, oh yes, big missed opportunity. She says,

[00:37:14] I did, she says, I did appreciate the Jalad, the truth uncovered. I appreciate the use of the

[00:37:19] Temerian language, which is what we find out that that was not Admiral Freeman, right? Because when he

[00:37:27] sees Jack sees them fighting, he's all like, he, um, what was it? Mayer was going to, I guess, punch,

[00:37:34] uh, Boimler. Mariner and Boiler. Yeah.

[00:37:37] And Jack stopped. He's like, how are you so strong? I can't remember. It was a gym reference,

[00:37:44] obviously, but, but he was like, muscles finally took like the first five seasons. Yeah.

[00:37:51] Finally got there. But he was like, I hid Maylor because he's like, I know something was wrong.

[00:37:59] And I needed to give you captain the time to figure that out. And, um, and so it was funny

[00:38:06] because he's like, play the tape again, like something was wrong. And then of course that,

[00:38:10] you know, to Marion is speaking in that language, which they did it so well. Like, it was like,

[00:38:15] I could understand him. Eric says high intensity training. I believe. Yes. That was like such a

[00:38:20] good line and such a good moment. Like they did put in some really funny little moments here of

[00:38:26] callbacks to all the characters, like main behavioral traits. Yes. And, and even if we're

[00:38:34] going to talk about character growth, I think this was a huge character growth for Jack. Oh yeah.

[00:38:39] Cause we always, we always saw him as that muscle man. I only care about my abs kind of guy,

[00:38:45] but in reality, like he said in a couple episodes before upper decks, I believe he's like, he's playing

[00:38:52] stupid on purpose. Yeah. It's a tool. Like he's not actually dumb. It's a tool.

[00:38:56] He's like, I get, I get shit done around here because I'm doing it this way. And they're going

[00:39:02] to do the opposite. It's, it's a reverse psychology, but he plays it well enough that they're like,

[00:39:09] anybody gets shit done. And this was, I think the Mariner recognizes way before like anybody else

[00:39:18] does, except for maybe Freeman who made him second in command, um, that, you know, there's more to him

[00:39:25] than just the pretty face and muscles. So yeah. Yeah. Um, over on Instagram, we have Janice joining us,

[00:39:34] CF and major bell. Thank you guys for listening. And, um, again, it wasn't my favorite episode,

[00:39:45] but I was like, okay, because they realized they had to try and stop, uh, Brelga because she had that

[00:39:51] shield data that Freeman had given her. And so they were shooting at them and, um, it was Billups.

[00:39:59] He's like, I know who can stop, stop her. And of course here comes Ollie with her very flexible

[00:40:05] lightning bolt. And I'm like, was it needed? We could have eliminated a whole episode and this

[00:40:14] soul and done something totally different. Yeah. Like I think they did that to showcase

[00:40:22] her character one more time because she was in a single episode as like a main guest character,

[00:40:27] but I didn't like, I didn't care about her character. It's kind of like you as like, I wanted more time

[00:40:33] with our main folks. And so some of these little moments, like there's so much like, uh, back and

[00:40:39] forth between stuff. Like I felt like it needed to have more focus. Um, and I think it kind of was going

[00:40:48] all over the place with the action to like get in all the ships and do all the things. Right. And I was

[00:40:54] like, well, I want all of our lower decks people together. You know, the moments that I really liked

[00:41:01] were those moments. Yeah. And I think that was also the issue too, that I was having because we didn't

[00:41:06] get a lot except for one episode, which was the upper decks episode of them, of the bridge crew.

[00:41:13] We didn't get a lot of shacks or Tiana or even ransom and Freeman and all. And that's what I was missing.

[00:41:20] Even, um, that was another episode where I was just like, oh, I really don't care for this. Um,

[00:41:26] I can't remember the name of it. That's why I don't care for it. But, um, but like you were saying,

[00:41:34] we, we miss so many moments with our favorite characters because we had these filler episodes.

[00:41:38] I think because at that time, I don't think Mike McMahon knew that they had gotten canceled.

[00:41:44] I think if he did, I think they were told literally when they were up to like second or

[00:41:50] third episode to the end of the season. Wow. Yeah.

[00:41:52] So that, that threw off this whole thing. And I think he had to do a lot of rewrites for the final

[00:42:00] episode because he needed to wrap up certain storylines. Yeah. And I think that was the problem.

[00:42:09] Um, so I did want to ask you a question though, because there's one scene where we do get Tiana

[00:42:14] on the bridge and she's the one that explains that all of the Klingon ships are all the same

[00:42:19] pretty much throughout the years. And I was going to say, because you love Crusher so much,

[00:42:26] I wonder if that like love translates to like often the, the doctors of the ships in other series,

[00:42:33] or if it's just, you like Crusher particularly, because I tend to really like the doctor characters

[00:42:39] in the shows. Um, particularly Tiana and Shaxx are so adorable, like, and funny together, but

[00:42:48] I actually, um, I'm more of a doctor person. So I, I tip, like, I love Tiana. I love Mbenga.

[00:42:59] I love like, um, even Chapel, even though she's the nurse, but you know, she, I love the sick bay,

[00:43:07] medical, you know, medical team. Yeah. Um, I loved Bashir. I love Phlox. Like I just,

[00:43:15] I seem to, and the doctor, like I seem to really, and I don't mind McCoy. I don't mind phones.

[00:43:20] So I think I, I'm definitely more doctor. Um, it's just Crusher's just.

[00:43:27] Sure. Yeah. I mean, that's, it sounds like the answer is yes, it does translate over.

[00:43:31] It does translate. And even I may, may, you know, like say nice things about Pulaski. It's rare,

[00:43:42] but. Get out of here. You're not allowed to be on this anymore. I'm taking over Crusher combo.

[00:43:49] Crusher combo has been canceled. No. Um, which is funny because there was, there was a lot of

[00:43:55] Pulaski didn't like me wrong, but there was a couple of things where I was all like, yeah,

[00:44:00] I could have Crusher would totally agree with that, you know, cause she was a doctor,

[00:44:04] you know? And that's what I think. Um,

[00:44:08] well, I'm a data fan. And so Pulaski was such an asshole to data that I know. Like,

[00:44:15] that's the biggest, that's my husband. My husband cannot stand Pulaski just for that reason.

[00:44:23] Cause he loves data. And, um, and I've said this story before, but on his sixth birthday

[00:44:30] was the season three premiere of next generation and Crusher came back and he went, it was the best

[00:44:36] birthday present ever. He's like data's friend is back. He was very excited. Uh, Danny says she has

[00:44:44] to go. It's dinner time. Great discussion. Thank you for joining us, Danny. Now they were, we're going,

[00:44:51] uh, I wrote down Klingons turned to prototypes because they lost that shield, right? Because

[00:44:58] Ollie went and covered their, their shield thing and they ended up getting hit with the wave and they

[00:45:03] turned into the prototypes that were proto Klingons from Genesis. They raged so hard that they threw a

[00:45:15] body of another Klingon through their windshield basically and blew up their shoes. They blew up.

[00:45:22] And not even that. Cause I mean, Maya was all like, he's like, oh, they just, they're just full of rage.

[00:45:28] They're good. We're fine. Just let them be. And this is where the Rutherford comes right at this too,

[00:45:36] right? Because it turned back into the Cerritos. That's right. And they're like, oh great. They're back.

[00:45:42] And he's like, yeah. And he's like, oh wait, they are back. And I don't know what it was that clicked

[00:45:48] so quickly for Rutherford, but this is the part that made me cry. I started getting emotional at

[00:45:55] this part because all of a sudden he was all like the Cerritos is what can do this. And he ripped off

[00:46:00] his implant and just started doing things. And I love how living was right. They're like, I've never seen

[00:46:05] anyone do that so fast. And I've loved that it came from living because it wasn't this living anymore.

[00:46:10] Right. They were like Rutherford. All of a sudden it changed. It changed quickly. But I really loved

[00:46:17] how he just fell back in love with the Cerritos because he realized it was never the ship. He was

[00:46:24] relying too heavily on something else, which was the opposite of what his alternate self had done.

[00:46:30] His alternate self became basically a Borg. Right. Right. And in his sense, he's like, no,

[00:46:37] I need to be more human and not rely on those implants. And that was the part that I was just

[00:46:44] like, oh, I got emotional. I got emotional. I'm not gonna lie.

[00:46:48] Yeah. This wasn't the part. I mean, it was definitely an emotional moment, but it was hard for me because

[00:46:53] the moment he like slid under that thing and was like looking at all those little like square

[00:47:00] programming cubes or whatever. And they're like, I've never seen anybody do it that fast. And I was

[00:47:04] like, I have data. Remember that scene where he's like, yeah, that was the naked now.

[00:47:11] Now. Yeah. I'm like, oh man, that is, that scene is seared into my brain forever, but it is a really good

[00:47:19] scene. You're right. That like, I have a very poor memory and I'm glad that you mentioned like,

[00:47:25] because he saw his Borg self and realized his Borg self was too unemotional. And so he's taking

[00:47:30] kind of the complete opposite track, which is totally fine. But it's also like that kind of

[00:47:37] was part of his character that they've totally eliminated was this connection to this technology,

[00:47:43] but that's all right. I mean, I think it's a fine ending for his character, at least in the series.

[00:47:51] I mean, he always had issues. And so like you had said that he had that ocular issue before where he

[00:47:57] had the red Rutherford versus him. And then he relied on badgy and, you know, too much. And I think

[00:48:05] that's where I think he had to realize that, wait, it's, it's not this, like I can do more with the ship

[00:48:14] and be one with them without having to use these implants. And so I thought that in itself was a

[00:48:23] good way of, of finishing his story. And then of course they're like, okay, Klingons are gone and

[00:48:29] everything, but we're still stuck in that damn rift. It's like, wait, we still have a problem here.

[00:48:33] And of course it ends up being Maelor who saves the day with this dam.

[00:48:40] Well, wait, we haven't even gotten to the part. So they're rushing through after Rutherford. And

[00:48:46] that's when we get our, my favorite scene with our good friends, Tendi.

[00:48:53] Tendi and Talyn.

[00:48:55] Talyn. And so we're going to do a little reenactment of the scene and I'm playing Tendi.

[00:49:02] Tendi. So I'll start.

[00:49:07] Today's chaos has driven us apart, but that's when we need to be the most in sync.

[00:49:13] Relinquish control, trust each other. Before we had to prove ourselves. Now we unite as

[00:49:21] science besties.

[00:49:24] I, that is where I got emotional. It was such like a good moment because this was like the one

[00:49:32] storyline. I think they really like had fleshed out in that like earlier episode a little more

[00:49:38] that they were competing against each other. And so to have them like unite together. And I love the

[00:49:45] women in, uh, Lower Decks. I think Lower Decks actually did a really good job of having more women

[00:49:52] than men as like the main characters and then having the women just support each other and like,

[00:49:59] you know, pass the Bechdel test, like have a whole adventure on their own, you know,

[00:50:03] like things like that. So.

[00:50:05] Yeah. No, it was, it was really good because they were believing because when Maelor is like

[00:50:10] build a dam, they're like, huh? That's why they decided to do that whole,

[00:50:14] our whole reenactment that we did. Hopefully I was logical enough, but they were like,

[00:50:18] no, it's going to work. We have to do this. And of course, you know, we mentioned this

[00:50:21] backstage where that was very anime where I did the split screen.

[00:50:24] Right.

[00:50:26] Going in. Definitely. I mean, I got Pokemon vibes.

[00:50:31] For sure.

[00:50:36] But then it worked, right? They were able to, but it didn't close the portal. It kept it

[00:50:42] permanently open. It was pretty.

[00:50:47] Yeah. So I was a little confused by like what she even did. They don't even really tell you

[00:50:52] like an increased tacky on something or other, or they kind of tell you in Boimler's log. But then

[00:50:58] again, like another thing kind of just left trailing, like, oh, she did it. Like, we don't know how,

[00:51:05] but it happened. It worked. I kind of got season two Picard vibes with Borgati. How do you say her name?

[00:51:19] Um, Agnes's character, um, where she became the board queen and she was now

[00:51:28] like managing that portal. Right. And this is kind of the same thing, but it's a different portal.

[00:51:39] I mean, it's not the future. It's just like,

[00:51:42] not the future. It's the multiverse. Yeah. But I think, you know, but that's what they were saying

[00:51:48] that we needed to have something that was low tech. And that's why they decided to move star base 80 over

[00:51:54] there, which that made sense. Like, remember how I was saying like the whole gods and angles episode

[00:52:00] with Ollie and all that stuff didn't make sense. It didn't need, but this made sense because this is

[00:52:06] where we got to see star base 80. We got to see Mariner deal with, you know, her trauma of being an

[00:52:11] 80. Um, this was the full circle moment for Carol. Cause she was like, I'm not going to be there.

[00:52:17] And she ends up being there, but it made sense that that this is what was supposed to happen.

[00:52:22] Cause Carol never paid attention to why she went to star base 80. She was just trying to not

[00:52:27] go to star base 80, not realizing what the consequences or what the reason these were. So, um,

[00:52:36] that I felt was like, okay, I liked that part of the story. I like how they kind of bookend

[00:52:43] this story in that sense. And as happy bookworm actually says, I hate that it ended, but this was

[00:52:50] a great episode. Oh yeah. I mean, I think, I think it makes sense that star base 80 goes there. Um,

[00:52:59] and it's kind of like, it was a fun ending to it to have this like portal open. And I think

[00:53:06] who was it? I think it was your friend that left, um, from comics, something, uh, basically said,

[00:53:15] uh, now I lost my train of thought. Sorry.

[00:53:21] I mean, I could try and look for her comment if you want me to go up. This is, uh,

[00:53:29] not her favorite season. Oh, the stable portal at the end means that we're going to get to see them

[00:53:34] in live action again, or open possibilities to more animated series. So I think they're like

[00:53:38] trying to give more options to like the new generation of star Trek. And, you know, I don't

[00:53:45] know how you feel, but I'm not sure. Like it's fun to have these multiverses, but it's also like,

[00:53:53] I think takes away from just like good storytelling. Like, do you have to have like a thousand different

[00:53:59] versions of someone to like, enjoy a series? I mean, it's funny, but like, is this the only way we

[00:54:09] can tell stories is time travel? And like, that's why I like strange new worlds to be honest. Cause

[00:54:14] they just tell some of those like contained storylines. Yeah. And I feel like everybody

[00:54:20] just needs like, let's have more. It's like, like television on ADHD crack, you know,

[00:54:27] I think with one thing that I could say that I could agree with, because I know so many people were just

[00:54:35] upset about this. And so was I, even though I was not there in the nineties watching these shows is

[00:54:41] that this could be a good way to bring Jed Zia back. And, you know, I think this is kind of their

[00:54:47] way of like writing a wrong with certain things, but is it needed? No. Is it going to happen? Probably

[00:54:56] not. At least the option is open. So even let's say, you know, this, like let's the Starfleet Academy,

[00:55:05] that's going to be coming out. Right. And I know it's in the 32nd century, but let's say for,

[00:55:10] for whatever reason we could have a Jed Zia and it makes sense because of this particular episode

[00:55:16] and bring her in, you know, I guess I just feel like current, like I am an older Star Trek fan,

[00:55:23] not as old as some. And I feel like just because you're nostalgic for something and you're upset

[00:55:31] about something that happened 20 years ago. Like, let's move on from that. Okay. Like you don't

[00:55:38] need to have Jed Zia back. I'm sorry that they took her off the series and let's have some new fresh

[00:55:45] characters. Let's like have some new interesting things that we see, like the same thing with Star

[00:55:50] Wars. Like you don't need to see every old character come back. It's okay. Like live with that memory.

[00:55:58] That is more sweet than them fucking up your old characters, you know, like, come on,

[00:56:05] like let's fall in love with someone else. Just saying. No, I mean, I can totally understand that

[00:56:12] because you, we want to keep the franchise to continue telling different stories and not just

[00:56:20] retelling the same story just in a different way. Yeah. Like a lot of people love Prodigy and that's like a

[00:56:27] whole new, like, obviously it has captioning like Catherine Janeway in it, but like, I think it's fun

[00:56:33] to bring the old characters in is like helping the new generation move on, but then let's let a new

[00:56:38] generation move on. Like, let's let's the next, the new next generation. Yeah. And I think that's like a

[00:56:49] great name for the episode because we have to let the younger generation of Star Trek fans have people

[00:56:55] that they can relate to. And I think that again, not to bring it back to Strange New Worlds, a slower

[00:57:00] deck episode, but I think Strange New Worlds is even though it's older in time and the timeline is

[00:57:09] giving those kinds of characters to the new generation people that others can connect with.

[00:57:14] And I think we need to do that. We need to upgrade it, but allow it to also have the same

[00:57:22] like utopian type, like hopeful feel. That is what makes Star Trek different from all the other

[00:57:30] shows out there. That's why we love it. Yeah. Yeah. And of course, like I said, the Carol Freeman is now

[00:57:37] on Starbase 80 and she has her husband with her and Jack is now the captain. We no longer have

[00:57:44] Cyber Rutherford. And then of course, you know, Mariner and Boimler are co first officers.

[00:57:55] And again, going back to Jack, just being like, this is going to prove something right. It's going to,

[00:58:02] you know, as much as they were like, no, we don't want to be competing against each other.

[00:58:05] He's like, you got to trust me. This is, this is going to work. And of course,

[00:58:09] we also saw with Rutherford about his, his feelings for Tendi, which I kind of felt was

[00:58:15] a little brushed aside. It was just kind of like, mentioned for two seconds and then that was it.

[00:58:20] Which I know a lot of people really liked the whole Tendi and Rutherford relationship or

[00:58:26] I definitely am on that ship. Like, yeah. So man, like, and she was blushing in other episodes

[00:58:35] with him. So like, they kind of made it seem like Tendi was no longer interested in him. And he was

[00:58:41] just like feeling feelings that he wasn't used to. I don't know. I felt like there should have been

[00:58:46] more connection there. Yeah.

[00:58:48] And it was just kind of like, she's like, Oh, okay. You're handsome. Whatever. You know?

[00:58:54] Yeah. It just, it didn't seem very, um, that felt very shoehorned in. They didn't, they didn't need him to

[00:59:03] be all blushy and stuff. If that was just going to be it for two seconds. Right. They didn't.

[00:59:08] Yeah. They should have had like a, actually, I feel like it would have been really cool if they had

[00:59:12] like just a one-on-one scene between Tendi and Rutherford. Yeah.

[00:59:16] Because they have been, they have been science besties before. Right.

[00:59:21] To Lynn and her were science besties. And to just have that moment of connection, it doesn't have to

[00:59:26] be romantic. Um, but like, because I think they've been kind of falling apart again, falling away from

[00:59:34] each other in this, this season. Yeah. And to like, I feel like there should have been more connection as

[00:59:39] a team other than just like, we're sitting at the bar having drinks. Like. Right. Yeah. I don't know.

[00:59:45] It, that, that just kind of felt off to me. Um, but before we kind of wrap it up, I'm going to actually

[00:59:52] finally show the clip that I've been wanting to share. So here it is. Nice.

[00:59:57] You know why Boimler's weird death faking clone sent that cosmic wave at us? Because he knew we kick ass.

[01:00:03] And I'm not just talking about the five of us. The whole Cerritos crew is stacked with amazing

[01:00:11] officers. Yeah. There's a lot of ships in the fleet, which are bigger, fancier. They have engineering

[01:00:18] sections that are attached to the main part of the ship. And honestly, those crews are way more

[01:00:25] professional. Hey, I should know I've been kicked out of half of them, but this thing we do doesn't

[01:00:32] require perfection. We're explorers. We live for the unknown. You can't prepare for that.

[01:00:41] Nobody on the Cerritos is even close to perfect. We're a mishmash of people and various creatures

[01:00:47] that don't fit in anywhere else. But we're a family. That's why I love it here. We believe in the mission and in each other.

[01:01:01] My mom might be gone, but she handpicked this crew, which is why I know we're going to be okay.

[01:01:10] This isn't the end of a story. It's the beginning. We're going to make her proud.

[01:01:15] Wow. That's such a healthy way of looking at it. Yeah. I did get mad and set my bed on fire.

[01:01:20] Wait, what? Is it still burning? Yeah. And I kicked a computer. But you know,

[01:01:24] that's all out of my system. I'm good. I think. I mean, I don't know. We'll have to wait and see.

[01:01:28] Tune in. Uh oh. You know, I did the same thing when we watched the final season or the second season

[01:01:37] of Prodigy because we don't know if it's final. We don't know what's going on. But I did that.

[01:01:40] You know, they showed their the video and got emotional and it was all sweet. And I liked how

[01:01:46] this was the same thing. But then they had to crack that joke. Yeah. Just remember this is still

[01:01:52] lower decks. You have the beds on fire. It's no big deal. I cannot tell you I laughed so hard

[01:01:58] when I saw that damp candle. It's like Mike McMahon. I know you wanted Gates. You wanted

[01:02:06] Beverly Crusher in your show. That was not the video, but I will accept it.

[01:02:12] Yeah, it was like a really good ending and it's like a reminder of

[01:02:18] what Star Trek is about is like your friends can be your family and the creation of friends as family

[01:02:27] and people who can support you. And I've always been very attracted to that idea. I have lots of

[01:02:33] friends that I feel like are more family than my actual family. So I think this was a great kind of

[01:02:41] speech about that. And I think when I got emotional was actually when Mariner hugs her mom and is saying

[01:02:50] goodbye to her mom and they say, I love you to each other. And it is a really poignant moment because of all

[01:02:55] the strife they had gone through together. And so I think it's a sweet ending and it leaves it open,

[01:03:06] to be honest, to potentially having another season somewhere else. Who knows?

[01:03:11] Who knows? Who knows?

[01:03:13] I mean, we'll see. I mean, they got five seasons, just like the majority of these new Trek shows have

[01:03:20] gotten. I think even strange new worlds might be heading in that direction. So, you know,

[01:03:29] I know, but the way it's going, it's still, it's still a couple of years. We're still fine. But,

[01:03:37] but yeah, I mean, I think it wrapped itself well, like you said that if this is the end, this is the

[01:03:43] end, but there is potential to have it open, which is exactly what Prodigy did, you know,

[01:03:50] because they're not sure if they're going to be renewed for a third season. And so they were like,

[01:03:54] so let's end it, but not, you know, and see how it goes. But even Picard did that,

[01:04:02] even though we knew it was only going to be three seasons, they still kept it open where there could

[01:04:06] be a legacy series if they wanted to down the road with Jack and Seven and Rafi. So, but yeah,

[01:04:14] I think now I'm actually going to go into the Tri-Quarter rating.

[01:04:22] So I got 21 votes and we got 86% of five Cerritos strong. So people really enjoyed this episode.

[01:04:33] We got 5% for four birds of prey. We got 9% though of three dimensional rifts. And then no one said it

[01:04:41] was one or two ocular implants. What would you rate this as? Hmm.

[01:04:51] I might be in that 9%. Unfortunately, I feel like it's not like the worst of the verse, but it's not

[01:04:59] the best of the best of the lower decks episodes. I feel like they could have done a little bit better

[01:05:07] with really having us connect again to the lower decks crew and the main bridge crew and our team

[01:05:18] together because, I mean, that's what you want to see. And I think they were too focused on getting to the

[01:05:27] destination of this action-filled episode as opposed to like taking the more emotional route, which,

[01:05:35] you know, I'm known to care more about that. Like, cause that's why you're here is for the characters,

[01:05:41] right? And like the action is cool. The funny is good, but like, I want to see the relationships be

[01:05:49] renewed in a stronger way. And they, they did do that a little bit, but I felt like it was an okay

[01:05:56] episode, but not my favorite. Not the favorite. I, I want to give it a four birds of prey. Um,

[01:06:04] like I said, there was just a couple of things that I felt were just kind of shoehorned in

[01:06:08] that I don't think was needed, but overall it's an episode that I enjoyed watching and I can watch again.

[01:06:16] And it doesn't fully close the chapter, but at least gives a decent ending for the characters

[01:06:24] that we enjoyed. But like I was telling, you know, with Danny, that this wasn't really her favorite

[01:06:30] season, that there were stronger seasons before. And I think it's because they didn't know, they

[01:06:35] didn't know that they were going to be canceled. They didn't know that this was going to happen.

[01:06:39] And I think it definitely would have been different if they would have known it was their final season,

[01:06:44] just like, you know, we we've had some issues with Picard season three, but they knew that was the

[01:06:49] final season. And so that's why they were able to do the stories of the way that they did. Um,

[01:06:55] you know, so I think that helped in a lot of ways, but for, for this, it was kind of like,

[01:07:03] okay, well, we gotta, we gotta wrap it up and we gotta do the best, best we can. But, um,

[01:07:08] but overall I think they did a great job and it's a show that, you know, any of us can watch. I mean,

[01:07:17] my daughter hates Star Trek. She hates Star Trek and she actually watched the first couple of seasons

[01:07:25] of Lower Decks and enjoyed it and has a, a Geordie bear, you know? And so I think this is a good show to

[01:07:34] introduce new people to the series and, um, possibly get them to watch the, the, the older ones.

[01:07:41] Yeah. I mean, I think the not greatest episodes of Lower Decks are still really good episodes. And

[01:07:48] that's sort of like, I feel like Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds, I can say that about like,

[01:07:53] if you forced me to do a rating, I'm rating it based on all the other episodes of the show,

[01:07:59] but that doesn't mean it's not a good episode. I think that's the beauty of Lower Decks and Strange

[01:08:05] New Worlds. I think they got it right. Um, in a way that like, I feel like Picard and, um, disco,

[01:08:13] you know, struggled to find their audience in the Star Trek people because, um, you know, you have to have

[01:08:23] good storytelling, you have to have heart, you have to have, um, some silliness, some fun.

[01:08:31] And if you can't get some of all of that in there, if every episode feels like a slog, then

[01:08:38] like it's a struggle. So I love Lower Decks. I think it's a shame that they decided to cancel it,

[01:08:44] that you're right, that, you know, they probably could have done better with a series finale if they

[01:08:49] knew it had been coming. And, um, it doesn't seem like a series finale episode. That's kind of why

[01:08:56] I'm also rating it a little low. It seems like it's going to keep going. Like they didn't close

[01:09:01] up the storylines in a way that I felt super satisfied with. So.

[01:09:06] Mm-hmm .

[01:09:06] It's not really an all good things, right?

[01:09:09] Yeah.

[01:09:09] Like, you know, or even, uh, in Voyager, I can't remember the, their finale episode,

[01:09:16] but like they came home, like, you know, that it's, it's done. It's over, you know,

[01:09:21] now onto the next chapter.

[01:09:23] Like they didn't even make, so, I mean, the part of the Lower Decks is that they're Lower Decks.

[01:09:29] And ending would be that, um, Ransom would pick a first officer and in my mind would be Mariner,

[01:09:38] Boimler, obviously not Boimler because he's just not ready. And like to have him make her a first

[01:09:45] officer would have felt like the ending of the series because then she's no longer a true Lower

[01:09:50] Decker. Right. And so like something, something to finalize it, but they didn't really do that.

[01:09:56] They couldn't make a decision on it. So.

[01:10:00] Again, I think they just kind of wanted to keep it open. Right.

[01:10:03] Right.

[01:10:04] So he made those, they made those decisions.

[01:10:07] So now I'm going to go into my redhead alert.

[01:10:15] Okay guys. So my redhead alert, if you haven't already heard, I had the opportunity to sit down

[01:10:21] with Gates McFadden. We talked about her podcast, her time on Star Trek and got to squeeze in a

[01:10:27] little X-Men. She definitely turned the tables on me by asking about my own family. So hopefully

[01:10:32] you guys enjoy it. You can find the interview here on my YouTube channel or the audio version

[01:10:38] on your favorite podcast app. And Trek Talks is just around the corner on January 18th. This

[01:10:46] telethon benefits the Hollywood Food Coalition hosted by John Billingsley and Bonnie Gordon with

[01:10:52] amazing guests, Star Trek guests like David Ajala, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Robert Picardo,

[01:11:00] Nana Visitor, and many more. Follow them on the social media at at Trek underscore talks and go to

[01:11:07] their YouTube and subscribe to their channel at Trek Talks telethon. And all of their information

[01:11:13] is at trektalks.net. And do not forget that my Be Kind Light Crusher design that I have at my

[01:11:19] tea public store, all the proceeds of this design will be donated to Trek Talks.

[01:11:25] And even though season two is over, season three will be here before you know it. So make sure

[01:11:30] you like and subscribe on this channel for more Crusher Combo content. You can also listen to all the

[01:11:36] audio versions of Crusher Combo on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Good Pods, or wherever you listen to your

[01:11:42] podcasts. You can support the podcast by buying Birch on Tee Public, buying me a coffee, or you become a

[01:11:48] Patreon member for as low as $3 a month. My Patreon shout outs go to Chuck and Engineer Mark. Thank you for

[01:11:55] your support. You can also find me on Blue Sky, Instagram, threads, or TikTok. And of course, all this

[01:12:01] information can be found at crushercombo.com. Oh, I did that and didn't have to cough. I feel like

[01:12:10] coffee now though. I do want to take a moment here. That's the wrap. This is my season two finale.

[01:12:22] And I really wanted to take the time and explain why I am so grateful for each and every one of you.

[01:12:29] Okay. And I wrote this down because I didn't want to forget anything. But a year ago today,

[01:12:36] Crusher Convo was canceled. I made that joke earlier, but it was really canceled.

[01:12:43] Yeah. But it was by my own doing. Old tweets from five to 15 years ago were found and I was not the

[01:12:51] nicest person. And weirdly enough, I never thought of myself as such until your hurtful words are staring

[01:12:58] at you right in the face. I do not condone nor do I make excuses for my actions. And I lost a lot of

[01:13:04] people I was close to and I understand their decision to walk away. But I had some who stuck

[01:13:10] by me, who believed in me and who saw that I was not the same person that wrote those hateful words

[01:13:16] and trusted in me to continue to change and continue to grow as a person. And like I've said before,

[01:13:22] that trauma made a huge impact on me on how much this world is hurting. And those people who rallied

[01:13:27] behind me gave me the encouragement to bring Crusher Convo back. And I decided to do so, but differently.

[01:13:34] Not just to deep dive the next generation through Beverly's eyes, but deep dive all of Star Trek,

[01:13:40] because I believe that she represents the best of Trek, hope, compassion, love and forgiveness.

[01:13:46] I want to share that and have fun and interact and love everyone I come across. And this season I got to,

[01:13:53] you know, interview John Billingsley from Enterprise and Stephanie Tchaikowski from Picard.

[01:13:59] And, you know, I got to talk to Mike McMahon for Laura Dex and Aaron Walkie for Prodigy. And of

[01:14:05] course, I got to talk to Gates, who has been nothing but kind and generous and grateful for the time I've

[01:14:12] spent gushing about her character. And she has not only been an inspiration for me, but all of you,

[01:14:18] those who stuck by me have been an inspiration and I could never say thank you enough.

[01:14:23] And please know from the bottom of my heart, I love every single one of you. And I thank you. And I hope I

[01:14:30] am making you proud and that season three will be nothing but an amazing success. And Marcy,

[01:14:35] you are one of those people. I am very grateful you are in my life. Same with Green Shirt, you know,

[01:14:41] Lori from Trek Movie and Tim from FSF and Ro and Danny and all of them. You guys really have been

[01:14:49] just amazing friends and I couldn't be more blessed in such a way. And so, yeah, I really wanted to

[01:14:59] to say that. And like I said, I hope I'm making you guys proud and I hope everyone's enjoying the

[01:15:06] content I'm doing. Like I said, it's a little different. I'm doing video instead of the audio

[01:15:11] and stuff, but I'm having fun and I hope you're having fun with me. So thank you very much. And I

[01:15:17] thank you, Marcy, for joining me on my final episode of season two and just let the listeners know where they

[01:15:25] can find you. Sure. Yeah. Before I do that, though, I'm sure I speak for all of your listeners

[01:15:31] that they really appreciate that you put your heart out there and you are, you know, it's very vulnerable

[01:15:39] in that moment. And we all appreciate you, Jesse. And it is a big thing to make those big changes like

[01:15:46] you talk about. And we should give people space to do that. And I think sometimes in especially

[01:15:54] social media, like there is that cancel culture, but like recognizing that people can change and

[01:16:01] that that is what Star Trek and what like we should be doing as a human race is like helping others to

[01:16:09] like if they do make a decision and do change to not throw back in their face like so violently. But I get,

[01:16:18] you know, that not everybody can do that and that's okay. And they need to have their space to walk

[01:16:23] away if they want. But I appreciate you taking the time to to say those words. And we all love you.

[01:16:31] You're a very good supporter of everyone that you care about. So I do my best. I do my best.

[01:16:39] So if you do want to hear more of me talking too much, then you can listen to me at idle ride

[01:16:48] podcast or idle ride. I'm on any of the podcasting apps that you could find. Just look for idle ride.

[01:16:57] And then my social media is the same handle. So currently I'm reviewing the season of fallout

[01:17:05] on prime and I have previous seasons of the last of us television show and avatar, the last airbender.

[01:17:13] And our next upcoming show will be silo on Apple plus, which is going through its second season right

[01:17:21] now. But we'll start with the first season.

[01:17:23] And as you can see below right there is her handle. I put Instagram, but that's pretty much

[01:17:29] our handle all over social media. So if that's where you want to find her, she's, she's one of the very

[01:17:35] cool, you know, female gamers out there and she knows her stuff. Literally like every nerd thing

[01:17:43] that has been done. I'm doing it. I D and D I game, I watch genre films. Like I read, I nerd out on

[01:17:54] gardens, like everything. True ADHD.

[01:17:58] I love, I love your Instagram. When you have something sprout, you're like, it's so beautiful.

[01:18:08] Um, you know, kind of to circle back though, real fast. Um, there was one thing that I learned that

[01:18:14] even though I did lose people from my life, uh, due to what I had done, um, I, I learned that they

[01:18:21] were in my life at that time for the reason. And even though that they're not with me anymore,

[01:18:26] they, they still carry a special place in my heart because I needed them clearly during that time.

[01:18:34] And they were part of my growth, even though they're not here. Right. So, you know, some,

[01:18:39] I miss very, very much. And, uh, um, again, I just wanted to, to address that and just make sure

[01:18:47] that everyone knows that I love every single one of you. And, um, I love talking Trek and I love that

[01:18:54] you guys are, are here and supporting Crusher Convo and doing the best, doing the best I can. So, um,

[01:19:03] but yeah, I think that's it. Eric says, thank you for your contributions and happy holidays to everyone.

[01:19:10] And that is very true. Happy holidays. Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever you guys celebrate,

[01:19:18] whatever, you know, Trekmas, catmas, like whatever, there we go. Whatever you celebrate. So I hope

[01:19:31] everyone has a wonderful time. And of course this is where I will end it. Live long and prosper,

[01:19:38] everybody. Happy holidays. Yep. Merry Christmas. Bye. Bye.

[01:19:44] Prosher out.