LogFAQs > #973772730

Episode 15: Lower Decks

Perhaps a bit overdue, this sort of story.

Picard gives Sito a brief look. I always appreciate that he keeps tabs on all his staff. Gives Sito a well deserved dressing down. Very fair boss.

Riker's very sleepy. Gives Sito good advice. Wouldn't blame him if he did dislike Lavelle. Just about tolerates that profoundly crap talk at the bar. No patience for sycophants and greatly enjoys winning at poker.

La Forge is a bit too patient with Taurik. Stops him from using too much initiative. Gets a little annoyed by him being a smartass and sends as many hints as he can to shut up. Makes an effort to patch things up.

Worf sheepishly admits to recommending Sito. Explains his argument to Riker, not that we hear it. Gives one hell of a hint to Sito and clearly worries about her.

Crusher reassures Ogawa, promises her a promotion and takes an interest in her love life. Amused by Troi teasing Riker.

Troi has sound criteria for who should take what role. Easily tempted by dessert. Takes Riker to task for his treatment of Lavelle.

Data does his job.

Ogawa really needed more lines in this series. She's a delight. Her reaction to getting a promotion is adorable. Seems a bit gossipy. Just as happy to be hitched.

Sam is a nervous wreck and more than a bit annoying. Very egotistical and judgemental. Dont like him at all. Especially given his pathetic envy of Sito seemingly getting special treatment. Realises that kissing ass doesn't really work.

Taurik shares my reaction to that promotion repetition. Little bit sassy. Seems to figure out that La Forge wants out of that conversation. Intelligent, definitely, but seems to lack wisdom, since he fails to notice any of La Forge's hints.

Sito is alright. Quite adorable, really, especially with that spider metaphor. Pleased as all hell when Picard picks her out. Shes beaming in that lift. Gets deflated, naturally. Doesn't defend herself well. Tries to mitigate her failure rather than own up to it. Frankly, it's a bit cowardly. Definitely failed that test of character on the first go. Her second attempt is obviously better, but the issue for me wasn't courage, so much as accountability. Shame she died. I don't mind admitting that it took me a while to remember she was in a previous episode.

Smooth to move to another table and establish who the real main characters are. The usual group do tend to flit in and out of the background and there's something almost mythic in the way they influence the lives of the other crew. The lift scene is a little awkward. Decent parallels with the two poker games, especially with Riker and Lavelle being quite similar.

While redshirts have gotten their due respect in some episodes, they're always going to feel a bit too much like cannon fodder, which can get a bit distasteful for such an idealistic universe. So, having an episode from their perspective is a potentially good idea. There are two problems, though. The first is that you need to establish these characters and that's kind of difficult when your (mostly) new group is still competing against the regulars. As it is, only Ogawa and Sito wound up leaving much impression and that's because Ogawa's long been part of this crew and is already decently familiar, while in Sito's case its primarily down to her being the obvious emotional core of the episode. Taurik, Lavelle and Ben don't really have too much to them from what I can see. Taurik, in particular, is basically a Vulcan stereotype for most of his time. In contrast, the new perspective manages to give new insight into certain parts of the regulars. Picard and Worf, in particular, show a lot of compassionate and nurturing tendencies, which is sometimes disguised by their stern demeanours. The second is what that perspective is. Because they're basically just passive actors, living by the whims of the regulars. The big issue is who's getting promoted, which they have relatively little agency over, and the men especially don't seem to have a life outside of that. Ogawa has her love life and Sito has one hell of a mistake to haunt her, so, they manage alright. But Sito's story could've been done by having her be a more typical guest star. Like another Barclay or Ro. Well, except for the fact that they killed her off. The main cast are put on an odd pedestal just so we can have the poker game comparison and say that actually the two groups aren't that different. But it just rings a bit hollow. Like it thinks it's saying far more than it actually is.

A good idea with decent execution that nevertheless feels quite a bit shallower than it wants to be. Feel like I should like it more than I do, but there's something a little unsatisfying about it.

To Thine Own Self I go.