“I’ve authorized the local authorities to drag you out of there.”

“Just go limp. Don’t fight them”

Oh man Ransom is becoming one of my favorite characters.

That mind control/subliminal messages in advertising joke with the paramount logo made me laugh.

I always headcanoned that Rom was very quickly fired after DS9… but I have to admit this episode did an excellent job conveying that with Leeta at his side, he’s got quite good job security. … and wasn’t that the Sense-Ores admiral?

I liked catching up with Marinier’s Ferengi friend from back in S1. Kinda wish they did a little bit more with that plot.

I tend to feel awkward when I see characters acting awkward… to that extent I had a little trouble getting through Tendi and Rutherford’s story. I like them more when they get to be big nerds—which we admittedly had quite a bit of this episode.

Beyond that… I find it interesting that the Parlament class now has a CGI model. Lower Decks traditionally saves the CGI budget for ships that get into combat or major fan service. The Parlament vessel doesn’t really qualify for either in this episode. I wonder if it’s going to be a casualty of the mystery ship later in the season.

Also, did I hear right that the Ferengi Lower Decker was in communication with the mysterious vessel?

I like it when the Ferengi stay on brand.

I dislike cringe humor and watching characters be uncomfortable, so I didn’t love the Rutherford/Tendi plotline, but there were enough cute moments in there to make it worthwhile. It feels like the show is openly baiting “shippers” at every opportunity, and this is the most flagrant example yet.

With that said - and making no claims about if romance is in any way necessary or inevitable here - these two being so close is adorable.

For a therapist, Migleemo is either really bad at reading other people’s emotions, or deviously brilliant at appearing clueless. Possibly both?

I appreciate the continued development of Mariner as a person who keeps getting in her own way, slowly coming to terms with that and trying to figure out what to do about it. It’s a problem I don’t relate to at all in the specifics, but the more general “why do I keep doing this” is very easy to connect to, and I know I’m not alone in that. Her Ferengi friend laying it all out for her here seems like an important step, and I wonder where she’s going to turn next.

This probably deserves a deeper dive at some point, but the further we go the more I see Mariner’s path as a more realistic and relatable trajectory for Michael Burnham to have taken. Both are superbly talented people capable of great things. Both are also reckless, supremely overconfident in their own judgement, and prone to self destructive behavior, all of which combines to put them and those around them in dangerous situations. Burnham in S1 right before the Mirror Universe jump and Mariner in the first episode of Lower Decks are in fairly similar places, both having been recently bumped down from more senior positions due to major fuckups. This is where their paths diverge: both continue to display all the behaviors that got them in trouble, but Mariner remains a lower decker on relatively unimportant assignments, with both her strengths and weaknesses clearly recognized by her superiors. Burnham, meanwhile, is fully returned to her previous high station and even promoted beyond that because her most problematic behaviors are improbably rewarded by a universe which places her in the middle of multiple extraordinarily significant events. I strongly related to S1 Burnham, and really wanted to see her grapple with her weaknesses and develop into a better person and officer over time. I didn’t get that opportunity, but Mariner gives a second chance at telling that slow-burn story and thus far, Lower Decks has done very well with it.