Star Trek: Lower Decks takes the chance to correct an error in judgement about one of its character relationships by lovingly poking fun at itself — and creating plenty of opportunities for awkward humor along the way — in “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.” While not quite as strong as the first two episodes of the season, there is plenty to like in both subplots of this episode, which see Mariner and Jennifer reunited and fun with Boimler and Ransom.
 
Many fans had been disappointed when the relationship between Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Jennifer (Lauren Lapkus) was unceremoniously dropped after Jennifer refused to side with Mariner in Season 3’s “Trusted Sources.” Given how few LGBTQ+ relationships there are in Star Trek, a lot of fans had been hoping for better.
 
That didn’t necessarily mean that Jennifer and Mariner needed to be together — as established in this episode, it’s probably better that they aren’t — but the dumping of the storyline did not sit right with a number of fans.
 

Which creates the perfect entrée for “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” whose premise is that Mariner just dropped her relationship with Jennifer in the same way the show did. Now reunited before Jennifer transfers to the USS Manitoba, Jennifer pretends that she still thinks her and Mariner are an item to extract maximum discomfort.

I will certainly confess to being someone who does not do well with emotional conversations, so I understand Mariner’s inclination to let a wordless brush by stand in lieu of a true break up. But the moment of catharsis for the two characters where Jennifer apologizes for how she treated Mariner and their astute recognition of why they are poorly suited for each other was the kind of mature depiction of a mutual end to a relationship that I don’t feel like you see much of on TV.

The nanite plot was fairly rote outside of the Jennifer/Mariner dynamic, but discovering T’Lyn’s (Gabrielle Ruiz) love for Krog and his vibe tubes was pretty delightful. Lower Decks has a very clear ethos around being junior, but it also has a very clear ethos about the joy of being a fan of something, and the show always nails the message that it’s good to love things, and anyone can. Even a Vulcan!

The Boimler/Ransom/Billups story also has its charms, as Boimler (Jack Quaid) continues to grow his confidence, though the absurdity of the plot coupled with the absurdity of the very large ball of nanites did feel like it strained credulity a few times. Lower Decks thrives when it’s stretching the credulity of Star Trek without breaking it, but you could hear the faint cracking of the “Starfleet wants to arrest an admiral who is burned out and a little resentful of his dead end job” set up.

This episode does appear to confirm, though, that the quantum fissures will remain a plot point through the season. I would have liked to see a little more of the “One Little Ship”-style USS Endeavor, but that was a surprising resolution to the rampaging nanites that I thought was a lot of fun.

TREK TROPE TRIBUTES

• The episode’s subplot with Ransom, Billups, and Boimler plays with the Trek Trope of a Starfleet officer who goes to an alien planet and then prefers to stay there rather than returning to Starfleet, like Captain Tracey in “The Omega Glory.”

CANON CONNECTIONS

• A nanite cluster consuming a ship’s raw materials to expand their size and evolve was the premise to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Evolution.”
• Boimler muses whether they will have to wear the black bodysuits seen in undercover away missions like that in “Chain of Command, Part I.”
• We finally get to see the Gallamites and their transparent skulls. Gallamites had previously only been referenced (a lot) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in reference to the charming Captain Boday who dated Jadzia Dax, among others.
• We also see the Kreetassans, of “Vox Sola” and “A Night in Sickbay” fame/infamy.
• The vibe tubes were previously seen — but not named — being played by a musician at the Café des Artistes in “We’ll Always Have Paris.”
• Boimler asks Admiral Milius (Toby Huss) whether his space-whale milking duties were in reference to the gormagander or the “Galaxy’s Child” space creatures.
• The other universe’s Intrepid-class USS Endeavor, commanded by Captain Tersal, still uses the TNG uniform style.

OBSERVATION LOUNGE

• This episode’s title is an homage to the 2001 film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
• Admiral Milius is likely named for screenwriter John Milius who wrote Apocalypse Now.
• The Cosmic Duchess hotel looks to be based off the design for Starbase 1 seen in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
• The crew’s nanite-collection vacuum backpacks bear a striking resemblance to Ghostbusters proton packs.
• Boimler’s beard doesn’t seem to be growing very fast.
• “Despite the increasing in cheering, your presence is a comfort,” is probably the nicest thing T’Lyn has ever said to anybody.
• Given the USS Vancouver and USS Toronto were both Parliament-class ships, one would assume the USS Manitoba is as well, even though it is never seen.
• Billups orders a Silurian Colada, which may be a winking reference to the sea-dwelling race in Doctor Who.
• Propinquity is “nearness in space and time” according to Merriam-Webster.
• An icosahedron has 20 faces.

“The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel” has good vibes, but doesn’t quite hit the high notes of last week’s opening two episodes.

It veers a little too far into the absurd for my tastes, but there’s a lot to like in both the Mariner/Jennifer dynamic, and in Boimler slowly evolving into his bearded alternate universe counterpart just as slowly as his actual beard is growing in.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 continues next week with “A Farewell to Farms,” premiering November 7 on Paramount+.