with Jim Moorhouse and Ken Reilly

Despite our delayed publication schedule this week — thanks, everyone, for your patience! — the second contact with Star Trek: Lower Decks is a hilarious success, as the show’s sophomore episode, “Envoys” builds upon the groundwork laid in last week’s premiere while continuing to tell a fun — and funny — story.

The A-plot of “Envoys” continues to develop Ensigns Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Boimler (Jack Quaid) as they attempt to deliver a Klingon ambassador to a rendezvous on the neutral planet Tulgana IV. Meanwhile, back on the Cerritos, Ensign Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) explores reassignment to other departments aboard the ship in order to spend more time with his new friend, Ensign Tendi (Noël Wells).

Mariner and Boimler continue to have the most chemistry of any of the characters, and across the first two episodes of Lower Decks, they are emerging as the show’s primary relationship — though clearly more of siblings rather than anything romantic. The two characters, as much as they may annoy each other on the surface, clearly have deep affection for one another as they continue to balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Newsome’s performance as Mariner continues to be utterly delightful. And thanks to Rutherford’s reassignment roulette — something showrunner Mike McMahan designed to give viewers a “tour” of the Cerritos — the ship’s senior staff also get a little more screen time, as the young engineer tests his career options with Commander Ransom (Jerry O’Connell,) Doctor T’Ana (Gillian Vigman) and security chief Lieutenant Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore).

The characters on this show are a delight, and the way in which each of the department heads supports Rutherford’s search for the right fit is very Star Trek.

If there is one criticism among all the great things about “Envoys,” it is Boimler’s reaction to the Ferengi character at the end. While the show does a great job of subverting your expectations about the Ferengi himself — as the final scene reveals that Mariner called in a favor with Quimp to help her restore Boimler’s confidence — I didn’t care for the way Boimler treated and talked about the Ferengi at the bar later by laughing about his cultural traits.

While we know that young cadets are “warned about Ferengi at the Academy,” as Harry Kim obliviously told Quark in the Star Trek: Voyager pilot, Boimler’s jabs at the four-lobed fellow — “Big ears, beady eyes, the greedy thing they do with their hands!” — was honestly kind of racist for an ‘enlightened’ 24th century human.

Armin Shimmerman wrote a whole novel exploring the idea that the Federation is a little racist towards Ferengi, and Boimler’s reaction here is no departure from that. But after two decades of rightfully calling out the way Star Trek: Deep Space Nine sometimes treated its Ferengi characters as laugh lines, particularly in the early days, and even deconstructing that narrative within the show itself in later seasons, to see it ported over to Lower Decks is a little dismaying.

But not enough to derail an otherwise stellar episode.

Trek Trope Tributes

• The episode’s cold open includes a trans-dimensional, ball-of-energy alien who arrives randomly on the ship, which has strong “The Child,” “Imaginary Friend” and “Day of the Dove” vibes — with the energy being even proclaiming, “I shall make a feast of your misery!”
   
• Captain Freeman talks about how she needs a catchphrase for going to warp (like “Make it so!” or “Hit it!” for previous captains) though her suggestion “It’s warp time!” could probably do with a little work.

• Mariner calls out the way in which many Klingon names are similar and how they all “have an apostrophe for some reason.” She’s not far off the mark, with names like K’mpec, B’Etor, K’vort, K’mtar, K’Tal, K’Temoc, K’Vada – and now K’orin!
   
• Mariner having a preexisting relationship with K’orin echoes characters like Dax, who we learned had a long history with Klingon warriors prior to Jadzia’s time aboard Deep Space 9.
   
• If the holodeck programming reflects reality, the Cerritos has children aboard — during Rutherford’s command simulation, the ship “loses” both its kindergarten and pre-K classrooms. (“All the ships children have been ejected into space!”)
   
• Boimler predicts a future for himself in which he is assigned to an asteroid research facility where he studies insects, until they eat him, but not before he is able to send out a distress call that gets picked up by a nearby starship who need to then reconstruct what happened to him from his final shaky log entry. Sound like any episodes of Star Trek you know?
   
• Mariner’s reaction to the thought of working on a research asteroid speaks volumes to all the less than prestigious Starfleet assignments out there: “Absolutely not. Do not even joke about that. That is the lamest thing you can do!”

Alien Alert!

• Klingon: Ambassador K’orin,one of several Klingons seen in the episode, wears an eye patch similar to General Chang (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country).
   
• Evora: The short, herbivoral aliens from the opening moments of Star Trek: Insurrection can be spotted walking around the spaceport landing pad as the shuttle lands.
   
• Kaelon: Seen in the TNG episode “Half a Life,” Mariner notes that they are notoriously isolationist. I mean, who expected to ever see a Kaelon again?! This show!
   
• Andorian: A number of Andorians appear in this episode, many wearing uniforms of the Andorian Imperial Guard and carrying ushaan-tor blade weapons.
   
• Bajoran: In addition to security chief Shax, the officer about to be operated on in Sickbay that Rutherford is tasked with calming down is also a Bajoran.
   
• Napean: Introduced in the TNG episode “Eye of the Beholder,” the Cerritos also has a Napean crewman in Shax’s security division.

• Vendorian: A true throwback to The Animated Series, we see our first tentacled Vendorian shapeshifter since 1973’s “The Survivor.”
   
• Skorr: If one TAS alien wasn’t enough for you, we also see a member of the tall, golden birdlike Skorr race in an overhead establishing shot of the Klingon market. The winged aliens were prominently featured in 1974’s “The Jihad.”
   
• Lurian: The race of DS9’s talkative barfly Morn, a Lurian can be seen brawling in the Andorian bar (and also in the establishing shot of the Klingon market).
   
• Ferengi: Mariner’s pal Quimp is the first Ferengi to appear sine 2002’s “Acquisition.” In his playacting scene, he cosplays as a “The Last Outpost”-era Ferengi, complete with furry sash.
   
• Borg: In Shax’s “Smorgasborg” security training program, Rutherford faces off against a squadron of Borg drones, easily taken out with the help of his Vulcan cybernetic upgrade.

Canon Connections

Klingon Greetings & Songs

In order to impress Ambassador K’orin, Boimler tries out a few different variations on the pronunciation of the traditional Klingon greeting – Nuq’nuh — translating to ‘(eventually deciding to “keep it subtle”). And later Mariner and K’orin sing a Klingon anthem together.

EPS Conduits

Rutherford is seen aligning the EPS conduits; additionally, one of the tools he uses is a common engineering tool seen in Deep Space Nine, and also made an appearance in the hands of the Red Bolian in the recent Picard episode “Stardust City Rag.”

Klingon Paraphernalia

As Boimler and Mariner exit the shuttle, they step over K’orin who has passed out on the floor. Around him are Klingon blood wine bottles (as seen in Deep Space Nine), a Klingon d’k tagh knife, and his luggage is very similar to the carry case used by Colonel West disguised as a Klingon sniper in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. (And if you know where those flagons on the shuttle came from, please let Ensign Boimler know!)

Khitomer Accords

Boimler mentions he thinks they might be violating the Khitomer Accords, the famous peace treaty between the Federation and the Klingon Empire that was developed from the events of The Undiscovered Country.

Section 31

By 2380, the shadowy organization is again common knowledge among Starfleet personnel, as Boimler mentions them in passing. I’m sure this reference will not be controversial at all among fans. (Mariner also mentions some previous “off-the-books grey ops stuff” with K’orin.)

Type VI Shuttle

As the Cerritos’ shuttle — a Type 6A design — lands in the Klingon district, Type VI shuttles (the main shuttle from later seasons of The Next Generation) can be seen parked in the background.

Mek’leth

The Klingon street vendor is armed with a mek’leth, the smaller of the two Klingon swords that was a favorite of Worf’s (like in First Contact, when he uses it to cut the arm off a Borg).

Klingon Armory

One of the street vendors in the Klingon district is selling a number of Klingon weapons, including variations seen throughout the whole franchise history. Included on display are the TOS Klingon disruptor, the version seen throughout TNG and DS9 (“beak nose”), Kelvin Timeline Klingon disruptors, and a “death sting” (seen in the TOS movies).

Jamaharon

There are several references in the episode to the Risian pleasure seeking activity, known as jamaharon (which is, y’know…) Also seen in the Risian district is a large Horgahn statue; both jamahoran and the Horgahn were first referenced in The Next Generation episode “Captain’s Holiday.”

Ushaan-tor

The Andorians are armed with the ushaan-tor weapons seen in the Enterprise episode “United.”

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Other Observations

• While having her awesome dream, Mariner is quietly reciting lines from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, referencing “the moons of Nibia” and being “marooned for all eternity.”
   
• The establishing shot of Tulgana IV includes a spire tower and radial structure, which strongly resembles Deneb IV’s Farpoint Station.
   
• There is also a lot of Star Trek: Enterprise­-style architecture across the various alien sectors of the planet’s surface, perhaps indicating that Tulgana IV has been occupied for several centuries. The look of “Little Qo’noS” matches Klingon buildings seen on Enterprise, the Andorian designs reflect the starship interiors of the Kumari and similar vessels, and the Federation Embassy looks a lot like the Earth Embassy seen in “The Forge.”
   
• Commander Ransom tells Rutherford that “nothing compares to the firm hot pulse of a joystick in your hand,” a fun crack at the Enterprise-E’s “manual steering column” from Star Trek: Insurrection. (Because there is no way he was talking about anything else, right?)
   
• Ransom also suggests that Rutherford use “The Janeway Protocol,” which seems to frighten and alarm the holographic crew once the young ensign tries to put it into practice. (Here’s hoping we never find out what it is, only suggestions of chaos and disaster that the Janway Protocol might bring about!)
   
• Rutherford echoes Wesley Crusher’s famous line from “Justice” — “I’m with Starfleet: we don’t lie!” — when he commits to joining Tendi to watch the Trivoli Pulsar. “I’m Starfleet; I never go back on my word!”
   
• As Boimler and Mariner approach Quimp on the planet’s surface, some very Vasquez Rocks-looking outcroppings fill the background.

If you thought “Second Contact” had a lot of Star Trek references in it, as you can see, “Envoys” totally blows it out the water by taking franchise references, callbacks, and Easter eggs to the next level, all wrapped up in a genuinely good, funny episode of Star Trek.

Star Trek: Lower Decks returns on August 20 with “Temporal Edict,” the third episode of the season, on CBS All Access in the United States and CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada. Additional international availability for the series has not yet been announced.