No Small Parts
- Episode aired Oct 8, 2020
- TV-14
- 28m
The USS Cerritos encounters a familiar enemy. Tendi helps a struggling recruit find her footing.The USS Cerritos encounters a familiar enemy. Tendi helps a struggling recruit find her footing.The USS Cerritos encounters a familiar enemy. Tendi helps a struggling recruit find her footing.
- Lieutenant Shaxs
- (voice)
- …
- Dr. T'Ana
- (voice)
- …
- Badgey
- (voice)
- Pakled Captain
- (voice)
- Anabaj
- (voice)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe "historical" image of Kirk and Spock is a still from Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973).
- GoofsWhile Freeman and Mariner's relationship may not be common knowledge among the crew, it would still be a matter of public record. Anyone who checked either of their service files would know that Mariner is the captain's daughter.
- Quotes
[In the captain's ready room, Captain Freeman and Ensign Mariner are discussing that their secret -- that they're mother & daughter -- has been revealed to the whole crew]
Captain Carol Freeman: Ugh. Why did we ever keep this a secret in the first place?
Ensign Beckett Mariner: Ugh! I just wanted to fly under the radar!
Captain Carol Freeman: And I didn't want anyone to know the most demerited officer in the fleet was my daughter.
Ensign Beckett Mariner: [Ransom enters ready room] Well, Wesley Crusher worked with his mom. Maybe everyone'll be cool about it.
Commander Jack Ransom: Captain, captain's daughter... Uh, I mean Mariner.
Captain Carol Freeman: Oh, what is it, Jack?
Commander Jack Ransom: Captain, I'm putting together a list of candidates for the Sacramento promotion. I'd love your input. May I just say
[turning to Mariner]
Commander Jack Ransom: I am very sorry if I ever treated you with anything other than admiration.
Ensign Beckett Mariner: Oh, shut up, Ransom! You're such a suck-up!
Commander Jack Ransom: From now on, I'll make sure to give you special attention.
Captain Carol Freeman: No! Be as hard on her as you always are!
Ensign Beckett Mariner: Yeah, be hard on me!
Commander Jack Ransom: I'm only hard on you when you make me hard! I mean, I'm - I'm not hard right now! I mean, I could... I could get hard, if I wanted to, but I'm not hard right now. I'm so sorry! You're both great!
- ConnectionsReferenced in Star Trek: Lower Decks: Strange Energies (2021)
On board the USS Cerritos, a Starfleet vessel primarily concerned with maintaining diplomatic relations with pre-existing Federation members, the crew of the lower decks attempt to balance the drudgery of keeping the ship working with the occasional moments of alien based nonsense that come their way. Two such, Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) attempt to maintain a friendship despite the latter's timid nature and love for the rules, and the formers wild, freewheeling, scattershot approach.
I don't think this show is going to win you back to "Star Trek" if you feel disenfranchised with the changes that "Discovery" and "Picard" have made to the traditional Star Trek tone. Again, there is swearing here and violence. It feels, to me, like "Rick and Morty"-Lite - not quite willing to go as far or as deep as that show, but still wanting to head for that ballpark. It's not surprising really, when you consider that the driving creative force is Mike McMahan, who worked as writer and producer on both "Rick and Morty" and "Solar Opposites".
Though it improved along the run, so much so that the finale is actually really good, my overall feeling was that it was alright, but not amazing. It wants to have its cake and eat it too, a little bit, in focusing on the ensigns work rather than the bridge crew as it's core idea - but then the bridge crew themselves become increasingly important characters as the show runs on. I know this would be a much harder idea to write, but I think I'd have preferred if they were below decks on the Enterprise, during the "Next Generation" run, and their stories ran parallel to the established events of that show. Not in like a one-for-one comparison, but with the major beats acting like a B story to whatever they were doing. So what does "Q" showing up and transporting people about do to them, or the death of Tasha Yar.
As I said, it's pretty good. Settling into itself a bit more as the season runs on, which hopefully looks good for the second season. We'll see.
- southdavid
- Mar 14, 2021
Details
- Runtime28 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix