Beam us up and away from spoilers. This text discusses main plot developments from the most recent episode of “Star Trek: Decrease Decks.”
“Decrease Decks” has been getting an entire lot of mileage out of alternate universe antics throughout its fifth and last season, beginning with the premiere episode that threw our Cerritos crewmembers alongside their mirror selves and kickstarted Ensign Boimler’s (Jack Quaid) obsession with rising out that fugly-looking facial hair. That sample continues in episode 7, titled “Absolutely Dilated.” The motion kicks off when Boimler and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) clumsily drop their obnoxious martinis all around the delicate transporter controls, dooming the away staff to months (if not years) on the floor of a close-by planet at the moment present process extreme time dilation. Whereas Ensigns Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Tendi (Noël Wells), and T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) are trapped indefinitely, they proceed to analyze the explanation they launched into the mission within the first place: a purple-colored, alternate universe model of the Enterprise-D crossed over into this actuality, inadvertently left behind some mysterious tech, and returned by the space-time fissure.
It is right here the place our staff encounters maybe the largest cameo in all of “Decrease Decks” — Brent Spiner reprising his fan-favorite function because the android Knowledge. This return is hardly a monumental one when wanting on the huge image of the franchise, contemplating that the actor performed Knowledge as not too long ago as the ultimate season of “Picard,” however it’s definitely a giant deal that the animated collection stays dedicated to going out with a bang. And, in fact, Trekkies all the time have a tendency to reply enthusiastically each time a beloved forged member decides to lend their abilities to a different iteration of “Trek.”
This time, followers will inevitably be abuzz over the return of Spiner as Knowledge — alternate universe, purple, and disembodied although he could also be.
How Decrease Decks introduced Knowledge into the combo
Thank goodness for space-time fissures. “Star Trek” has returned to this sci-fi effectively numerous instances over the course of the franchise to make approach for all kinds of alternate universe hijinks, and “Decrease Decks” lampoons this trope another time for good measure. The top consequence, after handwaving away the particulars of precisely how a purple-colored Enterprise-D appeared of their universe within the first place (it has one thing to do with Tasha Yar and evil clones, apparently), is a cameo look by Knowledge and the most recent crossover between the animated collection and some of the common “Trek” reveals ever.
And, as all the time, Knowledge’s mere presence provides loads of logic and humor to the episode. The shuttlecraft crash that stranded Knowledge on this planet has additionally left him with out a functioning physique, type of like Michael Fassbender’s artificial David within the last act of “Prometheus.” Fortunately, Tendi finds him buried within the wreckage and promptly takes him again to their hideout to see if she will carry him again to life. When she lastly wakes him up, he shortly adjusts to his uncommon state of affairs (this is not the primary time he is solely been only a head earlier than, a sly reference to the “Subsequent Technology” episode “Time’s Arrow”) and provides his assist to Tendi for her desired promotion to science officer — a noble ambition that Knowledge is effectively aware of himself.
It is simply the most recent instance of the “Decrease Decks” writers discovering a neat and healthful approach to usher in immensely common figures from “Trek” canon and have them affect these newer characters. On any given week, we simply by no means know who would possibly pop up subsequent — from making jokes about Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris/Nick Locarno to canonizing Miles O’Brien (Colm Meany) as crucial particular person in historical past. And, for another episode, the collection gave viewers one other pleasurable journey with Brent Spiner and Knowledge.
New episodes of “Star Trek: Decrease Decks” premiere Thursdays on Paramount+.
