Ahh the episode with a small focus on my favorite group of terrorists, it must be former Survivor winner Cochran’s “Terminal Provocations.” If there is a bit of a dip in season 1 of Lower Decks, “Cupid’s Errant Arrow” and “Terminal Provocations” are where it is most apparent. I guess it is not that surprising when the cold open is something that could be pulled from a SNL skit as written by Will Ferrell. It fits this bunch of lower-decker geeks, sure, but it is not very funny or interesting to reveal much character for anyone. It quite literally is just used to introduce someone by name.

None of this is to say “Terminal Provocations” is awful or that it is something that needs to be derided, it is just that typical difficult midseason episode in a series of good TV. This is also the point where we’ve moved from introductions of characters to being embedded with them. Let’s show the friendships building or developing in other ways. The forever tiresome will they-won’t they is used for Rutherford and Tendi’s B story while Mariner and Boimler finally understand each’s annoyances. Then as a C plot that intersects with the A story, we have more of Shaxs wanting to blow something up. 

Focused around space junk, Captain Freeman wants to secure the wreckage of the NCC-502 (an Antares-class USS Darius) only made more complicated by a Drookmani salvage crew claiming dibs. Meanwhile, our central four have separate priorities: Tendi has never done a spacewalk and flunked the exam at the academy so Rutherford helps her. At the same time, Beckett and Brad want to go to the Zebulon Sister’s concert on the Cerritos and ask Fletcher to do all their work. It is a typical day on a second-class ship like the Cerritos.

In Rutherford’s aim to make Tendi think he’s cool, he employs the use of a holosuite program he’s been working on to help in training. With the Drookmani taking more and more aggressive stances while Captain Freeman pushes for a peaceful diplomatic resolution (see Discovery, the sanctity of life), the holosuite’s safety protocols are disengaged allowing the training program, Badgey, to get a little stabby. As an intended poke at the Microsoft Paperclip, I think that is a parody that will go over younger people’s heads. The only reason the safety protocols are disengaged is Brad and Beckett’s happiness over seeing the Chu Chu Chu dance.

The moral of the story is, don’t leave an idiot to fiddle with the ship’s cores when he’s just been introduced as this diplomatic genius. He’ll probably do something stupid like jack his brain into the isolinear core to make himself smart. I don’t hate the humor so much, but I’m not splitting my sides at it. It is fine, but “Terminal Provocations” falls within the idiot’s plot of comedy, where it isn’t a fault of someone’s character that leads to something catastrophic or humorous, it is just an idiot. The comedy comes from Odo not understanding humanoids and looking bewildered.

In fact, it is Rutherford and Tendi alongside Shaxs’ desire for aggression that I enjoy throughout “Terminal Provocations” because they are more character-focused. The reason Badgey wants to kill is that Rutherford was too eager to show off his creation and help Tendi, while Shaxs is a lovely big Bajorian that I just want to hug. This was also the point where a lot more was being bleeped out than a couple of episodes ago, as if we’re finally comfortable effing and jeffing around the place. I can see a point for it some of the time, but to me (of all people) it was getting a little excessive.

I think what makes “Terminal Provocations” stand out as the low point (or one of) beyond that Ferrell-like opening is that it could almost be done by any other Star Trek. Lower Decks hasn’t been pushing the envelope in these few episodes so far. In fact, it has just been doing minor twists on established episodes of TV that we’re all familiar with. Aside from Badgey, there is nothing that particularly needs animation or this crew. Nothing makes it a uniquely Lower Decks episode more than any other series in the franchise. Only DS9 really has the likes of the Vedek, the Kai, or Emissary Sisko, for example.

“Much Ado About Boimler” is another example of this. It takes a simple concept, twists it, and makes it something that only Lower Decks could really do. I mean The Dog alone is something I’m sure no other Star Trek would have touched with a ten-foot bargepole. I like what is attempted in terms of character development between Brad and Beckett but I feel there is more that could have been done if there was enough time to work on the script. Given it is episode 6 in a run of 10, I’ve got a feeling this was one of the last to be worked on. The tricky ones are usually 6 and 2 in a run this short.

Ultimately, “Terminal Provocations” is a fine episode that doesn’t yell for my attention. It is no “Past Tense,” no “The Measure of a Man,” “Trials and Tribble-ations,” or “The Best of Both Worlds.” That’s ok, not every episode is going to be “Strange New Worlds.” To an extent, the series is still finding its feet here, and until we move on to season 2 in a couple of weeks, that’s going to be the case. I mean, I’m sure it will confuse my editor when one week I say someone I’ve mentioned here died and the next week they are back.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks "Terminal Provocations"

6

Score

6.0/10

Pros

• Badgey is great fun.
• Bringing the lead four together further.

Cons

• That cold open.
• Fletcher isn't a fun character.