Moopsy! Yeah, that’s still not funny on its own. For you it has been a week between reviews, for me it’s been only hours since I finished up “Twovix” and I’m moving on to Aaron Burdette’s “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee.” Burdette is probably best known for recent Rick & Morty-like, Close Enough, and other things like Inside Job and Man Seeking Woman. Yeah, I’m not bothered to watch his other stuff either. Of course, this episode is directed by Megan Lloyd this time around, who is moving from storyboard artist to her first major directorial role.

“I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee” isn’t a bad episode, it is just a shame that there isn’t much to talk about either. Our lower deckers are moving from their bunks while the mysterious threat from the end of last week destroys another ship. I’m sure it will be fine. That is all except Rutherford, who didn’t get a promotion and gets to stick to his bunk while Tendi thinks this is going to be a strain on their relationship. Meanwhile, Beckett is on an away mission to the Calivon Zoo, and Boimler is stuck between a Bajorian and Caitian having sex while a captain lives a power fantasy.

Split into three stories, Beckett’s is possibly the A story, Tendi and Rutherford are the B story, and the C story is “Isn’t it funny that Boimler is being screwed around?” If it seems like I am being reductionist, that’s because I’m trying to write these for our break that we’re currently on. I’ll be honest, I think “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee” is good, but it suffers from not having a focus to drill in on and talk about for a while. I hate to say it, but especially with the character work for our main four, Lower Decks has become a little formulaic.

Lower Decks is one of the snappiest shows around with pacing akin to RTD’s Doctor Who. I could sit and watch the better part of a season in one go. I don’t usually do that, even with shows similarly 20-25 minutes in length. Lloyd’s direction is probably helped by being a storyboard artist on shows like Pantheon and Lower Decks, letting her be a bit more creative. Which I assume would explain why she worked on episodes 2, 5, and 8. Hopefully this same pacing and quality stick around throughout her other two outings in the director’s chair.

After overhearing Ransom and Shax as they do an Olivia Newton-John in the gym, Mariner decides that Ransom is trying to demote her. She, of course, misunderstands and goes on a bender to try and annoy him and give him a reason to demote her properly; the self-destructive behavior we know from Mariner. This is where I am split on the whole episode. You have this solid character work reinforcing our understanding of the characters, but you have 20 minutes (23 with credits) of an episode. I like the pacing from the direction, it is the writing from Burdette that makes me question it overall.

While Mariner is presumed to have let out the Moopsy, Tendi and Rutherford work on getting him a promotion as Boimler battles his inner Nathan Lane and doesn’t rock the boat. Two are very strong and serious character pieces, while once again we get that broken up by Boimler simply not asking questions. I’m not annoyed or upset by it, that would be stupid. However, I think something about it breaks up “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee” with yet another miscommunication problem. That ultimately is the obvious theme of the episode.

Rutherford working himself tired is something I can sympathize with, especially this past week. It is again a wonderful little story of friendship and a desire to do good by your friends, though I can’t help but feel after saying the word “again” we’re just doing the same story. We’re at least sticking with the format that Mariner will hang out with Tendi and Boimler, Boimler and Tendi can be with anyone, and Rutherford and Tendi are stuck together, that’s the dynamics for the most part. Just one little story with Beckett and Rutherford, please?

Rutherford himself seems to have a new enemy in Engineering, as they fight to best each other for the promotion, but ultimately, we need Rutherford to move up too. The story this season is seemingly that the lower decks of the Cerritos are climbing the ranks, and we can see that threat on the horizon. I’ve not spoken too much or directly about the thing that killed the Klingons at the end of the last episode or the evil (TM) Romulans(?) from the start of this one.

It is difficult to talk about something that is there to be a big mystery, but you have no actual details. I can tell you it looks like an innocent ship, but I’m sure the Klingons and Romulans thought the same before they were destroyed. Reckless speculation would suggest that it is something that is going to attack the Cerritos towards the end of the season and our lower deckers rise further up the ranks. I’d like it to be another season or so before we get Captain Beckett Mariner, only because she’s fighting the rank here.

Rutherford not asking for the promotion he’s been offered several times but has turned down works. It is “No, we still recognize what you’ve done.” I like that, especially when it comes to someone who puts in that work, we see the things he does to help the ship run. I get why we’re promoting them all, but Boimler feels like we’re seeing why Reginald Barclay climbed the ranks. I get that he’s done some stuff, but circumstance? Right place, right time? Come on now, there is no way we’re setting him up for captain, he couldn’t find the shades in his quarters.

The Moopsy storyline, I think worked in isolation, but it isn’t the first cute White thing that is evil I’ve seen this past month. Doctor Who had The Meep, which is similar in the cuteness, whiteness, saying one-word catchphrases-ness, and generally being evil underneath all that cuddly-ness. I think it was funniest when it said its name, waddled and then proceeded to suck the bones out of everything, but otherwise, it was there. That’s probably a lot of this episode summed up: it was there.

Ultimately, I think “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee” does have a charm to it the first time you watch it, though I wouldn’t jump to rewatch it again so soon. The highlight for me is Megan Lloyd’s direction. I like the pacing she’s bringing to the show which makes it easy to watch. As much as it felt like miscommunication and these pairings again, I don’t hate that, I just want to see something a little fresher. An enjoyable episode, though one that is probably only going to be remembered for the Moopsy.

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Lower Decks "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee"

6.5

Score

6.5/10

Pros

• Great character work in the A and B plots.
• Nice play on Bev and Troi's gym outfits.

Cons

• Boimler's entire story felt like going over old ground.
• Outside of the Moopsy, it is a fairly forgettable episode.