Maybe I’m wrong, and that’s okay, but I think the Orions are a bit more of a TOS-era “alien” in Star Trek. Written by Grace Parra Janney (Ben M Waller as staff writer), and directed by Bob Suarez, Janney is probably most notable for “Hear All, Trust Nothing.” It would be trite to say older Trek is Grace’s thing given we’re talking about Lower Decks, but it is seemingly older episodes/shows we’re aiming at. Bob, on the other hand, has worked on several episodes in seasons 1 and 2 of Lower Decks, this is the first of three this season.

This is another episode about friendship, so please excuse me if I seem a tad “this again” about some of the elements of Lower Decks. I have been enjoying this season and I am loving the episodes we’re getting as we build the mystery of this deadly ship we keep seeing, but there has been a formula as of late. Again, we’re without Mariner partnering with Rutherford, but I guess don’t fix what ain’t broken. Tendi and Beckett are joined by Gabrielle Ruiz’s T’Lyn while Brad and Sam Mark Twain it up in the holodecks to help their friendship.

Very much Orion-focused, we also get a bit of work on an Orion ship before much like all the others thus far, it is blown into a hundred million little bits. Not only that, but we get some footwork on Orion too as Tendi is granted leave from the Cerritos to attend her little sister’s wedding. It just so happens that a tradition of Orion weddings is for the bride to be kidnapped and for the family Prime (the eldest child to become an assassin) to track down the bride.

If there is one thing I find a little “blah” about “Something Borrowed, Something Green,” it has to be the Boimler and Rutherford B story. The Chalnoth and this contentious head butting almost randomly before we return to happy-tree-eating-friends feels like it has been done a lot, especially throughout Lower Decks. I get it, drama has to happen, but every season seems to have several of these episodes. If it was only the early ones with a little sprinkling throughout later seasons, I probably wouldn’t think about it so much. However, we’ve seen it a lot with Boimler and Beckett, and a little with Sam and Tendi too.

Sure, it lets us play with the holodecks, gives us a hint of fun costuming, and lets us have a look at a race that only appeared in one episode of TNG. All the same, it also works functionally as a device to get us away from Tendi’s story and little else. It was a long setup for a joke that lands like a Chris Chibnall episode of Doctor Who, “Ok… can we go back to doing something interesting though?”

The bottle of Orion rum might not be for me, but it was a far more interesting/entertaining storyline to focus on. I see why it was the A story for “Something Borrowed, Something Green,” but nothing particularly stood out. T’lyn getting more time and being more involved and connected to our long-term crew, is certainly interesting especially as she takes notes on Orion culture. I guess the only note-worthy line is her line from Mariner and her comment on being from a post-scarcity world; made in response to Tendi’s family showing off that they are the 5th largest family in the syndicate.

I want to say the Orion world itself is interesting, it is, particularly in contrast to our typical Cerritos setting. Though the one thing I kept thinking about outside of Slit Throat (inconspicuous much?) is: “Wasn’t there a similarly dark and shady place in Picard season 3?” I also think the rule of 3s (4s?) on the knife thing wasn’t as funny as someone thought it was. “Something Borrowed, Something Green” is much more of a character episode and one of the few times I’d have preferred a longer episode to Lower Decks.

I could spend a whole episode in the sex dungeon. I could do without the Quentin Tarantino bit, but otherwise, a bunch of men locked in cages under the control of women sounds interesting. A bit of a throwaway set piece for the mystery to visit, much like all the locations on Orion we visit. Aside from Tendi’s family home, there isn’t a place to set roots and establish as important. Well aside from the ship graveyard, that’s pretty important but we’re never going to see it again. However, the Raven-type was for Voyager nerds.

For me, it is all the character work about Tendi’s past being revealed and seeing the Orions in this setting. It is interesting to see Tendi fighting the Mistress of the Winter Constellations title, only then to fight her sister who had to become the family Prime when she left for Starfleet. It gives us a view into not only a character that isn’t human but also an entire race that until recently wasn’t touched on in the TNG-era. There were hints in Picard, but most of it happened in TOS, Enterprise, Discovery, and SNW. I’ve yet to watch Prodigy, for reference.

“Something Borrowed, Something Green” has its strong moments, mostly character exploration and giving T’lyn something to do. Though its B-story is subpar. It felt like filler to give us those breakaways and let time pass for Tendi, Mariner, and T’lyn, trying to be funny but trying too hard to make me care. It was unlikely that we would have that spitting venom hatred we had for a couple of episodes between Boimler and Beckett.

Ultimately, I like where “Something Borrowed, Something Green” went in terms of telling a story of Tendi’s backstory and race, the expectations and desire to be something else. Though it is hard to say that I thought Parra Janney and Suarez’s outing in the Cerritos this time was wholly entertaining. Quick, yes, but when you are hoping some elements end sooner so you can get back to the other story, I think it knocks the opinion down overall. Just a little, but still something highly worth noting.

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Lower Decks "Something Borrowed, Something Green"

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• Great, an exploration of Tendi!
• The pheromone dungeon.
• T'lyn is just part of the crew now.

Cons

• The entire B story felt like filler.