Rule 34 of the Rules of Acquisition, war is good for business. Of course, rule 35 of the Rules of Acquisition is: Peace is good for business. Directed by Bob Suarez, returning from “Something Borrowed, Something Green,” as well as other episodes throughout seasons 1 and 2 of Lower Decks. Though the newcomer, Edgar Momplaisir, is the mind behind “A Few Badgeys More;” coming off of the back of story editing and being executive story editor for seasons 7 and 8 of Black-ish, and staff writer for season 4 of Dear White People.

We’re once again getting a look at the Drookmani (the scavengers from “Terminal Provocations”) and their attempt to capture Peanut Hamper in “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption.” This time, however, they’ve taken to scavenging by Kalla, the place of that short battle between the Cerritos and Pakleds, with help from the Titan, way back in “No Small Parts.” It is one of those episodes where everything we’ve seen over the last four (going on five) years matters. In particular, the Drookmani happened to salvage a piece of Fed tech that was once attached to Rutherford’s skull before the Battle of Kalla.

Meanwhile, we’re building to the closing phases of this mysterious ship storyline, with it appearing to take a Bynar ship. All the while, everyone’s favorite megalomaniacal sentient supercomputer, AGIMUS, is having a wonderful time going to group therapy and being reformed at Daystrom alongside Peanut Hamper. This is a total lie as they scheme to be released on parole and escape, causing absolute chaos and bringing their reign of terror to everyone with a flesh suit-casing for their liquid cooling system. Well, isn’t this just a lovely, wholesome low-stakes episode?

“A Few Badgeys More” is a fast-paced, action-heavy episode that does a lot of heavy lifting all around, with your homework paying off in the first third and character work in that back end. The “problem,” if you will, is that despite being everything Lower Decks is great at, I’m just left hankering for longer episodes to give these stories the weight they are trying to bring. The Badgey storyline could have been an episode on its own without the B-plot of Peanut Hamper and AGIMUS’ domination.

I haven’t even gotten to the fact that our pairings this time for each story is that Tendi and Boimler are dealing with their evil computer pals (a Saturday morning cartoon if I’ve ever heard one), and it has finally happened! Rutherford and Beckett have a story where they sort of interact without the other two or anyone else. If only it was a story for them to build some character around their dynamic together. It is still great to finally get it after moaning for weeks now, but it is one of the weaker parts of Lower Decks.

What I think makes “A Few Badgeys More” so enjoyable is that it is tongue-firmly planted-in-cheek fun. The soundtrack is bombastic and huge, bringing this sense of doom and action, and then you have Tendi giggling like a child with her uniform pants rolled up, boots off, and building a sand castle on the beach of Montañita. While Badgey is bloodthirsty and seething with hatred, full of violence and anger, Goodgey is cheerful and as innocent as a three-year-old on sugar isn’t. It is diametric opposites that allow you to have fun and enjoy the light and the dark sections in equal measure.

Though beyond the fun stuff of modern Star Trek knowing how to be a little camp like Eureka, “A Few Badgeys More” also allows our ensi— Our lieutenant jgs to be smart. Boimler isn’t falling for AGIMUS’ nonsense anymore, at least not as much as he did the first time, and Rutherford is using Badgey against himself. Or shall I say, he’s using Logicgey, Goodgey, and simple tools to fight the literal bad part of his creation? There is a sense of logic, or at least plot logic, to everything that’s going on and is about to happen. After Chibnall, I have to praise something like that.

Maybe it is because I do like “A Few Badgeys More” that I want a little more meat on that bone, as it were. Sadly, the 26 minutes of the episode feels a little too short for an episode so heavy. We’ve got Peanut Hamper and AGIMUS actually trying to be good this time, and Badgey has ascended to join the giant koala of which the universe balances on the back. It was such a heavy episode that could have used just another five minutes to expand on some of those details and make them land a little harder.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed “A Few Badgeys More,” though I’ll hold my hand up and say that I watched it and immediately had to write this whole review after the fact. Despite the heavy implications and despite having to tie together several episodes of homework, Momplaisir did a lot to make tired tropes fun. Maybe it could have had a bit more weight with another few minutes behind it, but that’s a problem I’m having with Lower Decks overall right now, rather than this one particular episode.

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Lower Decks "A Few Badgeys More"

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• A sprinkle of camp to lighten a heavy episode.
• Beckett and Rutherford together, alone.
• The use of logic throughout.

Cons

• I could have used an extra few minutes.