Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Lower Decks | 4x01 "Twovix" and 4x02 "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee"

Assimilated salamander robot is my new favourite villain. That said, why did the exhibit not display their children?

Because they're grown now, and have asked star fleet not to use their image in any promotional material. They're still salty about being abandoned.
Starfleet are not YouTube influencers. The children have the right to privacy.

I grinned like an idiot throughout the first episode because of all the Voyager callbacks but I got the biggest laugh in the second episode when Boimler goes to his new quaters and the room is bright red because of the glowing nacelle. I had to pause because I was laughing so much. For the past ~30 years I always wondered what crew quarters which face towards the nacelles were like. Thank you, Lower Decks.

Shax could have just told him about the built-in filters on the windows, but he secretly wanted someone to hear his holodeck "adventures" with T'Ana. It was a cry for help.
- Shaxs probably assumed he would lower the blast shields like a normal person.

Congrats to our four new junior lieutenants, they did in 4 seasons what Harry Kim failed to do in 7.

Now I want to know how T’Lyn knows what Borg smell like.

I'm sure there's reports. And as a Vulcan lady with superior olfactory senses, it is only logical to become aware of what smells may occur.

..moopsy

The cutest Metroid ever!

All our Wej Duj heroes came back for episode 1! ...I hope Ma'ah's okay.

It's interesting how between Lower Decks and Prodigy (plus some brief mentions in other post-VOY shows) we have a decent picture of how the universe view now-Admiral Janeway. It's clear she's viewed with a sort of heroic reverence, Captain Freeman assumed that Janeway's logs would have a good answer for a Tuvix situation. Voyager's celebrity status has definitely inflated her image a little, really put's Dal's awkward first encounter with the real Janeway in perspective.

It feels very right that they didn't actually dive into the morality of killing Tuvix other than "that's messed up!" and making the Tuvix'd crew clearly in the wrong/not sapient before de-Tuvixing them. Lower Decks does earnest optimism about Starfleet well, but I don't think deep dives into moral situations are something for a goofy 22 minute show.

T’Lyn is apparently way more of a maverick than Janeway, she killed a whole mess of hybrids without a second thought.
- That's a Vulcan for you, the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few.

The DS9 episode was handled with such dignity, but the Voyager episode was a fever dream and I am absolutely here for it!

After 3 seasons, it’s surprising to finally have a voice actor for Westlake.

I didn’t know I needed Clarinet Macro Viruses and assimilated Salamander Automatons at the helm, but my gosh did the LD team deliver!

I wonder if the promotion rollout explains why marketing for this season was so sparse.

I LOVED Shaxs talking about his relationship issues with Ransom and the fourth wall lean on the tubes was perfection.

Omg yes! That scene was so good. I feel like Gates McFadden and Marina Sirtis would have enjoyed it most of all lol.
They've definitely edited some of the rank pips in trailer shots we haven't seen yet (and some we have). Might explain why T'lyn is rocking a standard ensign pip a bit into the first trailer.

I'm going to need a moopsy plush STAT

Or at least a pattern on ravelry.

If there isn't a moopsy plush available by the end of the season I'm going to complain very loudly in corners of the internet that no Paramount executive will ever see.
Moopsie was made to be an animaguri.
Crochet is so great at at making weird 3D shapes.
Something cute and round like a moopsie would be a snap. (Also, easier than the Pokémons one of our kids have asked for. Inevitable that the ones they want most are in the advanced category in the official Pokémon animaguri books.)
If not a plushie, Paramount should at least be licensing a book of Star Trek animaguri.
- I think this pattern could be adapted to make one
  https://www.allaboutami.com/elephantpattern/
Did they just pull a Lucas on us?
- What did Lucas do that was similar?
  Do you mean the Porgs?

Why does Michael Sullivan remember his wife? 😧

Also, the macro nano probe and tng workout scene callbacks were absolutely amazing.

Maybe from the episode where Fair Haven broke and they had to fix it?
- As far as I remember they didn’t restore Frannie in VOY: “Spirit Folk” either.

Some thoughts after sleeping on it…

— I found the 4 x 01 Twovix the best season premiere yet.

All the premieres seem callback and Easter egg heavy. Making this one a museum (ship) mishap episode worked that into the story in a natural way and allowed some of the weirdest and trippyest things from Voyager to pike on. Bravo.

While some reviewers have expressed regrets that the original Voyager actors voices weren’t used, I’m glad that the focus stayed on the Cerritos crew, the artifacts and how Voyager remains dangerous wherever she is, even as a literal museum.

I am unhappy that the Klingon lower decker and his ship were sacrificed for the seasonal mystery big bad. It’s clear it’s really dangerous though. (Perhaps the mystery ship is collecting humanoids to take them to another era where they are extinct….?)

It’s also likely the case that I enjoyed the ride of the premiere more for knowing I had another new episode to watch immediately.

— The second episode was mostly a straightforward Lower Decks classic, but one that did its job to move the main 4 lower deckers into their new roles.

We’ll have to see how well it works on rewatch, but the moopsie scenes seem likely to be classics. After the Voyager celebration of weird in the season premiere, it was very smart for Lower Decks to underscore its ability to give us its own very original weirdness, and remind us that humanity are the most dangerous in the menagerie.

I’m glad that they make Rutherford a bit of an odd man out in the promotions. I still feel that he’s a bit of an incomplete person/character because his ambition and drive has been submerged by the implant. I really hope that the writers will keep dribbling out more about that.

I'm honestly disappointed about the double release, because now I have to process two awesome episodes at the same time and I keep getting them mixed up.

Quick hitters, in no particular order:

love Ransom demonstrating competent personnel management, another "surprise" twist of stuff working as it should.
the Shax/Ransom exercise scene is fabulous
Did that macro virus really get stuck behind a panel on the bridge for a decade (ish), or did curator guy cook it up to enhance the exhibit?
the whole Tuvix sequence was the perfect absurdist sequel to the original episode. Apparently T'Lynn and all of the merged persons are also cold blooded murderers in their own special ways.

The intro now has the whale probe? man, that scene gets spicier every time the Cerritos nopes out.

I'm almost certain it's related to the ship revealed at the end/beginning of e1/e2. Those scenes are very reminiscent of how that movie started.
- Wtf was that thing? It looked familiar.
- Doubtful, since the opening ships have never figured into the actual episodes. But ya never know!

Veneers? Really?

Worf can get a new spine but they can't regrow some teeth?

- Thanks, I hate it.
- I really hope this isn’t a permanent change. But with Lower Decks, who knows?
In fairness, the new spine nearly killed him.

These episodes were both great. I have shipped Mariner/Ransom since s1 and, well, honestly, this new dynamic of theirs probably makes it even less likely than it ever was lol. But they were fun episodes. I do wish Lower Decks had more episodes, since they're only 20 min/ea.

That's one thing I don't like about the streaming trend. They have a lot more freedom to do what they want but the seasons are much shorter.
I don't need 28 episode seasons, but maybe 15?
- Yeah, honestly so much is lost with the shorter seasons. And wrt LD in particular, I get that filming 28 episodes a year was hell on the actors/production, but surely doing VA is less time consuming than live action acting?

T'illups using "Tuvix" as a verb was golden.

Also Captain Dr. Frigleeman definitely didn't awaken anything in me I swear.

That thing had serious mirror universe Emperor Georgiou energy.

Hmmm, I wasn't quite sure about the Futurama reference at first because Bone Vampires/Moopsies aren't exactly unique types of legendary creatures, but then Ransom said "Turns out humans are the most dangerous" which is a straight up lift from the Scary Door.

It's the Scary Mirror now.
- Scary Door
  In B4 Piped Bot: https://piped.video/watch?v=bH10TsgozG8?si=9i_hCycJwVzm9qVb&t=132

I feel like they wouldn't make a display of the salamanders, as long as Janeway has access to weaponry.

She nonchalantly told a bunch of kids about it in Prodigy. Or was that Holo Janeway?
- It was the Admiral.
  I have a feeling that someday, we're going to find out what happened to the children.

Observations and thoughts as I watched (initially posted at the other place):

We begin with "Twovix".
Holodeck waste material, AKA jizz, poop, and god knows what else.
Oh, hey, T'Lyn!
DAT VOYAGER THEME!
Oh, hey, the probe from the one with the whales!
Neelix cheese!
Shit did get freaky.
Oh shit, they're going to Tuvix Billups and T'ana!
"Janeway straight-up murdered Tuvix."
MACROVIRUS.
The Pike Thing, of course.
"Back in the 70s"
"Captain, I caution against socializing with the organism."
So many VOY deep cuts.
"Holy shit. Janeway didn't mess around."
Macrovirus of Borg. And robotic warp salamander of Borg.
"Water, room temperature."
This is definitely T'Ana's side of T'Llups.
Oh god, they tuvixed the Matt the whale! Wait, what about Kimolu? Is he alright? Is he okay?
A Tuvixy meatball!
Heh, the real solution to the Tuvix conundrum was just to keep merging until it's a nonsentient blob of meat so there is no murder, so to speak.
Oh god I just realized that we're going to get so much Tuvixy fanart.
Bizarre series of Voyager-themed obstacles.
SHE GOT A PIP
Beckett Mariner receives the fate worse than death for her: promotion.
Nothing ever good happens "somewhere in Klingon space"
RIP Klingon lower-deckers.

And now, episode 2:

Heh, Romulan lower decks.
Goodbye, Romulan lower deckers!
Heh, those 80s workout stuff.
Oh, cool, Boimler still has his Tom Paris tplate!
Please tell me Denty has a Memory Alpha page.
The Nacelle is right there!
Non-botanicals
I have just met Moopsy but I would die for it.
Oddly enough, this is the SECOND time this year that a Jack Quaid character looked at a VERY bright light. Shoutout to my boy Richard Feynman, the one man crazy enough to watch a nuclear test without goggles.
Okay, I would no longer die for the moopsy.
Tucker Tubes! Good old Trip got stuff named for him!
The Ad Astra Per Aspera poster!
I do feel like Starfleet would have better soundproofing, but then again this is the Cerritos.
RIP corn guy.
LIVIK!
Aww, D'Vana Tendi giving orders.
Teeth as bread crumbs.
Heh, the humans really are the worst.
Hah, he could have just used the viewports.
Overall, I think I liked this second episode more, even though I loved the VOY fan service.

Teeth, as bread crumbs
Ransom, his teeth astrew
Later...
Ransom, his teeth anew

So why did Boimler's between-the-holodecks room have the (embarrassing) events of both adjacent holodecks reverberating through it? One of the core capabilities of a holodeck is the ability to manipulate where sounds appear to be coming from, which must include the ability to dampen sounds enormously. And if that technology exists, it should likely be available for ordinary walls between quarters too.

Is this just another case of Boimler not realizing that basic niceties (like viewscreen light filters) exist? And did both Freeman and T'Ana disable the audio dampening of their own holodecks?

It could just be that the holodeck noise dampening isn't working today, and sleep deprived Boimler doesn't think to just call engineering to go fix it?
- Or he didn't realize he needed to activate it, just like window shading
It's a California class. Low budget. :D
It probably boils down to Boimler being a sad sack who still isn't confident enough to stand up for himself.

Annotations on both episodes are up at https://startrek.website/post/1491160 and https://startrek.website/post/1493824

Or check out c/daystrominstitute for the cross-posting, too!

I thought it was fine. The ending of Rutherford's B-plot felt a little cheap.

Plus with Luvik around, I'm wondering what happened with Jet and if there's going to be a gang of bitter lower deckers who don't quite like the main four.

It reminds me of the episode where Rutherford tried out all those different jobs on the ship because he wanted to do something new. He was afraid to let them know he didn't like the work, but every time, they were super supportive.
- I love that episode.
  And the moral of "I can get stuff just by asking for it!" Is a real lesson.

Question about the mysterious ship that destroyed the Klingon and Romulan ships: is it a reference to something that was seen elsewhere or is it something new?

Looks new to me. If I had to guess it's whoever picked up Badgey making their move.
Was it in one of the teasers or something? I swear it looks familiar, particularly the way it flips to fire.
- My first thought was Slave I from Star Wars, which doesn't really lend itself to any Trekverse theories.
- It looks familiar to me too. At first I thought about the time traveling shuttle in TNG A Matter of Time, or the tiny ship at the beginning of TNG Conundrum, but it's not any of those.
- Orville?
If you turn it upside down, it's definitely a whale.
Oh holy hell it's freaking Mr. Bingle

I only watched the first of the two last night, but I'm so glad those of us who called Janeway a murderer for what she did to Tuvix are finally validated since most other Starfleet officers seem to agree.

Where can I get Moopsy as a ringtone for my phone?

@Tired8281 @ValueSubtracted
Here's a video clip with the Moopsy. Maybe extract the sounds yo need as a .MP3 ? 🙂
Spoiler and Content Alerts for Season 4 Episode 2:
https://youtu.be/-1ccXD2nieE?si=EGU8XMhOJX5gHsf2
- Dang it, now I need an MP3 editor for my Chromebook. Thanks!

I bet we see the Vulcan Lower Decks ship destroyed next. I wonder if Tlyn will find out

Plot twist: the mystery foe won't expect her shield upgrades, which will save the day. For this, she will be asked back, and she will hAvE tO mAkE a DiFfIcUlT cHoIcE aBoUt HeR fUtUrE.

Who would win? Moopsy or Monty Python's Rabbit of Caerbannog?

The rabbit leaves only bones, and Moopsy just wants bones.
I feel like they could form a kind of symbiotic relationship.
I take the Rabbit’s side.

I wish I could ask the writers if the holodeck scene was a direct call-out to the old something awful blue stripes series

https://www.somethingawful.com/news/blue-stripe-life-4/

The big blob of merged people was so disturbing, glad this was in a cartoon and not live action. That would have been extra horrifying!

I'm late to the party.

"Twovix." Love it. From Jack's advice to Shax at the start through the end, I enjoy this episode. Voyager becoming a museum was a great way to cram a lot of VOY escapades into an episode. I'm going to miss Mariner's, Boimler's, Tendi's, and Rutherford's time together in their hallway bunks, but the promotions are well deserved and bound to happen. I think T'Lyn is a great addition. The ending though, oh, no. Not Ma'ah and the Che'Ta'! I'm betting their demise (seeming? seems likely?) is because of William Boimler or Badgey. Maybe both of them. Keep in mind I'm terrible at guessing.

"I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee." Also love it. First and foremost, yes, I, a grown woman, want a Moopsy plush. Preferably one that says, "moopsy." I was wondering if Mariner's being promoted would go smoothly, and I was not disappointed with how it played out. For all his goofiness, I think Ransom is a great commanding officer. I'm pretty meh on the potential of Rutherford and Livik being adversaries. It seems out of character for Rutherford. But, LD continues to pleasantly surprise me, so I'm keeping an open mind. Boimler's tribulations with his new quarters were funny, and very Boimler. With what happened to the Romulan ship at the beginning of the episode, I'm wondering if the whatever it is will take out a different ship every episode this season.