‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Recap – ‘Caves’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Jack Quaid, Eugene Cordero, Tawny Newsome, and Noël Wells as Lieutenant Bradward Boimler, Lieutenant Samanthan Rutherford, Lieutenant Beckett Mariner, and Lieutenant D’Vana Tendi in Episode 408 of ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ – ‘Caves’. (Photo Courtesy of Paramount+.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 408 of ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
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Something that is genuinely fascinating about the Star Trek Universe, is how every single entry in the franchise will forever be remembered for accomplishing something quite wondrous. For instance, The Original Series will always be regarded as the beginning of a powerful journey, whereas The Next Generation will be looked upon as a turning point for the franchise, where it was able to grow. And of course, Deep Space Nine and Voyager will be remembered as bold shows that challenged the core concepts of the franchise and even the new stuff… is making its mark. Since Discovery will be credited with bringing life back to the saga after its long hiatus, and even Lower Decks will be looked fondly upon… hopefully after ten glorious seasons… as a show that did something quite unique.
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In that, it will forever stand as a lighthearted and loving tribute to every aspect of Star Trek. From its best decisions, such as making sure that its characters are well-written and dynamic and relatable, to its more dubious storytelling decisions. Such as the plots and settings it sometimes relies too much upon, or the mistakes it has made throughout the years. But that is… what a proper tribute does, and well, never was the show’s dedication to all of that, more evident, than during this week’s episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks on Paramount+. For this plucky tribute to all things STU, opted to celebrate both elements in a fascinating manner. A feat that ‘Caves’ accomplished by having our favorite Lower Deckers unite for a grand away team mission… to investigate a funny moss in a cave. 

Which of course… led to all kinds of familiar disaster. Such as having an earthquake cut the crew off, and of course… the moss was more than meets the eye and well… make no mistake about it, this episode was designed to lampoon two key elements that the STU has made use of that some could cite as dubious. Specifically… cave settings. Because we’ve seen those in just about every show, multiple times no less. Since old school Trek didn’t get the budgets it gets now, so you had to have those cave settings to mix things up for away teams now and again. And also… it lampooned the flashback episode. Which really hasn’t ever worked that well in the STU. In fact, one of the most derided episodes of TNG, ‘Shades of Grey’, showcased how rough those episodes can be.

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Eugene Cordero and Gillian Vigman as Lieutenant Samanthan Rutherford and Commander T’ana Tendi in Episode 408 of ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ – ‘Caves’. (Photo Courtesy of Paramount+.)

But since this series looks at everything the franchise does in a manner that is never insulting and always celebratory, it figured out how to make such moments palatable. By offering up flashback stories about other cave adventures the Lower Deckers had recently endured. Such as how Boims and Levy, the 24th Century’s King of ‘I did my own research’, encountered the mysterious Vendorians on a cave mission and won them over. Or how Ruthy and the Doctor had a weird baby while trapped in a cave, and even Mariner had her own cave experience involving the Delta Shifters, time dilation, and a lost leg. Which really were stories that perfectly lampooned and satirized the cave trope often seen in Trek but made it enjoyable and laughable thanks to those unique vignettes. Ones that wrapped up with a warmhearted reminder of how the characters are what we love the most about this show, thanks to Tendi’s Turbolift story. One that followed up on what happened after the events of ‘Second Contact’. 
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But of course, we need to dive a little deeper regarding the characters journeys and stories here. Simply because… there was a lot of depth to them and a lot for us take away from them. For each of them spoke to how… the careers of the Lower Deckers were evolving and beginning to move them into places and situations where new memories and experiences were taking place. The kind that forms who we are and who we will be and that can be a scary time in our lives for our closest friends. Since there is always the worry that there will be a drift. But this sequence served to remind us that while our lives take different paths, real deep friendship never fades, especially when we make sure to reconnect where we can to maintain that powerful bond, and that was simply a lovely and relatable sequence to enjoy, one that really does resonate.

Because we’ve all been there with our friends or will be there, so it’s nice to be reminded of how best to keep them in our stead and really, all of these elements, made for one lovely episode. One that made sure the show maintains its status as a true tribute to the franchise, while offering up some good old-fashioned feels. Because the whole bonding moment between our favorite Lower Deckers was just lovely through and through, and definitely reminded us of how important the journey with them, has been. Plus, we’d be remiss to not point out that the jokes here were simply top notch, and well, now that we’ve reached the end of this episode, it will be interesting to see what lies ahead for the Lower Deckers. Because in many ways, this episode hinted at the reality, that their time on the Cerritos will not last and that we should cherish these moments with them before Starfleet begins to move them up the ranks and to the captain’s chair, where each and every one of them truly belong. Until next time.

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