‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Recap – ‘Crisis Point’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 109 of ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’.

If there is one solid lesson that the Star Trek Universe has done a phenomenal job of hammering home for its audience, it would have to be that technology has the potential of becoming quite dangerous. Because time and time again, we’ve seen good people in this rich and sprawling universe, deal with individuals who have opted to tweak technology in an unwholesome and irresponsible manner. And that’s led to the rise of computers that decide that bloodshed is their only course of action in dealing with humanity, or we’ve seen devices as simple as the holodeck, woefully malfunction and give rise to powerful simulations that feel the need to exert their power of the crew of a starship, or we’ve simply seen people get lost within the incredible escape they offer.

But surprisingly, rather than explore that particular concept in a satirical manner, as Star Trek: Lower Decks is wont to do; this week’s episode of the show took a far more fascinating look at the power of technology in the 24th Century. In that, ‘Crisis Point’, pondered upon how technology in this era can actually be quite healthy and good for the people that serve aboard starships. A notion that came to the forefront of this story by way of another unfortunate incident involving Ensign Beckett Mariner. For she once again violated the Prime Directive by motivating a race of lizards to rise up against their oppressive rat leaders. But rather than toss her daughter into the brig for the billionth time, Captain Freeman decided perhaps the best way to handle her problem child; was by ordering her daughter into therapy and that’s where our healthy exploration of technology got underway.

Because shortly after her first session with a food obsessed ship’s counselor, Mariner joined her friends in the holodeck for a little downtime. And once Boimler fired up his detailed simulation of the ship’s crew as part of an attempt to understand how to kiss up to the captain better; Mariner saw an opportunity to seize control of this new program, in order to conduct her own brand of therapy. An act that of course horrified Boimler to no end and rightfully so. For Mariner’s reprogramming of this simulation brought to life a Wrath of Khan-esque homage, where she was able to play the villain as a way to express her repressed anger toward her mother and that led to some surprisingly powerful moments for certain. Because we came to learn that Mariner has a lot of deep-rooted frustrations about her life and her career in Starfleet and she used violence to seemingly deal with all of that, something that concerned Tendi to no end, to the point where she simply walked away from the fight. 

But while that makes it seem as though this is another example of how technology is used in the wrong manner in the future, once Beckett faced off against her mother and was able to express her feelings and frustrations, things surprisingly took a turn for the healthy. For a digital doppelgänger of Mariner came forth to save mom, and facing her digital self, prompted Mariner to ponder aloud about the nature of her anger and why she often acts in such a reckless manner and well… this led to some fascinating revelations and epiphanies for Mariner. Since she was quick to reveal that a lot of her saucy actions are a direct result of not being recognized or respected by her mother and that acting out in a rebellious manner is the only way she can garner her mother’s attention. But more importantly, she admitted to the fact that she screws up often because that’s how people perceive her, and that deep down she’s actually quite the fan of Starfleet and what it has to offer and in order to break this toxic cycle, she needs to start believing in herself and her abilities.

Which was… magnificent to hear and learn from Mariner since she’s been struggling with these demons all season long and well, in the end, the holodeck helped her heal, lending credence to this week’s underlying lesson. But while that is quite the uplifting storyline for Ensign Mariner, make no mistake about it; this episode still offered up plenty of laughs and plenty of satire. Because Beckett’s Khan-esque revenge plot allowed for a lot of black humor to come to the surface of this story and of course, the homages to the TOS film franchise this sequence featured, also helped to bring about some chuckles, since they celebrated and satirized some iconic movie moments in a delightful manner. In the end however, this wonderful episode really does leave one eager to see where the story is headed next. Because a focused Mariner is a game changer for certain, as is the fact that Ensign Boimler has uncovered Beckett’s secret and real relationship to Captain Freeman, and you know it is only going to be a matter of time before he spills those beans and that should allow for some serious drama to come forth; in next week’s season one finale.

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