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

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 102 of ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’.
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If there is one particular constant that tends to permeate the Star Trek franchise, it would have to be that we spend a lot of time with seasoned and intelligent Starfleet officers over the course of any given series. Which makes sense, since the crews we hang out with are the best of the best and are ready to handle anything that comes their way. But in order for Picard to become Picard, and so on, these legendary officers had to start somewhere, and were once people and/or aliens that made mistakes and learned from them in order to become the hero we know now and that’s why the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Lower Decks is such a refreshing tale through and through. 
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For in essence, this series is providing the audience with those bumbling and awkward first days for Starfleet officers. Where they are unsure of whether or not this is actually the life for them and how on Earth they’re going to cut it in such an elite organization, and it just so happens that this week’s episode of the series dove deep into those particular worries and concerns, and outright mistakes that young officers make as they begin their careers in Starfleet. Alongside some thoughts on what exactly it will take to make them the legends they will someday become, all in a hilarious and fun manner of course. And that made ‘Envoys’ quite the wonderful tale, one that also narrowed its focus in regard to this exploration to two key characters; Ensigns Boimler and Rutherford.

Simply because they are perhaps the greenest two officers of our cadre of heroes in this show, especially Rutherford. Because when we catch up with him in this tale, he’s doing this thing as a hardcore engineer and loving the wonder of fixing the ship. But he quickly comes to realize that his position requires a lot of personal sacrifice, leaving him to wonder if by chance he should look at another division on the Cerritos so that he can enjoy a social life. An exploration that of course ends with him back in the ship’s tubes after he hilariously discovers that none of the other divisions are for him in the slightest. But that is a key element to building a great officer in Starfleet, in that, everyone has to find their passion in order to be the absolute best at what they do. And it was quite wonderful to see Rutherford explore his options aboard the ship and eventually find his path and be encouraged by every senior officer along the way.

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As for Ensign Boimler, well his journey in this tale handled the fact that officers are going to make mistakes along the way, and how that can indeed rattle a rookie. Especially when uh, the Klingon Ambassador you’re escorting, steals your shuttlecraft when he’s on a Bloodwine bender, on your watch. Which was a hilarious setup to explore the nature of mistakes, since it led to a great many more mistakes for Ensign Boimler. Because he followed everything by the book in this tale in the hopes of finding the ambassador and that allowed for him to quickly learn that sometimes book smarts and regulations aren’t the key to solving big problems. Sometimes you need outright experience in order to accomplish your mission, which is why it is a wonderful thing that Mariner joined him on this wild expedition, since she had real-world insight to offer him and she was able to teach him that not everything is going to go to plan, along with the most important lesson of all.
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In that; sometimes you need someone to have your back and lift you up when the going gets tough in order to find success in Starfleet. Because this really was a difficult mission for Boimler, to the point where he began to wonder if this was really for him or not. But Mariner refused to let him quit, and even set up a win for him so that he could feel as though he did something right on a tough day and for her efforts, she saw a rejuvenated and confident Boimler at the helm of the recovered shuttle and well, that was quite the lovely way to end this episode. Because her kindness and knowledge allowed for Boilmer to recover from his mistakes and have faith in himself once again and that’s exactly what great mentors do, and that gives this particular episode a lot of heart and a lot of meaning when all is said and done.

Because it reinforces the fact that Starfleet is about family in a way, and we are starting to see the lower decks side of the Cerritos come together in that manner and that’s just wonderful. But what matters the most about this tale, is that we were able to see two young officers grow and learn right before our eyes and start to realize their potential as Starfleet officers and people and that’s something that is a staple of this franchise and it is delightful to know this series is going to have depth to go along with the laughs. Of which there were plenty by the way. Because every mistake that Boimler and Rutherford made in this tale definitely brought about some serious chuckles for certain and well, this really is shaping up to be quite the special series and it should be interesting to see what other important lessons in regard to life aboard a starship, or life in general, this series is going to send our way in the weeks to come. Until next time.  

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