‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Recap – ‘Mugato, Gumato’

Written by Shae Rufe

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 204 of ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’.
​
Do you ever love a show so much you outright steal the reviews for it from your best friend, because that’s just how you roll? Me too! While John will forever be the Boimler to my Mariner, the Tendi to my Rutherford… I totally stole this show review from him. I’m half sorry. Realistically, this is all John’s fault. He sat me down and binged the first season with me and now I’m hopelessly addicted. I’ve always loved Star Trek and this show is probably my absolute favorite out of the entire franchise. Okay, The Original Series will always hold a special place in my heart, but Lower Decks is just such a good time.

Can I start by saying that Mariner is life goals? At least for me. If I ever got the chance to join Starfleet I would probably end up in just as much trouble as she is. Her mischievous nature seems to be catching up to her in this latest episode. A simple rumor could unravel more than just her friendships, but her entire façade. Rutherford and Boimler are playing ‘Diplomats’, a game to strengthen their skills and a foreshadowing for just how awesome they are in their own right, when Mariner shows up and promptly dismisses their invite to join them. That’s when the Bartender lets it slip to the boys that Mariner is not what she might seem. Is it possible the captain’s daughter and Infamous Trouble Maker of the Cerritos is actually a part of Section 31? A highly trained super spy for the Federation does sound like an amazing job, but not for our Mariner, right? While she is amazing on all the levels, she wouldn’t lie to her best friends about who she really is.
 
But the seed of doubt is already planted, and Rutherford looks up her file; suspicious how half the crew of the Atlantis went missing and Mariner ended up on the Cerritos, after that. That news is enough to make Rutherford and Boimler a bit jumpier around Mariner, well that and she is freakishly good at martial arts. Things only seem to get more suspicious when they land for their mission and have to face the Ferengi and their trapped Mugatos. In the chaos Boimler and Rutherford see Mariner seemingly attack Shaxs and bite/stab him. They run off when they see her covered in Shaxs’ blood only to have their own mishaps. Which includes accidentally finding two Mugatos that end up mating… and that is traumatic. They keep going and end up running back into Mariner, who has a perfect explanation for everything. Mariner might have started the rumor about being in Section 31 herself, to add more mystery to her persona. Which, can relate. Boimler and Rutherford admit to feeling inadequate and Mariner admits that they’re her best friends. It’s a wonderful moment.

---

Until she gets captured by the Ferengi. Boimler and Rutherford save her and Shaxs and everyone else the only way they know how. With math! It’s a great ending to how the show started. Compromise that leaves neither party completely happy, but the Ferengi end up making a Mugato sanctuary. Of course, they market it, and they completely expand their profit margins, so I guess the Ferengi did win the most. And that’s a loss for everyone. Meanwhile, Tendi stayed on the ship and took on the greatest task of all; getting physical scans of the crew members who bailed on their annual physicals. Which she does with the perfection we expect from Tendi. The last crew member is elusive, literally just a serial number in the system. Turns out it was Dr. T’Ana who ignored her own physical. Tendi has to chase her down in a hilarious and over the top manner. T’Ana is crafty though, and she has the advantage, especially in the vents where they end up. Tendi falls and appears to break her arm, a tactic that works to get T’Ana to come to her aid, except that Tendi actually did break her arm pretty bad. In the end she gets the scan on T’Ana, who finally admits that it wasn’t a big deal at all.

Poor Tendi.

In the end, Mariner finally joins the boys in their game, and even starts a rumor about how Boimler and Rutherford helped fight the Mugato bare handed and saved the away team! And we also learned that that Shaxs and T’Ana are apparently a thing… and now we all have to live with that.

---