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

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 305 of ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One thing that fans of the Paramount+ series, Star Trek: Lower Decks can agree upon, is that this wondrously fun chapter in the Star Trek Universe, does a phenomenal job of keeping things light. For the jokes come fast and furious in this series, as do the lovely shoutouts to the history of the franchise. Making this series quite the outright treat. One that you can lose yourself within for a half an hour and leave with a smile on your face. And this series is so focused on keeping it fun and keeping it goofy, that the deeper stuff we often find present within this franchise, tends to be not present here and that’s not a bad thing by any means.
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Simply because this series knows what it is about and is happy to provide fans with what it advertises. But as time has gone on, Lower Decks has begun to pepper some of the deeper meaning and commentary that its sister shows often feature and this week’s episode… just so happens to be a story in that vein. For ‘Reflections’ is a tale that in part, explored the sorted past of one Ensign Sam Rutherford. Because up until this week, we knew little of Sam. Such as what brought forth his implant, who he was before it and his past in general. But a strange quirk of fate with his implant, one that Tendi tried desperately to help fix, changed all of that. For that malfunction brought out old school Sam, the one that was wild and carefree and brash, and suffered through an injury in his academy days that prompted a need for that implant.  

But while that led to some fascinating and fun moments with brash Sam battling it out with the Sam we know, within their own mind, since it turned out that old Sam wanted to take over… it is the deeper context here that harkens back to what makes this franchise so great. Since in many ways, this episode pays homage to ‘The Enemy Within’, the flawed TOS episode that reminds us of the good and the bad we carry, while also taking the time to remind us that who we were yesterday does not define us today, and that growth is a beautiful thing for certain, and all of that is supremely in line with what this franchise stands for. Since it has long been about the human condition through and through, and it was wonderful to see such messaging come into play here and to see ‘new Sam’ win the day. Since that hammered home the message about the importance of growth and embracing our journey. 

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However, while it was indeed incredible to enjoy some deeper messaging here… make no mistake about it, this is Lower Decks and what would this series be without shenanigans and goofball moments? Which came forth in this tale via Ensigns Mariner and Boimler. For they were tasked with setting up a Starfleet recruiting booth on Tulgana IV while the engineering team fixed the planet’s power systems. Something that Mariner was just… sick about. Because she saw this as nothing more than busy work, the kind to keep her and Boims out of sight and out of mind when they could be doing so much more, and she was vocal in her disdain of this assignment and unfortunately for her… Commander Ransom heard her complaints and made it clear that she was going to do an amazing job at this, or face exile to Starbase 80. Which snapped her in line because everyone knows… Starbase 80 is the absolute worst.
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But that didn’t make the job any easier. Because the booth’s placement, forced her to deal with a rude member of the Independent Archeologist’s Guild, and conspiracy theorists, who worked in tandem to basically motivate the crowd to pick on Starfleet. But thankfully, Mariner kept her cool and actually managed to sign up a bevy of folks once the troublemakers were kept busy by the most unexpected of people. For Boimler lost it when one of the critics ripped off his rank pip, and he went on a tear… teaching everyone that had beef with Starfleet, one fine lesson on messing with an Ensign and while it got Boims thrown in the brig for the first time ever, he did impress Ransom with his defense of Starfleet. So apparently, being Bold Boims paid off once again.

If anything, this was just… a delightful episode through and through. One that felt akin to a good ol’ fashioned TNG or TOS episode where we just enjoyed a day in the life in the fleet. With some comedy of course, some wondrous drama and one of the deepest shout outs/Easter Eggs this side of the Mutara Nebula. Because this writer is hard pressed to think of another time, in canon no less, where the events of the TNG episode, ‘Conspiracy’, were actually mentioned. But they were here, and that’s awesome and it just goes to show how much Mike McMahan and his writing staff care for and love this universe and well… now that we’ve reached the end of this mission… the time has come to impatiently wait for another fresh adventure, with the finest Lower Deckers in Starfleet. Until next time.

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