‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Recap – ‘Those Old Scientists’

Written by Shae Rufe

Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid and Anson Mount as Ensign Beckett Mariner, Ensign Bradward ‘Brad’ Boimler, and Captain Christopher Pike in Episode 207 of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ – ‘Those Old Scientists’. (Photo Courtesy of Paramount+.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 207 of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
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Over the weekend Paramount+ aired their much-anticipated Star Trek crossover episode between Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks. To say this episode is an instant favorite with how epic it truly turned out to be, is a genuine understatement. The groundbreaking episode featured both the animation style we love for Lower Decks turned to the real life amazing show that is Strange New Worlds. The best part, easily, was having the two main voice actors for Mariner and Boimler, reprise their roles in live action. This was the most genius move on Star Trek’s part, as Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid are so iconic as Mariner and Boimler, that replacing them would be a travesty.
 
Quaid managed to bring to life Boimler’s exaggerated movements, squeaks, yelps, and facial expressions without it being a mockery, having it fit in seamlessly, while Tawny gives such Mariner vibes that everything, she did on screen was perfect. Star Trek isn’t a stranger to time travel, as La’an recently had her own stint in an alternate universe, so she quickly bonds with Boimler when he drops by the Enterprise after flying through a time portal. The problem is that Boims will be Boims, and it’s hard not to let things slip about the future or what past events will happen. Does he, inadvertently, cause tension between Christine and Spock? Maybe, just a bit, by mentioning how human Spock has become and how the future needs Vulcan Spock. Does he also infer a dislike for Una? Maybe, but that’s also not what we think. Things went okay, until Mariner showed up. 
 
The truth is, Pike isn’t cut out for Mariner and Boimler, and the duo doesn’t make it easy for the crew. At least Ortegas and Christine got to mess with Boimler a little when he was alone, Mariner is just chaos incarnate with a huge thing for Uhura. She even gets Uhura to loosen up with some drinks. And maybe the two visitors manage to help the Orion’s be a little bit more legitimate. As, in their time, it is rude to just assume all Orions are pirates, after all. But of course, Boims and Mariner made their mark on the crew, and everyone learned they’re not so different, just from different times, before our time travelers made it home. Because this is Star Trek and that’s a big message in the franchise.

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The Crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Gets… Animated in Episode 207 of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ – ‘Those Old Scientists’. (Photo Courtesy of Paramount+.)

​So why was this crossover so epic? Star Trek: Lower Decks is the first, successful, multi season animated Star Trek series that focuses on the Lower Decks crew, rather than the Bridge crew. While the series has a lot to offer in its supporting cast, including the Bridge crew, Lower Decks is happier to focus on what the Ensigns get up to during adventures, rather than the Captain. While Strange New Worlds has the standard Captain and main Bridge crew as the show’s focal point. Heads of departments, important characters, and strangely, no Lower Deck crew members. Just Uhura, but… she’s Uhura. It just made for a wonderful mix of the higher ranks mixing with the newer ones. Although Mariner’s been around a bit and maybe lost a few promotions.
 
This was also a great way to integrate the prequel to The Original Series and a show set farther into the future. The joke that Ransom calls the original Enterprise crew TOS, short for ‘Those Old Scientists’, is a play on TOS meaning The Original Series. Lower Decks takes place after The Next Generation, and man was this episode filled with callbacks to that and other series in the franchise as well. It also was the first episode to be done in both real world and animation. As the episode concludes, we get the Strange New Worlds cast, animated into the Lower Decks style, really tying the crossover home. Strange New Worlds has already had a lot of fun with its first season and a half, even offering a D&D style episode at the end of its first season and promising a musical episode towards the end of its second. Making this bold crossover event on par for the wonderful experimentation that is Strange New Worlds.
 
Again, the absolute best part of this whole thing was having the original voice actors for Mariner and Boimler reprise their roles in the live action. Seeing Quaid with purple hair and Newsome with rolled uniform sleeves, really tied it all together. They are Mariner and Boimler, voices and all! The chemistry of the cast mixed amazingly, creating the perfect episode.

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