After labelling last week's Lower Decks as a landmark I'll take a second breath in.This one surpassed it.
The first episode ever to be titled in Klingon (even on screen), wej Duj marked another step outside of the bounds that confine regular series but can be easily accomplished through animation.
Instead of just isolating this week's story to a single spot, the Cerritos, Lower Decks has branched out to show us life on a Klingon vessel and a Vulcan science ship with spectacular results.
But wej Duj is much, much more clever than you initially give it credit because not only does it spike off into different tales but it also ties into established storylines from the series and make a heck of a lot of sense.
What this episode succeeds at doing is expanding the Lower Decks corner of the Star Trek universe. It feels as though the series has become more than just one ship. There's still that nudge and wink formula, the in jokes and action but this episode feels alive with growth and not an over reliance on the background easter eggs. I appreciated the story more, found that I connected with the characters and was more engrossed than before because the important points were kept to the front of the screen and I wasn't trying to focus massively on the backgrounds. This felt like a more rounded entry to the series and one where the main plot captured my attention from the start. Unusually I may have to go back and watch wej Duj a second time to pick up on all the hidden "nods" that I missed on first viewing.
The choice of characters aboard the Klingon and Vulcan ships help make this a top level episode. Aboard the Klingon Bird of Prey Che'Ta' we have aspiring captain Ma'ah who is given all the dog-awful (and I mean that sincerely) tasks on the ship; disposing of the old dead captain and walking the targ being just two. Over on the Vulcan Sh'Vaal, T'Lynn is stepping outside the bounds of logic and starting to do her own thing which is, frustratingly, illogical.
The story on the Cerritos, focusing on Boimler attempting to find himself a senior officer best friend doesn't seem to be going anywhere however it's more important seeing how the other members of the lead Lower Decks quartet spend their time while waiting for the ship to reach its destination. Over the 12 hour trip T'Ana and Tendi go rock climbing, Rutherford joins Shaxs at a pottery class and Mariner puts in some mum time. Note the chunk of references to Star Trek V in here - once again seems that McMahan and co really like to nod to that movie!
wej Duj works in not only broadening the vision of the series but also continuing the running Pakled story which seems to be an undercurrent of both seasons one and two. While not an overpowering element of the show it's interesting to see this pop up again and again.
What is also super successful is in the execution of the Vulcan and Klingon scenes. The animation and backgrounds aside, the practicalities aboard the two ships are just as you would hope and expect. Yes, there is a Lower Decks slant in terms of humour but the two craft run almost diametrically opposite to each other; order and chaos if you will; but with both somehow maintaining structure.
Overall a good episode for the series with lots to get stuck into in terms of characters and stories. Both the lead Klingon (Ma'ah) and lead Vulcan (T'Lynn) thoroughly deserve to turn up again in future episodes and it might even be a suggestion to focus an episode on each of them and away from the Cerritos?
Definitely a season highlight and one that didn't overindulge in fan service for the sake of it.
Enjoyed this article? Why not subscribe and share to spread the word! Come and talk to us below about your thoughts on this week's episode.
ALSO check out our full set of season one and two reviews HERE!
No comments:
Post a Comment