Star Trek: Lower Decks 1x7 “Much Ado About Boimler” Review

 rating: ***

the story: Boimler’s caught in a weird transporter effect while Mariner reunites with an old friend.

review: Just when it seems Lower Decks is caught in a rut, “Much Ado About Boimler” comes around. Just in time!

Rutherford has another close encounter as the source of Boimler’s mishap, having tweaked the transporter, which leaves Boimler partially phased. But Tendi gets more mileage in an unrelated subplot when she bioengineers her own dog...which she hilariously screws up because as an Orion she has no real idea what dogs are supposed to be like. Anyway, good to see her get some material, and arguably one of the most successful uses of the animated format this season.

Of course, Boimler’s predicament is what can be termed classic Boimler at this point, and leads him (and the dog) to D-14, a Starfleet medical anomalies division that of course exists (based on all available evidence from every other series and their many, many medical anomalies). The effect is to thrust Boimler into a “land of misfits toys” for the episode. It’s the good kind of franchise insight that’s Lower Decks at its best, and it’s played out perfectly.

Mariner’s old friend is now a captain, so of course this is another opportunity to explore Mariner’s career choices. It might have felt repetitive, but like everything else this episode it still works.

criteria analysis:

>franchise - For the valuable addition of D-14 alone to Star Trek lore, this episode’s valuable.

>series - The best strengths of Lower Decks are in full display here.

>character - Which of course means its cast of wacky characters, with the first real highlight for Tendi.

>essential - The kind of episode I could easily bump up in value later. We’ll see!