rating: ***
the story: The crew is evaluated through a series of simulations.
review: Online, "I, Excretus" quickly became infamous for doing things that could only have happened in Lower Decks, and that might be the most concise summary possible.
Where I found real merit was Boimler getting to be Boimler again. In the first season Boimler was best understood as the nutcase who believed in Starfleet protocol so passionately it blinded him to everything else. Throughout the second season this took a distinct backseat to trying to reconcile him with Mariner, with whom the producers couldn't decide where they wanted to go. It had seemed obvious that a romance was inevitable, but the season finale put a big kibosh on that (for now?), so "I, Excretus" was the chance to reboot him, so once again his ridiculous efficiency is highlighted, and as it flits in and out it probably hits what to this point in the series is its peak.
Simply put, he knows exactly how to handle the Borg. In every other incarnation of the franchise this is beyond impossible, but for Boimler, at least as far as his simulations go, all he's capable of doing it doing it better. And better.
The rest of the episode doesn't have anything worth comparing to that, another curiosity that developed during the season.
criteria analysis:
- franchise - A lot of familiar strands here. Let's settle on the appearance of the Borg Queen.
- series - Only in Lower Decks could things play out this way.
- character - And specifically for Boimler, who finally feels like Boimler again.
essential- Again the series sabotages itself in failing to support its best material.
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