Drawn Into Lower Decks: recapping Empathological Fallacies

0:03 Mariner Boindler. Starfleet is better with you in it, No way, Man, I had your big row. Yeah, I thought you were like a boring worker drone. If you aren't, it's sort of unfair. Hello everyone, and welcome back to Drawn Into Lower Decks, a limited series from a film by podcast that focuses on the animated comedy Star Trek Lower Decks. Each week, we'll get you ready for the newest episode of Star Trek Lower Decks with an animated discussion about the latest not so epic mission of the USS Cerritos. As always read alert, spoilers are ahead. If you haven't seen the latest episode, please go watch it before you hear what we have to say.

0:48 Joining you again, I'm Scott Hoffman and I'm Wayne White, and I had a feeling that we might see fellow Lower Decker David Burns for this episode, but he ran into Losana Troy along Away, who wasn't willing to give us many details. Something about the sacred chalice of Reeks, I think. But we still afforded talking with him whenever the Walks on Earth section thirty one allows. So Wayne, let's jump right into it with a recap the latest episode of empathological fallacies. In this episode, the Threetos's mission is to escort three bedazoid empaths to Angel One while keeping them entertained and inebriated. At first, the party seems to simply invite the crew to unwind and have fun, but as the party rages on, it seems to let everyone's emotions loose while they lose control of the ship itself. One person who doesn't seem to be affected is to Lynn, who's going through an emotional crisis of her own, which turns out to be involved in causing the problem in the first place.

1:45 Wayne, what were your first impressions of this episode? I love the episode because, and I mentioned this in an earlier episode, I was hoping they would do a spotlight on to Lynn, and we finally got it. We got it actually earlier than what I thought. She's such a great addition to the character to the series this year, and we got to learn a lot about her and and her reasons for being there and how she feels being there on the Critos and Gabrielle Ruiz, who plays who voices her, is just fantastic. She does an incredible vulcan but a vulcan where you know has has more layers than just you know, no emotions, and this episode is the prime best example of that and of her character. Yeah, I totally agree.

2:38 This was great writing by Mike mccannon Jamie Loftis for an episode that I thought was going to be a fun episode because we had bedazoid delegates on the ship, but knowing that we would get this much more of a deep dive with to Lynn. And when I was watching this, I was thinking about how many episodes we've talked about that character being so strong and such a great addition. I totally agree. Love seeing the extra layers here, the fact that she kind of feels like she's in exile on the Siritos, that she has doubts of herself as a Vulcan, And yeah, I thought that was a good moment to have this, but it was. It was definitely a surprise to me that this is where that episode was going. And there were some elements of she reminding me a lot of to Paul on Enterprise, who also when that series started she didn't want to be there as well. She felt that it was beneath her as a Vulcan and that she was being punished for being there, but we saw her character develop into a strong member of the crew, and I know we're going to see j Lynn go and turn into a great addition to the Siritos. We get kind of a trifecta with this one because we also see direct reference to the evil Peanut Hamper threat that it takes us on board the Siritos itself, so instead of going to an of the world or anything else like that, it's very self contained. It's bringing that crisis a little bit closer to home, which makes me think we're bound to start seeing a lot more of that weave into the actual story,

4:11 and this episode we actually got three separate story that all connected at the end. And some of the best writing is when you can do that when you take your three stories which look like they're completely separate, and they all come together to make create a perfect ending. So of the episode and there's a lot of great moments, But what were some of your favorites. One of my most favorite is and this is another thing I also mentioned a few episodes earlier, is we got to see Captain Freeman and the crew of the Cerritos at their best in this episode. You know, freeman. I called her, what was it? I think it was two or three episode back to be shown as more as a bumbling captain who's always getting it wrong, and not in this episode, she was shown as a perfect star fleet officer who got everything right. It seemed like with the exception of one thing. I mean, I understood why she thought the Beta's ds were that the cause.

5:06 I mean, I thought it was too But she kept her head during when ther rest of her crew were going nuts. She tried to keep up with the Beta ZEDs and and then she was also able to trick them into fighting among themselves just to give herself an advantage. And when she turned on the red alert which activated the security crew, and I have never seen a better crew act as we did in this episode. I loved her characterization. I hope we see more of this strong starfleet officer. I think she took great advantage of the opportunity to kind of understand what was going on with the Beta Zoids. And it was interesting how as you're even talking about that, it's reminding me that she was technically emotionally compromised. She was being affected by this thing just as much as anybody else, and completely natural to assume that, you know, if there's a new variable coming into the ship with empathic abilities, that it would be natural to assume that that would that's what would be causing it. It was a great surprise to see that it was actually to Lynn that was the source, and to know that that had kind of a more of an impact on more than just her, and I think it's a great way to dig into those two cultures a little bit further. I know that when we were introduced to Bedazoid's obviously with Deanna Troy, and then got more depth with Laxana. The first few episodes with Laxana, it seemed like,

6:39 all right, well this is going to be you know, anytime there's going to be Laxana, it's going to be a fun or a funny episode. And it's almost like my first reaction to Donna Noble on Doctor Who. It was like, Oh, I don't know if I'm really going to like this character. But became so nuanced and found so much depth, especially with Laxana as she went into DS nine, and certainly Deanna's character is so vastly nuanced and so much depth, and there it was great to kind of go back to the betazoid roots of you know, assuming that this might be kind of a set of one dimensional characters that are empathic and here for a good time and just kind of partying but secretly being bedazoid intelligence, which I didn't even know it existed. It's necessary, you know, it's it's fair to assume that it would exist. But you know, it's just more depth that we haven't gotten, and I think that they are. It was great to see that they had kind of insights into this threat, this tiny threat, but that appears to be you know, ricking havoc across the quadrant. Well and before you know, when we saw the Beta ZEDs, the only really time we ever saw them was through the Troys. We never really got too much explore with their planets, their culture, others on that, and it was usually used as comedy relief some of the In my personal opinion, the best Like Walks Troy episodes is the one where she's like incredibly serious, such

8:11 as I believe the episode was Dark Page where they discovered that Troy had a sister that had died. It really, you know, that's one of my favorite episodes. I wish we'd seen more of Beta Z the planet itself than just a fleeting glimpses, and I'm glad to see that this series is at least giving us a little bit more look, even though it's small into their culture, knowing that the empathic abilities, abilities that they have is going to make them it's a burden to a certain degree. It kind of makes me think of, you know, early days of Jean Gray and the X Men not being able to shut out some of these things that they're they're sensitive to. The episode that you're talking about, is that the one with and you'll have to help me out the actor who played Winchester on mash No, this was the all the Well, that's also another really good episode. I'm gonna I forgot about that one. I'm gonna bring that up too. But No, the episode I was talking about was it had Kristen Dunne. I think I had one of her very first appearances on film. But yeah, it's it's where Walks and Troy she falls into this coma and and Dianna goes into her mind to try to find out what's hausing it and discovers that she's been suppressing this, this tragedy she had as a kid when her older daughter had had died drowned to death. Dianna didn't even know anything about. And I mean the seven season the next generation is watching if anybody hasn't seen it.

9:35 Yeah, thanks for mentioning that, because it's you know again, we always talk about this show as being one that kind of has threads that kind of reach out into other series and make you want to kind of rewatch those. There was a lot of great comedy in those soon as well. I was empathizing with t Lynn when she was trying so hard to send a message despite hitting the same error and was just like, no, if I wait, maybe it'll go away. Yes, And you know, I've had my own frustration with the internet ishs today, so I can relate. But also the scene where doctor mcglimo was having a drunken fight with his replicator. A great job is always by Paul Eft Tompkins, who I was happy to learn in a recent episode we had mentioned that Paul does a podcast with Tommy Newsome, the voice of Mariner, on their own track centric podcast, the Pod Directive, And there hasn't been an updated episode since August, which is understandable, but I look forward to more episodes of that coming out, So let's get into deep cuts. So when it comes to Easter Eggs, levertexton never disappoints and it always does a great job, like we were just talking about, kind of taking you to your favorite Trek moments or kind of sparking interest in those that are might be new to you. I didn't notice a lot in this episode, but Wayne, what about you, Well, there were a few, but they flew really fast. The two there were two I've mentioned right at the beginning of the episode. The diplomats were being picked up and taken to the plane at Angel One, which we saw during the first season of the Next Generation in the episode called Angel One. Not one of the best episodes of the series, but you know how this lower Decks likes bringing

11:09 out the best and the worst of the Star Trek series. And then we also heard that they were also going to the planet Rizah. Yeah, they were. They were being picked up at Angel One. They would be taken to Risa, that's right, which was a pleasure planet. So we saw that for the first time on Captain's Holiday during the third season and Next Generation, and we also saw it on Deep Space nine. Let he who was without Sin. That's the name of the episode. And we also see it on saw it on Enterprise to Two Days and Two Nights, very popular vacation planet. And then also when we saw to Lynn's quarters, it behind her was a picture of Vulcan hanging on the wall, and that wasn't actually a screen shot directly from Star Trek the motion picture at the beginning the director's edition, not the original theatrical version. That was where Spock had his colon our original ritual of taking place, and then we had there This one made me laugh to the picture of the Romulan news zone that we see on the screen.

12:11 That is an extremely outdated than that was the version that Kirk and Spock looked at back in the original series Bounds a tear when we first met the Romulans. I'm pretty sure by one hundred and fifty years, because that's got to be out of date. And then there were two big ones that were in this episode. Was the both the mention of the Xanthe fever that was what affected Walks in a Troy and cause everybody to go nuts around her. In Deep Space nine that episode you mentioned earlier called Fascination and It was also the mention of the Yeah, the Vulcan Bingi syndrome that is what Sarah Spock's father was inflicted with when he appeared on the next Generation Serak, which also caused, just like in the Serritos, the Enterprise crew to go go insane and start showing their emotions and force. They really couldn't control their emotions.

13:03 There was a big bar fight in that episode, and of course we brought it out here and there were a lot of other little Easter eggs I saw. I don't I know that Shacks's tarot cards had a lot of religious and historical mentions of from Beta's Veata's aid from Bajoran culture, but other than the wormhole, I wasn't really sure what. I have to go do some research on that one. Yeah, that's that's what I caught now. Of course, there were mentions a Woda war and wharf and a few other things during the episode. Yeah, but the charades where he's trying to replicate Constable Odo going into it was funny. And I gotta say, Kashan anytime I hear to Mary and where he says, so cath his eyes open, Yeah, I love that bit. I loved it. I do too. Let's talk about some of the pitworthy moments so that indication of rank. They kind of reflect X when characters have growth, and we've certainly seen a lot of it through this season. It's hard to believe we're not even really halfway through the season. I'm sure we're going to see a lot more. Who do you think had the most pit worthy moment that stole the show in this week's episode?

14:15 And there were a lot of them in this one, but I'm going to give it a still in just for the same reason I mentioned. This was her episode Bought Light. We had to learn a lot about her that she was thrown off her earlier Vulcan ship and sent to the Siritos, mainly as punishment. I'm trying to remember what she was punished for. I believe I know she saved her crew, but I'm not sure if she what they what they had said on there. But she's very unhappy being on the Siritos, and she just she doubts her ability to be a true Vulcan. It was great characterization, great performance, beautiful performance by Gabrielle Ruis really showing their character in her owns taking center stage. This was her episode. I'm glad to see it. I took particular notice of Shacks in this episode, even though it was kind of a bit of a secondary kind of sub thread that was going through this the whole idea behind taking Boiler through the slam poetry and the puzzles, and it wasn't quite we expected. Beyond leading the charges to take back the bridge, containing the hungry rage of doctor Tanna and diplomatically kicking betazoid butt in a diplomatic way, Shacks helped Boiler grow, I think by helping him get perspective on not being so hard on himself as a leader and kind of taking some time to kind of step back and get some perspective looking out for emotional well being. Showed another angle of the security crew, which I thought was very interesting, saying, you know, we're not all just practicing phaser shooting all the time. And I like seeing him step into a bit of the spotlight for a while, So I thought that was good to see. Before we wrap up our chat, let's get back into the turbolift

15:48 and explore a little bit. I think you know where I'll probably go, But you know, we see a lot of the cerritos from engineering to cetacean opts and now to the security deck. I don't know if they have their own deck or if it's just a section of it. But if you had your choice, what part of the serritas would you want to visit? Well, yeah, I wasn't sure exactly where they were were really in the bowels of the ship, but I'd want to be with that security crew down there, and they were they were playing games or poetry, playing sharads, but when they were needed, when when the time came for them to take action, they were a fine tuned, invincible security team. Yeph Well, and we definitely get a lot more depth, And I'm totally on the same page with you. It's where I'd want to kind of explore a little bit.

16:30 For some reason, it was making me think of some of the episodes where they were doing phase or practice like Guyan and having a chat with Wharf while having kind of target practice in there, and just knowing that they have a bit more than just the you know, practicing with weaponry. I'd like to see what else they do there, What are the kind of things they do on a regular basis. And this is a bit of a mini intervention for Boiler, but knowing kind of the depth and the breadth of what they have to do, remembering that to a certain degree there's some diplomacy involved in what they're doing. Like with fighting the beta zoids on the bridge, you have to do so in a way that's not lethal. It's not harmful obviously, especially you know, even with doctor to Anna being bitten in Claudon and also the kind of stuff, having that calm underlying demeanor to be able to roll with those kind of situations and adapt in the moment. I think it was a great moment to see. And as I mentioned before, I just can't get enough of Kishun. I think the Tamarians are a fascinating species that we've only seen in one episode of Next Generation, if I'm not mistaken. But the speech pattern and the use of that kind of exploration of you know, not just relying on the universal translator to be able to communicate intent and and

18:00 get somebody to understand where somebody's coming from. I think he's a great character. To have him in security is an interesting choice because of that idea of diplomacy and you know, struggling to be understood in certain situations, but I love seeing his character, so anytime he can be around, I'm just I'm just smiling. All right, listeners, Well, thanks for joining us again this week. As always, Hitling, your frequencies are open, so feel free to share your thoughts, your predictions, and your questions on social media. If you want more treks, certainly let us know. You can find us at a Film by a Podcast dot com, a Film by a Podcast at gmail dot com. We're on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and we look forward to seeing you for the next mission next week. Thanks Wayne, see you later. I forgot to mention my absolute favorite, the thing that made me laugh the most the raw music and when they Serritos zoomed off and they were like, oh, it fits very well with the roundans.

19:03 It's a nice, nice gag there.