Lower Decks: I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee

You might think that with the writer and actor strikes going on, networks and streaming services wouldn't be in a rush to burn through what new banked content they have. But then, you're not Paramount+, deciding to kick off season four of Star Trek: Lower Decks with two episodes in one week! So, time to talk about "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee."

When Mariner misinterprets an overheard comment by Ransom, she's sure he plans to demote her... and is determined to earn the demotion with as much bad behavior as she can muster. She gets the perfect opportunity when the two of them are on away mission to an alien menagerie, where a cute-but-lethal creature has escaped. Meanwhile, Rutherford sets out to earn a fast promotion so he can move up with his recently-promoted friends. And Boimler tries to find new quarters without unlivable down sides.

Plenty of Star Trek episodes have used the sort of A/B/C plot structure that's used here, but it isn't often that I find the "A plot" to be the least engaging. We've seen Ransom and Mariner at odds a fair amount before, and "I overheard something and took it out of context to the extreme" is one of the most well-traveled sitcom tropes there is. Also, this story line didn't quite follow the Lower Decks norm of giving us "an actual Star Trek story" with a humorous slant -- at least, not in the ending, where our heroes decide not to rescue the imprisoned humans just because they'd tried to escape themselves and caused trouble.

Still, there were laughs to be had. Some came from poor Ensign Gary, stuck between Mariner and Ransom. Others came from the shamelessly cute horror that was "moopsy." (They have to make a stuffed animal version that says its name when you squeeze it, right?) Still more came from more unexpected places, like the final reveal of Ransom's new teeth.

And as for the "B" and "C" plots? I was much more entertained. I feel like among the "core four" of Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, and Rutherford, it's Rutherford who is least often shown to be out of his element. His rivalry with "new guy" Livik, outdoing him by insignificant fractions at the most dense of technobabbly tasks, was just a fun idea. Meanwhile, if Lower Decks had a longer run time, I could imagine several other "terrible quarters" that Boimler might have found himself in -- though the ones depicted were quite funny. (I especially liked the room "between two holodecks.")

I guess there was sort of a "D plot" too? The episode did begin with another tease of the season-long story, in which we see a Romulan ship (with its own Lower Deckers) destroyed by the same force that took out the Klingons at the end of the season premiere. We'll see where it goes.

Perhaps Lower Decks, as much as I do love it, is a show better taken in smaller doses rather than two in a week? For whatever the reason, I didn't enjoy this episode as much; I'd give it a B.