lower

27 Aug

Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 4 Easter Eggs & References

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This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains spoilers. With most new Star Trek shows, locating the Easter eggs and references takes probably at least two viewings. But, with Lower Decks, you can watch an episode four times and still be missing references and Easter eggs. This is saying something when you also consider that these episodes are half as long as episodes of Discovery or Picard. So, with that in mind, like in the previous episodes, there is almost certainly something we missed in trying to gather all the Easter eggs and references from Lower Decks episode 4, “Moist Vessel.”…

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20 Aug

Star Trek: Lower Decks Just Gave Us Its Best Easter Egg Yet

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This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains spoilers for Episode 3, “Temporal Edict.” The far future school is correct: one of the most important people in Starfleet history is Chief Miles O’Brien. From the countless times he beamed people out at the last second, to his ability to talk-down crazy starship captains by singing them old songs, to that time he moved an entire space station, O’Brien is a guy who gets the job done. But, as the joke at the end of Lower Decks episode 3 quietly infers, O’Brien is actually the opposite of Scotty in nearly every way.…

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20 Aug

Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 3 Easter Eggs & References

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This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains spoilers. Although the third episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks is called “Temporal Edict,” some of the Easter eggs in the episode might make you think this is as much about sound and music as it is about time management. From a rock and roll opening to some deep nods to TNG and TOS, “Temporal Edict,” is brimming with Trekkie Easter eggs. In fact, the entire plot might come from an Easter egg in Star Trek III: The Search Spock.  As always, it’s very possible we didn’t catch every single reference in the…

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20 Aug

Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 3 Review: Temporal Edict

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This Star Trek: Lower Decks review contains spoilers. Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 3 If one of the unspoken goals of Lower Decks was to make Galaxy Quest-style jokes, but more on-the-nose, the third episode of the show, “Temporal Edict,” succeeds. In Galaxy Quest, when Tim Allen’s Commander Taggart gets his shirt ripped unnecessarily, the Trek people in the audience get that this is a joke about Captain Kirk. In Galaxy Quest, the joke worked without having to say the name “Kirk,”  but, in Lower Decks, making jokes about Kirk’s shirtless machismo comes with name-checking. As a series, Lower Decks…

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17 Aug

Star Trek: Lower Decks Timeline Explained

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This article contains minor spoilers for Star Trek: Lower Decks. Just in case you’re confused, the new animated comedy series, Star Trek: Lower Decks, is not a spoof. Although there are some meta-fictional elements (just how the hell did Mariner have dreams about Khan?) the series isn’t a comedy-spoof of Star Trek, but rather, a comedy series that is set within the Trek canon. As creator and showrunner Mike McMahan has said many times, Lower Decks is canon, meaning things that happen on this series, could, in theory, affect other shows.  But, in terms of the Lower Decks timeline, what…

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14 Aug

Star Trek: Lower Decks – What is The Janeway Protocol?

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In Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 2, “Envoys,” Ensign Rutherford faces a new version of the famous no-win scenario from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. During a holographic command training program, Commander Ransom puts him in several situations in which it seems like there’s literally no way to save the ship. After the ship is destroyed in the very first simulation, Ransom says this: “In situations like that, try employing the Janeway protocol.” When Rutherford asks “what’s that?” Ransom replies cryptically, and hilariously, with “good one!” The joke is great. But, what’s even funnier is that we don’t…

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13 Aug

Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 2 Review: Envoys

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This Star Trek: Lower Decks review contains spoilers. Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1, Episode 2 If you didn’t like the first episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, the second episode is not here to walk anything back. Structurally and tonally, “Envoys,” is actually so similar to “Second Contact,” that there’s an argument to be made that it should have either aired third or as part of a two-episode debut night for the season premiere. Lower Decks is poised to tell several different types of Trek stories. That said, “Envoys” mostly settles on familiar territory: The concept that some aliens…

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13 Aug

Star Trek: Lower Decks Episode 2 Easter Eggs & References

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This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains spoilers for Episode 2. With its second episode, Star Trek: Lower Decks has shown no sign of slowing down on the endless supply of Easter eggs and deep cuts. Just like with Episode 1, catching everything in an episode of Lower Decks might require you to have the ability to slow down time, just like the Scalosian in the TOS episode, “Wink of an Eye.” But, we don’t have that ability, so we have to rely on our memories and ugly bags of mostly water human bodies which happen to contain the wetware…

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14 Jul

Star Trek: Lower Decks Easter Eggs Reveal Deep Love of Trek Lore

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It seems very possible that Star Trek: Lower Decks will be the most Easter egg-heavy Star Trek series ever. This is not a problem and longtime fans like me are not complaining. The first trailer for Lower Decks just dropped, and if you love Trek, you’re probably thinking what I’m thinking: Bring it on! But, even if you’re a hardcore fan, there’s a chance you missed a few very sly deep-cut references in this trailer. Think you spotted every single joke and Easter egg? Maybe not. Here are nine small Trekkie shout-outs in the first Lower Decks trailer. Plus, why…

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01 Jul

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Release Date, Trailer, Cast and Story

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Star Trek: The Animated Series may not be the most-cited of the Star Trek TV universe series, but it has contributed to the canon of the rich science fiction world. Running for two seasons from 1973 to 1974, the series followed the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, keeping the universe alive until Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. Now, CBS is poised to continue the tradition of animated Star Trek stories! The animated series will be called Star Trek: Lower Decks, and it has Rick and Morty‘s Mike McMahan on board as its creator. “Mike won our…

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05 Jun

Selma and Criterion Collection Lower Pay Walls in Support of Black Voices

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More than 50 years since black protestors first attempted to walk with protestors across a bridge in Selma—a bridge where they were met with violence and bloodshed at the hands of local authorities—it appears much and little has changed in American life. Millions make that connection each day as we head into the second weekend of protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Maybe that’s why some are eager to revisit the history of this American experience. Hence Paramount Pictures announced Friday it is making Ava DuVernay’s Selma available for free across all major content…

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