Assimilated salamander robot is my new favourite villain. That said, why did the exhibit not display their children?

I grinned like an idiot throughout the first episode because of all the Voyager callbacks but I got the biggest laugh in the second episode when Boimler goes to his new quaters and the room is bright red because of the glowing nacelle. I had to pause because I was laughing so much. For the past ~30 years I always wondered what crew quarters which face towards the nacelles were like. Thank you, Lower Decks.

Congrats to our four new junior lieutenants, they did in 4 seasons what Harry Kim failed to do in 7.

..moopsy

Now I want to know how T’Lyn knows what Borg smell like.

All our Wej Duj heroes came back for episode 1! ...I hope Ma'ah's okay.

It's interesting how between Lower Decks and Prodigy (plus some brief mentions in other post-VOY shows) we have a decent picture of how the universe view now-Admiral Janeway. It's clear she's viewed with a sort of heroic reverence, Captain Freeman assumed that Janeway's logs would have a good answer for a Tuvix situation. Voyager's celebrity status has definitely inflated her image a little, really put's Dal's awkward first encounter with the real Janeway in perspective.

It feels very right that they didn't actually dive into the morality of killing Tuvix other than "that's messed up!" and making the Tuvix'd crew clearly in the wrong/not sapient before de-Tuvixing them. Lower Decks does earnest optimism about Starfleet well, but I don't think deep dives into moral situations are something for a goofy 22 minute show.

The DS9 episode was handled with such dignity, but the Voyager episode was a fever dream and I am absolutely here for it!

After 3 seasons, it’s surprising to finally have a voice actor for Westlake.

I didn’t know I needed Clarinet Macro Viruses and assimilated Salamander Automatons at the helm, but my gosh did the LD team deliver!

I wonder if the promotion rollout explains why marketing for this season was so sparse.

I LOVED Shaxs talking about his relationship issues with Ransom and the fourth wall lean on the tubes was perfection.

I'm going to need a moopsy plush STAT

Or at least a pattern on ravelry.

Some thoughts after sleeping on it…

— I found the 4 x 01 Twovix the best season premiere yet.

All the premieres seem callback and Easter egg heavy. Making this one a museum (ship) mishap episode worked that into the story in a natural way and allowed some of the weirdest and trippyest things from Voyager to pike on. Bravo.

While some reviewers have expressed regrets that the original Voyager actors voices weren’t used, I’m glad that the focus stayed on the Cerritos crew, the artifacts and how Voyager remains dangerous wherever she is, even as a literal museum.

I am unhappy that the Klingon lower decker and his ship were sacrificed for the seasonal mystery big bad. It’s clear it’s really dangerous though. (Perhaps the mystery ship is collecting humanoids to take them to another era where they are extinct….?)

It’s also likely the case that I enjoyed the ride of the premiere more for knowing I had another new episode to watch immediately.

— The second episode was mostly a straightforward Lower Decks classic, but one that did its job to move the main 4 lower deckers into their new roles.

We’ll have to see how well it works on rewatch, but the moopsie scenes seem likely to be classics. After the Voyager celebration of weird in the season premiere, it was very smart for Lower Decks to underscore its ability to give us its own very original weirdness, and remind us that humanity are the most dangerous in the menagerie.

I’m glad that they make Rutherford a bit of an odd man out in the promotions. I still feel that he’s a bit of an incomplete person/character because his ambition and drive has been submerged by the implant. I really hope that the writers will keep dribbling out more about that.

Why does Michael Sullivan remember his wife? 😧

Also, the macro nano probe and tng workout scene callbacks were absolutely amazing.

I'm honestly disappointed about the double release, because now I have to process two awesome episodes at the same time and I keep getting them mixed up.

Quick hitters, in no particular order:

• love Ransom demonstrating competent personnel management, another "surprise" twist of stuff working as it should.
• the Shax/Ransom exercise scene is fabulous
• Did that macro virus really get stuck behind a panel on the bridge for a decade (ish), or did curator guy cook it up to enhance the exhibit?
• the whole Tuvix sequence was the perfect absurdist sequel to the original episode. Apparently T'Lynn and all of the merged persons are also cold blooded murderers in their own special ways.

Veneers? Really?

Worf can get a new spine but they can't regrow some teeth?

The intro now has the whale probe? man, that scene gets spicier every time the Cerritos nopes out.

Hmmm, I wasn't quite sure about the Futurama reference at first because Bone Vampires/Moopsies aren't exactly unique types of legendary creatures, but then Ransom said "Turns out humans are the most dangerous" which is a straight up lift from the Scary Door.

These episodes were both great. I have shipped Mariner/Ransom since s1 and, well, honestly, this new dynamic of theirs probably makes it even less likely than it ever was lol. But they were fun episodes. I do wish Lower Decks had more episodes, since they're only 20 min/ea.

T'illups using "Tuvix" as a verb was golden.

Also Captain Dr. Frigleeman definitely didn't awaken anything in me I swear.

Observations and thoughts as I watched (initially posted at the other place):

• We begin with "Twovix".

• Holodeck waste material, AKA jizz, poop, and god knows what else.

• Oh, hey, T'Lyn!

• DAT VOYAGER THEME!

• Oh, hey, the probe from the one with the whales!

• Neelix cheese!

• Shit did get freaky.

• Oh shit, they're going to Tuvix Billups and T'ana!

• "Janeway straight-up murdered Tuvix."

• MACROVIRUS.

• The Pike Thing, of course.

• "Back in the 70s"

• "Captain, I caution against socializing with the organism."

• So many VOY deep cuts.

• "Holy shit. Janeway didn't mess around."

• Macrovirus of Borg. And robotic warp salamander of Borg.

• "Water, room temperature."

• This is definitely T'Ana's side of T'Llups.

• Oh god, they tuvixed the Matt the whale! Wait, what about Kimolu? Is he alright? Is he okay?

• A Tuvixy meatball!

• Heh, the real solution to the Tuvix conundrum was just to keep merging until it's a nonsentient blob of meat so there is no murder, so to speak.

• Oh god I just realized that we're going to get so much Tuvixy fanart.

• Bizarre series of Voyager-themed obstacles.

• SHE GOT A PIP

• Beckett Mariner receives the fate worse than death for her: promotion.

• Nothing ever good happens "somewhere in Klingon space"

• RIP Klingon lower-deckers.

And now, episode 2:

• Heh, Romulan lower decks.

• Goodbye, Romulan lower deckers!

• Heh, those 80s workout stuff.

• Oh, cool, Boimler still has his Tom Paris tplate!

• Please tell me Denty has a Memory Alpha page.

• The Nacelle is right there!

• Non-botanicals

• I have just met Moopsy but I would die for it.

• Oddly enough, this is the SECOND time this year that a Jack Quaid character looked at a VERY bright light. Shoutout to my boy Richard Feynman, the one man crazy enough to watch a nuclear test without goggles.

• Okay, I would no longer die for the moopsy.

• Tucker Tubes! Good old Trip got stuff named for him!

• The Ad Astra Per Aspera poster!

• I do feel like Starfleet would have better soundproofing, but then again this is the Cerritos.

• RIP corn guy.

• LIVIK!

• Aww, D'Vana Tendi giving orders.

• Teeth as bread crumbs.

• Heh, the humans really are the worst.

• Hah, he could have just used the viewports.

• Overall, I think I liked this second episode more, even though I loved the VOY fan service.

I feel like they wouldn't make a display of the salamanders, as long as Janeway has access to weaponry.

So why did Boimler's between-the-holodecks room have the (embarrassing) events of both adjacent holodecks reverberating through it? One of the core capabilities of a holodeck is the ability to manipulate where sounds appear to be coming from, which must include the ability to dampen sounds enormously. And if that technology exists, it should likely be available for ordinary walls between quarters too.

Is this just another case of Boimler not realizing that basic niceties (like viewscreen light filters) exist? And did both Freeman and T'Ana disable the audio dampening of their own holodecks?

I thought it was fine. The ending of Rutherford's B-plot felt a little cheap.

Plus with Luvik around, I'm wondering what happened with Jet and if there's going to be a gang of bitter lower deckers who don't quite like the main four.

Annotations on both episodes are up at https://startrek.website/post/1491160 and https://startrek.website/post/1493824

Or check out c/daystrominstitute for the cross-posting, too!