11:04 Kat: "This episode better be choosing a nice happy ending. A-heh heh heh heh heh." Paula: [Silence. Red eyes barely holding back an ocean of tears. Totally convincing smile.]
Fair warning. Don’t go into the cartoon lower decks expecting this level of Jr office story telling. They only share the title of this episode NOTHING more.
Hm, you don't think he's the Lower Deck equivalent of Guinan? Guinan hangs out with the Captain and shares her wisdom; Ben is friends with the grunts and gives them advice.
Lower Decks is an iconic episode. There are some episodes that certainly rank even higher, don’t get me wrong, but the novelty of seeing life and missions on the Enterprise from the point of vue of the crew from the lower ranks was a bold concept and it was executed BRILLIANTLY!! And still ranks it very high on most fans’ list. No wonder it inspired the series.
Personally I don't like 7th season at all, but Pegasus, Preemptive Strikee and Lower Decks are just God-tier, the latter being the one Trek episode that broke me the most, way more than City on the Edge.
This is my favorite episode of the whole Series. I found this channel near the end of Season Two and have been watching since then, but I became a Patreon a few days ago for this one. Paula can have "Yesterday's Enterprise" and Kat can have "The Next Phase" but this one is my personal favorite.
That's probably due to the crew being spread thin between numerous projects. Not only was Deep Space Nine currently airing but they were also in the middle of working on Star Trek: Generations, the first TNG movie, and in the early planning stages of Voyager.
Unpopular opinion from a huge fan, but the entire series is hit and miss, including the infamous season 1, which had a few great episodes. Unlike most iconic shows like Simpsons or Seinfeld, TNG didn't have a constant flow of great seasons followed by shit seasons. There were moments of sheer magic scattered throughout a bunch of mediocrity from start to finish.
I knew this one was gonna hit you guys hard; I've been waiting for you to react to this Episode for a long time. In my opinion, one of the best of the entire Series.
I loved this episode when I first saw it - it amazed me how such a bad episode could be followed by such an excellent one! Watching you both in tears at the end brought a lump to my throat!
The Star Trek community is the BEST. I have never felt as accepted and at HOME anywhere else in my life. It is also nice to know that i'm not the only one who gets so emotional for some of these episodes. Kat: "This one better have a happy ending" Me: *braces for impact Even more than the show itself, the fans restore my faith in humanity. I consider it an honor and a privilege every time I do anything with involving Trek or the fans. Also, I think you two are very brave to put yourselves out there like this. I hope you continue watching more Trek shows when you finish TNG. As a fellow creator and as a fan, I love you guys. Peace and long life.
So as a fellow trekkie, let me share that Kat would make a perfect Bajoran woman. Short hair, slightly masculine features but with real feminine sex appeal, just like Ro Laren, Kira, and Leeta.😉
I'd be so excited for y'all to watch Lower Decks! It's my favorite bit of 21st-century Trek, by a significant margin, and there is a severe dearth of people reacting to it. (As there is for Trek in general, but that's the one that I feel the most personally.) I know what you mean about SU though--it's one of my favorite shows, and I could watch you diving into it forever. Immediately on the heels of the worst episode of the season (albeit in a So Bad It's Good way imo), we have probably the best episode of the season, "Lower Decks." It's incredibly well-written, and grounded in fantastic performances by a mix of characters we've met before and ones we haven't, especially Shannon Fill and Michael Dorn who have real mentor/student chemistry in their interactions.
This episode is amazing. Making a group of background characters the main focus and taking our stars and making them side characters was a big risk (something the writers probably had an easier time pushing through considering it was the final season), and it paid off. Bringing In Ensign Sito, with her history and baggage was just a perfect addition. Also, knowing a bit more about Worf’s history that we learn much later down the line, it makes sense why he would take Sito under his wing. Because you’d figure her taking part in a plan that got one of her comrades killed and then LYING about it to save herself, the Honor bound Worf normally wouldn’t even give her the time of day. But he identifies with her because of his own past, his own mistakes, and sees how she has persevered to get where she is and he identifies With that too.
I remember this episode well. Ensign Sito played by Shannon Fil (I think) really made an impact even before the end of the episode. I always thought she would have made a fine addition in either series.
The animated show Lower Decks has some references to Voyager and DS9, the whole series is built around references lol, but I think what you’ve watched is more than enough. It’s pretty great!
At long last. This is probably the best episode of the series, if not the entire franchise. And if you then said, "Well what about episode ____?", I'd be, "... well.. yeah, but..."
The end reminds of something from Doctor Who for some reason : The Doctor : Who was she? Madame Vastra : I don't know, but she was very brave. The Doctor: They're always brave. 😔
Definitely one of the best episodes of the entire series, and every bit as devastating when it first came out as it is now. I remember that I was called away from the room in the middle of the episode, and I remember the things my wife told me about what I missed when I got back - 30 years, and I still remember the conversation. Narratively, of course, its advantage is that it flips the perspective away from the characters we already know, and views them through the eyes of younger, less experienced officers who idolize and are afraid of them.
i was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO looking forward to this episode. I love that you 2 show all of your emotions all the time, and you appreciate the relationships and dialogue between all the characters. I'm just sad this series will be over soon. thank you both :)
This was a hard episode. Usually, with some exceptions, when someone gets killed it happens to some unknown character in the first few minutes of an episode to show the current danger. Here they spend an entire episode endearing a character to the audience, and then end with "oh yeah, she's dead".
This is one of the only episodes I really like from season 7, and I always forget how much it affects me. Sitting here with tears in my bagel… As far as Lower Decks the animated series goes, it was the first Star Trek in the “new era” that I actually enjoyed. A cartoon has better characters and development than Discovery and the first two seasons of Picard. And I know you’re sick of it but it bears mentioning- if you love Worf this much you should eventually get to DS9. Not even for the channel. It’s so great. And that’s all I’ll say cause I know there’s been some bullying to watch the series and I don’t want to be in that Venn diagram of fans.
speaking of Lower decks...guess what is getting a cross over with Strange New Worlds, considering the voice actors will be playing their roles in the cross over episode, based on the sneak peak provided by the Canadian channel "crave" that holds distribution rights, for Canada; dropped the hint showing Jack Quaid, and Tawny Newsome beaming aboard the Enterprise, in their lower decks uniforms. that little sneak peak was released today.
The animated Lower Decks series is basically what you would get if somebody within the Star Trek universe decided to make the show M*A*S*H. By which I mean, just as a typical sitcom has exaggerated situations and personalities for the sake of comedy, but still takes place in basically the real world, likewise Lower Decks is not a parody of Star Trek, but is a comedic show set in the Star Trek universe. Or as I saw someone put it: "Lower Decks takes Star Trek seriously, but it doesn't take itself seriously".
Finding Ensign Sito would have been a great story for Deep Space Nine to pick up, especially given how many Bajoran and Cardassian stories they have. Missed opportunity, especially for her mentor Worf.
Agreed... I can picture the episode now (and attempting to be as spoiler-free as possible but Kat knows Worf goes on to DS9): DS9 Mid-Season four, some Cardassian refugees are brought aboard the station. Worf is given the task to debrief the refugees for information that could help the Federation in the "Klingon matters" while Julian treats minor injuries. It's explained by one refugee that they know nothing about military matters as they are just laborers, cooks, and cleaning staff. One of the refugees reacts badly to being treated (and seeing Worf) and lashes out, knocking over a young female refugee in his escape attempt. He tries to come after Worf with a knife, but Worf just flips him over, Julian sedates him as Worf picks him up. An old Cardassian played by William Morgan Sheppard then eyes our favorite Klingon as Worf helps up the young female refugee and treats a cut on her face with gauze as Julian and a nurse deal with the sedated one for a moment. The old Cardassian approaches and says, "The Starfleet Klingon. She always said you were strong and firm but kind." Worf scoffs and does that little "I'm annoyed" "eechk" of his, which makes the young female refugee giggle. "You were the cook in the Dorel III prison camp." "Head cook, yes," The old Cardassian says as Julian takes over for Worf. And who is this 'she'?" Worf asks more in annoyance than anything, as he begins to leave. "She was a Bajoran but we mostly just called her Starfleet at the prison camp as she was one of you. The guards let her work in the kitchen with us instead of the quarry since she turned out to be Starfleet... Said High Command wanted her to be 'treated better' in case they wanted to exchange her for any prisoners Starfleet might take. Now what was her name?" The young female refugee says, "I think it was See... See--something. She said was an ensign." "Ahh, that's right -- Sito. Ensign Sito." A close-up of Worf stopping just as he was about to exit the Infirmary as we fade to intro. Worf wants to man a rescue mission based on the increased information he learns from the refugees, including the fact that the Klingons have taken over control of the prison camp, but Sisko turns him down. Worf is sulking at Quark's, and gets a little aggressive but calms down enough when Quark warns him that he can have security escort him out. After seeing the outburst, O'Brien discusses the situation with Julian and Dax, explaining the backstory. The old Cardassian approaches and says that if Worf is thinking about going back to the prison camp to rescue "that Sito girl" he'd like to come along too. Not for her, but there are a few other people left behind that he'd like to try to rescue... and he gets to bloody some of the Klingons who nearly killed his granddaughter while he's at it, he won't shed a tear. Later, as Worf and the old Cardassian sneak into a Runabout, Kira is already on board. She lectures Worf about stealing a Runabout, the old Cardassian saying, "We were going to return it..." But after her lecture she tells Worf to start the preflight sequence. The old Cardassian asks her why she's helping if she just lectured Worf, to which she replies, "I'm just following orders. The Council of Ministers made a direct request that the Federation investigate the information the refugees supplied... she smiles and then says she was just waiting for Worf to show up. The old Cardassian chuckles. They arrive, and the old Cardassian says they have to sneak in because the entire facility is filled with transport scramblers... "Oh, you can lock on to a person, but what you'll get won't be pretty." The sneak in and find Sito. While they are sneaking out with Sito and several others, the old Cardassian decides to go renegade and start killing Klingons. He says it's as a distraction, but both Worf and Kira give each other a look that tells us they know that's not the real reason. Kira takes a shot in the arm, but they make it. As they get to the Runabout, we see the old Cardassian on a balcony or scaffolding, take several shots from some Klingon disruptors before his dead body falls off the edge. The Runabout barely escapes the system, thanks to some expert piloting by Sito (as Kira is injured) while Worf is handling the weapons system. Back on DS9, in the Infirmary, Julian is treating the new refugees and of course Sito and Kira. Worf has not left Sito's side. Sisko enters and offers the ensign a spot on DS9 if she is interested, Kira of course saying "We could always use more Bajoran officers in the chain of command on the station." Sito looks at everyone and then replies, "Thank you, Captain... but I think," she looks over at Worf for a moment, "for now, I need to rest. Spend some time on a free Bajor, last time I was there I was just a little girl growing up in the camps... I think I'd like to spend, need to spend, some time recovering with my people." Sisko smiles warmly, "That sounds like a fine idea, Ensign. Take however long you need. Your commission will be waiting for you whenever you are ready." "I'll make certain of it," Worf adds. Sisko and Kira share a look, Sisko raising an eyebrow. Kira leaves to debrief with Sisko. "Thank you, for rescuing me, Commander," Sito says to Worf. "Ensign, I never should have let you go on that mission..." "Sir..." "I was your commanding officer. I never should have put you in a situation in which you needed rescuing." "Sir. It wasn't your fault. I volunteered for the mission." "But I should have known..." No one, not even Dal knew that the Cardassian military had DNA on record of all known Bajoran officers in Starfleet. I fooled them into believing that I had used my position with Starfleet as a way to gain Starfleet training and intelligence to then trick Dal and cross back across the border to help train and free my people. They bought it." "And he just left you there. That spineless, dishonorable, P'takh!" "He returned for me and tried to help me escape the interrogation center, and was killed in the process. He tried to protect me, to help me. The first Cardassian to have ever done something like that for me. Then that cook... he wasn't the nicest guy, but at least he treated everyone other than his granddaughter the same way. He didn't know I overheard him once, but he actually told a rather ...aggressive guard to back off of me or he'd make certain that the guard's next duty station would be guarding the Cardassian embassy on Breen. And now, he gave his life, for me." "He died with honor." Julian approaches and says, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave now, Commander, my patient needs to rest." Worf stands up, but as he is about to leave, Sito says, "Major Kira said she would arrange for some living arrangements for me on Bajor when the doctor releases me. I wouldn't mind an old friend accompanying me to help me get settled in." Worf gives us his soft eyes, "It would be my honor." Fade to credits.
In one of my Star Trek TNG roleplaying campaigns the player characters had a secret mission to liberate a prisoner from the Cardassians. (For those who know DS9, this took place after the episode "Defiant", so you might be able to guess who they had to rescue). The players all knew and were all fans of TNG btw. While on mission they encountered Engsin Sito Jaxa as a prisoner in the same camp and let me tell you, from that moment on, the rescue of their primary target became secondary at best!😂 After the mission she stayed on the PC's ship as operations officer.
Great episode of S7. I can think of at least one DS9 episode where it could have been reworked with Ens. Sito coming back. I guess they thought not enough viewers would know who she was?
@@jackdubz4247 There were crossover characters and episodes, and DS9 drew from the world that TOS and TNG built. Not to mention DS9 getting quite a few scripts originally intended for TNG. So I don't see any need to be snippy about it. With the Bajoran and Cardassian focus of DS9 the thread of this storyline would have fit right in. I just agree with the decision (presumably) to not do it, since Sito would probably not have been known by enough viewers.
Since they are talking about animated Star Trek, after the TNG series closer maybe they can slip in 2 episodes of The Animated Series (which had most of the original crew, and James Doohan doing a lot of different voice roles). I assume they will be aghast and amused at what animation was like in the 1970s. Maybe "The Slaver Weapon", featuring the Kzinti. But definitely follow that up with "Yesteryear", a highly regarded story written by D.C. Fontana.
I'm very glad they didn't retcon her death, I think it's really contrived and awful when writers do that. If a character dies then the audience grieves for them, to then pull back the cover and be like "lmao, you were stupid for thinking we'd actually kill them off" is just cheap.
I loved those new characters and when I first saw them, I wanted more of them. They only had one episode but were really distinct and well acted. Rewatching it now with you and I had the same thoughts - Oh well… missed opportunity in my opinion.
Your reaction to this (which is great, by the way) led me to a thought: going right from one of the worst episodes (Sub Rosa) to this really good one, without the former ruining the latter, might be in part due to the episodic format of the show. In a serialized show, where stories carry over, one bad episode can negatively color a whole season. But here, you can go from laughing at one of the silliest premises (and worst Irish accents) to a tearjerker in a single week.
I know people are pushing for you two to react to Lower Decks the TV show, but it references all Star Trek shows. It's going to be much better if you have more Star Trek under your belt. Sometimes you have to put in the work to get the most out of shows.
It's too bad this Bajoran character never returned, considering what a great fit she would have been on DS9. I wonder if the idea of her inspired certain Bajoran characters on that show.
Season 7 is packed with gems - a few stinkers, for sure, but there's a lot of really powerful creativity in this season that mostly ended up in some really cool, fun, and interesting episodes.
Lower Decks is one of the best episodes of TNG, and of Star Trek in general. I do think that Sito dying at the end was the right choice though, as well as not bringing her back, as I think it would have cheapened the emotional impact of this episode a bit. And yes, Lower Decks the animated show was directly inspired by this episode, but as an animated comedy. It's a great series in it's own right, and I'd love to see reactions of you guys watching that!
It was such a good idea to see what its like to be just one of the crew instead of the people in charge. Like Kat said, they are the main character of their own story . It was written like a dream. I have an idea that DIscovery was supposed to be like this - the main characters not being in the command crew, but that didnt last long.
I mean, Burnham started out a first officer and even after the opening was immediately on the bridge crew. Was the show really conceived with her more out of the loop?
Such an iconic episode that it became the name of this type of episode where the nameless background characters become the focus. Many other shows have done it before and since, but none have done it as well, imo.
Agreed strong awsome episode. But with respect I think ensign Ogawa should have got promoted. We've seen her bust her butt on the Enterprise since almost the 3rd season I think. Or maybe 4th. Either that or just promote all four of them. They're all excellent officers.
Is there some kind of anti-Asian bias in Starfleet promotions...Ogawa and Kim, the most unjustifiably long stints at Ensign haha. Actually I don't know if Ogawa started out an Ensign or was in some kind of civilian/cadet trainee rank, but you're absolutely right she's around all the time and usually seems like she's second in command of sickbay! She was even CMO in one of the "Parallels", surely our universe could've gotten her to Lt. by now.
You girls should really watch Deep Space 9 after this since it continues the Cardassian\Bajoran storyline in a mostly very mature and well written way.
I can't believe I just discovered this channel today. I've been watching TNG reactions for the past couple of months and the RU-vid algorithm never recommended me this channel. I only found your channel because I manually searched for TNG reactions.
I remember back in Season 3 when Paula listed "Yesterday's Enterprise" as her favorite, and I wrestled with coming up with my 'Top 10" list of favorites then. Turns out, "Lower Decks" made it to the #1 spot on my personal list. And I think it's just about time for everyone in our community here to start putting together our own 'Top 10' favorite lists to share! edit: (Will Kat's still be "The Next Phase"? ... What's your favorite?)
@@phueal You have to prove that it would be in your Top 10 -- when I struggled with mine there were, like, four episodes that I knew HAD to be in my Top 10 that, alas, didn't make it on my list.
Here's mine: 1. The Inner Light 2. The Best of Both Worlds Pt 1/Pt 2/Family 3. Darmok 4. Yesterday's Enterprise 5. The Measure of a Man 6. Face of the Enemy 7. Remember Me 8. Lower Decks 9. Sarek 10. Tin Man
This is why Worf becomes so pivotal in DS9. Though am I the only one thinking as Paula and Kat’s animation reactions start coming to an end, they transition to some of the best from Mainframe Entertainment? Seeing Kat’s reaction to Beast Wars and ReBoot would be awesome (no spoilers for “Code of Hero”).
Awww. I can't blame you guys. This episode always choked me up. She was lovely too. I forget the name of the actress. You ladies are so much fun and heartfelt. I wish they did bring her back. I still remember the look of shock on Alyssa's face.
Probably one of my absolute favorite episodes. If not my top episode. Sito actress was fantastic. That one hits me right at the point Worf sends her off, and she's all smiles for Worf, even though she was probably nervous too.
of course the Who thing is imbedded in the back of your brain, in fact I started this video with the intent to comment that much like a sonic screwdriver with a sub routine running a calculation in the back ground my brain is still, a week later, formulating some kind of comment about Sub Rosa 😁
Lower Decks the cartoon is brilliant and you really should give it a watch. Admittedly, you will get more out of it if you see more of earlier Trek first, as its absolutely loaded with winks and in-jokes. However, I've heard a lot of stories recently of people getting into Trek for the first time via Lower Decks, so it still appeals to those with zero knowledge. Its also the only other Trek show that really feels like TNG.
I heard things like this was supposed to be an Ensign Ro episode or that these characters appear in the Animated series Lower Decks don't know if any of that has been confirmed.
Weirdly enough, even though I've only seen it once and still haven't totally made up my mind, if there's any other show I'd keep coming back for other than _DS9,_ it's probably _Lower Decks._ Although I suppose I watched _Strange New Worlds_ s1 more recently and even more distinctly on the fence on that one so I wouldn't mind seeing some other people's opinions hmmmm...
Always wondered if they meant to keep her on to be a Ensign Ro replacement. I knew they had plans to have Ro as main Bajorn for DS9 before the character Kira was created because commitment issues with Michelle Forbes.
I knew this episode was coming up. Even so many years later, Lower Decks still holds up. A coming of age, with the senior officers leading and training the junior ranks. The end was tragic when it happened. It was like someone new had joined the crew and then was pulled away never to be heard from again.
Not that I seriously tried, and how an amateur, unsolicited UK writer would have even got his submissions noticed is another story altogether... But before US production of the seventh season har begun, I'd formulated two ideas for an episode - and one of those was for a promotions scramble amongst the junior staff. No doubt it would still have made you cry, through angry despair! Fortunately, similar notions ran through actual authors, and they produced this little masterpiece. The character interactions are believable and joyous, which makes that increasingly inevitable turn or events so much more saddening. Off Sito goes because that's what courageous Starfleet personnel do; not least her newest mentor... I know you two have tears on tap, but here's one TNG episode where even I welled up a bit!😋
This is (aside from the finale) quite possibly the best episode in season 7. It and The Pegasus are really up there, though the finale is definitely the best of the final season, I'd say. I can't wait for you guys to watch the last 3 episodes, the finale being a two-parter and the one before it being very memorable.
Saw this episode when it originally aired, never knew they intended to bring her back until now. The actress was really endearing despite so few appearances.
"Kids doing science projects can do whatever they want; commissioned officers need to shut up and sit down. Also by kids we mean a department head's child."
