The much awaited and teased crossover has beamed to fans everywhere and it has held up to the hype. Ensign Boimler gets everything he wants and more when he is sent back thru time via portal and finds himself among “Those Old Scientists,” the heroes he has studied and idolized. For the crew, we see a variety of reactions. Pike is intrigued, as Boimler’s excitement at meeting him makes him feel less fear of his future, Ortegas and Chapel both have their fun poking at him, Uhura is unnerved by Mariner’s idolization of her, and confused at the reception Mariner has of her. Mariner is unfazed by Number One, while Boimler seems utterly terrified by her. Meanwhile, Spock’s experimenting with human emotion and reaction is extremely disconcerting to Boimler, who like Mariner has a preconceived view of Spock through historical lens.
Boimler (Jack Quaid) doesn’t prove totally useless however, as he is able to not only alter the Enterprise to track a group of Orions that he believes to be scientists, and who have stolen the portal, but also is able to advise Pike on the Orion customs which include negotiation and trade. Fans will notice a clever Easter egg here in that the negotiations involve a large amount of a certain grain mentioned in prior episodes that has had about a “tribble-some” effect on events, but here it is a cargo of food for a starving population.
Pulled through the portal in search of Boimler, Mariner gets her wish to not only meet and work with Uhura, but in typical Mariner (Tawny Newsome) fashion is able to persuade her to take five by using the rule book against her – an irony to be sure since Mariner only learned it to slack off. Between her and Ortegas they are able to come up with the key that Uhura needs to solve the portal symbols – Ortegas having seen an old Dom-jot board with similar ones, and Mariner knowing about Dom-jot’s Naussican origins. This is a very refreshing element in “new Trek” – some great scenes that solidly passes the Bechdel test and showcases the competence of the three people involved.
Boimler, with some credit dropping from Mariner, gets to work with Spock a second time – the first being when they had tried to send him back, this time now on the dangerous science of matter synthesis to try to create the Heronium required to activate the portal. This goes about as well as we expect, ending with an explosion, though to Boimler’s credit it was nothing he did wrong. However, this means it is looking more and more like he and Mariner might be stuck in the past forever, and he is worrying about the settlers of Setlik who will now not be getting the specially created grain and feels responsible and guilty.
Enter Pelia, who in many ways is becoming a sort of Neelix (morale booster), Guinan (wisdom, age, and ability to give advice), and Quark (loves “creatively acquiring” many treasures, not always honestly). Meeting Boimler in the warp core, her blend of sarcasm, wit, and warmth is just the medicine for Boimler’s raw soul. While Boimler has realized he doesn’t belong in the “Golden Age” as much as he admires it, Pelia tells him about how the heroes she knows often are “faking it till they make it”, which gives him the kickstart he needs to try to help…by trying to steal a shuttle and get back the grain.
Naturally, he and Mariner are caught. Captain Pike chooses to have a private conversation with them where he reveals that he doesn’t want a birthday party by his crew (that Boimler suggested) and his reasons why, and also that he is aware of the future and what it holds for him – a fact that shocks both of our time traveling Ensigns. A brief heartfelt chat ensues and Pike ends up triggering a thought in Boimler’s mind of how to get home – and it involves a piece of the old Enterprise NX-01.
Cue the solution and Pike’s crew going gaga for the Enterprise crew – Ortega loved Travis Mayweather, Uhura wrote papers on Hoshi Sato. Pelia is of course annoyed that they are removing a piece of the ship, and Spock finds the reminiscing tiresome. Mariner and Boimler are also able to set the record straight with Number One – that she became the face of Starfleet Recruitment, with the slogan Ad Astra Per Aspera – and that she was Boimler’s true inspiration for joining the fleet. We see mixed emotion from her at this reveal, considering Mariner had previously accidentally implied that Boimler kept her as a pin up – after all she is was the “hottest first officer in the fleet” according to Ransom (played by Jerry O’Connell, real life husband to Rebecca Romjin who portrays Number One).
A final meeting with the Orions at the portal and a final negotiation – the ensigns can use the portal and the Orions can say they discovered it. Again, foreknowledge of the two comes into play from this trivia fact given by their friend Tendi before leaving, and they are able to name drop her Great Grandmother’s name and seal the deal. Back through the portal, they are reunited with their fellow Cerritos crew members Rutherford and Tendi, and Boimler deduces that Mariner took the assignment to the portal since she knew how much it would mean to her friends to explore it, even if it wasn’t her cup of raktijino. Without spoiling the very end, we get an amazing surprise scene at the end that is very 3 dimensionally fun despite being 2 dimensional in rendering – a brilliant conclusion by the writers.
Overall, this episode lives up the expectations and beyond. It holds up as well as the Lower Decks/Deep Space 9 adventure, and the switch between animated to live action is well executed. We see how the historical lens can cause a distortion between what is and what was, concepts explored in previous episodes like Voyager’s “11:59”, we get to see our favourite characters meet their heroes and go fan crazy. Captain Pike’s foreknowledge of his own future is explored a little more, Pelia is making strong inroads, and the whole episode is a great bridge between two wildly different but incredibly popular Treks. Set a course for awesome…Engage!
Final Grade A+
About The Author
