Missed one easter egg - the GD explosion looked exactly like a Kolvoord Starburst. Locarno finally got to perform one, all by himself.

Billups being protective of the Cerritos is akin to Scotty getting into a fight with the Klingons over "garbage scow"

"Captain Picard will be so proud of you" Of course this leads to the gut punch moment when Captain Picard tells Wesley that he is disappointed in him.

I've loved T'Lyn, she's been the best part of the season for me up until this episode (She's still great, but this episode is great as a whole), and the line "Why would I say anything I do not mean?" is probably one of my favorite parts of the season. As much as she's integrating into the starfleet crew and the Lower Deckers, that line proves Mariner's point that she is, in fact, Vulcan as a motherfucker.

I love that their solution to the Trynar shield involved the Cerritos playing to its actual strength: towing a busted ship better than any other Federation vessel.

There are 2 ways to view Mariners mental relapse arc: Those guys, who struggle with mental health, call it a bold and realistic description and would give it an up. Those who never struggled just don't get it. God bless you, Sean, for not getting it, I hope you never will. But personally I still think it is amazing, how Lower Decks also tackles such heavy issues.

Hang on. You didn’t mention in Cetacean Observations that there actually were seat belts in the ship Mariner took? She buckled in the Genesis Device. People often joke Starfleet hasn’t invented seatbelts but apparently they have, it’s just no one uses the things.

The pay wall on the Ferengi bomb was utterly brilliant. So very much in line with established Ferengi culture as well as a quick bit of levity in the episode's explosive climax.

T'Lyn's response when ordered back by StarFleet was "Cerritos Strong." That's essentially the same as Spock's at the end of Star Trek VI when StarFleet ordered the Enterprise back for decommissioning, "I believe my response would be go to Hell if I were human." T'Lyn was amazing this season.

I love that Mariner's plan after activating Little Genesis is basically the same thing Holo-Mariner did during the first Vendicta adventure, and now she gets to be that idolized version of herself standing against the person that insists Starfleet is only the worst of what's been seen, AND she gets to live to tell the tale about it

Just a fun note: in the end when the Orion ship Tendi was on goes to warp, and we see the pretty colors, everything RED-shifts instead of the BLUE-shift that we saw when looking forward. This is just such an amazing detail that I absolutely love. We're also able to clearly see the 1c flash from behind as well, very nice.

I screamed when Boimler was the acting captain. I also cried a little at Tendi's good bye. Gimme a comforting hug?

My favorite thing in this episode is that the lower deckers are put in charge of the Cerritos, while all of the senior staff go on the away mission to rescue Mariner. It is a perfect counter argument to Locarno’s philosophy. Locarno’s philosophical point is that lower deckers are not valued, and their lives are recklessly spent for pointless reasons while senior officers survive and take all the glory. Prior to this episode I would have said that he is not wrong, at least in Starfleet where redshirts feel like an expendable commodity. But Captain Freeman demonstrates simultaneously that she trusts the lower deckers to give them complete control of her ship, and that all of the senior staff are willing to risk their lives to save one of their own. It shows that, while they still exist within a ranked hierarchy, all of their lives are equally valuable and the competency of everyone on the crew is recognised and respected.

I do declare that Twaining should become an official form of diplomacy.

Shax's face when Tendi asks for Barter by Combat...

25:40 You've just got to feel for Rutherford in this situation. Platonic or not, he looks like he's just had his heart ripped out. Poor guy.

5:47 wish it were Majel’s voice. “Previously, on Star Trek…and now the conclusion.”

Another easter egg is that when Migleemo puffs up, I thought it was very reminiscent of when Phlox puffed up his face in Enterprise.

No amount of podcasts will make me agree with last week's assessment. But this is this week. Captain Boimler was a highlight for me. His character growth has been great overall and that was the brilliant moment that showed his growth.

The cat and mouse scene between Mariner and Locarno’s fleet reminded me of that one ice ring scene in Titan AE.

One thing that didn't get mentioned is that I'm pretty sure Tendi is actually on a secret mission for the Federation. Once everyone is back safe and the Captain is talking to the Admiral, he mentions that everyone at Starfleet is happy that she has opened diplomatic relations with Orion. Then at the end he says "There is one last piece of business regarding your Lieutenant..." and we cut away. Once she's on the Orion ship and she turns around she says "You've got this." I'm betting Tendi has an mission of some kind.

The fact you got yourself a Mark Twain cosplay just for that bit. YOU, my friend, deserve an up.

Tendi's little smirk at the end just reinforces something I've thought since the moment it happened: she threw the fight against her sister, and will be taking over her family's crime empire...hopefully to make a change on Orion. I'm excited for season 5!

The animators deserve a bonus for this season. The animation was so polished!

I love that they got Shannon Fill back; her last tv/film credit is from 1995. So glad she was able to reprise her role! 😀

The ending theme this week deserved an up of its own. Also, I want a side-series of Mistress of the Winter Constellation until Tendi comes back.

Many Ups to the Artists of this episode for having "Joshua Albert" absolutely look like the son of "Lt. Commander Albert" played by Ed Lauter (1938-2013) in "The First Duty". A wonderful way to honor him.

I kept waiting for Nick to say that he was best pilot in Starfleet “no matter what that guy Tom Paris says”.

I literally pointed at the screen and yelled, "Holy s***, that's a Steamrunner-class!!!" Loved it! Great episode, great season!

The musical callback to James Horner's "Battle in the Mutara Nebula" from Wrath of Khan soundtrack was my favorite part.

The crystal nebula chase was like titan A.E.

Billups defending the Cerritos is 100% Kaylee from Firefly defending Serenity! That made me smile!

I like how they told Lacarno's story because a villain that's truly done right is a reflection of the ugly side of humanity. In Lacarno's case, it's how does this personality type respond to the circumstances life dealt with him. Not in a twirly mustache sort of way, but in a very realistic "this person is a narcissist who made bad choices and can't accept responsibility", except in the context of Star Trek. There are countless people in real life who ARE that person.

I love how friggin' old Locarno looks. The man's in his thirties and looks at least 20 years older than that. Life's been harsh to this guy after the Academy expelled him. Compare that to Tom Paris in S2.

The whole bit with the ice crystals is a massive reference to the movie Titan A.E. They share an almost identical design with the fight within having some similarities and the movie even ends in a similar manner, with the Titan being used to form a new planet using the ice crystals that gets an unusual persons name (Planet Bob) where-as in LD the Genesis Device gets activated and uses the nebula and crystals to form a new planet that gets an unusual persons name (Planet Locardo). As someone who loved Titan A.E. back when I was little I was so happy to see the references.

I loved when Billups was ready to throw down at the perceived slight towards the Cerritos. It reminded me of when Scotty started a fight with the Klingons for calling the Enterprise a garbage scow! I'd call that a missed "Up!"

Lacarno's emblem on his jacket, front and back is the graphic of the kolvoord starburst.

My dad made a prediction at the beginning of the season that the ship was going to be Iconian. He was a little disappointed but still enjoyed it being Nick Lacarno

I think the flashback solved the issue of Mariner and Sito being friends when Sito would later claim that she had no friends. Mariner may have considered herself Sito's friend, but she was really more of a Nova Squad groupie. Sito may have been fond of Mariner, but there wasn't a real friendship there.

This is by far the best season finale of any star trek show I have seen in a while and I did not in any way shape or form expect it from an animated series but OMG they did an absolutely amazing job on this finale so much care and such a good plot.

Two non-Trek easter eggs you may have missed: 1 - The star-shaped crystals in the hide-and-seek sequence are a wonderful hommage to a similar scene at the climax of Don Bluth's Titan A.E.! 2 - The Ferengi interface on the Genesis device has a striking resemblance with the animated interface on the Soviet probe Val Kilmer's character has to deal with at the end of Antony Hoffman's Red Planet.

The stance Boimler had on the captain's chair was very Riker-y ! 😀

The thing I like best about T’Lynn is how she shows the evolution of human and Vulcan’s relationship over the centuries of Star Trek… Enterprise showed them as antagonistic yet slowly starting to respect each other…. TOS/SNW they are friends but still have some awkward quirks in their relationship (see the SNW this season and McCoy and Spock’s relationship) by the late TNG era the two cultures are old friends who completely get one another (you also see this in the friendship between Tuvok and Janeway)

On the topic of Spock still being alive, it would be nice to see Boimler get to meet up with Spock again in the present day. Good opportunity to repay the favour of Tawny and Jack appearing on SNW by giving Ethan Peck a guest starring role! I'm sure Spock raised an eyebrow when he heard the news of the LD-style uniforms being rolled out and uttered a "fascinating"

"I believe in the mission" with the Starfleet Delta should be on a t-shirt.

With the theme of this episode, I did like the fact that the explosion of the Genesis Device was reminiscent of the intended starburst pattern of the Kolvoord Starbust Manuevor, as the Captain's Yatch warps away.

You just know that Planet Locarno will be unstable because of course the Ferengi used Protomatter in their Genesis device.

As soon as I saw the Cerritos was tractor towing that Orion warship behind it I had a squeal of "OMG they're gonna Shrike that thing at the forcefield!" I was not let down 😂

Little detail that's easily missed. Mariner didn't roll up her sleeves during her Star Fleet Academy day.

One UP for me was T‘Lyn saying that mindmelds are actually quite invasive (don’t remember the exact word), which was a nice callback to T’Pol

I would have laughed in the face of anyone who would have told me that some of my favorite trek (if not actually just my favorite trek) would someday be ST:LD but they just expertly weave threads to have unexpected resolutions, moments of levity exactly where needed etc. and make us care for these characters and believe them so much it is mind blowing. Kudos to everyone working on that show - what a season 🎉 🖖

From what I saw, B’eth won because after she fell on Migleemo, you can see his wing slip from under her and tap out.

If Star Trek Legacy ever happens, it would be amazing to have some of the live action Lower Deckers as part of the crew. They’d be senior officers by then.

I loved the 18 year old Beckett Freeman at the Academy. Such bright eyes, full of confidence and eagerness. Reminds me of myself at 18.

When they revealed Locarno to be behind all the disappearances, I thought it was a really weird route to go down, but I've gotta say they really thought it out. Loved this episode.

When Locarno said 'I really am' when told he wasnt a murderer answers where the starfleet ship came from. He probably tried his trick on that ship but no one took the bait, so he got rid of them.

Boimler in the captain's seat with a Vulcan in blues, T'Lyn, in the first officer's seat? For one glorious moment, Brad was living a dream.

I figured they'd salvaged the Streamrunner somewhere and fixed it up themselves, given all the red panels on one side. So there _wasn't_ a crew when they got it. *ETA:* I have just learned that the _Passario_ is *not Steamrunner-class at all,* but an all-new class of starship called Sabrerunner, which apparently takes the Steamrunner design and shrinks it down to the size of a Saber-class ship - so about 190 meters long instead of 370 or so. (Source: tweet from LD co-producer Brad Walters)

Aw Seán, I'm so sorry if you've recently lost a pet, that's such a painful thing. They become a little part of our souls, I think. Loved the Ups & Downs, this episode was great. I would never in a million years have guessed Nick Locarno would be our big bad this season, or that he would make such a good counterpoint for Mariner. They did a great job. Acting Captain Boimler made me feel some feels too. And Billups ready to fight for the ships' honour had real shades of Scotty in The Trouble With Tribbles 😆 Looking forward to the Retro Ups & Downs! (and I hope we can still get to Threshold later 😆)

That last scene of Tendi hardening herself was haunting. I wonder if she’s going to be an antagonist in s5

Did anyone who worked on Titan AE work on this episode? The hide and seek in the ice rings was -very- evocative of the cat and mouse sequence where Cale and Korso were trying to find the Titan hidden in the ice rings...

A missing Cetacean Observation - the ice rings chase was extremely evocative, almost shot for shot, of the "Ice Rings of Tigrin" chase sequence from animated sci-fi classic "Titan A.E.". Absolutely melted my heart to see that, I've got a very soft spot for Titan.

my dilithium up would've gone to the Nick Lorarno line when he finds out the Genesis Device has a paywall. I was in stitches when i heard that!

It's fascinating that we've had two season finale villains where the hero tries to tell them that they "are better than this", and the villains go "I'm not". In a show where the protagonists are trying to improve and grow, it makes sense that the biggest villains recognize their moral failings and, instead of trying to improve or even justify themselves, are just fine with it.

I have an Up and a Down. Up: The music that was playing over Tendi on the Orion ship walking towards the camera with a wicked smile... it's the music that played in Season 3 when she was pirating the Karemma ship. It's like she's going "Oh, you want Mistress of the Winter Constellations, D'Erica? You'll get Mistress of the Winter Constellations." Down: Where was Ma'ah with the Bird of Prey he recaptured? Why is he not there to take his vengeance on Locarno, and rescue Mariner? Where is his honor?!

If this is Tendi leaving permanently, and no longer main cast next season, I will be devastated!

I think the best line in the whole Starfleet v. Orion scene was Capt. Freeman trying to negotiate and D'Vana says "Sorry, Captain, you have no authority here." Billups rolling up his sleeves to defend the honor of the Cerritos is very, as Kayshon might say, Scotty in the bar on K-7.

One of my favorite things about this show...I like that they've fleshed out the Orions more.

When my wife and I did a roadtrip along the westcoast a few years back I snuck in some filming locations on our tour plan 😁 Vazquez rocks and the Donald C. Tillman water reclamation plant were of cause included 😅

What's with the "temporal observations" interruptions in the closing music for cetacean observations? And I noticed a couple moments in the regular ups and downs where a cetacean swims by, behing Sean but in front of the 'video screen'. Does that usually happen and I've never noticed before? Either way... weird. As for the episode, I loved every little bit of the TWOK tribute. I think I noticed the music first, in fact, and then realized the visual similarity. And then when the genesis device exploded, the super subtle way the genesis wave expanded outwards... just like in the movie and so beautifully done.

I love how Freeman is just like, “why does this work?!” with the Twaining. 😂

This episode made me legit excited to see Season 5. The look Tendi gives the camera at the last scene, along with the music, lets you know there's a lot of good story about to happen. We can assume Tendi will probably find her way back to Starfleet, but how she goes about it leaves you to wonder. Will we see The Mistress of the Winter Constellations be the Season 5 "villain"?

Sean’s love of starships is adorable and I completely get it. Looove nice starship designs. Great episode and season overall. T’Lyn is my MVP for the season. Such an awesome character and I’m glad she’s sticking around.

The connection between Sito and Mariner as contrived or not is still up to debate, but having given it a week to mature in my mind and another episode to lead off of it, I think it could be useful in exploring both characters. After the events of "The Last Duty", Sito had to spend two years rebuilding her reputation from the ground up, to the point where in "Lower Decks" she was a respected ensign on the Enterprise (not without the help from some senior officers, especially when it came to her own self-respect). Throughout the series Mariner has had to take that journey herself, at the most extreme point in "Trusted Sources" having nearly the entire ship vilify her due to her past actions catching up with her (even if the inciting incident was a misconceived assumption). Through Mariner we see how hard Sito must have worked to get where she did before her death, and through Sito we see just how big of a fall Mariner must have taken to work her way to this point. Just as Tom Paris and Locarno are reflections of each other in ego and humility, Sito and Mariner mirror each other in their journeys.

Loved the "Titan A.E." feels from the ice asteroids!

I really like that it was Nick specifically trying to recruit all the "lower decks" members of the various ships into his ambitious rebellion. That scene induced a moment of Catharsis as it captured the essence of the whole theme of the series. It was a "lower decks" problem that was mostly solved with "lower decks" crewmen, despite being as big as it was.

This was, yet another, fantastic season of Lower Decks. Ten episodes just doesn't seem like enough. BTW, awesome Tom Paris plate there!

Probably my only down. Is that Tom Paris and Nick Lacarno never meet face to face. So many jokes missed

Trilithium down for you Sean and crew at Trekculture. I am happy that you have never struggled and had those struggles become self destructive and hurt those around you.

I like that T'lyn has basically embraced "the logical solution to crazy is to throw in crazy that we know works" at this point

*takes a giant eraser to the Sito down from s4e9* Ah there we go. Also an up go when Nick says, "ah yes the Romulans are so forgiving..." (Paraphrased)

fantastic finale. I was 😂😂😂 at the pay to win bomb. Poor misguided Not Tom Paris. Speaking of which, the opening talking about Nick/Tom between Boimler and Rutherford was classic.

The way these characters are developed so well in Lower Decks, gives them real life characteristics, almost feels like I am watching a live action series with deep storytelling. Great work on Lower Deck by writers and animators!

I loved that Boimler got to be the acting captain. He did so well, too!

the ice rings and Mariner playing hide and seek in them could be seen as a nice bow to Titan A.E. To be honest, I expected her the whole time to set off the device inside the ice field.

The chase through the ice ring is similar to a scene in Titan A.E. Wich also had a mashine to create a planet. Though much bigger than the Genesis device. 😁

When you showed Mariner's escape, there was a scene where her ship passed some ice crystals. The huge one at the top left of the screen looked all the world like a T-65 X-Wing from Star Wars. Brilliant!

I agree with Sean's take on this episode. He hit the nail on the head with his assessment. The only problem that I have is that for all the love he had about this episode, he doubled down on his on the Sito Jaxa "name drop". I respect his opinion, but I stand by all the issues I brought up last week in the comments. I actually feel that his thoughts last week that Sito's name was just thrown in there are totally contradicted in his comments in this week's Ups and Downs. It was revealed Sito was a solid part of the of the two part story plot and really did appear to be part of a plan by the writers. Like I said, while I respectfully disagree some of his critiques, I still enjoy his his Ups and Downs. I look forward to it just as much as the episodes themselves. Keep the conversation going, Sean!

I’m not sure if anyone mentioned this. But the Orion ship crashing into the shields was very reminiscent of voyager crashing into the time ship in year of hell.

From all the season finals this is my favorite one so far, it was just a ride of everything good in Lower Decks. I laughed so hard when Freeman said "why is this keep working?" even better when this came from T'Lyn this time, the Tom Paris comparission, the stakes with the Genesis Device, or GD which of course wants Latinum to be disarmed, and Tendi, that this became a poor man's Wrath of Khan in the end when the Cerritos is basically the poor man's Enterprise, it just came together so well. The season finale was never the best episode of the season for me by far but this one's at least up there. Now we have to wait again...

The pay wall on the genesis device is the most Ferengi thing to ever Ferengi and I kinda love it.

I feel like there was an indication of something they'll do in season 5 in this episode. When the Star Fleet Admiral says to Capt. Freeman something about how they needed to "Talk about your lieutenant", I assumed he meant Tendi. Then, given Tendi's reaction at the end of the scene on the Orion ship and how excited and determined she seems, I think they're inserting her as a covert operative on Orion. To do what, who knows! But more Orions please! Or anyway, that would be a cool storyline.

This episode was a freaky time loop for me: I've been guiding a friend to Star Trek, and we've been watching the entire saga in chronological order (not production, but stardate-wise), and we JUST watched First Duty the previous night. It was a freaky feeling going back to those events but several decades later in just one day!

Is it bad that I immediately said aloud, "Up" right after "Tendi 2?"

What a great season finale. I agree that it’s quite possibly the strongest Lower Decks season finale yet. Kudos to the entire team at Trek Culture for all of the great content. Keep up the awesome work.

PADDlock Let's not forget that the last Orion ship is evocative of the one from The Animated Series. Come to think of it, the Retribution looks a lot like one of Enterprise's Spatial Torpedoes.

I am beginning to think that Tendi might be Star Treks version of John Wick. Think about it she is a terrifying badass in Orion criminal circles and she got out to be with her true love (science). And she has just been brought back into the syndicate partially against her will.

A lot of people are mentioning that the ice scene was from Titan AE... Maybe but I actually think its a reference to the DS9 episode Treachery, Faith and the Great River season 7 ep 6. Its pretty similar to what odo did in that episode. Maybe also titan AE but definitely that DS9 episode.

My dog, Phlox, likes watching your content too. She hears your voice and then stares at the screen. I just gave her an extra hug for you.

Did absolutley noone realizes, that the whole scene with Mariner flying into the icecrystals, is an almost exact recreation of the movie "Titan A.E."? She even turns the power off to hide between these crystals like they did in the movie. 😱