The “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” crossover drops “Downstairs” early

since then Strange new worlds A second season has been announced, and the big draw was the crossover episode with the animated sitcom lower floors. It will see Tawny Newsome (Mariner) and Jack Quaid (Boimler) take their hitherto animated characters into live action. After an early showing at Comic-Con, the episode is now available to watch on Paramount Plus.

The following article contains spoilers for “Those Old Scholars.”

there SNL A sketch where William Shatner, himself, urges a room full of Star Trek fans to “Clearly intended in jest, given Shatner’s suppressed grin and sophistication as manager Phil Hartman forces him to immediately backtrack. Depending on who you ask, the graphic was captured either in a file was intended, or with Among fans who felt misunderstood and misunderstood. But it is this dichotomy, between myth and fact that is mined for laughs in These Old Scholars, the crossover episode between Strange new worlds And lower floors. Well, that and an affectionate elbow in the ribs suggest we could all be a little less obsessive.

An (animated) experimental shifter is routinely scanning a long-term time travel portal, while Boimler and Tendi argue about who discovered it. Boimler brags about being found by Starfleet, but Tendi says he is Orion scientists, once again trying to dispel the myths that all Orions are pirates. While messing around Boimler is standing on a portal when Rutherford accidentally triggers it, sending him back in time. When he reaches the other side, he is now in the live-action world Strange new worldsand is greeted by Spock, Oona, and Lan. And with that, we’re in for an animated version of the title sequence, complete with a moonsucking alien.

On Enterprise, Boimler can’t help but express his shock, surprise, and in general in front of his protagonists. He was lectured by Lan about not polluting the timeline, and thanks to her adventure in “Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, she doesn’t stick with him. But since this is the Boimler we know and love, he can’t help but throw spoilers left, right, and center. Not to mention his insistence on pointing out the difference between history as he knows it, and storylines as they unfold in the moment Strange new worlds. For example, he is deeply disturbed by the fact that Spock – happy in a relationship with Chapel – laughs, smiles, and generally acts as if he is in love. After all, the Spock he knows – for him Spock – Isn’t this outwardly emotional, because that’s what the legend tells us. It’s almost as if he’s standing up to the kind of obsessive fan who’s trying to police the limits of what Star Trek is, rather than enjoying the ride.

At the same time, the Enterprise has to deal with an Orion ship with unspecified intentions which then steals the time portal. Boimler urges Pike to be diplomatic, but ends up forcing him to barter for a much-needed grain supply to get her back. Pike finds this – and the forced relocation of a planet full of starving colonists – better than having this guy on his ship anymore. When the portal is active and back in place, the Enterprise crew ready to slay that purple-haired irritation, Mariner jumps in, gallantly announcing that she’s coming to the rescue. Except that the machine only has enough power for one trip, and no fuel supply is available anywhere else in the quarter. Pike is left rolling with the unwelcome possibility that they’re stuck with the Cerritos pair forever.

Boimler and Mariner end up spending some time with their heroes, until they finally realize that the Enterprise itself has a supply of fuel. Thanks to the Navy tradition of using a component from the previous ship in building the next, they are able to refine part of the NX-01 into fuel that can be used to send the pair home. (But not before Strange new worlds The crew is able to reveal that they, too, are secretly geeks like a bunch of fans of their predecessors from project As Boimler for this age.) They meet up with the Orions again, and Pike vows to claim that the Orions discovered the Gate, giving their burgeoning science ship a small part of the credit. And when Boimler and Mariner jump into the future, the Enterprise crew drinks an Orion cocktail that, in no time, makes them all animated characters.

“Those Old Scientists” is a pure dose of fan service as Star Trek has produced it, and I mean that as both compliment and criticism. So many of the elements, including the animated title sequence, hit right into the lizard part of my brain and left me grinning like a ho. Screenplay, credited to lower floorsExecutive story editors Kathryn Lane and Bill Wolkloff are chock-full of great gags. That helps too Strange new worlds He has enough comedic talent in his ranks to play an episode like this, and Carol Kane steals the show with the episode’s best gag.

But, and there’s a thing, the episode is a bit like cotton candy in that once the first hit of sugar leaves your tongue, there’s nothing else here. We get a lot of scenes of Buimler and then Mariner telling the Enterprise crew how great they are or being seen that way by their successors. Most of these scenes happen sitting around offices, bars or lobbies – telling rather than showing. I know this is it Strange new worlds, and so the narrative will always belong to that crew rather than its guest stars. But the inferior trainees are reduced to passive observers in a narrative that could or should have really enabled them to show the dynamism they have on their own show. The moment Boimler and Mariner try to work things out on their own, they are promptly shut down by La’an and Uhura and told to bench. The worst this has to offer is Tawny Newsome, who misses out for much of the episode and doesn’t have much to do when the Mariner finally arrives in the past.

Perhaps the cotton candy metaphor is the best way to sum up “those old scientists,” a goofy snack, or loops, on both sides. The fact that it exists at all is a treat, even if it’s not as cool as it could have been, and I’d love nothing more than to see more forays into the real world than before. lower floors crew. At least, with Strange new worlds And In production at the same time, it’s a great time to be a Star Trek fan.