On the latest Star Trek: Lower Decks, the Cerritos goes to the dreaded Starbase 80. Zombies and corndogs await!
Post mission, The Cerritos needs a navigation processor. The only joint in range that can facilitate? Starbase 80—the most famously terrible gig in Starfleet. Mariner’s been sent there as punishment. Alternate universe Captain Freeman apparently works there.
What does this mean for our intrepid crew? How bad can things get? And is this a metaphor for something larger?
Yes.
But let’s not skip ahead. Plot first, message second.
To Boldly Recap “Starbase 80?!”
So. Starbase 80. A member of its crew, Cassie, thinks the Cerritos is there to fix the station. Classic SB80. So Freeman and Mason seek station engineer Jakubowski while Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, and Rutherford help Cassie with anything they can.
But in short order the problems arise. And the big one is that everyone from the Cerritos is turning into zombies! Mariner thinks this is the Starbase 80 curse, Cassie thinks otherwise. As everyone but the two of them succumb to zombie-itis, they realize that the problem isn’t SB80, it’s the Cerritos. Something is infecting the ship’s comms.
Mariner and Cassie bring the ship’s doctor as well as Chad, the corndog man, to the Cerritos to sort the problem. There they realize that it’s the bottlenose dolphins in Cetacean Ops who are patient zero.
It turns out an anaphasic entity was trying to communicate through Cetacean ops but accidentally possessed too many lifeforms and lost control. It’s all just a wacky miscommunication! Thankfully, the SB8 doctor cures the problem by whacking it with a pool net.
In the end Freeman and Ransom help Jakubowski fix station problems (read: he tricks them), and the Cerritos gets its navigation processor.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Corrects the Record
There’s something fun about Starbase 80 being the place where incompetence goes to die. But this new idea where it’s a place for second chances works much better and fits better with our idea of Starfleet, too. And it has a relevant message.
Cassie is an El-Aurian. You know… the race of listeners? They listen? Anyway, she sees the truth of Starbase 80, that it just needs help. Its systems are old, it lacks infrastructure to create harmony among the community, and its crew are treated like that’s their fault.
And, oh gosh, that’s just every struggling community in America, isn’t it? Yes, “Starbase 80?!” is about how it’s better to fix problems rather than just tell the people with those problems that it’s their fault! Or that they are cursed! Or inherently inferior!
The Cerritos crew assumes their problems are due to SB80. But their problems exist independent. However, the solutions for the problems of both the Cerritos and SB80 can be found with one another. Funny. That.
The Starbase 80 Crew
It’s worth noting that Starbase 80 itself seems to be comprised of at least half alien refugees. It’s a disparate community which, on first blush seems to be in conflict. But ultimately, there’s more harmony than discord. Everyone likes Chad’s corndogs! If you want to play in the arcade, the “roaming gangs” just hook you up with free tokens.
And there’s something important to note about chief engineer Jakubowski: he’s learned not to ask for things directly. He doesn’t even tell Freeman or Ransom who he really is at first. He just sends them on a journey that tricks them into fixing parts of the station. That’s the only way he can actually get Starfleet to help!
Freeman gets mad that she’s been tricked—at first. But eventually she sees Starbase 80 as a challenge to be overcome. Her alt. universe self winds up stuck there and she doesn’t want that for herself. Yes, it’s true. And come closer because this part is important:
If you leave a community to fend for themselves until the situation becomes dire? Eventually that will be you. Good note for any politicians out there.
Thanks for the lesson in common decency, Star Trek: Lower Decks!
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Lina is a 10+ year entertainment journalist veteran whose bylines include SYFY Wire, Looper, and Screen Fanatic. She has written comic scripts for IDW Comics and Zenescope Enetertainment and has written Doctor Who shorts for BBC Worldwide. She is a long-time podcast host and producer who has worked on Who Won the Week, SYFY’s Every Day series, and the Amazon podcast Untold Story. She currently co-hosts the New York Times recommended podcast Song vs Song.