STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS
SEASON 1, EPISODE 1
SEASON 1, EPISODE 1
Second Contact
Series: Star Trek: Lower Decks - (2020 - 2024)Season: 1
Episode #: 1
Original Airdate: August 6th, 2020
Writer(s): Mike McMahan
Director(s): Barry J. Kelly
Guest Stars
Jessica McKenna as Ensign Barnes
Jessica McKenna as the Voice of the U.S.S. Cerritos Computer
Phil LaMarr as a Starfleet Admiral
Phil LaMarr as a Command Division Lieutenant
Ben Rodgers Lieutenant Commander Steve Stevens
Paul Scheer as Lieutenant Commander Andarithio "Andy" Billups
Stardate: 57436.2
Synopsis
While Ensign Brad Boimler is recording a log, pretending to be a captain, he's caught by resident rule-breaker Ensign Beckett Mariner. Mariner teases Boimler while drunk on Romulan whiskey, before digging out a bat’leth which she waves around with abandon. She’s so careless, Mariner accidentally slices a deep gash in Boimler’s leg.
Ahead of the U.S.S. Cerritos’ mission to complete second contact with a new species, Ensign D’Vana Tendi joins the crew. She’s excited to enter the big leagues and is star-struck by everything she sees, even the view from the backend of the ship, where the lower deck officers sleep.
Tendi’s orientation mentor is Boimler, who’s orientation tour is hi-jacked by Mariner. Mariner doesn’t care about the higher-ranked officers, nor about protocol. She is least interested in showing Tendi the important parts of the ship and instead takes her to the holodeck. Boimler is so strait-laced that his ideal holodeck program is of the ship’s warp core, while Mariner’s is a risqué gym program.
Mariner’s rule-breaking hasn’t gone unnoticed by the head of the ship. Captain Carol Freeman tasks Boimler with spying on Mariner to report any indiscretions on the latter’s part. As Boimler has his eye on the captain’s chair at some point in his future, he’s only too eager to take up the assignment.
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The Cerritos arrives at the homeworld of the Galardonians people and begins engaging in second contact procedures. The ship’s mission is to ensure all the paperwork is in order for new species to join the Federation, but also – importantly – setting up universal translators so that the Federation can communicate with their new entrants.
As the ship’s first officer, Commander Jack Ransom, greets the Galardonians, he is bitten by a native insect. For some reason, the transporters do not pick up the anomalous biological entity. It’s possible the transporter’s filtration system was malfunctioning, or the system was unfamiliar with the new species and didn’t track Ransom’s bite as a danger.
Ransom wanders around the ship, before the infection takes hold in the bar, turning him into a full-on zombie. Ransom goes on a biting spree, leading to everyone in the bar becoming infected. Utter mayhem and chaos ensue. Meanwhile also in the bar, Ensign Sam Rutherford, a new cyborg, is on his first date with the fetching Ensign Barnes. Everything’s going swimmingly before Ransom’s outbreak. Rutherford and Barnes are unflappable. They keep cool heads, and continue chatting about their interests, all while stunning their rabid comrades.
Just as it seems like these two may be a perfect match, Rutherford discovers that the Red Alert system has blocked comm badge entry to the elevators. He’s more interested in fixing that than engaging with his date, so that’s the end of that. Meanwhile, Tendi reports to the medical bay which is overrun by patients. Dr. T’Ana curtly directs her to manually pump the heart of a fellow crewman while she subdues more crewmembers. How will the Cerritos survive this attack?
Help is on the way, but it doesn’t know it yet. On the Galardonian planet, Boimler spots Mariner trading Federation technology with the locals - a clear violation of the Prime Directive which prohibits the exchange of technology with aliens. Boimler is convinced Mariner is giving the Galerdonians weapons and confronts her. In fact, Mariner is tired of bureaucracy withholding farming supplies and she’s sneaking some to them.
The locals make a run for it, leaving a giant spider to chase Mariner and Boimler. The spider then proceeds to swallow Boimler. Once it’s tired and asleep, Boimler and Mariner return to the ship. Dr. T’Ana runs a quick scan of Boimler and discovers that the slime he’s covered in could be the cure. And voila! Boimler saves the day.
Except… Dr. T’Ana gets the credit in Captain Freeman’s log, while Boimler is forgotten. His faith in the officers shaken, Boimler doesn’t rat out Mariner to the captain.
Trailer
