Star Trek: Lower Decks review—Episode 6 highlights horrifying holodeck experience

“Terminal Provocations” doesn’t land as many jokes as past episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks, but you can’t go too wrong with the holodeck run amok.

“Terminal Provocations” puts Star Trek’s infamous holodeck at the center of its story, showcasing what happens when a training program goes completely psychotic. Virtual reality programs run amok are nothing new, but never have they been this funny.

The Cerritos is trying to recover abandoned Federation technology from a very uncooperative group of scavengers. But the misfits on the Lower Decks have other things to worry about. Mariner and Boimler want to go to a Chu Chu dance, but have too much work to do. Luckily for them, Ensign Fletcher is there to cover for them so they can go have fun. But when they return, they find their friend knocked out, and one of the cores they were working with missing.

“Terminal Provocations” — Pictured Jack Quaid as Brad Boimler, Tim Robinson as Ensign Fletcher and Tawny Newsome as Beckett Mariner of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS. Photo Cr: Best Possible Screen Grab CBS 2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

They interrogate the Delta crew to see if one of them was the culprit, but they were also at the Chu Chu dance. Boimler finally finds the missing core hidden in Fletcher’s bed. Turns out, he tried to make himself smarter by hooking his brain up to the core but instead turned it sentient, and now it craves knowledge.

Fletcher wants to blame the whole thing on a Q, the character that plagued Data on The Next Generation, but Boimler and Mariner aren’t having it. They tie Fletcher up and lure the core into an air vent. (By the way, Q showed up in a trailer for the show, so we know they’re coming sooner or later.)

They shove the psychotic core into space only to watch as it destroys the alien scavengers, who were caught in a tractor beam battle with the Cerritos. The only reason the Cerritos was losing was because of the missing core, but this pretty much equals things out. Boimler and Mariner give Fletcher credit, so he gets a promotion and a transfer. Six days later, he gets fired for throwing trash into the warp core.

All the while, Tendi and Rutherford are having their own terrifying simulation adventure. Knowing that they may have to spacewalk to obtain cargo at some point, Tendi resolves to finally complete that part of her academy training. Luckily for her, Rutherford has a holodeck spacewalk training program featuring a cute helper named Badgy, who is a Starfleet badge with a face, arms and legs. Unfortunately, Badgy goes crazy and tries to kill Tendi and Rutherford, whom it thinks is his father.

After cycling through some harrowing scenarios, Rutherford finally kills his creation. But when it reboots, it seems to forget everything…until the final moments of the episodes, when he reminds them that it will always be there.

“Terminal Provocations” — Pictured (L-R) Noël Wells as Ensign Tendi and Eugene Cordero as Ensign Rutherford of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS. Photo Cr: Best Possible Screen Grab CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Badgy is a brilliant villain, and hopefully we haven’t seen the last of the cute little psychopath. For those who remember Clippy from Microsoft Word, he’s a particular scream.

Not every joke landed in “Terminal Provocations,” and the story felt a bit flat compared to past episodes; this played out like most Starfleet missions, which all comes down to the final moments.

Still, the episode did a great job of pairing off the core four characters. It’s always fun to see Boimler and Mariner working together, while Rutherford and Tendi kick their “will they, won’t they” story into high gear, making many fans wonder if they’re the next Riker and Deanna Troi.

“Terminal Provocations” — Pictured (L-R) Dawnn Lewis as Captain Carol Freeman, Fred Tatasciore as Lieutenant Shaxs, Paul Scheer as Lt. Commander Andy Billups, and of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS. Photo Cr: Best Possible Screen Grab CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Star Trek: Lower Decks is now past the halfway point of its first season, and it will be interesting to see what else is in store before the big finish.

Episode Grade: B-

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