Star Trek: Lower Decks review—Episode 8, “Veritas”

The latest episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, “Veritas,” shows us why the franchise’s spy missions make no sense and has a great time doing it.

Star Trek: Lower Decks puts the franchise’s spy antics on trial in another exceptional episode full of references and Easter eggs that will have Trekkies of all ages rolling on the floor laughing.

Star Trek has always had a ton of variety when it comes to storylines, but one plot that always came off as a bit ridiculous were the spy missions. “Veritas” thrusts viewers right into the heart of one, as Tendi, Boimler, Mariner and Rutherford are in a dungeon on a planet called K’Tuevon Prime, but they aren’t sure why. Brad says he saw them take the commanders of the Cerritos to another room, adding to the suspense.

It ends up that their cell is also an elevator, as tends to happen with space prisons, and they ascend into another room where they face a shadowy alien tribunal, all while their leaders are suspended in a beam of light. A horn rises in front of them and they are told they are to testify about what they witnessed, which leaves them even more confused.

Pictured: Kurtwood Smith as Clar of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS. Photo Cr: Best Possible Screen Grab CBS 2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Mariner is up first, and describes how they were all working on basic repairs when Tendi realized there was a Red Alert going on. The Ensigns quickly made their way to their posts, with Mariner and Boimler on bridge duty. Misreading the commander’s orders, Beckett fires a laser, which provokes the alien spacecraft.

Anyway, Mariner’s recounting of events is not well-received, and she almost gets dipped in a vat of eels. Rutherford goes next, although there are gaps in his story because he had to shut down his cybernetic implant for a while to install an update. But he remembers taking down some Vulcans, doing a fan dance, stealing a Bird-of-Prey ship from a Vulcan museum, and getting attacked by a Gorn wedding party.

Moving along, Tendi recounts a mixup where she’s mistaken for someone called “the Cleaner,” but it’s not what the court wants to hear, so she, Rutherford and Mariner are all dipped in the eel tank.

Pictured (L-R): Jack Quaid as Ensign Brad Boimler, Tawny Newsome as Ensign Beckett Mariner, Eugene Cordero as Ensign Rutherford, and Noël Wells as Ensign Tendi of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS. Photo Cr: Best Possible Screen Grab CBS 2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Basically, the tribunal just can’t believe that Starfleet is this incompetent, and Brad explains that not everyone in Starfleet is perfect. The Commanders do their best, but even they have issues sometimes. In the end, his passion gets the better of him and he throws the legitimacy of the court into question.

But then it’s revealed that it wasn’t a trail but a celebration of a successful spy mission. The lower deck crewmembers wonder why everything came off like a trial, but like a lot of missions on Star Trek, not everything is going to make sense.

The best Easter egg in “Veritas” was definitely the return of The Next Generation favorite Q, who fit right into the show. This was a terrific episode, and can double as an educational device: if anyone ever wants to understand how spy missions work on Star Trek, just point them to this.

Episode Grade: A

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