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Greetings from the Beta Quadrant! Lower Decks gives us an inside into the other cultures in the Star Trek Universe. Not only do we get to see Boimler and Mariiner find their inner cha’DIch while Rutherford and Tendi go through the culinary ringer with Dr. Migleemo.
Whine about Blood Wine
This episode starts with a cold open on a worm farm—specifically, a blood wine worm farm run by our old friend Captian Ma’ah and his brother. Farm life isn’t really cutting it for the former captain of the IKS Che’Ta.
Finally, while delivering his Blood Wine to Kronos, Mariner boldly walks into the bar to find her old Klingon friend. Boimler, now sporting what he thinks is a “beard,” was just excited to be somewhere “so Klingon.” He explains that he is no longer Captian, so Mariner decides to help out her old friend, how she doesn’t know, but Boimler does. Apparently, he loves Klingon lore and bureaucracy.
They go to the council, but the biggest problem is the leader of the council won’t even hear Ma’ah out because he killed his brother. However, because Mariner’s reputation precedes her, one of the other council members also knows her.
There are a series of challenges that, of course, with a bit of Starfleet ingenuity and good old farmhand work circling back to Klingon bureaucracy, finds Ma’ah as a captain again. with the council leader dead, bleeding pinkish-purple Klinong blood all over his throne.
A Bird-Brained Buffet
Dr. Megleemo gets his desserts, having a bit of a focus episode on him. We finally learn the name of his species and why he is such an outlier to his people. THEIR FOODIES! And what’s worse is they’re the worst kind of self-important arteeest critics.
In his species, the Klowahkin invented warp drive to seek out new food and new menus. The dignitaries that the Cerritos have been assigned to escort are the head food critics for the planet. Think Michelan meets Mockingbird. Mockingbird is the operative word, as these two are as FOUL as FOWL can be.
Megleemo tries to impress his culinarian counterparts, but nothing seems to impress. Eventually, they decide to arrest the good doctor. Upon landing at “Flavor Jail” the amuse-bouche was swapped out for literal replicated $#!t. The critics come clean! They have been lying about everything and need therapy from Dr. Megleemo, of course, fully catered!
From the Captains Seat
This episode goes where ONLY animated Trek can go! I know the great Michael Westmore could have made the Klowakins but the fact that the plumage and they puff up from stress and molt tips the scales to animations credit.
The idea of calling Dr Megleemo’s Species Klowakins is hilarious! They use forks that prechew their food like other earth avian species, which is another way Lower Decks has the artistic license to go to these blue comedy lengths.
Conversely, having another Klingon redemption story through this lens is brilliant. Yes, it ended in bloodshed, as expected, and we still can’t determine the right color.
Ma’ah is a great example of how a Klingon found honor in the simple things in life—using the great general Martok as an example to forge his own path alongside his brother.
The writers had a great time with this one since there was so much of the Klingon dialect at play. It almost makes me want to enroll in a class. As the icing on the cake, the wordplay with the food references was delicious! There are too many other references to count, but if you are as wise as a Q, you picked them up!
Star Trek Lower Decks: A Farewell to Farms gets 8 out of 10 Bat’leths.
What are your thoughts on this cultural appreciation episode? Let us know in the comments below, and come back to Nerd Initiative for all your Star Trek reviews. Live long and Prosper 🖖
