# Star Trek Lower Decks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [July 14, 2020, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340 "2020-07-14T21:53:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 31
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/603 "2024-11-29T18:18:05Z")
I’ve found this season disappointing. But the latest episode is the best so far. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2024, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/604 "2024-11-29T18:20:02Z")
The best line came right at the end, “It’s not a subtle instrument!” ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/605 "2024-11-29T21:22:09Z")
I like the comment of him really being fully functional. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/606 "2024-11-29T21:56:34Z")
I feel like Trek consoles should be lint-free wipe-clean surfaces. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/607 "2024-11-30T16:34:47Z")
I thought the last couple of episodes (with the wacky demigod and the wacky spilled micheladas) to be a little bit broad for my tastes, but I’m still enjoying the season. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/608 "2024-12-01T02:40:48Z")
Preindustrial society? Looked like they had 19th century tech. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/609 "2024-12-01T05:38:43Z")
How so? The most advanced native technology I saw was the beer taps. The lighting was all candles. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/610 "2024-12-01T11:57:21Z")
The beer tap was late 18th century, so perhaps I’m off a bit - but even the late 18th century was not “pre-industrial” (it was at the takeoff point for rapid industrialization). I agree that the planet didn’t have electricity (I did see what I thought was a gas lamp, but maybe it was a candle). But I’m not going to argue about it - I was just picturing a “pre-industrial society” as being considerably less advanced than what we saw - that could be just me. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/611 "2024-12-01T15:35:20Z")
Preindustrial wouldn’t be about the existence of specific technologies, but about large-scale industrialization, which we saw no evidence of. We didn’t get any look at their industrial processes. Besides, a future multispecies postscarcity society might have a different line for defining preindustrial than we do. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/612 "2024-12-01T16:05:32Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Besides, a future multispecies postscarcity society might have a different line for defining preindustrial than we do. Yeah, I mean, their best security system was one weird guy lurking around. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/613 "2024-12-01T16:29:15Z")
I guess introducing techniques to grow gigantic fruit and vegetables doesn’t violate the Prime Directive? (Just kidding, I know the Prime Directive is meaningless.) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/614 "2024-12-01T17:10:51Z")
At least she didn’t give them Velcro®. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/615 "2024-12-02T03:23:12Z")
I feel like I’d benefit from an annotated version of this episode. I got a few of the references but am sure I missed more than I caught. Yeah. “Subtle instrument” flew right past me. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/616 "2024-12-02T04:39:31Z")
I don’t think “subtle instrument” is a reference to anything. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/617 "2024-12-02T04:43:30Z")
> **[Lower Decks' Newest Planet Is One Giant Star Trek Easter Egg](https://www.cbr.com/star-trek-lower-decks-tng-voyager-easter-eggs/)** > > Lower Decks has always riffed on earlier Star Trek episodes, but Season 5, Episode 7 pulls out all the stops with a strange new world like no other. > **[‘It Just Makes It More Specific’: Star Trek: Lower Decks Producer Shares The...](https://www.cinemablend.com/interviews/star-trek-lower-decks-producer-improvised-line-brent-spiner-data-appearance-next-generation)** > > I understood that reference. And just in case, about my Velcro® reference a couple of posts back: > **[Velcro](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Velcro)** > > Velcro was a Vulcan invention designed to hold fabrics and other surfaces together utilizing tiny hooks and loops. Unknown at the time, this invention was introduced to Humans by T'Mir, a Vulcan stranded in Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania. T'Mir sold the... ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/618 "2024-12-02T05:48:01Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I don’t think “subtle instrument” is a reference to anything. Yeah, it’s just a funny line because it was such an annoying sound, but she had to double down on playing it. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/619 "2024-12-03T01:31:47Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I feel like I’d benefit from an annotated version of this episode. I got a few of the references but am sure I missed more than I caught. Yeah. “Subtle instrument” flew right past me. [Ups & Downs From Star Trek: Lower Decks 5.7 - Fully Dilated](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_7UpKLKV-E) This Channel provides annotated versions of all Lower Decks episodes. It explains lots of callbacks from TOS onwards. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/620 "2024-12-03T13:55:55Z")
Thanks for the link. I had guessed the “not a subtle instrument” was a jibe at the absurdity of Picard having spent so much energy trying to master a tin whistle, and wondered if maybe I wasn’t remembering Riker snarking that. I was a bit disappointed the commentator didn’t call out the Data being “fully functional” with his mouth more. I heard a shout out his answer to Tasha Yar about his sexual capabilities. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/621 "2024-12-03T14:58:59Z")
Lower Decks should do a _Pop Up Video_ version of their episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340/622 "2024-12-03T15:03:02Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I was a bit disappointed the commentator didn’t call out the Data being “fully functional” with his mouth more. I heard a shout out his answer to Tasha Yar about his sexual capabilities. He is skilled in multiple techniques, after all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340.md?page=30) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-lower-decks/915340.md?page=32)