Could it be an inversion of the formula? Spoilers.
A nice fun anthology style episode, with none of the plots given any time to really shine but all of them are entertaining and cleverly constructed.
Captain Freeman gets the most time, and it’s actually a nice lesson about what leadership is when you’re the Captain. It’s not about being the one to give the orders or to save the day all the time, it’s about being there for the crew and listening.
Shaxs has a simpler plot, with him literally fighting his inner demons. But it’s told in a way that builds on his background and cultural background that feels real and not forced.
The Billups plot is really just the same joke told in an escalating way, but again it’s a story that adds to him as a character and makes him feel more rounded.
Finally the Ransom plot is the big miss for me of the episode – some solid jokes on the way, but ‘Ransom unites people against him’ and ‘Beta and Delta shift fighting’ just didn’t add up to the strength of the other parts of the episode.
Overall nice to see a format breaking episode, and it’s a very successful episode in terms of adding dimension to characters who normally are in the background of our main plots.
Quick hits:
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I am a sucker for the ‘describe a fun episode in a throwaway’ gag.
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LOL, a technobabble explanation for the way things fall from the ceiling in the bridge.
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Delta shift sucks.
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OMG, Billups is in the Spock Cylinder.
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LOL, the ear tag on the space cow.
936 down.