6 Ups & 1 Down For Star Trek: Lower Decks 5.4 — A Farewell To Farms

8. UP — Qo'noS Calling

I might not like the Klingons, but I'd have to be my own special kind of petaQ to deny the intrinsic value and visual delight of the opener to A Farewell to Farms. A lot of green this season, the episode begins on a view from orbit of the emerald (but dirty, you know… a dirty emerald)-skied Qo'noS.

Less Château pIQarD, more Jean-LuQ's basement bloodwine, if comparison there is to be had with a former French Admiral's post-(and pre-re-)Starfleet family endeavours, this was a softer opener than usual, taking place, as the title would suggest, on the farm.

There were two brothers, one shuttle/truck, plenty of targ, and Mariner on 'hold,' but no title credits this week. Instead, we were treated to a rather beautiful reworking of the main Lower Decks theme that played over some equally beautiful (and bucolic) animation.

At TrekCulture Towers, Seán and I had difficulty placing the precise provenance, if any, of those opening shots. Broadly speaking, the sequence was reminiscent of the slower, more meditative beginnings of the likes of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (after the Nimbus III bit, anyway), or perhaps, at a stretch, that of Star Trek: Insurrection. For us, there was equally a touch of Of Mice and Men somewhere in the agricultural dynamics, but we're sure we're missing something more pertinent. Do feel free to tell me/us (off) on socials!