9 Ups & 1 Down From Star Trek: Lower Decks 5.5 — Starbase 80?!

11. UP — The Anti-Gravity Of Deep Space Grime

It has practically been the 'Big Bad' of the entire series, the threat to end all threats — the "hellhole" to give every Starfleet officer a Phloxian night terror, the place not to be. The title of the episode might have been in the interrogative of the unmerged interrobang, but in spite of themselves, the crew of the Cerritos was definitely headed to the fated Starbase 80. "Nooooooooooooooooooo [redacted]."

Expectations weighed heavy. None more so than for Mariner who'd already been there, and for Captain Freeman, whose alternate had been reduced to running the place. Don't judge a Starbase by its cover-age, however, or by its covering(-over) of pits and Denobulan lice. Sure, it was stuck in the '60s — the 2260s — needing at least a lick of paint (not a licking of the paint), a grav-plating re-haul, and some new turbolifts that would actually listen, but the inhabitants didn't blame their tools.

Another refreshing life lesson, then, in amongst the habitual chaos — that the spectre of fear is far worse than facing it. That some problems are far less grave than they seem. Plus, as we learnt, there are those that rather enjoyed working on Starbase 80 for its "retro-cool" and "second chances". Goes Nowhere Does Nothing is for conduits, not for people. We're all just trying to find our way somehow through the grime.