6 Ups & 1 Down For Star Trek: Lower Decks 5.4 — A Farewell To Farms
6. UP — Boimler's Beardly Emboldening
Forget the quantum fissures and other spacetime potholes, Boimler's beard is the real arc of the season! Like his hirsute hero counterpart from another dimension, our Boimler's steadily growing facial feature is the outward manifestation of a newfound inner confidence, or at least, the 'fake it until you make it' kind. A moustache can't help deflect a bat'leth's blade, but it can help you stand up to one of the warriors, apparently, especially if you're going through a "Klingon phase".
As always, and as per skiing, Boimler is still Boimler, citing Klingon bureaucratic minutiae after Klingon bureaucratic minutiae, without which Ma'ah would never have regained his captaincy. To paraphrase B'Elanna Torres — it may be the warriors who get the glory, but it's Boimler who figures out the fine print.
Speaking of… no more Bointers since Shades of Green? That was very nearly a DOWN in itself, but for what might be the biggest Bointer without name or number as such. "Stop being a qoH," Boimler says as he confronts Ma'ah, using his transfer to the Titan and back to the Cerritos as a point of comparison to buoy up the dispirited and disillusioned Klingon. The ever-more-bearded and emboldened Boimler is just the kind of hope we need!