Star Trek: Lower Decks 2.4 Review - Ups & Downs From Mugato, Gumato

2. Rutherford And Boimler In General - UP

Star Trek Lower Decks Rutherford Boimler
CBS

This week sees another rejigging of the Lower Decks pairings, with Boimler and Rutherford striking out on their mission to a) expose Mariner and b) survive the Mugato. This follows last week's episode that saw Mariner and Tendi go on a girls' trip to find T'ana's heirloom. One of the strengths of Lower Decks overall is the instantly engaging characters and their interactions, though by the end of the first season there seemed to be a different Tendi/Rutherford, Boimler/Mariner split.

Season two seems to be going to pains to change this. Rutherford and Boimler, neither of them fit the stereotype of alpha, brave male i.e. Ransom. Therefore seeing them try to figure out how to survive the Mugato is a hoot, while also trying to survive their friend, or so they think.

Lower Decks has delivered some excellent entries in the canon of characters but seeing them split into different friend and team groups is a great way to avoid them becoming any one thing over another.

UP - let's keep this repairing of characters going. It benefits them, and it helps to show the various traits that don't always come out in other situations.

Contributor
Contributor

Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"