Review: Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Episode 3 “The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel”
The Cerritos crew visits an exotic resort in space to help control a dangerous nanite infestation but ends up discovering the next piece of a concerning pattern.
Two plots are destined to unfold on the Cosmic Duchess, a beautiful resort ship the size of a moon. The first is where Beckett Mariner (Tawney Newsome), Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), D’Vana Tendi (Noel Wells), T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz), and Jennifer Sh’reyan (Lauren Lapkus) try to stop a nanite infestation that’s threatening the livelihood of those on the Cosmic Duchess. As if trying to stop these metal-eating micromachines wasn’t challenging enough, Mariner is stunned to learn Jennifer still considers her a girlfriend, with all the public displays of affection that entails. Whereas Mariner thought the pair broke up a year ago, apparently Jennifer never got Mariner’s admittedly vague message. As Rutherford notes, the confusion between Mariner and Jennifer is understandable given that relationships among crewmates can take different forms, thanks to different shifts, traveling on away missions, or being transformed into things.
The away team tries to science their way into disabling the nanite infestation, during which time Mariner begins to break up with Jennifer. In typical comedy fashion, the Andorian first shares surprising news: she is being transferred off the Cerritos. This revelation leads Mariner to forgo a messy emotional conversation and keep up the romantic act until Jennifer is transferred.
During the away team’s efforts to disband the nanites – and during Mariner’s efforts to complete the mission as quickly as possible so Jennifer can get her transfer – they end up accidentally creating a mega-nanite ball that is soon tearing through the streets of the massive space resort. Everyone except Mariner and Jennifer is trapped in the nanite ball, and it’s up to the bickering ex-lovers to figure out a solution. Momentarily safe from the nanite cluster, Jennifer and Mariner have a brief chance to quarrel, and this is where Jennifer reveals she was angry at Mariner for assuming the pair had split, and had always known the relationship had been over for more than a year. On the away mission, Jennifer was pretending to still be hitched to Mariner to frustrate her.
With this confusion settled, the now officially separated crewmates turn their attention to rescuing their friends from the nanites. After Rutherford, who is trapped in the nanite structure, reports there is a signal from within the shell that controls the other nanites, Mariner and Jennifer jump into the ball with vibe tubes owned by Krog on the Rocks, a musician set to play a gig at the resort. This solution pleases T’Lyn to no end, as the Vulcan is a huge fan of Krog; it’s as close to a fangirl moment as we’ll get from T’Lyn as she uses the instrument to break apart the nanites. Better yet, Krog, who was trapped in the nanite blob with T’Lyn and others, reveals to the Vulcan that he, in his ongoing quest for “inner chill,” practices Vulcan mediative practices.
With the threat to the Cosmic Duchess ended closer scans of the nanite clumps reveal a shocking discovery: a Federation starship from an alternate microscopic dimension found its way into the Prime Universe, and it turns out the nanite clusters were the ship’s attempt to gather resources needed to return to their home. The discovery of the U.S.S. Endeavor is only the next instance of an alternate-dimensional rip– which is something we predicted we’d see after the season premiere. What these rips mean, though, is yet to be seen.
The other adventure happening on the Cosmic Duchess involves Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), who is enlisted by Commander Ransom (Jerry O’Connell), along with Andy Billups (Paul Schneer), to track down an AWOL Starfleet admiral who is hiding somewhere on Cosmic Duchess. This mission wouldn’t be too bad, except for Boimler having good reason to assume Ransom is only bringing him along as the figurative canary in the coal mine, someone to face danger so Ransom doesn’t have to. It seems Ensign Jet Manhaver (Marcus Henderson) recently went on a mission with Ransom and lost both his hands due to supposedly being the figurative canary; this striking and unfortunate image sticks in Boimler’s mind throughout the mission.
“Ah, cool! I love spy stuff. [Gasps] Do we get to wear the black body suits?”
– Boimler, referencing the black body suits worn by Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher during their undercover mission in “Chain of Command.”
This coalmine lens frames Boimler’s experience in this away mission, as he does end up risking himself, often hilariously, to complete the mission, leaving Ransom to safely follow in his wake. The trio’s hunt for Admiral Millius takes a drastic turn as they do succeed in finding the admiral, but Millius captures the men to prevent them from bringing him back to Starfleet.
Millius, who has been watching Boimler all day and therefore thinks they are “cut from the same cloth,” thinks he can get in Boimler’s head. The older man waxes on and on about how higher-level Starfleet service isn’t worth it and is indeed boring, and that Boimler could be much happier there on Cosmic Dutchess with him, away from “the system” that works against higher-level Starfleet officers.
This would certainly cause Boimler, the person who has always sought a command position, to pause and think. The young man, for his part, seems tempted, but after a quick confidence boost from Ransom where the first officer asserts he brought Boimler along not to be a canary but because the younger man is a truly capable officer, Boimler only fakes acquiesce so he could quickly turn the tables on Millius. Wow, what a shocker.
With Millius brought back to Starfleet (and seemingly facing no consequences for going AWOL and holding Starfleet officers hostage), the older man gladly turns his attention to the important task of studying the Endeavor and trying to get them home. Perhaps his efforts will pay off down the road.
Taken together, “The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel” balances its plot with important developments in both personal and season-wide narratives. The saga of Jennifer and Mariner’s romance is a series-long one that we have always been interested in, and at least the Andorian was able to teach Mariner a lesson in communication before she transfers off the Cerritos. Meanwhile, Boimler was able to further Ransom’s already generous impression of him and continue his way toward being a confident commanding figure. Overshadowing these personal developments is what’s now a recurring incident – just how will these dimensional fissures come into play later in the season?
Stray Thoughts:
- What mission did Ransom and Manhaver undertake that resulted in the ensign being carried out of the shuttle bay as Boimler prepared to disembark?
- This episode is the first time we see Gallamites, the species with transparent skulls. They were only referenced in Deep Space Nine and never shown.
- For those keeping track at home, Mariner quickly counts the twenty sides of the mega-nanite ball and thus calls it an icosahedron.
- Millius complaints the ships in his fleet were relegated to milking space whales, to which Boimler names two kinds: the gormagander, as seen in Star Trek: Discovery, and the “Galaxy’s Child things,” which is a reference to the titular The Next Generation episode.
- The Endeavor’s “month of hell” is a play on Star Trek: Voyager’s year of hell from the two-part Voyager installment of the same name.
Star Trek: Lower Decks streams on Paramount+.
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