Carl Roberts 
Three Betazoid females cause havoc for the crew of the Cerritos in episode 5 of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4.
Every week, Star Trek: Lower Decks gets better and funnier. Last week’s instalment was hilarious in its own right. But this week’s episode is a riot. If we look back at Star Trek: The Next Generation, we see the Betazoid race as calm, stable, and, to a certain extent, pretty quiet. Not so according to the animated show. The three Betazoid females that come aboard the U.S.S Cerritos are nothing more than alcohol-fuelled, sex-crazed, party-loving maniacs. The antics they get up to and inspire in the crew have us laughing all the way through. But do these three have an ulterior motive behind their crazy antics?
TV REVIEW | STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS (S4:E4 SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING GREEN)
PREMISE
A trio of Betazoids cause chaos on the Cerritos.
THOUGHTS
Come on, any episode that features the crew of the Cerritos smashing the ship up, getting completely smashed, and engaging in behavior unbecoming of a Starfleet Officer is worth 30 minutes of our time. It harks back to the Original Series and those episodes where spores struck the crew, poisoned tears etc. in some ways. But with an added, riskier edge to things. When have you ever seen Dr. Migleemo go on a rant and decide to smash a replicator to pieces? You will here. And it is hilarious, to say the least. And the sight of seeing poor T’Lyn having to play barmaid, getting the visitors more alcohol, and her reaction to it is priceless.
THE CREW
Once again, the entire crew get involved in everything to the max. This week though, we finally get to see Mariner and T’Lyn have a face-to-face, proper conversation. And it opens our eyes to T’Lyn’s inner thoughts and feelings. It gives a more in-depth look into the character. Boimler is his usual manic, scared self at times, much to our amusement while Rutherford and Tendi are growing ever closer. The rest of the crew is confined mostly to acting completely out of character while the three visitors’ plans are finally revealed. And it all concerns just one member of the crew.
THE VOCAL CAST
The vocal cast is all on point once more. Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, and Eugene Cordero once again bring our four favorite characters to life in ever increasingly fun ways. Dawnn Lewis, Gillian Vigman, Jerry O’Connell, and Fred Tatasciore all voice their supporting characters to our amusement, all command-like for Carol Newsome and Jack Ransom, gruff and tough for Lieutenant Shaxs, while Doctor T’Ana is her usual foul-mouthed (bleeped) self. But Gabrielle Ruiz as T’Lyn is fast becoming one of my favorite characters. And she once again voices the character to perfection.
CONCLUSION
Yet another hilarious and triumphant episode for the show’s fourth season. Okay, so it may not be to everyone’s taste, but for many of us, the show remains a weekly treat. Instead of having heavy drama, and tightly scripted episodes, we get barrels of laughs instead. Of course, it is all dismissive nonsense but it keeps us all entertained from the get-go. And that’s all we can ask for.
At the end of the day, as long as we can laugh along with the antics of the crew of the Cerritos, and have a huge amount of joy with it, that’s all that matters. Every week, the show pays us off with genuine humor, some terrific laughs, and gives us a few things to think about. It isn’t all hijinks and mayhem. It does contain issues that we experience in our everyday lives. And everything is wrapped up in a nice Starfleet-shaped bow. Sit back, unplug the phone, put the kids to bed, and have some fun with the whole crew. You know you want to!
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 is now streaming on a weekly basis. The first three seasons are available to stream in full on Paramount+
Future of the Force News Editor,Liverpool F.C fan,Halloween Movie Fan, Friday The 13th movies fan, Star Wars Fan, Star Trek Fan.
