Comic Review: Star Trek – Lower Decks #8

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Captain Freeman finishes having her PTSD flashback about how she nearly got the crew of her old ship killed back when she was an Ensign.

OUR TAKE

That’s another Lower Decks comic two parter in the books and once again it’s another solid time. Turns out the framing device was not in fact Freeman thinking of a way to explain to her daughter how she was a rash and headstrong Ensign back in her day, or even trying to deliberately tell her about what even happened back then. Nope, it seems that simply Mariner mentioning the word “Pips” (meaning the little rank buttons on each uniform’s collar) triggered a debilitating flashback, which then became the framing device. And I guess going back to the previous issue, it’s mostly clear that’s what happened, but also that was a month ago so it’s not always going to stick from part to part. Also, this issue is probably the first of the series where I have some notable…well, issues. First off, as much as this is meant to be a younger Freeman who is more likely to make mistakes and has to same fear of success that Mariner does in the present, hijacking the transporter for her own ends and ending up potentially killing most of the crew is…well, horrifically irresponsible, even if they obviously have to all live by the end, otherwise Freeman would probably be sent to a penal colony for life. Not even Mariner EVER got close to doing that much harm.

The rest of my irks mainly center on Pulaski, particularly how she’s written here and what exactly the lesson of her involvement is supposed to be. Pulaski only ever appeared in one season of TNG and vanished just as fast by the beginning of the next, and having seen that season, I have at least some idea of how her character is. Here though, she’s meant to be a substitute captain with an questionable leading style that ultimately proves effective, echoing another famous TNG story where a similar situation took place. Apparently she was trying to teach Freeman that faith in the capabilities of her crew is what makes a captain, but I’m not sure that’s what the Pulaski I’ve seen would do exactly. I kinda think they just wanted a familiar but underutilized character for this role and she mostly fit the bill. So, still a fine issue, but a bit iffy. Also, as of last week, Lower Decks is now the last ongoing Star Trek comic, since the other two comics ended with a big event (and a tie-in featuring Shax!). So, while the Trek comics division does a handful of miniseries, Lower Decks will keep going strong for the foreseeable future. And the first trade paperback has the first six comics, so we can expect at least four more for the second! See you next month for a Tendi focused story! Not a combination I ever expected to see together, but here we are.