OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)Freeman and the away team secure more humpback whales, while Ransom runs into a primitive Klingon ship.OUR TAKEAnd that wraps up another two part story arc, as the mission is accomplished with little in the way of conflict, as the whales they find end up being very easily convinced to go back with them to a whole different time period thanks to Matt and Kimolu’s negotiating. I kinda feel like if this were a proper TV episode, there would probably be more of an emotional obstacle in the way to make this feel like more of a payoff, but…yeah, okay. I guess this being a comic means it focuses more on how many gags can be thrown in at once, like the team running into some whaling versions of themselves, or Field Medic Sun-Sanchez showing up just to make a kinda bland “red shirts always die” gag but then be found alive later so the story doesn’t end too mean spirited. We also have, as mentioned, Ransom and those left on the Cerritos dealing with an incredibly weak Klingon ship that existed back in the 1980’s, which they are easily able to destroy without even trying. And that kinda feels like it would be funny on paper, but in execution, it ultimately feels like they just needed padding and decided to give Ransom something to do to fill the page count.That said, this is still a pretty fun issue all things considered, which the way things are resolved between two species of whales being certainly a unique way of doing that for this series, and this is the most attention and development that Matt and Kimolu have gotten, even within the main show. Plus, I suppose I should commend this issue for not going too hard on the references to the fourth Star Trek movie, a feat that I doubt the actual show would have been able to manage. Also, since the trade paperbacks for this series contain six issues each, this means that this would be the last issue in the second volume! And as the ending narration mentions on the last page, next issue will begin a six part story arc, which, considering the arc we just finished was billed as the penultimate one, may mean that this six-parter could be leading us to the end of this comic. We don’t know for sure either way yet, but even if so, that’s still a half a year of Lower Decks left to enjoy!