History Recap / StarTrekLowerDecksS1E02Envoys

-->'''K'orin:''' (''to Starfleet receptionist'')I demand you give me an honorable--''[retches]''

'''Ransom''': Freeze program. In thousands of simulations, that's literally never happened before.

* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: Boimler fails at speaking Taxorian.

** Mariner falls asleep during the shuttlecraft trip, and mumbles about "Buried alive," "Marooned for eternity", and "Moons of Nibia"-- references to some of Khan's more florid prose in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan''.

-->'''K'orin:''' (''to Starfleet receptionist'')I demand you give me an honorable--'[retches]''

* AmusingInjuries: Mariner and Tendi laugh at a video of Vice Admiral Gibson falling off a stage during peace negotations.

* BelligerentSexualTension: Discussed when Mariner tells Tendi that she likes to start an argument with a cute lieutenant because she finds it attractive when an "uptight hunk is all wound up."

'''Taxor:''' ''(roars and attacks)''

'''Ferengi''': ''(performs the greedy hands gesture)'' Hyoo-mon. Myah.\\

-->'''K'orin:''' ''(to Starfleet receptionist)'' I demand you give me an honorable--''(retches)''

* NotWhatItLooksLike: Two Andorians appear to be harassing an old man, so Boimler stuns one of them to help out. It turns out that the old man is actually a shapeshifter that they were trying to apprehend, which kicks off a BarBrawl.

* AttackPatternAlpha: During command training, Ransom suggests that Boimler try the Janeway Protocol in the next simulation. Doing this somehow gets every single child on the ship vented into space.

* AttackPatternAlpha: During command training, Ransom suggests that Rutherford try the Janeway Protocol in the next simulation. Doing this somehow gets every single child on the ship vented into space.

* BaitAndSwitch: An EnergyBeing comes aboard the ''Cerritos''. Normally, this would lead to an episode full of shenanigans, but the being in question doesn't survive to the opening theme.

* KneelBeforeZod: The EnergyBeing demands that Mariner and Tendi supplicate themselves before it-- until Mariner starts stuffing it into a canister, at which point it begs for mercy.

* UpToEleven: Rutherford's first training simulation goes extremely poorly-- not only does he get his ship blown up, casualties are estimated at ''105%''.
-->'''Rutherford:''' Wait, how did I kill more than the whole crew?!

* PunnyName: The name of Shaxs' combat program initially sounds like "Smörgåsbord," the Swedish buffet, but after a dozen holographic Borg drones materialize, we realize what he actually meant was "Smorgas'''Borg'''."

* SarcasmMode: When Mariner is fed up with Boimler mocking her to everyone in the ship's bar, her excuse for leaving is, "That's my cue to just go launch myself out an airlock."

* SealedEvilInACan: Mariner tries to stuff the energy being into a canister when it threatens her and Tendi. It offers to make anything they want if she'll stop.

* UpToEleven: Rutherford's first training simulation goes extremely poorly -- not only does he get his ship blown up, casualties are estimated at ''105%''.

* VomitIndiscretionShot: Occurs when drunken K'orin is dropped off at the embassy.

* AttackPatternAlpha: During command training, Ransom suggests Rutherford try the Janeway Protocol in the next simulation. Doing this somehow gets every single child on the ship vented into space.

** Lt. Shaxs is very impressed at Rutherford's performance in the [=SmorgasBorg=] simulation, and enthusiastically introduces him to the rest of the "Bear Pack" in the security office. Even when Rutherford realizes he's much happier in Engineering, Shaxs supports his choice and willingness to be true to himself.
* BilingualBonus: ''Smörgås'' is Swedish for "sandwich," and because the [=SmorgasBorg=] program was designed to be an UnwinnableTrainingSimulation, the trainee will end up as a Borg sandwich (i.e. a victim of a Borg CurbStompBattle).
* BitingTheHandHumor: While in his HeroicBSOD, Boimler says he should quit Starfleet and go do research on an asteroid station, before going into a detailed explanation of how something will go wrong, he will die with nobody noticing, then when someone discovers his remains, they will need to figure out what went wrong [[ApocalypticLog from his video logs]], a common plot point throughout the franchise. Mariner is genuinely horrified by the very suggestion he would consider this and tells him not to even joke about that.

* CellPhonesAreUseless: Tulgana IV's ion shield blacks out communication, so Mariner and Boimler have to search for K'orin on foot instead of having the ''Cerritos'' use the automatic recall on the shuttle he stole.

* ColorCodedCharacters: The Andorians on Tulgana IV all wear clothing that's black and grey.

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Rutherford cycles through every department on the ship in an effort to make time to watch the pulsar with Tendi, only to realize he won't be happy anywhere but Engineering. She happily accepts his reasoning and just decides to join him in the Jefferies tubes instead, watching it on a PADD instead of from the observation deck.

* DeadBabyComedy: During the asteroid simulation, the impact destroys the kindergarten on Deck 8 and soon after the preschool is breached, resulting in all the children on the ship being ejected into space.

* EarlyBirdCameo: Among the bar patrons in the final scene can be seen Ensign Fletcher from episode 6.

* EnergyBeings: A ball of energy with delusions of godhood infiltrates the ship and makes IneffectualDeathThreats. Mariner forces it to make her a new tricorder (complete with a power pack), exhausting most of its energy, then it fruitlessly tries to kill Captain Freeman with the little power it has left, instead dissipating itself.

** Rutherford later tries to be a doctor and proves a competent surgeon, but his bedside manner leaves much to be desired. He freaks out upon learning his patient somehow survived dilithium burns and has to be escorted out by Dr. T'Ana.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Boimler boasts about getting assigned a diplomatic escort mission, which seems like it would be beyond his pay grade, so to speak. It turns out that K'orin is quite the handful when drunk (and is always drunk), making it likely he got the assignment because no one else wanted it.

* InformedAttractiveness: Tendi considers P'jok (who doesn't appear onscreen) to be a snack, and she imitates the clawing gesture of a feline to further accentuate how "tasty" he is: "Meow!"
* KneelBeforeZod: The EnergyBeing demands that Mariner and Tendi supplicate themselves before it -- until Mariner starts stuffing it into a canister, at which point it begs for mercy.

** Various aliens are met on Tulgana IV, including Klingons, Andorians (mentioned to be one of the founding members of the Federation) and Ferengi. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, the shapeshifter in the bar was a Vendorian (last seen in ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'').
** Mariner falls asleep during the shuttlecraft trip, and mumbles about "Buried alive," "Marooned for eternity" and "Moons of Nibia" -- references to some of Khan's more florid prose in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan''.

** Ransom makes reference to a joystick when describing the command track to Rutherford. ''Insurrection'' had Riker activate a manual pilot joystick in the climatic space battle of the film.
* NoSuchAgency: Apparently {{subverted}} with Section 31. If Boimler (a young ensign) can casually name-drop them, then they're no longer the top-secret black-op boogeymen they were in ''[=DS9=]''.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: Two Andorians appear to be harassing an old man, so Boimler stuns one of them to help out. It turns out the old man is actually a shapeshifter they were trying to apprehend, which kicks off a BarBrawl.

-->'''Boimler''': He could not be any more Ferengi -- the big ears, the beady eyes, the greedy thing they do with their hands.\\

* OhCrap: Rutherford panics and exclaims "Oh, crap!" when he realizes that he must fight a dozen holographic Borg drones because he has no prior combat experience ("I don't know how to fight!"). It then gets {{subverted}} when he activates his cybernetic implant and proceeds to kick serious Borg ass.

* GiftedlyBad: Rutherford manages to fail the basic command training simulation so hard that every child on the ship is vented into space. Ransom is so impressed by the uniqueness of his failure that he wants to run more simulations with even more children just to see what happens.

* HighClassGlass: [[spoiler: Mariner's not-Ferengi friend, seen at the end,]] sports a monocle on a beaded chain, and he speaks English in a fancypants Cornwall accent.

* RubberForeheadAlien: A plot point. An alien is encountered who looks very much like a Ferengi, but [[spoiler: is really from a much nicer race of Ferengi look-alikes]].

* ConfidenceBuildingScheme: Mariner does this for Boimler to help him get his confidence back. She pretends to not recognize a Ferengi or that it was trying to lead them into an obvious trap to mug them, all so Boimler could point it out to her and save them from the Ferengi and snap him out of his HeroicBSOD. The end of the episode reveals that she is actually friends with the Ferengi and had set the whole thing up with him.

* EngineeredHeroics: Mariner does this for Boimler to help him get his confidence back. She pretends to not recognize a Ferengi or that it was trying to lead them into an obvious trap to mug them, all so Boimler could point it out to her and save them from the Ferengi and snap him out of his HeroicBSOD. The end of the episode reveals that she is actually friends with the Ferengi and had set the whole thing up with him.

* ShoutOut:
** The energy being is able to rearrange air molecules into solid matter. The being Fart from the ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS2E2MortynightRun Mortynight Run]]" has the exact same ability, only it didn't drain itself using it.
** The scene where Rutherford beats up a bunch of Borg directed mainly by his implant appears to be inspired by the film ''Film/{{Upgrade}}'', particularly when he punches the ground to lift himself from a prone position in one fluid movement.

* ShoutOut: The energy being is able to rearrange air molecules into solid matter. The being Fart from the ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS2E2MortynightRun Mortynight Run]]" has the exact same ability, only it didn't drain itself using it.

* DeadBabyComedy: During the asteroid simulation, the impact destroys the kindergarten on Deck 8, followed by all the children on the ship being ejected into space.

* GiftedlyBad: Rutherford manages to fail the basic command training simulation so hard that every child on the ship is vented into space. Ransom is so impressed by the uniqueness of his failure that he wants to run more simulations just to see what other kinds of failures Rutherford can manage.