History Recap / StarTrekLowerDecksS1E04MoistVessel

* GenerationShip: The alien ship is referred to as one but given that all the crew are in stasis, it's a SleeperStarship.

* SleeperStarship: Despite being called a "generation ship," the stranded alien vessel has all its passengers "mummified" in SuspendedAnimation capsules.

* FreezeFrameBonus: The ''Merced'''s serial number is NCC-87075. (This seems a missed opportunity, as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIP_Code ZIP Codes]] for the city of Merced are 9534something.)

* NoOntologicalInertia: The terraforming fluid tears through the ''Cerritos'', creating all sorts of messes both in the corridors and on the hull. Yet when Mariner and Freeman {{technobabble}} up a solution, all the growths revert to orange dust with nary a sign of ship damage. (This includes O'Connor's injuries from having a huge rock fall on him.) Averted with the ''Merced'', which is beyond saving and has to be abandoned.

'''Tendi:''' ''(chuckles)'' And who cares? Not me. ''(angrily)'' So who are these few people? What did they say? Do they not like me? You know what, I don't care. ''(grabs Rutherford by the collar)'' But if someone said something, I feel like I should know. WHO WAS IT?!

'''Ransom:''' Brilliant idea. That's why you're the captain.

The ''Cerritos'' is on a joint mission with the USS ''Merced'' to tow a generation ship to a new destination. Tendi attends an ascension ritual until it goes awry.

-->'''Tendi:''' I'm about to go watch an ascension.
-->'''Rutherford:''' What? That's amazing! What's an ascension?

* ParrotExposition: Freeman repeats Ransom's suggestion on how to handle Mariner nearly verbatim, and he allows her to take credit for it.
-->'''Ransom:''' Why not reassign [Mariner] to all the worst jobs? That way, transferring would be her idea, not yours.\\
'''Freeman:''' Well, we could reassign her to all the nastiest jobs on the ship. That way, transferring her would be her idea, not mine.\\
'''Ransom:''' Brilliant idea. That's why you're the captain.

* NoOntologicalInertia: The terraforming fluid tears through the ''Cerritos'', creating all sorts of messes both in the corridors and on the hull. Yet when Mariner and Freeman {{technobabble}} up a solution, all the growths revert to orange fluid with nary a sign of ship damage. (This includes O'Connor's injuries from having a huge rock fall on him.) Averted with the ''Merced'', which is beyond saving and has to be abandoned.

* HostileTerraforming: The alien ship has an orange goo that converts inorganic matter to organic matter, which is why Starfleet wants to study it. Unfortunately, it does so indiscriminately and was meant for a different species, which causes problems when it infests both starships.
* IdiotBall: Captain Durango moves the ''Merced'' closer to the generation ship than the ''Cerritos'' because he insists on making sure that he's the one who gets credit for the mission. This causes his tractor beam to exert too much force on the hull, rupturing it and releasing the terraforming goo. The {{irony}} is that he was saying in the ColdOpening about how slight deviations in the tractor beam could damage the ship.

* NoOntologicalInertia: The terraforming goo tears through the ''Cerritos'', creating all sorts of messes both in the corridors and on the hull. Yet when Mariner and Freeman {{technobabble}} up a solution, all the growths revert to orange goo with nary a sign of ship damage. (This includes O'Connor's injuries from having a huge rock fall on him.) Averted with the ''Merced'', which is beyond saving and has to be abandoned.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The sand mandala that O'Connor makes has the image of a person within the image of a bird, and together [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/7/71/Mandala.png/revision/latest?cb=20200827115201&path-prefix=en they vaguely form the face of a koala.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The sand mandala that O'Connor makes has the image of a person within the image of a bird, and together they vaguely form the face of a koala.

'''Mariner:''' Yeah, that's what I thought, Carol.

* CommonalityConnection: After O'Connor admits that he's a jerk for pretending to be someone he's not just so that others would think he was unique and interesting, Tendi instantly latches on to the trait that they share in common.

** Mariner saves Freeman from being impaled by a jagged rock by shoving her mother forward.

* TheDreadedToiletDuty: The sci-fi equivalent apparently involves emptying out the holodeck's bio- filters, which contain all the byproducts of the [[TheInternetIsForPorn less savory]] uses of the holodeck. Mariner nearly throws up doing so.

* DreamRealityCheck: Boimler slaps himself and pinches his cheeks when Mariner gets promoted, hoping it's all a dream.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The sand mandala O'Connor makes has the image of a person within the image of a bird, and together they vaguely form the face of a koala.

* GlowingFlora: There are pink bulbs that, when plucked from the large blue plant they grow on, will glow and then explode.

* IdiotBall: Captain Durango moves the ''Merced'' closer to the generation ship than the ''Cerritos'' because he insists on making sure he's the one who gets credit for the mission. This causes his tractor beam to exert too much force on the hull, rupturing it and releasing the terraforming goo. The {{irony}} is that he was saying in the ColdOpening about how slight deviations in the tractor beam could damage the ship.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: O'Connor confesses to Tendi that he was merely pretending to want to ascend so that people would notice him more, and he hoped this would boost his Starfleet career.

* KickedUpstairs: Since assigning her to menial tasks doesn't discourage her, Mariner gets promoted to Lieutenant as a punishment instead of a reward.
* MyBelovedSmother: At least some of the resentment Mariner feels for Freeman stems from this, with Freeman often questioning Mariner's choices and generally being overprotective.

** As O'Connor ascends, he reports that he can see Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was a form one of the aliens took in ''TOS''.

* StatusQuoIsGod: One of the four Ensigns promoted to Lieutenant? A main character getting a costume change? We already know it's not going to last, especially because it's Mariner.
* StealthPun: The command crew of the ''Cerritos'' always folds in their weekly poker game. In other words, none of the command crew for one of the least important ships in Starfleet takes risks.

* CosmicEntity: When O'Connor undergoes the ascension process, he sees a vortex with a glowing, smiling koala at its center, and he tells Tendi that the universe is balanced on the back of a giant koala.