History Recap / StarTrekLowerDecksS3E09TrustedSources

** SeenItAll is deconstructed as well by being the whole reason none of the approved interviewees realize that the anecdotes they told Nuzé sound ridiculous out of context. To the crew of the ''Cerritos'', the anecdotes are just something they go through every day; to an outsider like Nuzé, they're the bizarre misadventures of a bunch of unprofessional idiots, something nobody realizes until it's too late.

** SeenItAll is deconstructed as well by being the whole reason none of the approved interviewees realize that the anecdotes they told Nuzé sound ridiculous out of context. To the crew of the ''Cerritos'', the anecdotes are just something they go through every day; to an outsider like Nuzé, they're the bizarre misadventures of a bunch of unprofessional idiots, a perception [[DiggingYourselfDeeper not exactly lessened]] by them shunning Mariner for supposedly badmouthing the ship.

** SeenItAll is deconstructed as well by being the whole reason none of the approved interviewees realize that the anecdotes they told Nuzé sound ridiculous out of context. To the crew of the ''Cerritos'', the anecdotes are just something they go through every day; to Nuzé, an outsider, they're the bizarre misadventures of a bunch of unprofessional idiots, a perception [[DiggingYourselfDeeper not exactly lessened]] by them shunning Mariner for supposedly badmouthing the ship.

** SeenItAll is deconstructed as well by being the whole reason none of the approved interviewees realize that the anecdotes they told Nuzé sound ridiculous out of context. To the crew of the ''Cerritos'', the anecdotes are just something they go through every day; to Nuzé, an outsider, they're the bizarre misadventures of a bunch of unprofessional idiots, and shunning Mariner for supposedly badmouthing the ship does ''not'' make them look any better.

** SeenItAll is deconstructed as well by being the whole reason none of the approved interviewees realize that the anecdotes they told Nuzé sound ridiculous out of context. To the crew of the ''Cerritos'', the anecdotes are just something they go through every day; to Nuzé, an outsider, they're the bizarre misadventures of a bunch of unprofessional idiots, and shunning Mariner for supposedly badmouthing her crewmates does ''not'' make them look any better.

* DeconstructedTrope:

* AbandonmentInducedAnimosity: Downplayed with the Ornarans. The citizens that Freeman meets with are polite to her and everyone else and explain how they recently pulled themselves together after conquering their planet-wide drug addiction. However, because Starfleet abandoned them for all the years they were going through withdrawal without support, even though it is acknowledged that Picard did the right thing by doing so, they respectfully decline any support Captain Freedman offers, since they don't want anything to do with Starfleet.

* MisplacedRetribution: Despite how hard and consistently Mariner has worked to reform herself to Starfleet standards (only one episode ago, her evaluation from Ransom was flawless), everyone assumes Mariner was the only one dishing out the dirt to Nuzé because [[BlackSheep that's always been her reputation]]. While Mariner did give an unauthorized interview, she was actually the only one who ''didn't'' say anything unflattering about the crew. She genuinely doesn't understand why everyone is angry at her because [[PoorCommunicationKills no one bothers to explain]]. Her punitive transfer to [[ReassignedToAntarctica Starbase 80]] becomes the final straw that convinces her to resign from Starfleet.

"Project Swing By," a new Starfleet protocol Captain Freeman proposed which essentially involves follow-ups on the Planet of the Week, is put into action, with the ''Cerritos'' leading the charge. However, Adm. Buenamigo has also inaugurated the occasion by assigning FNN reporter Victoria Nuzé to the ship to document events. This puts Freeman on edge: there's no telling what her crew will tell the reporter... Especially if Nuz&eacute gets to Mariner.

"Project Swing By," a new Starfleet protocol Captain Freeman proposed which essentially involves follow-ups on the Planet of the Week, is put into action, with the ''Cerritos'' leading the charge. However, Adm. Buenamigo has also inaugurated the occasion by assigning FNN reporter Victoria Nuzé to the ship to document events, putting Freeman on edge.

* CerebusCallBack: Nuzé mentions, during her [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech recitation of Freeman's many misadventures]], that the horror show they inflicted on [[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS2E08IExcretus Shari yn Yem]] had an even worse effect on her than it first appeared. AssholeVictim though she may have been, it's unlikely the Captain wanted to [[DisproportionateRetribution give her an actual heart attack]].

* WhamShot: When Ransom encourages a Brekkian to come out of hiding and she is immediately ''vaporized'', it yanks the episode out of its parody of PlanetOfTheWeek plots into something much darker.

* InternalDeconstruction: The ''Cerritos'' visits Onara and Brekka after the ''Enterprise'' visited them way back in TNG's first season episode "Symbiosis", about 17 years ago in-universe. In that episode, Picard saw the toxic relationship between the Onarans and Brekkians, the former having become highly addicted to a drug made by the latter. After weighing his options, he made the choice to not assist in repairing the Brekkian transport ships with the knowledge their supply line would crumble apart and force the two species to change their ways. When Freeman arrives with her senior staff to see how the Onarans are doing, they have progressed to a pleasant society where all the people are friendly and even-tempered. But, as they explain, this reformation was preceded by a period of major strife, and they have only recently managed to set themselves on a healthier path. [[HardTruthAesop Picard's rationale was correct, but he perhaps didn't anticipate the severity of going cold turkey]]. The Onarans are respectful to the landing party, but seem uninterested in further communication with the Federation. As for Brekka, there are few hints as to how they weathered being cut off from their sole customer, other than the Breen being able to conquer their society with a mere three ships.

* SeenItAll: Victoria learned of a large number of crazy adventures the Cerritos crew has been involved with and shares them with Freeman, who tries to defend it as events near ''every'' Starfleet ship has had to deal with. [[spoiler: The end of episode twist actually [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructs]] this trope; the crew is ''so'' used to said misadventures being an everyday part of Starfleet life that none of the officers Victoria was cleared to interview realized at the time that their casual anecdotes would make the ship look ''really bad'' to the average person.]]

* SeenItAll: Victoria learned of a large number of crazy adventures the Cerritos crew has been involved with and shares them with Freeman, who tries to defend it as events near ''every'' Starfleet ship has had to deal with.

** DudeWheresMyRespect stops being a funny quirk that Freeman has; instead, her obsession with getting Starfleet to recognize her and ''California''-class ships does real damage. Once more, Freeman has a chance to raise her standing with Starfleet, and she uses superfluous means to make herself look better. She even flips out and transfers Mariner to Starbase 80 when she thinks that she made her and the ship look bad. However, her big day is overshadowed by the Breen attack and the arrival of the ''Texas''-class, and it turns out that her punishment to Mariner was completely unfounded and caused Mariner to resign from Starfleet in disgust.

* ReassignedToAntarctica: Mariner is transferred to Starbase 80 as Freeman believes she shared damaging information to Victoria. Ransom previously [[AnythingButThat threatened her with that reassignment]] before recanting, saying [[EveryoneHasStandards he isn't that cruel]]. We don't see much of Starbase 80, but the shuttle looked rusted to hell, their officers [[TheStoner behave as though stoned]], they wear ugly mustard yellow jumpsuits, and the base itself appears to have a rodent infestation while also smelling like garbage and sweat. Mariner resigned within days.

* MilitaryMaverick: Mariner insists on conducting a one-on-one interview with Victoria Nuzé to tell the "real story" about the ''Cerritos'', in blatant defiance of her mother's others. Even though she was the only interviewee who had nothing but nice things to say, Freeman and Ransom take it for granted that she was the one who revealed the mishaps of the ''Cerritos'' to Nuzé and punish her.

** The ''Cerritos'' was planning a pie-eating contest on the same day as the reporter came by, which Freeman canceled to keep up appearances. The Lower Deckers are deeply disappointed to watch all those replicated pies be thrown away.

* WhamEpisode: Mariner gets transferred to Starbase 80 after she's accused of revealing all the mishaps that the ''Cerritos'' went through to the reporter without permission, only to be proven innocent when it's revealed that everyone else who was interviewed did it, and by the time Freeman tries to apologize to Mariner, she already resigned from Starfleet and takes up [[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS3E05Reflections Petra's offer]] to become an independent archaeologist like her. Also, the Breen are back.

** Freeman and Ransom chew Mariner out for making the ''Cerritos'' look bad by telling the reporter embarrassing stories. The rest of the crew holds the same opinion. They were wrong to do so.
*** Ransom gives a minor one to Freeman about the severity of Mariner's punishment, having previously said [[EveryoneHasStandards he'd never reassign anyone to Starbase 80]]. The latter reveal supports his opinion.

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: "Operation Swing By" is a program where the ships will mame follow up contact with planets after initial contact, i e. the Second Contact missions the ''California''-class are supposed to be doing in the first place.