Boimler and Mariner go on an escort mission while Rutherford tries out new jobs in an effort to make time for Tendi.
Tropes:
- Amusing Injuries: Mariner and Tendi laugh at a video of Vice Admiral Gibson falling off a stage during peace negotiations.
- "Ass" in Ambassador: K'orin is a raging alcoholic who regularly steals things (including shuttlecraft). When Boimler and Mariner dump him on the embassy steps, a staff member isn't even surprised to find him barely conscious and vomiting on himself.
- Attack Hello: Mariner attacks K'orin as soon as he shows up, freaking Boimler out. Fortunately, it turns out that Mariner and K'orin are old friends.
- Attack Pattern Alpha: 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.
- Bait-and-Switch: An Energy Being 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.
- Bar Brawl: Boimler accidentally starts one in the Andorian district.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Discussed when Mariner tells Tendi that she would like to start an argument with a cute lieutenant because she finds it attractive when an "uptight hunk is all wound up."
- Benevolent Boss: All of Rutherford's superiors, temporary or otherwise, are supportive of his dreams and are willing to take time out of their day to help him.
- Billups, Rutherford's superior officer and Chief Engineer of the Cerritos, initially looks like he's going to explode when Rutherford requests a transfer out of Engineering... but then grants it without argument, and adds that wherever he goes, they'll be lucky to have him.
- Ransom, the ship's Number Two, is excited at how Giftedly Bad Rutherford is at command. (This might verge past this trope and more into "Ax-Crazy," but continues the theme of good management.)
- Dr. T'Ana is blunt and direct in her assessment that Rutherford has No Social Skills, but acknowledges his promise at the physiological aspects of medicine.
- 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 that he's much happier in Engineering, Shaxs supports his choice and willingness to be true to himself.
- Beyond the Impossible: 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?!
- Bilingual Bonus: Smörgås is Swedish for "sandwich," and because the SmorgasBorg program was designed to be an Unwinnable Training Simulation, the trainee is expected to end up as a Borg sandwich (i.e. a victim of a Borg Curb-Stomp Battle).
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: While in his Heroic BSoD, Boimler says that 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 from his video logs, a common plot point throughout the franchise. Mariner is genuinely horrified by the very suggestion that he would consider this and tells him not to even joke about that.
- Blasting It Out of Their Hands: Boimler disarms the Ferengi in this fashion after he pulls a knife.
- Blatant Lies: Rutherford is lying through his teeth when he denies to Tendi that he switched departments in order to have more free time to spend with her.Tendi: I mean, it's not like you were trying all those new jobs just to hang with me, right?
Rutherford: (awkwardly laughing) Naw, yeah, naw. Could you imagine? - Buffy Speak:Mariner: We can't have you co-flying angry. I need you co-calm.
- Catchphrase: Discussed when Freeman wants something cool to exclaim when the ship goes to warp, and she asks an officer if "It's warp time!" sounds good.
- Cell Phones Are Useless: 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 that he stole.
- Chew-Out Fake-Out: Whenever Rutherford broaches changing career tracks, his superior seems to be on the verge of yelling at him. Instead (as seen in Benevolent Boss above) they wish him well on his new job.
- City of Adventure: Tulgana IV is host to nearly every known species in the Alpha quadrant, and seems to be a place where anything can happen to anyone.
- Color-Coded Characters: The Andorians on Tulgana IV all wear black and grey clothing.
- Confidence Building Scheme: Mariner does this for Boimler to help him get his confidence back. She pretends to not recognize a Ferengi or that he 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 Heroic BSoD. The end of the episode reveals that she is actually friends with the Ferengi and had set the whole thing up with him.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Rutherford cycles through every department on the ship in an effort to make time to watch the pulsar with Tendi, only to realize that 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.
- Crowd Chant: The Engineering staff chant Rutherford's name as a way of demonstrating their support of his decision to switch to a different department.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Thanks to his cybernetics, Rutherford is able to take down a roomful of simulated Borg drones without missing a breath.
- Dead Baby Comedy: During the asteroid simulation, the impact destroys the kindergarten on Deck 8 and the preschool is breached soon after, resulting in all the children on the ship being ejected into space.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Mariner tackles an energy being and manages to wrangle it into a canister, forcing it to bargain for its freedom.
- Double Entendre: Ransom's description of command could be mistaken for something naughty.Ransom: Nothing compares to the firm, hot pulse of a joystick in your hand.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Ensign Fletcher from episode 6 can be seen among the bar patrons in the final scene.
- Effeminate Voice: Boimler frightfully squeals in a high-pitched tone when Mariner engages in a scuffle with K'orin.Boimler: (panicked) Mariner, what are you doing?! What, no! What are you doing?! What...?! No!
- Energy Beings: A ball of energy with delusions of godhood infiltrates the ship and makes Ineffectual Death Threats. 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 that it has left, instead dissipating itself.
- Epic Fail:
- When Rutherford undergoes an advanced command training simulation, it's a total disaster.Computer: Ship destroyed. Casualties: 105%.
Rutherford: Wait, how did I kill more than the whole crew?! - His handling of a basic command simulation (which is supposed to be much easier) is apparently the worst result in Starfleet.Holographic Lieutenant: All the ship's children have been ejected into space!
Rutherford: All those kids...
Ransom: Freeze program. In thousands of simulations, that's literally never happened before. - 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 that his patient somehow survived dilithium burns, and has to be escorted out by Dr. T'Ana.
- When Rutherford undergoes an advanced command training simulation, it's a total disaster.
- Everything's Better with Sparkles: When Rutherford glances at a Jeffries tube that's connected to the Security room, it sparkles. Jeffries tubes aren't shiny, so the sparkles are metaphorical, not literal. They illustrate that the Jeffries tube is beautiful to him.
- Famed In-Story: According to Boimler, K'orin is one of the most decorated, battle-hardened Klingon warriors in history, and a Klingon woman who sells gagh considers it a great privilege to personally serve him a meal.
- Fanservice Extra: There are a lot of scantily-clad people at the Risan district of Tulgana IV.
- Fantastic Racism: Two Kaelons give a Disapproving Look to the humans Mariner and Boimler, and the latter brings up the fact that they're notoriously isolationist.
- Five-Finger Discount: Mariner tricks the Taxor who was hurting Boimler by pretending to throw his coin purse somewhere in the market, but she actually stole the alien's money.
- 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 he's always drunk), making it likely that Boimler got the assignment because no one else wanted it.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: There's a wide shot of the area surrounding the park, and on the left side, one can spot the logos of the Ferengi Alliance and the Romulan Star Empire on top of buildings, which indicate that they have embassies on Tulgana IV.
- Gasp!:
- There's a collective gasp in Engineering when Rutherford tells Billups that he wants to explore other opportunities on the ship.
- The "Bear Pack" also react in the same way when Rutherford informs Shaxs that Security isn't for him.
- Get Out!: When Rutherford's terrible bedside manner causes a patient to panic, Dr. T'Ana shouts, "GET OUT OF HERE!"
- Giftedly Bad: 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 a different simulation with even more children just to see what happens.
- Gilligan Cut:
- While being dismissed from Medical, T'Ana tells Rutherford that he might as well be with the grunts in Security. Cut to Rutherford being escorted by Shaxs into a combat training simulation.
- Boimler promises not to tell anyone about Mariner mistaking an Obviously Evil Ferengi for a Bolian. Cut to him sharing that anecdote with everyone at the ship's bar. It then turns out that she set up the incident to help him regain his confidence.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: In the SmorgasBorg simulation, Rutherford at one point rips off a drone's arm and uses it to slap said drone silly. He later throws a Borg at two others, and the impact deactivates all three of them.
- Groin Attack: Boimler impales his groin on an alien's spikes during a Bar Brawl.
- Hard Light: The transdimensional being is ostensibly composed of pure energy, yet Mariner is able to grab hold of it like it's a squishy ball.
- Heroic BSoD: After being wrong about almost everything, Boimler fears that he's not cut out for Starfleet.
- High-Class Glass: Mariner's Ferengi friend, seen at the end, sports a monocle on a beaded chain, and he speaks English in a fancypants Cornwall accent.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Mariner claims that she's serious about the mission, and then is immediately distracted by the shuttlecraft's blast shield function, which she plays with like it's a toy.Boimler: I wish you would take this seriously.
Mariner: I am. Ooh! This is the new shuttle with the blast shield! Yeah! (singing) It's a blast shield, it's a blast shield. It comes down and it goes up. Blast shield! - Improvised Weapon: Rutherford tears off a section of the metal railing and uses it as a lance against two holographic Borg drones.
- Informed Attractiveness: Tendi considers P'jok (who doesn't appear on-screen) to be a snack, and she imitates the clawing gesture of a feline to further accentuate how "tasty" he is: "Meow!"
- Kneel Before Zod: The Energy Being demands that Mariner and Tendi supplicate themselves before it— until Mariner starts stuffing it into a canister, at which point it begs for mercy.
- My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Boimler fails at speaking Taxor.Boimler: Female feces inside outside feces.
Taxor: [roars and attacks] - Mythology Gag:
- A transdimensional being invades the ship, a common plot point in TOS.
- Captain Freeman tries to come up with a cool phrase for when the ship goes to warp. This is probably because one of Picard's famous phrases is "Engage."
- Boimler wears his dress uniform, commonly worn when meeting visiting dignitaries.
- 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 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
- 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 Star Trek: The Animated Series).
- Janeway apparently got a maneuver named after her just like Picard after returning from the Delta Quadrant. It's useful for deadly emergencies, but a very bad idea for mundane issues like an asteroid in your path.
- Ransom makes reference to a joystick when describing the command track to Rutherford. Insurrection had Riker activate a manual pilot joystick in the climactic space battle of the film.
- No Such Agency: 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 that they were in DS9.
- Not What It Looks Like: 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 Vendorian that they were trying to apprehend, which kicks off a Bar Brawl.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: After Billups praises Rutherford's work and tells him that he's an invaluable member of the Engineering department, Rutherford feels that much more guilty for requesting a transfer.Billups: Rutherford, great work on the EPS grid. I wish I had more engineers like you. My life would be a lot simpler.
Rutherford: Uh, thanks. Uh, can we talk for a second?
Billups: Just for a second? Don't tease me. Come on, man, you're my number-one-with-a-bullet-systems guy. I got time for you in spades.
Rutherford: Um... (chuckles nervously) - Obviously Evil: Invoked In-Universe by Boimler when he and Mariner encounter a very suspicious-looking Ferengi.Boimler: He could not be any more Ferengi— the big ears, the beady eyes, the greedy thing they do with their hands.
Ferengi: [performs the greedy hands gesture] Hyoo-mon. Myah.
Boimler: Ferengi are the most untrustworthy race in the galaxy. He probably just wants to lure us over there so he can mug us. - Oh, Crap!: 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.
- Oh, My Gods!: Awed by Rutherford's performance in the SmorgasBorg simulation, Shaxs gasps, "In the name of the Prophets!"
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Downplayed, but Rutherford has some aptitude at both blue-shirt stuff (medicine) and his own yellow shirt (engineering, security). Command, on the other hand, just isn't his cup of tea.
- Over 100% Completion: Played for Laughs. After Rutherford fails the advanced command training simulation, the computer informs him that the casualties are at 105%. He somehow killed more holographic characters than what was generated by the holodeck for that program.
- Potty Failure: K'orin gets drunk and poops on his bat'leth.
- P.O.V. Cam: We get a brief glimpse of Rutherford's point-of-view when he confronts a group of holographic Borg drones.
- Punctuation Shaker: Discussed by Tendi and Mariner.Tendi: K'orin, how do I know that name?
Mariner: Maybe it's just 'cause Klingon names sound the same? Like, they all have an apostrophe for some reason.
Tendi: Yes, that's it! - Punny Name: The name of Shaxs' combat program initially sounds like "Smörgåsbord," the Swedish buffet, but after a dozen holographic Borg drones materialize, we realize that what he actually meant was "SmorgasBorg."
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: Boimler tells Mariner and Tendi to guess who got the best assignment on the ship. They start guessing everyone but him.
- Sarcasm Mode: 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."
- Screams Like a Little Girl: Boimler screeches at a high pitch when an Andorian is about to smash his head in with a vase.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Mariner manages to insert herself into Boimler's escort mission as the primary pilot, outranking him, which she credits to pulling some strings.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Mariner tries to stuff the energy being into a canister when it threatens her and Tendi. It offers to make anything that they want if she'll stop.
- Ship Tease: Tendi is mildly disappointed that Rutherford is spending so much time working in the Jeffries tubes that he can't watch the pulsar with her, and then hugs him when he suggests changing jobs so they can spend more time together. At the end, she happily compromises by using her PADD to watch the pulsar in the tubes with him.
- Shock and Awe: The transdimensional being unleashes bolts of its own energy, although its attacks don't seem to be all that harmful because Mariner can subdue it with her bare hands and she doesn't get hurt when it zaps her. After being severely drained of its power, the alien attempts to kill Freeman, but ends up dissipating itself on impact.
- Shout-Out: The energy being is able to rearrange air molecules into solid matter. The being Fart from the Rick and Morty episode "Mortynight Run" has the exact same ability, only it didn't drain itself using it.
- "Shut Up!" Gunshot: Mariner fires her phaser into the air to end a Bar Brawl.
- Someone's Touching My Butt: Implied to happen to Mariner after she's lifted up by a crowd in a bar for paying off the next five rounds for everyone.Mariner: Excuse me. Sir, I don't know you. That is Starfleet property you're handling.
- Sound-Effect Bleep: We hear a bleep instead of "fucking" when a Lieutenant curses at K'orin ("Are you [bleep] kidding me?").
- Teleport Interdiction: Tulgana IV is protected by an ion field that restricts communication and transporters. This forces Boimler and Mariner to trek through the districts on foot to find K'orin rather than using the automatic recall on the shuttle.
- Unwinnable Training Simulation: Shaxs created a combat simulation called SmorgasBorg which was designed to teach his trainees how to handle defeat (the participant has to single-handedly fight a dozen Borg drones unarmed), but Rutherford emerges victorious thanks to the instructions provided by his cybernetic implant.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Occurs when a drunken K'orin is dropped off at the embassy.K'orin: (to Starfleet receptionist) I demand you give me an honorable—[retches]
