After Captain Freeman establishes a new work protocol eliminating "buffer time" in order to increase productivity and improve the ship's reputation, the Lower Decks crew finds itself run ragged as they try to keep up with their tightened schedules. Meanwhile, Ensign Mariner and Commander Ransom's mutual lack of respect comes to a head during an away mission.
Tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: Shaxs addresses Boimler as "Brimler."
- An Aesop:
- People need downtime. Constant work with no time to rest will lead to burnout and exhaustion.
- Forcing people to rush through assigned tasks in order to meet arbitrary and/or unrealistic timelines will lead to hasty and sloppy work and dangerous workplace practices.
- Alien Blood: Ensign Vendome, a Bolian, bleeds blue after his shoulder is pierced by a crystal spear.
- Angry Animalistic Growl: Dr. T'Ana viciously hisses when she performs a dropkick against three Gelrakian soldiers.
- Artistic License – Martial Arts: Crosses over into What the Fu Are You Doing? When Ransom goes into a Trial by Combat he tears off his shirt and proceeds to fight entirely with two-handed bludgeon attacks, as a reference to the often stilted choreography of The Original Series fist fights. Absolutely absurd, but surprisingly it actually works.
- Badass Boast: Ransom tells Vindor that he doesn't even need a battle blade.(after dropping the battle blade) "Come on big guy. I only need my hands for this one!"
- Battle Strip: Ransom completely rips off the shirt of his Starfleet uniform just before his Trial by Combat.
- Blatant Lies:
- When Mariner's music reverberates throughout the ship, interrupting a call with the Klingons, Freeman claims to the Klingon captain that the sound is coming from his ship. He buys it while Freeman sends Shaxs off to silence the noise.
- When Mariner tests her phaser on the brig force field while Boimler is on the other side, he insists that she could have killed him. She assures him that it's fine, pauses when she realizes what she had the phaser set to, then quickly sets it to stun and claims that it was always set to stun.
- Blown Across the Room: When Boimler tests the integrity of a force field from the inside of a brig, his body flies through the air and smashes against the back wall.
- Blunt "Yes": At one point, Mariner asks a Gelrakian guard if capturing people and then guarding them is really fulfilling for him. The guard replies with this trope, briefly throwing Mariner off-kilter.
- Boarding Pod: The Gelrakians use them to board the Cerritos.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Mariner and Ransom's argument in an alien prison. Mariner snaps that, despite his broad shoulders and flashy hair, Ransom isn't a very effective commander. He doesn't know when to break protocol and stop making speeches, and it's gotten them all locked up. For his part, Ransom retorts that Mariner doesn't really seem to have any long-term plan at all, is too busy getting off on deliberately breaking protocol to notice or care, and her flippant attitude — which, despite her being second-in-command on the away team, was completely unhelpful earlier — is eventually going to get someone killed.
- Brick Joke:
- Just before leaving on the away mission, Ransom orders Mariner to roll down her sleeves. After Mariner is healed in Sickbay, Ransom has her thrown in the brig because she never rolled her sleeves down.
- During the initial crunch-time montage, a vat of acid burns a hole in the floor of one of the cargo bays. Rutherford later tricks the Gelrakians into it, dropping them to the next deck.
- Bridal Carry: Ransom carries Mariner in this fashion because she has great difficulty walking thanks to the severe foot injury that he gave to her. It also demonstrates how strong he is because he effortlessly lifts her up into his arms.
- Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Vindor, the colossal Gelrakian gladiator, fights using a huge club studded with crystalline spikes.
- Butt-Monkey: Boimler gets his violin snapped in half by Shaxs because Mariner was playing loudly, but by the time Shaxs arrives, she's stopped and he hasn't.
- Calling Your Attacks: Ransom shouts "Double-fist punch!" and "Interlocked hands!" when battling Vindor.
- Captain Morgan Pose: Ransom assumes this pose while trying to talk the Gelrakians down— and gets whacked in the groin and zapped by an electro-net.Ransom: Attention, Gelrakians, I'm Commander Jack—(gets whacked)
- Casual Danger Dialog: Boimler has a heart-to-heart with Freeman about the necessity of buffer time in the middle of an invasion. Shaxs occasionally butts in to point out the obvious and suggests that Boimler hurry it up.
- Comically Missing the Point: Vindor suggests that, instead of trial by combat, they should just have a regular trial with a judge. The leader somehow takes away that they should get a death race going.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Boimler is naturally very by-the-book and proves to be largely unaffected by the removal of Buffer Time. While the rest of the crew is too exhausted to handle the invaders, Boimler casually phasers the spear wielding Gelrakians and practically strolls through the chaos to get to the bridge.
- Crowd Chant: When Ransom enters the arena for his Trial by Combat, the Gelrakian spectators shout Vindor's name to cheer for their champion.
- Cruel to Be Kind: Ransom stabs Mariner in the foot with the sword they were given for the Trial by Combat because she was insisting on being the one to fight. Ransom may be a bit of a blowhard, but being the senior officer the safety of the away team was his responsibility.
- Crystal Landscape: Gelrak is covered in fields of towering purple crystals covered in complex carvings by the locals, who center every part of their culture around using and/or revering crystals.
- David Versus Goliath: Ransom is dwarfed by the humongous Vindor, but defeats him anyway during the Trial by Combat.
- A Day in the Limelight: Ransom leading the away mission allows him to be the focus.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Boimler hums a couple bars of the theme tune while alone in a turbolift.
- Distant Epilogue: The last scene takes place an indeterminate but very long period of time in the future, where the episode's events have become fuzzily-remembered legend.
- Dramatic Irony: Boimler convinces Freeman that most people can't work under extremely strict timelines. Freeman then names a rule after him, which is basically the opposite of his core personality.
- Drinking on Duty: Mariner spends her buffer time ordering margaritas for herself and her friends. This being a Starfleet vessel, it's probable the margaritas use synthehol in place of regular alcohol, though it wouldn't be out of character for Mariner to replicate the genuine article. In either case, the ensigns aren't likely to get drunk off just one.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Freeman feels like the Cerritos is considered a joke by the rest of Starfleet, and enforces a set of extremely strict workspace regulations in an attempt to improve the ship's reputation.
- Easily Forgiven: After the conflict is resolved, the crew forgives the Gelrakians for attacking them over an accident, and the Gelrakians also apologize for their actions once they receive the honor crystal.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Late in the Trial by Combat, Mariner is lustfully staring at a shirtless Ransom.
- Emerging from the Shadows: The Gelrakian leader describes how Vindor would usually emerge from the shadows at the arena for maximum intimidation, but they'll skip that since he's present right now. Vindor still manages to pull it off.
- Every Scar Has a Story: Mariner prides herself on her collection of scars, as they speak to her experience at dealing with aliens.Mariner: See this bad boy? Tentacle guy, bunch of arms. Stabbed me with a barnacle blade. Check it out— Magus III, Nanibia Prime, Scottsdale. That was a mess. I earned every one in high-concept fights just like this one.
- Exhausted Eye Bags: Everyone on the Cerritos except Boimler gets these as buffer time is eschewed and they're forced to work nonstop. Captain Freeman also develops eye bags even if she's not completely non-functional.
- Exhaustion-Induced Idiocy: All over the place, courtesy of the elimination of buffer time. Vendome brings the wrong token to the Gelrakians and pisses them off, and Shaxs attacks Boimler on the bridge thinking him to be an enemy.
- Famous, Famous, Fictional: Inverted. Mariner's locations, as listed under "Every Scar Has a Story," have two foreign planets followed by the very real Scottsdale, Arizona
. - Fanservice: Ransom’s Walking Shirtless Scene during his Trial by Combat with Vindor. Not only is Mariner blatantly leering at his Heroic Build during the fight (which the camera also makes sure to focus on), but Ransom’s skin also has a noticeable sheen to it, making it look like he’s been oiled.
- Fanservice Extra: The hunky guy with only a towel wrapped around his waist who was first seen in "Second Contact" reappears in the hallway where the ensigns sleep.
- Fantastic Racism: The crystal-revering Gelrakians really hate the wood-worshippers of Mavok Prime.
- Future Imperfect: In the Distant Epilogue, the episode's events are recalled in a very distorted manner where Boimler, the prissy and by-the-book ensign, is remembered as a chronically tardy and corner-cutting figure due to the Boimler Effect having overshadowed all other parts of his life.
- Gilligan Cut: Boimler is assured by his friends that the "Boimler Effect" will be forgotten by history. Cut to "The Far Future," where Boimler is revered as the opposite of the person that he was (at the time of the episode). Chief Miles O'Brien is also revered as a hero, but that one is entirely deserved.
- Gladiator Games: Trial by Combat is a spectator sport on Gelrak V, and there's a large crowd at the arena for the Ransom vs. Vindor battle.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: Ransom doesn't even try to use the battle blade against Vindor, which makes it seem like he's Too Dumb to Live and is about to get his ass kicked. Yeah, not so much. He’s okay with stabbing Mariner in the foot with it, though.
- Hidden Depths: Ransom proves to not be as much a By-the-Book Cop as he appears to be. Neither his diplomacy or Mariner's gun-ho attitude help them get out of their situation, but when the Trial by Combat is offered he decides to injure Mariner to keep her from participating. He proceeds to tear off his shirt and beat down his opponent bare handed, earning their release. When all was done he fully expected Mariner to report him for harming her and was expecting a court martial for it. He IS willing to break the rules but doesn't try to skirt responsibility.
- Hollywood Acid: The acid that spills in the cargo bay completely dissolves a large section of the floor.
- Honor Before Reason: Captain Freeman decides to eliminate buffer time and constrain her crew to nonstop work, even in the middle of an invasion of their ship, because she feels slighted by Starfleet.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: When the Gelrakians poke their heads into the Bridge, demanding crystals, Boimler shouts at them that the Cerritos doesn't have crystals. Except dilithium, but the Gelrakians can't have those. The Gelrakians immediately double their efforts to force their way inside.
- Improvised Weapon: While repelling the Gelrakians, many of the crew use their PADDs as bludgeoning weapons.
- In Love with Your Carnage: Inverted; Mariner is turned on by Ransom’s continued upholding of Starfleet ideals even during his Trial by Combat.Mariner: (after Ransom tells Vindor that Starfleet recognizes the Gelrakians’ sovereignty) Mmmm… so ethical.
- Insufficiently Advanced Alien: The Gelrakians have starships, yet use crystal spears in combat that shoot graffiti beams. Boimler is incredulous that anyone would even bother with Red Alert for such pathetic opponents. Rutherford even lampshades the inferiority of Gelrakian weapons.Rutherford: Swords and spears? How did these guys get on board?
- I Take Offense to That Last One: Occurs after Shaxs tackles Boimler and realizes his mistake.Shaxs: Oh, it's just that huffy Ensign.
Boimler: I'm not huffy! - Kick the Dog: Starfleet pulls Captain Freeman from the peace negotiations with the Cardassians at the last minute and reassigns her to a menial gift-exchange mission. This is what drives Freeman to go to such extreme lengths to prove that her ship is just as good as any other in Starfleet.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Occurs when Mariner inspires Ransom to fight Vindor to save the away team.Ransom: [tears off his shirt] Let's do this!
- Loud of War: Mariner plays her electric guitar at such a high volume that the sound causes tremors throughout the ship.
- Meaningful Look: After Boimler finishes playing "Essence", a Vulcan and a blue-skinned alien in attendance glance at each other with a quiet understanding that his violin composition wasn't great.
- Mister Big: The Gelrakian leader is the shortest person among his species that we see on-screen.
- More Hero than Thou: The Gelrakian leader tells Mariner and Ransom that they'll have to choose who fights Vindor in a death match, expecting it to be a divisive Sadistic Choice. Instead, Ransom and Mariner start bickering immediately to claim the responsibility, befuddling the leader.Gelrakian leader: You do realize you're fighting over who gets to be chopped in half by Vindor right?
- Mythology Gag:
- "Buffer time" had originated with Montgomery Scott from TOS so that engineers could seem like miracle workers by accomplishing the tasks given by their captains quicker than promised.
- Boimler muses, "Space: the funnest frontier?", a twist on the opening monologue of both TOS and TNG.
- Ransom beats down Vindor using two-handed punches, which is an infamous move used by Kirk in TOS.
- Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: Three Gelrakians have Boimler at spearpoint, but he easily gets himself out of danger by stunning them with his phaser.Gelrakian: Don't move, human! We have you surrounded!
Boimler: …Yeah, but I have a phaser. [fires at his would-be captors] These guys are lightweights. This is what the Red Alert's about? - Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Boimler accidentally spills the beans on buffer time to Captain Freeman, and her reaction to it is the cause of the episode's problems.
- Captain Freeman is so desperate to prove herself that she sets unreasonable deadlines for everyone after learning about buffer time. Everyone quickly ends up so overworked that the Gelrakians are able to easily take over most of the ship with spears because Captain Freeman insists that the invasion is no excuse to shirk their duties.
- Noodle Incident:
- In preparation for the away mission, Ransom lists some of his past incidents, including horned gorillas, sentient tar, and spores that make you sleep with your best friend's sister. Mariner hints that he rattles off the same list every time that there's an away mission.
- As she explains her various scars, Mariner shows off one she somehow got in Scottsdale, Arizona, which she describes as a "mess."
- Not So Above It All: Even Boimler is willing to go along with buffer time, if only because it's "tradition." He says that he would do away with it if it were up to him, but doesn't intentionally rat out the practice. He does this while finishing off his buffer time margarita.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Vindor seems like regular Dumb Muscle who is only able to say his own name, but after Ransom beats him down in their Trial by Combat, he surrenders and explains to the confused Ransom that he only acts like that to scare his opponents and that he actually enjoys reading.
- Oh, Crap!: Boimler gets really nervous when he accidentally mentions buffer time in front of Freeman, putting her wise to what the ensigns have been doing.
- Only Sane Man: Vindor is the only one among the Gelrakians who feels that Trial by Combat and crushing people under a giant crystal might not be the most fair justice system.
- Permission to Speak Freely: Mariner asks this after Ransom tells her that he's writing a speech that will help them get out of prison.Mariner: A speech? Seriously? Permission to speak freely?
Ransom: You always speak freely! Nobody can stop you from speaking freely! - Planet of Hats: The Star Trek franchise's history of this trope is spoofed in this episode. The Gelrakians live on a crystal-rich world and define major aspects of their culture around it with religious reverence. Conversely, they consider wood to be a deep insult, as their unseen adversaries who are said to worship trees are implied to be from a heavily-forested planet.
- Pokémon Speak: Vindor, the gigantic champion of the Gelrakians, only seems to say his own name, usually in a bellowing roar. Subverted when Ransom takes him down — Vindor admits that he just does it to play up the Dumb Muscle angle, and loves reading.
- Rock Beats Laser: The Gelrakian invasion of the Cerritos. The Gelrakians are the rock (well, crystal spear) and the Federation crew are the laser (well, phaser). Inverted when the Cerritos crew are finally allowed to get away from their tasks, and promptly hand the Gelrakians their asses.
- Rockers Smash Guitars: Downplayed when Mariner throws her guitar just after she finishes playing; the instrument is still in decent shape, although the strings have snapped.
- Rule-Breaker Rule-Namer: An inversion as The Biomler Effect is meant to encourage buffer time so people can have a break between tasks. Biomler, being the rule happy guy he is, isn’t happy being associated with the effect.
- Sarcasm Mode: Freeman is irritated when she sees two officers walking at a leisurely pace, which she interprets as them slacking off.Freeman: (angrily) Oh, be sure to stroll through the ship as slowly as possible. It's not like we're busy exploring the mysteries of the cosmos!
- Say My Name: Ransom yells the Bolian ensign's name ("Vendoooome!") when the latter is wounded by a crystal spear.
- Schizo Tech: The Gelrakians have starships, and their boarding vessels can dock with and open the airlocks on the Cerritos, but their weapons technology seems to be limited to crystal spears (which can fire energy, but only powerful enough to inflict graffiti), crystal battle blades, and crystal-embedded clubs.
- Scotty Time: A Deconstructed Trope here. Described as "buffer time," the crew pads their work time estimates to get a break between tasks. When this habit is discovered by the senior staff, they implement minimum time scheduling complete with automated countdowns. While they initially think this will improve efficiency, "buffer time" actually helps with analysis of priority tasks and giving a window to assess issues that will increase a job past the time allotted. In addition to all of that, it increased the work load of the entire crew, senior staff included, to where the ship was not properly prepared for a crisis because everyone was caught in the middle of something else. While Scotty himself typically described it as a way to make yourself look good, it is actually a vital aspect of maintenance and operations.
- Ship Tease: Much of the episode has Mariner and Ransom falling backwards into flirtatious behavior. Mariner opens up her uniform jacket, leaving her in just her bra, to show off her scars as proof of her badass history. Ransom then goes bare-chested beating down the alien in the death battle, and Mariner can't help but swoon a little. He later carries her bridal style when it was time to leave. Later when Mariner is being reprimanded for her uniform alterations she goes on a violent rant taunting them saying she LOVES the brig, which he privately admits turns him on. Amusingly, both of them are visibly grossed out by this development.Mariner: (after seeing Ransom handle Vindor) Whoa. That was actually kinda hot. Ugh! Get it together Mariner! Get it together! You are not into this. Come on.
Ransom: (after Mariner threatens him while being dragged to the brig) Okay, that was kinda hot. - Shirtless Scene: Ransom tears off his shirt prior to his Trial by Combat against Vindor.
- Skewed Priorities:
- As the ship is engulfed in chaos from an alien boarding party, Captain Freeman bemoans her schedule being thrown off and blames Boimler for not being at his post.
- Lampshaded by Mariner when she questions Ransom's decisions.Mariner: Oh, I see how it is— you're gonna stab me, but then you don't stab Vindor? What are your priorities, Ransom?
- Smart People Speak the Queen's English: The schoolteacher in the far future speaks with an English accent.
- Sound-Effect Bleep: Comes up a few times in this episode.Mariner: (to Ransom) I'm calling bull[bleep] on your whole thing here, sir.
Mariner: (after Ransom stabs her in the foot) What the [bleep]?!
T'Ana: (re Mariner's collection of scars) Congratulations, you look like a [bleep]ing scratching post. - Strolling Through the Chaos: Ensign Boimler is the only person on lower decks who isn't bothered at all by the lack of any kind of downtime, cheerily completing everything on time even as chaos and panic erupt around him.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Freeman clearly thinks that she's the only competent officer on the Cerritos because she's the only one (besides Boimler) who isn't non-functional from overworking. Subverted in that she still has eye bags like the others, is much more short-tempered, and is acting irrationally.Freeman: Do I have to run this whole ship myself?!
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Freeman thinks that working her crew nonstop will maximize productivity. Instead, everyone (except Boimler) starts falling apart from being overworked.
- Tantrum Throwing: Freeman throws her PADD at the viewscreen out of frustration that the Cerritos got bumped from an upcoming Peace Conference.
- Theme Music Power-Up: When Captain Freeman orders the crew to embrace buffer time and take back the ship from the Gelrakians, the show's theme song plays over the action.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Ransom has this reaction, mid-Captain's Log, when he sees that the Cerritos's high-profile diplomatic mission to Cardassia Prime has been cancelled and realizes that Captain Freeman will be furious at this slight.Ransom: First officer's log, stardate 57501.4. The Cerritos is en route to Cardassia Prime for the most amazing reason. Captain Freeman is going to be instrumental in brokering peace between the— uh, wait. Just... reading a little message here. Yada yada yada... oh. Oh no. The captain is not gonna be happy about this.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After being the Butt-Monkey throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it's nice to know that Miles O'Brien will become Famed In-Story as the greatest hero in Starfleet history.
- Too Important to Walk: The Gelrakian leader is carried by two servants.
- Trash Talk: Oddly inverted— beating up a giant alien with the lives of the away team on the line doesn't mean that Ransom forgets his Starfleet ideals.Ransom: (while hitting Vindor) I respect your sovereignty!
- Trial by Combat: Under Gelrakian law, the accused must fight the Gelrakian champion. If Ransom wins, he and his away team will be freed. If he loses, he'll die in the arena and the away team will be crushed to death by the adjudication geode.
- The Triple: Mariner rattles off the locations where she got her scars: Magus III, Nanibia Prime, and Scottsdale, Arizona. That last one was a mess, apparently.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Right after Mariner refuses to report Ransom for stabbing her in the foot, which would ruin his career, he has her tossed in the brig for a day for not rolling her sleeves down as he ordered. She is appropriately annoyed and threatens him in colorful ways while being dragged out.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Vindor pukes green after Ransom slams into his stomach.
- Worf Had the Flu: The Gelrakians board and overrun the Cerritos with ease, but it's made clear that it's only because everyone is exhausted and overworked, and they're not allowed to get away from their current duties. Boimler, the only one unaffected by the schedule shift, phasers a few with ease and gets to the bridge without any trouble at all. As soon as Captain Freeman lifts the duty requirements, the crew takes back the ship in minutes, even while fatigued.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Boimler is not happy to be the namesake for a protocol that encourages slacking off.
- You're Insane!: Mariner believes that Ransom has lost his mind after he stabs her foot with the battle blade; injuring a fellow officer is a court-martial offense.Mariner: You are such a psycho! What are you doing?! Ow! Why?
