STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS Recap: (S05E07) Fully Dilated

Don’t blink: it’s a Girls Trip to a time-dilated pre-warp civilization! Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 episode seven, “Fully Dilated,” was written by Andrew Mueth and directed by Megan Lloyd.

As the U.S.S. Cerritos drops out of warp, Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) records a captain’s log for stardate 59499.6. The Cerritos is tasked with cleanup duty for another interdimensional pothole. This time, a purple alternate universe version of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D entered the prime universe through the fissure.

Captain Freeman on the Cerritos bridge with Tendi and T'Lyn. — Photos credit: Paramount+

Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) observes that this is their third fissure mission this week. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) laments having missed the purple Enterprise-D. Freeman tells D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) and T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) that it may be time she fills the senior science officer position. Tendi immediately begins attempting to win Freeman over. Freeman says she’s choosing between Tendi and T’Lyn. Teni approaches Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), who is growing a beard, and shares her quandary.

But Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) states that he’s detected a Starfleet power signature on the nearby planet Delmer III. Freeman orders them to halt closure of the rift. Ransom surmises the alternate Enterprise-D must have left something behind. Freeman states that they must retrieve it lest it interfere with the planet’s technological evolution. Shax (Fred Tatasciore) protests that it’s taquito night. For this reason, the lieutenants will undertake the mission. Mariner laments missing taquito night.

Star Trek: Lower Decks recap, “Fully Dilated”

In the Cerritos medical bay, Doctor T’Ana (Gillian Vigman) complains about being tasked with disguising Mariner, Tendi and T’Lyn as locals of Delmer III. Since it’s a pre-industrial society, the away team can’t let them see their true appearances or any technology. T’Lyn is concerned about her sensitivity to smells. Tendi immediately attempts to leverage this into T’Lyn staying behind, so as to bolster Tendi’s chances at the science officer position. But Mariner says this will be “a fun undercover Girls Trip.”

In the transporter bay, Rutherford and Boimler discuss each others’ beards while enjoying ostentatious micheladas. Mariner, Tendi and T’Lyn arrive. They immediately determine that they got the idea for micheladas from Boimler’s alternate universe PADD.

Boimler changes the subject to the time dilation caused by the planet’s core. For one second on the Cerritos, one week will pass on Delmer III. Tendi compares it to Star Trek: Voyager’s “Blink of an Eye.” Boimler gives them a return beacon: a necklace that will flash when it’s time to return to the ship. This indicates they should move away from locals so they don’t witness them beaming out.

But no sooner does Boimler activate the transporter than does he get shrimp in his eye. His reaction causes both Boimler and Rutherford to spill their drinks on the transporter bay console. They both scream.

Delmer III

Meanwhile, the away team arrives on Delmer III and begins scanning. Tendi points out that whatever technology landed on Delmer III arrived years earlier. She concludes it’s unlikely the locals will find it if they haven’t already. They visit the local rural downtown area and immediately attract the suspicion of Snell (Eric Bauza). Soon they’ve passed beyond town and find a large crater with the remains of a shuttlecraft crash.

T’Lyn tracks the power structure and they find the head of a purple, alternate universe Data (Brent Spiner). However, the arrival of Snell means they must hide their discovery. Snell begins questioning them. T’Lyn uses juggling to convince him they’re traveling performers. Hiding near a familiar-looking rock outcropping, the away team wonders if Boimler has been distracted from his task of returning them to the ship. Mariner suspects the PADD. They decide to spend the night in an abandoned house.

On the Cerritos, Rutherford and Boimler are still screaming about having spilled michelada all over the transporter controls. Rutherford tells Boimler to beam them back. But the controls won’t work under the michelada. Boimler removes his uniform top and begins frantically wiping the controls, urging Rutherford to assist.

Meanwhile, four months have passed on Delmer III. Mariner is bored. Tendi has been scanning indigenous plants, hoping to curry favor with Freeman for the science officer position. Mariner suggests the situation is similar to Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “The Inner Light.” She concludes she must get on with her alternate life. In the meantime, T’Lyn has harvested grain to make flour with their windmill.

Making the most of it

Tendi is threatened by T’Lyn’s study of local agriculture. Mariner heads off to begin her life and finds Snell lurking outside their front door. She shoos him with a broom and asks why there’s always a suspicious lurker when one is in a comparable situation to Star Trek: Enterprise’s “Carbon Creek.”

In the attic, Tendi constructs a machine to re-activate Data’s head. Tendi briefly explains the situation to him. Data agrees to answer Tendi’s science questions, providing they do not require hands, feet or torso. Outside the house, Snell glowers at the shadows in the attic.

Later, Data asks if Tendi is sure Boimler will eventually beam them back. Tendi says he will, and he “probably just fell over or something.” Tendi and Data discuss the former’s concern that T’Lyn will earn the science officer position. Touched by Tendi’s desire to be one of the first Orion science officers, Data agrees to assist her with her studies. Having been the only android to serve on a Starfleet bridge, Data empathizes with her situation.

Meanwhile, Mariner visits a bar in town. She attempts to befriend a local but pokes him in the eye with one of her prosthetic horns. While it was an accident, she’s incarcerated for assault. On the Cerritos, the now-shirtless Rutherford and Boimler resort to licking the michelada off of the transporter controls.

T’Lyn’s Melons

Seven months since their arrival on Delmer III and the property around the away team’s residence has been transformed by T’Lyn agricultural efforts. Data suggests Tendi adjust his voltage stabilizer. He tells her that her captain will be quite impressed. Having determined that they require currency, T’Lyn has resolved to sell her crops at the local market. Using developmentally appropriate techniques, T’Lyn has grown extremely oversized produce.

T’Lyn suggests Tendi might need some companionship after being isolated for 20 consecutive days. But Tendi tells her not to worry and sends her off to market. Data points out that Vulcans rarely require sleep and therefore T’Lyn has simply had more time to cultivate her horticultural skills. Tendi resolves to stop sleeping. Data questions the plan but Tendi ignores him.

T’Lyn arrives in town with her giant crops, where she is observed by Snell. Mariner is released from prison and complains about the two months’ worth of incarceration. T’Lyn asks if Mariner would care to assist her. But Mariner says she must cultivate her meaningful life instead. Seeing a fire, Mariner extinguishes it. But it turns out this was the town’s “eternal flame.” She is immediately jailed once again.

On the Cerritos, Boimler and Rutherford are still licking the console, which repeatedly shocks them. They have yet to achieve success.

Data’s Lore

Now ten months have passed since the away team’s arrival on Delmer III. After falling asleep at the table beside him, Tendi is awakened by Data’s head. Tendi told him to wake her up, but Data asserts she needed rest. However, Tendi says she needs to work on building a transporter. Data compares this to his attempt to build an electromagnetic field core in “Time’s Arrow.” Tendi declares she needs something to boost the transporter’s power. She stuffs Data’s head in a sack.

Arriving at the market, Tendi searches for some applicable minerals. She discovers T’Lyn has a kiosk in the market. Tendi tells T’Lyn that selling advanced medicine breaks the prime directive. But T’Lyn explains that her products are not advances. They are beauty products developed using contemporary technology. T’Lyn explains that their neighbors have been imbued with confidence thanks to their improved appearance. And T’Lyn hasn’t broken any protocol in the process. Plus, she’s earned them a lot of money.

On the Cerritos, a panicked Boimler and Rutherford have finally gotten the transporter controls clean enough to use. They signal the necklace to alert the away team of their impending departure.

On Delmer III, T’Lyn’s necklace begins to flash. Meanwhile, back in their residence attic, Tendi seethes over T’Lyn’s success. When Data suggests she gets some sleep, she deactivates him. Unbeknownst to Tendi, Snell is lurking in the rafters and sees the whole thing. T’Lyn arrives and informs Tendi that they have received the necklace signal. Snell knocks T’Lyn unconscious.

Snell’s Suspicion

In the attic of their residence, Snell has tied T’Lyn and Tendi up. He accuses them of being witches. He identifies Data’s head as a demon. T’Lyn tries to bribe him with more juggling, but he says he’s summoning an angry mob. Tendi blames herself for letting her guard down during the process of competing with T’Lyn. T’Lyn wasn’t aware of the competition; her projects were her attempt to rebuild their companionship.

Furthermore, T’Lyn is revoking her application upon the return to the Cerritos. She says a science officer must be able to communicate and she clearly cannot. Tendi says that isn’t the case; Tendi just wouldn’t let her communicate. T’Lyn further cites the fact that Tendi has confronted her past while T’Lyn has not. Tendi says T’Lyn is amazing and Tendi has been a jerk. But that ends now. Tendi reactivates Data’s head. He assists them by chewing off their bindings.

In prison, Mariner attempts to play a soap flute. Mariner says she failed at forming a family during her time on Delmer III. But one of the other prisoners says they’re her family. Mariner is satisfied. The guard arrives and, having been bribed with T’Lyn’s hair remedies, releases her.

On the Cerritos, Boimler and Rutherford begin the process of transporting them back. Leaving the prison, the away team is ambushed by Snell and his mob. But when he attempts to reveal their “demonic head,” he finds only one of T’Lyn’s giant grapes in the bag, with a face drawn on it. The mob laughs at Snell.

Senior Science Officers

As they hurry to the extraction point, Data’s head is revealed to have been hidden under T’Lyn’s cloak. However Snell is still lurking towards them. Data says he has to get back home to his best friend, Geordi. The away team beams out just before Snell’s arrival. In the Cerritos transporter bay, the away team demands to know what happened. Rutherford and Boimler try to blame it on a technical issue.

In her office, Freeman apologizes to Data for the delay. Data wonders why the prime U.S.S. Enterprise-D isn’t purple, too. Then he asks Freeman to speak with her about who she is planning to appoint to the senior science officer position.

In the Cerritos bar, Tendi reveals both she and T’Lyn have been appointed to the position of senior science officer. T’Lyn agrees that they complement each other’s strengths. The away team members agree that Boimler and Rutherford owe them big time. After all, food isn’t allowed in the transporter bay. Mariner says she has an emptiness from the loss of her prison family, and must fill the gap by playing her soap flute.

Elsewhere on the Cerritos, Data’s head is loaded into a torpedo casing and fired back through the fissure.

The first seven episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 are now available for streaming on Paramount+. New episodes debut on Thursdays.

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Avery Kaplan

Avery Kaplan is the author of several books and the Features Editor at Comics Beat. She was honored to serve as a judge for the 2021 Cartoonist Studio Prize Award and the 2021 Prism Awards. She lives in the mountains of Southern California with her partner and a pile of cats, and her favorite place to visit is the cemetery. You can also find her writing on Comics Bookcase, NeoText, Shelfdust, the Mary Sue, StarTrek.com, in many issues of PanelxPanel, and in the margins of the books in her personal library.