Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1 (Amazon) TV Show Review & Comments

Haha, not many recognise my username these days.

Believe it or not, it's not a negative review, like I said I sat there and watched it and would watch more.

I think you just have to see it to maybe know where I'm coming from.
My problem is that I know where they are coming from and where they are going. BTW you're missing an 'h' ;)
 
Final Space Season 1 is a masterpiece, emotionally, musically and atristically, but season 2 falls far from Season 1 and a lot of what made Season 1 SO good, is watered down to piss jokes and too wide a set of characters.

I've never heard of Final Space but someone on here said its similar to Lower Decks in style and humor so I've just watched the first episode on Netflix. I didn't like it.
 
I've never heard of Final Space but someone on here said its similar to Lower Decks in style and humor so I've just watched the first episode on Netflix. I didn't like it.

Yeah - i totally see why you say that as Gary is annoying AF in the very early episodes within Season 1. But if you keep watching that changes. He's (really) annoying initially because he's been locked up all by himself and is going a bit bonkers with only the AI to talk too. Its kinda on purpose.

If you dont like it - fair enough - but i would really recommend you continue to watch as things change.
 
its no Orville.
OK so the Orville, first episode. I really liked the first half which served as an introduction. It also has some great CGI. The second half is a bit more action orientatied and it's not quite as strong here. The phaser battle was daft but that reminded me a lot of OG Star Trek. The CGI went a little ropey as well. I personally think that they should have played the ex-marriage angle for a couple more episodes, especially after the reveal in the admiral's office. To me they lost an opportunity to ratchet up the tension. Overall I enjoyed it.
 
Orville is terribly bad, terribly, cringe-wortily bad, and yet i sat there watching it. I still don't know if i like it, but I'll watch more.

I get what you mean in a way, especially if ST is a Godly thing. I just feel the story lines were dead on, but with more comedic accent
 
Now I've watched another episode of the Orville I can see why people find it clunky. The acting isn't great, Seth really isn't suited for this role. But there is still so much to like about the show.

It's low brow but at the same time a high concept show which is a strange combination. The ending of episode 2 is a perfect example of that.
A technologically superior species seeing us in the same was as we see animals. Capturing us essentially from the wild, caging us in zoos that mimics our habitat. It's not a totally new idea but still an interesting one. But the rescue involving giving them reality TV as a replacement exhibit is genius. Again, not a totally new idea but it works for me :)
On the surface this is obviously a Star Trek homage. But the viewpoint about how we evolve as a species, or how we take individual responsibility for our decisions and the consequences of the actions that follow when dealing with a large bureaucracy (like StarFleet) is classic Next Gen.

I don't think I've seen an episode from season 1 of Next Gen but I imagine it has a similar feel. This might be why Trekkies have taken to it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Mod comment - similar to some other TV show threads can we please keep clearly on topic to the show the thread is about. Comparative references are of course fine - however lengthy “reviews” and opinions on a different show are off topic and need to be in the appropriate thread. Thanks
 
Mod comment - similar to some other TV show threads can we please keep clearly on topic to the show the thread is about. Comparative references are of course fine - however lengthy “reviews” and opinions on a different show are off topic and need to be in the appropriate thread. Thanks
Sorry mate :) I did look for the an Orville AVForums review forum to link to but there doesn't seem to be one.

Edit:
There is a user forum forum from 2017 titled Orville Season 3 (2020), so I guess any future comments could go there. But I am surprised there is no formal AVForums review.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sorry mate :) I did look for the an Orville AVForums review forum to link to but there doesn't seem to be one. except for one

Edit:
There is a user forum forum from 2017 titled Orville Season 3 (2020), so I guess any future comments could go there. But I am surprised there is no formal AVForums review.
That's surprising for such a generally well-received series.
 
Lifelong Trek fan here, just watched ep 1 and not tempted to see any more. I just cant get past the rushed dialogue, everyone sounds like the American “small print” announcements at the end of a radio advert (caution may cause drowsiness etc etc).
Quite liked Orville and Discovery 1 and 2 but don’t even understand half of what’s going on in 3 and Picard was a complete letdown featuring characters doing things they never would and really quite poor plotting and story telling in my humble.
Still each to their own and if you enjoy carry on.

I’m back off to continue with Expanse S5 which is just ruddy excellent!
 
...
Quite liked Orville and Discovery 1 and 2 but don’t even understand half of what’s going on in 3 and Picard was a complete letdown featuring characters doing things they never would and really quite poor plotting and story telling in my humble.
I couldn't get past Picard episode 1. I really liked Disco series 1. As for Disco series 2, about 3 quarters of the way through, I just stopped being excited. By the end of series 2, I stopped being interested.

...
I’m back off to continue with Expanse S5 which is just ruddy excellent!
If I complete the Orville this is probably next on my list.
 
Having watched the trailers last year I really, really wanted to dislike this but, having watched the whole series over the last couple of days I thoroughly enjoyed it. OK, its a bit frenetic and silly at times but clearly loves where it has come from, with some great homages to Trek of the past.

John
 
That episode of Picard where he disguises himself in an eye patch and beret was so unlike the character - 😩😩😩

Lifelong Trek fan here, just watched ep 1 and not tempted to see any more. I just cant get past the rushed dialogue, everyone sounds like the American “small print” announcements at the end of a radio advert (caution may cause drowsiness etc etc).
Quite liked Orville and Discovery 1 and 2 but don’t even understand half of what’s going on in 3 and Picard was a complete letdown featuring characters doing things they never would and really quite poor plotting and story telling in my humble.
Still each to their own and if you enjoy carry on.

I’m back off to continue with Expanse S5 which is just ruddy excellent!
 
Anyone who cant get past the first epidote, please dont give it up. I also dislike the first, however each episode is at least 50% better than the previous. The last few are great!

Same with The Orville. Dont judge a show too much on the first few episodes. If we did that, we wouldn't be Star Trek fans! Especially after Encounter at Farpoint..

Lower Decks feels like a Star Trek show, far more so than Disco and Picard. I mean it actually feels correct. It might be a comedy, but the look and style of the show is spot on. The computer interfaces are like what you see in TNG/VOY etc, uniforms are consistent, technology, the ships, the aliens etc. And it has an actual Star Trek intro, not a Bond/GOT ripoff.

The manic pacing and dialogue does calm down. But the stories are quintessentially Trek.

While I did watch Disco, and actually enjoyed the first half of S3....its categorically not Star Trek. They could have called it anything else and changed a few names etc and it would be Generic Sci Fi from Netflix. I blame Kurtzman and the 9 million Executive producers. They were almost on the right track with everything for S3 and then it went south rapidly after the mirror episodes.

And Picard started off alright, then that also rapidly declined after a few episodes, when they started to cram 4 seasons into 1.
 
Anyone who cant get past the first epidote, please dont give it up. I also dislike the first, however each episode is at least 50% better than the previous. The last few are great!

Same with The Orville. Dont judge a show too much on the first few episodes. If we did that, we wouldn't be Star Trek fans! Especially after Encounter at Farpoint..

Lower Decks feels like a Star Trek show, far more so than Disco and Picard. I mean it actually feels correct. It might be a comedy, but the look and style of the show is spot on. The computer interfaces are like what you see in TNG/VOY etc, uniforms are consistent, technology, the ships, the aliens etc. And it has an actual Star Trek intro, not a Bond/GOT ripoff.

The manic pacing and dialogue does calm down. But the stories are quintessentially Trek.

While I did watch Disco, and actually enjoyed the first half of S3....its categorically not Star Trek. They could have called it anything else and changed a few names etc and it would be Generic Sci Fi from Netflix. I blame Kurtzman and the 9 million Executive producers. They were almost on the right track with everything for S3 and then it went south rapidly after the mirror episodes.

And Picard started off alright, then that also rapidly declined after a few episodes, when they started to cram 4 seasons into 1.

I've only watched the first episode so far and I found it quite enjoyable to be fair so I will be going through the whole series when I get the chance. Good to hear that it doesn't carry on at the same frenetic pace, with regards to the dialogue at least, as it didn't really add anything to it for me so was genuinely unnecessary. Maybe it is just a case of it trying to appeal to a younger audience than myself who appreciate that type of thing though.
 
Watched all of these over the last few days and loved it - perfectly balanced in my view as it's a slightly more irreverent take on Starfleet, while still obviously having a great love for Star Trek. In some ways very similar to Final Space as I wasn't sure about that to start with but like that, by the end of the season, all the main cast have characters that are beyond what originally seem like caricatures.
 
Anyone who cant get past the first epidote, please dont give it up. I also dislike the first, however each episode is at least 50% better than the previous. The last few are great!
People are so impatient these days. Just seen it with a few on WandaVision. They would have given up on all the pre-Disco Treks with that attitude.
 
People are so impatient these days. Just seen it with a few on WandaVision. They would have given up on all the pre-Disco Treks with that attitude.
If it isn't full of explosions and instant gratification immediately, then its a "fail". Which is the market kurtzman trek is targeted to. Just look at the presentation and cinematography of DIS, so different to any other trek, and also most (dramatic?) shows on TV. Its got a decently high budget and while some stuff is impressive, its also way too far in the wrong direction in my honest opinion. Apologists like to say "Well its just modern filmmaking with a budget, obviously its going to look different" and thats just not an excuse for what we are presented with. Game of Thrones had one of the largest TV budgets ever and it was able to keep its camera still for a dramatic scene, without the dialogue going 120% speed, and no lens flares, or centred around a single character. And then I look at Mandalorian, which absolutely nails almost everything and is so far and away better than Discovery, its almost like Mando is run by professionals and fans who love the franchise, and DIS is ran by people straight out of college who couldn't give a shit about the franchise. All you have to do is look at the episodes that have appeared in each season so far that show "turbo lifts" operating inside a gigantic chasm inside the ship. I should stop ranting.

Lower Decks is good.
 
And then I look at Mandalorian, which absolutely nails almost everything and is so far and away better than Discovery, its almost like Mando is run by professionals and fans who love the franchise, and DIS is ran by people straight out of college who couldn't give a sh*t about the franchise. All you have to do is look at the episodes that have appeared in each season so far that show "turbo lifts" operating inside a gigantic chasm inside the ship. I should stop ranting.

Lower Decks is good.
Horses for courses, I have liked most of the modern Trek output but found Mando to be uninspiring and far too simple. The last 4 episodes were very good but I really didn't care about Baby Yoda, Mando helping a village rid themselves of raiders or hunting a giant sand whale. Saying the current showrunners not caring about the franchise is not really a thing the current guys love Trek you can see just how many small little things from previous generations make it into DISCO, PIC and LDS.
 
Allowing for different tastes Final Space needs consistent watching as the characters grow on you as they develop. In fact they become exceptional IMO.
Lower Decks is too shouty and every character sounds hyper. But in the spirit of Final Space and also Rick and Morty I’ll persist for a few more
 
I thought it was perfectly ok entertainment in the end and sometimes that's all ya need. Enjoyable, non offensive and funny in parts but obviously nothing groudbreaking in it's execution (I liked the idea of it focussing on the back stage players though) and I'm not really missing it now I've seen all of the episodes. I'll go back for a second series even if I won't exactly be champing at the bit for it.
 
Heard about this on a non-Star Trek related podcast. Seen about half of season 1 and enjoying it so far. I understand what others say about the rushed dialogue but at ~20 mins/episode, it's a bit of fun.
 
I'm struggling to watch the final 2 episodes as I just don't find it funny. Sorry.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom