TL;DR – Crack out the Bat’leths and open the good Bloodwine casks because it is time to visit Qo’noS

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

When you have been watching shows for quite a while, you pick up telltale signs that something big is about to happen. One of those is the lack of a Title Sequence. Wait, the cast names not on the backdrop of a coming calamity of Borg, Tholians, Klingons, Romulans, Pakleds, oh and is that V’ger? But instead, it was on a warm sunset in Qo’noS. Well, you know something big is about to happen.

So, to set the scene, we are on Qo’noS, and Captain Ma’ah (Jon Curry) has been sequestered/banished to labouring work on the family farm. He is making Bloodwine (from worms, most likely Gagh) and raising Targ. He stubbornly avoids the comm call with a Federation signature. But if Mariner (Tawny Newsome) is one thing, it is persistent. He is stuck because the one who stripped him of his captainship is now the one who decides if he can get it back. Although Boimler (Jack Quaid) does know a lot about Klingon Bureaucratic minutia, and the Ritual of J’ethurgh is right there. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

In Star Trek, many types of episodes can be a delight when you see them come up. DS9 famously had their Ferengi episode at least each season. We all love a good courtroom episode. But there is always a soft spot in my heart when we hear those trumpets soar and find ourselves with the Klingons. They might be the most famous alien race from the show, so popular that people have extreme opinions about them, but does that mean that there is no more that we can get from them? Well, this episode shows that this is not the case.

This is very much a redemption arc episode for the character of Ma’aH, who has been around in the Lower Decks world since Season 2’s wej Duj. But it is clear that the events of The Inner Fight have left him in a precarious position, having to move back home as a grown adult. I like the small ways the show modernises the Klingons and broadens their world without taking away from their impact. A Farewell to Farms is an episode that leans back on those classic The Next Generation political intrigue stories while exploring what makes the Klingons great: their honour and the fact that most of their leaders have none.

The crux of the story is that Mariner and a far more confident than normal Boimler basically have to work together to get Ma’ah’s groove back through some typically Klingon trials. You know things are about to get real when some ancient law that no one has used in 300 years gets invoked, and when the Painstiks come out. All of this is wrapped in Lower Deck’s usual charm, and I had a lot of fun with the story that does not mess around at the conclusion. Also, welcome back to Star Trek, Mary Chieffo. It is great to see you again.

Our second story revolves around Dr Migleemo (Paul F. Tompkins) helping to escort the Klowakhan equivalent of royalty or priesthood with two noted food critics. For you see Klowakhan society revolves around trying new foods. But the trip back to Klowahka, the Klowakhan Nestworld, becomes fraught when Migleemo creates food that is so bland that he is arrested and sentenced to prison where the food is not cooked in butter. This was a fun story in that we got to find out more about Klowakhan society, everyone got to help out Migleemo, and it ended in a very Star Trek kind of way. However, it was just unfortunate that it was paired with such a strong B-Story that I think this one will get missed in the grand scheme of things. Or, maybe, that is just the critic in me talking.

In the end, do we recommend A Farewell to Farms? Yes, we do. I had a lot of fun with this episode, and it is great to see that cast back and firing on all cylinders. But, like, we are all going to talk about the elephant in the room with Boimler’s beard, right?

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen Star Trek: Lower Decks yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Star Trek: Lower Decks
Directed by – Megan Lloyd
Written by – Diana Tay
Created by – Mike McMahan
Based Upon – Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry
Production/Distribution Companies – Secret Hideout, Titmouse, CBS Studios & Paramount+.
Starring – Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, Eugene Cordero, Dawnn Lewis, Jerry O’Connell, Fred Tatasciore & Gillian Vigman with Mary Chieffo, Jon Curry & Paul F. Tompkins and Colton Dunn, Jess Harnell, Dulcé Sloan & Sam Witwer