‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Goes Full Betazoid in “Empathological Fallacies”
Where Lwaxana Troi goes, trouble invariably follows. This week’s Star Trek: Lower Decks asks: what if there are three of her?
It is very cold in space. Unless Betazoids show up, that is. Then things tend to get spicy. And for all the ways Q is Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s most antagonistic antagonist, there’s an argument to be made that the person who bests him best is not from the Q Continuum, but from Betazed–Lwaxana Troi.
Perpetually due for reappraisal, Lwaxana Troi is a lot more fun than you remember. She eviscerates stuffy in-laws. She manipulates Ferengi captains. And, of course, she flusters everyone, even Picard.
Part of how she does that is simple–she’s a telepath. She hears thoughts, senses emotions, and manipulates everyone in the process. Even when she doesn’t mean to, there are times when Lwaxana’s telepathy drives entire space stations wild.
So what happens when you multiply that by a factor of three? You get Star Trek: Lower Decks–the show that never does anything halfway.
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To Boldly Recap “Empathological Fallacies”
The Cerritos’ latest mission involves safely ferrying three Betazoid diplomats. It’s not safe out there what with so many ships being destroyed mysteriously and all. And while most everyone is ready, willing, and able to party with the Betazoids, T’Lyn is not. She tries and fails to send a message about returning to work with her fellow Vulcans. So she heads to Ten Forward instead–where chaos reigns.
Everyone is horny, violent, and horny and violent. T’Lyn suggests to Captain Freeman that the Betazoids are responsible. They may have Zanthi fever–a condition that causes older Betazoids to project their emotions onto others. However, a quick trip to the sickbay reveals Zanthi is not the culprit.
The Betazoids are hiding something, though–they’re spies investigating all the recent attacks. Unfortunately whatever’s making the Cerritos crew wacky is doing the same to them. And it’s not until the Cerritos carenes towards the Romulan Neutral Zone that Mariner and T’Lyn realize the cause of it all: T’Lyn herself.
T’Lyn seems to have early onset Bendii Syndrome –a Vulcan condition that causes them to project emotions onto others. T’Lyn is upset about being on the Cerritos because she is afraid she is not truly Vulcan. Mariner helps her through it. T’Lyn calms down, everyone else calms down, and the day is saved.
There’s also a plot about Boimler and security, but we’ll get to that later. For now…
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To Boldly Review “Empathological Fallacies”
Somewhere between suspecting Zanthi fever was responsible for the mayhem and slowly realizing it’s actually Bendii Syndrome, a thought occurred to me. Is this fun if you don’t know every single thing about Star Trek? Don’t get me wrong. I had a Jim dandy of a time with “Empathalogical Fallacies”. But part of the reason I like it so much is because my brain spent most of the episode working out the mystery using the clues at my Trek-obsessed disposal.
Encyclopedic knowledge aside, the T’Lyn plot works because of its emotional backbone. Like Spock, T’Lyn struggles among her Starfleet siblings in arms. But unlike Spock, T’Lyn did not choose to be part of Starfleet–at least not at first. But Mariner helps T’Lyn see that Starfleet is better for T’Lyn than Vulcan High Command. And the moment T’Lyn unclenches her fists is a deeply empathetically satisfying one.
We all struggle straddling the chasm between ambition and acceptance. T’Lyn’s realization is hopeful, not just for her, but for us, too. That being said..
I like a goofy Betazoid plotline. Lwaxana can be a great character. But our non-Troi trio strafe a little too close to the sun in certain moments. Lwaxana’s least endearing trait is her need to flirt with people who don’t want to be flirted with. And the more Lower Decks leans into that, the less this story works.
The Betazoids are fun! Great voice cast! Love the lipstick crops. Could live without the “it’s only hot when they say no” schtick.
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Star Trek: Lower Decks and the Utopian Future
Blink and you’ll miss it, but “Empathological Fallacies” has a Boimler subplot. And while Boimler’s journey has little direct impact on the main plot, his and T’Lyn’s self-exploration carries the same through point.
Boimler is high-strung on a good day. Since his promotion, Boimler holds himself to such an exacting standard that it literally gets him killed. He dies. He sees the Space Koala. And so when Rutherford recommends him for “the program” my assumption was that Lieutenant Shaxs was going to give Boimler the resurrection talk.
Instead, we see beat poetry, Tarot readings, and puzzles. And the reason why is actually very interesting. Shaxs believes that the key to a secure ship lies not in phaser fire, but in ensuring the mental wellness of the crew. Because security has a safe space to explore their complex feelings together, they are more fit to protect the ship ably and safely when problems arise. And when the ship does go haywire in this episode, his team calmly and efficiently saves the day without hurting anyone.
Shaxs sees his job as security chief as one of safety through empathic prevention. And that’s… amazing, actually. Somehow Star Trek: Lower Decks finds a way to say ACAB without attacking anyone. The show just quietly shows us a better way. I hope this current crop of Star Trek shows keeps doing exactly that.
To the newer Star Trek fans, though–if the references flew over your head this week, did it matter? Curious to see how this plays for the more recent initiates.
4.5/5 stars
