“A Farewell To Farms” is the Best ‘Lower Decks’ Episode in a Long Time
Ma’ah is back, baby! And “A Farewell to Farms” is more than just a great Klingon story, it also goes after modern criticism.
There’s a current hope among Star Trek: Lower Decks fans. With the show’s cancellation after this fifth and final season, there’s the possibility of renewal elsewhere. But while Netflix picked up Star Trek: Prodigy for its already completed second season, it has not renewed for a season three.
However, there is another hope beyond another Lower Decks TV series — a movie. And therein lies a hope with serious possibilities. Not only is a one-off feature-length more affordable, but Lower Decks is honestly very good at being cinematic.
Case in point: “A Farwell to Farms”. Occasionally, Lower Decks foregoes the typical opening credits in exchange for something that sets an overall tone. This is one of those times. The result is one of the strongest episodes of this series. And it’s proof that Lower Decks deserves a movie.
Let’s get into it.
To Boldly Recap “A Farewell To Farms”
On a plot of farm land on Qo’noS, Ma’ah and his brother prepare a bounty of bloodwine, but not for themselves. Ma’ah is no longer a captain after killing one of his own crewmembers. But he is still on Mariner’s speed dial. If only he’d respond to any of her many communiques.
While dropping their bloodwine off at a local bar, Ma’ah comes face to face with Mariner (with Boimler in tow). Mariner believes Ma’ah deserves captaincy back and wants to help. Plus, Boimler knows about some Klingon code or other to challenge the rulings against Ma’ah. So, despite Ma’ah’s misgivings, off they go to the Klingon Oversight Council!
And, indeed there is a way to challenge and regain Ma’ah’s captaincy — but it involves three deadly tasks! Mariner, Boimler, and Ma’ah’s brother team up to take on pain sticks and an oversized targ. Ultimately, it takes everyone to defeat the third challenge (sacrificing a teammate) which they accomplish by conscripting one of the council members into their team and choosing him.
Ma’ah gets his title back. It turns out, Mariner needs a Klingon captain to help her investigate more anomalies, and together they discover said anomalies are man-made rather than naturally occurring. Ma’ah keeps his current tiny ship as his and brings his brother along as first officer. The end!
Almost.
Send In The Critics
Back on the Cerritos, Dr. Migleemo entertains the most famous and powerful people from his homeworld: two food critics. Turns out, Migleemo’s species are notorious foodies! And as you might expect, the two most powerful food critics are powerfully critical — and OBNOXIOUS. All food they eat is, by their reckoning, completely bland. The more Migleemo tries to rectify things, the worse things get.
Eventually, Migleemo is sentenced to a lifetime in food prison. But before he goes to forever food jail, the Cerritos crew tricks the food critics into eating literal feces that they think is food from their own homeworld. The critics say the doo doo is delicious only to be called on it. Turns out, the critics have lost their sense of taste due to too much, uh… criticizing? Maybe? Anyway, the day is saved.
There’s a nugget of something in here about the relationship between critic and creative, but we’ll come back to that momentarily.
To Boldly Review “A Farewell To Farms”
Obviously I’ve tipped my hand, but “A Farwell To Farms” is extremely good. It’s actually safe to call it great, maybe even an instant classic. If you love “wej Duj” this is the continuing evolution of that story and then some. Beautifully cinematic. An exploration of Klingon culture through the best Klingon character since Worf. And also that thing about critiquing critics which we’ll talk about in a moment.
First off, it is wonderful seeing Boimler continue to (slowly) grow the beard. His confidence in this episode absolutely soars even though we can tell, deep down, he is still very scared. Jumping on a giant targ instead of instinctively running away? This is the Boimler we’ve waited five seasons to see. He’s so fun! And he might die!
We get the return of K’orin, who we haven’t seen since season one. And his interactions with Mariner and Boimler also serve as a reminder of how much our Lower Deckers have grown.
And speaking of growth, the best thing about “A Farewell to Farms” is how it grows the Klingons. Ma’ah and his brother are not carbon copies of previous generations of Klingons. Yes, they care about honor, but they seek it outside of their immediate leadership. Yes, Ma’ah kills. That’s kind of a Klingon staple. But his honor comes not from that, but from taking on his brother and, together, leading as they chart their own path.
Star Trek and Media Literacy
Dr. Migleemo faces off against critics. Intentional or not, there’s a parallel to draw between those critics and people who cover Star Trek as one of their primary beats. In “A Farewell to Farms” we discover that the top critics essentially have no taste. And the shape their lack of taste takes comes in two forms — not enough praise and too much.
Right now, if you type “Star Trek” review into, say, a YouTube search, you will get essentially two kinds of videos. One type bemoans how Star Trek is bad now, how it has “gone woke”, has too many “DEI hires” or whatever the next bigoted term is. And on the other end we have videos heaping praise on Star Trek, even when it comes up short and often as a counterbalance to the first type of video.
Every franchise has problems. I think Star Trek in particular has a problem where critics have had their proverbial tastebuds blown out. One side wans to kill the franchise, the other wants to save it at all costs, and the result is an environment where people rarely see individual episodes for what they are.
We could all use a Dr. Migleemo in our lives. Barring that, might I recommend sharing reviews which seek neither to punish nor exonerate modern Star Trek.
Anyway! Great episode that adds to the Trek mythos in a compelling way. More of this, please!
