But it’s just as often led to shenanigans, even in the era of classic Trek. One of the best examples occurs in the season six TNG episode “Rascals,” in which Picard, Keiko, Guinan, and Ro Laren get turned into 12-year-olds and must repel a Ferengi invasion of the Enterprise. “Rascals” often falls among fans’ least-favorite episodes of the show, thanks to its high concept and uneven performances from the young actors. Yet, there’s no denying that “Rascals” adheres to the standard Trek formula: the crew faces a problem brought on by their mission to explore space, and they must work together and draw on their expertise to overcome the issue.
The same is true of “Level Five Transporter Accident.” Here, Scotty’s attempts to push transporter technology result in some merging of the crew’s DNA with that of a puppet he keeps with him for motivation. After they realize that they’ve all become puppets, the bridge crew convenes in Pike’s ready room to come up with a solution. When Orions attack the ship, the crew finds that their standard forms of fighting back fail, and thus must work together to find a different way to repel the invaders.
The animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks built some of its best episodes out of this approach. Take, for example, season four’s “Twovix,” a sequel to the infamous Voyager episode. Once again, two unlikely shipmates combine, Dr. T’Ana and Chief Billups, creating a new form called T’Illups. Aware of what happened to Tuvix on Voyager, T’Illups fights back by creating more hybrids that combine two, three, and even more crew members into a single individual.
“Twovix” illustrates what Lower Decks did so well, telling a story that’s funny, self-referential, but ultimately very Trek. Even in the face of such absurd stakes, Captain Freeman (the best captain in all of Star Trek, don’t deny it) does her job, putting professionalism first, even if she does so without grandiosity. She orders all of the hybrids separated because that’s what the mission calls for, even in spite of the absurdity and high emotions.
Freeman’s exasperation with the hijinks on the Cerritos helped Lower Decks feel like Star Trek, even thought it was a comedy show made to be as wacky as possible. Conversely, Strange New Worlds features a ship under the command of Captain Pike, whom Anson Mount plays as a supportive big brother, not the put-upon bureaucrat who Dawnn Lewis voiced on Lower Decks. Pike gleefully plays along with wackiness on his ship, leaving only T’Pring to object, and even she gets into the nonsense by the end.
Perhaps that’s why “Level Five Transporter Accident” is destined to the same fate as Strange New Worlds‘s previous most audacious episode, “Subspace Rhapsody” a.k.a. “the Musical Episode.” That episode once again had a proper Trek premise (an anomaly forces the crew to sing their feelings) and requires the crew to apply logic and professionalism to deal with a threat, namely invading Klingons. For some, “Subspace Rhapsody” pushes Trek forward, using the premise to go boldly into new genres and story styles. For others, it’s tedious and an excuse to shove an extraneous genre into Star Trek.
