Lower Decks (episode)

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This article is written
from the Real World
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"Lower Decks"
TNG, Episode 7x15
Production number: 40277-267
First aired: 7 February 1994
← 166th of 176 produced in TNG →
← 166th of 176 released in TNG →
  {{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 176 released in TNG Remastered  
← 307th of 726 released in all →
Teleplay By
René Echevarria

Story By
Ron Wilkerson & Jean Louise Matthias

Directed By
Gabrielle Beaumont
47566.7 (2370)
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Junior officers speculate on the reasons for recent unusual actions taken by the command crew.

Contents

[edit] Summary

Counselor Troi and Commander Riker are discussing crew evaluations in Ten Forward, much to the concern of Ensign Sam Lavelle, who is watching them from across the room with his friends Ensigns Sito Jaxa, Taurik, and Nurse Alyssa Ogawa. This concern deepens when another friend of theirs, waiter Ben, tells them that Lavelle and Sito are up for the same position: Ops night duty officer.

The crew performs a battle drill, with Lavelle and Sito on the bridge at Conn and Tactical, respectively, and with Taurik assisting Lieutenant Commander La Forge in Engineering. Afterwards, Riker offers advice to Sito on improving her performance but snaps at Lavelle for acknowledging with more than one "aye." Captain Picard then orders a change of course to the Argaya system, near Cardassian space.

When the senior officers are in the observation lounge discussing the new orders, Sito is asked to fill in at Ops. This indicates to Lavelle that his chances for promotion to the position are slim. In Engineering, Taurik shares some new ideas in warp field configuration with La Forge. The chief engineer is intrigued but slightly irritated by the Vulcan's ideas. In Sickbay, Doctor Crusher tells Ogawa that she is promoting her to lieutenant. Ogawa shares her fears about her relationship with Lieutenant Powell.

Later, in Ten Forward, Sito is surprised and encouraged to find out from Lieutenant Worf that he recommended her for the Ops position. Meanwhile, Lavelle laments the fact that, apparently, Riker does not like him. Ben, who is friends with Riker, tells him that Riker is Canadian and Lavelle tries to strike up a conversation with the first officer about this. Unfortunately, Riker is actually from Alaska.

Close to the Cardassian border, the USS Enterprise-D is searching in vain for an escape pod. Finally, it is located in Cardassian space, outside of normal transporter range. With some adjustments from La Forge and Taurik, the pod's occupant is beamed to Sickbay. Due to the sensitive nature of this person's identity, Crusher orders everyone but senior officers out.

After seeing the mysterious visitor, Picard meets with Sito in his ready room. He gives her a stern dressing down for her part in the cover-up of an incident at Starfleet Academy that led to the death of a fellow cadet (TNG: "The First Duty") and tells her he hasn't got a clue how she ended up assigned to his ship. Sito is so caught off guard that she does not defend herself.

In the Shuttlebay, Taurik and La Forge are intentionally damaging a shuttlecraft with phasers. Taurik is puzzled but La Forge offers no explanation as to why they are doing this. Ogawa is asked by Crusher to assist her with emergency surgery on the visitor – a Cardassian – and is ordered not to reveal that fact to anyone else.

Later, the junior officers are playing poker and speculating on who was in the escape pod. Ogawa is quiet about what she knows. They encourage Sito, after hearing of her encounter with the Captain. Lavelle still laments Riker's seeming dislike for him. And Taurik is also concerned that his suggestions have put off La Forge.

The senior officers are also playing poker. Worf and Riker debate who to promote, Sito or Lavelle. Riker thinks Sito is too inexperienced and Lavelle too eager to please. Troi points out that he and Lavelle are very much alike. Riker decides not to be so hard on him in the future. As the games break up, La Forge invites Taurik to Engineering to try out his engine improvements.

After his mok'bara class, Worf singles out Sito and tells her she must pass a gik'tal challenge to move into his advanced class. He has her put on a blindfold and spar with him. But after being knocked down several times, she removes the blindfold and refuses to continue with the test. He praises her for standing up to the unfair treatment and hopes she will do so when it happens again. The gik'tal was, of course, invented by Worf, in order to test (and encourage) Sito's ability to stand up for herself when she is being unfairly attacked.

Sito takes Worf's advice and confronts Picard about his comments on her academy days. She asks him to judge her on her performance on the Enterprise, not her past mistakes. Picard is pleased. In actuality, he was the one who requested that Sito be assigned to the Enterprise as he wanted her to have a proper chance to redeem herself. In fact, he had only been testing her mettle for an important and dangerous assignment.

In Sickbay, Ogawa announces her engagement to Lieutenant Powell to Doctor Crusher.

Sito joins Picard, Riker, and Worf in the Observation Lounge. With them is Joret Dal, a Cardassian military officer and a Federation operative. He was the occupant of the escape pod. Now Starfleet must get him safely back to Cardassian space. His return would be easier if he had a prisoner, allowing him to pose as a bounty hunter. As a Bajoran, Sito is a perfect candidate but Picard, knowing the extreme danger of the assignment, cannot bring himself to order her to do it. Sito volunteers, fully aware of how Cardassians treat their prisoners. After she leaves, Dal expresses his regret that she is so young. The Enterprise officers share this regret.

The shuttle that La Forge and Taurik damaged with phasers will carry the two to Cardassian space, where, after passing through the border patrols, Dal will return Sito to the Federation in an escape pod. Sito says goodbye to Worf as she boards, with fake bruises provided by Crusher.

Sito wonders why Dal does what he does for Starfleet and he tells her that he is sick of the pointless fighting his people engage in. He believes what he does is worth it if it brings peace to Cardassia. Sito is surprised to hear such a sentiment from a Cardassian. Their sensors alert them that a Cardassian border patrol has spotted them.

On the Enterprise, Lavelle is worried about his friend Sito's absence. He realizes Taurik and Ogawa know something, and is upset when they won't speak of it. Taurik reminds him that they are Starfleet officers, and Ogawa says that she isn't allowed to talk about it. Lavelle then drops it.

Later, on duty on the bridge, Lavelle has just finished a long-range scan, and does not find any escape pod. Riker tells them to narrow the scan field. Lavelle says that it would help if he knew what kind of lifesigns to look for. He is told to scan for a Bajoran lifesign. Lavelle wanted to know if he was looking for his friend. Riker senses his distress. Only after launching a probe do they detect something: debris just inside Cardassian space.

Picard makes a note in his log that they have intercepted a Cardassian communication indicating that a Bajoran prisoner was killed in her pod while trying to escape. And he announces to the crew that they have lost an officer of courage and character.

Afterwards, Ogawa and Taurik are sitting with Lavelle in Ten Forward, where Lavelle is regarding the rank pin for the promotion he has just received to lieutenant junior grade. He feels guilty about the promotion, wondering if he received it because Sito was killed. Ogawa and Taurik tell him that the best way to honor her memory is to excel in his new position.

At the same time, Worf is also in Ten Forward. Ben sees him sitting alone, and encourages him to join the other group in remembering Sito, which he does.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"Defend yourself!"

- Worf, to Sito Jaxa.


"All my life I've served in the military. Once, it was an institution dedicated to the security of Cardassia. Now it's little more than a platform for ambitious Guls hoping to make their reputations in battle. I'm sick of war... my people need peace."

- Joret Dal, explaining to Sito Jaxa why he was doing what he was doing, when they were in the shuttle


"Why? Did you crash the ship into something?"

- Ben, to Sam Lavelle in Ten Forward after Sam stated Riker didn't like him


"To all Starfleet personnel, this is the Captain. It is my sad duty to inform you that a member of the crew, Ensign Sito Jaxa has been lost in the line of duty. She was the finest example of a Starfleet officer and a young woman of remarkable courage and strength of character. Her loss will be deeply felt by all who knew her. Picard out."

- Picard, to the crew (on intercom)


"I only filled in for ops for half hour but I had to de-gauss the main deflector dish, recalibrate the navigation grid and use internal sensors to find a lost puppy."

- Sito Jaxa, to Worf

[edit] Background Information

  • Shannon Fill reprised her role as Sito Jaxa from the fifth season TNG episode "The First Duty". Events from that episode are referenced here by her and Picard when Picard gauges her suitability for the mission.
  • A script written for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine would have centered around the discovery that Sito Jaxa had not died after the events of the episode but had ended up as an inmate in a Cardassian prison. The story itself was never produced but did come to form the basic premise for the episode "Hard Time".
  • In one scene after the opening credits, Ensigns Sito Jaxa and Sam Lavelle are sitting down talking. During their conversation, you can see a wedge of wood under the Ops station.
  • When Riker comments that he should just promote every crewman on the ship, Riker and Troi jokingly refer to each other as "Commander" and "Captain" respectively. Troi was promoted to Commander in the very next episode, "Thine Own Self".
  • Alexander Enberg later played another Vulcan named Vorik on Star Trek: Voyager.

[edit] Video and DVD releases

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Main Cast

[edit] Guest Stars

[edit] Uncredited

[edit] Co-Stars

[edit] Stand-ins and stunt double

[edit] References

Alaska; Alpha shift; ambassador; Argaya system; Bajor; Bajoran; Beta shift; blackjack; bounty hunter; cadet; Canada; Cardassia; Cardassian; Cardassian border; Cardassian military; Cardassian patrol ship; Carstairs; confinement beam; crew evaluation; crew evaluation report; coffee; Curie; debris; deflector dish; degauss; Diaz, Nils; drill evaluation report; escape pod; evacuation pod; evasive maneuvers; Fletcher; flight instructor; flight test; fly; Gamma shift; Gik'tal; Gul; helm; hull resiliency; inorganic matter; internal sensors; jazz; junior officer; Klingon; life support system; lip reading; long range scan; marriage; Mok'bara; nacelle; navigation grid; night shift; observation lounge; phaser; phaser rifle; plasma; poker; Powell, Andrew; probe; propulsion systems; puppy; Riley; senior officer; sensor sweep; shackles; shuttlecraft; snow; soccer ball; spider; Spock; Starfleet; Starfleet Academy; subdural hematoma; Tanaline propulsion laboratory; Ten Forward; Terrace; three-dimensional chess; Trakian ale; turbolift; USS Clement; USS Potemkin; Vulcan; warp field


Previous episode:
"Sub Rosa" 		Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 7 		Next episode:
"Thine Own Self"
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