This week it’s all about the TNG call backs. Spoilers.
This was an extremely meta episode even in a series that flirts with the fourth wall all the time. It worked for me, but I could easily see someone not enjoying it very much.
The number of references on the collectors ship was actually a bit on the ridiculous side. The moral of the story was a nice bit of character development for everyone involved, but getting there felt like a reference padded slog. But a Tamarian in Star Fleet is a great way of doing that call back. I was a little surprised he lived, as that seems like a difficult writing challenge.
Boimler not fitting into the Titan requires it to be a very anomalous ship in Starfleet. We’ve never really seen a combat heavy part of Starfleet, even during the Dominion War it felt more like the scientific explorers being drafted in to fight. It makes the ultimate message of that part of the episode a bit pat, although the transporter clone resolution is a nice setup.
813 down.