Star Trek: Lower Decks Reached Deep Into A Classic TNG Episode For Its Latest Storyline
Spoilers for "Star Trek: Lower Decks" follow.
We're halfway through "Star Trek: Lower Decks" season 4, and one of the best parts of the season has been Lieutenant (J.G) T'lyn, the new Vulcan officer on the U.S.S. Cerritos.
Gabrielle Ruiz's perfectly monotone delivery is always funny, complemented by the character being animated with a more limited range of expression than the others (notice how her eyelids are always halfway down). This performance reflects the writing's strength; T'Lyn adds something new to the show's existing character dynamic. Our four lower deck leads are all outgoing and excitable people (Boimler is skittish, but not withdrawn). With T'lyn, the Cerritos finally has its straight woman, because she's stoic, unblinking, and unbreakably calm.
To an outsider, T'lyn looks like the model Vulcan — but appearances are deceiving. She was first introduced back in the season 2 episode, "wej Duj," serving on the Vulcan science ship Sh'vhal. She was about 2% more impulsive than the rest of the crew, sometimes arriving at logical decisions by way of gut feeling. This makes her a rogue by Vulcan standards.
T'lyn was banished to Starfleet, something she's still not happy about. In "Empathological Fallacies," she tries to get in touch with her old Captain Sokel and ask for her job back. The message fails because of a communications blackout, the same time as the rest of the Cerritos crew starts acting like they're in "The Naked Time."
The initial assumption is that some visiting Betazoids are causing emotional disturbances with their telepathy. Nope — it's T'lyn. She has early onset Bendii Syndrome, which destroys Vulcans' abilities to regulate their emotions and causes those feelings to be telepathically projected.
This affliction, and its wide-reaching results, were first seen in the classic "Star Trek: The Next Generation" season 3 episode "Sarek."
Sarek
This episode, you guessed it, guest-starred Vulcan ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard), father of Spock. The Enterprise-D was assigned to transport Sarek to his last mission, negotiating a treaty with a race called the Legarans. Sarek, at the ripe old age of 202, is in declining health — but his aides don't tell the crew the specifics. Soon, tempers start flaring on the Enterprise, and Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) diagnoses Sarek with Bendii Syndrome.
Since Sarek can't attend a diplomatic meeting in his current condition, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) offers to share a mind-meld with him. Sarek gets the captain's calm and resolve for the few needed hours while Picard takes on his anguish. The two men end the episode with a mutual understanding deeper than a lifetime of friendship could offer.
"Sarek," especially Bendii Syndrome, is an allegory for dementia and the pain of seeing a respected elder lose their dignity to age. In the season 5 episode "Unification," the disease ultimately leads to Sarek's death. T'Lyn, though, is a young woman by Vulcan standards (she's 62), so why does she have it?
The episode implies it is psychosomatic; T'lyn is having a "quarter-life crisis," per Mariner (Tawny Newsome), and doesn't feel like a true Vulcan. Since she doubts her ability to regulate her emotions, she's subconsciously losing her ability to. After T'lyn shares her history with Mariner, the latter gives her a pep talk, calling the Vulcan "one of the most brutally efficient, distant people I've ever met" and reminding her that even a Vulcan as esteemed as Sarek shared her condition. With that reassurance, T'lyn's symptoms fade and the crew comes back under control.
I, for one, can't wait to see more of T'lyn being "Vulcan as a motherf***er."
"Star Trek: Lower Decks" is streaming on Paramount+, with new episodes released on Thursdays.