Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
In “Of Gods and Angles,” Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 6, Mariner shows how much she has changed by trying to guide an ensign who reminds her of her younger self. The episode returns to a familiar lesson—crew members need to be open and honest with one another—but gives it a fresh angle through Mariner’s mentorship and Boimler’s comic attempt to become someone else.
Mariner recognizes her old self in Olly
The Cerritos hosts peace talks between two photonic peoples: one spherical, the other cuboid. The negotiations grow more precarious when a diplomat’s son goes missing. Mariner is also tasked with guiding Olly, a brash new ensign whose impulsiveness and resistance to authority recall Mariner’s early-season behavior.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
![Star Trek: Lower Decks - The Complete Series [Blu-Ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61s3s3po90L._SL160_.jpg)
|
Star Trek: Lower Decks - The Complete Series [Blu-Ray] | $40.59 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
![Star Trek: Lower Decks - The Final Season [Blu-Ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61l98tPi05L._SL160_.jpg)
|
Star Trek: Lower Decks - The Final Season [Blu-Ray] | $14.49 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
![Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season Four [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/415Oq96xkUL._SL160_.jpg)
|
Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season Four [Blu-ray] | $14.49 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
![Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season Three [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51DD01UzZjL._SL160_.jpg)
|
Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season Three [Blu-ray] | $19.95 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season One | $13.99 | Buy on Amazon |
Olly is connected to the Greek-god storyline in the Original Series episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?” But the episode’s more immediate purpose is to put Mariner in a position she once made difficult for others. Olly’s eagerness to prove herself and reluctance to speak up frustrate the officers and complicate the crisis. Mariner recognizes the traits because she has displayed versions of them herself.
That recognition makes her response a measure of growth. Rather than treating Olly’s behavior as merely an inconvenience, Mariner tries to guide her. She has not lost all her old brashness; it is now tempered by the perspective that comes from having seen how such behavior affects a crew.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →#1 Best Overall
Communication is the lesson—and Olly’s silence tests it
The diplomatic emergency gives the episode’s recurring idea practical stakes: the crew works better when its members are willing to be open and honest. Olly’s fear of speaking up helps drive the trouble, showing that communication is not just a tidy moral at the end of an adventure. It can determine whether people understand what is happening in time to respond.
The episode also treats growth as an ongoing practice, not a lesson learned once and permanently filed away. Characters can encounter the same challenge again, or fail to apply what they already know. Mariner’s mentorship suggests progress; Olly’s difficulty speaking and the crisis around her show why that progress cannot simply be assumed.
Boimler’s subplot turns self-expression into a joke
While Mariner tries to help Olly become more effective as herself, Boimler attempts to befriend Dr. T’Ana by copying the mannerisms of his alternate-universe counterpart, using a padd as his guide. The gag reverses the episode’s emphasis on honest communication: instead of presenting himself openly, Boimler performs a version of somebody else.
That comic detour does not erase the theme. Boimler and T’Ana ultimately reach a more amicable understanding, but his imitation shows how a character can sidestep self-expression even while a story keeps returning to its value.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsRank #3
- Genre: TV Sci-Fi
- Number of Discs: 1
- Number of Tracks: 0
- Playback Duration: 257
- Rating: NR
A familiar lesson gains a useful variation, but repetition has a cost
James Whitbrook’s November 21, 2024, Gizmodo/io9 recap of the episode reads this as both evidence of character growth and a potential weakness in the season’s storytelling. By the sixth episode of the final season, Whitbrook argues, several stories have used similar premises and arrived at similar resolutions.
“Of Gods and Angles” partly varies that pattern by letting Mariner apply her experience to Olly, while Boimler’s attempted imitation gives the communication theme a comic counterexample. But Whitbrook cautions that familiar setups and payoffs can become tiresome if the remaining episodes do not find more interesting ways to revisit the lesson. That is the recap’s critical judgment, not an official statement of the creators’ intent.
Rank #4
- Genre: TV Sci-Fi
- Number of Discs: 2
- Number of Tracks: 0
- Playback Duration: 257
- Movie Title: Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 3
What the episode makes clear about Mariner’s growth
Mariner’s progress is not that she has become a different person or stopped being bold. It is that she can recognize the effect of her former conduct in someone else and choose to help rather than simply react. The episode’s repeated lesson—stay open, communicate honestly, and keep learning—lands most clearly in that shift of perspective, even as the familiar theme raises a fair question about how often the series can repeat it without changing its shape.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →
