Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 has Rutherford's world turned episode down by a familiar face. Here's a spoiler-filled Paramount+ recap.
The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3, Episode 5, "Reflections," now streaming on Paramount+.
Old mysteries resurface and new questions arise as Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 continues, delivering plenty of Star Trek deep cuts along the way. Another routine day on the USS Cerritos quickly leads to more shocking adventures. Sam Rutherford finally comes face to face with the secrets behind his cybernetic implant and shadowy past while Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler meet a shady figure who is more than meets the eye. Along the way, friendships are tested and the authority of Starfleet is challenged, with loose ends forming rather than being neatly tied up.
Rutherford begins experiencing nightmares of the accident that led to him receiving his implant. Looking to help her friend, D’Vana Tendi clears Rutherford’s memory cache with his permission -- but this causes a more malevolent personality to take control of Rutherford’s body when he attempts to sleep. After learning that Tendi is capable of restoring the true Rutherford back to normal, the sinister Rutherford attacks her before he is subdued by Chief Security Officer Shaxs and restrained in sickbay.
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Mariner and Boimler are tasked with representing Starfleet at a recruitment drive, with Commander Jack Ransom threatening to reassign Mariner to the dreaded Starbase 80 if she doesn’t comply. The two junior officers’ efforts are constantly sabotaged by Petra Aberdeen, a former Starfleet officer who is representing independent archaeologists at the event. Aberdeen coyly accuses Starfleet of being nothing more than a glorified military organization. Mariner is increasingly frustrated by Starfleet’s reputation throughout the galaxy as the dark side to Star Trek's staple organization is revealed.
While trapped within his subconscious, Rutherford realizes that the violent Rutherford is a younger version of himself that was not humbled and is enduring amnesia from the past accident. The younger Rutherford admits he has been attempting to reassert control ever since the character's new personality was programmed through the implant -- having missed the impulsive side of himself while illegally racing during his time at Starfleet Academy. In order to prove who should take control of their body, the two Rutherfords agree to an engineering challenge, with the winner assuming dominance.
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After designing their own racing vehicles within their shared mindscape, the two Rutherfords race along an imagined version of the Romulan Neutral Zone. Rutherford’s ship gains the edge through projections of his friends helping him man his craft, leading him to triumph over his other personality. When Rutherford reasserts control over his body, he learns that the accident and his implanted personality are both part of a Starfleet conspiracy -- but is unable to gather more information because he regains consciousness.
Surprisingly, it isn't Mariner but Boimler who angrily snaps when he is taunted over his uniform, leading him to launch into a heated outburst about Starfleet’s importance while trashing other booths at the recruitment fair. This exuberant display prompts a visiting Ransom to reprimand Boimler and confine him to the Cerritos' brig for making a scene -- but it does lead to a surge in interested recruits who speak to Mariner. The sowing of modern Starfleet distrust is shown to be an elaborate ruse orchestrated by Aberdeen, who uses Rutherford’s rant as a distraction to steal from a nearby museum. Aberdeen thanks Mariner for unwittingly helping her, leaving another loose end for the junior officers to follow as the Cerritos sails back into deep space.
Created by Mike McMahan, Star Trek: Lower Decks releases new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.
Sam Stone is a 10th level pop culture guru living just outside of Washington, DC who knows an unreasonable amount about The Beatles. You can follow him on Twitter @samstoneshow and ask him about Nintendo, pop punk, and Star Trek.
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