I question the inclusion of Gavin the Botanist as the Lower Decks entry--doesn't Boimler at least man the helm when he's on the bridge, including the season 1 and 3 finales?
(While federation ships have some variation on which front console is main ops vs. helm, the Cerritos' ops is stage left, mostly indicated by Ensign Barnes' occasional presence there.).
Gotta agree, it seems like an unforced error. A good chunk of the audience knows she shows up in TOS, which robs the whole idea of any tension it might have, and on top of that it feels plot armor-y to have one person survive and then not check for anyone else.
They could've just contrived to have Spock and Chapel be the best persons for the saucer deorbiting-- Spock as the precise vulcan/science officer to place the thrusters, Chapel as medbay's lead in case they could bring anyone back from the Cayuga.
Yeah, the colonists in this episode intentionally curating the a small-town experience is pretty subtle worldbuilding, but tees into the crazier variants like the Hysperians from Lower decks.
I question the inclusion of Gavin the Botanist as the Lower Decks entry--doesn't Boimler at least man the helm when he's on the bridge, including the season 1 and 3 finales?
(While federation ships have some variation on which front console is main ops vs. helm, the Cerritos' ops is stage left, mostly indicated by Ensign Barnes' occasional presence there.).