We have to talk about the best Below Decks moment of the week

There’s a lot to love This week’s episode to Basement floors. The show’s penultimate episode set the stage for what could be one of the all-time great conclusions for Star Trek A show full of potential across the board to provide an exciting callback to much of what has made the show so good over these five seasons. But even if the show somehow manages to spit it out right at the final frontier, I’ll be forever grateful for what this week’s episode gave my weird little heart.

“Fissure Quest” immediately hits you with a boat load a trip Whimsical, whether it’s actually within the storytelling Basement floors itself (the return of William’s transporter version of Boimler, now a Section 31 agent and piloting his spaceship on a reality-hopping mission to save the multiverse!) or inside the wild cameo, it comes out of nowhere. William’s multiversal crew a trip Figures include a real-life army of Ensign Harry Kim (plus one lieutenant, all with a voice VoyagerGarrett Wang), a version of Curzon Dax from Deep Space Nineas the Dax symbiote has not yet been transferred to Jadzia as it will initially be a trip schedule, and another alternative in the form project‘s T’Pol (Jolene Blalock makes a rare return to acting and an even rarer return to Star Trek Overall) who got her happy ending with Tripp.

But the biggest surprise, for me at least, were William’s medical officers: a picture of Elim Garak from a reality where he joined Starfleet and put those sewing hands to surgery, and a medical hologram of Julian Bashir, supposedly from a reality where the events Deep Space Nine“Dr. Bashir, I Think” did really well. And that’s already pleasant enough, especially with Andrew Robinson and Alexander Siddig returning to reprise their characters for the first time on TV in decades. But it’s also interesting the way William presents these elements in his record: They are married. Finally, even if they are alternate versions of it, there is a piece of it Star Trek TV featuring Jarek and Bashir as a pair.

Deep Space Nine Fans have shipped a file Plain and simple tailor and DS9’s CMO – The chemistry of their relationship on the show was smoldering from the moment Julian and Garak met, and the allure of the mystery in Garak’s past and Bashir’s passionate curiosity provide essential material for fans to read Strange interpretation inside. Although Deep Space Nine He never went there textually, and even when it went against the then-considered taboo of same-sex relationships in other areas, there was always something in the duo that sparked that romantic chemistry. It’s something both Robinson and Friend have been keen to support themselves ever since Deep Space Nine She wound up discussing the relationship at fan conventions and how they both tried, at times, to push their performances as if there was a possibility of something happening between the two there, even if in the end the script would never go that far. Robinson even continued writing numerous Star Trek Novels about Garak, touching on the character’s eccentricity – even if not explicitly with Bashir.

Basement floors I could have left it at that. “Fissure Quest” certainly has enough storylines that could have won you over connecting with the Garak and Bashir couple and moving on with a myriad of other interests, but instead it gives the couple space to reflect on reality. He is two spouses. They get time to interact and be affectionate with each other. Hell, they even had arguably one of the most beautiful emotional arcs in the episode, playing with its broader musings on the concept of the multiverse to explicitly emphasize that no matter what different realities they come from, and wherever they ultimately settle after their mission is done, they’re home within each other. . It is too completely This conclusion between Garak and Bashir comes after the former spends most of the episode arguing with the latter over whether or not they’ll live in his world or Julian’s world — because, as Garak affectionately tells his husband in the climax, he’s always liked to argue. With him.

It makes everything I’ve seen in these characters since watching DS9 As a geeky teenager, I’m actually part of it Star Trek Somehow, after years of wondering what could have been. Everyone has an interest in their past Star Trek Streaming has seen its own renaissance – from the appeal of aesthetic and structural nostalgia in series like Strange new worldsl Picardcontinuation to The next generationStories and characters, l Basement floors‘Love your own nerdy what.’ Star Trek It exists both inside and outside of the text — the idea of ​​using it to give queer fans the couple they never were (even if it wasn’t our “Qarq and Bashir”) for a brief moment is something I never expected, let alone Basement floors He stares down the phaser tip from his own end. There’s a lot to be grateful for about this series over its five seasons, but no matter how it ends next week, I’ll always be glad it gave a little of itself to someone. Deep Space NineHer best relationships, and she got the weird justice she always deserved.

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